Small Adventures with the Neals

Someone Turned 9!

2009-05-07T10:41:00.003-05:00

Well Jared is officially nine. It doesn't seem possible, yet it is true. I thought he was just baptized yesterday, not a whole year ago. He had to do a treasure hunt to find this present. Riley was his helper. He's been begging and borrowing Nicole and Riley's Ripsticks, and now he's got his own. He was thrilled. His is a smaller and smoother rolling board. It could be that the other boards around here have been used and abused and thus don't roll as well.

He obviously already knew how to use it. I have no idea how they do that, but I like to watch them. I also like that they get outside and get some exercise. It's not something I usually allow in my house....especially since "the hole in the wall accident". What a bunch of crazies I have!

Don't ask me why I got that look from either of them. The girls are just looking at each other like..."Boys!!" Jared you are loud, crazy, smart, a daredevil, and good boy and we're glad to have you in our family.

Butterfly!

2009-05-07T10:15:00.002-05:00

Our kids were playing with their friends and they brought in a fat, green caterpillar. They wanted to keep it and see if it would turn into a butterfly. We got a jar ready and let them keep it. Things like this don't usually go well for me. The insect usually dies and then we have to go through a long explanation about why and what and all that. When it looked like it was making a cocoon the next morning, we were encouraged. When it was mostly black and looked really sad by the evening, I told them not to expect much. We decided not to throw it out yet, but to see what would happen over the next week or so.

One morning Sarah was getting ready for school and yelled. She scared me and I didn't know what she was talking about, but she said "It came out!!" Sure enough, this beautiful butterfly had emerged from its cocoon. We were all very happy it had survived and I'm glad I didn't have to explain why it died.

We let it go outside so it could be free and live a good life.

Here's what was left of the cocoon after it came out.

Snow Day!!

2009-05-07T09:57:00.004-05:00

I know it's a bit late to be posting this, but I just uploaded these pictures and I was reminded about our huge snowstorm we had on March 28th! Winter is over by then, but we got the most snow I've ever seen here in OK. It melted the next day and we were enjoying 60 degree weather, but just look at the amount on the ground. Considering I've only seen it snow about four times in the four winters I've lived here, this was amazing.

Our Awesome Spring Break Adventure!!

2009-04-08T20:29:00.003-05:00

We had so much fun on our trip. It felt like we had been gone for a month instead of almost 13 days. We went to Disney World, Ft. Lauderdale, and on a short cruise to the Bahamas. I'm posting a slideshow for your viewing pleasure. We definitely have to do something like this again!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Pinewood Derby

2009-04-06T13:40:00.003-05:00

Jared participated in his first derby this year. He didn't come in first, but he didn't come in last either. He was somewhere right in the middle and that's just great for us. We're not engineers around here, but Jared had fun and that what matters. The leaders did a great job setting everything up and running it smoothly. I was very impressed.

Thank you great leaders!!

Everyone who raced had a lot of fun!

Court of Honor

2009-04-06T13:33:00.003-05:00

Riley had a Court of Honor and was awarded his 2nd Class Rank and a few merit badges. He's doing well in Scouts, but we all need to get on the ball and finish up some badges he has in the works and get a few more things done on his 1st Class. He conducted this meeting to pass off a requirement for his Communication badge. He did a great job!

Here he is with his leader, Bro. Bingham and Jesse in the background.

I usually have a jacket with a collar when my kids get to "pin" me with something. I really am proud of him for putting for the effort he does for his scouting activities.

YMCA Basketball

2009-04-06T13:23:00.004-05:00

Jared played basketball again this winter. He really enjoys it and I'm glad that he wants to do something so active. He really tries hard. Their team had a rough season, but ended up winning their last two games. I like it when I see a team improve. Way to go Jared!

This last picture is during the awards party at Mazzio's. I always appreciate the coaches who donate their time to help our kids.

Soccer Referee

2009-04-06T13:07:00.004-05:00

Ok, I've been reprimanded again for not updating my blog. I'm a serious slacker and I apologize. I really do have a lot of exciting things to report, but I get overwhelmed easily. I'll do my best to catch up and keep up!

Riley really wanted to become a soccer referee this Spring. He paid for and took the class, passed with flying colors, and bought his uniform. He's refereed several games and gets paid pretty well for them. It will really help him with his own knowledge of the game and I love that he has ambition to do something that can be difficult. I wouldn't want those parents mad at me for calling something on the field. He started with U8 teams and will move up to U10 and become a line ref for the older U12 and U14 teams. Eventually he may ref for competetive teams, but that's a few years down the road.

I have a few pictures of him at his first game.

Great job Riley!

Nicole's Valentine

2009-02-04T12:06:00.001-06:00

Make a Smilebox greeting

Sarah's Valentine

2009-02-04T11:56:00.000-06:00

Make a Smilebox greeting

Kelli's House at Thanksgiving

2009-01-12T10:37:00.003-06:00

We had a fun trip at Thanksgiving. I posted about the friends we were able to visit. I'm a little bit late, but here are some pictures of our time at Kelli's house.
McKenna's making a face. I'm sure one of my kids got this picture of her and she's being silly. McKenna turned 10 on January 5th and is getting very grown up.

Here are Kelli's other three girls. Avorie is on the left. She is very loud, but very loving and really enjoys life. Brielle, in the middle, is going to be a year on March 7th. She's getting around everywhere and has to be watched a lot. I heard she's walking a few steps at a time already. Marlena, on the right, turned 7 on November 15th. She waited for us to come so she could celebrate her birthday with her cousins around. I thought that was super nice to wait 10 days to celebrate. She and Sarah actually had a joint birthday party.

Here they both are just after blowing out the candles on their cake. I wonder what they wished for, they sure are smiling big.

Lance loves his baby. He's a great dad.

Avorie's waiting for something exciting to happen.

Marlena's contemplating something.

Like I said, we had a great time visiting with family. We played a lot of games and ate a lot of good food. The kids played in the snow and down in the basement for hours and hours. We love Kelli and her family!

Visiting Wisconsin

2008-12-13T16:28:00.009-06:00

This post will highlight the part of our trip where we visited lots of friends from Madison. Another post is forthcoming about our visit with Kelli and her family.

We were able to eat lunch with my friend Cindy and her family. They are so nice and Cindy sure knows how to cook! She made the best rolls and sent two dozen with us on our trip. It's been a long time since I've had rolls that good. They are a great family and we had a nice visit.
Nicole is good friends with Sarah. They keep in touch on email and on Sarah's blog. I'm so glad they were able to spend a few hours together.
I was able to visit an old college roommate and her family. They were so nice to have us stay overnight at their place. We weren't able to spend much time visiting on the first weekend, but we stopped for a few hours and visited the next weekend. She made a delicious homemade salsa and we played Phase 10 and bowling on the Wii. It was a fun visit. It was fun to see her family and how well they're doing.
It snowed while we were in Wisconsin. We haven't seen much snow for a few years and the kids were so excited to play in it even though we didn't bring all of our snow gear. Sarah was so happy with the snowman that Riley helped her finish. She named him Bob.
We visited with some of our old neighbors and the kids had a lot of fun playing with their friends again. Two of the families who lived behind us shared yards with us. The kids would take turns going from playset to playset. Both families were able to spend a few hours with us and it was so fun to see how all the kids have grown and changed. Here's Nicole with Willie and Leah. Willie looks tough, but he's a big teddy bear and the kids all love him. He works as a security guard for the school district and the schools fight over him.
We ate lunch with the Oliphant family. Paul (center in the back) was our bishop before we moved. They have a big family and Mie (mint green shirt) made it look easy to feed 20 people. She's currently the Relief Society president and he teaches Seminary. The kids had a blast playing hide and seek in the basement. I miss having a basement.
Some other friends who used to live in Madison happened to be visiting the same day we were and the Oliphants invited them to eat over as well. They moved to England in August and it was a great surprise to see them on our visit. Here is a picture of Sarka and I. She's originally from the Czech Republic.
Sarka's oldest daughter, Misha, is good friends with Nicole. It was so good to see them again. They seem to be enjoying England and Bruce really loves his new job. He's a pilot for a large international airline. I can't remember the name right now, but he flies all over the world. It's been his dream for a long time.
For some reason we didn't get any pictures with the Kienitz family. They also had us stay overnight with them on the first weekend. We had so much fun visiting and catching up with them. We used to get together often and play games with them. We were able to visit again on our way home and we played some more games and had a Smarties war. Imagine flicking Smarties across the table at anyone who dared be there. It was crazy and fun.

As you can see, we were able to visit with so many people on this trip. We just showed up on the doorstep of some other neighbors who happened to be home and had a nice visit. We also went to church and saw so many people there and also noticed how much the ward had changed. We felt very welcome even though we've been gone for 4 1/2 years. We were sad that we didn't have time to visit with everyone and could only spend a few hours everywhere we went. We're so grateful to know such great people and that they're a part of our lives.

Just a Note

2008-11-21T10:13:00.003-06:00

For all of my avid blog readers out there, I have just updated my blog. I know with me it isn't a steady stream of blogs, but I did try to catch up here. So read on down and you'll get filled in on what's happened the last few weeks. By the way, the gas prices are around $1.68 and the temperature's supposed to be about 45 today, so those things have changed as well.

We're going to Neenah, Wisconsin to spend Thanksgiving with Robert's sister Kelli. We're leaving tomorrow morning around 4:00. We're stopping in Madison to visit a lot of friends from when we lived there. We're really looking forward to the trip and I'll fill you in. You might get lucky and I'll blog about it while we're gone, but no promises. I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and thanks for reading!

