thanksgiving ot'seven

so this year was the year to have everyone invade so cal and our house. the hunsakers and remaining heathfield laner's came down via the motor home and a 20 hour trip, being capped off by some rush our traffic. they got here Tuesday night.

Wednesday morning josh and i took the kids (makenzie, damon and ethan) to Disneyland. Rachel came along for the ride gratis and so did jean. we ended up getting on most of the rides that we wanted to.

part of the fun of taking the kids is to see how they react to the characters as well as the rides. one of the places that ethan loves is Mickeys toon town. there at goofy's house you can play in his backyard, there are slides, things to climb on, jump off and just let some energy out. one of the the funniest things that i have ever seen happened here. ethan loves the fact that there is a leaky hose that squirts up water, Ethan likes to fill his mouth up and spit it out. not only does he recycle the water but he guards that feature from all of the other kids in the area with his little lobster pinch. damon saw what was going on and got in on the action. well Damon does not believe in the "dispose of the water in your mouth before leaving the hose area." so damon would walk around with the water, cheeks to capacity. so i am over by the hose area and i loose track of where damon is at for a moment. i look over to the slide to see a man wiping something from his face and shirt. then i hear him say "that kid just spit on me." i am not sure, just then i see damon pop his head out and in that instance i put it together as damon goes down the slide, runs over to the hose and refills. i felt kinda bad not going over and apologizing but i was laughing too hard. don't get in damons way.
towards the end of the night we ended up over near space mountain waiting to see if the line would die down. after grabbing something to eat we were next this giant marble ball. it is 1000 pounds and floats on water. it spins around. josh and i kept slowing it down and spinning it in the opposite direction. our sons had a different idea of what would be fun to do with this giant rock that was constantly wet. ethan and damon would disappear to the opposite side of the ball that we were on and then lick the ball. they would stand there with their tongues extended and just lick it as it went around. by the end their shirts were soaked.
being down here around Hollywood, not that Perris is just over the hill from all of the studios but there is always the chance that you will see some stars. at Disneyland i have seen Ricky Schroder, and a few other not so famous people. but today was to be different we rode on the tea cups with Heidi Klum and her kids. her husband, Seal, was on the side taking photos. i wish that i would have been more attentive to snap up some paparazzi type pictures, but the only ones that i got were not too clear of them. in each of these pictures they are in them, or one of them is in them, just in case you were wondering. they had their faces painted up, so you could not recognize them right off. later that day i ran into some friends from BYUH who were visiting from Vegas.
on Thursday we did the turkey bowl at the park, only to relive the memories of that over the next few days, they were whisked away with the wintergreen smell and some icy hot, getting old stinks. cherisse and i, and we took the kids, went down to the storrs for thanksgiving down there while the rest of the dyers went out to long beach. it was fun to see the monsons and the rest of the gang.
Friday morning we decided that we were going to have thanksgiving with the dyers today. a few jetted out to see if they could find some black Friday deals. Adrian went and picked up luke who flew into Ontario. then the boys took the kids over to the march air museum, but before we stopped by the perris fair grounds to check out the kart racing. after looking at all of the displays inside we then went to look at all of the planes outside. the wind was blowing harder than my sister trying to save a buck on a sandwich in London. Claire and Emily were nice enough to take the kids back to the motor home. we then fought the dust storm to see all the planes. later that day we had the turkey with all of the fixings. i liked it because it seemed like there was the right amount of food, not overdone like the typical dyer thanksgiving. that may have been because my fridge was not bulging with leftovers until 2008.
so once the dishwasher was loaded the guys hopped in the white sienna and rode off west to the LA convention center to check out the auto show. the la auto show is one of the largest in the world. some of the highlights were the concept cars, the $1,000,000 lambo Reventón, the nissan g-tr, Aston Martin’s V-8 Vantage N400, the ferrari's, the $350.000 volvo (why), mercedes, and the Porsche display. old man dyer was amazed that there were no Studebaker's, spend most of his time checking out the Fords, Chevy's and the new Dodge mini-van, and left the show with the most free stuff. he also spent the most time schmoozing and asking questions like, "what is a scion? Dr. heder told me about that i think." afterwards we went in a long search of the Hollywood sign, only to find out that it was not lighted. the evening was capped off by driving by celebrity houses off of sunset. you know that you are not in turner anymore when someone does not have room in their garage, and has to park the Ferrari on the curb in front of their house.
7 am on Saturday morning some early risers kicked off the first ever dyer family fun run. i will have to post the results later. everyones favorite post run highlight was watching ashton burn up the asphalt.
later on we attempted to take family pictures which was mainly a battle of keeping the little boys out of the water and mud. good times trying to organize the brood to get some quality shots in the late afternoon. that night the condensed milk challenge was scratched but the 2007 ping-pong champion was crowned, Luke.
Sunday everyone was up early to make it to church, 8:30 am, and for tessa's baby blessing. cherisse's family sent the precedent by being there 45 minutes and they dyers rolled in to the chapel just in time. afterwards we headed back to our place for some food and to help pack up those who were driving back to OR and UT.

