Monday, December 22, 2008

Merry Christmas

We were later than normal getting the Christmas cards with accompanying year-end letter out this year. If you normally get one from us, fret not, for it is on its way. For those who live in town (to whom we don't send letters) or who are just impatient, you can read the letter here:


Photo from Christmas 2005.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Happiness


This photo may look relatively unspectacular (like my tan), but it's our favorite photo of the moment. As best we can tell, it's the very first photo of Seth in which he is both smiling genuinely and acknowledging the camera. Every time we see it, we're happy. And besides, he's dang cute.

Friday, December 5, 2008

An unwelcome visitor

We were relaxing tonight when we heard a noise in the garage and Stacey remembered that she had left the garage open. Here's who we saw when we opened the door.
This guy was not easily deterred, but I eventually got the trash upright and scared him out of the garage. The hatch on the van was still open from unloading groceries, so I had to go outside to where I had chased him and get the hatch closed before I could close the garage. He, of course, was back inside for another go, but with my sharp coon scaring skills, the good guys prevailed. Back to the Wii.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Thanksgiving weekend

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend. We spent a couple of nights at Stacey's parents' home, we ate well on Thursday and the moms did the 4am Black Friday thing. That afternoon we jumped in the minivan and headed for Avon/Beaver Creek, where my family had a couple of rooms at the Sheraton in Avon. Though we didn't ski (my Bro-in-law, Omar, did), we had a fabulous time. It snowed the whole time we were there--it was a veritable Winter Wonderland. We went to a nice tree-lighting ceremony at Beaver Creek on Friday evening. Right when Santa came out on the Zamboni, they cued the fireworks and the big snow began to fall. They couldn't have staged the snowfall any better. We caught a Gingerbread house display (competition) and enjoyed the evening, topping it off with a rousing game of Acquire, which I acquired for my B-Day (thanks to Stacey's mom!).

On Saturday we went out and did some sledding, followed by some swimming (we opted for the indoor pool), and closed with a couple of games (we like games!).










On Sunday we hit the bilingual Vail Branch for Sacrament Meeting, then we hit the road. This is where the weekend got really memorable. Between the continuous snowfall and the Thanksgiving traffic, the roads were ultrahorrible. It took us 2.5 hours to get from Avon to Dillon, a distance of 38 miles. When we pulled off in Dillon for a potty break, it came to our immediate attention that just getting back onto the Interstate was going to be a 90-minute, stop-and-go adventure. Decision time. Through sheer dumb luck (or maybe inspiration?), our potty break took us to a Borders bookstore directly across the street from the Comfort Suites. It didn't take long for those wheels to turn, and I ran across the (traffic-snarled) street and booked us a room. That may be one of the top five decisions I have ever made. Within a couple of hours, I-70 was closed, all the hotels in town were full, the red cross had set up a shelter in the rec center, and everyone on the road was miserable. Given Sarah's penchant for carsickness, we made the right choice. It took my poor sister and her family 9 hours and 45 minutes to get from Vail to Colo. Springs, a distance of 170 miles.

We, meanwhile, hung out at the bookstore for hours (quite fun, really), went swimming, bathed, and got some dinner at the Chimayo, where there was no line (though Ruby Tuesday's had a 90 minute wait). The icing on the cake was the serendipitous fact that the hotel room not only had the two queen beds, but also a hide-a-bed, which means that all six of us had a bed to sleep in.










The next morning we got up, had our continental breakfast waffles, and drove home in under two hours (which wouldn't even have gotten us the ten miles to the Eisenhower Tunnel the previous day). Sarah still got carsick, but all in all it was fabulous.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Sunday, November 16, 2008

The Fantastic Four


While we like to get family portraits every year, one of the main reasons that we do so is that they are the anti-school-picture (not the "anti-school" picture, but the...oh, you know what I mean!). We don't pay big bucks for mediocre photos of kids with messy hair that we have no control over selecting. We'd rather spend the money (often considerably less) for exactly what we want. Besides, now Seth's well-loved blanket is immortalized.

















There is no charge for attractiveness

My favorite line from Kung Fu Panda: "There is no charge for awesomeness. Or attractiveness."