A New Blog is Born

2008-11-21T10:09:00.001-06:00

I have asked Laura to post this, simply to let people know I am starting a different blog. I will gear it towards my spiritual beliefs. I simply can't talk about what I feel most passionately about in Sunday School. It just isn't the right setting, but there is sooo much I want to share. A good portion of this is simply for my own benefit. It is a way for me to sort out what I believe. So if you are interested, then take a peek. If it is not funny enough, too long winded or preachy, has bad spelling and grammar, then tough... get over it... (insert a tune in the background...) "It's my blog and I can write what I waaant to... ". http://lightsandperfections.blogspot.com.

Someone Turned 40!

2008-11-21T10:00:00.004-06:00

Hmmmm....I wonder who that could be. Well maybe this picture will give it away.

It's sometimes difficult to get older, and I think 40 can be a tough birthday. Robert's had a kind of mid-life crisis. He felt the need to buy a good gun. That qualifies as a crisis to me, but he's having a lot of fun with it. We had a surprise birthday party for him with a lot of our friends. Thanks guys for coming and helping so much! He also got to have a homemade Olive Garden meal, which was by his special request. The food turned out really good. I hope he enjoyed his birthday, and doesn't feel too bad about his age. Everyone still loves him anyway!

Riley's Last Soccer Game

2008-11-21T09:40:00.005-06:00

Riley plays soccer and really enjoys it. He does well at soccer and it's fun to watch him play. Here are some pictures of him just after his last game of the season. I couldn't get any good ones of him actually playing because it was pretty dark. The game was played at 6:30 pm on Monday, November 10th. It was a make up game and it was very cold and rained a little during the game. It had rained all day and we thought they might cancel, but there wasn't any lightning, so it was on!

I was glad they played anyway since they probably wouldn't reschedule the game again. Riley's team had a rough season. It started out with them getting beat pretty badly the first several games. I mean like 10-0. In soccer that's a huge score for the other team. They did have a few games in the middle of the season that they won, which was encouraging. Then they started losing pretty bad again. So they had this game and I was hopeful that they could finish the season with a win.

Riley usually plays center or midfield. It requires a lot of running, which he doesn't do much unless he's in a soccer game. There were only 11 boys at this game and that's how many play on the field at a time, so there were no subs. It was a long game, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Riley hadn't had a chance to score all season. The kids played their hearts out and pulled it off! They won 2-1! But this is the best part. Riley scored both of the goals! I was so happy and so was he. It was a perfect way to end a difficult season.

Halloween

2008-11-21T09:20:00.005-06:00

Here are some pictures of the kids at Halloween, finally.
Jared is a Jedi (not sure which one). Sarah is a bat, who apparently likes to curtsy for pictures.

Riley is a hippie. I love the wig! It makes the whole outfit.

Nicole is also a hippie. Her hair just naturally fits.

The kids each wore their costumes three or four times. I like it when they use their costumes more than once. Thank goodness there wasn't any makeup involved.

Storm

2008-11-21T09:00:00.005-06:00

On November 6th we had a storm. It came up pretty fast and was pounding rain super hard. You can see how big the raindrops were in this picture: Oh yeah. Look closely at that picture. Do you see anything strange? Like maybe a whole bunch of metal posts sticking out in weird directions. Well if you can't see it in that picture, have a look at the next one:I trust you can all see what happened. No, we don't have two trampolines. Several of our neighbors have trampolines and one of them decided to jump over the fence and join ours. Seriously, it had to climb over the fence and the neighbor's yard has a fence too. Somehow a big gust of wind got in there and swept it up and over. We're lucky a pole didn't fly through the boys' window. One of the poles was thrown and stuck into our trampoline mat.

This particular neighbor happens to be Jared's teacher at school and we've had a few laughs over it, since there wasn't any serious damage done. We needed to replace our trampoline anyway because my kids have worn it out. A few of the welds on the legs are broken and it's cheaper to buy a new one. I offered parts of ours to fix up theirs since they happen to be the same kind. Needless to say, it was quite a surprise to see that scene.

Uncommon

2008-11-04T10:52:00.002-06:00

Here's a picture of what my car said the outside temperature was on November 3, 2008. It's usually very accurate when I compare it to what the weather reports say. So, I have no need to think it's not accurate this time. It's supposed to be about the same temperature today and who knows how much longer. It is wonderful when the weather is less humid and cooler, but not cold. I love it! Here's another picture I took within a minute of the previous picture. This was more common about three or four years ago. About three weeks ago I told Robert that it would be so great if gas cost less than $2 per gallon again, but I doubt it will. Surprise! Something actually went my way (along with millions of other people). I've heard we have some of the lowest prices in the nation, and I know Oklahoma City is even cheaper. Janine, what does a gallon of gas go for over there these days?

Fall Break Camping Trip

2008-11-03T14:20:00.004-06:00

Since there isn't much good weather for camping in Oklahoma, we haven't done much of it this year. You're usually okay if you camp in April, May, September, and October. It's just too humid or cold the rest of the time. The schools have Fall Break in mid October, and my friend Janine and I thought it would be a great time to get together for a trip.

They had recently gone to Red Rock Canyon State Park and enjoyed it, so we tried it again. This picture is of us about 75 feet above the road and camping area. It was a fairly steep climb on slippery red sandy rocks to get up.

The way we decided to get down, was by climbing along a rock wall with a few hand and foot holds. It was only about 10 feet down, but it would hurt to jump, so we had to scale the wall over to a narrow ramp to walk down. Rocky went first and then stood below to catch people in case they fell. Riley was the next one to go. No one fell except for Oreo, the dog. I was trying to get him to go to Riley who was standing on the ground and could almost reach him. Instead of sliding a few inches to Riley's hand, he decided to make a flying leap to the ground. He hit pretty hard, but because he's under 10 pounds, he was okay. Silly dog!

This is how Julia got down and it's kind of similar to how I was trying to help Oreo get down. Thank goodness she didn't try to jump.

Here's Jared, the monkey. He had no problem scaling the wall and promptly climbed pretty high up a tree. He's my child with very little fear.

Here I am scaling the wall. It was easy except when I had to change my foot placement or try to fit both feet in one hold. It wasn't bad at all.

We cooked using dutch ovens a lot and the food was delicious! Janine found all of the recipes and none of us had ever tried them before. We made stew, cornbread, and french toast. They all were perfectly cooked and tasted great! We even talked about entering a dutch oven cooking contest next year.

The boys went fishing, but no fish were caught. Only this frog was snagged. I don't even think it was alive. It was a huge frog though. It looks really yucky to me!

Here is Nicole helping Julia. It's nice to have the older ones around to help with the little ones. Nicole is a great helper and babysitter.

We all had a really great time on the campout. I would recommend making sure you bring enough blankets to have at least two nice ones on during nights in October. Once we got Jared onto the air mattress and used his sleeping bag as an extra blanket, we were very comfortable. Janine isn't really fond of camping, so she says, but she said she really enjoyed it. She's a great camper and our families had lots of fun together!

I Was Tagged

2008-10-23T09:33:00.004-05:00

My friend, Janine, tagged me to go to My Pictures, 4th folder, 4th picture and blog about it. This is it! It was uploaded on June 17th this year. We were in an orthodontist's office, getting professional opinions of my children's teeth. We've decided at this time, that none of them need braces badly enough to pay thousands of dollars for them, although the orthodontists probably would say otherwise. If my kids were uncomfortable with their teeth or had other issues that were problematic, then I would reconsider. What we saw were a few cosmetic things and I can live with that. Who's perfect anyway?

Why did we have a picture of this anyway? An orthodontist's office isn't usually a great picture place. I think it was simply because I was carrying the camera with me everywhere this summer and we had nothing better to do while we were waiting. Pretty boring, huh?

Well that's it. Now I tag Andrea H., Trisha R., and Lindy E. Have fun!

Riley's Story (Funny)

2008-10-13T10:31:00.004-05:00

(Written by Robert)

There are some very real, very powerful joys that come from being a parent. Watching your baby take their first shaky steps, watching them ride a bike, and listening to their observations about life are some of the most joyful parts of being a parent. As our children get older, their assignments in school become more challenging. No longer are they supposed to "color three chickens," but they are getting into algebra with fractions, cellular biology, and hairy word problems involving two trains, one leaving Chicago at…. Well, you get the point…

This week Riley was given an assignment to write a short story. It had to be about Halloween and it had to use some rather difficult vocabulary words. I fancy myself rather good at vocabulary, but there was one word I had never heard of before, and one word I had the wrong (but very very close) definition for. (To be honest, I think 99% of the people who use the word, use it incorrectly, after looking it up in Webster's…) If you want to play a game, post what you think, before you read the story, the definition of "Ambivalent" is in the comments. Don't cheat and look it up, just write what you think it means.

Well, Riley wrote his story, used all his vocabulary words, and reading it brought Laura and I to laugh until we almost cried. It was honest, simple, and used words that I bet most folks have never heard of. Good job Riley. I hope others find it as wonderful to read and your mom and I did!

The vocabulary words have a link to the definition just in case you need it.

Halloween Story
By Riley Neal

Once upon a time there were four kids who were all friends. Their names were Josh, Dylan, Emily and Lyndsie. Josh was a belligerent fellow; he was 5ft. 1in. and always bouncing off the walls. Dylan was a cordial boy; he was very tall and skinny, 6ft. to be exact. Now Emily was ambivalent. She could never make up her mind about something; “I could go do this but this might happen.” Lyndsie was abstruse and altruistic; nobody really understood what she meant. She always had a metaphor or simile that never correlated with the subject they were talking about.

These kids lived downtown in an archaic and austere neighborhood so they always got together in their fort by an abandoned factory. I guess you could call this neighborhood daunting because of being antiquated. Living downtown means a lot of people and that leads to a lot of candy on Halloween. They lived in an arid place but just barely arable for wheat. Well anyways, they waited for what seemed forever until Halloween came around the next year.

