Little Monkey

The most recent general conference of the Church was held a couple of weeks ago. The weekend before that, the Church also held the first-ever women's meeting, and all LDS women aged eight and older were invited to attend.

(Yep, I have some catching up to do yet again here on Electric Bassoon.)

At any rate, while the women in the family were attending the women's meeting, Ben, Steve, nine-month-old Christian, and I had a guys' night out together, first enjoying dinner at Sizzler together, then going over to Ben's and Adi's place to watch the Real Salt Lake soccer game.

As a nine-month-old, Christian has a bedtime much earlier than ours, though Ben gave him a bath before putting him down to sleep. His bathrobe resembles a monkey.

Basketball Time with Kylee

My 16-year-old niece Kylee made it on the Layton High School sophomore girls basketball team this year. The team has been doing very well, having lost only two games all season.

I finally made it to a game Friday afternoon, which was also Valentine's Day. The Lancers beat the Northridge Knights by a score of 56-26. Though Kylee is not a starter, she got about five minutes' playing time, shooting 2-2 and scoring four points. She also added a couple of steals and generally played very well and aggressively.

After the game, I snapped the above photo of her alongside her dad, my brother Mike. She wears #5, which was also Mike's number when he played sports.

Weekend of Reunions

I'm a week late in posting, but I made it out to Spring Mobile Ballpark in Salt Lake City last Friday, July 19, to attend what has amounted to my annual Salt Lake Bees' baseball game. Mike had obtained some great tickets (behind home plate) through his work, and he invited Biz, Jeff, Kylee, and me to tag along for the evening.

As for the game, well, the hometown squad was beaten soundly, 18-7, which sounds more like a football score than a baseball one. There were also two grand slam home runs, which is something I had never seen live, as well as multiple other two- and three-run homers throughout the skirmish.

The real highlight of the evening, however, was the appearance of five actors from the 1993 movie The Sandlot at the ballpark. They, along with the film's director, were in town to commemorate the 20th anniversary of having filmed the movie in Salt Lake, and, in addition, they sang "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh-inning stretch.

Following the game, I went over to the nearby Off Broadway Theater to perform with my Improvables teammates Bryan and Keenan in a head-to-head matchup with our sister troupe Laughing Stock. This was another reunion for me, as Improvables co-founder Eric Jensen appeared on the Laughing Stock team, and it was also my first performance on the OBT stage since I discovered their Improv-okie nights and began taking improv classes there approximately 11 years ago.

My "weekend of reunions" was rounded out Saturday night by my 20-year high school reunion at the Little America hotel in downtown Salt Lake. I saw many old friends from the Bountiful High class of '93 there and was able to catch up with them, as well as meet their spouses.

Day 307: Ben and the ECTO-1

On Wednesday night, Summer was at home feeling sick, so I got to take the extra ticket and go with Ben, Adi, and Steve to the Utah Jazz home opener against the Dallas Mavericks. We first ate dinner together at Crown Burger before heading over to EnergySolutions Arena.

As we left the parking lot, we discovered that fellow patron had brought his or her old school ambulance, which looked a lot like the Ghostbusters' mode of transportation from the movie of the same name. Ben then posed for the above picture alongiside it.

Incidentally, the new-look Jazz played a fantastic game, beating the Mavericks 113-94.

Day 289: Jackson's Soccer Medal

Jackson just completed his first season playing recreation soccer, and it was a very successful one. I didn't make it to most of the games, but from what I understand from his weekly reports, he regularly scored multiple goals in each game.

Following Saturday's final game on the schedule, he paraded around both his soccer jersey and his medal, which reads "Winner," that he was given.

He also wore it (the medal) to church yesterday.

Day 271: Soccer Time with Kylee

My 14-year-old Kylee, although only a ninth grader, made it onto Layton High School's Junior Varsity soccer team this year. I have not been too consistent in attending her games, though I made it to this evening's matchup against Davis.

Kylee played about half the game and gave a great effort as the team's left forward. Layton went on to prevail 2-1, evening their record on the season to 7-7.

Day 265: Extreme Carnival

Earlier tonight, before heading over to improv, I attended the "Extreme Carnival" hosted by the good people of our Institute class, yet another highly enjoyable activity in this mid-singles conference week for which we are having an activity every day.

