Thanksgiving and Things

Well, once again it seems I have waited too long to write about some of life's wonderments. At the beginning of November I was released as bishop. I was blessed to serve for over 6 years and it was a great learning experience. I was honored to serve with so many wonderful people. I will miss certain aspects of it, but am happy to see Bishop Prete now hold the keys!
My brother, Carl, and I ran the Turkey Trot again this year on Thanksgiving morning. Chantel's friend, Austin, who had run the St. George Marathon a month or two ago, was at our house listening to us talk about running the race. My wife was goading him on that a forty-something year old guy would beat him (a 21 year old) in the run. So, to keep whatever manhood he had left, he agreed to run it with us. We got over to the Rec Center at 7:45 am and it was about 24 degrees. Carl, Austin and I stood there in the road with the hundreds of other people, jumping around, waiting and trying to stay warm! Shoot the stinkin' gun and get us going!!! Finally we were off. The picture Chantel took of the start of the race- you can barely see me at the top left of the photo (my white long sleeve shirt and black shorts). Can you find Carl in his orange gear? I guess he was making sure he didn't get shot by any stray hunters.
Austin was in front of me for the first hundred feet and apparently didn't see me move to the right and pass him. Oh well. I had a good run. OK, I was so specific with my girls to make sure they actually get a photo of me finishing the race! Somehow that never seems to happen-- oh, hey, there he goes... and I end up with a back shot. Chantel was out on Center Street as I passed her by and I thought "she's gonna miss me coming in". She was waiting to see Austin come by. He was mad that I had already passed by. So, I truck it on in to the finish line and finished at 27:10 for the 4 mile run. I was really hoping to be under 27, but maybe next year. And of course Chantel didn't get any pictures of me. Lots of Austin coming in, but not of her dad. Oh well, I figured as much. The sad part was some teenage kid behind me. As we were waiting to have the crew take our tags, I notice this kid has the goopy-spit all over his mouth and nose. But upon further review (I'm trying not to look too hard) he has barf all over himself. My daughters and niece's said that as he finished he started barfing. Lovely. Anyway, the last run picture is the three of us after the race.
We went to Carl's for Thanksgiving dinner. My cousin, Gary, and his family came as well. Many of you know I am not a big turkey fan, but Ivette cooked a beautiful bird. Gary and I took turns trying to carve it. Wow, we were pathetic. Gary was mocking that I got to use a real knife where he had a butter knife. Lots of yummy food. We played Sequence and as always we marvel at how the womenfolk all cheat. (we have to say that because we always lose). A rousing game of spoons ensued, too. Austin came over. He is both a Dallas Cowboys fan and a Ute fan. Geeze, if things get serious with him and Chantel, he and I are going to have to have a wee talk. It was fun having my nephew Taylor there, too.
I put the Christmas tree up on Saturday and for Family Night we decorated it. We joke that the tree is our heater because after having the lights on for an hour the living room is about 500 degrees! The cats love to lay under it.
Can't believe the Wakefield's are moving next week! I think we are all in denial about it. I think Jayton has a fear of losing a race to some old guy and is taking off. They say they are coming back in 3 years. Just long enough for me to be slowing down. He doesn't understand that I have found the fountain of youth and it is called Fiber One!!!

It's Fall

We took our annual trip up the canyon to take a few pictures as the fall colors are in show. Most times we wait just a wee bit too long and miss the red foliage. This year we just had to wait for Chantel to get home from school and get ready. By the time we got in the canyon the air was getting cool and we weren't destined to have a lot of light. We started at our usual off-the-road spot up South Fork Canyon. All the girls got out in the little field so mom could pose them. The funny part was we could hear some animal crawling around in the weeds which led to a lot of girlish screaming! But I stopped after realizing it wasn't a snake. He he he.
We did end up at at the park where I performed a wedding for a couple after being the bishop for only a few weeks. (Performing weddings has still been the weirdest thing- I say a few words, sign my name, and people are legally married!? Oye!)
So, here are a few shots of us trying not to look embarrassed as we pose for some shots. (there were a ton of people all around, staring, and trying to take their own pictures. There was even an engagement photo shoot going on. Pretty popular spot, I guess.)
We talked about going back up a few days later, but a storm came in 2 days after we were there, high winds and snow! So, we are happy with what we got.
Take a look at the shot of our little home- now you know what really is at the end of the rainbow! Does that mean we're leprechauns? And where is that stinkin' pot-o-gold? This explains my insatiable appetite for Lucky Charms.

