YouTube - The NEW Canon Rock -- Guitar by MattRach, 15 yr old guitarist

I found this video awhile back and held out until Christmas time here to blog about it because, traditionally, it is a bit of a Christmas song.  Canon has always been one of my favorite songs, even amongst its many renditions.  I think that this one is pretty cool and much different than the classic instrumentals.  Chance, if you happen to look at this, you should take a stab at trying to play this sometime.  That'd be cool!  I posted about this below as well so that anyone that wants to could see him guest star on a French TV show.

YouTube - MattRach invité à L'édition spéciale de Canal +

Here is another clip of MattRach's version of Canon.  He is from France and was invited to guest on a French show.  Pour les gens qui parle français et qui comprends le style des français, amusez-vous bien!

Les Suisses aussi sont fauchés

Basically, this is saying, "Even the Swiss are broke." It's funny because of the cute little characters that they have on this postcard, but also because it's quite untrue. I think we all know that Switzerland is not only known for great missionaries like me who served there, but also their chocolate, yogurt, mountains, and money.
Their yogurt is absolutely delicious! I don't know what they feed their cows, but I want a Swiss cow and a lifetime supply of whatever they eat over there. Anyway, I'll blog more on that later when I post the picture of a Swiss cow. The point here being that the Swiss are known for banking and the oodles of people that put their money there. Besides, would you really expect the two characters in this picture to have such smiles on their faces if they really were broke? Not really. Just a guess, but I imagine that if someone really was broke then they probably wouldn't be in Switzerland for very long because you have to pay to live there. That's a bill you really wouldn't want to leave unpaid.

N.Y. mixup: 'Barack Osama' on ballot - Barack Obama News- msnbc.com

I find this absolutely hilarious!  This goes right in line with a friend of mine at school who is a wounded, veteran Marine who fought in Iraq and has a shirt that says, "10 out of 10 terrorists support a democrat for president."  I told this friend of mine a few weeks ago that for a couple of years I have referred to Barack as Barack Osama and Obama bin Laden.  Now they actually go and print that on a ballot!  Typo or not, deliberate or not...I'm happy to know that at least one more person or group is thinking along the same lines as me.  Too bad the ballots were destroyed.  Oh, and bytheway...vote republican!

N.Y. mixup: 'Barack Osama' on ballot - Barack Obama News- msnbc.com

5 new temples planned for Mormon church - Faith- msnbc.com

It is always great when new temples around the world are announced.  I think that it so significant that President Monson announced today the plan to put one in Rome, Italy.  Having served in Switzerland and France and knowing how much the church is growing there, it is incredible to see that the church must be growing so well in Italy that they will now have their own temple.  It would be great to have a temple in France too with how much the church is growing there too.  I heard speculative reasons when I served in France for why it is so difficult to build one there, but we all know that it is not impossible with the Lord.  I would love to be there when one is finally built and dedicated there.

5 new temples planned for Mormon church - Faith- msnbc.com

Katie - The Best Big Sister

Katie is such a great big sister to Aubrey. While I was making dessert (Worms in the Dirt), Aubrey was out on her ladybug pad and Katie was eating dinner. I go to check on Aubrey and...

That was so nice of Katie to see that Aubrey was tired and falling asleep and put a blanket on her. Later on we were downstairs and...

I know that the videos are a little dark, but I am so proud of Katie helping me take care of Aubrey. She is always so happy to help out with everything. Often, no matter where Aubrey is, Katie supplies her with toys to play with. Today she helped me make dessert by mixing the pudding. Yesterday she helped me take laundry out of the drier, transfer laundry from the washer to the drier, and put more laundry into the washer.

One Bookmobile and a Side Order of Lots of Time, Please.