This Extreme Carnival featured larger-than-life versions of several popular and classic board games and activities, including "Giant Jenga," demonstrated here by Ashley (no, she did not topple the tower; that happened later):

"Human Bowling," demonstrated here by Breann:

"Life-Size Angry Birds," designed with painstaking care by Garrett:

. . . and many more.

Good times were had by all.

Day 260: Post #666/BYU vs. Utah 2012

Today marks my 666th post on Disconcertingly Choppy since starting this blog (as "The Epistle of Jon") about four years ago.

While you ponder on that, be ye superstitious or not, there was a football game played locally last night between two local universities, BYU and Utah. Perhaps you have heard something about it. It is something of the most hotly contested sporting event of the year 'round these parts.

Ben and Adi hosted a viewing party at their home for both sides of their family, which included a handful of our mutual friends, to boot. It served as a sort of housewarming party for their new abode, as we had not previously congregated there for any type of gathering.

Most of us rooted for BYU with the exception of Adi and her parents, who are die-hard U. of U. fans. Adi's mother brought Ute tortilla chips, which I didn't even know existed until now:

and red and blue drinking cups:

Ben, meanwhile, dressed up Saru in a BYU jersey:

The game was full of ups and downs, with one of the wildest finishes I've ever seen in a football game. The Utes ended up prevailing, 24-21, winning their third consecutive game in the rivalry.

Perhaps the less said about that the better. At any rate, good times were had by all.

Day 245: RSL Beats D.C. United

Last night, Mike invited me to join him, Jana, and the kids at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy for my second Real Salt Lake MLS match of the season. RSL games are always a blast to attend, so of course I accepted without hesitation.

The weather was not exactly cooperating, and after the clock had reached only 3:15, officials suspended play due to lightning strikes near the area. We, along with many other fans, waited for the storm to pass for more than an hour until the game resumed by about 8:30 p.m.

At halftime, Kylee and one other fan were involved in a competition to be named that evening's "King of the Game" (a Burger King promotion), based on their cheering and overall enthusiasm and such. As judged by Leo the Lion, the team mascot, Kylee was declared winner and not only appeared on the video screen of the scoreboard but also won a miniature soccer ball, as well as an RSL scarf.

As for the game itself, RSL really hung in there with the rain, which came and went multiple times throughout the evening, and escaped with a 1-0 victory. Especially impressive was goalkeeper Nick Rimando, who made several crucial saves to protect the slim lead.

Day 225: Kenna's Medal

Olympic athletes weren't the only people who earned medals over the weekend.


Kenna and her soccer team won medals - as she demonstrates here for the camera - for a tournament they competed in Saturday and won.

Day 224: USA! USA!

Alas, the 30th Summer Olympic Games in London, England, are now a thing of the past. I've enjoyed watching several international sporting events over the past 16 days and have found a newfound surge in love for my country - dare I say patriotism? - as the U.S. athletes have performed very well, earning 46 golds and 104 total medals.


Mom reflected that sentiment in these cupcakes, which she brought for us to share at tonight's family dinner.

Day 208: Goooooal!

Earlier tonight, I finally made it out to Rio Tinto Stadium for my first Real Salt Lake soccer game of the 2012 season, thanks to an invitation from Robyn to attend It was a warm, not hot, summer evening and really pretty good soccer-watching weather. Sitting five rows back in the northwest corner, we enjoyed watching the home team cruise to a 2-1 victory over Vancouver.

RSL's first goal, putting them up 1-0 in the first half, was scored by Alvaro Saborio on a penalty kick when a Vancouver player purposely deflected the ball with his hand to stop what was sure to be a goal. I captured the moment from our vantage point in the stands.

He lines up to shoot . . .

. . . and scores! It was a great game.

Day 205: Sticky Fingers

Last week wasn't a good week for fingers in our family. I've already posted about Jackson's escapade with the plumber nut and his trip to the Primary Children's emergency room. It turns out that, on the very same day, Jeff was playing football with some friends and broke his pinky finger while making a catch. At Sunday's family dinner, he showed up wearing this splint and cast:

Even so, he was a good sport about it and consented to have his picture taken for Project 366.

Day 192: Family Soccer Game

By nature, we're a very competitive family - individually and, when we face off against each other in games or sports, collectively sometimes, too.

In last week's post on our family's Fourth of July activities, I mentioned in passing that we (my siblings, nieces, nephews, cousins, and I) participated in a soccer game together, and I figured it deserved its own post and pictures. We love soccer. My siblings and I grew up playing recreational soccer, and both Kylee and McKenna currently play on competition teams.

