Luau '09

(This is Kulani again). This year was the biggest luau so far. We'd planned on around 300 people and between 350-400 people showed up. It wasn't without incident, but by and large it seemed to go pretty well. While we did get behind a few times on the various proteins, we didn't run out of food. By the numbers, we turned out 8 Costco packages of Italian Sausages with the corresponding sauce and argentine bread, a 10 lb bag of rice, 15 lbs of potato salad, 70 lbs of kalbi sirloin, 100 lbs of Kalua Pork, and 120 lbs of chicken.

So, here's how it went down:
(Cindy here now. Kulani has been too busy to finish his post.)

Kuhia - sous chef and Haupia Master

Ben helped man the grill station (with help from his son Jaron).

Alika and Brittney helped with initial prep on Friday, and allowed us the use of their dad's kitchen with Wolf appliances. (Maybe we can get Wolf to consider sponsoring our luau next year.) Kehaulani brought it up a notch this year with decorations.

Lani (and Patrick) made the Chicken Long Rice and brought the poi, as well as bringing Cindy and the girls fresh leis back from their recent trip to Hawaii.

Kamika was the official luau photographer. But I also saw my neighbor Ellen with her camera, and I can't wait to see what photos she took.

Brian helped cart stuff up to the park with his truck. Jon and Delena helped with whatever needed helping. And many more of you chipped in when a command was barked or things needed cleaned up. Many thanks!

And the last great component was our fine friends, colleagues, neighbors, and associates. We can't take you all to Hawaii, but we can bring a little piece of Hawaii to you.

Elyssa, Stephanie, and Ellen. Friends from the neighborhood.

Racer and Maren and their dog. Racer is one of Kulani's first friends from the biking world, and now Racer owns a great little bicycle shop in Provo appropriately named "Racer's." In fact, it was Kulani who dubbed Racer, "Racer." Racer's real name is Jared, but at Gourmet Bicycles back in the day, three Jareds worked at the shop, so Kulani gave Jared the name of Racer to tell them all apart. Racer has since legally changed his name to Racer.

This is Mackenzie my niece holding my sister Kathy's new baby. Mackenzie is only 9 or 10, but she's going to make a great babysitter soon (as she is already). Grandma and Grandpa Christenson came down from Idaho and scooped up all the grandkids along the way to give the adults a night off. Mackenzie lives in Bothwell, Utah.

This is the Lorimers. Pat is attending UofU Medical School. They are founding members of the FCC--Fans of Cycling and Cuisine. The club is known for enjoying fine food and fine bicycle rides, mostly between Kulani and Pat.

Kulani taking a well-deserved break. I know you all think it looks like a lot of trouble to do this every year, but let me tell you that it is the highlight of Kulani's year. He loves it.

Next year, I'll make sure every family gets a photo. Wait ... Kulani, will there be a next year? Tune in to find out!

Enthusiastic Listener

A post about the Luau will be on its way, but I've felt inspiration this morning.

I know I won't be winning any awards such as "Best Mom of the Year." I'm okay with that, really. Besides, the attention one would get from such an award would probably cause me to become a hermit. In my older years, I'm starting to seriously get why J.D. Salinger has been hiding for nigh unto 50 years (perhaps he's dead).

"Won't you come to speak to our women's group?" The phone calls wouldn't stop if you were to be mother of the year. Then there's the speaking engagements, the book deals, the paparazzi trying to take a picture of you at your least "mom-of-the-year" moment (think: Kate Gosselin). You know, when your 2-year-old runs out the front door sans clothes and diaper. Not that I'd know anything about that...

When I was younger, when asked the question: "Which would you choose: fame or fortune?" I'd always choose fame. I think it's a commonality amongst those of us stuck in the middle of a large family. We seek outward attention wherever we can get it.

But on Saturday after the luau, I decided fame is not for me. The luau was fantastic and it was great seeing everyone. The only problem was, it wasn't long enough, and I was on working duty, so I didn't get to say "hi" and chat with more people that I wanted. Some of the people who show up to the luau I only see once a year. I like to see how people's children are progressing and growing. I like to hear people's "stories." But fame (not that the luau makes me famous, there's just a lot of people there) doesn't allow one the time (nor the energy) to really connect with people in the ways one likes to be connected. I understand Dave Chappelle stepping away from the spotlight. Maybe there is such as thing as too many friends? (NO! NEVER! LET THE FRIEND REVOLUTION BEGIN!)

But what I'm getting at in a very odd and roundabout way is that I felt inspired today to help me become a better mother.

