"Is it the Grandpa that ropes us?"

One of the best things about living in Southern Arizona is our proximity to my parents. After stints in Moscow and Boise Idaho, and Chicago Illinois - we are finally in a place where it doesn't take us days, or airplanes tickets to visit my parents. Our kids are fortunate enough to have great relationships with both sets of grandparents, and visit or are visited by them multiple times per year. Somehow they still haven't mastered the 'Grandma and Grandpa Lathen', vs. 'Grandma and Grandpa Cluff' official titles yet, opting for the more kid friendly 'The one with horses' (Lathens), or 'The one that ropes us' (Cluff's) instead.

Growing up in Mexico, we lived right next to a river. Whenever there were heavy rains, the river would flood and bring with it hundreds of logs and branches of driftwood. One of the Mexican traditions in our town was to stand on the bridge over the river and rope the logs or branches as they floated by and bring them up for firewood. Most people did this out of necessity... my Dad did it for the challenge and sport. And in all honesty (as honest as a kids memory can be when he thinks his Dad is WAY better than Superman) he was always the best roper on the bridge.

Flash forward to 2007, and the bridge has become the backyard, or front yard, or family room, or living room, etc... and the logs and branches have become Grandkids. Over Thanksgiving, it was great to see that my Dad hasn't lost his touch! He can rope those Grandkids just as easily as he pulled those logs from the river, and I think he loves it even more. He laughs and giggles the whole time as his Grandkids run around trying to get away from him, but secretly hoping he'll rope them.

Now before anyone turns us into Child Protective Services, he uses this Fat, Soft, Nylon rope that doesn't hurt, or leave marks... but, if you feel the need to turn us in for standing on a narrow cement bridge over a fast rushing river in the rain, roping logs that weighed more then we did, well feel free - I wouldn't change it for the world, and plus, we were in Mexico... there's probably some statute of limitations/bribe loophole that could get us out of any trouble anyway!

Thanksgiving was wonderful this year. We loved being at my parents, and Mom made an Awesome Thanksgiving Dinner! The entire weekend was fun and relaxing. We had fun pretending we were sledding in the snow on the sand dunes at White Sands. We got a lot of shopping done. We watched lots of football and basketball. And my favorite... Golf with my Dad and Brother. Of all the golf I've played in my life, my favorite rounds have ALWAYS been with my Dad and Brother. We missed the rest of the family, but sounds like everyone had a great day regardless of who they were with, or where they were.

I'm grateful this Holiday Season to have been born into this wonderful family! I'm equally grateful to have married into such a wonderful family! The quote Camille has on the Heading of her Blog says it all "The greatest joys of life are experienced in happy family relationships". My greatest joys in life have always been a product of fun family get togethers and activities. Even when I traveled to exotic locations for work, it would always be a bitter/sweet experience. Looking at the scenery, or visiting some famous site, I would always think "man I wish my family could be here to see this..."

Thanks for everything! You guys are AWESOME!!!

Oh and Dad... Take heart - you used to be the 'Grandpa with no hair?" so, in my mind... 'The Grandpa that ropes us' is a pretty significant improvement... right?

"Leaning Back in Chair"

Tyler Jeffrey Cluff is a handful... not only for us, but for his Kinder teachers too! We (working with his teachers) have resorted to an 'incentive chart' to help us focus in on improving his behavior. His teacher sends the report home each day to let us know how things are going at school. So, every day we have a little meeting after school and talk about what went well, and what we need to do better.

We are finding that often it is extremely difficult to reprimand him with a straight face, because the descriptions of his behavior range from somewhat comical to downright hilarious. Now, don't get us wrong... we recognize he's a handful, and I'm espcially hard on him, trying to get him to understand that its not acceptable to act this way and not listen to his parents and teachers. But, as his teacher said a couple of weeks ago at our Parent Teacher Conference "I have to reprimand him for standing on his chair, then turn my back and laugh because he's so cute and funny when he does it. And, he's never rude, never talks back, and is always genuinely remourseful when he has done something wrong... so its hard not to smile".

Below is a sample of what he has brought home recently...

(click on the picture if you can't read the comments on this page)

One of my favorites "touching"... 'nuff said




But how can you not forgive him with a smirky-smile like that?




