Merry Christmas

The sun is shining the grass is green (sort of)…Wait this isn’t L.A. and I’m not singing the intro to White Christmas (if you haven’t heard it before it gives context to the song). Irving Berlin wrote it and then dropped it from the original recording to give the song more universal appeal. This isn’t about a song though, it’s about what is Christmas anyway? Where I live we are not always guaranteed a white Christmas. In fact it can be January before we even get a good snow. This year I thought that we might have a chance; we’ve had more moisture than usual. We actually had some snow for a few days, but the last three days rain and about 38-42 degree temperatures have melted most of the snow, save the piles made from the snow plows. But as for a white Christmas, we won’t be having one here. In fact it is supposed to be in the 40’s.

One of my favorite Christmas carols is “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” penned by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It was written during the Civil War and it always gives me hope that through whatever the world throws at us that there can always be Peace on Earth.

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

"I heard the bells on Christmas Day Their old familiar carols play,And wild and sweet The words repeat Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,The belfries of all Christendom Had rolled along The unbroken song Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till, ringing, singing on its way,The world revolved from night to day, a voice, a chime; a chant sublime Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black accursed mouth The cannon thundered in the South, And with the sound The carols drowned Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent The hearth-stones of a continent, And made forlorn The households born Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;"There is no peace on earth," I said;"For hate is strong, And mocks the song Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

"Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: "God is not dead; nor doth he sleep! The Wrong shall fail, The Right prevail, With peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Back to Christmas…For me Christmas is a time to reflect on the past year, what has transpired and what I have been blessed with. I have been blessed with so much…I have a loving wife, three great kids and a home. What more can I ask for? But I also have a job that allows me to have a house and doesn’t take me away from my family too much. I have a great extended family my in-laws are wonderful and my dad could be the biggest Boise State fan since…Me! My family is so important to me…and knowing that we can always be together makes me feel so fortunate. This season where we celebrate the birth of the Savior helps to bring out the best in everyone. Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men.

Power of the Internet

The power of the internet is immense… I have a friend I have known for more than ten years. She lives in the D.C. area. So we keep in contact by email and instant messages. The other day we were talking about other friends that we have lost contact with. So I started searching the internet and college alumni sites and I did not find who I was looking for. But I did find someone I thought was the sister of one of my friends. So I took a chance and email this stranger that I was looking for my friend who I thought was her sister. Within a few hours I received an email from the person I emailed and I was right. She told me that she vaguely remembered me (from meeting me about ten years ago when I went to her house with her sister) and she forwarded the email I sent on to her sister. That made my morning. A few hours later I received another email…from my friend. So the power of the internet reconnected me with someone that I had not heard from in almost ten years. So there are those who are (still) weary of using the internet but this is a perfect example of the powerful resource that the internet can be…
More to come…

December...Traditions

One week into December and the Christmas parties have begun. Thursday night was the party for the Ada County Association of Realtors. It was fun. Those of us that work at ACAR and IMLS were able to see the people that we deal with in a professional setting in a less formal atmosphere. The old leadership of the association was thanked and the new leadership was installed. This has been an interesting year for ACAR and as such the outgoing President received a standing ovation. Tonight there is a church Christmas that we are all going together as a family. It should be a good way to start the weekend. Then next Thursday we are having our office party. Last year it was fun and I have no doubt that this year will be also. There are many parties this time of year and I haven’t even thought about the personal parties.

It has been pretty cold here; the other morning on the way to work it was 7 degrees. I don’t mind the cold as long as I don’t have to spend too much time in it. On that topic, tomorrow we are going to my Grandma’s house to put up her Christmas lights. The Saturday after Thanksgiving I put up the lights at our house (with some help from my brother to climb on my roof). It has always been a Tradition to put up Christmas lights on the Friday after Thanksgiving. This year we helped my Dad set up his lights and as we were doing it, the rain started. We were able to get the lights on the roof with my brother only falling off once (he was fine, by the way). Then in the rain we set up a few of his lawn ornaments…he set up the rest on his own. Tammy thought we were crazy for doing it in the rain…but the tradition is worth continuing no matter what the weather is like. This time of year is full of traditions and as my family continues to grow we are creating our own. This year has been great and the two older kids are into everything about Christmas. We let them decorate their own tree this year. Christmas time can be truly magic for the kids…

Thanksgiving...to be Thankful.

