Friday, December 25th, 2020

 Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!  This year we were planning on it just being the four of us at home for Christmas, mainly to limit contact with others due to Covid-19.  However, yesterday grandpa Eben dropped by, and as long as he was already here we decided to have him stay for Christmas.  

Santa was very generous to the boys this year.  They got a remote control car, a drone, Nolan got a big Hot Wheels garage, Maxwell got a Paw Patroller and a Ryan's World safe, both the kids got some Legos, along with lots of other little toys and blind bags.  Elizabeth and I signed up for a "beer of the month" club, so we will be getting some fun gifts for ourselves throughout the year.  I should have gotten a picture of the boys with all of their presents, but it was hard to delay them from ripping open their presents this morning.

For lunch we had a very nice Christmas meal.  I roasted a duck in the oven, and I used the drippings from the duck to make gravy.  Elizabeth made mashed potatoes and cornbread stuffing.  We had pumpkin pie for dessert.  My favorite part was the duck gravy over mashed potatoes.  The reason I cooked a duck this year was in honor of the Iowa State Cyclones who will play the Oregon Ducks in the Fiesta bowl here in just over a week.   

Anyways, today was a good day filled with the kids playing with toys, enjoying a nice meal with family, and relaxing.  Tonight Elizabeth went to bed early, and I watched Frozen II with the boys before putting them to bed.

Here is the duck that I roasted.  I rubbed salt, pepper, and paprika all over it, stuffed a sliced lemon in the body cavity, and roasted it at 375 degrees for about 2 hours and 20 minutes.

Sunday, November 29th, 2020

 Well, quite a bit has happened since my last blog post.  Earlier this month, Joe Biden was elected to be the next president of the United States, as he defeated Donald Trump 306-232 in electoral college votes.  Thank you to Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona for seeing the light.  

A few days ago we had Thanksgiving.  Because of Covid-19, we did not get together with any other family members.  Still, we cooked a big meal for the 4 of us.  I ordered a couple of pounds of smoked turkey from Hickory Park, so that we didn't have to cook a whole bird.  Then at home we made mashed potatoes with gravy, butternut squash, cornbread stuffing, and pumpkin pie.  The boys basically just ate the turkey, some bread, and the pumpkin pie.  Well, Nolan ate the pie, and Maxwell just ate whipped cream.

I'm happy to say that the Iowa State football team has been having an excellent season thus far.  This weekend the Cyclones defeated the Texas Longhorns down in Austin, which basically clinched a spot for Iowa State in the Big 12 title game.  The Cyclones have a 7-1 conference record and sit alone in first place.  It will be exciting to see how they finish the season, and to see what bowl game they get selected to.

The main reason that I am blogging today is because we had a family photo shoot.  We drove over to a tree farm outside of Cambridge to have our photos taken.  Maybe it was because it was a little cold out today, or maybe he was just in a bad mood, but Nolan was NOT very happy about having his picture taken.  Here are a few of the photos we ended up with...

Saturday, October 10th, 2020

 Iowa State 31, Texas Tech 15.

Today Nolan and I met up with Brian Gleason and his friend Gary to attend Iowa State's dominant win over the Red Raiders.  Originally this year I was not planning to go to any football games due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  Fans were not even allowed to attend ISU's home opening game this year.  But starting last week Iowa State started to allow up to 15,000 fans at home games.  Fans are spaced out a bit in the stadium to promote social distancing, and face masks are required for everyone.  It was definitely a different atmosphere than usual, but I was glad that we were able to attend today.  Just a little bit of normalcy seems to go a long way this year which has been a rough one.

As for the game, Texas Tech struck first when they blocked a Connor Assalley field goal attempt and retured it 90 yards for a TD.  That was rough, and it was remenicent of the last game between these teams two years ago when Tech scored first on a blocked punt.  However, for the rest of the game after the blocked field goal, the Cyclones pretty much dominated.  They scored 31 unanswered points, and the only other score for Tech was a late garbage time TD.

Today was Nolan's fourth football game that he has been to.  The previous games were against Oklahoma in 2018, UNI in 2017, and UNI in 2015.  He behaved very well at today's game, and he even half way paid attention to the game.  

This was the fourth football game that I have witnessed between the Cyclones and Red Raiders.  That includes wins for ISU in 2018 and back in 2002 when Seneca Wallace had "The Run".  The Red Raiders prevailed back in 2012.  

Nolan posing before the start of the game.

Go Cyclones!!

