Jason & Amber - Erin, Wilson & Bennett

The Reasons for the Seasons - or Happy Holidays!

2009-11-26T09:51:00.000-08:00

So I was out running errands yesterday, when I heard a small child ask his mother, “What is Thanksgiving?” I thought about this, and wondered, do my children know what Thanksgiving is all about? So I thought I would explain it, not only for my kids – but for all to enjoy!

Many, many years ago young hopeful families left Europe and boarded ships and bravely crossed the ocean to their new home in America. Upon reaching this “New World” the Pilgrims cleared the forest and began to raise bountiful crops. The joy must have been hard to contain for these young white families – this was everything they had hoped for – clean water, cool crisp clean air – the life they had dreamed of!!

And then the Indians came out of what was left of the forest and began to slaughter the young white families because they had made the mistake of building there homes and planting the crops on sacred Indian burial grounds. However the Indians couldn’t swing their tomahawks fast enough as wave after wave of these white men invaded the Indian land.

The Indians swung their arms mightily, but eventually they grew tired and finally dropped to the ground, exhausted and beaten. Resigned to their fate of sharing the land with their new “white trash” neighbors, the Indians and the white man sat down to a roasted turkey dinner one November day – according to the white mans calendar – and gave thanks for their new-found friendship. The Pilgrims were understandably a bit more thankful for this friendship then the Indians.

This Thanksgiving celebration became a yearly event, and has evolved into the what it is today – a day when Americans cook stuffed turkeys and stuff themselves – and then sit back and watch the Detroit Lions get “stuffed” by some other football team!!

History is kinda funny that way, a cause for celebration that gets commercialized and people forget the real reason for the celebration. Lets take for example, Easter – it started as a Christian celebration of the resurrection of Jesus – a great cause for celebration! But now, it involves hiding eggs and a bunny?!?!?!? I wonder how that one started??

Wife to husband, “Dear, we need to teach our children about Easter!”

Husband – “How bout eggs?”

Wife – “What do eggs have to do with the resurrection?”

Husband – “Okay, we’ll hide ‘em!”

Wife – “What???”

Husband – “Don’t worry, there will be a bunny!”

Example #2, Christmas. This began as the day to celebrate the birth of Jesus – again, another great cause for celebration. Let’s explore just one area of Christmas that I still wonder what it has to do with the true meaning of the holiday – decorations!

Can you picture how this one first happened – the wife wakes up and walks down the stairs to find a pine tree in her living room!!

Wife to her probably drunk husband – “Dear, what is a pine tree doing in our living room!” (and if you think about it, bringing a cut down tree into the house does kinda sound like the actions of a drunk man).

Husband – “I like it!.......we’re gonna…..ummm decorate it………for Jesus”

“Then, I’m gonna take my socks off and hang them over the fire place! – you fill ‘em with candy”

“And lastly, I am going to hang some leaves on the ceiling……..hopefully get a lil action!”

“Merry Christmas!”

I think 2 examples are enough! You get my point. Now you might be saying, Jason you are a Scrooge – and I see how it might appear that way. I’m not – I love holidays! Most people don’t have to work, everyone acts nice, and you eat very well. I would like to figure out how an excuse to have more holidays!! Maybe we could celebrate the first day the baby Jesus learned to walk!! We could call it “Stepping Day” and celebrate it by eating Prime Rib!! Tthis is just an idea - and a mighty fine idea if I do say so myself!

The main reason for this post was to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you are enjoying yours!!!

more pics

2009-04-26T21:19:00.000-07:00

Almost

2009-04-26T20:58:00.001-07:00

We went to Thanksgiving Point to get pics for Erin's baptism in her dress so I could make these wonderful invitations to send out. Well we get there and forgot the dress. And then life seemed to speed by at about 100 miles per hour and I never even made invites, and had to end up just calling family and leaving messages. Some family didn't even get our lame message and missed Erin's baptism. I'm the loser mother of the year, but Erin did have a great baptism and I don't yet have those pics, they are on my sister's camera. Here are the Thanksgiving point pics that once upon a time were going to be used in the worlds cutest invites...

A bobcat walks into a bar......

2009-04-13T15:21:00.000-07:00

A rabid bobcat walked into a roadside bar in Cottonwood, Arizona. What happened next was not a joke but "pandemonum," including two or three minutes of grown men jumping on top of pool tables and bar stools to get out of the way. When it was over, two people were scratched and bleeding, and the bobcat was gunned down by police in the parking lot. "You've seen the cartoon "Tasmanian Devil? That's a bobcat with rabies," said bar patron Ted Bell. The 20 patrons started scrabling towards the back door. But so did the bobcat, which was not looking for a way out. That's when RC Collins jumped in to protect two women in its path. "That's when he got me. I punched it in the face real good," Collins said. The animal then ran out the front door and was shot by the arriving police.

The news story has a video of it!
http://www.wrcbtv.com/global/story.asp?S=10083321

Sweet Ben Ben

2009-03-24T18:47:00.000-07:00

Sometimes 2 year old boys are rotten and Jason came up with the nick name Rotten Rotten Ben Ben. Well he has his moments but he is very very much a sweet sweet Ben Ben, and I tell him so. Now he sticks up for himself anytime Jason calls him Rotten Rotten Ben Ben, he yells back No Sweet, Sweet Ben Ben! (But sometimes when he's being naughty and caught in the act, Jason will ask are you Rotten Rotten Ben Ben, and he'll answer Yep! with a smile on his face. I love that kid!

Let's kill something!

2009-03-24T18:31:00.000-07:00

Jason took Erin and Wilson shooting. The first time ever for Wilson, when they get out of truck Wilson says 'Let's go kill something!' Jason says, no we don't do that. They pull out targets and Wilson says 'lets kill it!' needless to say he had a good time. Erin is fearless and can now hold the gun and unload it pretty quick. This is a great daddy date, mom likes to sit these out.

I need help

2009-03-04T20:06:00.000-08:00

I can't seem to figure out how to change my blog background, I have done it in the past and I've tried numerous times to no avail. Maybe someone will help us out, Chris I know you were the first to set us up, maybe you could work your magic fingers in my benefit.