This year was different than all the other years. This year Josh broke his leg one week before Halloween. The cast adhered right to the gauze. The cast was like a large conflagration, flaring red. He had to use a wheelchair for Halloween! This ruined the whole group’s plans. They were going to go from house to house to house, but now they couldn’t. Josh told them to go without him, but they said that if one person’s not going, nobody’s going. So they corroborated this ingenious plan to push him around in his wheelchair and he could be an old man. Josh would wear long jeans and get a white wig and get bags full of candy. In the end, Josh got three times as much candy as the other three and they all had a happy Halloween.

This might not have been the kind of Halloween story you were expecting. Nobody got scared, nobody died and nobody was condemned. It was just a happy Halloween. Josh, Dylan, Emily, and Lyndsie had one of the best times of their lives.

General Conference

2008-10-07T11:58:00.004-05:00

(Written by Robert)

It was General Conference Weekend. It is interesting the different feelings I have had over the years about this event.

When I was 8 - it was to be avoided like the plague. It wasn't only worse than church (longer, more boring and irrelevant) but it had the audacity to take away my Saturday too! Nothing ever did that, ever. It was bad.

When I was 16 - I had a testimony, and knew I should spend time listening but it was hard with all the things a 16 year old has to do. I didn't so much mind Sunday, but Saturday was simply too much. Did the Lord really expect me to waste all that time, when I had things to do?

When I was a missionary - There was nothing more important. I tried regularly to bring folks to church. I hoped they would feel the spirit, and understand what we were trying to say to them. But if I could get them to watch 10 minutes of General Conference, they would have an experience that they would never forget. They would see prophets of God, teaching, pleading, not for money or weird doctrines, but rather begging people to be better, be more honest, more patient, more loving. I knew, if I could get them to watch, I could baptize.

When I was a RM - It was an exciting thing to go to Temple Square to watch. I knew the apostles by name, and understood their speaking styles. It was a great time to show girls how spiritual and devoted I was. The trips were always fun too.

When I was a young husband - It was a great time to spend a quiet weekend with my wife. We could watch at our leisure, listen for advice, learn what things we should be doing better.

When I had young children - it was a nightmare. How did God expect me to bring my kids to the church and sit through 8 solid hours of church when 1 hour a week was almost too much to ask! I was horrified to inflict my loud, cry-baby, busy-body infants to the sacred chapels during conference. I wasn't getting anything from them and anyone within 2 square miles wasn't getting anything either.

Now that I have older children - it is a joy again. Especially with the internet making it so I can see and hear. I hear what I can do to be a better person, better husband and a better father. My wife hears things that help her in her life. Even my kids learn. They hear parts of talks that stick to them.

Dad - "Jared, what did you learn in conference?"
Jared - "I liked that jump rope talk. Sometimes we don't know how to do stuff, but if we see others doing it, this it isn't that hard, and I have good examples to show me how to be good. "

I am grateful that Father loves my family. I laughed the other day and I told Laura, "Ya know, I don't mean this to be silly, but God knows us, he know you and me, and I have rock solid evidence that he even knows my phone number!" (more on that later). I told Laura that to me knowing that "God loves everyone (and therefore must know them) is somehow not as intimate as knowing that God knows your phone number!" I love the Bradleys, Thompsons, Riddocks, even my wonderful Sister Kelli, but I have to look up each of their numbers each time I call.
It's good to know we are known and loved. Nothing brings that home more than General Conference weekend.

Debate

2008-10-07T11:50:00.005-05:00

(Written by Robert)

Last Tuesday Laura and I decided to watch the Vice-Presidential debate. We normally don't watch a lot of TV but I wanted to see what was going on. I had heard a lot of talk before saying "Palin really needs to do well, Palin has to reassure the people, Palin has a lot of ground to cover...". I was amazed that the media (I spend most my news time on MSNBC.com) made it sound like she had lost before she even stepped up, and that Biden was simply showing up and was already far superior. Well, I watched, and I liked her. I liked her a lot. I could hear in the beginning how her voice (to me) appeared to be trembling, and that wasn't flattering, understandable, but not flattering. But as the debate continued it was like she found her place, she knew her material, and began to feel much more comfortable.

This is a very good thing. People (actor Matt Damon comes to mind) says that this is a nightmare, that because of her lack of experience, it is ludicrous to consider her a viable contender. I find her being an outsider a good thing. A very good thing. She should scare the people who have been around. They are "around" due to money from lobbyists, and they are beholden to them. As an "Outsider" Palin isn't encumbered that way and is free to act as a politician should, based on their judgment and experience, not on lobbyists.

The good-ole-boys club is nervous, and they should be. She is honest, (admitting when she isn't sure) hard working, (got herself to the governorship without the support of the Big-Boys) and down to earth. I am sorry but the world I live in, is full of soccer moms and grocery stores. That IS America. That is what she knows, and I couldn't support her more! Biden has a great smile, but it was mirthless, trained and well executed. Palin knows how to pay a mortgage, run a business, fight off oil CEO's, and raise a teenager (not perfectly, but who does!!!).
I think what made me most happy today was reading the news about the debate. As expected the focus was still on her, and the worst they could say was... "Palin deliverers, but doubts linger..." Was the debate supposed to remove all doubts on all things, from all people! Where is Biden! My doubts linger about him too! The headline is an affirmation, that she is doing a great job in shaking up the establishment and the worst they could say about her is... "she didn't crash and burn". They are right, she didn't, she did great, and I couldn't be happier to vote this November.

What Is Going On???

2008-09-15T19:01:00.007-05:00

Hello folks, this is Robert... For those of you who don't know... Laura is out of town for the week in Las Vegas...

I could say it was business (its not),
I could say there was a great sale on breathable shoes at the forum in Caesars (there wasn't)
I could say that the aliens flipped a switch and caused her to goose step zombie style to the mother ship to become more familiar with the phrase "How to serve man" (for those of you who don't know my sense of humor... go here...) (but they didn't…I'm not saying some day they won't!)

I could say that my sister Kelli has had a rough couple of months and needed to take some time off and my wife went to join her... and while it is the truth... it is a lot more boring than you were hoping for...

Laura will be going in to work for a day or two, (not too much.. hey, this is supposed to be fun!) but is planning on doing shopping, hair done, movies, and staying up late in PJ's playing cards and eating Ben and Jerry's.

So, I thought I would jot down a few things that are going on around here.

Amazingly enough, we made it to church, on time, shirts ironed (I actually like to iron), faces clean and scriptures in hand. It was a good sacrament meeting. Sister Lamb gave an outstanding talk on keeping the commandments when we don't want to. Then Sister Hawkins spoke. Again, another wonderful talk asking us to be obedient, when it is hard. Finally Jodi's husband spoke. That is a rarity, because he is in the Bishopric. That doesn't happen often.

Jared and Sarah lazed all over me but were mostly quiet.

The rest of the day was enjoyed by having a good lunch, tomato soup and an outrageous tuna salad (I love it with celery).

Dishes were done, clothes folded, songs sung, Sarah and I read 38 pages of "Charlotte's Web" and in the evening we read scriptures... what a good day.

Oh, and we went out and said hi to our pet spider. She (he???) comes out every evening at sunset and begins to spin a web. It is a large web between our house and our tree. The circle is probably about 4 feet in diameter.

I went out before bed last night (around midnight) and it was sitting in the middle happy as a ... spider in a web...and this morning (6:30 am) it was still in the middle. At 8:00 Jared and I went out and the web had been removed.. and the spider was getting comfy for the rest of the day.

Anyway... just a note.

Since my wife is away... somebody has to blog... I told Laura I would spell check... but punctuation and grammar might be too much for I to do.

Court of Honor

2008-09-01T12:59:00.003-05:00

Riley had his first Court of Honor last night. He earned his Tenderfoot rank and seven merit badges. He has one small hike to do to earn Second Class and a few other things to earn First Class. He also has six merit badges in progress. It won't be long before he's working on his Eagle project the way he's going. He enjoys scouting and is doing very well with it and that makes me happy.

Riley's New Toy

2008-09-01T12:36:00.002-05:00

Riley has been able to earn a lot of money this summer by doing yard work, babysitting, and other jobs. He's always been very careful with his money and has saved up quite a bit. I think it's great that he's done this. We were at the store the other day and he saw this "Ripstick" and said he's been wanting one. It was about $70 and I told him he could get it. It took him about two seconds to decide that he would get it. He has had a lot of fun and is very good at riding on it. It's a combination between skateboard, snowboard, and something else I can't think of right now. There are two wheels which swivel and are like inline skate wheels. It seems a little dangerous to me, but it's also a good work out. I'm pleased that he was able to save and spend his money on something he really wanted. He still has a lot of money left. Good for him!

Movie Making

2008-09-01T12:25:00.003-05:00

(Written by Robert)

We started making a movie on the 18th of August. Not that Spielberg has anything to worry about, but we are trying to create a DVD movie for Christmas this year. It takes a few minutes and highlights each member of the family and one of their talents. We started by filming Sarah making chocolate chip cookies. There must have been 15 takes, and we learned that it is hard to coach a 6-year-old. We all had a good time and we are looking forward to the other shoots we have planned. Some of these include the neighborhood pool, at the church, out on a street, and even train tracks. We will keep you posted on what is going on as the events progress.

Just in Case

2008-09-01T12:23:00.002-05:00

Robert started a blog, but then he asked if he could just use this one. So, I said yes and I finally moved the posts from that blog to this blog, but they are dated back in May. They are the very first four posts on this blog, so if you want to read them, go ahead and look in the archives in May 2008.

First Day of School!

2008-08-14T10:52:00.013-05:00

(Updated 8/15/08 - Pictures of Nicole and Riley at the bottom.)

I wasn't ready a week ago, but I've adjusted. It's good the kids go back when they do. It's always just in time before I lose my sanity. Okay, the summer wasn't that bad, but I was running out of ideas to keep them busy. I was also trying to work, and that isn't very exciting for anyone. It was a great summer and we were very busy.