Saturday, September 26th, 2020

Today Nolan and Maxwell were able to take turns riding in the combine with grandpa Eben while we combined about 50 acres of corn.  I was running the grain cart and hauling corn from the field just west of Eben's house up to the grain bins.  It was kind of a long day for the kids to be riding in tractors / combines.  Nolan did pretty well, but Maxwell got bored with it after about an hour.  It's always good for the boys though to get an idea for how life on the farm is.

We were also able to take the boys up to Ruthven to visit great grandma Natalie.  Since they are not allowing visiters at the care center, we had to sit outside and talk to her through the window.  After our visit with her, we stopped by Lakeland to get the boys some soft serve ice cream.

  

We had a grain vac sucking up corn that was emptying into a hopper.  The boys thought it was fun to play in the "corn waterfall".

Wednesday, August 19th, 2020

I just got back from a fun long weekend up at Cass Lake with the boys.  Friday night after work I took Nolan and Maxwell up to grandma Becky's place in Mason City for a quick visit, and then on Saturday we drove the rest of the way up to Cass Lake, where we met up with Amy, Logan, and Eben.  Amy's friend Emily, her husband Kelly, her dad Steve, and Emily & Kelly's daughter Nora were also up there in a different cabin.  We stayed in Condo #9.  Overall the fishing was slower than in past years, which I will detail below:

On Saturday evening I went out trolling for northern with Eben and Maxwell.  I managed to catch a nice 24 inch northern, but I had to throw it back (the state fishing regulations for that area are to release any northern between 22 and 26 inches).  I was using a green dardevle lure with yellow/black spots on it.  Eben also caught two northerns (14 and 17.5 inches).  We kept the 17.5 inch one of his.

Sunday morning we took our whole gang out fishing for perch.  All combined, we kept 9 perch.  I had 5 keepers (and I caught one other small one that I tossed back).  Maxwell did manage to catch one perch all by himself!  That was his first ever perch.  Nolan was not able to catch anything besides crawfish, which had him a little bummed.  That night I went trolling with Kelly and Steve, but we had no luck.

On Monday morning we caught 7 keeper perch, and I actually caught one Northern while using a minnow while jigging for perch. I had 3 keeper perch.  Most of the luck we had fishing this day (including the Northern) was in Buck Lake.  Of those 7 keeper perch, Nolan, Maxwell, and Logan each managed to catch one all by themselves.  Amy and Eben went trolling for Northern that night.

Tuesday morning our whole crew went out for quite a while but came back with no fish at all (I had caught one small one that I tossed back, and nobody else really even had a nibble).  Eben said that was the first time he could remember during his time up there that he was completely skunked on a fishing outing.  Later on that afternoon I went back out with Eben, and we did a little perch, walleye, and northern fishing.  I managed to catch one perch was all.

So overall, we ended up keeping only 17 perch and two northern.  Personally I kept 9 perch and 1 Northern.  That's quite a big difference from my last trip up there in 2017, when I caught total 39 perch and kept 22 of them.  

Although the fishing was not great for this trip, we did have a lot of fun.  On one of the days I bought passes for my boys and I to use the indoor pool, which they really enjoyed.  On other days the boys played with Amy and Logan on the beach by Stony Point resort.  There was even a trampoline in the water that they played on.  Each night we built a campfire and enjoyed making smores.  We also got the boys some soft serve ice cream, which was really tasty.  Nolan had vanilla, and Maxwell chose cotton candy.

Here I am with my 24 inch Northern before I released him back into the water.

Maxwell, Logan, and Nolan in Condo #9.

Here Maxwell is with one of the perch that he caught all by himself!

 

Tuesday, August 11th, 2020

 Well, it's been a strange couple of days.  Yesterday around 11:00 in the morning the city of Ames completely lost power.  There was a big storm that moved through with straight line winds over 80 mph, and it knocked down tons of trees and power lines.  This actually affected much of central Iowa.  I was at work when this all happened, and after a couple of hours of standing around in the dark our clinic was finally closed.  After I got home I could see that limbs from our neighbor's willow trees were blown everywhere in our yard and theirs.  There were a couple of other neighbors down the street that had entire large trees fall down.  So Elizabeth and I spent a couple of hours helping them pick up branches and move them onto piles.  We spent the rest of the evening at home with candles lighting up the house.  

Today our power did not come back on until 3:35 in the afternoon, so we went over a day without power.  McFarland clinic was still closed due to the power outage, so I did not go to work today... very strange to have a Tuesday off.  I had put a couple of large bags of ice in our deep freezer, and luckily that all stayed frozen enough.  We did have to throw away a few things from our refrigerator (milk, cheese, yogurt, mayo, sour cream), but it wasn't too bad.  

