Puking Pumpkin and...Spongebob?

I will start by saying that I take no credit for coming up with the idea of a puking pumpkin. In fact, I even copied a design I saw online. Kim's brother, Scott, also did a puking pumpkin this year, but I don't think he added enough puke. So here is my attempt at the puking pumpkin, with extra puke:


Kim, on the other hand, decided she would print out a picture of Spongebob Squarepants and then try to use it as a pattern on her pumpkin. Here is her result:

What do you think? I think it looks like the skull of a monkey. Feel free to leave your impressions in the comment list.

Owen was pretty pleased to help us with the pumpkins this year. Rhett was pretty pleased just chewing on the cord from the blinds as he watched us carve.


Our camera was acting up on us last night, but if you look closely, you can see puke coming out of the pumpkin's nostril. He felt better after I told him not to be embarrassed, because that happens to humans also.

Rhett Video

At the request of certain family members who have not been able to see Rhett very much, I will post a video of him today. He is still a beefy baby. At 7 1/2 months old, he's wearing Owen's 12 month clothes. I haven't captured any video of him saying "Dada," but this video is a pretty good one of him laughing. Enjoy.

My Birthday...part 32

According to Blogger, this also happens to be my 100th post. I'll try and make it a good one.

32. Wow. I am old. I've been 32 for 2 days now, and I hate it. I apologize to all of you reading this that are over 32 years old, but this really stinks. I now need to spend extra time each morning plucking gray hairs out of the side of my head. I am having a very difficult time motivating myself to lose some extra poundage. My knees hurt. Owen is almost 5 years old, and I already have a hard time keeping up with him. My 18 and 19 year old employees probably think I'm out of touch with the world. I'm not where I thought I'd be spiritually by this time. I'm halfway to 64 now.(Sorry Mom.)

Even with all of these negative feelings about my age, I really can't complain. I have the best little family I could have ever imagined. I have amazing brothers, sisters, parents, nieces, nephews, in-laws, etc. I've got a good job. I have great friends. I have a strong testimony of the gospel. I just need to start fresh and get myself back in shape physically and spiritually. I need to be satisfied with one plate of food, not two. I need to make the time to exercise a little bit each day. I need to make time to read from the scriptures each day. I really need to stop being selfish and serve other people. I know what I need to do to be happy and not care about my age. The hard part is actually doing it. I'm sure I've bored everyone enough. On to the pictures:

Remember this?

Well, we did it again this year. I'm telling you, I just wasn't feeling the vibe for this 32nd birthday. No creativity at all.

Here's Owen one year later on the same redneck trampoline:


Notice how dreary the weather was this time? We only lasted about an hour because it was so cold and windy. (When I say cold, remember we live in St George. It was 57 degrees outside. Our bodies just aren't used to that anymore.)

Rhett's first trip to the farm resulted in this look on his face the entire time. He wouldn't crack a smile because the cold wind was making his eyes tear up.


We did the corn maze again.


We pet some animals.


Owen went down the redneck slide and rode the cow train again.



He also discovered a new tunnel and tire swing this year.



And we sat on some hay.


We went to Texas Roadhouse for a full slab of ribs, and Kim made me a delicious lemon cake this year. Here I am ending the night while talking on my cell phone as usual.

Family History

So I was digging through some archives in the Family History Library here in St. George, and I came across this old picture of some distant relatives. It turns out that Kim and I are related. Her great-great-great-Grandma Kitty married my great-great-great-Grandpa Chester. They had two boys. The older one was named Orson, and the younger one was named Ralph. Here's the picture:



(Ignore the copyright info in the lower right hand corner. I don't know where that came from.)

