Until further notice

It's not you. It's me.

Me exactly

World Cup 2010 - My Way

When I'm in charge this is how Soccer will be played. From the World Cup all the way down to the pee wee's in grade school.

Then the U.S. will start watching.

WTH Friday (What the Heck?)

LOL...Whoa!

It all makes sense now

Eat 3 "Jack in the Box" tacos before bed and this happens...

You dream about being a member of the "Black Widows" with these guys.

I wonder what happens if you eat 4 tacos?

Y'all gonna git your newly-released T-O-M boxed set anthology??

I thought so.

EMO

Oops!

OMH! (oh my heck) Seriously! THE best Song EVER!!! No really...Trust Me.

Michael Nesmith of The Monkeys!

Hmmmm??? What did I tell you!?

Passive-Aggressive's are interesting folks...

It was time to make a comeback.

Paying Homage to a Great Man

Click Here to Enlarge

Lawrence Robert Mitchell has left a lasting legacy of good.

With many children, granchildren and great-grandchildren, "Larry's" posterity has become that "good fruit" that has nourished and brought many souls closer to Jesus Christ.

I being one of them.

Larry's legacy of quiet obedience and service in the gospel provided for me a foundation that I could always return to look at or get recharged from every time I saw him.

Now that legacy is a memory for me to always remember.

Larry died with an active temple recommend.

Larry paid a full-tithe.

Larry took care of the families he home taught.

Larry took care of his own family both spiritually and temporally leaving us all with an inner desire to do the same.

Can there be a greater way to leave this planet?

I don't think so.

His beautiful wife Helen penned the following poem about the "here-after":

We Will See Each Other Again

As a ship departs the harbor

And ne'er we see it more

'Til we make that selfsame voyage,

And reach that distant shore.

So it is with a loved one's passing;

'Tis but a parting, brief.

And the promise of a blest reunion

Sustains us in our grief

Helen O. Mitchell

I will miss this man and look forward to seeing him again.

Defining Joy

Do you remember those strongman games at the fair/carnival/theme park? You know, the ones where you measure your strength by whacking a huge mallet on to a lever that shoots a lead weight upwards toward a bell. If you were strong enough and your mallet struck just right you could send that lead weight flying up the board where it would smack into a bell and drop back down to the lever. Every time a ding was heard in the park you knew someone was a real "strongman."

The physical ringing of the bell defined a true strongman.

My brain thinks and relates best in metaphors or analogies. I see metaphors and analogies for life everywhere I look.

When I feel joy, I see and hear the bell ringing in the strongman game.

Here's a recent example:

The other night while reading from the Book of Mormon as a family we had the good fortune of having Jessica and her boys with us. We had just began reading from the book of 4th Nephi when Jessica stopped us. We all looked up at Jessica a bit startled because due to her more quiet nature she never speaks up to have us stop anything.

She cleared her throat and began to tell us how it was while reading in this exact location of 4th Nephi verse 4 and 5, as a 16 year old, she received a witness that the Book of Mormon was true. He voice began to crack as she retold her experience and bore testimony to the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.

Quite unique was this situation. Realizing what Jessica had just said, we all teared up and for a moment time stopped. Outside on our deck, in Hailey Idaho sitting in plastic chairs, the Spirit rested upon us all testifying of the truthfulness of Jessica's words.

What a beautiful moment as a parent. The spiritual "ding" of the strongman game sounded in my head. Weird analogy I know. Joy had been reached and I needed nothing more than "that" feeling. My soul had been quenched with the Joy that the Spirit provides.

Interesting and exciting to me is the testimony that Jessica had received of the Book of Mormon. It was a testimony that she sought and found on her own. It was something that her parents could not give to her. And while we could provide the tools and the mode by which a testimony is gained, the actual receiving, the revelation, could not be received until she asked herself, with a "sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ."

Jessica, independent of her parents, gained a witness that the Book of Mormon was true. The strongman bell sounded in my head as she retold us all the story.

Joy had been defined.

Best Picture in the Whole Whirrl

THIS speaks to the center of my being

Table Rock in Le Bois

Hopie III in a cave beneath Table Rock

Cliff Dweller

Can't Sleep!

Just kidding. I slept 12 hours last night.

Crucial Information if ever in a Time Machine: Relax, you're covered.

Click pic to biggify

You will need this someday.

Timeline of the Fax Machine: Fascinating!

Click picture to biggify

Random Madness: Gutter Cat

The Conehopes!

1st place at Worlds: Ho Hum

I managed to take 1st place at the Body Surfing World Championship in Sidney last weekend. The Airlines lost my board so I picked up this random "floatie" toy from K-Mart to surf with. I was sure I wouldn't do any better than 2nd. What a surprise! So pitted... so pitted!