Seamstress of Love

You know, my wife rocks. The other day she asked Laurie across the street to look at her fabric bag that she uses to carry her scriptures in. Teresa looked it over, then designed and made her own! Teresa has been cranking out some quilts that she has been sewing on her machine.(If I had a job, she could get them all finished. Man, I suck) Beth Wakefield said to me, "Your wife ought to go into clothing design" to which I reply "She has a degree in it already!" But, living in the fashion mecca of Orem, UT, her opportunities are pretty much zero.
All this to get to one of my favorite pictures of 3 of my 4 girls (sorry Madalyn, but you were still in Heaven thinking, "I have to go with them?! Really? Umm, doesn't Steve Young need some kids?" Hey, you could have been with Michael Jackson, so zip it!) This picture is from 1995 and Teresa had made these Christmas dresses for the girlies. Classic! And the Halloween costumes, too. Abby's 50's diner waitress is one of my all time favorites.
The funny thing is Teresa cranks these things out, yet ask her to hem some pants and you'd think I'm asking her to donate a kidney!

California Trip

I'm guessing Carl had a lot of built up frequent flier miles along with some vendors that wanted to do some nice things for him. Whatever the scenario, he provide plane tickets, hotel accommodations and SF Giants vs LA Dodgers tickets for me, him and his son, Michael to go on a "reminiscing tour" to the old neighborhood. (Carl can't remember anything and usually lies to his family or blames his bad memories on me)
We flew out on 9/11. Not the most exciting day to fly. But how I love those Biscoff cookies on Delta!!! I was just going to say to Michael "the worst landing I ever had..." when we just smacked hard to the ground! Everyone kind of made a "what the crap?!" noise, but I am always glad the flights are done. (not a big flier)
We got in our awesome Hyundai rental and were off! We went right to Togos for a sandwich. Ah, the good ol' days of Togos. We drove to the San Jose Mission, where Michael will be serving his mission, so he could drop off some photos and paperwork. We got to meet his mission president and such.
Driving to Cupertino was interesting on Hwy 85. We got to the Marriott on Wolfe Rd and dropped off our stuff. We headed over to the high school and walked around, while school is in. I was cracking up at all the people looking out the windows at us! Man, the school looked old. We stopped in to the office and spoke to a lady in there, asking about all our old staff. She knew some, not others, and then told us that my science teacher was having an affair with one of the other teachers and they finally got married. Funny thing is I always thought my science teacher was a lesbian!
Class got out as we were leaving. Man, nothing like hearing all the girls there using the f word. Gosh, isn't it sexy!?
We went over to Hyde Jr. High and walked through there, only to have a teacher lean her head out and say 3 men walking around the school could send it into lockdown. So we left.
We went up to SF and to the Safeway store in the Castro District. They have a nut bar there. We got some maple almonds and some other nuts. Geeze, we about o.d.ed (is that how that is spelled?) on nuts. We also ate at this wonderful Italian place. Yummy calzone. It was funny that the big glass windows were open and we were almost right on the sidewalk with everyone else.
We got over to AT&T Park for the game. That is my first time in the park. Wow! What an upgrade from Candlestick. We walked all around and laughed at the booing and yelling at all the Dodgers fans. You know, 90% of them just look like thugs!
Of course the Giants got hammered, but it was still fun.
Saturday we went to our street and walked around for a while, looking at all the houses and where all our friends used to live. I guess being older, and the trees growing so much, but the street looked so small. Our house looked good and the tree in the front yard is huge!
We went over to where our elementary school used to be and looked in the creek. We told Michael about the hours and hours of time played in it, and how every year we would have poison oak so bad that you wanted to die!
We found our Aunt June's house and knocked on the door. She answered and I just said Hi June. I'm your nephew Paul and this is Carl. She was a bit shocked. We went in and had a fun time catching up. What was real funny was she was on her computer doing Facebook! Classic. She looks a bit like my dad and it was interesting to think how he may have aged a bit like her. Her granddaughter is a 49er cheerleader! (I'm wondering how we introduce ourselves so she can get us tickets!!!)
We swung by and saw Matt Kakaio. I haven't seen him since 1985. He still is the coolest dude I know. We just laughed. And of course he has a big Minnesota Vikings poster up.
We went back up to SF for another baseball game. Awesome seats four rows up from the Giants dugout! But, they sucked even worse and got rocked again!!! I sat next to some Dodgers fans from Bakersfield. It was a husband & wife and their 2 teenage daughters. They were actually pretty cool, well, for Dodgers fans.
Sunday we went to our old church building on Bollinger Rd and walked through it. A Tongan ward meets there now. But it sure brought back some good memories. We went to the building on Stelling Rd, right across from De Anza. There aren't a whole lot of folks left from the 6th Ward, but we saw the Davis' (we stopped by there place the day before), the Danielson's, Thompsons, Dye's, Sister McGhie, Gary Davis, Carl Flock, and some others. It was pretty fun.
We also had to go by the Valco Mall and see where we used to slide down the banister of what used to be Bullock's and where we would play on the grass by what was I. Magnin. Man, that mall was our personal playground. We also went to where Carl and I wiped out on our skateboards. Ah, memories.
After checking out of the hotel we cruised SF one more time then went back to Oakland. We pulled into a spot to get a sandwich and there was a Raiders store right next to it. 2 Raiderettes were out front selling and signing calenders, but Cliff Branch, one of our childhood heros, was inside signing anything you bought! Carl bought a ball and Cliff signed it then took a picture with us. He was cool. And we did manage a picture with the cheerleaders, though we were supposed to buy a calendar. Yeah, whatever.
So, it was a fun trip and we had a great time. Thanks, Carl! Heck, maybe next time we can hit Hawaii! But we'll bring the womenfolk to that one.