To be Thankful… What does it mean to be thankful? For me looking at all of the blessings that I have in my life and how I am undeserving of them. I have a wonderful wife who loves and supports me. She does a wonderful job raising our kids and she teaches them so much. She is my biggest fan and gives eerily accurate criticism. She is so beautiful and talented. I truly “married up”. She is my partner and friend. I have three great children that I love to play with. I can’t think of a better feeling then returning home after work and seeing them run out the front door to meet me as I pull into the driveway. They always have so many things to say and questions to ask and I am their expert. I am thankful for the chances that I get to steal away with each child and spend alone time with them. Last Sunday my oldest son and I climbed under a blanket and watched a movie while the rest of the family enjoyed a Sunday nap. Then after our daughter woke up, she, my son and I worked on cleaning up the house and we wrestled a bit (more like they climb on me and I let them). I treasure this time with them while they are small. I know it won’t last. I have a wonderful life and a beautiful family. I am extremely blessed.

Red October and Boise beats DAV

Last weekend I had two things that brought a rush of memories back. The first was watching a movie that I had not seen for years, “The Hunt for Red October”. The Tom Clancy book turned action/adventure movie with Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin. This was a movie I saw in high school with some friends. It was the first time my parents let me see a movie on a school night. I know this isn’t a big deal to many, but for me it was a sign that my parents were conceding to the fact that I was becoming an adult. I went with Erick and Dylan to the 9pm showing and we were about the only people in the theater. Also, it is a good movie. It was the first in the Tom Clancy books made into movies with the “Jack Ryan” character and takes place before the Gorbachev era. It was good to see it again.

Last Saturday was the Boise State vs. Idaho football game. The series was 17-16-1 with Idaho having the 1 game advantage in the series. After the game the series is all tied up (17-17-1). Boise State obliterated the Idaho Vandals 70-35. As a life-long Bronco fan this game has always meant a lot to me. I remember driving to Moscow with my dad and brother and our friends for a game and all the games on the blue and Bronco Stadium. Even though the past six years Boise State has dominated the series in the recent past and scored 308 points to the 110 by U of I, I remember the 12 years straight that Idaho beat Boise State. So each time the teams meet there is apprehension on my part. Boise State did not pull ahead significantly until the second half; it was a well fought battle. An interesting side note I realized after the game, Boise State started six Idahoans U of I only three. Boise State goes against LA Tech for their final game of the season this weekend (Idaho Statesman).
So it was a weekend of memories and great football. GO BRONCOS!!!
You can find the meaning of DAV here and the significance

Broncos...Blessing(?)

This past weekend was a lot of fun two things happened, tailgated and went to the Boise State football game and my brother blessed his baby in church.
Tailgating:
Fun times. My brother Cort and I arrived at the location at about 8:00 AM (the game started at 1:00 PM) and it was 36°. We set up a canopy spaced out some chairs along the parking area and awaited the arrival of the others. We decided to set up camp in a park across the river from Bronco Stadium. We sat and drank hot cocoa to keep warm and read up on the WAC conference match-up we were preparing to attend. When my Dad arrived he brought a “soot bucket” that we used to put start a fire in to keep warm. Then about 10:00 AM our wives arrived with some of the food and munchies. By 11:00 AM we had about 20 people, a TV, a radio, a generator, a fire pit, and two kinds of soup (made by our lovely wives), sandwiches, chips, and cookies. We ate and conversed then about 12:30 PM we headed over to the stadium. It was a fun game (56-6) another victory for the Broncos on the blue turf. We have decided that we will have to do it again next season.
Blessing:
Mucha Familia! Cort blessed his son on Sunday at church. In the LDS church a blessing is similar to a christening, but not a baptism. The LDS don’t baptize children until they are eight years old (Moroni 8:12 “little children are alive in Christ” until the age of eight they are not subject to the same accountability.)There was a lot of family there from our side at church there was about 18 people and from his wife’s side about 30 people. We had an aunt (our mom’s sister) come up from Orem, UT with her son. Afterward we went to our dad’s house for a luncheon. It was a lot of fun, we sat and talked and everyone took turns holding his baby and holding my son. Kids are great. Families can make a self-centered life turn inside out to one centered in service and love.

