Name That Tune

And I didn't even practice.

Here it is New Year's Eve and we are soooo excited we can't stand it. I just finished my breakfast of 3-day old pizza and a glass of milk, topped of with last night's version of snicker doodles. That ought to clog the old arteries.

Like Brant said, we have been having fun in the snow. I think we are going up to the University to try it again today. The snow has stopped for a couple of days and the sun shines occasionally. It has been great weather for a holiday.

Matt and Kimbre are coming down this afternoon for a couple of days. Hope they don't overthrow the government of Kootenai County while they are gone. We'll probably visit, play and few games and fall asleep before the ball drops. Maybe Seth and Lacey can keep us awake.

Hope you all had a great Christmas. Thanks for all your gifts, phone calls and thoughts.

Dad and Mom

Before-And-After

"UP, UP AND AWAY"

"CRUNCH"

We went sledding with the herd at the old ice blocking hill by the university swim center. They have planted trees and terraced the hill, so Ty had to steer around the obstacles. It took him a moment to get up after he landed.

Brant

Seem familiar...

Imagine a huge snow pile at the end of the street. On top of the pile, is a piece of plywood painted black and held up by two metal stakes. Glued to the plywood, in shiny aluminum foil are two words...Raider's Fort.

Brant

(See if you can find Ty in the picture.)

Just Checking In

Well, I think most of you heard about our exciting Christmas Eve. For those of you who didn't: around 10:00 pm we heard a loud boom/bang/explosion downstairs. After enacting our evacuation plan on a cold winter night we later realized that our furnace had "flared out." The exploding gas and air had blown the doors open on our utility closet. Fearing damage to the furnace and the potential for a gas leak we sought refuge at Erik and Jaime's. For some reason they were still awake at 12:30 when we arrived. They let us sleep downstairs.
Christmas morning was fun. Santa was still able to find the refugees, despite the snow and change of address. We returned to our house that afternoon. A technician came out later to relight the furnace. So far, our house is still intact.
I had a technician come out today to diagnose the furnace. He recommended replacing it. For those of you contemplating this, you better save up about $3000.
Lisa flew out of Denver last night. Her flight was only delayed a couple of hours. Adding to that the two hours early that she arrived and she only had to sit in the airport for four hours with nothing to do. She said she watched people.
She'll be gone until the 2nd. In the meantime, I'm paying the babysitter big bucks to watch my kids while I'm at work. Lisa said I pay to much, but wouldn't you pay someone a lot to take care of something invaluable? How about four somethings?
I got a U2 Joshua Tree CD for Christmas, which I'm listening to now. It brings back good memories of stake dances and water ski trips on the Snake River.
Keep your pilot lights lit.

Christmas with the Meyers

We did our best to support the local Boy Scouts with our tree purchase.
Steve bought some paintball guns and made sure everyone got a round with them. Four sisters, each with a paintball gun. Yikes.


Well we survived. We just returned from our Christmas in Portland with the Meyers Fam. We left on Sunday, the 23rd, at around 9:00 pm and arrived around 3:30 am. The highlight of the trip there was following a drunk guy for an hour on the freeway. When we approached The Dalles, I called him in and was transferred to the Oregon State Police. They caught up to us about 20 minutes and one town down the freeway, but they got the guy stopped. I don't know what the results of the stop were.

Santa Claus somehow found us in Portland and everything arrived right on time. We had a great time opening/giving gifts, and I learned how to open presents with the sun up after eating breakfast and being fully dressed for the day. Around noon it began to snow big wet flakes and put a little fluff down on the grass, so we had a somewhat white Christmas. Kimbre is very happy and very proud of her new sewing machine and currently I'm listening to my new Beatles CD.

We arrived home to six inches of fresh snow in the CDA/Hayden area. A neighbor said it all dumped down late Christmas night.

We're looking forward to coming down for New Year's, and spending a day or two in Moscow.

Nice slippers!

I knew those bunny slippers looked familiar!

From Moscow

Chrismas in Mescalaro, New Mexico. Notice me gassing up my 1953 car carrying semi at the Texaco gas pump (gas was probably $.10/gallon). Check out the neat Bunny slippers too.