Brief summary of Wilson's autism story

2009-03-04T20:03:00.000-08:00

My brother in law Ryan e-mailed Jason about a friend who had a son with autism, they wanted his story and what we did that worked. I put together this e-mail tonight and thought I would share it with you as well. I love you all and thanks for all the support you have given our family regarding this.

Brief Summary of Wilson's Autism Story

We found out when Wilson was 3 years old. At his 3 year old appointment and my babies 2 week appointment, our pediatrician told us we should get him tested. He was tested, up at CDC, and diagnosed with PDD-NOS.
A list of symptoms…
Could name every letter and the letter sound, but did not know his own name, or even mom.
When asked who I was he would just say the color of my shirt, when asked who he was, he would say Thomas, since Thomas the train was always on his clothing.
When he cried he would hit his head against the wall, floor, concrete, etc.
Lined up all his toys.
When visitors came over, he would ‘hide’ in my room and watch a DVD.
He would only wear pj’s. Huge clothing issues!
He would rub my (or anyone’s) skin, all the time.
Very picky eater.
Didn’t like to play with anyone.
Didn’t speak very much, would answer black and white questions. Very little spontaneous language, never asked questions.
I didn’t notice until after learning, but he had poor eye contact, wouldn’t look at people as they entered a room.
Had a new baby brother, and wasn’t happy or sad, just pretended he didn’t exist.
Wouldn’t potty train.
Could play computer games for 8 hours if we let him, but couldn’t sit 5 minutes at the dinner table.

We meet with initially with Dr. Jones, and then with Dr. Carbone. Dr. Carbone gave up very good information on what autism is and what therapies he liked. I wanted information on ABA, RDI, and Floortime. He was wonderful and explained all three, (he has an autistic son and knew personally about each therapy). He recommended that we do a minimum of 20 hours a week of combined therapy. Up to this point, Wilson had been in a weekly neighborhood playgroup that was turning into a 3 year old pre-school. We quickly enrolled him into the public school pre-school with combined speech therapy. Dr. Carbone told us about a great private pre-school, Kids World Pre-school. We enrolled him there as well and kept the neighborhood preschool. We meet with an OT therapist and we started the brushing program, which made a huge impact on his rubbing peoples skin, and probably with food textures. We then meet with Tara Moffit an RDI therapist who explained the program and we felt it was a great fit for our family. It is a parent based therapy where we meet monthly with Tara and we are given specific weekly assignments that we were to work on with Wilson. The goal is to retrain the brain to master skills that a nero typical infant develops. The very first thing we had to do was to stop asking Wilson so many questions. Since he rarely spoke spontaneously we often asked him questions, such as ‘What color is this, What letter is this, Who is in this picture? What do you want to eat, etc….’ Asking questions all the time was a way to prove to us that he was improving and to reassure us how smart he was. In RDI we learned that we need to slow down and instead of asking questions we need to make thoughtful comments where he was not required to answer, but are thought provoking. Instead of ‘What color is your shirt’, we changed it to, ‘I really like Thomas the Train, green is my favorite color.’, which starts the idea that other people have opinions, and with no pressure to perform they enjoy being with and interacting with you. RDI taught us to be better parents for all of our kids, when we changed he changed. As we got more committed to RDI one thing we needed to do was simplify his life. You would never expect your neuro-typical child to have to endure 20 plus hours of schooling/training a week. We pulled Wilson from everything but the one private pre-school. We spent that time working with him doing RDI activities which is almost play like, very natural. We also started The Listening Program (TLP) which we saw huge improvements after we hit the 4th week. We did change his diet which was very hard, I decided not to do the gluten free, we had him tested for celiac diease and was fine, and after research decided that it would affect his health (and his quality of life) more by taking the only things he would eat away. We did end up taking milk away, we used rice milk and chocolate soy, it was hard but we did notice that it helped. Well really, I didn’t think I had seen a big difference until I gave it back to him, after he had been off for a couple of weeks, and then instantly he reacted badly by reverting to old behaviors. After a year we gradually added cow’s milk, we haven’t noticed any problems, but we are still nervous.
Wilson is 5 almost 6 years old and is in “normal” Kindergarten class. He is very social he has 3 standing play dates every week and other kids keep asking to play after school with him. Some things that other people don’t see as a success (but I know you will)…
He loves and begs to play with friends.
He plays using his imagination.
He plays with toys in appropriate ways
He tries new food (5 bites because he’s 5)
Changing his clothes is fun.
He loves music and he will write his own songs.
He’s affectionate, kind and gentle.
He tells me that he loves me.
He will communicate from across the room by only using facial expressions.
He will read my face and know in an instant what I’m thinking.
He is worried about what other people think of him.
And yes he has even lied!

Tara, our RDI therapist thinks that if we had him re-tested that he wouldn’t even have a diagnosis. Wilson is my hero, but I have learned that autism is a gift, I just needed to slow down to see it. I remember when he was first diagnosed and my world felt like it was going in hyper speed yet my body would only move in slow motion, I would have resented someone telling me to slow down and enjoy Wilson, when all I wanted was to cure him and capture this window of early intervention. I believe that I was led to the path that we needed and I will be forever grateful for this experience and look forward to what the future holds.

VOTE COLE

2009-01-29T15:22:00.001-08:00

OK, so I know I have told several people about this, and this is NOT an official announcement - however, I am still toying with the idea of running for the State Senate in 2012. I was approched by a good friend, who also happens to be the Chairman of the SLC Democratic Committee, and encouraged to consider running. I am checking with my employer right now to see if I would be allowed a "leave of absence" while serving my 4 year term. I will keep you posted!

Bad Drivers

2009-01-29T15:14:00.000-08:00

So I was driving the other day when right in front of me there was an accident. Several weeks ago my brother, Kevin, and his family were in a car accident - and it made me start thinking about all the bad drivers…..and worse yet - UTAH DRIVERS!

How do you rate yourself as a driver?

No, that's a stupid question. You rate yourself above average. It's a well-known fact that all humans consider themselves to be above-average drivers, including cavemen who have not yet discovered the wheel - (and no, that was not a plug for Geico). The sad truth is this - each of you SUCK! Yes, I said it - You are Sucky Driver! You suck! You suck worse then the suckiest suck that ever sucked!