I'm so glad my kids are good students. Nicole (8th grade) and Riley (7th grade) are in advanced classes and Nicole even has three classes that count for high school credit! Jared (3rd grade) is reading beyond a 7th grade level and Sarah (1st grade) just loves school and learns everything quickly. I hope this year is fun for all of them, and me too. Next year I'll have a high schooler...that makes me nervous. I don't know if it's because I have to be pretty old to have someone in high school, or because of seminary, or because she'll be closer to driving, or what. I'm just nervous.

I got pictures of Jared and Sarah leaving for school, but my brain wasn't all the way awake when Nicole and Riley left. I'll have to get pictures of them coming home from the first day. I promise to add them to this post.

Notice how the first two pictures look a little hazy and the third one is clearer? I cleaned the lens of the camera. It's amazing the difference it made. I don't know why it's constantly dirty... Also, Jared got a haircut last night. I think his hair was two inches long. Now it's a much more manageable 5/8 inch. Yay!

Nicole and Riley came home from school very happy. I didn't expect them to be thrilled about school, but I had hoped they would be able to get by without too much trouble. They were both sooooo excited about their teachers and friends. I was very surprised at their enthusiasm for this year. That sure makes things nice for everyone. Middle School can be hard and I hope they continue to enjoy this year.

I think Riley was too anxious to get inside to smile. I took several pictures and this was the best I got. Oh well, he said he had a great day.

Haircut

2008-08-14T10:39:00.004-05:00

Sarah takes really good care of her hair. We had let it grow really long, but it was constantly in her face. She doesn't like to wear many things in her hair. She's okay with headbands, but her hair was so heavy they would always end up on her forehead. I told her it was time for a cut. It takes so long to brush it and school was starting soon, so it was a great time to make the change.

She's really behind all that hair. She was really patient with me and was actually okay with me chopping about eight inches off. I wish I was trained even a little bit in giving haircuts. I had all these great ideas of what would be cute, but I just couldn't do it. I was too nervous to do what I wanted to try and mess it up completely. So she got a straight cut and I actually did have to recut the next day because I'm not very good.

It turned out very cute and now headbands actually stay inher hair. I'm glad that she's still got nice hair left on her head after my inexperienced haircut. She's getting so big and is such a good girl.

Dogsitting

2008-08-14T10:22:00.004-05:00

This is Jedi. My friend needed someone to watch her dog for 10 days. We weren't going anywhere, so I offered to help her out. I will admit I was nervous because I know dogs like to mark their territory. I knew I had to keep him on a pretty short leash for at least the first few days. I also decided that since he was kept so restrained I would walk him three times a day. He loved that. We took him out in the back yard a few times, but he's so small that he could get right under our gate. We found that out the first time we left him unsupervised out there.

After I was comfortable that he wouldn't use my house for a bathroom, I let him loose. Guess where he wanted to be most of the time? He was almost constantly under my feet. I guess he noticed who fed and walked him. He followed me everywhere and I almost tripped over him multiple times.

Oreo and Jedi got along great, although Oreo wanted to play rougher than Jedi did. Those two dogs have opposite personalities. Jedi just lays quietly and Oreo is constantly jumping up whenever anyone comes close. Oreo growls and Jedi just takes about anything. Oreo is black and Jedi is white. I'm glad it went so well or that 10 days could have been very very long.

Goofing Off

2008-08-14T09:52:00.006-05:00

The kids had my camera the other day and took some pretty goofy pictures. Here are the two boys looking like monkeys. They already act like monkeys, why not look the part?

This is Nicole in case you couldn't tell. She looks like she's supposed to be in the Middle East somewhere. Or else in a really cold snowstorm. Since it was about 100 degrees outside, and we have always lived in North America, I'm guessing she was just being silly. Thinking more about it, she kind of resembles a certain Sesame Street character who loves cookies.

I bet you didn't know I had gangsta kids. Jared can barely keep the smile off his face and Nicole can't pull it off in that pink hat and shirt. The look could almost kill though. (Don't pay attention to the picture on the wall. I have no idea how it got that way.)

Sarah had to get in on the action too. Look at that dazed expression. Is that how you're supposed to look when you're wearing two hats and your hair is too long and in your face? I don't think she quite pulls off the gangsta look either.

Okay, poor Oreo. Isn't it bad enough that he's a dog, let alone a male, and forced to wear human accessories? The fact that they're pink is pure torture! I don't think he looks like he appreciates it very much. I'm surprised he let them get away with this in the first place.

I'm glad the kids had fun with my camera. Thank goodness it's digital! They were taking pictures all afternoon and most were unusable. I'm glad they got these. They make me smile.

Cub Scout Lake Trip

2008-07-25T09:13:00.006-05:00

On Thursday, last week, the Cub Scouts went to the lake. My friend Andrea's family has a boat and jet ski they were so generous to share. I was able to go as an adult chaperone and had a good time watching the boys and riding and driving a jet ski. I've never been on a jet ski before, but I had a blast. I had a great time hitting the waves, just ask Andrea and Joe, for that matter. Anyway, it was a blast and I know the kids had a ton of fun. Thanks Andrea's Dad, Andrea, and Nick! Nice boat, huh. Here it is coming to the dock so everyone can get in.
Apparently four is a record number on the tube at one time. We weren't sure they'd all stay on, but they managed very well.
Doesn't that look like fun!
Jared and Grant are on the tube and they said they wanted a fast ride. This ride ended with Jared falling off and the tube flipping over and dumping Grant off. They had a great ride while it lasted.
Grant, Nick, and Jared on the jet ski. They hit some good waves and caught some air on that thing. They like to go fast!
Here's what it looked like from inside the boat. If they weren't on the ski or the tube, they were peering out the back of the boat and enjoying what they saw.
Between every tube and ski ride, everyone took a few minutes in the water.
Here's Andrea's Dad. It was so great of him to take his time to man the boat so the boys could have so much fun. Thanks again!

Muskogee Water Park

2008-07-24T19:24:00.004-05:00

On Wednesday we went to a water park that's about 45 minutes away. It's not huge, it's inexpensive, and it's fun (after 7 daycare buses left). It was super crowded until about 3:30 and then it was awesome. I think we were the last of the public to leave the pool. Two of my children had to be herded down the stairs by the lifeguard at the slides because they were closed. It was a lot of fun on a super hot and muggy day. It was even more fun because a lot of our friends were there too.
Here's Jared trying to stay on the lily pads and alligator while crossing to the other side. I asked him before he started if he was going to make it and he enthusiastically said yes. I wondered because a lot of kids weren't able to make it. It's tough to get that lily pad close enough to the alligator to get on without falling off. Plus, you can't see it here, but the lifeguard was constantly splashing water onto the alligator to make it a little more slippery.
I thought he might not make it when he let go of the net and crawled onto the alligator, but he got right back up without slipping off.
Here he is just finishing up. He did great and it was fun to watch. I know it was a lot harder than it looked.
Here are Riley and Sarah going back to get in line to go down the slides. The very first thing we did when we got there was go down the slides. I asked Sarah what she thought and she said, "That was awesome!" My kids really enjoy swimming and slides just make it that much better. They also had a lazy river, but I couldn't be very lazy in it with all the kids pushing and spinning me along. It was fun though. There was a huge area for younger kids too and Jared and Sarah went over there a few times. Riley and Nicole went over there too, but mostly to help out with our friends' younger children. It was a great way to spend a hot summer day and I'm tempted to try and squeeze it in one more time before the summer is over.

Summer Basketball

2008-07-13T21:15:00.006-05:00

My friend, Andrea, is coaching a summer basketball team. Two of her boys are on the team and they are friends with Jared, so it's extra fun. Here is a shot of him guarding during his most recent game this past Friday. (I took a ton of pictures, but most of them were blurry. I've got to figure something out to be better at taking pictures indoors.) He was very aggressive and kept the opposing team from scoring a lot of points. Jared's the tallest on his team and some of these girls were about 6-8 inches taller than him. Their whole team was very aggressive and they had jump balls all night because they kept grabbing the ball from the other team. I'm glad he gets the chance to play a sport this summer. It's been a great summer activity that hasn't been stressful.

Summer Park Day

2008-07-13T20:47:00.004-05:00

Thursday was set up for a playgroup at Hunter Park. It was raining mercilessly all morning and so we couldn't go. I talked to Trisha and her kids had looked forward to going and neither of us had been to that park before, so we agreed we would go if the afternoon was nice. It was and we had a good time. It's a great park with a lot of things to do.
Sarah and Faith had fun walking on these wooden pillars. They also provided train rides and went exploring in the forest and played at the splash pad.
Nicole and Marisa walked and talked a lot. They are good friends and I'm glad. Marisa's a good influence for Nicole and her reading/writing. They also kept an eye on the kids while Trisha and I took a walk. Finally, some exercise! I'm so lazy lately...
Nicole loves Gold Whale crackers, apparently. See how happy she looks since I finally let her have the box?
Now just look at her. Someone else wants some and we see this. Typical teenage attitude, I'm afraid. Sharing isn't as cool as it used to be. (JK, Nicole)
This was Jared's favorite thing at the park. He loved waiting for the buckets to dump on him. His friend, Jared, also enjoyed it.
Here are Jared and Eric coming back from the woods. The kids really liked going in there. It's really just a small grove of trees, but I think it made them feel further away from parents and more on their own or something.
Before we left, we tried out the labyrinth. It's painted lines on pavement and you have to follow the pattern to get to the center. It was starting to rain, so we hurried. You're supposed to take it slow and it's supposed to relax you. It wasn't quite like that for us, but it occupied us for about 10 minutes. This is the kids after we made it to the center.

Miscellaneous

2008-07-13T20:29:00.004-05:00

Sarah was spying on Riley. I'm not sure all of her reasons, but she was having fun. And I think she looked cute too. Don't you love the purple star visor combined with too big pajama shirt?

