Monthly Archive for March, 2007

Blog #99 FCCLA and Munich, Germany

The family came up yesterday for the opening of Jini’s mission call!  If you haven’t read elsewhere on the website, she was called to the Munich, Germany mission!   She leaves on June 6th and we are all really excited!  Kinsi, ironically, is doing a BYU study abroad in Berlin, Germany this next fall semester—what are the chances?!  They will be in Germany at the same time and hopefully be able to talk to each other in German when Jini returns.

    It was great to see the whole family.  We went out to Mimi’s Café, and had a great time.  We missed Davy, however, because he was competing in the statewide FCCLA competition in Salt Lake and he WON!!!  Davy won STATE and is going to Nationals!!!!!  We were all so proud of him!  He won with his project called “For the Mothers” you can check it out at www.forthemothers.com.  He is donating a lot of time and labor to make money to give to single mothers who can not make ends meet.  It is a great project and he is doing a lot of good.  How many 16 year old boys are thinking about benefiting the world?  Davy is awesome! The shots to the right are of Davy working on a countertop for a single mother.

    General Conference is this weekend and we are so excited for that!  Also, if you haven’t yet checked out our new Life In 60 podcast, then you are missing out on life! Click here!

 

UPDATE: We have just added a forum to our site. The forum provides a place for us all to discuss any and all things. At the top of almost all of our pages there will be a “comment on our forum.” An example is shown to the right. We look forward to reading your comments.

WE’VE MOVED

ATTENTION: Our blog will not be hosted at blogspot any longer. You now can get the latest on the Chapmans at
http://www.jtrevorchapman.com
This new site will be updated three - four times a week. Go there now and don’t forget to comment!

Blog #98 Catch Up

Well obviously by looking at the blog you can already tell—we got a new Jeep!  We have been looking for awhile and wanted to find the perfect mesh of Trevor and I.  I wanted a classy silver convertible and Trevor wanted a rugged go-through-the-jungle-or-swampland Land Rover from the 70’s.  We found our perfect combination in our classy yet rugged Jeep Wrangler!!  It is silver, elegant, and convertible-like for me, and totally rugged, lifted, and unstoppable for Trevor.  We are so happy!  We bought it at this new dealership in

 Draper.  The guy just started his own dealership after being a salesman for many years.  Because he was a startup, he didn’t have much liquid cash and so he gave us a GREAT deal.  It is a 2005 Jeep Wrangler with 21,000 miles on it.  It has a 3″ Teraflex lift and 33″ tires; it is beautiful!

    As soon as we got it Trevor wanted to drive it all over the place.  He wanted to take a road trip so he tried to convince me that we NEEDED to go down to St. George on a Tuesday leaving at 12:00 midnight and then coming back the next day before his 12:00 noon class.  I vetoed it since we get 14 miles per gallon, so he tried to get us to go up to West Jordan to see his Grandparents because his Aunt Lizzie and cousin Jay had both (ironically at the same time) flew into town.  I tried to veto the suggestion, but he was just too excited so I couldn’t say no.  However, Grandpa Chapman gave a resounding “no” when Trevor called at midnight asking if we could come.  Trevor was tortured that whole night and just laid there not being able to sleep for excitement; he didn’t fall asleep until 7:00 am.

    The next day we got up bright and early (actually Trevor never went to bed) and took off to West Jordan to see the kin-folk.  It was so fun to meet Aunt Lizzie after hearing so much about her!  She was delightful and she had a great time playing with Jace!  It was also fun to meet Jay, Trevor’s cousin (Uncle Jeff and Aunt Diane’s son).  We drove up there first thing in the morning and then drove back to Provo so Trevor could go to class and then drove right back up to visit some more and go to Trevor’s chiropractor appointment.  The exam confirmed that Trevor is WAY messed up.  His back is to blame for his weak immune system, his trouble sleeping, and his occasional headaches.  We need to get that boy fixed!