Halloween is here...

Halloween is here. We went last week we took the kids to the pumpkin patch to choose their Jack-O-Lanterns. It was fun; we rode the trailer out to the field and were dropped off in the field of orange gourds. Not surprisingly it took the kids quite some time to find the pumpkin that would be perfect for them. Afterward the kids wandered through the straw maze that was set up in front of the farmhouse. It was a fun time. On Saturday we bought some straw bales and placed them out on our front patio and put a few of the pumpkins on the bales. So fall is getting into full swing. We took the kids to their first Halloween party of the season on Saturday night they had a great time. We have a couple more scheduled for this week and then going out on the 31st. We also have one party scheduled for mom & dad (w/o kids) it should be fun. We are ironing out the details of the baby-sitting.

FYI: Boise State had another victory on Saturday slaughtering Utah State in a 45-21 triumph in conference play. This ties them with Fresno State for first place in the WAC. Alas U of Idaho did not fair as well losing 40-10. Boise State meets Fresno State on November 10th and Idaho on November 19th. Idaho is 3-8 since 1994 against the Broncos and hasn’t been nationally ranked since… (if you can remember when let me know) when 8-tracks were en vogue not iPods. This should be a great week also against Nevada at home on the Blue! Fun times in the fall.

Wh0 @re y0u?

While perusing the web I found an interesting survey you can take. It will tell you which sci-fi character you are. It is pretty quick to do and interesting. Here is the link.I matched with Gandalf, I can handle that. You might want to try if you have some time to kill.

Fall is here Finally...Boise State

Fall is here. Finally, it is nice to be able to wear jeans and not sweat to death the minute I go outside. I enjoy driving with the window open and being able to keep cool. I like knowing that on a Saturday morning I can wake up and KNOW that there will be college football on T.V. and that there is good chance that the Boise State Broncos will be playing.

Gabe & Selah are funny…they have turned into Boise State fans. I have been a Boise State fan for my entire life. My father started getting football season tickets before I could talk. So I have been going for many years. When my brother and I were young my dad would carry him into the stadium so that the three of us could sit in his two seats. My mom would make us hot dogs and we would take them wrapped in aluminum foil for our dinner and eat them up in his seats (he had seats two rows from the top-total nosebleed). We had fun going to those games, so much so that as teenagers we went and sat in the end zone seats for games and then visited our Dad in his seats. By then he was sitting there with his friend B.M. eating peanuts and requesting that we go down and round up some pop for them. Fun times. Back to Gabe & Selah. Two years ago we went to an NAIA basketball game and to get the kids excited I showed them an animation from the BroncoSports.com website that showed a bronco galloping across the screen while the fight song played in the background. So now whenever the kids see Boise State apparel or other logo items then shout “Go Orange, Go Big Blue Fight, Fight, BSU”. And whenever there is a game on Gabe will ask if his favorite player Gabe Franklin is playing, although Gabe Franklin does not play on the team anymore. But Gabe and Selah love to wear Orange and Blue.

What do I listen to? Now YOU can know!

Just tried out something fun last.fm. It allows you to share with others the music that you listen to. It also lets you track what you have been listening to and what songs came around most often. I read about it on a website that I visit almost daily RAILheadDesign.com. Something new to try and a great way to share with others what you are into and find other people that are into the same types of music. It automatically looks at what music you have listened to and then finds people that have similar tastes. It seems like a good way to find artists that create music similar to what I like that I may have never heard of before. We’ll see how it goes. You can look here to see what I have been listening to.