i would just like to say thanks for the help, time, effort, and the memories of this family function. thanks.

petco park

on Saturday afternoon we went down to Petco park and played some baseball. it was very unorthodox but we had fun. i think that the favorite park of makenzie and ethan was running the bases. ethan was usually off to the side acting as the base coach, usually yelling "GO! GO! GO!," in the middle of a pitch. it was not like playing in the backyard with all of the rules about the ball going over the fence but with a wiffle ball no one hit it too far.

Ruthless and Toothless

I was flossing last night and katink a'plink my tooth fell in the sink. Then it ricocheted out and landed on the bathroom floor. Ever since my dive in Mexico my mouth has been mutated into a cyborg collage of modern dentistry. The "tooth" I have now is just a temporary crown on my implant, but tomorrow I get the permanent crown, which will stay on when I floss. I'm glad Dad has such good dental insurance. It would be nice to have a healthy mouth. I snapped a few pictures of my sad sad mouth before I managed to slide the tooth back on and look like luke again.

trees and waterfalls

Yellowstone. The scenery made me wish I had a the photo skill and deluxHiking last weekend without bugspray was fun. Mosquitoes like to bite me but it doesn't really irritate my skin. I know dad would have liked the eight mile hike around Cave Falls which is part ofe camera like ernesto because it was so so naturey. Here is what I was able to get with the sd400.

Meet Mitt

Lots of really awesome stuff happens in Idaho Falls. Mitt Romney came to town to raise some $ for the campaign and Gretzky and I went to welcome him off the plane. It hasn't been since Reagan that a presidential campaigner has visited Idaho Falls. Gretty shook his hand and I just snapped a few pics and tried not to get trampled by the aggressive grandmas, babies, and blue blazered right wingers. Romney will be back in town on the 4th for our grandiose display of fireworks. A guy in my bishopric owns Idaho and he's the reason Mitt comes to visit, and he's the one who puts 7,000 bangs and booms in the air on the 4th. It should be a blogworthy event.

Emily's Diamonte

It was Greta's Birthday so I had Emily Martha Dyer make her a limited edition shirt called "The Diamonte" from her post graduate entrepreneurshipisms. I even got her to make me a light blue shirt with the same design and I'm wearing it right now as I type this blog. It might actually be my new favorite shirt because I like blue and it fits well too, not too baggy, not too tight, Em's shirt fits me just right. Here is her design and Greta wearing her shirt, on her birthday, in the park with some aguamelon.

a few from zions

all of these pictures crack me up.