I do not fall into this category. I AM a good driver. In fact I would go as far as to say that I am a Professional driver. Now, you are probably saying to yourself, “Jason, what makes you such a good driver?” and “What gives you the right to say we are sucky drivers?”. Well, I am glad I asked those questions, and please allow me to answer for you. First - What makes me such a good driver? Well I have EVO (Emergency Vehicle Operations) training - and you don’t (unless you are in Law Enforcement, in which case you are a good driver like me - this rule also applies to all NASCAR drivers). Second - What gives me the right to say you are a sucky driver? I could go on and on here, but the biggest reason - I am bigger then you!! So quit your whining and shut your pie hole!!!

Now follow me here for a minute. No amount of physical evidence will convince bad driver that they are a bad driver. You take a motorist who, while attempting to pull out of a parking space, mistakes ''forward'' for ''reverse,'' then, in an effort to correct this error, mistakes the accelerator for the brake and sends his car lunging across a sidewalk and into a restaurant attaining a speed of 37 miles per hour by the time it rams the salad bar. Even as the paramedics are busy trying to extricate this motorist from his vehicle, he will loudly insist that (1) the restaurant was not there before, and (2) there are PLENTY of people on the road who do not drive as well as he does.
And the scary thing is: He's right! There are LOTS of worse drivers out there! In fact, a whopping 93 percent of all drivers are below average. This is according to a survey that I made up for this blog. And if you believe this is statistically impossible then not only are you a sucky driver - but also stupid!!

But getting back to your driving ability: I can tell from the perceptive way you're reading this article that you still truly believe you are a good driver, or are “above average” I am sure you think this because you did pass Drivers Education. Passing Drivers Ed does not make you a good driver - I know, I’ve take it. I took Drivers Education at Brighton High School. We did our road training in an old 1987 Ford Taurus - creeping around greater Salt Lake Valley at whopping two miles per hour, signaling our turns 10 seconds in advance and always maintaining a Safe Following Distance (the length of 5 football fields). The class taught me many important driving lessons, the main one being that if you ever find yourself stuck behind a drivers-ed car, you MUST get past it, no matter how many innocent lives you endanger. (Right now you are all nodding your heads agreeing with me).

Anyways, the whole point of this blog was to share with you my brilliant idea. Every time you have to re-new your drivers license, you must complete a road driving test - administered by a professional driver - much like myself. If, based upon the results of said driving test, it is determined you are an “above average” driver, you will be issued a paint ball gun - complete with a canister of multi colored paint balls. Now, here is how this works. If you, an above average driver, are driving and note the annoying behavior of a certain motorists - yes, I mean the below average driver - who is drifting along in the left, or “passing” lane, mile after clueless mile, never passing anyone and never noticing the line of motorists behind them flashing their light, honking their horns and making explicit hand gesters etc. You would shoot your paint ball gun at this motorist and hit his vehicle. Ideally, you could fire several different colors of paint balls, each indicating the type of infraction being violated. This would also be a huge help to the police, who could use the paint balls as evidence.
OFFICER: Sir, do you know why I pulled you over?
MOTORIST: No, why?
OFFICER: I count 15 red paint balls on your rear bumper, which means you've been blocking the left lane.
MOTORIST: But I'm going the speed limit!
OFFICER (sighing): Sir, we only pretend that's the speed limit. In good weather and light traffic, the real speed limit is about 10 miles per hour faster, which is the speed 90 percent of the other drivers are going. If you don't want to go that fast, you need to get over, OK? Also, I count 7 yellow paint balls, indicating you swerved between lanes while dialing your cell phone, etc. Assuming we can work out the details, I think this is a terrific idea.

Erin and Emily

2009-01-19T11:00:00.000-08:00

Erin and Emily are best friends. They can, and do spend every free moment together. I would think that at some point they would get sick of each other, but that has yet to happen. The tragedy in their lives is that they attend different schools and therefore have different school breaks. When one is home the other is in school, they count down the minutes until the other will be home. Many times Erin will take my cell phone when we get in the car after school and she talks to Emily the entire 20 minute ride home.

Wilson's song

2009-01-19T10:58:00.000-08:00

Wilson loves this song, when his friends come over he says "Can I sing you a song?' He then sings The best day ever! His friends don't find it as cute as his parents do!

Wilson's song

2009-01-19T10:50:00.001-08:00

Bennett's true love

2009-01-19T10:08:00.000-08:00

Bennett is fascinated with plugs of all shape and size. I don't think he could choose a more dangerous hobby, except maybe knife collecting. He has gotten zapped before, but it hasn't scared him enough to stop. He hooks up numerous extension cords and likes to try them multiple ways to see if it will still work. As you can imagine Christmas lights was the ultimate experience, he has his own sets and he spent hours out front re-routing the extension cords to the Christmas lights in our front yard. When he is playing with plugs he enters his own world and it's funny, annoying, and scary to watch.

We got him a light bright as hopefully a safer outlet for his electrical needs.

Cole Family Christmas WRAP up!