Weird Dream

I want to blog about our recent trip up to Logan, and I want to respond to a tag from The Hirschi Kiss blog, but I need to blog about this weird dream first. I'm sure you've noticed I've brought back the Seattle Seahawks layout. They are struggling right now and they need all the moral support they can get. I had a dream last night that I was the new Seattle Seahawks quarterback coach. The song you are hearing in the background was being blasted through the stadium speakers during practice. Every time one of the Seahawks receivers was injured and carted off of the field, Jerry Rice would pull up in a limousine in full Seahawks uniform, asking to be on the team again. We turned him away every time because he was just too old to keep up. Don't ask me why this Celine Dion song was playing. Maybe the words were giving us the moral support the team so desperately needs right now.

A Month of Firsts

Rhett:
Sat up by himself


Ate solid food


Said "Dada" while wearing soccer ball Easter basket hats with Owen

(OK. He really didn't say "Dada" here, but he has said it numerous times when waking up in the morning. I just haven't captured any video of it yet...and I couldn't resist posting this picture.)

Owen:
Started preschool


Kim:
Got to church at 9:00 am! Not 9:25 am!
(We live 3 minutes from the church. I go early to set up chairs.)

Me:
Set the record for the highest single game score in Shortbus Fantasy Football Fantasy Freaks League history. My team is the Boomslangs. I got 187 points in week 2. I know. I'm a dork.

Young Lady, Get Out of Here

I finally have some time this morning to post this funny story:

We have a nursing home in our ward boundaries called The Beehive Home. Every Sunday from 1pm to about 1:30pm, members from our ward go over to the home and do a little sacrament meeting for the residents. Once a month, the Elders Quorum is assigned to do the talk and the prayers. As the Elders Quorum secretary, it is my job to find people to fulfill these responsibilities. Let me just say that it is probably easier to conjugate Finnish verbs with a gun to your head than it is to find someone from the Elders Quorum to give a 5 minute talk or a prayer at The Beehive Home. Needless to say, the talk assignment is often fulfilled by yours truly. A few times, I have had to ask Kim to come with me and say one of the prayers. This was the case last Sunday on August 31st. Wherever Kim and I are, there's an Owen and a Rhett also. The residents absolutely love when kids come to visit, so Rhett got pretty excited with all of the attention he was receiving. It was time for the meeting to start, but Rhett was still juiced up with excitement. He was squealing like a little porker getting chased in a Greased Pig Scramble. Kim handed Rhett to me so she could say the opening prayer. That was alright. Then it was time for the sacrament. Rhett was getting louder. Then it was time for me to give my talk. Rhett was full-squeal volume now. Kim took Rhett into one of the back hallways to no avail. I was about 2 minutes into my talk when one of the residents raised her hand. I thought, "Oh how precious. This little old lady has a question about some deep point of doctrine. Why not? Let's see what she has to say." So I acknowledged her and said, "Yes?" Little old woman answered angrily, "There is a young lady here with a baby who is making a lot of noise. You are up there going through the motions but I can't hear a word you are saying. Can someone please tell that young lady to leave?" I stood there with my mouth open as the other members of the ward tried to hold back their giggling. I looked over at Kim and said, "Young lady, get out of here!" By now, everyone in the room was laughing except the angry old woman. Kim took Owen and Rhett outside and sat on a bench where Rhett could squeal to his heart's content. I finished my talk, we had a closing song and prayer, and then I went outside with Kim where we were bombarded with apologies from various residents and members of the ward. We weren't offended at all, so it was funny that we were getting so many apologies. It turns out that the angry old woman suffers from dementia.

So long story short, I kicked my family out of a church meeting. I can't wait to go back and see what happens next time.

I Was Tagged Again

My sister Kim tagged me again. I hate these things because I think of better things I could have said for days afterwards. Here you go:

8 Things I'm Passionate About:
1. my wife
2. my boys
3. my church
4. my other family members
5. my food
6. my job
7. sports
8. laundry

8 Books I Love:
1. Holes
2. Angels and Demons
3. The Da Vinci Code
4. Digital Fortress
5. Deception Point
6. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
(my favorite of the series)
7. The Giver
8. Letters From a Nut
(Look this one up. You won't regret it.)