We have a swallow's nest in our front porch area again. Someone knocked the one that was there down and the birds rebuilt it again this spring. The kids say they can see five baby birds in there and we know one has died. Six babies in one nest seems awful crowded and very hot. Every time we go out in the front yard get about 10 birds circling around us. They have a very protective family. We also have a nest in one of our trees out back. I guess one of our trees is officially big enough for that now. One of the babies got out of the nest and was wandering around back there. It was fairly big, but unable to fly. Oreo (our dog) wanted to play with it. The baby bird's parents were making quite a bit of noise trying to get us to go away. Robert put the bird back in the nest, but later on, the bird was out again. There was another bird in the nest, maybe there was a bit of sibling rivalry going on?
Jared grabbed my camera the other day because he wanted to take pictures of the cool clouds outside. This one of the pictures he came back with. He thought it was cool because of the lighter clouds in front of the darker ones. I think he really just likes to play with my camera and came up with a reason to use it. He did use it for what he said he was going to though.

A few Minutes of Honesty

2008-07-09T20:00:00.009-05:00

I read a blog the other day about not sugar coating our blogs, Be "REAL". It was interesting. It's not that we ever lie, its not that we even stretch the truth. We do however, simply put our best face on, best foot forward and go from there. But, it was an interesting exercise, to be more honest.... Well. Let's be honest, on both sides... the good and the bad.

First the Bad.

Laundry - it's not just a problem... it's an adventure. We have six in our family, and with a 2:1 ratio of kids to adults, there is going to be a ton of laundry. We never catch up. Sometimes we come close, but once that day is over then there are at least two more loads that the family was wearing at the time all the other laundry was being done! It is like trying to sweep back the ocean with a broom!

Scriptures - We try, we really do, to read the scriptures. I remember as a kid only reading once or twice as a kid with my folks. Ok only once, but that single memory is a very good one. The kids don't complain, they don't gripe, they don't even mind. It's simply a matter of trying to talk myself into taking the extra 10 minutes at the end of the day to do it. I love it, the kids love it, Laura loves it. It seems we simply get lazy...(sigh... ok "I get lazy") . We have done really well in the past. We not only got through 2nd Nephi, but are about half way into Jacob. This is the "Good Stuff" for kids in the BOM. The great stories of King Benjamin, Ammon, Noah, Alma.... We just need to get going again.

Fighting - I can't tell you how much I HATE fighting among our kids! I hate the turf wars that they have. "That's mine!", "I had it first!", "You never help me!". I can't stand this. I can show several scriptures that say that Satan is the father of lies and stirs the hearts of the children of men to contend one with another... Hearts mean attitudes... And he plays with our attitudes and makes it so we get angry and fight. It is true with kids, friends, couples, neighbors and countries. I want no part of this. And yet I see my children at each other's throats! I once found myself telling one of my kids, "I have spent your entire life loving you, please don't hurt one of my other children!"

Yard - My backyard has several things that could be done to improve it. I have a fort, slide, swingset in the back and the slide is broken. Have I fixed it?... No. Have I tried? No. Have I planted any flowers? No. Have I weeded? No. (Are you seeing a pattern here?). Laura has quietly resigned herself to the fact that if she wants a pretty yard, she has to do it. I hate that. I really, really ought to be better.

Weight - I really, hate the current amount of force that gravity has on me. I won't go into details, but it isn't a little thing.

What is good?

Family Home Evening - This is a time of the week that everyone looks forward to. The kids love giving lessons, they love the time together. About 10 minutes before each FHE, either Laura or I print a shape on a piece of paper. It is usually very simple, like a line and a circle, or a squiggle and a dot. Then we call the family together and we all draw our own picture on it. Each person is allowed enough time to draw whatever they want. Then (while they are calming down) and we begin FHE, we take turns sharing what we drew. This has been a source of joy for many years! I can't tell you the laughs we get looking at "Man inside hamster ball" or "House on a tree" or any other silly, yet fun times we have shared.

Education - The kids are doing really well in school. They have friends, they have activities, they are busy and happy. Jared has found this summer the love of books. Mom can't keep enough in the house to satisify him. He zipped through the "Spiderwick" and "A Series of Unfortunate Events" series as fast as 3 - 4 per week! Sarah loves to read as well. Nicole has read a vampire series called "Twilight" twice! I love it that the kids do well in school and love reading. It is a blessing that will serve them well the rest of their lives.

No TV - Hey! The kids didn't die! When we moved back we decided that we wouldn't pay for a cable. I like some shows (all on Sci-Fi channel) the kids watched other shows simply because they were on. But we decided that we didn't want it. We don't regret even a little bit.

Church and Gospel Teaching - Even though we should read our scriptures better, the gospel is always talked about in our home. As parents we are constantly trying to teach our kids how gospel truths relate to every day activities. From fighting, loving, service, patience, forgiveness and a host of others. As a married couple, we are always talking about how different events relate to our Heavenly Father's Plan. We know that our Heavenly Father is a tutoring Father.
This means that he doesn't just give us lessons in Sunday school, but rather every day, real life stuff to work with. I can't imagine a day where we don't relate what is going on in our lives, to something that Father is trying to help us with. Even cleaning the table, making dinner, building relationships with ourselves, spouse, children, parents, friends, loving, supporting, teaching, helping, forgiving, laughing, reading, studying, crying. I read a scripture that says, "All things point to Christ". It meant it... not some, not most, but ALL. As parents, we try hard to teach our kids not only how to behave, but why. And Laura and I encourage each other to be better. She encourages me to be better in Home Teaching (another not-so-highlight in my life) and I encourage her in areas I think she can be better.

Friends - I have always lived as a hermit. Quiet, alone, and just fine with that. Friends scare me. I have never felt very comfortable with myself (childhood issues) and getting out of my comfort zone has been a really big help. Laura has gently prodded me into being social, something that is definately NOT easy for me. But the rewards have been wonderful. I enjoy so many people in our ward and I wanted to talk about a few here.
First Alex and Cindi - I can't even comprehend how much I appreciate them. We have cooked with them, played with them, cried with them. We have stayed over at each other's home just to have breakfast in the morning (and catch the early session of conference). I am proud to tell people about my friend and what he has done (think Riverwalk, think TV studio, think church DVD). I can't tell you the number of calories I have consumed with that family.... (think big numbers... with exponents...)
Next Nick and Andrea - When I was running my own business, and I needed a vehicle, Nick gave me a truck. GAVE ME A TRUCK!!!! Even now, I can't think about this without tears in my eyes. It was such a huge deal to me, to be able to continue on working and building my business. I will be grateful to that family... forever!
Now come Rocky and Janine. What a great family. They are so much fun to play with, to laugh with and to simply hang out. I will never (ever, ever) be as handy as Rocky is.... He made a picnic table for heaven's sake! He flies airplanes, and cooks Dutch oven (got me hooked on it). Janine is a teacher. (she isn't working for a school district now but she teaches her kids every day). They came and visited us in Las Vegas once. It was so nice to have friends come and be with us. When we go to the temple, we stop by to drop our kids off there. It's great when they join us.
Finally Damian and Trisha - They are our newest friends. Damian does so many things that I like, and he does them so well. Piano player, database guy, MBA, CEO, and an out-of-the-closet Babylon 5 fan! (how cool is that!). Trisha, also plays piano, laughs at our jokes, went to Ricks (BYU Idaho), keeps a cheerful smile while home schooling. From the first moment I saw this family I knew that we were going to be friends. They were on a date, and stopped by our house just to see if we wanted to come too! Yeah! It was fun, Chili's for dinner, frozen yogurt for dessert, and a piano store just to see which ones sounded better... how cool is that!

My Father in Heaven - It is funny. I really do consider Father a friend. Not a distant God somewhere far away, but rather a friend, a teacher, a helper. He is Someone who knows me and loves me and is trying to help me and my family. I have talked with Him, cried to Him, laughed with Him, yelled at Him, and each time (even during the yelling) I could feel Him simply taking the yelling, without being angry, just letting me throw my tantrum, absorbing my anger, knowing it will soon pass. He guides me, telling me to watch out for particular problems, with me and my family. He encourages me to be better, be stronger. He teaches me, not only what the commandments are but "why", and how they relate to His plan. This has brought me so much comfort. The "Whys" teach us the most wonderful parts of the gospel!!

I have felt His laughter when we have talked. For example I was troubled with a personal issue the other day...I started my prayer with "Father, I want you to know..." I could feel him say while laughing... "Robert, do you think there is something I don't know about you...?". My Father has taught me lessons about His love for me using things around me, He has given me lessons about eternity using commong things like stars, rocks, water, fish, dead birds and fallen trees, torn toe-nails, mud, scars, pregnancy, blindness, flat tires and so much more! The list never ends! My Father loves me, and I love Him. He is kind, patient, and loving and is trying to help me and my little family go back and live with Him again. He has given me promises (think about that!!!) about me and my family. Who am I, to merit even the notice of God, let alone his attention? I am his son. And I have been charged with raising a family and do all I can to bring them home to him intact. He is helping me with this duty.

Well, this was much, much more than I wanted, but, I thought it was time to share... a little more about me...

Kansas City Trip - Day 2

2008-07-09T11:49:00.014-05:00

What's staying in a hotel if you don't go swimming?!
We took a quick drive to Liberty, Missouri. Robert thought it was erie reading "Clay County Court House". All he could think is how, once upon a time, that was a sham.
There was a Farmers Market in Liberty and we decided to get some Amish bread (it wasn't that fresh) and some local honey.
Here was a city drinking fountain that was to be shared by all, so there was no more segregation.
Here is Sarah smelling flowers. It looks like she is hurt, but she isn't.
Look ma…. Masons!
"Liberty" interesting oxymoron….. I guess "Independence" is too….
Oh look, another fountain…. Go play kids!
Ok, this pic was staged, but I promise, just two seconds earlier, they were doing this on their own! (It could happen!!!!!!)
Sarah said the water felt really nice!
Libery Jail has a really good groundskeeper.