2008-12-31T06:45:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas this year - very small and simple. However, I still spent several hours on Christmas Eve wrapping presents - and I got to thinking…..WHY? I thought back to the very first Christmas, when the three Wise Men -- Gaspar, Balthasar and Herb -- went to see the baby Jesus, and, according to the Book of Matthew, ``presented unto Him gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh.''
These are simple words, but if we analyze them carefully, we discover an important, yet often-overlooked, theological fact: There is no mention of wrapping paper. If there had been wrapping paper, Matthew would have said so: ``And lo, the gifts WERE inside 600 square cubits of paper.
``And the paper WAS festooned with pictures of Frosty the Snowman.
``And Joseph WAS going to throweth it away, but Mary saideth unto him, she saideth, `Holdeth it! That is nice paper! Saveth it for next year!'
``And Joseph DID rolleth his eyeballs.
``And the baby Jesus WAS more interested in the paper than, for example, the frankincense.''
But these words do not appear in the Bible, which means that the very first Christmas gifts were NOT wrapped. This is because the people giving those gifts had two important characteristics:
1. They were wise.
2. They were men.
Men are not big gift wrappers. Men do not understand the point of putting paper on a gift just so somebody else can tear it off. This is not just my opinion; this is a scientific fact based on a statistical survey of two guys I know. One is my brother, Christian, who said the only time he ever wraps a gift is, quote, ''if it's such a poor gift that I don't want to be there when the person opens it.'' The other is my brother Ryan, who told me he does wrap gifts, but as a matter of principle never takes more than 15 seconds per gift.
''No one ever had to wonder which presents Daddy wrapped at Christmas,'' Ryan said. ``They were the ones that looked like enormous spitballs.''
I also wrap gifts, but because of some defect in my motor skills, I can never COMPLETELY wrap them. I can take a gift the size of a deck of cards and put it in the exact center of a piece of wrapping paper the size of a regulation volleyball court, but when I am done folding and taping, you can still see a sector of the gift peeking out. (Sometimes I camouflage this sector with a marking pen.)
On the other hand, if you give my wife a 12-inch square of wrapping paper, she can wrap a C-130 cargo plane. My wife, like many women, actually LIKES wrapping things. If she gives you a gift that requires batteries, she wraps the batteries separately, which to me is very close to being a symptom of mental illness.
My point is that gift-wrapping is one of those skills -- like having babies -- that come more naturally to women than to men. That is why today I am presenting:
GIFT-WRAPPING TIPS FOR MEN
-- Whenever possible, buy gifts that are already wrapped. If, when the recipient opens the gift, neither of you recognizes it, you can claim that it's myrrh.
-- The editors of Woman's Day magazine recently ran an item on how to make your own wrapping paper by printing a design on it with an apple sliced in half horizontally and dipped in a mixture of food coloring and liquid starch. They must be smoking crack.
-- If you're giving a hard-to-wrap gift, skip the wrapping paper! Just put it inside a bag and stick one of those little adhesive bows on it. This creates a festive visual effect that is sure to delight the lucky recipient on Christmas morning:
YOUR WIFE: Why is there a Hefty trash bag under the tree?
YOU: It's a gift! See? It has a bow!
YOUR WIFE (peering into the trash bag): It's a leaf blower.
YOU: Gas-powered! Five horsepower!
YOUR WIFE: I want a divorce.
YOU: I also got you some myrrh.
In conclusion, remember that the important thing is not what you give, or how you wrap it. The important thing, during this very special time of year, is that you save the receipt.

One final news story

2008-11-25T08:02:00.000-08:00

This one happened is South Salt Lake - just down the road from good ol' West Valley. Again click the blog title - "One final news story" for the link to the Salt Lake Tribune article!

Thawing your turkey

2008-11-25T07:57:00.000-08:00

There are many who warn against thawing your turkey. See why police say it is a good idea to keep your bird frozen! (Click on Blog title - "Thawing your turkey" - to read the story) Another prime example of a dumb criminal!!
I love my job!!

Education and Criminals

2008-11-25T06:25:00.000-08:00

I have had many interesting discussions with people the past few months regarding our children’s education. We argue the pro and cons of both public and private education. I have my opinions, but I will keep those to myself for the time being. That being said there is one fact we can not ignore. Our educational system is failing. Our schools are producing students who are -- to quote from the conclusion of an 858-page report issued in 2001 by a distinguished blue-ribbon Presidential Task Force on Educational Quality -- ``stupid.'' The drop in our national IQ has caused many problems, including Limp Bizkit, feng shui, the U.S. Department of Education and the growth of ''reality-based'' TV. But the most serious problem is that, as our population gets dumber, it becomes harder and harder to find qualified workers. Nowhere is this disturbing trend more evident than in the field of crime. Not so long ago, American criminals ranked among the best in the world. Foreigners were terrified to come here because our criminals were so good at making our streets unsafe. Today, however, we are producing incompetent criminals who not only have allowed the crime rate to drop, but who also, when they DO attempt to break the law, commit crimes of a quality that is, frankly, embarrassing. Consider a story from The Capital, in Annapolis, Md. According to this article, an alleged parole violator was about to be taken into custody in the county courthouse in Annapolis when he suddenly ran from the courtroom. So far, so good; criminals are supposed to flee. The suspect, pursued by sheriff's deputies, ran into the nearby Maryland Inn, where he hid in a closet. This is still acceptably competent criminal behavior. But then, according to The Capital, the man decided to disguise himself by ''putting on a bunny suit.'' I am not making this up. For some reason, which is not explained in the Capital article, the closet contained a full-size bunny suit, with large pink ears, and the suspect climbed into it. Maybe he thought this would fool the deputies. FIRST DEPUTY: He ran into that closet! SECOND DEPUTY (opening closet door): Nope! There's nobody in here but a giant bunny! FIRST DEPUTY: Darn! But the deputies were not deceived, and they apprehended the suspect after a struggle. The Capital quotes an inn employee as saying: ``It looked like they were attacking the Easter Bunny.'' As pathetic as that criminal was, he was Albert Einstein compared with our next example, whose story is told in the Albuquerque Journal. This article states that a man armed with a knife held up a Taco Bell and got $2,300. The robber wore a ski mask to disguise his identity. This plan would have worked flawlessly, except that, during the robbery, the robber made one teensy mistake: He pulled one of the Taco Bell workers aside, lifted his mask and said, ``It's me, Tim.'' Yes. It turns out that the robber used to work at this Taco Bell, and he chose that particular moment to say hi to a former co-worker. This meant that the police had a pretty good clue as to the identity of the robber -- namely, his name -- and thus were able to apprehend him, which is good, because a person of his apparent mental caliber should not be walking around with a sharp object. Speaking of weapons, another excellent example of the modern criminal mind is reported the Billings Gazette in Montana. This article concerns a man who tried to hold up a Billings gas station by pointing his finger at the clerk. According to a police spokesperson, the would-be robber 'took off running when the clerk said `no.' '' What a moron! You'd think our educational system would at LEAST have taught this man that, if he's going to scare people with his finger, he must demonstrate its menace by pointing it at the ceiling and going, ``Bang! Bang!'' I could give more examples, but you get my point: The once-proud American crime industry has become a joke. To turn the situation around, we need better-educated criminals; to produce them, we must give our schools - all schools - more resources, in the form of money. That's why I want you to put cash in an envelope and mail it to me, so I can give it to the schools. I'm talking about ALL your cash. Do it RIGHT NOW. Or else. Because this finger is loaded.

