Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Christmas Letter

A little tidbit about the Christmas letter. About four years ago I was tired of writing the same old Christmas letter. My kids did this, then they did this, and then we did this...you know how it goes, they are very informative, but lets be honest here, my 8 year old boy does about the same stuff as any 8 year old boy and my wife is in love with some vampire named Edward just like your wife...so there we go, the premise for the Griffith Top 10 list each year. I try and add photos that tell a few stories about the year and have a bit of fun. Some years we actually succeed in laughing at ourselves, and other years, well, we are just happy to get through. So here is this years letter for those that might not have seen it yet...

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Christmas

Had a wonderful Christmas. We are trying to enjoy having such little kids as much as possible. We still have 4 out of 5 "believers" in the house, so it is entertaining nonetheless. The older kids all sleep in the basement and for the last three years I have had to set-up traps on the stairwell to stop the crusaders. This year's trap was pretty weak, but I was tired. I shut the basement door and put a bell on the doorknob. I taped the bell to the door jam and so it would "jingle" each time the door was pulled open. We only had three jingles during the night. At one point, Hanna was army crawling about halfway up the stairs before Tasha caught her. Why was it Tasha that caught her you ask? I guess I was sound asleep and never heard it!

Christmas Eve pajamas Lily Sue got a tutu from Aunt Patti and she wouldn't take it off for the rest of the morning.

Gracie got a Princess scooter.




Trip to Salt Lake

We went to Utah a few weekends ago to see the baptism and priesthood ordination of our niece Ellie and nephew Robbie. On our way down, we stopped at Temple Square to see the Christmas lights. It was snowing like crazy, but it stopped for about 10 minutes and that is when we snapped most of these photos. We spent the night in West Jordan at Tasha's sisters house then went down to American Fork to see the Eppersons.

It was dang cold. We had the whole crew pretty well covered up. We were cruising through Temple square and this older couple passed by us, the women stopped in front of us and turned around and starting counting our kids. You could actually see her lips moving as she counted; I'm not making this stuff up. Tasha just knew I was about to make some wise crack, something along the lines of "it's a good thing we don't have more than 10 kids because I'd hate to see you have to take off your shoes to keep counting." Nonetheless, Tasha gave me "the look" and I just smiled at the couple instead.

Gracie standing in front of the Christus statue. Anyone that knows Gracie well enough knows she was about to burst out in song and dance. There were quite a few people in the room on a Friday night and I had to try and contain the wee one just a little bit. She was still excited to be there.

Gracie in front of the reflective pools and the nativity scene.

Ellie and Grandpa John before the baptism.
Gunnar, Jake, and Gavin. The baptism was held at the American Fork tabernacle. It is an old tabernacle, pretty neat to explore and these three boys were trying their best not to get into trouble, but when I grabbed them and snapped this photo they were headed to the basement.


Thursday, December 18, 2008

Leishman Girls Weekend

We had our "annual" Leishman Girls weekend in Salt Lake City this year. My sisters Tamie and Teresa were there, along with my sister in law Monica, and an honorary sister Stephanie Shirley (she was our next door neighbor growing up/Tamie's best friend), and to keep us all under control was my wonderful mom, Chris. We literally shopped til we dropped, I am talking 13 hour days, followed by movies and hot tubing. It was so much fun just acting like we were in high school again (without the big hair, of course).


JD stayed home with all five kids for three full days and two nights. His biggest accomplishment was taking the kids to McDonald's and managing to feed the kids a total of 40 chicken nuggets and three large fries. He was pretty excited about that. He also got to sit with the kids in the congregation for Sacrament meeting for the first time in 6 months, he wasn't as excited about that though. All in all I came home to a pretty clean and happy home.

We always ate well, and never at one McDonalds. Mainly we were just happy to not have to cook even once for 3 days. - I can't wait until next year!
Tasha

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Gracie

Gracie loves to sing! She walks around the house singing and dancing. The other day she and I were at WalMart and I was pushing her in the grocery cart, she asks me "Dad, are we allowed to sing in this store?" I look at her and said, "sure, knock yourself out" and she pipes up and just starts singing like no ones around.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Tasha's Christmas Present

Seriously, what's wrong with a new stove, mixer, pots & pans? These are just a few things I've bought Tasha for Christmas over the last few years. The year I bought her a stove for Christmas, I even cut out a catalog picture of the stove and wrapped it up in a little tiny box, it was a really cute box. I know, I know, lame. Man I'm retarded.