3 amigos - the 3 amigos sitting there. you go from dirty to cleaner to cleanest. someone has taught makenna to cross her legs. cherisse and i are proud parents because ethan is sitting, and sat long enough to take a picture. makenna being the oldest of the 3 sat down, i am not sure if she did it on her own or was instructed to, either way she set the example. i know that no one told her how to sit, but very proper.
april and ashton - april making sure that ashton is clean for the ride back home. ethan on the other hand i think rode home wearing his banana Popsicle as well as some pizza.
mom and popsicle - mom asking something about the ingredients in the Popsicle, if it is safe to be in the tree, how many credit card points were tallied up with the purchase of that camera, who put all of the farm equipment in this little park, if there was a travel agency in the hurricane, if i knew that i had a bogie in my nose, how much money lauren wanted if mom could pop that zit on the back of her neck, why it would be a good idea for all of us to move back up to move up to oregon, upset by my answer to someones question as to how many days she has been in the same clothes, or many other possibilities.
shasta lauren - lauren on her 4th shasta soda. gotta try them all.
ethan & adrian - ethan having fun with poopy papa. dad making sure that the hat is still protecting the wisps of hair that are still attatched to his scalp.
nighty night - last but not least dad trying to get some old man afternoon sleep. just a little nap. as i remember this was short lived. at one point he was all sprawled out and relaxed, so relaxed he let one of his little friend slide out. we all had a good laugh. nothing like dad to break the silence and wind. just helping everyone feel comfortable and relaxed.

Gems from the basement

Some classics unearthed from the basement.

I am not full of wit at the moment. But if anyone wants to add captions with some humor for these pictures, feel free.

Classic Dyer family photo.

2 words
lauren's glasses!
dad's stash!









The front door.
A) Mom and dad were hoping one of the kids would walk out the front door and disappear, one less mouth to feed.
B) This will show those crazy 7th Day Adventists from knocking on our door!

"thanks for showing us what the super vacuum does but we are not interested, let me show you out the door."
"we have all of this candy and no one comes to trick-or-treat"
notice the flowers to hide the fact that there is a huge pit just on the other side
"why don't you invite your friends over to play?"

Us Dyer kids sure do know how to have us some fun.

Claire is happy to be on this ride.
nobody told us that we needed snow to ride on the sled.
notice all of the rocks and other potential dangers that OSHA would have a hay day with.
another one of austin's games for everyone to participate.
pre thrill-ville
"don't worry Claire i have a good grip around your neck, you will be fine"

Styles for potential mocking

that is what i wore last night when i went down to Disneyland with makenzie and ethan.
this picture was probably taken right after the gates opened, did not want to miss a minute of "happiest place on earth"
8 kids @ Disneyland, what a bold adventure for mom and dad to take us on
i think Luke still has those shorts, ask Greta

As portrayed in this picture, mom does not only pick her own nose, her children's noses, pop pimples, but also extracts the boogies from all of nature.

another one for moms "being funny" portfolio
they don't have moose in england
with a little hollandaise sauce, brown sugar carrots, these things are a delicacy in eastern Africa and we can have them for thanksgiving
just another nostril that mom can check off her list
this was the 35th nose that mom violated in the animal museum that day

Ahh.. no words..

must not have been heathfield lane, i see grass
the first time that Lauren and April started fighting
largely unknow child #9 that lives in the basement with 4 legs, 2 butts, and 2 arms
i know for sure that this is not Luke and Austin, well maybe

quadruple date

For the first time in recorded history Three Dyer siblings got together to go out for dinner and as an added bonus: it was FUN. Lauren and Ernest. Luke and Greta. April and Jake and Joanna (Greta's sister) and her husband Daryl. it was a quadruple date. We all met at April's house on a friday night and wend to the Mandarin for a chinese dinner. Everyone got along and we have a picture to prove it . I spilled water on Joanna and Lauren ordered tea...but other than that the night went well.

To add to the amazement we went back to the Smith house on Sanford and CHATTED. yeah we talked about the Dyers. We talked about the Joneses and we talked about Mitt Romney and we even talked about Dog the Bounty Hunter. Please remind me if I missed anything but my favorite part of the night was when Ernest did the australian irish accent of Greta at the bar....oh and when Lauren looked like she was going to cry about how scary spiders are.

The party lasted til almost midnight, when we were all sufficiently wasted off girl scout cookies and gummi bears. Everyone managed to tell a few stories, and the reputations of Mom's affinity for a song you can dance to and Dad's ability to measure within the nearest 1/32 of an inch were both discussed briefly.

real easter

In case this is the only Easter entry i think you should all know that lorenzo, ernesto, smiths and me (luke) were all at wendy's house in utah while all the frantic kiddies hunted out the plastic eggs littered over the yard. Little Kenna battled for the most eggs and I believe she won with her official total of "ONE HUNDRED" ...that's what she told me. It was a fun Easter with a wonderful church lesson about the TRUE meaning of easter followed by lots of food, candy and pastels. The time I had was equally as good as the potato salad which was Reeeeal very mmmMMM GOOOOd.