As a result, this was one of those times when the competitive side came out in more than one of us. Fortunately, it was all in good fun.

Another fortunate thing: I do not have a photo of the moment when I tore a large hole in my pants.

Day 189: Sky Rockets in Flight

Though the Independence Day holiday was three days ago, I had another chance to see a fireworks show tonight at Spring Mobile ballpark following the Salt Lake Bees' AAA game against the Tacoma Rainiers. It was a pretty good, albeit brief, fireworks show.

We also, as I mentioned, saw a baseball game, thanks to several free tickets that Ben and Adi provided for Steve, Summer, myself, and a number of our mutual friends. It had been about three years since I last attended a Bees game, and even though the home team lost, 13-5, it is always good to sit at a balllpark to enjoy a warm summer evening with family and friends.

Day 179: T-Ball Time with Luke

Me: How many outs, Luke?

Luke: Grape! Or Cherry!

If you're familiar with the Brian Regan routine about his days playing Little League baseball, then the above conversation will make sense. Even if it doesn't, suffice me to say that, earlier tonight, I finally made it out to one of my nephew Luke's t-ball games at Tolman Elementary in Bountiful.

It's not the World Series, of course, but Luke loves to play the game, and he and his teammates enjoyed themselves and played hard.


Incidentally, Luke did go home with a grape-flavored Kool-Aid treat.

Day 100: Jazz vs. the Spurs

Earlier tonight, the boys in the family and a handful of Steve's friends celebrated Steve's bachelor party. Yes, it is time once again to be getting ready for yet another upcoming family wedding.

Steve selected going to the Utah Jazz vs. San Antonio Spurs game for this party, and Ben found us a good package deal on tickets. We ended up having to sit in the upper deck, but those are the breaks.

It was about as wild an evening as you'd expect for an LDS bachelor party.

San Antonio played without its three biggest stars - Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili - making it somewhat of an easier contest for the home team, but who's complaining? The Jazz eked out a 91-84 victory, and a win is still a win. We enjoyed watching the game.

Day 75: Tetherball

Today's photos are also from the aforementioned family trip over to the park from earlier in the week. While we were over there, Luke discovered tetherball for the first time and found that he really enjoyed the game.

I was a little tempted to go all Napoleon Dynamite on him, but the feeling soon passed. It's really a great game and one I hadn't played in a very long time.

Day 36: Super Sunday and Uncle Paco, the Punching Bag

Earlier today, there was a football game on TV. Perhaps you heard about it, or maybe you even watched it yourself.

Anyhoo, the family gathered for this annual event up at Mike and Jana's home in Layton and also to enjoy a good Sunday dinner together, with Mike serving up hamburgers from the grill.

After taking the following photo, I told Biz that I thought her glasses made her look like Amy Farrah Fowler from "The Big Bang Theory." You be the judge:

If you agree with me on this, and she should happen to find out about it, please be forewarned that she may punch you in the arm.

Speaking of which, at another point during the day, I had my camera out when Jackson randomly came up to me and proceeded to punch me repeatedly in the stomach. Here's more or less what it looked like:

You can see the right hand starting to swing forward and beginning to form a fist.

Later, I took this picture of the two three-year-olds, Jackson and his cousin Kira, as they ate dinner together:

Jackson lifted up his right hand, almost as if to say: "No pictures, please. Remember what happened the last time you messed with me, buddy?"

I couldn't make up this stuff if I tried.

Day 35: Ben's Bachelor Party

Earlier tonight, a good group of family members and old friends and I gathered to celebrate Ben's bachelor party, and we did so in pretty much the wildest fashion that a bunch of LDS guys can have a bachelor party: by going bowling and eating pizza.

First up was bowling at Bountiful Bowl, where most of the gang bowled a couple of games each.

Included among the group was the youngest bachelor, 12-year-old Dallin.

Steve even set a new personal best with an impressive score of 208.

Gary and I, meanwhile, opted to play a few games of pool. I must say that Gary is a much better pool player than he had led me to believe.

Afterward, we adjourned to Steve's and Ben's place for pizza, which we consumed while watching the Utah Jazz vs. L.A. Lakers game on TV. Fortunately, the good guys (the Jazz, of course) pulled out the victory.

Ben now has less than a week of bachelorhood left. It's going to be an eventful week.