It sounds like everyone has arrived at their Christmas locations. Brant and Leslie arrived here about 2:30pm yesterday. Their travels were uneventful although a bit precarious at times. We had a nice visit, Seth and Lacey were here too. Everyone found a place to sleep last night and we are now up and going strong this morning. Seth and Lacey will come over today and then stay Christmas Eve and wait patiently at the bottom of the stairs for the official "come on up" on Christmas morning.

Well, the Explorer has chosen this holiday to quit. Thursday and Friday it sounded a little funny when we started it (like the battery was going dead), so we bought a new one Saturday and that evening I went over to use Grandpa's garage to change it. When I check it I found a loose battery cable, so I tightened it and did not change the battery. Sunday morning it groaned a couple of times and just clicked. After church I put in the new battery and it still just clicked again. I assume it is either the starter relay or the starter itself. Laying in bed this morning I determined that I did not want to lay in the slush under it and work on the stater. I called Ford but they are closed today. We'll just have to use the Ranger for a couple of days. We'll tow it in on Wednesday and see what happens.

We hope you are all having fun getting ready for the big day. We are thinking of you all and want to wish you all a Merry Christmas (tell our grandchildren "Hi" for us).

Love, Dad and Mom

Remember These?

Does anyone remember these fine pieces of childhood history? I think we got ours for free from G-pa Backlund. Today as I perused the antique store here in Palmyra I saw one in decent condition for $85. Would would've thought. I guess it's probably so expensive because it's made of metal and we all now know that kids are allergic to all metal toys.

On this date in 1990

"It got up to about 10 degrees F today. It's a heat wave. We only had sacrament meeting today. It was very good and the choir put on a good presentation. Then we came home and ate. Then mom started to make some cookies. We watched T.V. Dad called Karla Brashear. Her husband was Dad's roomate, and he's working in Saudi Arabia now. He's a navigator. Mom made a cake, Felicia's friend's, lemon squares, sugar cookie dough, and ice box cookie dough tonight. We watched T.V. Richards' came over tonight with some bread. It's 11:12. Dad had tithing settlement tonight.
Yesterday was Saturday. We did routes in -10 degree weather. Then I slept a bit. Then Brant, Erik, and I went over to Nate Schroeder's to practice for his band. He's doing it for his eagle project. We went ot the church to practice and make some cookies. Then we came home and our family and Richards went out to see, "Home Alone." It's a halarious movie....Then we came home and hung around. Mom and Dad got mad at us for being bad to each other. Then we got ready for our small band concert. It was at the Good Samaritan, a retirement home. We played about 8 Christmas songs and passed out cookies. It went all right. Then we went home and Brant and I went down to the church to play ball with the rest of the family. That was fun and when I got home I read about half of "Borden Chantry".

Merry Christmas

Hope everyone had a good Sabbath. Kevin had his first taste of subbing in Nursery-- don't ask how it went. The Primary put on the Nativity today which is always fun to watch. And the choir had it's program. Kelly we sang a cool Christmas song if you're still director next year.

Merry Christmas!

Business Casual Here I Come

I just watched the last of the trucks drive away from my house and I turned in my hard hat and keys. As of today I am no longer an arborist. No I wasn't fired, I've been offered a new job in Salt Lake and on Jan. 2nd I will begin work for the International Rescue Committee. As with many new jobs I'm not exactly sure what all of my duties will be, but according to the job description here's some of what I'll be doing.

1. Ensure housing, furnishings, and supplies are ready for new arrivals; provide airport reception to all free cases and to anchor cases when instructed by the supervisor.
2. Upon arrival, provide housing orientation to newly arrived refugees.
3. Provide transportation and translation for Social Security Administration appointments and applications; medical screening transportation and translation; Department of Workforce Services application, transportation and translation; perform intake interviews and home visits; assist with the Selective Service Registration, etc.
4. Provide initial orientation to include refugees’ rights, agency responsibilities and refugee responsibilities. Orient refugees about the community, healthcare system, and other services available.
5. Ensure that eligible refugees receive Utah Horizon Card (food stamps and cash assistance), Medicaid coverage, ESL classes’ referral and enrollment assistance.
6. Ensure that children are enrolled in school and facilitate enrollment in higher education system.
7. Assist job developers with employment counseling and placement, when requested.
8. Ensure provision of specialized services to minor refugees traveling without parents as defined by the Cooperative Agreement.