The jail deserves its own blog, but we were very rushed and we could only get a few picures. They really rushed us.

Can you tell what the story is here? Somebody looks a little bored.

Robert found out that they kept a journal of all the missionaries who have served in Liberty. He went looking but they lost the one for the year he was there. They did have one from the year after and he enjoyed seeing some old friends.
Not too close to Liberty (about 35 miles north) is the town (grass patch) of Far West.
Look at the size of those leaves!
There were four cornerstones of the unbuilt temple. Each was dedicated to something different like Priesthood (High and Lesser), Missionary Work, and the First Presidency.
Memorial at Far West.
Sarah posing on the fence.
The Temple Lot.
Having a fun moment with the kids. They think it's funny to do this hand shake and then try to pull your finger off!
Nicole and Riley having a good time!
Sisters!
Lunch - a very welcomed break. It was only disturbed by a little bit more wind than we wanted and a pesky wasp that paid for bugging us with its life.
About another 45 minutes away was Adam-Ondi-Ahman.
Robert wants to walk… lets the van go by. Of course everyone in the van sees a deer about 45 seconds later! The video camera had proof we saw the deer, but it accidently got recorded over…sigh.
Dad and Sarah and Nicole enjoy the walk
Sacred cows?
Uh, the road is longer than he thought. That will teach Robert to just decide to walk!
And longer still….sigh.
The valley of the ancients. No, no one else calls it that, but it sounds good.
Oh, there is mom!
Sarah's getting tired. Mom is trying to help her.
Here is the valley.

Sarah had simply had enough!
We decided to take a nature walk that kept going and going and going. We decided to go back when the grass got taller and you'll see other reasons why in the next few pictures.

We think this is posion ivy and we stayed away.
Riley found out that he had a ton of ticks on him. Yuck. We tried to get them all….we failed. This is Riley's inspection. We did further checking of the kids on Sunday morning and found at least five more ticks already embedded.
Back down south to Kansas City. This is a huge monument to the soldiers of World War I.
Jared had to go try out his heelies down by the fountain at the memorial.

Sigh… two hours later and here is another tick. Grrrrrrr!
Nice overlook of the KC area.

Playing by the fountain at the WWI memorial.

Dad became overly fascinated with water ripples in the fountain.
It's getting late. Time to hit the road.

We fit a lot of activity into two days. The kids did great. They're old enough to do this stuff and not get completely worn out before the parents are ready to go. We learned a lot and just had a nice weekend as a family.

Kansas City Trip - Day 1

2008-07-09T09:27:00.015-05:00

Our church history trip started off with us leaving late. Laura wanted out of the house by 6:00 a.m.… an admirable goal, but in getting ready for the trip, we went to bed pretty late. We decided it would be better for everyone if we waited until 8:00.
Now no trip starts well, unless there is at least one unhappy child… can you guess who it was?
Well, we got some of the kids together…. 3 out of 4 isn't bad. Next stop was south Kansas City… 4 hours later. It was the home of President Truman. This was the farm where he worked 600 acres as a boy. That’s a lot of weeding, fencing, gardening, shoeing…. What a job!
A little more driving and we found the "Welcome to Missouri" center. It had maps, brochures, pamphlets, and all sorts of stuff. Just in its back yard were two (count 'em) two stadiums! It was awesome!
We decided to go from there to Robert's old mission area. It was in downtown Kansas City, only 10 minutes from Independence. The first place we found was the old church that he used to attend. It was a converted Jewish synogogue. The neighborhood was very, very friendly. There were people on the street who would stop traffic and talk if you were driving slow like we were.

Just down the street we found a building with a cool mural!
KC has such cool fountains. We couldn’t find a place to stop so we got these from the window as we went by.

Here is a very old church, built in 1800 something. We asked Nicole to jump out and see if the front door was open… it was. We parked across the street, fed the meter for 30 minutes and walked to the church. They locked the door on us! We just wanted to look around and we got locked out! They must not like company.
Here is Jared being a dare devil on the high wall. What you don't know is that he is wearing heelies…. You know, the shoes with roller skates in them… and we let him scale that wall…. We are bad parents!

Well, we fed the meter a little more and then went walking downtown.
Dad and Sarah standing by the "First Ammendment" memorial.
Kansas City is known for being the "City of Fountains" and boy, we saw them all over the place. This one was really cool, it had a very shallow pool at the bottom, and if we had let them, the kids would have been playing in it.

While walking downtown we looked in an alley way and found a tube running up and down the building. It connected to each floor. We decided it must have been a garbage chute. Jared and dad wanted to climb it…. We didn't!
Isn't there some prophecy about a yellow dog in Kansas City?
Laura saw this sign and cracked up. These two commodites don't seem to go together, but….
We decided to (finally) feed the kids. We wanted something that they would like. Something that would fill them up. Something cheap. Hey $4.49 for a pizza buffet fit the bill perfectly. Come on, we're on vacation!
We thought the kids would like to go to a Bass Pro Shop. They are full of big fish aquariums, stuffed animals, and glass elavators. What else could you want?
Jared and Sarah getting down from a rock over-looking the fish!
Tim Allen's Fish Tank
Jared decided to play elevator button pusher for about 20 minutes. It was so funny!
Sarah being silly in the elevator.
Dad wasn't feeling well. He got really dizzy and just needed to sit down for a few.
We made our way back to Independence. The Community of Christ church (formerly known as RLDS) made a temple.

The Church of Christ owns….. well…. a lot….this temple lot. They don't own much real estate in this part of town, but they did manage to buy the original temple lot.

Sarah sucking on a piece of grass across from the RLDS headquarters.
We went across the street to the LDS Visitors Center. It was way awesome! The mural of Christ has been replaced by a small Christus.
They had interactive things for the kids to play with that showed short movies on gospel topics.
We love Joseph Smith!
A globe with some of the different langauages of the Book of Mormon going around it.
A replica of an 1840's log cabin.
Later that night, when it was quiet, I (Robert) asked each person what they thought was the best thing of the day. Jared indicated "The cool bed" pictured here. (I think he might have been a little tired!)
More family tours.
The visitors center had a play room for the kids…. yeah, they used it!
Laying down on the grass waiting for the fireworks.
Then the fireworks went off. We had good seats. If you click on the picture, it looks better up close.
A 25-minute drive later, we found our hotel and strangely, no one wanted to stay up late.

Skeet Shoot

2008-06-29T20:44:00.005-05:00

We had an Elders Quorum, husband and wife combined activity. It was a very masculine activity. We have members in our ward who have enough property to use for shooting at clay pigeons, or targets, or skeet, or whatever you call it that are launched into the sky with these spring-loaded machines. For some reason, we were told we couldn't come if we weren't happy with our spouse. There were a few horses kind of close and we had to make sure we didn't aim toward the neighbor's house at all, but there was enough space so no one got hurt. They also have a beautiful garden. It reminds me of my grandparents' garden. Isn't it just lovely?There were also some awesome clouds in the sky that evening. This one is very tall. I think it's called a cumulus cloud. You can correct me if I'm wrong.This is Jessica. You can't tell from this side, but she's eight months pregnant. It was pretty loud out there. I wonder what the baby thought. She said he wasn't moving much. By the way, she out shot her husband and came in third out of the whole group. Her husband better watch out.Here I am and I don't think I look very comfortable holding a gun. I certainly didn't feel very comfortable. I finally was able to hit a few of the targets, but I definitely had more fun watching everyone else shoot and visiting.No one was hurt and I think everyone had a good time. We had a barbecue, but honestly there wasn't a lot of eating going on. The men were far more interested in the guns than food.I wasn't paying attention and didn't get any pictures of Robert during the shoot. He did very well. When they threw the targets from each side, one after the other, he hit both targets five times in a row. I was impressed....and maybe a little nervous too. He's pretty darn good for having only one good eye to sight with.

Frosting Fight!

2008-06-29T20:00:00.004-05:00

Hi everyone. This is my friend, Cindi. Her family and ours get together quite often on Sunday afternoons for dinner and games. Here she is, calmly chopping veggies for our sub sandwiches.

Here I am. I usually don't appreciate pictures of me, but I'll be in several this post. I am calmly putting the cheese on our sandwich.

Here we are again and we're not so calm. I'll tell you that I didn't start this, but Cindi may disagree. I promise, I was standing next to her when she finished spreading the chocolate frosting on the cake. She held up the spatula right in front of my face and it looked like she was going to put it on my nose. I said something like "don't you dare" and she just looked at me and grinned and did it anyway! I knew she was a trouble-maker and I couldn't just allow her to get away with it, so I grabbed what frosting I could and got her back.

But she did her fair share of getting me too.

Of course she didn't let up at all and we kept going for a minute or two. The camera happened to be close by and Robert enjoyed getting these pictures of us.

It's amazing one of us didn't have any claw marks after this. I have really long finger nails and it looks like we could seriously injure each other in this position. Just look at the amount of frosting on my face and there's hardly any on hers. I don't know how she managed to get away with that.

After it's over, we're still friends. Although if we had been ruthless and gone for the clothes, I can't tell what might have happened. I'd call Cindi the winner of this skirmish since I can see more frosting on me than on her. Something similar to this event happened over a game of spoons once. Suffice it to say, I won that time and the spoon was very....uh....bent out of shape over it.

You Might Be A Geek If...

2008-06-23T22:05:00.005-05:00

I came across something that ... well honestly resembled me (Robert).

You might be a geek if...