Here's a sampling, at no cost to you, of our recently taken annual family portraits.
Yes, Mom, we have some prints for you.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Gryffindor's Sword










(Devin showed me how to add to the blog...I guess I have no excuses anymore--so here's my contribution) We are Harry Potter fans, no question. I love the books, the movies are OK...so when I was employed to make a Godric Gryffindor Sword cake for a birthday party I was very excited! Well...I went a little overboard for what the family could afford-but who cares, it was the SWORD of Godric Gryffindor--I couldn't have it be anything less than spectacular, that just means a little extra time. The hilt of the sword only took 4 hours to make. It is carved from floral foam to get just the right shape, then covered with fondant. The rubies were mined right here at the Michael's cave. There is a wizard, Griffin and Unicorn carved on the hilt and of course Godric's name is carved down the blade (made from foam board covered in fondant). The shadow box is the cake, cut in box form and covered with fondant. Wow! I was very happy with the product and excited to bring it to the birthday girl. I loaded the cake into the car, told the kids to get into the car and ran back into the house to turn off lights and close the door. The next thing I know, David is running into the house saying "Seth crawled through the cake!" I'm thinking "This had better be a joke!" I can't even begin to describe the stomach clenching, heart stopping, hair pulling experience as I looked at the destroyed cake for the party that would begin in 30 minutes. There were several foot marks through the cake, the sword hilt was broken in half. I screamed and cried (I'm embarrassed to say, so loud that my neighbors came out to see which child had been hit by a car.) Thankfully, one neighbor took care of the kids while the other neighbor helped me to save the cake. We took off all of the fondant, cut off the smashed pieces cake, re-rolled fondant and covered the smaller cake, fixed the sword--and it turned out alright. It only took 2 hours to fix. Thankfully, the party didn't need the cake for another hour after it was finally delivered but they were very happy to have it. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the destroyed cake--only the before and after pictures along with a picture of the table holding the scraps of cake that had been taken off. The moral of the story is: buckle the two year old in the car BEFORE putting the cake in the car.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween!






Lost October

OK, so I haven't done anything with the bloggg over the last month. It's not for lack wanting, but rather because the bloggg has been low on my priority list. Between an extraordinarily busy month at work, a case of the crud and a trip out of town, el bloggg hasn't gotten much love. I'm close to the point of actually getting Stacey to contribute something, and we have some recent photos and stories to share. Stay tuned!!!

Friday, September 26, 2008

Flashback Friday


I recently saw someone do a 'Flashback Friday' post, and I loved the idea so much that I figured I'd steal it (imitation is the sincerest form of flattery). We'll start with this photo of a young buck and his hot wife, ca. 1994. I know, she hasn't changed one bit (she's still smokin' hot) and I look much older. I also know that 'older' is code for bald and fat. But one must admit that we made a great-looking couple!

Monday, September 22, 2008

I'm not that kind of doctor

Warning: This is a rant. It likely has no value to anyone else but me.

I hate going to the doctor. It's not because I'm squeamish (though I am, a bit) or a phobia or stepping onto those lying scales or anything like unto it. It's the fact that every time I go to the doctor because of a persistent or worrisome condition that I can't diagnose myself, the response is invariably "Hmmm" or "Nope, nothing's wrong. Try Advil". That's worth the co-pay.

Back in June I had tonsilitis (something that I COULD diagnose based on the swollen tonsils with nasty white spots) and they gave me some antibiotics and the fever and nastiness went away. However, for the last three months, I've felt like I've had something stuck in my throat and my tonsils have still been a bit swollen. It makes wearing a necktie and singing the high notes especially uncomfortable. So, maybe five weeks ago I went back to my PCP(CNP) with the $30 copay and she said "'Hmmm'--here are some more antibiotics". Those didn't do diddly (they didn't even make my urine smell funny), so she referred me to an otorhinolaryngologist (ENT). So, I called and said "I want to see the ENT ASAP, OK?". Then the lady said, "No way, José" (she didn't really say those exact words--this is called "poetic license"). They had an availability a month later (good thing ear, nose and throat problems aren't serious or anything), which was Friday. So, I took the morning off, went to the hospital, paid my $40 copay and was led into the little room. To his credit, the doctor was punctual. It didn't take long to see why. I think that visit cost me $15/minute. The $70 diagnosis: There's nothing wrong with my throat that feels like it has something stuck in it. Try Zantac.