Places in Idaho (and what brings people here)

Had the chance to go to both Garden Valley and Council Idaho for work. It was fun to get out of the city and see parts of the state that I don’t get to that often. Working and living in a quasi-metropolitan area can make you forget how peaceful and relaxing more rural areas can be. My grandparents moved from Payette to McCall in 1978 (before it was the prime vacation destination that it is now) and it was slow and relaxed the same way. This is one of the many reasons that I like my job. I look forward to those opportunities because no matter how much Boise and the surrounding area think that the state revolves around them, most people do not come to Idaho to visit the city, it is the rugged openness that brings them here. Another reason that I love Idaho.

Almost one month old...

Almost one month old and Reece is doing great. Mom has almost recovered 100% (she had a bought with mastitis, but is doing well). The whole family is adjusting to the new family member. The two older kids have the hardest time since they can no longer get into mom and dad’s bed when they wake up scared during the night. There is not enough room for five people. Last night we spent from 4:30 a.m. until 4:50 a.m. getting them to go back to their bed. It took both of us to get them to stay, but then they stayed until almost eight o’clock. Reece is a cute baby and so far he has much in common with his older brother, Gabriel. When Gabe was a baby I could put him on my shoulder and get him to fall asleep pretty easily and with Reece so far it is about the same. It is nice to be able to have this type of connection with a child. With Selah she would not sleep that way and I missed that she never cuddled with me. It is almost like it is my opportunity to bond in a similar way to how my wife does when she nurses the kids, they are clutching on to me for safety and security.

Being a Dad is great! I love playing with my kids!

The new edition has arrived.

July 25, 2005 at 8:00 a.m. Reece Christopher Peterson was born! After nine months of waiting the day had finally arrived. My wife and I arrived at the Family Birthing Center at St. Luke’s at 6:00 a.m. and after getting prepped she was ready for surgery. By 9:15 a.m. Reece was in his mother’s arms. Both mother and baby are doing great. They came home on July 27^th to a great reception from their family. Here are some pics.

Hot, Caliente, Ouch!!!!!

Almost a month since my last entry… Well in the past few weeks many things have happened:

1) Installed the sprinklers. Over the long Fourth of July weekend we installed the sprinklers in our back and side yards. It went pretty well, use the pipe puller (Ditch Witch) for a couple of hours then spent the next two days installing the “funny pipe” and connecting sprinkler heads. In the process of installing the main pipes we cut our phone line. We had been told by “Digline” that the average depth would be between 18 inches and 3 feet; not so. After calling the phone company (Qwest) they informed us that it could be as shallow as 4 inches. I could not believe that, who buries a line only four inches deep??? Anyway, Qwest came out and fixed it then buried it the next week. There are a couple that do not have as much pressure as they need to, but it will not be too hard to resolve. We also got some grass seed (for free) that will more than cover the area that we need. We got it from a seed company and so it should be very good.

2) Baby time! Last Sunday we spent an hour in the maternity ward after about 2 hours of consistent contractions at home. Once we got to the hospital…nothing. The c-section is scheduled for July 25^th, so the wait will be over. The other two kids are getting excited for their new little brother to arrive.

3) Our friends from Sacramento have been in town since last week. It has been fun getting caught up with them. My wife and I knew them when we were first married. We used to play games until all hours of the morning. They have been in California for almost a year now. We are going to a roast tonight for the father of this friend who is retiring after thirty-five years of teaching.

4) We have been swimming at my brother’s house. He rents and has access to a pool. It takes about an hour for the kids to warm up to swimming, but then they are like fish. My brother’s wife is pregnant also, due in September so the swimming is very relaxing to both her and my wife.

Even though I had not updated life has continued on as it always does.

Life is what happens when your busy making other plans...

It is not fun when you plan out your day and then at the last moment people cancel the plans that you had and you have to find another way to fill the time. That happened to me today. I got to work and an appointment canceled, so I took the ultimate Star Wars Personality Test. You can see the results at the end of this post.

Life is good. The Wife is about six weeks out from having baby number three. We already have a name for him, Reece Christopher. The other two kids are excited for the new arrival, I think that they will be disappointed that he won't be able to play with them for a few months.