I might as well update the coronavirus numbers, for comparison to my earlier blog posts this year.  So far in the United States there have been 5.15 million confirmed cases and 164 thousand deaths.  In Iowa, there has been 49,339 cases and 940 deaths.  This has been a pretty shitty year.

On a happier note, I am looking forward to taking the boys up to Cass Lake this coming weekend.  We are leaving this Saturday and will come home on Wednesday.  

Tuesday, July 14th, 2020

HAPPY SEVENTH BIRTHDAY NOLAN!!!

I can't believe that our big kid is now 7 years old.  Elizabeth was able to take the day off with the kids today.  Just for fun we rented a hotel room last night at the Hilton Garden Inn, so we were all able to go swimming in their pool yesterday evening, and Elizabeth and the boys swam some more there today.  Nolan's buddy Nico was able to stop by and go swimming as well, which was fun. 

Nolan got a skateboard and a scooter for his birthday, along with some knee & elbow pads for safety.  He was a little frustrated with them today, and it will take some practice to get better at using them. 

The most memorable thing about today was the fact that right after Nolan blew out his birthday candles on his cake, the tornado siren went off!  We grabbed the cake and headed to the basement, where our whole family ate birthday cake while hiding from a potential tornado!  It was quite the peculiar moment.  Anyways, the tornado warning for Ames only lasted about 15 minutes, and we were safe. 

Here I am getting ready to measure Nolan's growth on our tall wall.  He is just under 4 feet tall as of today.

Sunday, June 21st, 2020

Happy Father's Day 2020

I've had a good father's day, although this weekend has been relatively lazy for us.  Mostly we have been hanging out around the house with the boys.  This morning I played battleship with Nolan, we made tacos for lunch, played some basketball in the driveway with the boys, took a short nap, called Eben, and made BLTs for supper.  

One fun thing that we were able to get figured out while talking with Eben was a fishing trip to Cass Lake from August 15th through the 19th.  Amy and Logan should be able to go as well, so it will be fun having the three boys together at the lake.  

Sunday, May 31st, 2020

Well, it has been over a month since my last blog, and unfortunately once again things in this country seem to keep getting worse. 

Coronavirus update: As of today there have been 19,484 Iowans that have officially tested positive for the virus, including 533 deaths.  Back when I last blogged on 4-18-20, those numbers were 2,513 positive cases and 74 deaths.  As a nation, there has now been over 1.8 million positive cases and 106 thousand deaths. 

If you could believe it, that is not what has had this nation in distress over the last few days.  There have been widespread riots in almost every major city in the country for a few days now following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minnesota police officers.  It's tragic how racist people in this country are and how evil police brutality can be.  The riots have been terrible as well, with immense property damage and additional loss of life / injuries. 

To focus on the more happy news, we did have a good weekend at home with the boys.  Friday night I camped out with the boys in our tent in the back yard.  Today we ordered Hickory Park takeout for lunch, and then the whole family went for a walk around campus.  It was a very nice day to be outside.   

Saturday, April 18th, 2020

I might as well start today's post focusing on the fun news.  This afternoon I was able to take Nolan fishing at a small pond in Somerset.  We only stayed for around 30 to 40 minutes (because someone gets bored quickly), but in that time we did manage to catch and release 4 bluegill.  Nolan even helped reel each of the fish in!  It was nice just to get out of the house a little, since we've been cooped up quite a bit recently. 

Our family has also been trying our best to support local businesses.  Yesterday we got takeout from Brick City Grill, and we also bought a few beers from Torrent Brewing Company. 

I thought I would also give an update on the number of COVID-19 cases in the state, since it's surprising how much they have changed in the last week since my previous blog post.  As of today, there have been 2,513 people test positive in Iowa, including 74 deaths.  There were 181 new cases just today in the state.  A week ago there were 1,510 cases in Iowa, with 34 deaths.  So in a week the total cases in the state has increased by over 1,000, and the death total has more than doubled.  Crazy.

As for the country as a whole, 701,610 people have been confirmed to have COVID-19, while 37,055 people in the USA have died from it. 