At least I got to stick my tongue out at him.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Rockies Win!!

We got to go to the Rockies game on Monday with our great Las Vegas friends, Blair, Dianne, Amy and Ken. It was a great day to sit on the first base line and get some sun (I only sunburned my knees!). We had the bonus of seeing the Rockies throw a shutout (not especially common at Coors Field). We're not holding our breath for another miracle run like last year, but it sure would be fun. Thanks for a great afternoon, guys!

Friday, August 29, 2008

Sweet Inspiration


Stacey's cake orders have been rolling in of late. She made this one for her cousin's baby shower, and it's so dang cute that I had to post a picture of it on the blog. Note the detail on the quilt.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

School has begun!

This is meltdown week the first week of school, which brings lots of excitement. We're enjoying the bit of quiet that it brings during the day, but the rest of the day is a bit tougher with all the tiredness, frustration, irritability, homework, paperwork and general crisis management. Hannah's now a kindergartener, though she's an 'afternooner' so the schedule hasn't bothered her much. We can't believe David's a seventh grader, taking Algebra no less. Sarah, our third grader, is in a combined 3rd/4th grade class that's doing a 4th grade curriculum. The jury's still out on whether that's a good thing (no complaints, we're just curious).Hannah and her good buddy Jackson
The girls set up a lemonade and cookie stand at our recent garage sale, as well as selling off a few of their less-played-with items. The result: A trip to Limited Too for some new clothes for Day One(with a little help from a pushover parent). David, of course, is saving his money for a purchase to be named later.Sarah all decked out and ready to go!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Lakeside 2008

Last week we made our annual "the-kids-earned-free-tickets-so-let's-go-to-Lakeside" trip. Lakeside is a 100-year-old amusement park with some really old rides (and a few new ones), but we love going once a year. Seth barely made the 36" minimum height and Hannah made the 42" minimum height for the bigger rides, so they had a lot of fun doing new things. David, on the other hand, is now too big for the kiddie rides, though he used Seth as a meal ticket to ride a few of them.









Monday, July 14, 2008

Fun at the lake

Ringer after ringer after ringer We just spent a long weekend at Lake McConaughy, just north of Ogallala, NE, with Stacey's parents and niece and nephew. We had a 1 1/2 days of good weather and a half day and night of really crummy (read: super windy) weather. All in all, a good time, and nobody got too sunburned. Hooray, SPF 50!

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

More Disney World stuff



Pardon the lack of sophistication on the layout here. I'm still figuring out how to post this blog stuff.I'm finding out that it's not really WYSIWYG. I also HATE that there's no "undo". I keep accidentally deleting photos and having to upload them again.

So, we took about 1600 photos while we were at WDW. Add that to the 1500 that Stacey's parents took, and that's a lot to sift through. Needless to say, we had a blast. Here's 1/457th of our photos.

The Toy Story Mania ride lived up to the hype. It's really cool. The queue area alone is worth the 20 minutes we spent in it. It's got life-sized game pieces and parts, as well as a giant interactive Mr. Potato Head, who has a pretty good comedy routine. The ride was spectacular as well.


The 10 days of playing were hard on us, but we managed to catch a few z's here and there.


Here's Sarah dancing with Goofy at the Illuminations Grand Gatherings Dinner (or something like that). We all dressed up in matching outfits with sweaters (in Orlando, FL, in May) and preened for the masses, who whispered loudly that we were "rich".





Hannah and Dad after taking the plunge on Splash Mountain. The wettest part is actually before you go up, because you wait right next to where others come down (and the geysers shoot up). Still, a thoroughly enjoyable ride.
Seth and Mommy on Goofy's barnstormer. With no line, we probably rode it half a dozen times (and Seth loved it!).





Devin got to drive really fast (about 120 mph behind the wheel, and about 150 in the passenger's seat). Pretty slick.