National Treasure II

As many of you know National Treasure II is in theatres right now. Some of the filming was done at Mt. Rushmore and my favorite place to climb, Sylvan Lake. I got an e-mail today from a friend of mine Daryl Stisser who owns and operates Sylvan Rocks Climbing School.

Their crew was asked to guide the film crew to the rocks that overlook the lake, and they also did some safety work for the crews on top of Rushmore. They took a boat load of pictures and here is the link to check them out....

Happy New Year, by the way...enjoy the night of festivities and a day of football tomorrow.

I will blog on!!! and...End of the Year Awards

Ok, I will admit it...I think this happened a few months ago and it happened again...I had a notion of ending the blog.

But after last night I realized my place in life, and this 5 minutes a day I spend rambling on about my life and our family life events, in a way keeps our family and extended family closer.

Last night we had a post-Christmas party at my folks' house with my dad's sisters and their kids. After a while the talk turned to Living On Liquid, the laughs were hearty, and inside jokes about stories and comments on the website came out for all to enjoy.

I had a warm-fuzzy feeling to know that a little something I do keeps our family connected, I guess I am the family journalist...with the world wide web as our newspaper.

The end of the year always brings awards, top 10 lists and Best Of lists...so here is the awards from the Living On Liquid staff.

Most loyal Living On Liquid Visitor: After much debate Aunt Gloria wins this award...she told us there are only 3 websites she visits...Living On Liquid and the 2 funeral homes in our town. Yes, Debbie Downer gets her fill of family news and then heads on over to Welter's site to see who's dead! (Notice the 2 new hot links on the right hand side of the website to make things easy for Auntie Glo!) Honorable Mentions: Sally, Skipper and Verlie (Skipper and Verlie would have won this award but thier wives don't let them post comments for fear of hurting my feelings...come on guys start dishing it out again, we miss you!)

Best Fake Injuries Sustained Through False Reporting On This Website: Grandpa Bob...a blown out knee from caber-tossing gone wrong, and a nose injury from prize fighting on the East Coast...both injuries sound way more rad then how they actually happened...thanks for the artistic leeway, dad. Honorable Mention: Shaki the cat...who my mom almost successfully crushed with their 2,000 lbs. garage door...don't worry Shaki, Maxim has his Sunday School teachers praying for you and Grandma Penny!

Most Frequent International Visitor: Amber K. wins this one hands down...it's always nice to see that Uganda has Internet access. Honorable Mention: The Korean spamer that had Aunt Gloria convinced that all of our computers are now in the hands of Kim Jong-il.

Best Picture Posted: At Sally's request, my 2nd grade picture with the hemp necklace, velour shirt, stocking cap hair and a half-stoned look on my face...funny thing is...I look the same today, minus the 2nd grade innocence.

Best Linking Site To Living On Liquid: Minus Car Project...I get more outside the family visitors from this site than any other site. Mike is the man when it comes to blogging and saving the Earth...also takes a pretty good picture with the sweaty drummer from MeWithoutYou...good times.

Best Comments Posted: Aaron S...he posted the comment that shocked the Internet world after I lost my stupid dog in a sleet storm earlier this fall. Exactly 17 minutes after he posted it his mom called him to yell at him for being so mean to me. In all reality he was quoting lines from one of our favorite Adam Sandler movies and I was laughing with Brent as A.J. was getting chewed out. Aaron, may God have mercy on your soul! Honorable Mention: Skip and Verlie...this tag team - dynamic duo of retirees used to rip it up on the "post comments" section, but now have been shut down by their wives...I guess we know who wears the pants in those relationships!

Most Played Musician During Posts: Jack Johnson...I can't seem to figure out my Last.FM scrobbling tool all the time and I have a feeling Jack would have lost out to Eartha Kitt singing "Santa Baby" over the last few weeks, but here's to Jack!!! I am counting down the days to February when the new album drops...maybe an invite to the CD release party in Hawaii???

Visitor # 1,000: January 21, 2007 we tripped the "hit counter" over 1,000 here at Living On Liquid and I am almost 99% sure, Uncle Skipper was the 1,000th visitor...congrats. For being number 1,000 I invite you to go to the Living On Liquid webstore and buy yourself a new t-shirt. By the way we are nearing 10,000 hits! Can we do it before 2008? Only you can decide.

Most Controversial Post: July 20th's Harry Potter blog. I completly went off that day...I think it was some of my best work. BUT...I must have stepped on toes, because I was approached by an older friend who said a person came up to him with concerns about my blog and my beliefs.