Erin's new hair cut

2008-10-11T19:54:00.000-07:00

Sweet little Erin is not looking so little, she got a hair cut tonight and now I think she could pass for 10. What do you think. She is one pretty child!!!

First day of school

2008-09-27T20:19:00.000-07:00

The kids finally had their first day of school, AHSJ is moving into a new building and had some set backs that forced them to postpone school until they finished up construction. In the end the building still wasn't ready so we started at the old building for a couple of weeks. The kids are very excited to get back to school and the routine of things. I started teaching 2nd grade at their school and so far so good. Overall my experience this summer with the staff has been wonderful, it really has been what I needed. Bennett is with my mom and doing very well, (I miss him so much and feel so bad leaving him). Erin is doing great, the first week is always stressful, but she loves her class, her friends, and her teacher. And sweet Wilson, the one who lead us all there in the first place, is doing perfect. I have worried about the first day of kindergarten for him since he was 3 and first diagonised. It was so hard on me having to send him to class by himself and walk away since I had a class full of students of my own, otherwise I don't think I could have. I still run to his teachers wanting every detail, and I'm dying to be a fly on the wall and watch him. I do get to see him briefly at lunch and he's always happy, he wants to tell me about what he doing, about his friends, and he's so excited about his packed lunch. Just like every other 'normal' kid. The joy that I feel watching him interact and behave so typically is overwhelming. He is truly a miracle. Thank you for all the prayers on his behalf (since the 3 people that read this blog are all family members).

We have a new camera

2008-09-27T20:00:00.000-07:00

On Wilson's birthday back in June, I let him take some pics around the house. He was swinging it and it hit just right and broken the lens. We couldn't afford a new camera and thus we haven't taken any pics of the kids all summer. We just bought a new camera this last week, so here is what our kids look like one summer later.

Dancin' with a man.......or something like that!

2008-09-04T15:59:00.000-07:00

This is a true story - the names have been changed to protect the innocent...or guilty...or whatever! I love my job!! Ask Amber....ask anyone - "can I ask anyone right now, how about my mom, can I call my mom and tell her how much I love her" - sorry, I got distracted with a classic line from one of my favorite movies. Anyways, back to the story - so I love my job - however there are a few parts of my job that bug me. One of those is the week I am on call it is my "duty" to fingerprint the citizens and criminals of WVC. We fingerprint people on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 to 16:00 (or 10am to 4pm for those who struggle with military time). The criminals are the majority of the people we fingerprint - about 8 out of every 10 people. The civilians (employment, background checks etc) are typically friendly and have some over all decent hygiene. A lot of the criminals however do not follow suit. Many of them I am pretty sure would not know a bar of soap, or deodorant if it hit them in the head.....also, a lot do not speak English - and I do not speak much Spanish - needless to say, it can put me in a bad mood. So a couple of months ago, it was my turn to fingerprint people. It was a beautiful Thursday afternoon and there came a knock on our door at the Forensic Unit. I answered and there stood, what I would consider a pretty good looking woman, who informed me she had been ordered by the court to be fingerprinted. She was very nicely dressed, and very well groomed - hair was cut and combed, and she smelled pleasant - like she had showered and put on deodorant and perfume. I could tell she was a woman because the shirt she was wearing was very tight fitting, and also had a very low cut neck. Many would agree with me if they were there - that this woman was very well "endowed". I was very professional and maintained appropriate "eye to eye" contact. I verified she had the correct paperwork needed to proceed with fingerprinting. Anyways, I was typing in all her information into the computer, and came to the screen where it asked for "sex, race, hair color, eye color, height and weight". I typically will ask for each of these and then type in the information as they answer me with. Below is our conversation as I remember it:
ME - Sex
HER - Female
ME - Race
HER - White
ME - Hair color
HER - Brown with blonde highlights, I just got it done....do you like it?
ME - I can only list one color so I will put brown, and yes, it looks nice.
ME - Ummm eye color
HER - Brown
ME - And your height
HER - 5 foot 6 inches
ME - And weight
HER - 145 pounds

I then proceeded to the next screen where I type in the arrest information. She asks me if it is possible to return to a previous screen on the computer. I told her I was able to do so, and that any information could be changed until I "locked" the record and printed out the fingerprint card. She asks me to return the previous screen and said:
"I should probably change the female to male, since I have not had the final surgery yet."
I was shocked, but hid it fairly well. I ended out listing her, not as a male, and not as a female, but as a "female impersonator". Every part of him/her was female, the long hair, painted fingernails, high healed shoes, chest etc....all except for .... yep you guessed it!! I got a bit sick to my stomach thinking that I had admired this woman....who it turns out was really a MAN!!!
Have you seen Ace Ventura? I did go home and shower that night and scrubbed my body with scrub brushes and even then still felt dirty! My co-workers laughed and laughed and thought it was quite funny.
So enjoy this little video, and think of me while you watch it!!!

One of my co-workers, Amanda, told her parents about this incident and they too laughed. Later her dad sent me an email with the video posted above. They still tease me about it to this day!!

Golfing

2008-09-04T07:37:00.000-07:00

I like to Golf - I do not golf as much as Christian or talk about it as much, but I do enjoy “smackin whitey” around. I have not been out as much as I would have liked to this year - and I blame a lot of that on the fact that it is difficult to get a good tee time unless you plan way in advance. I am concerned about the future of one of my favorite pastimes, because there are more and more golfers and fewer and fewer tee times. There used to be a better golf course-to-golfer ratio, but then bowlers found out they could drink beer, drive electric carts into trees and get a tan by switching to golf and combined with the fact that young people think golf is a hip, retro thing to do, golf courses are way too crowded and most cities just don’t have enough space to build more of them.
So I would like to suggest in the future we combine golf courses with cemeteries. Cemeteries have everything you need for a golf course. They are often conveniently located right in the middle of town, they have lots of grass and trees. The only problem is all those dang headstones.
So what you do is this: take out the headstones... leave the bodies cuz’ nobody takes a divot that deep... and put all the headstones representing bodies buried in that fairway, around the tee box. For example, one headstone would say "Ray Finkle, 1918-1988. Par four, 440 yards. May he rest in peace. Replace your divots."
Traditionally a golf course has bushes alongside or markers imbedded in the fairway to tell you when you are 150 yards away from the green, but now you could have a lone headstone that says "You’re a 150 yards from the green and directly over Ed Harley, 1912-1978."
And of course the mourners could still come to visit their dearly departed because mourners are generally quiet, which is perfect for golf. If while they are mourning they see a good shot perhaps they’ll applaud and wave their flowers. It will help them reaffirm the notion that there is joy in life and to carry on without whomever they have lost.
Right now this may seem to be a crazy idea but they laughed at Edison. You watch--20 years from now, some of us will be buried on golf courses, while those we left behind will be making bogeys over bodies.