This one really kills me... how can you have enough energy to not stay in your seat from 8am - 12:40 pm? Seriously... I get winded going from the couch to the fridge and back... how can he not want to spend a little more time in his seat? He's not his Fathers child... or is he?






Distracted AND leaning back in chair... rough day...




Go on Ty... give her the eyes... she can't get mad if you give her the eyes AND the smirky smile right?



Notice how the cards are changing now... just way too much work to monitor and report on all the "activity" she experiences during the day.

Running around


And loving every minute of it...




Pretty consistent though right?


Oh! Wait! What do we have here?!?!?!

YEAH!!! Fianlly Tyler has a "good day"!

Actually - this was his second "good day" since we started with the incentive chart/stickers. The first time was one of the little hippo charts at the top with lots of stickers. His teacher said that when she put it on his desk at the end of class he took it back up to her, and said "you're not done with this yet, there isn't much writing on it" When she informed him that she was done and that he got all his stickers that day he still said "are you sure your done with this? You don't have anything to write on here? I got all my stickers?!?!" When she answered in the affirmative, he couldn't get the smile off his face. She said it was sooo touching... and the good kind of touching this time!

Well done young man... keep up the good work!

Anybody hiring?

It's official... the rumors and rumblings were true. Today it was confirmed that my beautiful factory here in Nogales will be closing late next year.

Since finance is always the last to go, I don't have anything to worry about for the next 15-18 months, unless I find something more attractive sooner.

My baby tracker will now be (honestly it always has been, but I wasn't allowed to say) my countdown to unemployment... you ladies get a baby at the end of your countdown. Not me, I get to uproot my family and start climbing the corporate ladder again.

I'm posting this news more as an FYI than anything... and while the above may sound gloomy, I'm not concerned at all. I have plenty of time to figure out what I want to do, and I'm sure plenty of opportunities will present themselves over the next 12 - 18 months. Our first choice will be to stay here, and me either work from home and stay with Motorola, or find a new company to work for in this area. We REALLY don't want to move... AGAIN.

A funny thing happened on the way to...

This will be a quick one - funny story from my commute this morning.

Several months ago, one of the boys had his dollar store toy machine gun confiscated by his Dad for pointing it at someone, or otherwise misusing his toy. To keep it away from the young child, his Dad threw the gun in the trunk of his car with piles of other junk he 'saves' there.

Each day when I cross the border into Mexico, I have to drive over an electronic speedbump that is attached to a stoplight. When my tires touch the speedbump, either the red or green light will illuminate. Green means go, and red means 'get searched'. Two to three times a month I get searched - usually by a lazy, tired, government employee who can see my Motorola badge and window parking decal, and half heartedly looks through my windows, and maybe opens my trunk.

Today however my 'searcher' must have had his coffee, or was looking to impress his four co-workers who were watching him conduct the very thorough search of my messy little vehicle. Lo and behold today his efforts were handsomely rewarded; PAYDIRT!... for at the bottom of my trunk, under my golfclubs and other junk, a dollar store machine gun is found... As I see the gun come up out of the trunk in his hand, I'm having flashbacks to 12 years ago when I almost lost my fiance in a scary gun related Mexican Border incident... (no joke - true story for some other time)

I then thought, "c'mon he can't be serious... its a freakin toy, and I could find the same one down the street at the Mexican Wal Mart... Hell it was probably made just down the street... (sorry, yes I cuss in my thoughts from time to time)" when much to my surprise, and to the surprise of his co-workers, he jumps out from behind my car with the toy gun in hand and starts shooting the four guys watching him do the search... everyone laughs and I drive off with a smile on my face, and a mess in my shorts... good times... good times indeed!

FOZ in Falluja!

A year or two after my family moved to Florida, the Curtiss family moved into our Ward from Wisconsin. Foster was my age, and we became friends from the first time we met.

After our Missions and College, I took the business route, and so did he breifly. After a short stint with Ford, (and with the permission and ecouragement of his saint of a wife Jenn) he found his career calling and took his dream job chasing the bad guys with NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service).

Sheri and I and our kids met up with him and his family back in the Spring of 2004 and spent a Super fun weekend with them in Jacksonville. They have since moved to Georgia, and Foster is currently deployed in Iraq.

Below are some pics, and an update e-mail I got from him late last week.