So to sum it all up I'll be a type of case worker that helps refugees from other countries get settled in Salt Lake, get a job, get their kids in school and work towards establishing a new life here. I'm excited, it sounds like fun and I'm ready to try something new.

I Spy: "85"

Since most of us now have high-speed Internet it shouldn't be too hard to enlarge the photos. Sorry, Matt and Kimbre, Seth and Lacey.

Two Lonely Little Christmas Stockings

Does this look familiar?

Hey Martha, where'd every one go?

I liked this pictures of two lonely little Christmas stockings. By the end of the week I'm sure they will be joined by (4) Jones stockings and (6) Zirker (Brant and Leslie) stockings. Mom, I think we need a bigger railing. We are looking forward to the visitors. I'm glad we're staying home and it's you who are traveling. Call us along the way so we know where you are.

Friday night Mom and I will pick up Aunt Tami in Lewiston at about 10:00pm. She will be here until the day after Christmas. I am sure Grandpa enjoys having someone there for Christmas.

It has been cold and a little snowy this last week and then yesterday it was sunny and 45 degrees. I would have mowed the lawn except I couldn't find it under the snow. Today was also pretty nice.

Our neighbor said she went out Friday night because their dog was barking at about 12:30am and as she looked up toward our fort there was a huge raccoon hanging on the fort. She was wondering where their three cats has disappeared to and now she thinks she knows. Hurray, I'm on the racoon's side (sorry Kimbre).

Mom's wrapping presents like mad so if yours hasn't arrived yet don't panic. She knows the postal delivery schedule better than they do.

We have a couple in our ward, he is from south Idaho and she is from Hungary. Her mother (a non-member) is here in the states for the first time and is staying with them. We asked the couple to speak today and suggested they give part of their talks in Hungarian or as least bear their testimonies in Hungarian. He spoke first and did a great job and then she spoke and then gave a long testimony at the end. Needles to say there were a few tears in the congregation.

Have fun preparing for Christmas.

Great Segue, Brant

I'm trying to use more of my corporate vocabulary to "leverage" my posts.

Speaking of Christmas giving. My team at work volunteered at the Salvation Army last Wednesday. We helped them to sort gifts that were donated. The donations were received from people that picked tags off giving trees and the like. All of the gifts were then collected and brought to the Salvation Army, where they were grouped by families. Our job was to review the gifts and cross-reference the actual purchases with the requests from the families. If any significant items were missing, or if one child received less than his siblings, we tried to "fill the void" with extra gifts. It was very moving to see the personalities behind the tags. Many families had three, four, and five children. Many were Hispanic. Almost all of them asked for clothing: pants, shirts, shoes, coats. They also asked for games (Spiderman and Transformers), and dolls (Barbies and Bratz, I won't comment on that). One girl received a pair of shoes just like the ones that Raya wears. Like Brant said, it was good to see so many and so much that was donated. It was also sad to realize that there are so many people in need.
Lisa coordinated an activity with the primary this year where they adopted a family. They provided gifts and clothing for everyone. It was a great activity. Braxton and Kanyon understand the concept.

Can you guess which one in the picture is Lisa. Hint, she has two olders sisters and a younger brother.

HO HO HO!

"Santa is clean shaven this year"

This week was Tyler's "holiday" concert. He got a chance to play Santa Claus. The second graders were dressed as Christmas trees and Mr. and Mrs. Claus had to pick out a tree. We got there 45 min early to get a seat and the show lasted 20 mins. Ah, the joys of parenthood. The next day, Ty dressed up as St. Nick again and went around to the Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade classes reading 'Twas the Night before Christmas. I think he had to read the poem about 9 times by the time he was done. He did a good job and Aimee was happy to have her brother come to her class.