If I were President!

2008-08-28T14:14:00.000-07:00

So I was laying in bed last night watching television, and due to having the “basic” cable package there were not many channels to surf. The Democratic National Convention was being broadcast on all of the local stations - so out of sheer boredom I watched for a bit. I chuckled to myself at how ridiculous this whole election year has been - but also a bit pissed because this garbage was being shown in place of quality TV programming - like Jerry Springer, one of my personal favorites. It got me to thinking what things I would change if I were President!
Do you ever wonder what you would do if you were President? Would you try and raise taxes? Lower Taxes? Truthfully, if you were to ask me right now, I would say I do not know.
So what do I know? If I was as smart as the people running the country, or soon to be, I’d be running the country. So I must not be that smart…….or, am I? Are you? You might be thinking - Jason, the average citizen isn’t qualified to lead the country. REALLY? Can the average citizen balance their checkbook? Most do. Would the average citizen pay $640.00 for a toilet seat? I think not.
Does the average citizen think we need leaders who would spend the average citizen’s money responsibly, someone like, oh I don’t know….let’s say, an average citizen? (I just like saying average citizen).
If you do, then support my plan! I call it Jason’s Democracy. Here is what we do, we cancel all elections. No more voting. Instead we pick our “leaders” just like jury duty. You open the phone book, start calling people, and take what you get! If you don’t have a good excuse you have to be a “leader” - president, senator, congressman, etc - for a month.
No more campaigns, no lobbyists, no undue influence. Jason’s Democracy would work because we are a lot smarter and our politicians are a lot dumber then we think. Sure, with Jason’s Democracy you might end up with some perverts, schnooks, deadbeats, drunks, nincompoops, numb nuts, lame brains, bozo’s, crack heads and whores, but that is what we’ve got in there now and we can’t get rid of them. With my plan if you get an idiot for a leader, they’re done in a month and then you can call someone else.
This is a great plan - sure, a pharmacist who became, oh let’s say a Senator, for a month might vote to invade Canada because they have cheaper prescription drugs, or a pro-gun guy might want his own stock pile of arms to scare kids out of his yard - but most of the people in Congress will be sane and say, NO, and here’s the beautiful part - all leaders would have to go back home in a month and face their neighbors who have to live with the laws and tax cuts that produce the lousy schools and roads and whatever else they voted in. And that my friends, is when Jason’s Democracy get’s interesting!
Thanks for letting me vent for a moment, and now it is back to work for this government employee. Ha ha

10 Years

2008-08-25T12:40:00.000-07:00

OK, so I know this is a little bit late - but I still think worth mentioning. Amber and I celebrated 10 years of marriage on March 31, 2008. This has to be some sort of miracle, who would have ever thought someone would put up with me for that long!! I am sorry for all those who bet good money thinking she would have left me long long ago!!
For this momentous occasion we took a trip - yes, just Amber and I - no kids - to Mexico. A special thanks needs to be given to Robyn for all her help with this - she is the BEST sister ever. We spent a week in Puerto Vallarta and it was wonderful. It rained everyday - all day except on Friday when we flew out, but it was still very relaxing. It was fun just bumming around and hanging out with sweet, sweet Amber. While here I got my first ever massage! This little latino girl worked my body over till I could barely walk - very similar to my high school days, only this time I was sober!! It was very relaxing and I am hooked.

Amber is the greatest thing in my life, and I look forward to many, many more years with her! I love you Amber!

Alabama Training

2008-08-25T12:12:00.000-07:00

I attended my first training with the Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston, Alabama June 23-27, 2008. I was instructed in the area of Weapons of Mass Destruction Crime Scene Management for Emergency Responders, Weapons of Mass Destruction and HazMat Evidence Collection, and then one day in "Cobra Alley" where I got to work in a "hot" environment where actual biological chemicals are used. The training was some of the best I have been to in a while. I did survive Cobra Alley, and look forward to my next training there!

Training

2008-08-25T11:38:00.000-07:00

So I have been getting alot a crap from people because I have not updated the Cole Family Blog. I would like to thank Amber for her recent post - but for all those who have been requesting an update here you go!! Also, if you just logged onto our blog, you will notice the added music - I thought I would add a few of my favs for your listening pleasure! Also, I need to make a clarification from Amber's post - I was in training in Louisville, and did attend some good training - but I also took full advantage of what I like to call "networking". And while some nights the "networking" kept me out till the wee hours of the morning, I still made it to all my classes. It really was a GREAT time, and was very much needed for me. It was wonderful to visit with lots of my old friends, and of course meet many new ones - (Thanks to my new Michigan buddies who picked me up on the side of the road and drove me down to 4th Street).
I was released from the Bishopric yesterday - Amber and I are so excited about the free time I will now enjoy! It is crazy to think that both she and I have been in major leadership positions since we have been married - over 10 years now - so this is a well deserved and much needed break! I am really hoping for a calling in the nursery - that way I can hang out with little Bennett boy - not to mention I will get a snack each week (including fast Sunday - which is a beautiful thing since we have the dreaded 1 to 4 schedule).
Work is always very busy, and keeps me on my toes. I enjoy every minute of it, and love what I do. I have 3 trainings upcoming - I am doing the Crime Scene Academy in September - attending and teaching at the Tri-Division Conference in Phoenix Arizona the end of September - and then doing the Advanced Crime Scene Academy in October. Also in October I am hosting The Science of Fingerprint Identification course. In November - just after Thanksgiving I am heading back to Anniston, Alabama for additional training with Weapons of Mass Destruction - this will be another hands on training and I get to go to "Cobra Alley" again. "Cobra Alley" is the only area in the US where you work with live chemical agents. They suit you up, to include full respiratory gear, and go into rooms with monitoring equipment to detect the chemical. Last visit I was exposed to Serin Gas and VX Nerve Agent. It is pretty wild, and quite the adrenaline rush.