Joe, What's up my brother? I have a little down time so I thought I'd drop you a line and see what's going on. All is safe and quiet here in Fallujah. The Marines have done an outstanding job here in stabilizing this part of Iraq. The same story is being repeated all over this country. We have not taken a mortar or rocket attack since April and the casualty rate for U.S. service members is zero. Its neat to see the Iraqi people step up and take control for their own security. They are making great strides in securing their homes and their families. Too bad the media leads the public to believe otherwise. There is still much to do, most of it rests with the politicians, but progress is being made. Attached is a picture taken of me before convoying out to a Forward Operating Base. A far cry from my Ford days.

I will be home in January. Time can't pass quick enough. Jennifer just got done running her first half marathon and she is training to run a marathon next year. I will deploy one more time, hopefully to Afghanistan, and then next fall, we're putting for transfers to Spain, Italy, or Japan. Jennifer can't wait and the kids are excited as well. Isn't it amazing how time flys? Madison will be in the Young Women's program next year as I'm sure Callie will to. Scary thought. I found a solution to our fears though. See attached.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Take care,

Foster

Iraq Convoy

Foz with his Dream Ride!


Foz and Jenn both have access to the blog now, so feel free to drop them a note in the comments, or send me a note and I'll send you their e-mail addresses. In fact, after reading my blog for the first time, this is the note I got back from Foster... hasn't changed a bit has he?

I liked your blog. Did you get your Mancard back yet? If I had it I wouldn’t give it back. But then again, Jennifer would make me give it back. You and Sheri look good. You haven’t changed much in 13 years. It was neat to see the entire Cluff family. Your Mom and Dad have not changed much at all either. Ryan and all the girls look great. Sheri and the kids look wonderful and you seem to be very happy. I am very proud to call you my friend. You are a good man and have a wonderful family. Give them all my best.
Foster

Well Foster Curtiss - I'm proud to call you my friend! Take care of yourself my Brother! Be safe! Our prayers are with you and your family. Thanks for the sacrifices you and your family are making for all of us!

Joe

The Relief Society Roller Coaster...

You know the saying 'It’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission' well; it applies in this post. Sheri would never want me to do this, so I'll let her read it after it goes out, and hope she's ok with it...

I have been privileged enough to watch my wife serve in many different positions in the Church over the past 11+ years. The Lord has seen fit to use her talents as a Primary Teacher, Primary Presidency Counselor, Relief Society Enrichment Leader, Relief Society Presidency Counselor, Relief Society President, and Gospel Doctrine Teacher, just to name a few... All have presented their challenges and growth opportunities, but none have been as all consuming as her current calling of RS President.

The Ward we live in is HUGE! Seating goes all the way back to the stage at every sacrament meeting. Sheri has responsibility for about 230 Sisters, many of whom are elderly and in great need. When she received her call, I was extended a release from the Elders Quorum Presidency, so that I could better support her. At the time I thought "C'mon I can do both... this RS thing can't be that time consuming", but boy was I wrong.

The first few months of her calling were pretty brutal, and I have to confess that I wasn't very supportive. I was a jealous husband who couldn't understand why the Church demanded soooo much of her time. But, once I got involved and started helping her with her weekly e-mails, planning and decorating for activities, and other things I started to realize what a blessing she is in the lives of the Sisters of our Ward. They are in love with her, and she has somehow been able to reach out to each Sister, and made her feel a part of a huge Sisterhood family. When we moved here, RS activities would have about 30 Sisters in attendance. At the last RS Enrichment night, there were over 100.

One of the reasons for the dramatic increase in attendance is Sheri's ability to create an environment that the Sisters want to be a part of; an environment that is both physically, and spiritually attractive. Over the years, she has accumulated a garage full of beautiful decorations that she uses to transform an ordinary old church gym into a very inviting and comfortable setting.

Her critics (mostly a few men in the ward) will say she overdoes everything. That she doesn't have to go to such great lengths with the decorating and making everything just right to achieve the same results. But I have to disagree. It's because she and her counselors go to such great lengths that the Sisters won't miss the activities. They know it will be a wonderful evening of fun, friendship, Sisterhood, and sharing.

Sheri was asked once to tone things down a bit, because whomever was called to be the next RS President would never be able to live up to the expectations she was setting. I was sooo proud of her reply. She said "So are you asking me to bury my talents? If the Lord were going to come to your house for Dinner, wouldn't you put on the very best Dinner you possibly could? Then why would you want me to do any less for the Sisters of our Ward? I believe they deserve my very best efforts".