Saturday, the primary had a Christmas around the world activity. I shared a little about Brazilian Christmas customs. I spoke about swimming at the beach, the big meal at night, secret Santas, and midnight Mass. To complete my presentation, I went dressed in my swimming shorts. Man it was cold in that classroom.

It has been neat to see the Christmas season through the eyes of church leadership this year. There are a lot of families with needs, which makes me thankful for a warm home and warm food. On the other hand, it is amazing to see the quiet donations that come pouring in. Les, put out an email asking for donations to this year's Christmas baskets. You would not believe the flood gates of giving that were opened. They received some pretty large gift cards to various stores, all given anonymously and quietly.

We look forward to visiting the homeland this weekend!!! See you soon!

Brant

one more thing

trav wanted you all to know that we have in our possession an exact replica of this object in Christmas ornament form:

A German Christmas Tradition

Trav and I have often had lengthy discussions about my (and his/your) German heritage. For Trav, the fact that the Zirkers have some German blood doesn't matter two shakes. For me, being of German descent is very influential in my life (as is the Irish and English- I usually don't feel so connected to my Danish side, however). My great-grandma was off-the-boat Irish, and she married a 1st generation German Immigrant- perhaps the recentness of my family's emigration is why I feel more of a connection to it. Or maybe it's that my grandpa was raised to be a staunch, stoic, emotionless German man, he raised his family the same way, and my mother tried very hard (when my father wasn't paying attention) to do the same. We still eat lots of different types of German food (especially cookies) and sing German songs (sometimes even in German). Anyway. I recently discovered the meaning behind one of my German traditions.

So I have this Christmas ornament in the shape of a pickle. I've had this ornament for years and always wondered why on earth someone would choose to put a pickle on their Christmas tree...and then I would dutifully hang up the pickle somewhere on the tree where it wouldn't be seen very often.

BUT. There is an exciting meaning behind this pickle! Although the accuracy of this tradition has been disputed (some say it's more of a German immigrant thing) it's supposedly a German tradition (I didn't even know it) and this is what happens: on Christmas Eve the family takes out the pickle and the parents hide it somewhere on the the Christmas tree. Then, on Christmas morning, the children hunt through the tree, looking for the pickle. The child to find the pickle first wins a special prize. Cool, eh? So I've decided that next year the Kelly and Travis Zirker family are going to officially begin the pickle tradition. Or rather, Trav will hide the pickle for me and give me a prize when I find it.

Mustachio Club

There are quite a few law students in our ward. The have a club called the something Mustachio Club. It was actually started by one of the guys from our ward. After Thanksgiving you sign up, clean shaven, and then grow whatever facial hair they pick for the year and see who wins by Christmas. My councilor was telling me about it during sacrament meeting a couple of weeks ago when all the law students in the ward stared showing up with new mustaches, beards, sideburns, etc. (this year the stile is "open" to whatever you want to grow). So I came home and sent him this picture of me when I worked for Tsug just after Mom and I were married. He liked it and sent it to the other law students in the ward. I am now an "honorary" member of the Mustachio Club.

Just thought it was kind of fun.

Sweet Sugar Plum Fairies!

Here are this year's creations. We had planned on going all out and making true gingerbread houses this year, but Les got sick on us. (She is feeling better now, thanks for asking.) Instead, we went the graham cracker route. Each is different, as Ty decided his needed a garage and Katie wanted nothing fancy with hers.

This weekend I got my fill of Christmas productions. Leslie has always wanted to see the Nutcraker ballet, so Friday night I took one for the team and went with her. It was okay, but once in a life is good for me. (One word for you-bulges.)

Saturday, Les was sick so I took the kids to the Colorado Childrens Chorale's Christmas program. A lady in our ward is their accompanist. We rode the light rail downtown to Denver Performing Arts complex which is always fun. Ty and Aimee's favorite part was Santa's arrival at the end.