2008-08-21T21:41:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and family, I am so sorry we haven't updated in so long, we will be better. Right now Jason is in Kentucky at a training, he's having a good time, I think this one is more play than work but he deserves every minute of it. I started my first week working, teacher training. I was very nervous but that was wasted effort as I have enjoyed myself completely. I barely know the staff but there is already such a feeling of unity and excitement. Everyone is very committed to make learning fun. Our worry is if our building will be ready, it is still under construction and it will take a miracle to get us in on time. But they profess that many miracles have already happened, so they have faith that it will be done. But we will not have much time to set up the rooms, which is minor, but for me being new I would have loved time to re-arrange the room a few times. The kids are doing well, excited for school to start, so they can see their friends and not be so bored. I love you all and will be better and keeping up.

Amber

Walk for Autism

2008-04-11T20:10:00.000-07:00

On Saturday May 3, 2008 at Cottonwood High School is the Walk Now for Autism. Amber and I have signed up - you can view the posted site, and search for "TEAM WILSON" under the "register" portion of the site. This is an invitation for anyone who knows Wilson to come out and have a GREAT day and also, learn more about autism. All of the money raised goes to help find out more information and possible cures and causes for autism. Contact us with any information.

Along those same lines, today Amber and I met with our RDI consultant. She is so impressed with the progress Wilson has made this past year and a half. We wish to again thank our family for all of the thought and prayers for Wilson. You have all given him HOPE, and helped improve his live so much. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

http://www.walknowforautism.org/site/c.inKHILNqEmG/b.3615093/

Erin Gymnastics

2008-03-20T20:27:00.001-07:00

Erin has been learning gymnastics. Here are some pictures from her first meet.

Here is Erin on the beam.

Here she is on the uneven bars.

Willie Nelsons - 3 and 0

2008-03-20T19:34:00.000-07:00

It is official the Willie Nelsons are 3 and 0, and leading the division!! Wednesday night was a blowout of a game. I shared the "keeper" responsibilities with another, so I played the 1st half on the field, and the 2nd half as keeper. Not a bad night for me, chalk me up for 2 assists and only 1 goal scored on me. Final score, Willie Nelsons 12 - Slowroll 5. Here are some pics of the game.

Here I am getting ready for the game, Jeff Quigley - AKA "short willie" behind me.
Our team colors are black, I am adorned in the red goalie shirt - my goalie name - Z WALL!!

Here I am in goal warming up before the game. D. Brophy #1 - AKA Tall Willie, and A. Clark - AKA TORO or Ivanna Willie, taking shots.

Me - AKA Tiny Willie, or OSO (spanish for bear), or Polar OSO, or Z WALL, about to put this poor girl into the wall.....she should have passed it sooner. She sat out most of the game after and some called it a "cheap" shot.....this is America babe, survival of the fittest.

Jenny J. - AKA Zorro, or the Bus Driver because she is about to take this kid to school. Jenny J. was an all MWC player of the year a few years ago when she played for the U of U. She rocks!!!!

I threw this picture in for Ryan. #4 is Amy Maurer, I forget her maiden name, but this is Ryans girlfriend back in middle school!! Jenny J, a bit blurry is in the back ground.

Jason Life Catch Up

2008-03-15T08:27:00.001-07:00

I talked to Christian on the phone yesterday and got in some trouble for not keeping up on my life on the blog. He had no idea of some of the things I was doing in my life, so this post will cover a few.
Most are aware that I was promoted to be the Director of the West Valley City Police Crime Lab back in November – the same week I went to Denver to visit Christian and Kristal. The job has been GREAT, and I am learning a lot. I have found there are a lot of administration duties to do and it keeps me from doing case work. I love case work, and still assign myself a few cases a month. I also still take a week of on call. Work is pretty busy, we get slammed with drug cases and property cases, and we are still working 3 homicide cases. Those always take a lot of time.
In December I was contacted by the Salt Lake City School District and asked to teach 2 classes for them. I accepted and started to teach in January. I am teaching a Forensic Science class at the Career and Technical Center (CTC), which is located on the SLCC campus on 1500 South State Street. Students from East, West and Highland are bussed to the school for the class. The SLC School District is on “A” and “B” days, so I teach every other day from about 9:00am to Noon. WVC is good to let me take time off to go and teach, but I have to make up the time I am gone. So typically the days I teach I get into work around 6:00 (yes Christian that is “O-600” in the morning) and then leave for school, return to work and work until around 8:30 pm. It makes for a long day, but it is a lot of fun.
Amber made the post that she will be teaching 2nd grade next year at American Heritage, and they asked if I would come and teach a Forensic Class for the school also next year.
My company, Law Enforcement Training Consultants – or LETC, is doing well also. I have an “Advanced Crime Scene Academy” next week, and then a “Basic Crime Scene Academy” in April. These trainings are fun but a lot of work to put together. They take a lot of time and preparation to get ready. You can find out more info about the classes on my website – www.letc-llc.com
Throw a wife and 3 kids and a church calling and indoor soccer into the mix and you can see I stay pretty busy.

Willie Nelsons

2008-03-15T08:07:00.000-07:00

It is official the Willie Nelsons are 2 and 0!! My co-worker Jenn, who was an all pro soccer player at the UofU, started an indoor soccer team for the Police Department. I of course got roped into it, more from my big mouth when she was taking about starting a team, and I talked a lot of trash. Needless to say, once she got the team going, she made me sign up to play. It has been a lot of fun, but I am slowly learning that I am OLD and do not heal like I did as a youngster. I pulled my groin after the second practice, and had to take a week and a half off to recoop. We had our first game (actually 2 games) on Wednesday and we won both! I am the “keeper” on the team, and took a little bit of a beating. I took a couple of shots to the upper body, and got kicked pretty good while diving for a loose ball. It is a lot of fun, and Amber is a good sport for letting me play. With everything else going on in my life it is good to do something to get a little exercise. We took some pictures at the game and I will post some soon. I will also keep you posted on our process. Christian, get ready when you come and visit – we might throw you in the game!!