They were a little miffed about my statement:

"Will the books challenge people's beliefs, thoughts and faith? Maybe not, but I hope so.Will it cause people to face the reality of darkness in the world, ie...in magic, wizards, demons and the occult? Maybe, and that's a good thing in my eyes...when is the last time any church had a 4 week session on demon possession? Never, but it still happens, and we sweep it under the rug.

Maybe because it is a powerful thing, and most of us are ill-equipped to deal with it's depth, mentally and spiritually. It's much like faith healing or speaking in tongues...oooooh, I stepped on some Mennonite toes there, yes I believe that God still preforms miracle healings, and I also believe Christians still speak in tongues."

I still stand by my statements, as my Bible still has those stories listed in the text.

Biggest News Story On Living On Liquid During 2007: The Great Flood of May. If I would have had a 3rd son I would have built an ark...I just didn't think we could get it done without a "Japheth". We got 10" in a couple days...then there was the infamous pontoon boat landing on our "shores". Finally 8 months after the event, the insurance company did what insurance companies are supposed to do...pay you for losses. Honorable Mention: House remodel completion...actually there is still some more to do, but that is a bad subject with the CEO of the family, and we won't bring it up...if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

Most Blogged About State: You would think the 605 would be the hands down winner here, but I guess I have a crush on Montana. Final score of posts about states...Montana 8, So-Dak 5, Idaho 2. Sorry Gov. Rounds...I guess I need a little more kick back from the Dept. of Tourism this year.

Best Guest Blogger: Cousin Brent...I think he did it from his BlackBerry in an airport all about airport travels! Thanks for giving me a break from the writing that day! By the way you will see some of Brent's work this New Year's Eve...when the ball drops in Times Square...you will see an ANHEUSER-BUSCH sign in the background...that's his project!

Finally MVP of Living On Liquid: My wife* and kids, there is no way I could put up the stats that I do each night without their help...they are the lifeblood of this blog, and without them I would have nothing to write about. However you might notice there is an asterisk by my wife's name...as she was listed in the Mitchell Report for using HGH and The Clear during the '06 season. But how else could she have got through almost a full year without a working kitchen!

Special thanks to Whiskeymilitia.com and Steepandcheap.com for making Christmas shopping for presents to myself and others easy...thanks to Wikipedia.com for giving descriptions to obscure references to readers during my posts...thanks to basec.net for still offering slow Internet dial-up connections to those of us who can't get a cable modem and don't want to pay $130 a month to a satellite Internet provider...special thanks anyone who comes to this site for a break from their busy days...Happy New Year for the gang at Living On Liquid.

Playing with the presents.

One of my favorite things about Christmas has always been playing with the presents, either that I received or now...the cool stuff my boys get.

Video games, action figures, Legos (that I put together), dinosaur bones (that I put together), remote controlled cars (That I ran the batteries out of), Nerf guns (That I shoot Steph with), we got it all this year, and it has been a blast.

My sister who is a great gift-giver sent Maxim a pair of snowshoes. Maxim had no idea what they were for, but last night we strapped them on and went on a little expedition.

After a couple of faceplants in the front yard, he relearned how to walk...Then he wanted to go down to the lake to walk on the ice. So I piled Brecken in the sled, and great Beadle County Explorer Maxim, Brecken and their trusty sled dogs, Annie and Lily ran all over the snow-covered ice of Lake Byron.

There was some pretty heavy fog so it was really cool, as you couldn't see more than 200 feet in front of you. Steph came down and joined us...and laughed at Maxim when he would get his feet tangled and land in a pile...GREAT GIFT AUNT SALLY!

The other thing Steph and I love to do in the winter, is grill...she threw a pork loin on the grill and while it cooked, Brecken wanted to play on the swing set. The slide is a lot more fun when you land in a pile of snow at the end of it.
Our next door neighbors, who totally spoil our boys, brought over the boy's Christmas present. A bird feeder that looks like a log cabin, and a year's supply of bird food. We can't wait to hang it up and see all the birds that come to the lake. Last night I saw a huge Bluejay, so maybe we can get him to stop by our new birdhouse when we put it up this weekend.

My Christmas Slideshow 2007

Omaha's Henry Doorley Zoo!

We had the place to ourselves...the boys loved the aquarium and the primates.

Oh yeah, and the Roadrunner that, "Almost killed Maxim!"

We spent almost an hour watching the orangutans...we were the only people there.

Maxim was teasing this guy and then he jumped at the window and scared Maxim off the bench he was standing on.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Uncle Jay and Aunt Angie's. The house was never quiet and the Amazing Pizza Machine was a sensory overload!

This is Uncle Jay feeding Brecken candy sprinkles straight out of the dispenser...Brecken loves his Uncle Jay.
Sunday sledding at Jay and Angie's...Avery won the award for loudest scream.