8 Words/Phrases I Say Often:
1. "I'm going to start exercising on Monday."
2. "You're definitely going to want a text messaging bundle with that."
3. "Your turn. I changed the last one."
4. "Holy shnikeys!
5. "Let me call you right back."
6. "Please don't spill your cereal today."
7. "Please don't puke on my work pants today."
8. "You're fired."

8 Things I Want To Do Before I Die
1. go back to South Africa
2. have at least one daughter
3. get one of my children's books published
4. see my kids become more successful than myself
5. see the Seahawks win a Super Bowl
6. get back in shape
7. be guilt and debt free as I take my last breath
8. I want to go on an exotic vacation with my wife, and forget to bring a toothbrush. We will go to the closest grocery store to buy a replacement toothbrush. While we are there, we will meet one of the following five people in the toiletries aisle: Reese Witherspoon, Elisabeth Shue, Gwen Stefani, Carrie Underwood, or John McCrea. I will say, "Holy shnikeys! It's _____________! (Fill in the blank with one of the aforementioned names.) I am a big fan of your work!" (Unless it's Carrie Underwood. I'm not such a huge fan of country music anymore. If it's Carrie Underwood we run into, then I will say something to the effect of, "I think you're smoking hot!") The celebrity will say, "Thank you very much. It's so nice to see another English-speaking American here. Do you guys want to hang out tonight?" Before Kim can say anything, I will shout, "Sure!" We will then arrange to have dinner at a fancy restaurant. We will talk all night and we will become good friends with the lucky celebrity. We will say good night, but then find out that the celebrity is staying at the same resort we are. We will then go to their suite and watch an M. Night Shyamalan movie on a big screen t.v. while eating Jack in the Box chicken sandwiches and drinking chocolate milk. We will end the night with a Pente tournament. I will win the tournament, and the celebrity will congratulate me by giving me a Saab 9.3. Out of the kindness of their heart, the celebrity will also give Kim a baby blue Volkswagen Bug or a baby polar bear. We will retire for the evening, but then meet up again the following morning for a hot air balloon ride over the exotic land in which we are vacationing. The hot air balloon pilot will supply us with scarves, all you can eat Egg McMuffins, donut holes, and of course, chocolate milk. After the balloon ride, the celebrity will have to attend a charity event in a neighboring country. We will exchange cell phone numbers, scarves, and hugs, promising to correspond again once we have returned to the grand old United States of America.

8 Things I Learned This Year:
1. Children really do learn by example.
2. I am getting quite comfortable at firing people.
3. I am not the best Powell at Guitar Hero.
4. It is too easy to gain back weight you thought you lost forever.
5. It scares me that I might never outgrow my procrastination habit.
6. Never let someone rent your house who can't pay the full security deposit.
7. Too much Jack in the Box and chocolate milk is a bad thing.
8. Love for family can never reach a limit. It is always growing.

Here is the Picture

Here is the picture of Rhett that I was talking about yesterday. Thanks for sending them again, Kim (Myers).


What do you like better, black and white or the color-enhanced?

Admit it. This is probably the cutest baby picture you've ever seen, right?

I'm a little biased.

I Couldn't Go a Whole Month Without Posting

I have a good excuse. Since the last post, I've pretty much been working open to close every day except for the week we went to Washington. And who wants to blog after an 11 hour work day or while on vacation? Not me. So here is my feeble attempt at somewhat catching up:

We opened a new store! That gives me 3 stores which I am directly responsible for in southern Utah and a total of 7 stores for the company.

Rhett is rolling over and sitting up! He also had his manhood cauterized because the circumcision was healing back on itself, but let's not focus on the negative. (My sister Kim took the best picture ever of Rhett after he rolled over on to his belly, but the CD she made for us from her digital camera is not formatted correctly. I'll have to post that picture later.)

Owen is a swimming champ! He graduated from swim lessons again this summer and was able to use his talents this last week up in Washington. We went up for a family reunion in the Tri-Cities area, where my sister Kim lives with her family. Here's Owen with his cousin Ally.