2008-03-07T07:07:00.000-08:00

Bennett is getting so big!

Cute little Wilson

Erin and Bennett before church last week, Erin is so beautiful.

2008-03-06T14:26:00.000-08:00

You may not believe it, (I still don't), but I got a job! It really was an amazing experience, as it just fell into my lap. I will be teaching 2nd grade at American Heritage (www.americanheritage-sj.org) next school year. American Heritage is the school that Erin currently attends and the school Wilson will attend next school year. I have been the room mother for Erin's class and her teacher fell in love with me and told the administration that they needed to hire me. Erin's teacher approached me about it and a month later after thinking hard about it decided to apply and see what would happen. I walked in and the director already had a class picked out for me. I am so excited, Erin and Wilson will both be there all day and my mom will tend Bennett. They gave me some books to read one of them is called 'A Thomas Jefferson Education' which is their teaching theory. I loved it and if you want to learn about it check out the web site www.tjed.com . I will also be teaching the middle ages, something I know little about but I'm very excited about learning. But more than anything I am so excited to be at the school with my kids all day.

2008-02-21T20:01:00.000-08:00

Yummy! Bennett does enjoy his snacks

Bennett enjoying valentine cookies with some neighbors

2008-02-21T19:53:00.000-08:00

Wilson is getting pretty good at throwing snowballs he got me with this one.

We got so much snow this year, it's been fun for the kids to play in, and of course eat. Erin and Wilson eat 'snow apples' which are of course snow balls, but Erin thinks its healthier if it's an apple. The other day Wilson picked up a piece of black snow in the driveway and ate it. Yuck!

2008-02-21T19:44:00.000-08:00

the kids at the christmas tree, they had a great christmas, we got a live tree and they loved to decorate it.

Erin with her 1st grade class aren't they cute

Erin with her friend Shelby at the Christmas Pagent
Friends to the end

Bennett Maxwell Cole

2008-02-18T18:54:00.000-08:00

Sweet little Bennett is such a joy in our family. He is at a very fun age, when we say it is time for prayer he always folds his arms, when we ask what song he wants to sing he always says Pop Pop (Popcorn Popping). He loves to throw things away in the garbage can (including things that shouldn't be thrown away - uh oh). He loves to be chased, and if he gets outside he goes running and keeps checking back every now and then to make sure your following him. He loves his Grandma Murphy more than anyone, (except maybe his blanket and binki), he also wrestles with Cabo the dog everyday. He wants more than anything to be big and play with Erin and Wilson. He trys his hardest to keep up and they are good sports and let him tag along. But the funniest thing about Bennett is his cooking skills, he uses every form of communication that he has (screaming, pointing, grunting, climbing, ect) to get a pan and a wooden spoon. He drags over a chair and then 'cooks' on the stove. On occation he will get the salt and pepper shakers or other spices to add to his pans. If he's not on the stove he then is on the floor with every pan and lid tring them on to find a good fit. He walks around the house with oven mits on, which is so funny because they cover his entire arms, carrying a cookie sheet with assorted items. Two Sunday's ago at dinner at Grandma Murphy's house we were sitting down for dinner and then we smelled this horrible smell. She had turned on her oven to broil garlic bread without checking the oven first. Bennett had put a plastic toy frying pan in the oven with toy food in it. It had melted down the three racks on all over the bottom of the oven.

Wilson McKay Cole

2008-02-12T12:19:00.000-08:00

Wilson is our gift of Hope! He has taught our family so much. Most of you are aware that Wilson was diagnosed with PDD-NOS (Autism) shortly after he turned 3 years old. Wilson will turn 5 on June 30th. The past, almost 2 years, have been a roller coaster for Amber and I. Wilson has been attending Kids World Pre-School the past year and has been doing remarkably well. His teacher, Mr. Brandon, is WONDERFUL - and has helped Amber and I so much. Life can be very challenging raising and dealing with a child with a disability and yet at the same time bring so many blessings and so much joy. There is nothing greater for me then when this cute little boy looks me in the eyes and says, "I love you daddy!" and I know that he now understands what he is saying and that he does love me and is able to express it. Wilson shares a room with Bennett and sleeps on the top bunk. He loves to read books, and is great at sounding out letters and words. The other day while we were driving he began counting and I was happy to see that he made it all the way to 100!!! He also loves to play the game "I spy" and it is adorable to hear him say when it is his turn, "I spy whif my widdle eye, whif some ping" and then names a color. Wilson also loves to play with Cabo, and the poor dog is great to put up with all the wrestling and abuse from 2 full of energy boys.

Erin McKena Cole

2008-02-12T06:00:00.000-08:00

Sweet little Erin will turn 7 years old on April 17. It is crazy to think that I have a 7 year old. As I sit and look back on the past seven years I can not picture my life without this sweet little girl. She is the best big sister anyone could ask for. She is so good to include Wilson when she plays with her friends and loves to help Bennett out.

Erin is in the 1st Grade. She attends American Heritage of South Jordan - not too far from Grandma Cole's house. She is learning so much and it is fun to see her grow. School has been a good thing for her and helped her start to break out of her shell - she is becomming much more social. Recently she has been wanting to learn to play chess, and is becomming a pretty good little player. She is also taking gymnastics and is constantly flipping cartwheels around the house.

Erin just got a new bed. We had to take her old one away so we could build the bunk beds for the boys. We got her a full size bed, and she loves it. She wakes up each morning and makes it. Cabo (our black lab) likes the larger size bed too, as now he has more room at night so sleep.

Cole Family Updates

2008-02-12T05:54:00.000-08:00

With Christian and Kristal living out of state it is fun to view their blog and see what is happening in their lives. And even though Mindy, Greg and Hailey live not far from me, I still only see them about once a month, so this is a fun way to keep everyone updated. I thought is was a good idea, and figured that if Christian can do it - anyone can.
With that being said, sit back, relax, stoke up the ol' gas fireplace and get caught up on the happenings of the Cole family.