If you have ever owned a calculator with no equal key and know what RPN stands for.
Guilty.... and I am proud of it.... (does that make it worse?)
If you can type 70 words a minute but can't read your own handwriting.
True... very true...
If people groan at the party when you pick out the music.
I don' think they do... doesn't everyone like "Miami Vice Soundtrack", "I'm Blue" and "Safety Dance"
If you thought the real heroes of "Apollo 13" were the mission controllers.
They were!!!!
If you spend more on your home computer than your car
uh.... guilty... (that's bad right....?)
If you know what http: stands for.
Hyper-text transfer protocol.... doesn't everyone know that? Geesh...
If your three year old son asks why the sky is blue and you try to explain atmospheric absorption theory.
Yes, and now he understands it... right!
If your 4 basic food groups are: 1. Caffeine 2. Fat 3. Sugar 4. Chocolate
.... I am trying to cut out Caffeine, Fat and Sugar....
If your spouse sends you an e-mail instead of calling you to dinner.
Sometimes it's the best way to get in touch with me...
If you know the direction the water swirls when you flush.
Northern hemisphere is different than the southern.
If you rotate your screen savers more frequently than your automobile tires.
I rotate the background on my computer DAILY! Really, do the rest of you just LEAVE IT THERE...!!

Crazy Spiders!

2008-06-13T10:59:00.009-05:00

There are a lot of interesting creatures in Oklahoma. I posted last week about a huge spider we found. We've determined that it was a baby tarantula since it jumped and had rings on its legs. Now we had a new friend in our garage. Notice I said "had". Robert promptly took care of the problem after we had our fun. This black widow spider had trapped a huge bug. The bug was literally screaming and making a huge fuss about the whole thing. It was caught and there was nothing it could do except make a lot of noise and move a lot. That spider worked quickly and it was amazing to watch.

Those small white balls in the picture aren't egg sacks, thank goodness. Robert thought they might be, but they are just air soft gun pellets.

I feel like we're watching the Wild Kingdom in our yard every day with all the crazy critters we've seen this year!

Oreo...Poor Dog

2008-06-13T10:42:00.006-05:00

Tuesday afternoon Oreo got out of the yard. When he was younger he would have run for hours, but he is a lot more calm and we don't worry about him getting away so much. He simply went next door to visit a dog he often hears. The neighbor dog is a boxer, and a big one. He is easily five times Oreo's size, and he is a mean dog. Oreo has no experience with bad dogs and so went up to play with him, and he ended up getting bit, rather bad. He came in the house with his tail between his legs, and just wanted to be left alone. Wednesday he came out limping, favoring his right hind leg. A delicate inspection indicated it had a good bite mark but didn't appear to be infected. Dad and Mom are the only ones able to look at it, as he is very protective of it. We will watch him for the next day or so. I hope he feels better.

Our Activity at the Church

2008-06-13T10:31:00.007-05:00

Wednesday is usually spent taking the Nicole, Riley, and Jared to the church for their activities. This week, Nicole was at camp and no one else had any activities, but Robert wanted to go up to the church to play the piano. Riley wanted to go just to throw a basketball, then Jared wanted to go too. Sarah was having a bad day so to help her not feel so bad it was decided that the whole family would go up to the church. First we stopped at QT for slurpees. I don't know what you call them, but they are the icy, almost frozen drinks. Those things make my kids happy instantly. Sarah once said this about slurpees. "What's better than a slurpee...practically nothing." Back to what I was really writing about...
Robert got to play the piano, the kids played basketball, mom took pictures and made sure everyone had a good time.

Poor Jared (And Mom)

2008-06-11T07:57:00.003-05:00

Jared is going to Cub Scout Day Camp for the week and Monday was the first day. The National Weather Bureau issued the following warnings all day Monday.

Flash Flood Warning

Flash Flood Watch

Flood Warning (apparently the... "non" flash type of flood)

So, they went to the church to play in the gym with all the other boys from our ward that couldn't go to day camp. All the boys took it well and had a great time playing soccer, tag, hide and seek, and basketball. Tuesday was slightly soggy, but a lot of fun. The boys went fishing, tied knots, played marbles, played water games, shot slingshots, and started a paper mache project. They are anxious to ride the zip-line and shoot BB guns. We'll have to see what they get to do today.

Sarah's Turtle

2008-06-08T12:08:00.012-05:00

We drive by a place near our home where there is a small pond and a dead tree that has fallen half way into the pond. During the warm months it is common to see turtles sunning themselves on the tree, ready to dive into the water at the first sign of danger. Everyone can see the turtles from the road. Everyone but Sarah, that is.

She has been quite upset at never seeing a turtle there. We have pulled over but there is a fence keeping us too far back to get a good view for her to see. The other day on the way to church, we found a turtle in the middle of the road. It is common for them to get on the road to enjoy its warmth, but it isn't the safest place for them. I pulled over, and picked it up. I gave it to Sarah to have (for the day) and play with.

This type of turtle can close itself up so it is totally sealed. You can't get to it at all. Really cool. Sarah named it "Torti". We had a great time, and at the end of the day, sent the turtle back home to.... uh.... find its mom.

Temple Trip Was A Blast

2008-06-08T01:49:00.022-05:00

Wife and I went to the Temple the other day. We left the house at around 5 pm and picked up a new friend, Trisha. I usually like to listen to books on tape when we drive, but the conversation was so good.

I don't remember much of what was said but I really enjoyed the time with my wife and a friend. The temple was, of course, wonderful. It was uncomfortably crowded, but when I thought about it, I realized that is a nice problem to have. It was calm and peaceful. Perhaps someday I will talk about why that was such a big deal, but for now, suffice it to say... it was nice. The ride home was long (as you would expect) but again, the conversation was filled with funny stories and tiny rants about the way the world "ought" to be, that the trip was over quickly. I am looking forward to going again in July.

Hello Folks

2008-06-08T01:38:00.010-05:00

I thought I would make a simple entry. Laura has graciously allowed me to write on this post. I know she wanted this to be her area, but I talked her into it. So...with a promise to spell check everything, and to not be too crazy, I am posting my first entry.

I thought that I would simply give you a link. I think it is the coolest link on the web. I have hit this website, almost daily for at least 6 years. It is Astronomy Picture of the Day. With it, I get all the cool pics from the probes on Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, as well as info on cool pictures from telescopes around the world. I am the most novice of all back yard astronomers, but I like to keep track of where the planets are in the sky... Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars especially.

This is a picture of Saturn blocking the sun. How cool is that!?

Anyway...Just wanted to say "Hi.."

Reading

2008-06-07T10:24:00.004-05:00

This is a scene that I rarely witness with my kids. They are all good readers, but I don't catch them reading very often. However, sometimes they get hooked on a really good book or series. Jared (8) has recently started reading Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events" series. There are 13 books and each book is about 300 pages. I took him to the library to get two of the books he hadn't read yet, and before a day had gone by, he had read them both! So I went back to the library and told the librarian this, and she sent me home with all of these so I can try to keep him occupied with reading this summer.

These are all rather large books and I am glad he's taken more of an interest in reading. I just hope I can keep him interested after he's finished this particular series. Any tips on how to do that? It's a constant struggle around here. I think Nicole has read the Harry Potter series and the Twilight series about four times each. It will be a miracle if I find something else she's interested in.

Swimming

2008-06-06T11:56:00.013-05:00

So in between the storms, once Memorial Day is here, we swim...and swim...and swim some more. Well, by we, I mean my kids. I'm more of a fan of relaxing in the chairs and listening to my iPod and watching the action. We've been to the pool every day except Sundays. When my parents were here, they took them every day for anywhere from an hour to three hours (thanks Mom and Dad!). I'm surprised all their skin hasn't flaked off them yet. I hadn't taken any pictures of them swimming this year and I took Jared and Sarah on Wednesday when Robert took Nicole and Riley to their church activities. Jared and Sarah had a lot of fun in the water and I had fun messing around with different settings on my camera and trying to get some decent pictures. I love that I can take as many pictures as I want without wasting anything. It sure does make it easier to get some decent shots.

Personally, I think those pictures turned out pretty good. The color is nice and the picture is clear. I'm not really a photographer, but I'm having fun and it sure helps to have a decent camera. Now I need to work on the inside shots. Those are so tough.

Now I have some action shots of Sarah jumping onto this poor turtle. She had a blast and reenacted it many times over so I could get some good in-air shots.

It amazes me how much my kids love the water. I never went swimming much like this when I was a kid. My swimming pools were usually canals on our farm and that didn't lend itself particularly to doing tricks and and jumping onto large plastic turtles. Mostly it was a way to keep cool. My kids are all very independent swimmers and didn't have any lessons from anyone except their dad. Apparently he's a pretty good teacher, because they all are very good and not afraid of swimming in deep water at all. Here are a few more shots of them just having fun. I love watching them swim. It is relaxing to me. Much more relaxing then actually being in the pool and being the base if they're playing water tag, or the platform from which to jump, etc.

Storms

2008-06-06T11:19:00.010-05:00

We've had some severe weather this spring. I've been through several springs in Oklahoma, but this one is the most exciting so far. We haven't actually had a tornado touch down within about 5 or 10 miles of us, but we've had tons of lightning, rain, hail, and wind. It comes and goes quickly too. Last Saturday morning we thought it might storm, but it wasn't serious-looking. Within 15 minutes, we could see the clouds rolling in. 15 minutes later, we were being pelted with wind, rain, hail, and lightning. It only lasted about 1/2 hour and then the sky was bright and sunny again. It was almost as if it had already forgotten about the storm. It probably rained at least an inch in that short time, and my kids thought it was great fun to be outside right in it. What possesses them to do this kind of stuff?

Only my 13 year-old daughter wasn't prancing out in the rain. I know she got wet, but somehow I missed getting her picture to prove it. Anyway, the rain came fast and strong. Just look at my poor flowers...

As I said, we also got hail with this storm. It wasn't very big in our area, about the size of marbles, but I heard it was pretty damaging in some other areas.

We've had two big storms since this one. This one lasted an hour or two. Sunday at church we heard it rolling in. Our Bishop said that if the power went out we would just continue our sacrament meeting. Sure enough, about 10 minutes later, it went out. After about two minutes, everyone quieted down and the meeting continued. It was fast and testimony meeting and it ended up being very spiritual in the dark. I guess not being able to see faces somehow helps facilitate feeling the spirit? Probably not, but it was a very good meeting anyway.