Stephanie and I like to read books together. We have been reading Clive Cussler books together for the last 4 or 5 years and are currently reading Pacific Vortex. We have decided to start back as far as we could go to when Cussler first started writing. I find it quite interesting to see how authors grow and change with experience and time.
Together, that is what we read. Individually, it is a totally different story. Since I am still in school, I am always reading a lot of textbooks. Yes, I even read them for fun and quite often I buy books for classes that are not even part of my degree in Web Development. I am always reading books on something educational. One interesting book right now is titled "e: The Story of a Number" by Eli Maor. It is about how the number e came to be and some of its great uses. Other books mostly involve web development and getting to know all of our Adobe programs much better.
Stephanie, on the other hand, is more into novels and things with actual storylines. (Don't get me wrong, I love storylines a lot too which is why we read Cussler books together, but while I'm in school I leave less time for myself to get into such books.) She has to have about five books checked out right now from the library. If you've checked out your...er, I mean, her...blog lately and have seen her Shelfari collection then you know what I mean. (I put that in there since you, Stephanie, are the only one to actually read my blog so I might as well put all pronouns in a tense referring directly to you ayway. Ha ha!)
It is great that we all like to read, though. This includes Katie as well and Aubrey will probably be the same. Katie loves books and, like me, seems happier in a bookstore than in a candy store! Although she can't read words much yet, she is doing a great job at forming sentences from the pictures that she sees. I love hearing how she interprets things and seeing her creative mind at work.

New Header Images

Every so often I am going to change my header image to show some of the places from my mission in Switzerland and France. At first they will probably be scans of postcards that I bought while there, but I will mix in some pictures that I took myself. Both countries are absolutely beautiful and I am happy to show off just how great it is there.
This first one is of a park in Lyon, France. The name is literally, "Park of the Golden Head." I don't recall why it's called that, but it's a beautiful park. On one p-day, a group of us rented rollerblades and skated over to this park and all throughout it. Inside, there are a lot of animals that just roam around with you. (I bet Katie would love to see the flamingos that they have there!) It is very large and beautiful. Check out some more here.

DVRs Strengthen Relationships

In the myriad of news feeds and articles that I go through, I came across one about how DVRs help strengthen relationships. The article is here. It's very short and mostly covers its desirability in the home more than it does actually covering why or how it strengthens relationships, but the title itself made me think for a minute.
Although it hints at specifically referring to marriage relationships, it never actually states that. Of all the things that do strengthen our relationships with each other, the DVR (we have a TiVo, of course) wasn't one that I had ever thought of. We all have programs that we like and with different schedules it would be difficult to sit down and watch the same thing together were it not for DVRs. For example, I have watched the Tonight Show's segment on Headlines pretty much since the first time they had it. Often, Stephanie is asleep when it comes on. So, we can TiVo it and watch it together later and laugh and talk about it. Another one is the recent RNC. We were able to sit down together and discuss the things that were said instead of having only one of us here and the other not knowing what was said. There are many other things that we watch as well, but the point I'm making is that being able to record something and then watch it together allows you to: 1. spend time with others, 2. learn what others like to watch, and 3. have more common things to talk about...amongst other reasons as well, I'm sure.
Granted, there are alternative ways to this as well, such as watching programs and clips online together where it does not involve a DVR, but that's that the point here.

Another Exhausting Olympics

I know that this looks like just another picture of Katie sleeping in her bed, but there is much more to it than that. You see, today is Sunday, August 24th, 2008. The Beijing Olympics are officially over. Katie has not taken many naps in the last two weeks. I personally believe that my love for the Games rubbed off onto her and she was always too excited to take a nap. Well, now that the Games are over she is able to relax and finally get a nap in. Thanks for getting into watching the Olympics with me Katie and Aubrey. We had a lot of fun while mom had to work. Hopefully I can continue to entertain you just as much as the Games did!