Saturday, April 11th, 2020

So, wow.  A lot has changed in this world since my last blog post.  It was a month ago today that Nolan last had school (March 11th), and that will likely be his last day of first grade.  Due to the new coronavirus and COVID-19, the world as we know it has came to a screeching halt.   Elizabeth has not been working from her office since March 13th.  It's a good thing that she has been able to work from home during that time.  As of now, I am still going into the office, but my hours have been reduced to working only 3 days a week.  When I first enter my building my temperature is taken, and I am screened for any COVID-19 symptoms.  All gatherings of over 10 people are cancelled.  Restaurants and bars are all closed, although some places still offer takeout.  All sports have been cancelled, which included my favorite sporting event of the year... March Madness. 

As of today in Iowa, there have been 1,510 positive cases of COVID-19, with 122 of those new cases just today.  A total of 34 Iowans have died from the virus.  As of this afternoon, a total of 20,229 people in the United States have died.  Millions of people across the country are out of work.  It's hard to find any news story that is not related to COVID-19.  People are advised to stay at least 6 feet away from others.  Just going grocery shopping has been a big deal.  There was a rush on toilet paper, and it's been hard to find it recently in stores.  We try to only go to the grocery store once a week or less now. 

The price of gas in Ames today is $1.79 at most places.  I actually heard a report of gas just under $1.00 somewhere in Missouri this week. 

My family has definitely been feeling cabin fever recently.  The boys have a hard time being cooped up in the house all day.  We take them for walks, but even the playground equipment at the parks are closed, so we just have to stay on the trails.  The highlight of today was just ordering takeout from Pizza Pit.  Elizabeth and I have been trying to support some local restaurants as best as we can.  For my birthday I ordered some brisket from Cornbred BBQ. 

Cheese pizza for the kids.

Sausage and onions for me :)

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020

Well, the 2019-2020 Iowa State men's home basketball season has come to an end.  Tonight I went over to Hilton to watch the Cyclone's Senior Night game against West Virginia, and the Mountaineers came out on top, 77-71.  West Virginia played well in the first half and took a 44-31 lead into the locker room, but the Cyclones managed to fight back in the second half and actually led by 4 points with about 9 minutes left to play.  Unfortunately, the Mountaineers made the key plays down the stretch and came out with the win.  Tonight's ISU seniors were Michael Jacobson and Prentiss Nixon.

Rasir Bolton led the Cyclones with 21 points.  He was joined in double figures scoring for Iowa State by Nixon (19) and Solomon Young (11).  Tonight marks the fifth time I have seen a game between ISU and WVU.  The Cyclones won in 2019, 2018, and 2013, while West Virginia won tonight and back in 2017.

Overall this season I saw 11 wins and 4 losses:

Wins:

• Mississippi Valley State
• Northern Illinois
• Southern Miss
• UMKC
• Seton Hall
• Purdue Fort Wayne
• Oklahoma
• Oklahoma State
• Kansas State
• Texas
• TCU

Losses:

• Iowa
• Florida A&M
• Kansas
• West Virginia

Tuesday, February 25th, 2020

Tonight I was able to take Eben with me to watch the Cyclones defeat the TCU Horned Frogs, 65-59. 
Tonight's game was much more stressful than it needed to be.  Iowa State started the game well and led at halftime 41-25.  The Cyclones would lead by 18 points early in the second half, only to squander the large lead they had built.  TCU actually led the game 55-53 with just over 5 minutes left to play.  It was frustrating to watch the Cyclones almost let the game slip away from them.  Thankfully, Iowa State was able to make some plays down the stretch to seal the victory.  Solomon Young was the player of the game for Iowa State, as he led the team with 20 points.  He also made a big basket down the stretch.  He was joined in double figures scoring for the Cyclones by Tre Jackson (18) and Rasir Bolton (11).  Both Bolton and Jackson hit some key free throws with less than a minute left to help ice the game. 

Tonight is the 6th time that I have been to a basketball game between TCU and Iowa State.  The Cyclones have won five of those games (tonight, 2017, 2015, 2014, and 2013).  TCU's only win came in 2019. 

Go State!

Saturday, February 15th, 2020

Today has been a good day so far.  For starters, the temperature got into the low 40s, so there has been lots of melting snow.  That always makes me happy.  Another thing that made me happy was taking Nolan over to Hilton Coliseum, where we watched the Iowa State Cyclones dominate the Texas Longhorns, 81-52.  I was not expecting such a dominant performance from Iowa State, especially since their star player, Tyrese Haliburton, is now out for the rest of the season due to a wrist fracture.