    Grandpa tried to dissuade Trevor from continuing with the chiropractor, labeling them professional Quaks.  I am with you, Grandpa!  It is a bunch of malarkey!  Trevor held to his guns, but Grandpa continued to dissuade him over dinner at one of my favorite restaurants on earth: The Golden Coral (known to my mom as the Shiny Feedlot).

    All that driving back and forth to Salt Lake didn’t get the driving spirit out of Trevor so he convinced me to let us drive down to St. George on a Thursday, stay for the day, and drive back the next day to make it to his classes.  We took off late Wednesday night, got there as usual in the wee hours of the morning, kicked Boe out of his bed, and stole it for a couple hours until the ranting and raving of the household woke us out of our much needed slumber.  We had parked the jeep on the front lawn so the family would be sure to see it.  Mom got up first, looked out the window, and started cursing Davy’s hellion friends for their disrespect and audacity to park their cars on her front lawn.  When she found us in the bedroom, and realized it was Trevor, she thought it was one of the most creative ways to show off a car in the world, and Trevor an absolute genius for thinking it up.  Oh I pray that Mom loves Jini, Kinsi, and Chari’s husbands as much as she loves mine (and Lia’s)!

    

That day was super fun.  We loaded Chari and Boe in the car and then took off to Zions.  It was GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!  It was SOOOO warm, clear, and beautiful.  The park was incredible with the top off; it couldn’t have been more perfect!  We then went offroading at the Virgin River and Boe almost got swept away in the current, but he was tough and Trevor saved him.  That kid is a fighter!  It was so funny seeing Boe’s white, stalky, little legs and his whitey tighties in the water.  He was SO embarrassed that we made him swim in his shirt and underwear and almost had a heart attack when Trevor made him change into just one of Trevor’s long shirts so he wouldn’t get the Jeep wet.  If all the world had Boe’s modesty standards the earth would be celestialized (or Amish).

    The next day we came back up to Provo and then were joined the next day by the kids and Mom to celebrate Gabe’s 11th birthday—happy birthday, Gabe! We had a great time; we went to Doc’s Pizza buffet and laughed our guts out at the karaoke music and chowed down on the delicious pizzas.  Then we came home and ate angel food cake with strawberry sauce and whipped cream and opened presents.  It was a lot of fun!  The next day the kids went snowboarding at Sundance—even Boe!  I heard that Gabe and Boe were the best on the mountain!  They are naturals!

    Another great birthday happened on the 25th!  It was Lia’s 24th!  Happy Birthday!  The next day Trevor gave me a great present—a new song!  He has been having insomnia lately because he has so much running through his mind.  He stays up until 4 or 5 in the morning some times and it is really bad.  Anyway, he had one of those nights the other day.  He went to go to bed but couldn’t sleep because he had this song in his head.  Finally he decided to quit fighting it and got up and created it.  He is a musical genius and it was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sweet!!!  He is always writing me songs and they are all so beautiful; this one especially.  He is the most wonderful husband in the world!  It is posted here on the website if you would like to hear it.

    Jace continues to amaze us with his strength, charisma, and intelligence.  He rolls over whenever he feels like it, scoots around to wherever he wants to go, and devises ways to make us do whatever he wants.  I have started giving him frequent baths now because he LOVES the water; besides eating it is his favorite activity!  He just splashes and splashes until I think he is going to break his little heels from kicking so hard on the tub floor.  He is wonderful!

Brief History

Update from the 12th to Yesterday

Cac - here are the pictures, you can write about it. If you don’t want them all to be centered view the picture in large format (click on it), download the image then re-upload it.


Zions


Jeep - Zions






Trevor’s Newswriting Class

Well, I am posting some of Trevor’s articles from his comms class. He never conducts the interviews, so he makes quotes up for me and his friends. According to Trevor’s Prof. he is the first one done with the articles and has the best grade (what the Prof. doesn’t know is that he doesn’t prepare).

This is Trevor - I am not extrememly proud of these articles–I whipped them up quickly so I could leave school and go home to Jace and Caci. But, Caci likes them, so we are posting them.

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War in Iraq? or China?

