Halloween

From the "Party Rock Anthem" video we present the dancing robot. See the real robot on youtube under LMFAO Party Rock Anthem by vevo. Song is so-so (in other words, I'm old) but the dancing is amazing. Samuel collected all the stuff to make his own version, complete with blinking eye, bling (courtesy of Michelle) and other attire.

I was a curmudgeon, again. (long running theme, like wedgie the clown from the Hopkins household). I play the part well.

Just before Halloween, Joseph took a course in safety and operation of skid steer loaders. Now he is prepared to get a great job ($30+/hr), as soon as our Canadian residency comes through. He passed the course in flying colours, and we hope to get him a job before he has to leave to BYUI in January.

We have a friend here that supplies us with soda from time to time. He sponsors various seminars and he passes us some of the left overs. Today it was Dr Pepper from the Waco, Texas plant - a rare treat indeed, even for the USA. We made a couple of DP floats that were outstanding. Reminded me of days long ago in the summer heat in central Texas.

Here is the dancing robot as promised, with a little shuffle, and a little sponge bob. He was in the costume contest at school, and was runner up to a "lame Charlie Sheen" get-up. Lame and Charlie Sheen seems a bit redundant, eh?

to be continued...

Hugs and Kisses,

How to Carve a Pumpkin in Northern Alberta

The photos have nothing to do with the actual carving, but they capture a portion of the whole experience.

Step 1. Buy a bunch of pumpkins at the local grocery store.

Step 2. Drive into the country far enough for the report of the fire arms to not scare local residents.

Step 3. Use chain saw to fell tree and make stands for the herd of pumpkins.

Step 4. Set up pumpkins and potatoes about 50 yards from where you park the trucks. Forget trying to hit the papas, they are too small to explode anyway.

Step 5. Choose the biggest gun in the truck to kill pumpkins.

Step 6. Load, Aim, Fire.

Step 7. If you are the guy shooting, just shoot close enough to scare the pumpkin.

Step 8. Everyone else: laugh at the guy shooting because he can't hit anything with a scope that is about 8-inches low. Mother or mother-in-law jokes are optional, but way too funny to pass up.

Step 9. Repeat until someone falls down laughing at the "marksmanship" or lack thereof.

Step 10. After about 200 rounds, go set the herd of pumpkins back on the stands and try again.

There were 7 of us shooting this afternoon,, and we spent more than 1000 rounds of .4570, .330 mag, .308, and .22. Then out came the shot guns with the slugs and after about 50 shots at pumpkins we brought out the clay pigeons.

After spending all 300 shells, we tried to hit the pigeons with a semi-auto .22. Too much fun with absolutely no hits.

One of the highlights of the day was watching a 9 year old son shoot a 12 gauge. His father simultaneously caught him and the flying gun after he fell backward from the recoil and let go of the gun.

Joseph with a Remington Defender 12 gauge. We also had a Mossberg and a Browning, both with standard barrels.

Another highlight of the day: Joseph and Samuel are both good shots and are looking forward to next week foe another opportunity to shoot.

So here is the Jack-O-Lantern, courtesy of Samuel. Start with any big bore rifle, then switch to a .22 to finish the details of the face.

To be continued...

Update

Jacob and Brittany have a new blog. It is really good.

Joe Bob says, "Check it out."

click the link on the right.