The next storm was last night. We were up until about 2:00 am with tornado sirens going off. Nothing near us was organized enough to produce a tornado, but because it was possible, we had to be ready to take cover. Nothing major happened except a lot of lighting, wind, and rain. The lighting was especially cool last night. Our ceiling fan looked like it stopped everytime it got a good flash of light on it. The sky was full of lightning that didn't stop. It wasn't onesy-twosy flashes. It was a constant barrage of light. It was beautiful...and scary enough that the kids slept in the living room with flashlights. If it helps them sleep, then I guess I'm okay with it.

Birds, Spiders, and Toads. Oh my!

2008-06-06T10:31:00.012-05:00

Ok, so we live in a neighborhood, but we're out in the country. We've seen a lot of wildlife in our yard this year. Here are a few pictures that we've taken in just the last week alone.

There were two beautiful cardinals being very busy in our back yard. Here's what they were busy doing...

Isn't it a perfect little nest, with one perfect little egg? Wait a minute. Where's the tree? I thought most birds preferred trees for their nests. Apparently not, since this is the second nest we've found in this hanging basket this month. It's sad though. Both times the birds have built their nests, laid their eggs, and not returned. They were different kinds of birds each time. We have some swallows in our front yard using our porch to build a mud nest. They've done this before. We somehow manage to attract birds without trying. We don't feed them or anything. I guess we're just bird lovers at heart and they know it.

On to our next visitor. This spider was going into our garage and I'm really glad someone saw it before it made it further inside. Just look at this thing. It's a monster!

The kids marveled at it for hours. We determined that it wasn't an extremely dangerous spider, but it wasn't very nice either. Robert took the kids to the pond to let it go so it was far, far away. When he got it out of the jar, he said it jumped at him. Very scary! You have to look close to see the spider, but he's in there.

I think we may have an infestation here. We have toads all over our yard. We've left our doors open and found them in our living room and even in my bathroom. It's a little shocking to see one when you're really not expecting it. It's even worse to step on one when you're not expecting it....ewwww! Anyway, they're constantly everywhere in our yard. In fact, I didn't have pictures of any this morning when I decided to write this post and I just went out and found two immediately.

Besides the exciting creepy crawlies I've mentioned, we've also had fun things like a rather large snake, june bugs, fireflies, mosquitoes, mayflies, roly-polys, wasps, etc. Anyway, it's quite interesting to see all the animals and bugs who consider our yard and home their habitat. Where did I get off thinking it was my habitat?!?!

Finally, I take the plunge!

2008-06-01T20:56:00.003-05:00

Ok, after being asked over and over about my blog and why I haven't posted yet, I'm here to make my first post. I've procrastinated thinking I need to know everything about blogging before I start, but I've come to terms with the fact that if I try to do that, then I'll never start. I've also thought that it might take too much of my time, but I know that it doesn't have to take more than 10 or 15 minutes once a week and I don't have to go crazy with it, I just need to do it. I'm not good at journaling or scrapbooking, but I know I can handle this. There's no reason to wait and now everyone will get to enjoy my way cool posts! Not really, but I really want to share some of the things our family does and this is a fun way to do it.

This past week was a great week at our house. Something very rare happened. My parents came and visited and were able to stay for the whole week! We all loved it and were sad when they had to go home yesterday. They are such busy people and were grateful they could stay that long. They came because Jared was getting baptized. It's amazing to me that he's already 8. I think that might mean I'm getting old or something. We spent our days eating great (but very bad) food, playing games, and swimming in the pool. It was a great way to start off the summer and now everything else will pale in comparison. I'll have to get creative to keep the kids busy.

I'm so proud of Jared and his decision to get baptized. He's becoming so mature and is making really good choices. Of course he's still an 8 year-old and does act like it, but I've seen him be consciously aware of some decisions he's made. It makes me happy to watch him grow up. I'm also very happy with all of my kids. They are all great!

Fire Bowl

2008-05-06T17:59:00.001-05:00

(This post was written by Robert)

Ok, so I am not an outdoors kind of guy, you won't ever see me on a fishing TV show, I don't golf, and I never just sit outside for the fresh air. But the truth is, I like my back yard. I have 2 small trees back there. I have a nectarine tree, I got in a fist fight with it once because it laughed at me, (don't ask it's a long story) and a pear tree (non fruit and very tall). I have a trampoline for the kids and a swing set (it's getting older and I am getting more and more nervous that it will collapse). And now (thanks to my wife) I have a fire pit. I love it! It is big and round and I can park my keester out on the back porch with my laptop and Dutch Oven till my heart is content. And just to sweeten the deal, my wife bought me a can to heat up coals. We (Riley and Jared and I) spent some time getting the coals lit, but once that happened, the can stoked up the coals and we were baking in no time. I am not much of a Dutch Oven chef yet, but we put some chicken quarters in, 8 coals on the bottom and about 15 on the top, waited 45 minutes, a little salt, a little pepper and voila, dinner. Laura correctly pointed out she could have done the same thing in the oven in our kitchen, and I sarcastically responded "Uh, that's why its called a Dutch OVEN!". She, again correctly pointed out, that it wasn't really worth the time. But, I look at it as a hobby and what hobby is really worth the time? Golf? Reading? Model Airplanes? No, it's okay to have a stupid, do something fun, cost hardly nuthin, keep the kids busy, get to eat it later... hobby. Later this week I am going to try some cobbler, and if she is realllllly nice, I might slide her an extra piece.

Jared's Birthday

2008-05-05T19:39:00.001-05:00

(This post was written by Robert)

Normally we start each child's birthday with breakfast in bed. But his birthday falls on Sunday (Fast Sunday) so we were going to do it on Saturday...... great intentions... but we forgot... (Sorry Jared...) But he did get French toast and he wanted to make it himself, so he was even happier. We worked hard to get the house ready for the party. Rooms cleaned, kitchen done, cupcakes made, garage cleaned out. Around lunch time I took off for an hour or so to play the piano at the church (it is soooo nice to have a key). I have been playing Phantom of the Opera and getting better at it. Laura bought me a Michael McLean book and that has been fun too. It's funny, Michael McLean is MORE difficult than Phantom. Even though Phantom has some key changes that should be outlawed (5 flats to 4 sharps, then back to 2 flats all on one page!!!!!!! At that point Andrew Lloyd Webber is simply showing off...) When I got back Laura had set up small workstations in the garage. Each child had a baggie of marshmallows and toothpicks. Their goodie bags were all aragned neatly on the side and all the stuff was ready to go. Some kids arrived and I showed them the microscope that we had set up. There is a water retention pond just around the corner and I scooped up a gallon of moss water and decided to see what critters we could see.I found this site that talks about pond critters...

Anniversary

2008-05-05T19:37:00.004-05:00

(This post was written by Robert)

We have been so busy that it was rather low key. We went to Cowboy Sharkies. My steak was far too rare. I am never picky, and this is the first time I have ever sent something back, but this was really bad. Laura got the fettuccini alfredo, and there were not enough noodles. It was like fettuccini soup. We also got the stuffed jalapeno peppers wrapped in bacon. The bacon was near rare as well. It had good taste but near impossible to eat. My salad was good, I asked for blue cheese dressing (very much an acquired taste) and it came with it, but I asked for more dressing and got ranch. Sigh, at least the conversation was good....Then we went to Best Buy. For Laura's gift I wanted to give her a picture frame that cycled photos for her office. We looked at them and it was $200 for a 7" display and it only had 150MB (I think...) of memory. That isn't near enough for the amount of pictures that we have. We both looked at it and decided we could get another 19" flat screen monitor for her desk and that would suffice. We also looked at mounting brackets for speakers and found that they are much more expensive than I first thought. Ok.... things are not going so well. Laura got me a fire bowl for the back yard. I have wanted one for a long time. I will be cooking Dutch oven .... something... in it tonight for dinner. We have a Father and Sons' camp out coming up this weekend and I want to Dutch oven.... so I thought it only wise to practice at least one dinner in it before we go. Then we went to Freshberry http://www.freshberry.net/ That was good. I love frozen yogurt and this placed opened up just down the street. Okay it's on 111'th so it is 2 miles from Yale to Memorial, then 4 miles from 151'st to 111'th but, in Tulsa miles, it's right next door. All in all it was the end of a busy week, getting ready for a very busy tomorrow (Jared's 8th birthday).

It Is Never Simple....

2008-05-01T18:24:00.002-05:00

(This post was written by Robert)

The first of May seems like a good time to start writing. Spring is in full force... The kids will be out of school soon...Saturdays are jam packed with shopping, errands, yard work and the occasional nap (very occasional...). Wife is busy making prep for a birthday party for Jared (turning 8). Most moms would simply get a cake and frost it. That is NOT Laura. Lets see, she

Made (by herself) aprons for the experiments
Got the microscope out
Spent the afternoon shopping for beakers to be sealed to mix colored water and oil
Making slime out of Borax soap and Elmer's
Pop rock gum candy
Had me go to Wal-mart to get film canisters (remember the old 35mm kind?) so she can fill with water and an alka-seltzer (impressive boom for 8 yr olds)
Got Diet Pepsi and a thing of Mentos (supposed to be cool)
Glued two 2 liter bottles together by the neck, so they drained the water into each other, making a cool tornado
A baking soda volcano...
Baking soda, food coloring and vinegar fun...
She is brave enough to let the kids decorate their cupcakes.

So, Jared is very excited.

We got the Tennis Shoes among the Nephite series. The CD's for books 6 - 10. Fairly hefty. I ripped books 6 and 7 tonight. Jared and the rest of the family will love it.

Jared will be baptized in a few weeks. We are very excited.

I could add more but brevity is....