Lilia has been struggling with reading. It hasn't come naturally for her at all. I think a big part of it is because of her speech delay and hearing problems when she was a baby. The ripple affect has moved out to her reading comprehension. I can see on her face when she sounds out certain words, in her head all these years she's been hearing the word wrong. For example, the word "asked." She thinks it should be spelled A-K-S-D, so when she tries reading the real word, she gets confused and then frustrated. And my coaxing with little ryhmes she's heard a million times, such as "when two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking" does not help.

So I've been thinking what I could do to help her better. Usually when we read together, it's late at night, and I'm tired. I'm listening to her read with my eyes half closed. What kind of a message am I sending her? "You bore me to sleep, little girl."

So the next time we read together, it will be (a) earlier and (b) I'll act like I'm interested in what she's reading.

"Oooh, this story is good. Keep reading! What's going to happen next?"

Wouldn't that make you want to read more rather than seeing your mom nod off to sleep? Like I said, maybe not Mom-of-the-Year, but More Improved isn't a bad award either. Please, no phone calls.

Murray Youth and Family Tri

(Fair warning, this is Kulani posting). Lilia did her first triathlon today at the Murray Youth and Family Triathlon at the Murray City Park, which included a 100 yd swim, a 2.6 mile bike, and 0.6 mile run.
The night before the race, Lilia was already starting to get nervous. It didn't get much better in the morning. This is Lilia's nervous look. As we sat waiting for the pre-race meeting, I asked her what she was most nervous about. "I'm a little scared I might not be able to finish it all," she confided. I then explained to her that her rides and runs with the family were each several times longer than the race, which calmed her down almost immediately. Then she told me her strategy - "When it gets hard, I'll just do like in the book. I'll say, 'I think I can, I think I can.'"


The thing I was most nervous about was the swim - Lilia only learned the freestyle stroke about two-three weeks ago. And that was in shallow water. I was amazed by her tenacity. She swam the entire time, passing several kids along the way.








As she came out of the water, she had her game face on.












I hadn't planned on riding with her along the bike route, but brought a bike just in case. After I saw several parents riding out with their kids, I pulled out my bike and rode after her. I was surprised that it took me nearly a mile to catch her. She explained to me that her strategy on the bike had been to pick out a kid further ahead and then try to catch them. Doing so, she'd been moving along pretty quickly. After walking part of the second of three hills, she powered up the last hill. As she was coasting down toward the bike finish, she shouted, "I can't believe I'm doing it. I'm almost done. This is so awesome."









Lilia started out quick, but steady on the run. After passing a couple of kids, she came upon a girl who was walking. The girl took off sprinting, and Lilia rose for the bait. Both tired quickly, and Lilia had to walk for about 50 yards to recover. Once she did, she kept it steady and picked off several more kids. She stayed steady until she saw the finish line, then sprinted for the finish. In the end, Lilia showed a lot of toughness, seemed to have fun, and picked up a blue ribbon as the fastest in the six and under category.

Just me and my hillbilly

Nono and I are getting some quality one-on-one time now that the older two are in school. Lissy for just half a day, but it is still great.

Nono is at that stage where she wants to do everything herself. Forget about trying to dress her. "I do it myself," is her over-used phrase these days. That's an outfit she picked out herself: overalls and no shirt. Who am I to judge? I'm just her mother. I tried coaxing her into a shirt, but she'd have none of it. And because she can take her clothes off and put them on by herself, I don't bother with the battle. I was raised in southern Idaho, afterall. Overalls with no T-shirt is a cultural statement.

Her independence borders on driving me crazy. She must brush her teeth herself, including applying the toothpaste to the toothbrush. Consequently, I find toothpaste in various places on the carpet all over the house.

I read a headline recently (didn't bother reading the story, just the headline, so I may be totally off base) that read children can understand the needs of their dogs. I could have told you that. (Yeah, I'm that know-it-all you despise who ruins every magic trick, every trivia game, and every Lifetime Movie plot twist with "I knew that.") Melissa was especially adept at being able to let Jesse, our family dog, outside when he needed to do his business in our yard, which I later get to pick up myself. Now it's Nohea's job to open the front door to let Jesse outside, whilst I lazily lay on the couch watching my "stories." If only she had the ability to also pick up his "business" and throw it in the garbage. And mow the lawn while she's out there too.

Hillbillies. What can I say? They never were the brightest tool in the shed, or some mixed metaphor like that.

Luau '09

It's almost here. This is the reminder of the scheduled Fisher Family Luau on September 12 starting around 5 p.m. and going until everyone rolls out. It's at the Timpanogos Cove Park about a block and a half up the mountain from our house.

If you didn't get an official invitation, consider this your invitation. More details on Kulani's blog:

perseveratingpineapple.blogspot.com

Here's a reminder of how to behave at a luau:

http://fisherstyle.blogspot.com/2008/08/luau-etiquette.html

Can't wait to see you there!