That night was our ward Christmas party. It was low key and just right. Plenty of time to visit and socialize while eating some good ham, sweet potatoes, and pecan pie. They did the nativity and Aimee and Katie were shepards. Ty was a wise man. It was fun to see all the primary kids up there in their robes, pillow cases and garland halos. I could just imagine it being performed in someone's living room on Christmas Eve.

Saturday night we received about 4 or 5 inches of snow. It was awesome and is starting to look and feel more and more like Christmas. Nothing like curling up in a warm home and watching the snow come down.

Feliz Natal!

Brant

I Spy!!!!

Is that Garfield I see?

Old pictures

This is what Halloween looked like this year at our house. Brandon and Michelle provided the oranges and jello and we provided the sloppy joes and carrotts.

I had a Karate tournament about a month ago and this is a picture of my group before we did our forms and sparring. I was grouped in with the over 18 heavy weights because there weren't enough light weights. I have some video from the tournament but I haven't taken the time to figure out how to put it on the computer yet.


This is Kelly enjoying some of her birthday presents. Her friends got her the shiny new boots(she almost wore them to church today and she has been stepping in every puddle that she sees) and she used her b-day money to buy an ipod.


We finally got a bunch of snow and we are now down one screen door panel because of the neighborhood snow ball fight.

Quick Update

Just a note to tell you we're still alive and kicking. Friday night was our ward Christmas party. We had a good turn-out and Santa showed up. He had an uncanny resemblance to Matt Lautuala, a fellow we've known for quite a few years. He is Polynesian and played football for the Uof I and then stayed in Moscow. He and his wife were in our home ward for a while. Needless to say the ward Santa suit just about didn't cover him. He is a "big" boy.

Saturday Seth and Weston took Mom and I down to the Latah fair grounds to see the model train club's display. It is a bunch of men who never outgrew wanting to play with trains. We had a good time. Santa was there too. We came home and Seth helped me put up the Christmas lights.

We went to the Stake Music Program tonight. Seth and 7 others from our ward sang in an octet. They did a super job. He also sang with our elders quorum in sacrament meeting. They sounded fantastic.

It snowed about half an inch this afternoon. Back to work tomorrow. Hope you are enjoying the season.

Brant, if you have any study materials that might help me pass my ham radio license bring them up for Christmas.

Miscellaneous Updates.

Yesterday some young men helped me to pick up a washer and dryer from a co-worker's house and deliver it to my neighbor. Her dryer is broken and she had tons of laundry stacked in her front room. I noticed this last weekend and decided to do something about it. Sunday we prayed and fasted that we could find a free washer/dryer for her. Like President Hinckley says: I then got off my knees and got to work. I sent out an email to several of my co-workers. Many of them suggested I look on-line, but one told me that his parents had a set in their basement that they no longer used (except as a place to store stuff on). I made the arrangements and yesterday we transported a green dryer and a yellow (the same yellow as mom's old appliances) to my neighbor. Prayer and fasting work.
Last Saturday I lost a ring I got from my mission. I had been wearing it on my ring finger because my wedding ring is too big. This was the same Saturday that we went out in the forest to cut down a pine tree, and the same Saturday that I hung the Christmas lights outside. I took my gloves on and off numerous times that day. I don't have the faith enough to ask for help finding it. Mom, does this sound like praying to find a missing diamond?
Friday I took Kanyon swimming. We stayed in the three foot pool the whole time. Kanyon's mouth is right around 3', so he had to bob on his tiptoes the whole night. But he loved it. We went out to McDonald's afterwards and got Chicken Nuggets.
I am now attempting to make a batch of Grandma Zirker's (rest her soul) cinnamon twists. Wish me luck. I may be up until midnight.

Man vs. Wild

Does anyone ever watch Man vs. Wild on the Discovery Channel? It is quite possibly one of the bestest shows on TV. For example, last night Bear Grylls jumped out of a helicopter into the Sahara (which, incidentally, in Arabic means "desert") Desert and then hooked up with some Berber nomads and wandered around the desert eating snakes and beetles. To top it all off he pulled a Luke Skywalker and showed how you could sleep inside of a dead camel if you needed to wait out a sand storm. Of course he didn't have a light saber to cut the camel open like Luke used on the taun taun but it was still fairly impressive.