Click on this link below, thanks to Doug Griffith I am hoping to stay out of the dog house this year.
The Dog House

Monday, December 1, 2008

Thanksgiving Day

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend. We had dinner at Troy and Monica Leishmans. They were great hosts and it was a great meal. Most of my wishes came true...pumpkin pie for breakfast on Friday and lots of football. We also set-up the Christmas tree over the weekend and transformed our house into the Christmas season so I wasn't able to bask in the Thanksgiving slumber for too long.

I know a lot of people were worried about Tasha's Black Friday shopping day. Yes, she did manage to go and took Hanna with her. Alarm goes off at 4:30 a.m. (me thinking, sucker! as I roll over and fall right back to sleep
I think Tasha eventually walks out the door a little after 5 a.m.
Advantage J.D.
At about 5:15 a.m. Gracie shows up at my bed and says she had a bad dream me thinking, go talk to your mothe...crap! Ok Grace, jump in bed.
Deuce.
Gracie wakes me up at about 6 a.m. and tells me to stop talking, apparently I was talking in my sleep; I ask her what I was saying but she can't tell me, me thinking, was I mumbling something about your mother? I can't get back to sleep.
Advantage Tasha.
Gracie finally gets to sleep around 6:30 a.m. Lily wakes up at 7:13 a.m. Lily and I eat pumpkin pie for breakfast.
Deuce.
I look around the kitchen and realize Tasha made 4 pies for Thanksgiving and has yet to wash the dishes, me thinking, man I'm a sucker
Advantage Tasha once again.
At about 10:30 a.m., kitchen is clean, kids are downstairs watching cartoons and playing video games and I put Lily down for a nap just in time to settle in with some more pies and the beginning of the first football game of the day. Tasha calls from Target, she and Hanna have been tag teaming as they stand in line for an hour me thinking, oh yea, who's the sucker now?
Back to Deuce.
Everything else goes pretty smoothly for the day. Kids play lots of video games, I watch football, Lily sleeps until 1 p.m. and Tasha gets home at 1:30 p.m. Then I look at the car, it is filled to capacity with presents, I mean filled...me thinking, I wonder if I can get a Bailout from the government?
Advantage Tasha
And thus ends Black Friday. The retailers report a successful Black Friday and I am proud to have contributed to the bad economy, it's kind of a patriotic thing if you think about it although I'm trying not to think too much about it!

I took a picture of the Relish Tray on turkey day. This is an hour before dinner. It's a constant battle with the Leishman family as to whether or not one can "eat" before dinner, I've always thought the relish tray was for snacking on to buy some time. Is it just me? I need some help here people. Do other families set-out a relish tray to snack on before the big dinner or was it just my family and I need to keep quiet?


This is a picture of the spread (Notice the relish tray looks untouched.)

Hanna starting with the potatoes.

Tasha and Gracie going through the line.

Lily hanging out with a fresh home made roll.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Turkey Day Cartoons

Got these cartoons emailed to me today and thought they fit well with my rant from yesterday; of course these cartoons are from my perspective, not Tashas.
J.D.


Thursday, November 20, 2008

The Best Holiday Ever

• Is there truly a better holiday than Thanksgiving? Most people get 4 days off, guaranteed every year, you can’t even say that about Christmas.
• You can mill around the house all day long snacking on relish trays (unless you’re at the Leishman’s house, apparently relish trays are off limits until meal time; isn’t that the purpose of relish trays, to dabble in small finger food prior to the big dance? And the weird part is the relish tray is made first thing in the morning and it just sits there all day saying “please partaketh of me” but one little snitch and you’re relegated to the kids table for dinner.)
• Anyway, back to Thanksgiving, you can watch football on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
• It’s the only time you can eat cold pumpkin pie for breakfast and nobody flinches except for those that don’t like cold pumpkin pie for breakfast.
• Families get together; however this is only good if you really know the family well. Remember those awkward Thanksgivings where you had to go over to someone else’s house and eat with distant cousins and random people? You were forced to sit for like 8 hours with hardly anything to talk about, hence put some football on the tv and let that be the bond, although that wasn’t even a safe bet, there was always some dork cousin that thought he understood football and wouldn’t stop talking and analyzing the game doing his best John Madden impressions along the way.
• I digress once again, Thanksgiving is the best still.
• Who can forget Turkey Bowls? Rolling out of bed at about 9 a.m. and heading off to the local slightly damp grass field to gather with a bunch of guys to play a little flag football. I got a few people together to play last year, mostly Priests and Teachers from my ward. We played for three hours straight; couldn’t walk for 4 days after that however.
• Thanksgiving dinner at 2, nap at 3. Seriously though, how is this not called “Glory, Glory Halleluiah Day."
• Making stuffing is truly a work of art. Some people have it and some don’t. You just know when you have good stuffing.
• Black Friday. So last year Tasha heads out to her first black Friday ever. Says the misses “Do you mind if I get up a 4 a.m. and go shopping? (me thinking, I don’t care if you get up at 4 a.m. for a root canal, just don’t wake me up) I will be back by noon and you can let the kids hang out and watch tv (me thinking, the kids won't be the only ones hanging out watching tv; pumpkin pie for breakfast anyone?) I would like to get as much Christmas shopping done as possible and get I’ll get tons of good deals (me thinking, why not get up at 3 then?) I’ll even take the baby with me so I can nurse her (me thinking, you had me at hello)

