Halloween was fun.  LaRae thought of the "Smarty Pants" costume for me for the Primary Halloween party.  Devin liked it so he used it for school on Friday and for his Halloween partying on Saturday.  He looks pretty smart.

Images:  Aubrey and Nate received fresh pictures of their expected baby boy.  If you look close he is sayhing the word "grandpa!"  We should see him sometime in February.  LaRae also had pictures taken of her new expected Kidney Stone measuring in at 3.5mm x 6 mm.  Still unknown what the Pettit's will name their baby boy; but the kidney stone will be named Cal C. M. Radmall.

BINGO!  Time for the annual firm Bingo party at Christensen Park on Treatment Plant Road in St George.  Facility was perfect for the event . . . oh, wait! where are the bathrooms?  Men, the world is your bathroom; women, wait until it gets dark enough!  The Bingo guy was in top form.  The black angus 1/3 lb sirloin burgers were good, except for the hard dry ones.  Tried a new offering: Bratwurst.  I call them Brat Better!  Choice of stadium style, smoked, or beef.  None of the choices recommended by Jenny Craig.  Plenty of food to eat and for prizes later.  $100 grand prize went to the Esplin family again!  Must be because the odds are better.  Devin (pictured) went to his scout camp late so that he wouldn't have to miss this party.  Chelsea and Tyler made a special trip to this party before traveling north to the BYU vs TCU football game on the same night.  Nate, got out of dental school and rushed right up.  Aubrey and Aria and baby Logan (or Clark or Lucas or Ahah) couldn't wait for him and came up the night before.  They helped me shop for the food.  Good job folks!

My first ever MRI: Thanks to some annoying arm and neck pain, my good friend Bruce McPherson and Dr. Scott Parry decided it would be best for me to get an MRI. I've seen a lot of these machines but never actually experienced it in person. Let me just say that it was one of the wildest rides I've ever experienced (even more than the Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point Amusement Park). To start, they make sure you don't have anything metal on or in you such as watches, pacemakers, plates, etc. The powerful magnets wreak havoc on such items. Then you are placed on a table and helped to be as immobile as possible. In my case, it was the worst possible position for the pain in my shoulder and I hadn't taken my pain meds for about six hours. Then they bracket your head so it can't move, slide you in, and ask you to be as still as possible. I've heard of a lot of people having major claustrophobia attacks with these things. I'm not generally inclined to such but I can see how it could be uncomfortable. In my case, I didn't have the tunnel type of machine, rather it was open on the sides (see picture above, not my actual radiologist) which made it much more comfortable. Still, this huge machine is basically a couple of inches in front of your face. They ask you to close your eyes while they scan you with a laser, then they go to a nearby control room and start the process. I was given earplugs at first and I soon found out why. The "R" in MRI stands for "resonance" which basically means blasting you with extremely loud blasts of sound for long periods of time. I would compare the sounds to something you would hear in the middle of a Klingon invasion. It was so intense that I could feel my body vibrating. It's the kind of sound that, if you don't focus your mind somewhere else, can drive you insane. Kind of like singing all , the verses to 99 bottles of pop on the wall. After just a few minutes, I was ready to scream for mercy; not because of claustrophobia or sound but because my shoulder pain was killing and I couldn't find a comfortable spot. Sensing my discomfort (I was moving too much) the technician came in and wedged a pillow under my shoulder which helped immensely. Amazingly enough during the next several minute of sound torture, I almost drifted off to sleep because of the rhythmic nature of the sound. The whole process lasted between 15 and 20 minutes and at the end I exclaimed "wow, that was fun." (heavy sarcasm). I was totally unprepared for this experience but I'm glad I got to see it first hand. Oh, by the way, the diagnosis came back as a herniated disk in my neck between C6-C7 just as Dr. Parry had predicted. Oh what a pain in the neck!

Enjoyed watching the Dixie State College Symphonic Band concert on October 1. I was very impressed with the talent of these young people. Jared was a percussionist and his talent continues to amaze me.

I miss this little girl! Especially pushing her on the swings (even if I did make her do a belly flop). According to Aria "I better now." Thanks for making these last two weeks wonderful.

Went spelunking with Crew 400 today including TJ McCoy, Bro Daryl McCoy, Thomas Hafen, Carson Berger, Berkeley Ward, Patrick Blackburn, and Dallin Hunt (not pictured). This is a fun group!

The music to Mario Brothers was a crowd favorite!

Saw Houseplant Survival at the Washington County Fair (a.k.a. Mike and the Boys per the program). These guys did great for their first gig (pretty much) and definitely have talent. Brad Dorius, keyboards; Mike Stanley, bass guitar and lead vocals; Clark Slater, lead guitar; Jared Radmall, drums. The band and their mosh pit battled wind, a few technical difficulties, and a police siren. I battled video camera problems. Had a a great time.

I went skim boarding for the first time in my life with the Venturing Crew in my ward. I tried it but apparently the boards have a weight limit. The idea is to skim rather than to sink. Looked pretty fun from the sidelines.

My Brother Lloyd: 44 Year's old on July 31. This picture was taken right after I got back from my mission which is why his clothes are so stylin'. I just read a letter that he wrote to me while on my mission and had to laugh. Here it is:

July 7, 1980
I know I haven't written in a long time and I hope you'll forgive me.

I look forward to your letters and I have some advice. Keep your windows locked, keep your bike locked up, and don't run around in your missionary B.V.D.’s.

It has been real exciting this week. I am getting stronger. I have been working out with weights since June 1. I got some (illegal) firecrackers from Marilyn and starting Monday July 7, 1980 I work out five days a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, on weights and on Tuesday and Thursday I run.

Today Unk (Stephen) brought a girl for dinner that I know pretty well and I guess he likes. She is about 5’8” or so. I can't remember what color hair she has but she's cute.

Had a miracle happen this week. My room is spotless and so is our bathroom. Isn't that good?

It has rained last Monday morning before weight training there was a hot wind blowing and for the low that morning it was 75 or 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Boy was it hot until it rained later in the day and it rained off and on till Wednesday.

Really, there's nothing much more to say except everyone’s fine. So we'll se ya.

P.S. They found a decomposed body in a carrot cellar right next to McDonalds and I put a car bomb in the Ford car and Sue had a heart attack. You know what a car bomb is don't you? It's a thing that you hook up to your spark plug and whistles, smokes, and explodes. May God be with you. Love, Lloyd

July 10, 2009: Got up early and arrived at the Sacred Grove about 5:30 a.m. I was the only one there and didn't see anyone else until about 6:30 a.m. Read JS History and listened to hymns on my ipod. Wouldn't trade this experience for anything else on my vacation.

Spent much of today scanning slides from LaRae's dad's house. Among the several hundred slides was this slide of LaRae's mom, LeOna (middle), her paternal grandfather Ray Swallow, and his wife Elva Foote (Doyle's stepmom and mother to his sisters Fay and Donna).

July 7, 2009. Jared and Aria enjoy the beach at Rockport, Maryland within 30 minutes of Jared experiencing New England clam chowder.

July 3, 2009. My sweetie and I hung out at the Boston temple. Just LaRae, myself, and our 12-passenger van.