I am almost done with the rototilling, 2/3 of the backyard completed. Waiting for Digline to identify utility lines before I complete the project. Then on the weekend of July 2-4 we are going to install the sprinklers (at least the pipe). After success with that then the grass planting will commence. I am hopeful that by August we can have some sort of lawn, then the kids will not have to play in the dirt.

Here are the Star Wars Personality test results.

Rototiller... Weapon of choice!

Another Friday come and gone. The weeks go by so fast. I have been working on our backyard this past week and will continue through the weekend. I have tilled about 1/3 of the yard and hope to finish on Saturday. We received some rain and this will help the process. The kids love watching me start the roto-tiller, but then are not too eager to stay around with the noise and dust. Over the past week and a half both kids have been sick, not too fun for Mom and Dad either.

The house behind us is making progress. We hope that someone buys it and they are eager to put up the fence so that we can get some part of a fence up. There has been much in the media about buying and selling real estate. Here is an article on CNN that has pretty good advice for buying your dream house.

This weekend is Father's Day (#4 for me) both our Dads are coming over for a delicious enchilada dinner. For now I am off to roto-till until the cows come home (or at least my kids).

They Did It!!!!

A little off the topic of late, but they did it. Apple Computer announced that they will be switching from IBM/ Motorola to chips by intel. This has caused a shock through the Mac world. Some are predicting problems, while others are more optimistic. I believe that this will be a great benefit to Apple and the Mac OS as a platform. It will keep the hardware improving as the OS improves and Apple will still use the proprietary hardware solution they use now, meaning that you would not be able to purchase a Dell (for shame) and install Mac OS X on it. Apple will not have to wait any longer for IBM to get it's act together and improve yields on high performance processors. I am not in the market for a new Mac today, but I looking forward to the possibilities that this affords to Apple and the Mac community.

Ready for a 3-Day Weekend!!!

The end of another week is here. The weather has been so nice, nothing like the rain that we have experienced most of the month. The Real Estate statistics were released by the National Association of Realtors ®

Today, the median single-family home price is $203,800. Just five years ago, the median single-family home sold at $139,000. In 1995, the median sale price of a single-family home was $108,500.

This is exciting news and the real estate market here in the Treasure Valley is going gang-busters just like it is nationally. It makes it interesting to see all the changes that have occurred since the days when I was a boy and I played in the irrigation canals and corn fields. I also saw that the 30 year rate has dropped for the 7th time in 8 weeks (source: MSNBC). This will help keep the market moving for a while.

*On May 19th at 12:01 a.m. I went to the opening of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith I gave into the darkside of my geekiness. For that night I was under the control of the Dark Lord and I submitted to my master.

Friday the 13th...

Friday the 13th!!! I could not imagine better weather. It is 67˚ sunny with a cool breeze. It makes working on a Friday even harder that it usually would be. Excavation has begun on the lot behind our home so there is a large mound of dirt looking in our kitchen door. It will be nice to have more than just an empty lot to look at. Hopefully the new neighbors will want to put up a fence NEXT summer. We are going to haul in some dirt to level the southeast corner of the backyard then put in sprinklers and then plant out lawn. We have some big projects ahead of us. It will all be worth it though when the kids can go outside and play in the grass and not just the dirt. For the most part new homes come with front sod and sprinklers and then the new owner is responsible to finish the landscaping so we get to do it. So every new homeowner is in the same boat that we are.

Blogger not a snob!

I have tried this before, to have a blog. I never would stay committed enough or would think that I had less than interesting things to day. Well, after watching a segment on "The Daily Show with jon Stewart" about blogging I resolved to try again. I thought that I would try to write about things that I know.

I have lived in Idaho for twenty-nine of my thirty-one years and twenty-seven of those in the Treasure Valley (the valley that includes Boise, Nampa, Meridian, Star, and Eagle). I work in the real estate industry, but I am NOT a realtor. So the growth in this valley has been pretty interesting and exponential. In 1990 Boise had a population of 126,685 and in 2000 it had risen to 185,787 and the metro area has population close to 500,000. So I will give my own spin to the happenings in the Boise area and any noteworthy info on the real estate in this area.