PROVO-UT. Years in Iraq, scores of deaths, new political party, new crude-oil-agreements, new uncertainties, new terrorist camps, new threats, new arguments and debates, but one old reason…

The communist state of China, estimated, in the next 20 years, to use twice the energy in one day of what the entire world currently consumes in one month—believed by experts to become the economical powerhouse of the world in the next five years; and with the largest population on the planet and nuclear capabilities the United States is not only threatened (being the only remaining superpower), but her very plush lifestyle may be pushed off the map by a larger, heavier, stronger and more demanding regime. Unless we imperialistically take the one element needed to survive this ever-growing potentially astronomical-tidal shift of powers, the US will be buried alive in a dark avalanche of socialist-world-domination.

How do we secure this magical element? We’re America! We jump on oppurtunity–one such, a war, where the battlegrounds are directly above the most volatile and rich reserve of this “black” magic—the Middle Eastern States with all of her crude-oil.

This is a subject that few wish to speak candidly on because of the unstable nature of the debates surrounding it. Ironically, those that want the truth are the very ones that have made the truth impossible. They have done this by flooding the US with a sea of demand for political correctness which gives the illusion of “right” and “equality” and “tolerance” only masking the true face hidden from view.

“We’re in Iraq for democracy.” Right…and Bob and Tom in Massachusetts are just as “married” as my wife and I are.

Please don’t misunderstand – creating a democratically equal government in Iraq is good. Demanding at gunpoint that terrorists stand down from free countries is good. But the reality of the matter is that there are no oil-reserves in the middle African states – therefore, we choose to call the same sick genocidal regimes and massacres “Tribal Warfare.” Whereas, when this occurs where there is oil, we move in, take out what obstacles stand between us and the reservoirs of oil (usually this is the bad guy); then, in good Boy Scout fashion, we make the camp a little better than it looked when we arrived and never truly leave…after all, aren’t we the world police?

Like always, college students seem to see the world with their still “20/20″ vision. “I like my lifestyle and it is my government’s responsibility to secure that lifestyle for me and my children.” said Thor Hartwig, senior, studying Political Science. “China is our most imminent threat. Iraq is the key to winning the race.”

Contrary, many fellow students, though seeing the true nature of our current situation and recognizing its ugly value, nonetheless, feel remorse for our unofficial imperialism.

“I’m just happy that I can elect people whom I hope make God-fearing decisions. Heaven knows I would never ask to be put into a situation where I have to decide what is currently being decided in reference to Iraq and China.” said Caci Chapman, senior, majoring in Socio-Cultural Anthropology.

We might continue to lead our lives lethargically moving from one side of the debate then rolling to the other based on the whims of our moods and the writing style of the author of whatever article we read. We might even have a heavy opinion, but like Coolidge’s “educated derelicts” we won’t make a difference unless we act.

To the former, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” That’s Socrates. To the derelicts, no excuses, Beethoven was deaf. To the “make love not war” VW van dweller—to you I give respect for standing for what you believe; but, before you say another word or hold up another sign naked, try rationing your gasoline for a year, eating rice with your hands, go attempt to have a rational conversation with the Taliban and drop yourself in the midst of a suicidal terrorist camp. If you make it back – I’ll listen to why we should allow them to fly planes into our towers without immediate and decisive response.

Finally, to the Taliban-sympathizers… we’re coming to get you.

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Global Warming? Not in Utah!

PROVO - With all the hype about globalwarming lately, one would think that we would be out in shorts and tank tops slurping down lemonade with those little umbrella straws—not so in Utah. No, Utah has been having one heck of wintertime; a winter even colder than in Nome, Ak. In fact, Utah isn’t alone! Two weeks ago there wasn’t a single spot between Fort Worth, TX and Anchorage, AK that was above freezing.

Yet, setting aside this immediate surmounting evidence, experts are claiming that the earth is getting warmer and warmer with each passing day. Interestingly, even government agencies are recognizing a trend leading us down the path to a tropical world. The EPA recently released its latest report stating that the average temperature trend from 1860 – 1900 compared with the trend of the last 40 years shows only a change of 1.4 °F warmer. And to add insult to injury, scientist claim that 1870 was the end of a minor ice age with temperatures colder than average globally!

