Hi-
I've had a few calls about who gives to whom for Christmas. If this isn't right let me know & I will try to figure it a different way.
Eldon gives to Heather
Glenn gives to Melanie
Brent gives to Eldon
Melissa gives to Glenn
Linnea gives to Brent
Heather gives to Melissa
Melanie gives to Linnea
Last week we had am apartment full of Clarks. Amy and Peter stayed with us for 5 days and we roamed Denver together. Peter, the sports fanatic, got to go out to dinner with Mike at the ESPN zone and was in heaven. Amy and I watched our chick flick and roamed the 16th Street Mall, a fun outdoor mall that runs right down town. 
We ate too much, stayed up late playing killer games of Upwords and played with Thomas at the nearby park. On Saturday we went to a pumpkin patch north of Denver where they had a petting zoo, pony rides, etc. 
It was like an amusement park for toddlers. Funny enough, Thomas, although in love with dogs, had nothing to do with the sheep, llamas, goats and baby buffalo in the petting zoo. However, the giant slide was a hit! He went down six times. 
By the time we got him to the top he'd jump out of our arms and slide down as fast as he could, giggling the whole way down. He was very upset when we he finally wore us out and we had to go. We had a good time and Thomas misses all of the attention.
Heather, it looks like you have the peculiar eating habits of our deceased "Grandpa Jack" (91 yrs old) and Eldon, you have the peculiar eating (drinking) habits of another relative: Herbert Thomas. Oh, you haven't heard of him? He's been institutionalized for years, suffering from acute caffeine addiction.
Dad
This weekend we attended the high school football game of our Nephew Kevin Prince. He is the starting QB at a private Catholic School in Encino, a suburb of LA.
He is number 11 in this picture, which you might be able to see if you click on it and enlarge it.
Hi-
To understand why Eldon went crazy with coke (see Eldon's blog with the coke can) - coke's the thing & coke for breakfast, etc-
You need to know that when Dad & I visited Eldon & family about 3 weeks ago, Eldon gave Dad a challenge: As long as you are losing weight I (Eldon) will quit drinking coke! You all know how Dad loves a challenge!!! What you need to know is that the first 5 or 10 pounds are not very hard for Dad to lose, it's all up hill for him after that. Eldon said that he had quit drinking coke before so he knew he could do it again. Dad laughed.
When Eldon & family came for their 20 year class reunion, last weekend, we all made a run to Greko Grill & Eldon ordered a coke!!!!!!! Dad wasn't there, he was in Show Low. I looked at Eldon & said, "What is this?" He would hardly look my direction!!
Later Eldon siad that he didn't feel liek Dad wsa giving up enuohg. He wnated to konw taht Dad wsa raelly serffuing & thne he wuold feel bertte.
Nwo I wuold go so fra as to sya taht Eldno thniks my sepllnig is bad but I wuold say it jsut shwos you waht ckoe will do to yuor barin!!
Heather, don't let Eldon kid you about the raw milk! When Melanie gets it the cream has not been seperated from the milk. She usually puts in in the frige over night. The cream will come to the top & she takes the cream off & then drinks the milk. Usually there is about a cup & a half to 2 cups of cream that she get off the milk. Eldon took the gallon jug, shook it up & poured himself a glass of milk, drank it & said, "WOW, that's not bad!"
Moving on to other things, WOW you are all so awsome! I love each one of you.
So, I have to admit, I was a little surprised when I read Eldon's blog. Is raw milk really that repulsive? Am I really that weird? And then I remembered my initial reaction to it all. Ok, yes, I am that weird. Here comes the underlying question: If I thought it was so weird then why am I doing it now? If you've heard the story you can just enjoy the pictures, if not then get cozy. 
I had a friend in my ward who looked normal enough but she seemed to me to have a severe case of the "all-natural" fever. Actually, she was even a step up from any health-nut I'd ever met. But whatever, to each his own, we were still friends. Then, after my second surgery when I weaned Thomas to formula and put him in daycare he started getting ear-infection after ear-infection, especially when teething. He probably had 2 or 3 a month. Pretty soon, while on antibiotics for one ear-infection he got one in the other ear as well. We took him to the doctor and he said, "oh well, we just need to give him something stronger" and handed me a prescription. Thomas was about 8 months old. After a few months of this it wasn't rocket science to realize that the medicine, while a wonderful thing, wasn't really solving this problem but it seemed to make him more susceptable to infections. I asked the doctor what else I could do and he said nothing, this is totally normal. In desperation I called my friend and she suggested giving him a tsp of cod liver oil every day. Ok, I realize that not only does it sound crazy it sounds completely disgusting but I was willing to try anything. His ear-infection cleared up the next day and he's never had another one, EVER! Even through the molars, nothing. I don't care how crazy some things sound, when I see results like that I'm a believer! 
So, over the course of the year I've been doing a lot of reading and I go through the usual stages: disgust, skepticism, curiousity, bravery and usually I end up pleasantly surprised. Yes, my kitchen is way more "Grandpa Jack"-esque than Mom's and yes, I am coming to terms with the fact that now I am the weird friend/sister that people pity for her misguided health efforts but I've never felt better. Cheers Grandpa!
Homemeade Ketchup
Garrett & Christopher had a BLAST riding bikes and scooters this past weekend. It was wonderful to have cooler temps too! Emma and Ryan had fun on the neighbor's merry-go-round. Keep those quarters comin' guys!