In other news, the mountains around us have received around 3 feet of snow and Salt Lake has about one in the valley and we only got a measly 1/2 inch of snow and a bunch of rain.

If your really want to see Bear in action here is a nice little video.

Just For Fun

I like this scene (minus the angel wings)

The other night Mom was out at the mall wrapping presents for Hospice of the Palouse so I got the camera and walked over to Good Sam and took a bunch of pictures of all their lights and displays. They always look nice this time of year.

Merry Christmas

It's Been Awhile

Here are some pictures Leslie took for us. Forget about the tree, do you see an odd shadow on our rear hatch? We had a little incident last week on our way home from the temple (and Lisa's birthday dinner). We were stopped at a light near University and C-470 when the man behind us jumped the gun a little. His 4Runner's bumper hit us right in the license plate and dented in our back door. So far, it looks like there was no other damage, but we can't open the door. We already got an insurance check; just need to find time to take it in to the shop. No one was hurt and the man was apologetic.

Braxton and I went swimming for a daddy-son date last Friday. He had a great time and went down the water slide several times, by himself. This Friday it is Kanyon's turn.

I am working with my presidency to plan and carry out a Mission Conference Day in January. We'll keep you posted.

K.I.T.

P.S. Kelly, "you are a tornado of anger".

Wow, What a Nice Day

Anybody recognize these two pictures?

You would have thought it was spring in Moscow. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and it was 59 degrees. I had saved up several outside repair jobs at a couple of buildings and so I did them today. It starts to cool off tomorrow (45 degrees) and back to sub-freezing by the weekend. It rained for a couple of days so all our snow is gone. One of the couples from our ward was coming back from Boise on Sunday and got stuck in a white-out blizzard in Grangeville. They called wanting to know what to do. I referred them to my friend in Grangeville that does all the woodwork in the temples (Spokane, Samoa, Tahiti, etc). He put them up for a couple of hours and then found that the "back way" out of Grangeville was still open and not snowing so he sent them down the south fork of the Clearwater through Kamiah and Orofino and they make it home safely. All the flooding you hear about on the news is on the west side of Washington and really not affecting us here.

Grandpa just had his 4 month cancer check-up. He had one small spot surgically removed and a bunch burned off but they think he will be good for another 6 months.

Mom is at the mall wrapping gifts for Hospice of the Palouse so I think I'll go over and visit with Grandpa for a while.

Seth had his foot checked and x-rayed today. Nothing broken just pulled and tore things. It is healing but he has to wear a brace and needs to exercised to get the movement back. The doctor told him he isn't as young as he used to be. Twenty seven is getting pretty old.

That's it for now.

Dad

Inquiring minds want to know

Dad, what ever happened with your shoulder?

Christmas time is here...(I'm sure you can finish the song.)

The finished project!!!

"Speak softly and..."

"Now where is this family going to drag me off to?"

This week we hit the Christmas season full force. Saturday we went with Kevin and clan to cut down a tree. After hiking f-o-r-e-v-e-r (or maybe just a quarter of a mile) and on the verge of starvation (or just hungry for lunch) we found the perfect tree. Mr. Willowby would have been proud! The above pictures show the fruits of our labors.

Friday night was the downtown Christmas parade. We weren't going to go because it was too cold but a friend called us at the last minute to invite us over to their hotel room for a potluck dinner and then to watch the parade. We ate, left Kori in the room with a friend and the rest of us had a fun time in the cold watching the parade. The friend brought tall step ladders (a yearly tradition we found out) and the kids watched most of the parade high on the ladders. I'll put a picture of Katie on the cousin blog. It was a lot of fun.

The other fun adventure this week was hanging the icicle lights on the house. After many years our old sets gave up the ghost. I trashed them all and started over with new strings of icicle lights. They work great and look good except for the fact that they won't hang down and so my house is covered with bunches of 4 inch icicles. I'm hoping as time goes on the icicles will slowly straighten out. We had fun looking at our short icicles and wondering what the neighborhood is thinking.

Have a great week!

Brant