J.D.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Job Change

No I'm not moving or even getting a really big pay raise, but I've been asked to take on a new assignment in our division. Many of my family actually don't even know what I do now so for those already falling asleep, careful not to drool on the keyboard. I am now going to be the Director of Distant Site Education...woo hoo, I know exciting title. I will help place student teachers in their last semester of college into elementary and secondary classes. We have partner schools in Salt Lake, Las Vegas, and Mesa, Arizon that take our student teachers. I just spent four days and three nights, driving exactly 1,986 miles getting the low down on the new job.

I drove with my co-worker that has been doing student placements for the last four years. He is a major road-warrior. Loves to drive; me, not so much. Spent 12 hours in the car yesterday driving home from Flagstaff, AZ...12 hours! Toward the end I was leaning forward in my car seat trying to stretch my back out; says he "does your back hurt often when driving?" Says me, "I don't know, never spent 12 hours in a car before." Needless to say, as soon as I take over the job, I'll be using a great thing called an airplane.

The student teacher placement will be the side note to this job. I am actually heading up a new initiative to take online degrees to members of the church that can't come to a BYU school. This will be a bit more fun. It's a brand new assignment and I will be working under the direction of the President and V.P.'s on campus so I'm looking forward to the challenge.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Tasha's SEVEN Tag

Seven T.V. shows I watch
1. The Office
2. Pushing Daisies
3. Chuck
4. Friends re-runs
5. Oprah
6. Ellen (sometimes)
7. My own worst enemy

Seven things I did yesterday
1. Mop, vacuum, clean
2. Tend sick Gracie
3. Text JD all day
4. Pay Bills
5. Take Hanna to the dentist
6. Go to WalMart to buy flouride for Hanna
7. McDonalds for dinner - you can tell who won that argument...

Seven things I am looking forward to
1. Gracie getting well
2. Date night with JD
3. Finishing housework - yeah right
4. Twilight Movie
5. JD finishing PhD - Disneyland, here we come!
6. Temple Trips
7. Resurrection - Patti, this one is for you.

Seven things on my wish list
1. My Christmas shopping to be done
2. Trip to Hawaii with JD
3. Trip to Disneyland with whole family
4. a bigger kitchen
5. My kids to be best friends
6. a bottomless bank account
7. Healthy whole family - Gracie, Mom, Sande...

Seven favorite foods
1. Johnny Carrino's parmesan chicken
2. Grandma Leishman's Rolls
3. Mom's cookies - any kind
4. Thanksgiving Dinner - Dad's gravy
5. Sheri's chocolate trifle
6. John's stuffing (sorry dad)
7. a good steak

Monday, November 10, 2008

The SEVEN Tag

The Seven Tag

JD’s list of “THE SEVENs TAG”
Seven t.v. shows I watch...
1-The Office
2-Chuck
3-Pushing Daisies
4-My Own Worst Enemy
5-Saturday Night College Football
6-Sunday Night Football
7-College Gameday on ESPN (eventhough I don't get to watch this much, still one of the best shows on tv)

Seven things I did yesterday...(Saturday)
1-Homework (finished a paper…yea!)
2-Cleaned house
3-Took all 5 kids to a movie by myself (Igor, wouldn’t recommend)
4-Tilled the garden
5-Raked leaves
6-Watched Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma State
7-Ate Craigo’s pizza for dinner