BREAKING NEWS: lauren is scared of soccer balls. AND spiders. Both of which will make her cry. Quote "Whay did God make spiders??!! Cry Cry sob sob sniffle sniffle Hold me Ernesto!!!"

MORE BREAKING NEWS: Post Easter pictures have been found of Makenna counting her "ONE HUNDRED" eggs which were actually audited and found to be only 52...and then "chief egg inspector" MOM looked them over for supposed salmonella, razor blades and rabbit droppings??? ...She then ordered kenna to "PAY dUEs" and give MOMmy her 30% commission to cover gas, birth, and the wicker basket handling fee. The blurred image makes it apparent that even then shutter speed of the camera wasn't fast enough to catch the tyrannical transaction. (I love you April and thanks for letting me stay with you. It was a lot of fun. I want a rematch of Memory next time I'm there.)

Disclaimer: the views expressed in this entry are purely objective and may or may not be based on actual facts. Actual facts are inherently boring so this entry is derived from pictures. pictures are the dots which i connect via my explanation. Photo journalism or libelous tabloids?? you decide.

in the lens of kenna

i (luke) had a week between semesters and i spent the majority of my time at the Smith house in NSL. Of course kenna and I played every game she owned. It was a lot of fun and I finally beat Rachel's high score of Pacman. I got progressively better and now I wiped rachel off the entire high score LIST. that's right I ended the week with 140 something thousand and rachels previous high of 45 thousand is no longer in the top 10. Pooint is...i gave four-year old and 30-year smart tennakenna my camera and these are some pictures she caught which i think deserve some merit. my favorite is the window screen.

navidad video

thanks to luke and lauren for putting together those videos for christmas. it is like a little time capsule for us to watch and kind of summarize the past year.
i don't know if it will last but makenzie loves to watch the christmas video. when we first got it in the mail, cherisse put it in and before it had been played once makenzie was saying that she wanted to go papa's house. cherisse asked her if she wanted to go down and see grandma down in san Diego, but she insisted that she wanted to go and see poopy papa at his house. she wanted to go right then and there. hop in the car and drive to Oregon. drive up there not realizing the distance that needed to be traveled. cherisse asked her if i could take her when i got home, and she said that i could come up later. thanks. i guess she did not want to miss going up to Oregon. so after all of our travels during the christmas break a good impression has been left on makenzie of Oregon and heathfield lane. she also mentioned when i finally got back that she did want to see tank and damon, sorry joel.

dc suprise

i told greta i was going to come see her in DC and OF COURSE she was excited but i told her the wrong week (on purpose). i wanted to surprise her by showing up a week early...but she has learned that 95% of the things i say are made up and figured out my plan the day i got there. I had everything planned out. I talked to her boss and made sure she had the right days off work and all the logistics, and i even told all my roommates. However the one roommate i didn't tell ended up reading greta the note i left "if greta calls tell her i am...OH Luke is gone uhhh at the library yeah...the library" So sherlock gretty solved that mystery but she was still glad when i showed up to see her a week early.

We did the DC thing for a couple days, museums and monuments and then we went to NY for a interview with an ad agency. In proper Dyer fashion we left without a full plan. We lived like gypsies and Greta was a good sport about it. We got there in time for church at the Manhattan ward where the temple is, and then we walked the city like we did in october. When it got late we went to Central Park and wrapped ourselves up in the pages of the NeW York Times to keep ourselves cozy. Soup kitchens' are awesome; Greta especially liked the minestrone. CALM DOWN MOM: I stayed with doug snarr's nephew and gretzky stayed with a girl she knew. We were safe. Monday i had the interview and all was well. We took the bus back to DC and life was good. we ate chinese food and sandwiches and some popcorn that Oprah really likes and it was a hoot. Greta got me a massage at some swanky spa and then she took me to baltimore airport.

That's my story.