Christmas morning opening presents....right here Maxim is thinking, "Yes!!! Slippers!!!! just what I wanted Grandma!" He wore them all afternoon. Brecken with his adult present opening helper Grandpa Bob.

It's about 12:30 in the afternoon here and notice Grandpa is already yawning.

He and Brecken both took naps.
All in all it was a great Christmas, one of the best that I can remember...with that said, I don't even remember last year's Christmas.

Just in time for Christmas...

The folks here at Living On Liquid know shopping for the right Christmas present is tough, so this Holiday season, get that loved one...or not so loved one, the gift that says..."Yes, I was bored enough to find this website!".

Living On Liquid invites you to check out our apparel and hard goods at our Internet store located here...http://www.cafepress.com/livingonliquid

This is the design on all of our custom items...check back frequently as we will be adding more items!

New Shoes Make You Go Faster!

When I was a kid...17 and under...I never understood why my dad would get up each morning and run 3 miles...rain, sleet, snow or bitter cold. He would just bundle up and beat the street.

Those of you that know my dad know he is famous for an extremely bowed-out leg with no cartilage on the knee, an old caber-tossing injury he sustained while working on a goat milk dairy farm in the Scottish Hilands. After the medieval-type surgery he was left with a bone on bone arrangement that couldn't have been comfortable to run on...but he did it anyway.

Now that I am older and wiser I realize why he ran...much the same reason that Forrest Gump ran...because you escape when you run. Nothing else matters except the next step...it is refreshing and calming.

I run 3 miles a day 5 days a week, sometimes more. So I am your average "jogger". Oh yeah, the other reason I run, is because I eat like a pig. I was tying up my shoes the other day and noticed how broke down they were from running, and it dawned on me that I have been running in the same shoes for over a year and a half...so it was time to retire them to the lawn mowing pile of shoes.

On Wednesday I replaced my old Salomon XA Pro's with a new pair of Adidas Bounce's. I felt like an 8 year old with new kicks! I felt like I was floating on air and running so much faster. It was like running was new again.

I can't help but remember the time I got a pair of KangaROOs I felt like the coolest kid in the town and always had a couple of quarters in each hidden pocket, and I could jump in those 'ROOs.

New shoes haven't changed, they still make kids, and BIG kids, go faster and jump higher. Maxim has some black Chuck Taylor All-Stars that are completely rad, and his first comment was, "See how high I jump, dad?"

Little did he know both of his grandpas probably said the same thing about the same shoes about 50 years ago. Makes me wonder if my grand kids will be wearing KangaROOs?


By the way I was happy to see my name didn't make it on to the MLB's "The Mitchell Report". I once did a TV news story about baseball and steroids.

Things you don't say to your wife...

Great weekend for the fam...we spent most of it in the house.

Steph and I played with the kids, we let the dogs come in the house to play with the boys.

We did venture out on Saturday for some fun in the snow.

The hockey game went good on Sunday night...nobody cried, and Maxim kind of scored a goal...I think it was already going to cross the line when he hit it in...BUT he was there, and in the scorer's sheet he would have got the credit!

I leave you with a video from a comedian that is coming to Huron in March. He will be at the Sould Out Center...super funny guy, and this song is so true.

Preparing my team for the big game...

As a lot of you know I coach the Huron All-Stars Mini-Mite hockey team...our first game is this Sunday. Well, that is if you call a bunch of 4,5 and 6 year olds playing "Herd Hockey" during the period breaks of a Varsity game our first game.

I am a little bit nervous that my team isn't ready for the big show yet, I still have 3 kids skating with the aid of chairs...used like a walker. 4 kids haven't showed up with sticks, even though I tell them they need them every practice. I have a few first generation hockey parents that insist on, even after my coaching, putting the hockey equipment on the outside of their jerseys and simply tying the kids' skates without tightening them up...leaving them with the impossible to skate on "floppy ankle".

Most coaches worry about the team running the breakout right, or staying in the "system", working the forecheck, and staying out of the penalty box...I have to worry about players wizzing in their breezers, crying because they don't want to skate backwards and having no idea where to go when I tell them to play "left wing".

The trials of a mini-mite coach.

Really its more of a comedy show...like clowns falling out of a VW Bug. My players will fall out of the entrance gate, start wobbling all over and running into each other, all the while the theme song from Peanuts is playing over the loud speaker. Then my son Maxim will yell to the crowd..."ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?" (A little Gladiator reference there)

So if you are in the area and interested in a good laugh at the future hockey prospects of the Huron All-Stars...Sunday at 5pm...Bergman Arena.

I'll be the guy herding the cats.