Seven things I am looking forward to...
1-Finishing another PhD class (only another 15 months to go)
2-Thanksgiving (by far the best holiday ever!)
3-Thanksgiving break (four days off, lots of food and football)
4-Date night with Tasha
5-Weekly Temple trips
6-Sunday dinners
7-Sunday afternoon nap

Seven things on my wish list...
1-New bumper on car
2-Warm weather
3-Finishing my PhD
4-More time to study scriptures
5-More date nights with Tasha
6-Bigger water heater (too many kids, not enough hot water)
7-Three car garage

Seven favorite foods
1-Steak
2-Crab
3-Clams
4-Cheesecake
5-Chocolate chip and peanut butter pancakes
6-Terryiaki hamburgers (from Red Robin)
7-No bake cookies

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Halloween

Hanna and Me at the trunk-or-treat

The kids loved our "scary" pumpkin we carved for family home evening.

Hanna was a "Purple Rock Star" - several people we know didn't even recognize her!

Grace was Tinker Bell

Gunnar was a Dementor (Harry Potter), and Gavin was a vampire (Twilight)

Lily Sue was a poodle - she was so amazed that people kept putting candy into her little pumpkin.

JD was the official "candy man" at the trunk-or-treat. He loves to dress up!

Lily Sue

This is typical Lily Sue style, kickin back and enjoying a sucker in one hand and popsicle in the other...


Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Hanna story...

I was hoping to have some photos of Tasha and Hanna, but you'll just get the story. About a year ago Hanna and I sat down and mapped out a few goals together for her Faith in God Award. One of her goals was to read the Book of Mormon in one year. We wrote out a contract that if she would finish the Book of Mormon, we would take her by herself to Salt Lake City to see General Conference up close and personal. Well about six weeks before General Conference I asked her how things were going. She still had over 150 pages to go so Tasha figured out a schedule that had her reading 4 chapters a day. Tasha and Hanna went down to Salt Lake, just the two of them, and had a great time. Hanna timed it so she could take her Book of Mormon into the Conference Center and finish reading the Book of Mormon (Moroni chapter 10) while sitting there waiting to hear President Monson.

They went to the Saturday morning session and Tasha took the camera but it was raining so hard on that day they never got a chance to snap a photo. I was so happy to see Hanna meet the goal. She inspired Gunnar and now he is reading as well.

Oh yea, her other goal, babysit for 50 hours with the prize of getting her ears pierced...she finished that two weeks ago.

J.D.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Josh and Liz's Wedding



We drove over 1,100 miles in three days to be a part of my brother's wedding day. Josh and Liz Bowler were married on Friday, September 19 in the Logan, Utah Temple. It was a great ceremony. We spent two nights in Logan (thanks to Eric and Kelly Shipley for letting us crash at their home) and then headed up to McCall (thanks to Kathy and Craig) for a second reception. We had a great time and we all look forward to getting to know Liz even better.

Liz, Gracie and Ava



Couldn't help pull this photo out from the group. Liz was beautiful and Gracie and cousin Ava were pretty excited to be by the bride, even if Ava is pulling her Popeye face.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Camping in Yellowstone

We spent three days and two nights camping in Yellowstone Park last week. We borrowed Tasha's brothers 22 foot camper so that we could camp in style. The kids just loved all the sights and sounds (and smells) of Yellowstone. They were such great troopers and the best part was no cell phones, TV, DVD, or video games during the entire stay!


More Yellowstone Fun

Gracie was so dang cute. She walked around the entire park carrying a plastic Minnie Mouse Cell phone "taking pictures" at every stop. The phone has a little button and it makes the sound of a snapshot. She would line people up and take "photos". The Japanese tourists thought she was a riot.

Gavin gets caught doing a jig. Not sure why the kids starting dancing on this particular board walk but Tasha managed to snap a little video. Enjoy.

Fathers and Sons Camp Out

Went to our Ward Fathers and Sons Camp Out two weeks ago with Gunnar and Gavin. It was the "coolest spot" according to the boys. There was a place to rock wall climb and to hike through caves. Some of the photos were taken when it was completely dark and the flash was our only light. We had a blast.


Monday, August 25, 2008

Splash Park

Went to the Splash Park in Kennewick, WA. Had a great time and Lily Sue loved getting wet!