Michael Jacobson was the player of the game for Iowa State, as he led the team in scoring (21) and rebounding (13).  He was joined in double figures by Solomon Young (17), Prentiss Nixon (17), and Rasir Bolton (10).  The Cyclones got out to an early lead in this game, led by 11 at halftime, scored the first 9 points of the second half, and cruised to an easy victory. 

I believe that this is the 20th ISU men's basketball game that Nolan has attended with me, and it was his 7th conference game.  Like I mentioned in my previous post, one of my goals is to take both Nolan and Maxwell to victories over each of Iowa State's conference opponents.  As of today, Nolan has now seen wins vs Texas, Baylor (2018), Texas Tech (2017), Kansas State (2016), and TCU (2014). 

As for myself, today was the 8th time that I have attended a game between ISU and Texas.  The Cyclones are 7-1 in those games, including wins today, 2017, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, and back in 2004.  Texas's lone win came in 2018. 

The Cyclones won the opening tip-off.

GO CYCLONES!!

Saturday, February 8th, 2020

Maxwell and I just got back from Hilton Coliseum, where we witnessed Iowa State's victory over the Kansas State Wildcats, 73-63.  Coming into tonight's game, the Cyclones and the Wildcats were tied for 8th place in the conference with 2-7 records.  The only conference team with a worse record is Oklahoma State.  Despite this not exactly being a battle of heavyweights, it was nice to see the Cyclones come out on top.  Especially considering that Iowa State's best player Tyrese Haliburton had to leave the game late in the first half after re-aggravating a left wrist injury.

Prior to Haliburton's injury, the Cyclones opened up a 21 point lead in the first half.  Kansas State was able to get within 4 points in the second half before Iowa State managed to get some separation with timely shooting by Terrence Lewis and Prentiss Nixon.  The player of the game today had to be Solomon Young, who scored 20 points.  He was joined in double figures for the Cyclones by Rasir Bolton (13) and Lewis (12).

I believe that tonight marks Maxwell's 14th ISU men's basketball game, and it is his 7th conference game.  One of my goals is to eventually take both Nolan and Maxwell to wins over every team in the Big 12.  After tonight, Maxwell has now seen wins vs Kansas State, West Virginia (2018), TCU (2017), and Baylor (2017). 

Tonight was the seventh time that I have been to an ISU/KSU basketball game.  I'm happy to say that the Cyclones are 6-1 in those games, which includes victories in 2017, 2016, 2013, 2012, 2003, and today.  Kansas State's only win came in 2019. 

Maxwell was pretty tired by the end of the game.  Since it was a 7:00 tip-off, the game did not get over until around 9:00.  

Tuesday, January 21st, 2020

Tonight I went with Jeremy Seago to Hilton Coliseum, where we watched the Iowa State Cyclones defeat the Cowboys of Oklahoma State, 89-82.  It's been kind of a down year for Iowa State basketball, so it was nice to see the good guys get back on track.  Solomon Young was the player of the game for Iowa State, as he came off the bench to score a career high 27 points (including 13-15 free throws).  Young played with a lot of energy, as he also had 9 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.  He was joined in double figures scoring for the Cyclones by Rasir Bolton (21) and Tyrese Haliburton (20). 

Tonight was the seventh time that I have watched the Cyclones and Cowboys play basketball.  Iowa State has won six of those contests (tonight, 2019, 2017, 2015, 2014, and in 2013), while the Cowboys won back in 2018. 

GO CYCLONES!

Saturday, January 11th, 2020

Happy New Year everyone.  Tonight I am pleased to say that Iowa State is back in the win column, after an 81-68 victory over the Oklahoma Sooners.  Jeremy Seago went with me to tonight's game, to watch the strong performance by the Cyclones.   Iowa State came out this game with a lot of intensity,  and they were able to build a 17 point lead at halftime, 42-25.  One amazing play that will stick out from this game was a steal right before halftime that led to a Tyrese Haliburton three pointer at the buzzer, just across the half court line.  It is worth noting that tonight was George Conditt's first career start.  However, the player of tonight's game has to be Rasir Bolton, who led all scorers with 23 points.  Bolton was joined in double figures scoring for the Cyclones by Haliburton (15), Tre Jackson (12), and Terrence Lewis (10).  It was nice to have a couple of players step up on the bench and hit some shots.  In the second half the Cyclones were able to lead by as many as 26 points.

Tonight marks the seventh time that I have seen Iowa State play Oklahoma, with the Cyclones winning six of those contests (2019, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, and tonight), while the Sooners won back in 2003 when I was a student at ISU. 

Cyclones win!!

Iowa State won the opening tip.