Random Madness: Mistake Maker

This is why I never trusted people in the "Band"

Tombombadil and Uncle Dad!!

Can't wait for vacation so I can do THIS the entire time!

Not Spring Everywhere

THFB!

Amazingly similar to the way Ruth and I met...

Random Madness: Jolokia Pepper Test

Unbelievable short film of a man eating the worlds hottest pepper. Worth watching. I think my brothers Dave and Jeremy could both eat TWO of these. And if they do you'll see it here first on The Daily Item.

Until then... Enjoy!

Squirrel Launcher of Doom

Wait for it... wait for it...

Esto Es Muy Malo!

O.K. my hobbies are different: Don't Judge Me!

"Deep in the hundred acre wood...."

You win ten internets if you can tell me the name of the creature... on the left.

It's fun to go to the Y-M-C-A

AMBL NEWS: Team skunks opponent!! Cruises to Victory!

An AMBL first this morning as Team "Underachiever" (Kirk, Griffiths, Snell and Hope) wins big while holding opposing team to zero, nada, nill, zilch, goose-egg, no points!

Daily Item reporter, Kieser Souza was able to get a few words from the opposing team:

The DI: "Say, how does it feel to be skunked by this ragtag team of misfits?"

Clive III: "Horrible man"

The DI: "Did you know that this is the first time that this has EVER happened in an AMBL (sanctioned) game?"

Clive III: "Uh, no. No one hip me to that, man"

The DI: "It appeared that your father Brent Jr. Owned you this morning!"

Clive III: "Huh? Well... that's like, your opinion... man."

Well there you have it. Poised to go down in infamy. Team Underachiever accomplishes the equivalent of Baseball's "Triple-Play" Golf's "Grand-Slam" Olympian "Gold" or a Dave Gardner layin without traveling (a truly rare event indeed!).

sigh - My, Oh My!

Srsly: Best Motorcycle Ever

Harley Davidson or this? I'll take THIS 10 out of 10 times.

-sniff... this is so AWESOME!

Say it with Sparkles!

This is how Nixon should be remembered

Genealogy can tell us a lot about our ancestors

(circa 1705)

Dr. J Steven Hope (my great, great, great, GREAT Grandfather) performing operation with colleagues looking on in wide-eyed wonderment.

I guess I have nothing in common with this ancestor.

Who wouldn't want a pet elephant after seeing this picture?

Hint: Best movie ever

(clue above)

Go on, take a guess.

Travis is "sworn-in" to the United States Army

Brent, Jeremy, Travis and Brent

Here's a tentative yet courageous Travis Hatch already "sworn-in" to the United States Army. We were lucky to be with Travis his last day as civilian. Tonight he is with his Army mates at the Holiday Inn in Boise and tomorrow on his way to Fort Jackson South Carolina for boot camp! We are so proud of him!

Old Tacoma House

The Daily Item Highlight: A girl named Barbi

Barbi and Brent on chairlift

Today I'd like to highlight a friend of mine.

• Her name is Barbi.
• Barbi is the manager of a group of transport engineers in Omaha Nebraska.
• Barbi just spent the last couple of days helping us with our OC-3 to OC-12 project.
• Barbi has a huge brain but is very careful in letting you think that she's common (like I am) but really she is not common.
• Barbi understands the complexity (inside and out) of SONET transport via optical and copper medium, T1, DS1, T3, DS3, VTS-1, etc. (inanimate objects)
• Barbi understands the human scene and the complexity (inside and out) of individuals (animated objects).
• Barbi is a good listener.
• Barbi is happy!
• Barbi is funny!
• Barbi is adventurous.
• Barbi wears 3 inch heels in 6 inches of new snow on top of Bald Mountain.
• Barbi reminds you (without words and by her example) that there are excellent people in our country.
• Barbi makes a difference in her community and workplace.
• Barbi is a cancer survivor
• Barbi knows that Jesus Christ lives.

In other words... If you were stuck on a deserted island and your Fujitsu 4500 showed multiple conditions and a critical alarm. You would want to have Barbi with you so she could get you back on line.

Thanks for visiting us Barbi!!

Brent, Barbi and Michael (transport engineer from Omaha) on top of Bald Mountain, Sun Valley Idaho.

Lets give Barbi a great big Daily-Item round of applause!

Working the Late Shift

Not sure exactly how this picture relates to my situation (but don't you just love this picture anyway??). I'm working late tonight at the mighty communications biz upgrading our current optical link to/from Omaha from an OC-3 to an OC-12.

You get a treat if you know the difference.