One of the best nights of the year

Kulani and I experienced yet again one of our favorite nights of the year, the annual J. Reuben Clark Law School's Founder's Day Dinner. This would make it our tenth year of attending. It's a night dedicated to remembering why it was that more than 30 years ago, the LDS church authorities thought it important enough that BYU have a law school.

Seems rather strange to some that the LDS church would be encouraging "more" of its followers to become lawyers. If you are to believe as a sister-in-law of mine believes, all lawyers are going straight to hell. But at the Founder's Day Dinner, you get a glimpse into that vision, and it makes you so excited and proud to be part of it. And it always leaves me wanting to be a better person.

They always give an award to a distinguished alumni. This year they gave an award to an R. Keith Perkins, class of '93. Perkins is a lawyer in Arizona who founded the Never Again Foundation, which provides free civil representation for women, children, and senior citizens who have been victims of physical or sexual abuse in civil actions directly against their abusers. The Foundation has collected more than $170 million in verdict awards on behalf of its clients. The services are free to the victims, and 100% of all judgments that are actually collected are provided to the victims to help them rebuild their lives.

Perkins was present to accept the award that night, and he started his speech by getting choked up over his love for BYU. I, of course, also started to cry, because that's who I am. Kulani again reminded me that I was a big ball baby. In vintage Kulani speak, he says to me: "What's wrong with you, Larry Miller." This caused me to start laughing pretty hardily. Larry Miller, rest in peace, is a bit of a running joke in our family. My father, who is certifiably probably one of the biggest criers of any man I've ever known, said to Kulani once, "I don't like Larry Miller. He cries too much." Well if that isn't calling the kettle black...

The night also features a speaker with close ties to BYU law school. Last night's speaker was the Honorable Dale A. Kimball. He taught at BYU from 1974-1976. He now serves as a Federal Judge.

It was a great speech sprinkled with funny stories. One story he included was about him and his friend being fired from hoeing sugar beets on his father's farm in Draper because of his poor sugar-beet thinning skills. That hit home for me, as I saw my father fire my two oldest brothers from our family custodial business for "horsing around." He allowed them to come back, however, just as Judge Kimball's dad for him.

The part of his talk I hope to remember and infuse in my life, however, was how in his role as judge, the one character trait more LDS people and people of the world could use is honesty. I don't have the quote with me directly, but it was very powerful and made me want to make sure that honesty was very much a part of my moral fabric.

I'll share one more story, because it's a classic law school story that always makes me very fond of Rex Lee, the law school's first dean and also a huge reason why the law school is such a success today. I've heard this story before, but last night it was shared to us by Elder Bruce C. Hafen, also a past law school dean.

LDS church president Harold B. Lee died in 1978. Soon after, Spencer W. Kimball was called to be president of the church. Judge Kimball called Rex Lee on the phone and said, "The Lees are out, and the Kimballs are taking over."

Years later, after President Spencer W. Kimball died, President Ezra Taft Benson was called to be prophet. Rex Lee called up an old student and now judge, Dee Benson, and asked him to call Judge Kimball and say, "The Kimballs are out, and the Bensons are in." As soon as Dee Benson said that to Judge Kimball, Kimball said, "Benson, Rex put you up to this!"

Just a great night that I thought I would record for history sake. Oh, and this blog got quoted by the BYU Web site, so that was cool:

http://www.law2.byu.edu/news/item.php?num=445

Ed's Wedding

You can imagine that after marrying off nine children, my parents were done with the "pomp and circumstance" of weddings. The contrast between Amy's wedding reception (the oldest girl in the family) and Ed's (the last to marry) is very contrasting.

Amy's wedding had four bridesmaid's with hand-made dresses. Amy's wedding dress was also hand-made by my aunt Kathy. Mom prepared hundreds of daisy-shaped mints. There was a big wedding line popular amongst the Mormon culture, with a backdrop draped in white fabric. And tons of flowers.

This was Ed's wedding reception:

A big bouncy house in the backyard for the kids.

Grilling hot dogs and hamburgers out of the garage. No line.

But we still had a chance to visit with some of the best people in the world.

People like:

My Aunt Norma (pictured below). And Uncle Fred (pictured behind me in the picture below). Absolutely some of my greatest heroes.

Neighbor girl and long-time friend Melissa Crockett Clark.

My parents, with oldest niece Kelsie. By all calculations, Kelsie will be the next wedding, hopefully not for another six years at the least.
Not pictured are some of the old Paul 4th Ward regulars: The Andersons, Fred and Judy, and other aunts and uncles who are much loved in my heart.

My parents did finally get rid of their old couch. I think it was older than me. It was the type of couch that would have sat comfortably in Napolean Dynamite's home. Now my parents have this upscale sectional model:

Out with the old, in with the new.