War Is the Gamble

We support and are proud of the many friends and neighbors who have served or are serving our country. Colin wrote this poem last year and we feel it is appropriate to show our appreciation today.

War Is the Gamble
War does not make boys men,
it makes men dead.
Every kid plays war,
but it's all pretend,
it's never a gamble.

In the war there are no soldiers unwounded,
not all soldiers get cuts and scratches,
but all are touched by the war,
none can go to sleep at night
without see their BFF drop dead again and again.

War is like a game of Russian Roulette,
it's a game of luck,
and the grand prize is your life
yet you don't get to choose which one,
it is like flipping a coin.

It takes 20 years of war for a man to have peace,
yet it takes only 20 seconds of war for a man to be dead.
War is a matter of time and patience,
war is a matter of bravery,
and it all ties together for peace...until war starts again.

Colin Bohne

Labor Day weekend at Spring Mountain Ranch

Over the long Labor Day weekend we (minus Melissa, who was in Utah with friends) went to Spring Mountain Ranch, a state park just west of Las Vegas at the base of Red Rock canyon. The weather was cool (by our standards, around 90 degrees) and we had a good time playing catch, reading, hiking, and eating a picnic lunch. We also toured the ranch house, which was once owned by baronness Vera Krupp and later by Howard Hughes -- it's a neat step back in time.

Levi the photographer

Levi has learned how to operate Yvonne's digital camera, so we all have to be on guard when he has access to the camera. Here are a couple examples of his work -- the first a self portrait (he takes a lot of those), the second a candid of Yvonne at the grocery store after Levi has asked Yvonne about 50 times to look at him (she looked, and he clicked).

First week of school

Summer is over...wow. The kids are back in school -- Melissa is a high school junior; Colin starts middle school as a sixth grader: Carson rules the school in fifth grade and Dylan is in second grade. Levi, well Levi is still home. Alone. So alone. After a week (three days for Dylan, who picked the first week of school to be sick), all is going well and the kids are happy with their classes and their teachers. As you can see from the photos, the kids didn't mind lining up for first-day-of-school snapshots.

Bedtime story

Jason and Colin goofing around late one night (check out Jason's sweet pj pants). Another example of us never having a dull moment.

Classical Mystery Tour

On our last night in Park City, we went to see the "Classical Mystery Tour," a Beatles tribute band performing with the Utah Symphony. The show was part of the Deer Valley Musical Festival, held at an outdoor amphitheater at the Deer Valley Ski Resort. We got in on a family pass -- they didn't even blink when we said we had five kids; evidently Utah is more familiar with our size clan.

We got there early so we could set out our blankets and eat a picnic dinner (i.e. Quiznos sandwiches). Levi took one look at the amphitheater shell and said, "Look at the big hat!" Shortly after we finished eating, we heard thunder, dark clouds quickly rolled in with a strong wind (launching several table umbrellas), and it rained. And rained. And rained. We watched the first half of the concert huddled under an umbrella and layers of blankets. By the time they played "Here Comes the Sun," though, the clouds were gone. We were damp and a little chilled, but we had a blast. As the band came out for an encore, we all stood and sang along with "Hey Jude" and "Twist and Shout." While the band used the word "Classical", we agree with the Beatles that it was Magical.

World Series softball

We enjoyed five days of softball with Melissa and her team, Las Vegas Rage 16,in Park City. We have known and travelled with several of the girls over the last 18 months (or, in some cases, even longer), and we enjoy being at the ballpark with them cheering for a great group of girls.

Melissa participated in skills competitions (her team placed third in their division in the "around the horn" contest) and played second base in all of the team's eight games. The team's coach asked Jason and another father to help with warmups and practice, and Jason enjoyed being on the field. Melissa was also thrilled that Yvonne's parents came down from Idaho to watch four games, and that Yvonne's sister Pam came to the two games that were played in Salt Lake City.



Melissa was also selected to play in the tournament's all-star game. It was a great opportunity for her to compete in front of a large crowd, be a teammate with girls from across the West and Canada, and to play a very high level of softball. She made some new friends and smiled from the beginning of warmups through the end of the game.

With the tournament over, Melissa has a week to rest up, and then it's back to work on the field.