There are so many more things to say, and so many more pictures I could post, but this will have to do for now. I'm tired. I'll try not to go another 27 days without blogging again.

The Boys of Summer

The St. George Roadrunners are a local baseball team here from the Golden Baseball League. I'm sure you've heard of them. Or maybe you've heard of some of the other teams in the league, like the Yuma Scorpions? The Reno Silver Sox? The Edmonton Cracker Cats? Well, we went to the game last night against the Orange County Flyers. I called in to the local sports radio station and stumped the host with a sports trivia question, so he gave me 4 tickets.

Owen had a blast looking for the mascots. We're pretty special down here. We had two mascots to chase around. Saturn posed for a picture, but we never caught up to Reggie.


For those of you that don't know, yesterday was Pioneer Day here in Utah. It's a pretty big thing. It's almost as big as the 4th of July. I won tickets to the game on the perfect night, because after the Roadrunners won 15-7, they put on the longest and best fireworks show I have ever seen in my life. I am not kidding. It was pretty impressive. Owen couldn't control himself and was laughing uncontrollably for the first 5 or 6 minutes. Rhett was just as enthralled. We couldn't believe he didn't get scared with all the loud bangs. We were so mesmerized by the show, we forgot to get the camera out. This morning, I was asking Rhett if he had fun last night watching the fireworks show, and Owen said, "It wasn't a fireworks show Dad. It was a fireworks movie!"

Here's a picture of Rhett getting some sleep so he could be ready for the fireworks:


We had so much fun. I think we'll make this a Pioneer Day tradition as long as we're here in St. George.

Other blogworthy news:
Samsung is having a sales rewards program where you can earn points to redeem for thousands of different things. I sold enough Samsung phones to get Owen his first bike, and I also got Rhett a Jumperoo.

Yes, I actually put this thing together.

Rhett loves his Jumperoo so much, he even sleeps in it sometimes.

Nine? Really?

There once was a girl so fine.
I wanted her to be mine.
We went on a date.
It wasn't too late
'Til she hung me out on the line.

My heart was completely shattered,
Utterly bruised, and battered.
How could she possibly
Do this to me?
Nothing else really mattered.

A few weeks passed, and then
She came to her senses when
She came up to talk.
We went for a walk,
And the fire was kindled again.

I'm so glad she changed her mind.
A better girl I could not find.
I got down on my knee.
She said, "Yessiree!"
And the marriage certificate was signed.

Today marks our ninth year of bliss.
Kim, I must tell you this:
I'm excited for
An eternity more.
I'll love you forever. Love, Chris

This Is What It's All About

Forget that I just fired someone else last week. Forget the stress that comes with church responsibilities. Having fun with the family is what life is all about.

There's a new place in town called Jumpin' Jacks. It's a warehouse filled with inflatable slides and jumping castles. Owen and I had a blast.




We finished the night off with blue coconut slushes from Sonic.


Rhett got a new Bumbo seat. These things are awesome. He loves being able to sit up straight and see what's going on.


And keeping with a long-standing tradition of lip syncing videos that stems from my high school days, here is Owen's first go at it. (Josh, I still have the video of us doing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" when I was wearing your sister's dress.)

Chocolate Kisses

I hope this brotherly love lasts for a long time. Rhett sure does put up with a lot from Owen.

The Owen Powell Gallery of Photographic Art

Welcome to the exhibit. Today, we will try to show you the world through the eyes of an unsupervised 4 year old with a digital camera. Please enjoy the show.


Hallway Rug




Diaper Daddy




Remote Inverted




Life Unfocused




Self Portrait




Dog Unconcerned




Swim Diaper on Carpet




Mother Posterior



If you were moved in any way after viewing this collection, please leave a donation at the front counter on your way out. All proceeds will go toward furthering the career of this up and coming master photographer.

Thank you for attending.

Please come again.