Sheri's "very best efforts" are seldom rewarded publicly, but the e-mails and thank you notes she gets are beyond precious, they are priceless. Sisters write to her and say "I had so much fun last night I could have stayed there all night long visiting and laughing with the Sisters" or "When I saw how beautifully everything was decorated I felt like a Princess, no one has ever done anything like that for me" or "Thank you for last night, I felt so pampered, and didn't want to go back to my crazy house and kids"... and I could go on and on...

Sheri definitely could not put these events on by herself, and watching the whole event come together with all the help is one of the most amazing parts of the process. It is very evident that as the Sisters, and family members come together to put these events on, friendships are formed, and eternal bonds are built. This is especially true with her family that always shows up to help. No matter if we've lived in Boise, Chicago, or here... they will make the trip to help, and be a part of these special occasions. A special thanks to Sandra, Judy, Sara, Lillian and many others for all you have done for and with her over the years.

Below is a compilation of a few of the events she has either put on, or decorated for over the past few years.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I appreciate the great example Sheri is to me. I have met few people who when called to serve in the church, take on the stewardships and responsibilities with the dedication and energy that she does. She truly serves the Lord with all her "heart, might, mind, and strength". I love and appreciate her more than I can say! Thanks my Love! GREAT JOB! and KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!


Hang on - there is someone at the door... Sorry - I'm back - that was the ManCard enforcement unit, and after having said all that - my ManCard has officially been revoked! Sad Sad Day for me...

Mi Princesa - Happy Birthday Callie Jo

Just over ten years ago Sheri and I were college students living in Moscow Idaho. We were in our second year of marriage when we were blessed with our first child. Callie Jo Cluff (Callie for her Grandpa Cal, and Jo for her proud papa) was born on the evening of November 1st, 1997.

After the delivery Sheri was moved to her recovery room, and I went with Callie so the nurses could get her cleaned up and cared for. When the nurses were finished, they wrapped Callie in warm blankets and placed her in my arms. It was late at night, and the hospital hallways were empty and the lights were dimmed. I remember as if it were yesterday the feelings I felt being a first time father holding my newborn daughter in my arms walking the hospital hallways on my way to the recovery room. The Father/Daughter bond was immediate, and eternal. From that moment until this, Callie Jo Cluff has been my 'Little Princess'.

On Thursday Callie turned ten. It was a great day! I got off early and we drove into Tucson for her Birthday Dinner. While the boys and I waited for a table at the Olive Garden (Callie's favorite restaurant) Sheri and Callie walked over to the Mexican Supermarket next door and bought her Pinata for her Birthday party on Saturday. I took advantage of their absence to let our server know that it was Callie's Birthday. After our meal she ordered a slice of 'Blacktie Mouse Cake' that they brought out with a candle in it, and all the servers gathered around and sang the famous Olive Garden Birthday Song. Callie was super surprised, and visibly touched.

What happened next should go down in Callie's Birthday history as one of those"My Best Birthday Ever" events. The Olive Garden is in the same shopping complex as a bunch of other stores, Target, Office Max, Ross, PetSmart, Mervyn's etc... Under the impression that we had other shopping to do, Callie and the boys accompanied us towards the 'boring' stores, but at the last minute we made a sharp turn towards PetSmart. Callie got to pick out a fishtank, and look at the fish we would get to buy and put in it a few days later. I wish we could have captured the moment on camera, because the excitement and emotion that pored out of her were priceless! She absolutely loves her new aquarium and three little friends Gloria, Margaret, and Stripe!

Saturday was a very busy day at the Cluff house. We had two Parties to plan and put on. My CTR 7 class came over to practice our parts for the upcoming primary program. We had hotdogs and hamburgers, and went swimming from 11am - 1pm, then Callie's passel of friends showed up at 2pm to start her Birthday Party. Sheri put together quite the party for the girls. They swam, made bead bracelets and necklaces, hit the Pinata, ate pizza, opened gifts, ate cake, and had just over three hours of pure pre-teen party mayhem!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Our first ten years with Callie have been wonderful! Its hard to beleive that in another ten she will be off on her own and all grown up. Hopefully we'll make it through without too much drama.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRINCESS! ALL MY LOVE!

Dad