Olympics - Les Jeux Olympiques

The Olympics are finally upon us. I'm not much of one for watching the Opening Ceremonies, but given the time difference (+15 hours from PDT) by the time NBC was showing it over here the Games had begun and we could jump right to them online. (CBC showed the ceremonies a little earlier and we caught a little of that, but not all that much).
This has to be the best coverage that I have ever seen. I have always enjoyed both of the Olympics and the World Cup since I can remember. With broadcast television being limited in airtime and channels, it's tough to see what you want...and definitely not when you want. Now with higher broadband speeds and such great technology (like Microsoft Silverlight) you can watch any event that you want, when you want. You can watch them live or on "rewind" to catch past events.
So, in opposition to how it used to be when you had one or maybe a few channels to choose from and only what they decided to broadcast, this is great! I can watch ANY event! I've watched handball, air rifle shooting, badminton, and others. I've never even seen any of those aired as Olympic events before on TV. Handball is pretty cool to watch. I have no idea what the rules are right now, but it's cool! Badminton, aside from being a BBQ-in-the-park-playing-with-a-$5-net type of game, is pretty intense.
Anyway, enjoy the Olympics and let me know what some of your favorite events are and if there are any that you can watch now online that you have never seen before or just weren't covered well enough before.

Talking to Jesus

Last Saturday we attended a Baptism and Katie was excited to see the picture of Christ being baptized by John the Baptist on the program. After the Baptismal Ordinance was finished and they closed and locked the doors in front of the font, Katie kept trying to open the doors saying "Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ." I think she thought Shianne's dad was Jesus and was performing the baptism, as when he exited the bathroom she also started saying "Jesus Christ."

Later that day Katie got a hold of my brother Devin's cell phone. On it he has a picture he took of a chalk drawing someone drew of Christ. Katie opened the cell phone up, saw the picture and immediately said "Jesus Christ," in recognition of the drawing. Then, she took the phone, held it up to her ear, and said, "HELLO JESUS CHRIST." After laughing for awhile, we asked Katie if we could get in on the conversation as well. I mean, who would pass up the opportunity if He was actually on the phone?! It was hilarious.

Summer Movies

Steph and I went to see Wall-E today. Pixar, the king of animation, definitely did not fall short with their graphics, textures, effects, and opening short story, but the storyline of the movie left me a bit disappointed. There was very little dialogue throughout the whole thing. Although the robotic voices of Wall-E, Eve and the others were cute and funny themselves, I guess I was expecting more. Steph and I were wondering afterward how kids would understand the movie from their perspective. Most kids are thoroughly entertained simply by things looking cool and pay little attention to the plot or what's really going on. With that in mind, though, there were underlying statements being made in the movie that made me question if some rogue environmentalist group had actually written the story. That and other things that were hinted at are what added to my disappointment. Maybe I'm being too critical and I don't want to discuss the whole movie before any of you have seen it, but after you have then please come back and let me know what you thought.
In other news, we saw previews for The Pink Panther 2 and Madagascar 2. The first Pink Panther was absolutely hilarious, so I am excited for that to come out. The first Madagascar was okay. Being a DreamWorks movie I never expect much from their storylines, so I just take each one in stride and laugh at a few scenes or certain characters. The penguins were funny in Madagascar and I think that DreamWorks picked up on them being what people actually liked about the movie and so they seem to be more prevalent in the second one. We'll see. Fox did the same thing with Scrat, sort of, when they came out with Ice Age 2. Maybe he'll be the main character in Ice Age 3. If not then they haven't learned from experience.
All in all, I am still a huge Pixar fan. I am excited to see how Bolt turns out this fall as it is the first full 3-D movie put out by Disney. (Disney and Pixar are basically the same unless you want to talk technicalities.) Anyway, check out this article for some announcements on movies.

Father's Day 2008

Here are a couple of cards that I received today from my two little girls. Katie's is on the left and Aubrey's is on the right. You can tell that Katie sure does love stickers! The smiley face stickers accurately describe just how happy she is and I know that she is glad to have me as her dada. I love their little footprints and Katie's handprint. Steph told me that Katie saw her doing Aubrey's footprints and, thus, wanted her footprint on her card as well. That was so fun that she wanted her handprint on the card after that. I love you all! Father's Day was a lot of fun. Thanks!