So, despite all the horror stories, don’t worry too much about waking up in a pool of glacial run-off – more likely, you’ll first wake up in a sea of crude oil after the US gets done in the middle-east.

Even college students—historically, the radical “save the earth” via protest and drugs—are having a hard time stomaching the end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it-from-heat-stroke phenomenon.

“The earth has been undergoing its own ’seasonal’ changes for millions of years. We enter periods of extreme cold [Ice Ages, the last major one ended 10,000 years ago] and then enter a period of warmer weather,” said Caci Chapman, senior at BYU majoring in Socio-Cultural Anthropology. “This cycle will repeat itself. No need to fuss about it.”

So, until you can fish in your backyard in a pool of glacial flooding or Robert Redford changes the name of Sundance Ski Resort to Sundance Sandboard-like-in-the-Sahara-my-brotha-dude, don’t plan on cooking your meals via solar radiation flanking the o-zone. We’re all still alive, and most of us whiter and colder than we’d like to be.

Since Sunday is the day to blog, I will give an update! However, since not much happened, I will mostly just put up pictures of cute little Jace. First off, Jace rolled over today!!! We never put him on his belly because he hates it. However, I put him on his belly today to see if he would roll over. I was getting ready for the day in the bathroom, so we laid Jace in the hall just outside the bathroom so he could watch me blow dry my hair (he LOVES to watch me blow dry my hair). So, he was laying there watching me, and then I walked into the bedroom. When I turned to look at him, he had flipped over! He couldn’t see me when I walked into the bedroom, so he flipped over so he could see me!! Isn’t that advanced?! He had no trouble doing it, either, so we think he has had the capacity to do it for a long time but has never had the opportunity due to the lack of belly time he gets. We know it was easy for him because we immediately flipped him back to his belly to do it again and then walked where he couldn’t see me and he flipped right over! He also had his first rice cereal today. He really really liked it, he just couldn’t figure out how to eat it—he had most of it all over his face, but really seemed to enjoy it. His little tongue was frantically licking all over the spoon like a hungry puppy—so cute.
Yesterday we all went to the Home and Garden show at the South Town Expo Center in South Jordan; it was a blast! Trevor went to every since chiropractor who had a station there, and incidentally signed up with each. He seriously signed up with five different chiropractors and even put down $20 deposits on the ones who requested it. I swear he is such an impulse buyer. Have you all seen those towels they have on T.V.? The orange ones that suck water up like crazy? Well, as soon as Trevor saw the demonstration he bought it—two actually. Every single person who gave a demonstration he bought from. He is so funny! I learned a valuable lesson yesterday—do NOT bring Trevor to event shows when he has cash in his pocket.
My favorite thing at the Home Show were the Sugar Gliders!! They were SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cute! They are from Australia and Indonesia and they are these little mouse/monkey animals. They are pocket pets that are like puppies. They form very strong bonds with people and are loyal forever. They are SOOOO cute! They are those little gliding animals that you always see on T.V. that fly from tree to tree—a sort of flying squirrel. I had the time of my life playing with them. We think we will get one next year when Jace is bigger. Also, at one of Trevor’s chirportactor stops, we saw the guy from the R.M. and American’s Mormon! He was worried about his back, too. We all got a picture with him!
The weather has been GORGEOUS lately so today we went to the Heber City Railroad Park. It was so cute to see all the little kids fishing in the pond; five little freckle faced boys with Huckleberry Finn hair were all lined up with their fishing rods so Trevor went over there and asked them what they usually catch. They started telling him and then one of them was like, “Yeah, its way cool to fish, but you can only do it if you are 12 or under.” And then another chided in, “Yeah… or handicapped.” Then another added, “Yep! I’ll be able to fish for the rest of my life!” Aren’t 10 year old little boys so cute?
That seems to be all for now! Enjoy the pics of our adorable baby!