All opposed...

I love it that T-y has my name. I make him stand up in church whenever they announce the name "Brent Berrett". The asked for the ward's sustaining vote for my new calling. I was the only one that openly opposed it when they asked for those opposed. (Miller Time couldn't decide if she should oppose or not so she followed the rest of the ward and sustained me in my new calling.) There were some surprised looks on a few faces and one sister congratulated me on finally graduating from primary.

Come check out classroom #12 if you want to know what calling I received.

P.S. My contract negotiations failed miserably and there is no money in the budget for a signing bonus. DRATS!!!!!

I Overcame my Fears

T-y got his first hits of the year at the game tonight. He got up twice, and hit the ball both times. I was pretty amazed. It seems like a light switch clicked on for him today. I asked him why he hit the ball today and he told me "I overcame my fear." What a awesome kid he is.

His team won the game today so they play in the championship game on Tuesday at 6:00. See you there.

Foul Ball

T-y got up to bat once during the game today and fouled off 4 of the pitches. The first foul ball was about an inch away from being fair. T-y was already on first base before the umpire called it foul. He had a big smile on his face and promptly went and got back in the batters box.

It seems that T-y is a physic. There have been several games where T-y has told me that he was going to hit a Grand Slam. In each of those games T-y went up to bat with the bases loaded. Today was one of those games. While he hasn't hit any Grand Slams, he is having a great time. Today he told me after the game that he is having the funnest time ever playing baseball, and that this was the funnest game of the year.

His team only has two games left in the Post Season tournament. His next one is Friday June 27th at 6:45 on Field #2. The winner of this game moves on to play in the championship game on July 1st at 6:00 on field #2. The loser moves on to play for third/fourth place on Monday June 30th at 6:45 on field #2.

If his team receives a berth in the State Tournament, held July 15-17, then he will have been playing baseball for 2 1/2 months straight! That is about the same time that I have neglected working in my yard.

I GOT FIRED!

I put on some slacks and a dress shirt to go meet with the Bishop tonight. Here is the conversation that ensued with Bre Bre.

Bre Bre: Dad, why are you wearing your Sunday clothes?
Me: Cause I gotta go meet with the Bishop. I might not be in the Primary anymore.
Bre Bre: NO! I will just go to mom's class then.
Me: No, you will just have to go to Your Primary class.
Bre Bre: Are you getting fired from your church job?
Me: I don't know.

In 2003, I received the best church job in the world thanks to Britney Wall. Ben and Britney decided to move out of the ward which opened up a job in the Primary. While I didn't apply for the job, I was temporarily hired to fill this vacant position. Little did I know that this temporary position would last for 5 years. That's right, I have been a Primary teacher for the last 5 years, primarily teaching the CTR 5 class. I wonder if that is a Church world record. I have served under 4 primary presidents and taught over 50 kids. In fact, I I have taught every child in the Christiansen family, the Kallas family, and the Molton family.

Over the years I have had the pleasure of teaching some of the greatest and funniest kids ever. The most memorable moment was when Krazy Kade Kallas fell asleep hanging on a chair. The funny part about it was that Kade was laying on his stomach and his arms were dangling off one side and his legs were dangling off the other side. Neither his hands or feet were touching the ground, so it look like he was hanging off the chair. I went and got Matt to witness this hanging and we both had a good laugh.

When I got home, Bre Bre and I had the following conversation;

Bre Bre: Did you get fired from your church job? Me: Yes.
Bre Bre: Thats stupid. Mom, Dad got fired from his church job!

I'm having mixed feelings about being fired. A big lump filled my throat when I received the news about being fired. I was hoping to be in the Primary until my first class were in the Valiant 11 class. That way I could have proudly said that I had taught 99% of the kids that are currently in the Primary. I was only two years away from this. I also was campaigning to be a counselor in the Primary Presidency, but that came to an abrupt end earlier this year.

I want each of the parents of the kids in my class over the years to know how much I truly love your child(ren). While some of the kids tried my patience, I can honestly say I never dreaded having any of them in my class.

I did receive an offer for a new church job. I would let you know what it is, but I am still negotiating the contract and my signing bonus. There are some aspects of the job that I don't really like so I am trying to make sure I get all the benefits and none of the hassles of the job. Stay tuned for further updates.........

Lucky Uncle Rus

Uncle Rus flew in from Seattle to watch T-y's City League baseball game. Turns out that Rus might just be T-y's good luck charm. T-y got up to bat twice and made contact with the ball both times. In his first up to bat, T-y swung and hit the catchers mit, and then fouled the ball into the catchers knee. He got to take his base because of that. In his next up to bat, he grounded out to the first baseman. The first baseman beat T-y to the base by a couple of steps. The first baseman was lucky that T-y didn't run him over. They won the game, so they play on Field #3 at Fort Utah Baseball Fields on Wednesday at 6:45pm.

Pineapple Stuffed Pork Chops

We had a neighborhood party tonight. It was bring your own meat and a side dish to share. I bought some boneless pork chops at Costco earlier in the day to cook at the party. The pork chops were about 2 inches thick so I decided to I wanted to stuff them with something. Here is the resulting recipe.

Pineapple Stuffed Pork Chops
4 Pork Chops
1 can pineapple slices in syrup
1/4 cup catsup
1 T sliced green onion
1 T butter
1/2 t dry mustard

Butterfly each chop. Season with a little salt and pepper. Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Cut pineapple slices in half and depending on the size of the chop, place half of the slice on one side of the pork chop. Cut up the remaining pineapple and set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine catsup, green onion, butter, mustard, the remaining pineapple, and pineapple juice. Hear to boilin; reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.

Grill pork chops to an internal temperature of 160 degrees. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, brush chops with sauce. Spoon remaining sauce on chops before serving.

Dance Like Nobody's Watching

The Utah Academy Dance Studios had their yearly recital today. After I looked through the program to see what numbers T-y and Amanda were in, I sat there in awe of Amanda. She was in 12 of the 44 numbers. That is more than a 1/4 of them. That is a lot of choreography to remember. She performed flawlessly in them. It was fun to see her dance. Her countenance was beautiful and her smile melted my heart. You could tell she was having the time of her life. I don't think that I have ever seen her having so much fun performing. I then realized that it was probably because she had 4 of her friends show up to the performance. They are Mariana, Jordan, Garret "Larry", and Dylan. She has some of the neatest friends.

T-y decided at the last minute to be in the hip-hop dance. He does a pretty good job dancing, but tends to watch others dancing while he should be dancing. I think he had funner running around backstage with his friends then he did dancing. He did a good job.

I wanna be like Ben Wall

T-y has been struggling with his hitting in baseball this season. He does an OK job hitting the ball in practice, yet he is probably still dealing with some issues from being hit in the first game. T-y was the first batter up in one of the innings. Here is the discussion that T-y and I had.

Me: T-y take some practice swings while the pitcher is warming up.
T-y: I will from the other side.
Me: The other side? (We were sitting in the 3rd base dugout so going to the other side would me he would be batting left handed.)
T-y: Yes. I wanna be like Ben Wall.
Me: Ok. He is a great guy to be like. If you hit a homerun, are you going to sign the ball and give it to Ben?
T-y: No. I'm going to keep it forever.

T-y didn't hit the ball batting from this side of the plate. In fact, he walked on 5 pitches.

Back in the day, the Wall's used to live by us. Ben and I played on some various softball teams. During one of those games, Ben hit a ball one out of the park. T-y went and found it and had Ben sign it for him. T-y still proudly displays that softball in his room. Being like Ben Wall is definitely a good choice of a person to be like. I sure miss Ben.