Awakenings

About once a week I go sleep on the floor or couch in Katie's room because I love the reactions she has when she wakes up and sees her daddy laying there. She is always such a happy, boisterous little girl that gets so excited to see me there. I'll often be too tired to want to get up, but Katie doesn't mind and will take GloWorm, Cozy Cookie, Turtle Pillow, and Keroppi Frog off her bed and come lay down by me. She'll tuck in her toys, get under the covers with me, and start talking...probably about her fun dreams, but I still don't understand what she is saying...until I get up or talk back with her.
The other morning was particularly funny and it's one that you'd have to have been there for. As I was laying on the couch, half-awake, I heard her rustling around and finally sat up and saw that I was there. I keep my eyes partially open so that I can watch what she does, usually, but this time I was still pretty tired and must have fallen back asleep within seconds. The next thing I know, Katie is sitting on the couch next to me and I feel a finger poking me all over my face. As Katie points to each thing I hear, "dada's nose," "dada's eyes," "dada's mouth," and so forth as she identifies everything on my head. See, it's the funny things like that that I wake up to that make it so fun to wake up in the morning to such a silly little girl.

Aubrey is here!

On May 4th, 2008 at 14:27, Aubrey Mireille DeCremer joined us weighing in at 7lbs 10oz and was 20.5" long. She is doing quite well as she is only ever awake long enough to eat and then goes back to sleep. Katie is a big help with making sure that she is always covered with blankets and gives her hugs and kisses.
Here are some pictures of her and more will be posted soon on our website at http://decremer.org.

Guitar Hero

For my birthday, Steph gave me Guitar Hero III for the Wii. It's a lot of fun, even if objects around the room seem to be morphing after you've jammed a few sessions.

So, here is Steph herself rocking. Just look at that concentration there. One of the tough things is that both of us really only know songs that are from the 80's and 90's, with a few from the 70's as well. All the ones from the 2000's are unknown to us so we just have to pick up on the beat and do our best. A lot of them we just play through once anyway just to unlock other songs.

Steph did buy a second guitar as well so that we can have a co-op career, battle, and faceoff between ourselves and others.

Springtime Tasks

As I am sitting here doing schoolwork and about to wrap up the last two weeks of the winter quarter, I think that this is the first time that I have heard a lawnmower going this year. It actually makes me want to go out and do yardwork and get started on all the projects that I'd like to get done. Last year I was barely able to stand even raking leaves for more than ten minutes because my back still hurt so bad. Now I think that I can get out and do a lot more, even if I need to condition myself to it over time.

I enjoy doing projects around the house. This year I'd like to...

• Put some more shelves up in the garage and organize my tools and supplies.
• I need to finish changing all the outlets and switches throughout the house so that things actually stay plugged in.
• Boxes need to be gone through and sorted. Some stuff to the DI and others to the trash. I am going to put some things for sale on our website soon as well.
• Pressure wash the driveway and roof to get rid of the moss.
• Try out more things on our website and produce some more family DVDs.
• And lots of other things to do...

One of my goals in life is too always be able to park in the garage. So far, so good. I like to get rid of things that don't get used anymore and so that has kept some space free. I used to detest scraping windows on the car early in the morning when I lived in apartments.

Anyway, what are some projects that you all are doing out there this year? I'd like to get some ideas of things that I might be interested in doing around here too that I hadn't thought of.

Needless to say...

"Is a harmless enough expression, but it often draws attention to the fact that you really didn't need to say it."

This one is for my dad who will often start a conversation by saying, "needless to say..." and then he'll stop talking. You say, "what?" and he'll say, "I don't need to say it."

So Stephanie has been reading in Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words: A Writer's Guide to Getting it Right. It has a bunch of interesting words and phrases. A lot of which have just become common to say in the good ol' American English language.

Difficulty

Sometimes blogs can be so difficult!

Geeks

Steph got this quiz from her friend who took it and she decided she might as well take it too. She actually did pretty good on it, especially for guessing on most of the questions. Here are her results...
29% Geek

Then, I took the quiz. Want to guess who scored higher? Here are my results...

33% Geek

Okay, so the results really should not be that close, but Stephanie guessed on questions when I did not so that could have skewed the results a little bit. Still, it was a fun, and completely random, quiz to take.