Domo Arigato Mr. Robot-O

Jeremy is on the Robotics team at school. They had their first competition on December 5th. They had to design, build, and program a robot that competed with other robots. It is part of a nationwide program that takes place each year. It is called the FIRST Tech Challenge.

His team's robot did not win the actual competition, but was nominated for the best design and did win the "Think Award" (I'm still not 100% sure what that was for).




Design Award

Nominees: Team 295, Gateway Institute of Technology, St. Louis, Missouri

Team 2866, Pattonville High School, Maryland Heights, Missouri

Team 3592, Rockwood High School, Eureka, MO

Think Award

Nominees: Team 3549, Mount Vernon High School, Mount Vernon, IA

Team 3591, Rockwood High School, Eureka, MO

Team 3592, Rockwood High School, Eureka, MO

Winner: Team 3592, Rockwood High School, Eureka, MO

Here's a PSA for this competition...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl2PpP2YnbQ&feature=related



Here's the robot "pit" where two teams of two robots compete against each other. For this challenge, they have to release balls, scoop them up and shoot them into various bins and nets.


Here's Jeremy's team's robot (#3592)


We all went to support Jeremy and watch the competition. It was fun!

Oh Christmas Tree,
Oh Christmas Tree...

We prefer real Christmas trees and prefer to go and cut down our Christmas trees from Christmas tree farms, so that's what we did again this year.

We went here:
http://www.pumpkinsandpines.com

It was a little hard to get in the Christmas spirit because it was so warm and dry (temps were in the mid 60's), but we got into the spirit when we smelled all the pines trees and saw the "Christmas village" at the farm house.


They give you a bow saw to cut the trees down.


Even our dog got to help this year.


Jeremy cut thru most of the way, but all three boys helped.


TIMBER! Spencer was the lucky one to saw thru the end and have it fall.


They drive you out to the trees and back in a tractor pulled hay wagon.


Instead of a bridge, they have this water crossing. After you cut your tree down, they bring it back to farm house using this ATV and trailer.


Here's our van with our tree on top heading home. I think driving on this water crossing made Alisa a little nervous?
O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum!

Happy Thanksgiving 2009

A Very Happy Thanksgiving!

Jason & Brianna came for Thanksgiving Dinner. We really have a lot to be thankful for in 2009. We're very thankful that Brianna and Jason got married! We're thankful that Bradley's back from his mission and is back at college. We're thankful for our good health. We're thankful for our family and friends. We're thankful for the gospel. We're thankful for our job. We're thankful for all our blessings!

Halloween 2009

Alisa was busy with the sewing machine again. The boys wanted new costumes this year, so off to the fabric store we went.


Spencer is "Link "from his favorite game.



Michael is a "Ranger Apprentice" from his favorite book.

The Big Pumpkin...

You saw the big pumpkin that was on our front porch a couple of blog entries ago? Well, getting it on the porch was hard because it was so heavy. Getting rid of it was also eventful. It was too big to just throw away in the "yard waste" bags we have to use. We also missed getting it out to the curb by a couple of minutes, so...

Alisa decided to take it down behind our our house in the trees and let "nature take its course". She asked Jeremy to take it down in the wheelbarrow. That worked for about half way down the hill in our backyard. Then it got away from Jeremy and started rolling down the hill. Luckily it ended up about where she wanted it.

Next Jeremy chopped it up to help the critters get to it and to help is decompose...

My Recent Trip to Japan

I had a very fun and rewarding business trip to Japan recently. I was in Japan from October 25th to November 4th to meet with customers and co-workers. The schedule this time wasn't too hectic, so I had time to meet up with quite a few friends while I was there.

This trip I spent 4 nights in Toyota City, so I was able to see lots of friends there. The first evening I was in Toyota City I was invited to Tobito's home for dinner. I was able to meet the "Sammy" Tobito family, "Tim" Watanabe family, and the "Tony" Omori family. The food was delicious!

Here's a photo of the whole group...



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This is me with the Omori family. I helped introduce Mr. & Mrs.Omori 11 years ago while they were both in Missouri. Now they are married with 2 children. It was very rewarding for me to see them after all these years. I wish them a lifetime of happiness.



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Here's "Sammy" on his Yamaha 1300 motorcycle. Maybe some year I can rent a motorcycle in Japan and go for a ride with him!


Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera to take photos of my other former co-worker friends that I met on this trip. I had great dinners and lunches with lots of good friends. The weather was great, I was able to accomplish my work tasks and it was one of my best trips to Japan.

Fall Time

Fall time is one of my favorite times of year. I love to see the beautiful leaves and enjoy the weather. We got some cool gourds from Rick's work. Check out the big pumpkin Spencer is on. But this year was a different story, we got one weekend of leaves and the rest were full of rain. We had a total of 12.4 inches. My flowers were amazing this year and our tree in the back yard was beautiful.

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Michael's 12th birthday

Our little boy is growing up! He had his 12th birthday party. For us, it's a big year so we try to do something special. He and six of his friends, plus 2 wonderful brothers, went lazer tagging. Good times! They also got to play miniature golf and climb on the "Grind." then they came home to stuff their faces with pizza and cake.

Rain rain GO away!

It has rained and rained. It even rained for over 24 hours solid this past week. We received over three inches of rain, and for us, that is a lot. It looks like rain is still in the forecast so we have a bit more to go. I'm just glad it isn't snow or we would be in deep snow right now.

6 Flags Amusement Park

On August 29th we went to 6 Flags. Jeremy worked at 6 Flags this past summer, so he got us free parking and free entrance for 4 of us. We just had to pay for 2 and we got a discount for that (thank you Miracle Whip), so we had a low cost adventure.

It was perfect weather and small crowds, so it was a great day.













Fortunately (& unfortunately) Jeremy had to work in the evening. Fortunately, because we got to see him in action and see where he's worked most of the summer. Unfortunately, because he could relax and have fun with us in the evening.

He worked all summer in "merchandise" [retail store sales], and more often than not he worked at "Marquette's Market". Here he is manning his post outside and a photo inside the store. He's tired of all the little kids playing with the pop-guns and toy rifles and then putting them back in place.
Thank you Jeremy for paying for most of our trip!

Brianna's Married!!!

Brianna's Married!!!

August 22, 2009 was a nearly perfect day in all respects. Jason & Brianna had a great wedding ceremony and reception. Even the weather cooperated with cool temperatures and low humidity. Rick always watched movies in the past where people cried at weddings and just rolled his eyes and smirked. I guess he better not roll his eyes any more, because he was crying with the best of them!

We really appreciated all the people who came to celebrate with us, and especially appreciated all the people who came to work with us (help with all the preparation and help with the reception, etc.).

The first photo below is one of the first pictures of Mr. & Mrs Jason Griffiths coming out of the St. Louis Temple after they were married. The inscription above the door gives an important message about their marriage. They were married for time and even for all eternity in the House of the Lord.

There had to be at least 3,000 photos taken that day, but we'll spare you and try to put just a few here. When we get the professional photos done we'll try to send a link to them as well.

























The next three photos were taken at the wedding reception held in the evening after the wedding...