Some Happenings

I thought I would share some happenings at the Snyder house. Last week Chantel went with her ward to hike Mt. Timpanogos. It was a grueling 18 mile hike, especially for my wee little 100 lb. daughter, who's only exercise consists of sleeping in till 11:00. Anyway, she left early in the morning and got home around 6:30 in the evening. I laughed as she came in; she was hammered and could barely move! She sat down at the table and we got her something to eat and drink. And some ibuprofen. Looking back, we should have just given her some loratabs! I had to snap some pictures. She really freaked when she took off her shoes and saw her feet and how dirty and disgusting they looked. (Chelsea said the picture makes them look hairy! Like a Hobbit?) I about had to scoop her up with a shovel and dump her onto her bed. For the next few days she could barely walk. Funny stuff.
Chelsea was asked to Homecoming in a most peculiar way. We were walking over to the church when a guy called her phone asking for our home number. Odd, she thought. We then were at the Wakefield's when Teresa called and said we needed to be gone for a while so someone could come over and prepare an invitation for Chelsea. (I am so glad that back in our day you just asked "Would you like to go to the dance with me?") So, the Wakefield's went with us down to Macey's for a soft serve and to hang out for a bit. We even tested our blood pressure at the sit down machine. I love how it fluctuates by 20 points when you take it again. When we got home, Teresa kind of directed her to the bathroom. There in the toilet is her invitation! I said you ought to reply by getting a bunch of Tootsie Rolls, warming them up and molding them together into a big log... that's when my wife shut me down.
School's in, Mom is happier, but I am still out of work. Kind of stinks. I have had a few interviews, but nothing seems to happen!
I love Fall and am excited for it's arrival. But I know coldness is right behind it and I have really enjoyed running outside. Jayton and I moved my treadmill out into the garage yesterday, so come Winter, I will be running out there in the cold! Should be fun.
I was at Costco the other day and came around the corner to see Christmas decorations!!! Holy cow! The weird thing is how a wash of excitement and nostalgia came over me.
Again I ask... too early for Christmas music?!

Blow It Out Your Tail Pipe!

So for the last week, Jayton and Grover have been super excited to run their miracle engine cleaner, C-Foam, through my Neon (it is supposed to clean out all kinds of carbon build up and other gunk in the system, kind of an enima for the car). "I can't wait to see the smoke that will come out of your car!!!" That's all I have been hearing. Well, once the hood is up, no one has been able to tell which is the right tube for the engine to suck it through.
Last night, Grover finally decided which would work. So, with great excitement, Jayton, Grover and Bradley Mark Anthony Frandsen and I popped the hood and ran it through the Neon. Holy Crap! There was smoke! And since there was no wind it just hung in the air, like a scene from a bad horror movie.
We all jumped in the car to go for a drive to get the rpm's up. My poor Neon has never had so much weight to haul around.
The cops were out, too! On State Street we saw 3 people getting pulled over and another cop driving by. I guess it's the end of the month and quotas need to be filled!

Birthday Suit

Last week was my birthday. It was also the week we were moving into our new church building. I had moved the bishop's office stuff to the new office and was kind of hanging out there when there was a knock on the door. The Wakefield's and Frandsen's had come by and had brought me a gift; a new suit! (It was on sale at Mr. Mac) They made me put it on and only the pants needed alterations! I was so excited! You see, over the last while I have lost some weight and my suits don't fit like they once did. In fact, I think I look kind of frumpy in a couple of my suits, that's why I was only wearing my blue suit- it is old, but still somewhat fit. Anyway, I was able to get it altered in time for last Sunday, our first meeting in our new church building. The Bishopric spoke and I was the final speaker. When I got up I said that it had been my birthday a couple days ago and some friends had given me this suit, so I want you all to see my new Birthday Suit and I stepped to the side of the podium so everyone could see. Brad had even picked out a couple ties, so I have 2 ties from the Brad Frandsen Collection. The Clegg's even pitched in with a new dress shirt. Man, I must have been looking pretty crappy for a while. But nonetheless, I am grateful for friends who are so thoughtful!
For the Birthday Dinner we all went to NicoliItalia for a delightful calzone. Nick even said Happy Birthday to me, in his high, Bostonian accent, over the loud speaker. That was gold!

The other picture, well, sometimes that's just me.