Swim Party! - Wed, July 4, 10 AM - Lunch - EVERYONE INVITED

We're not going to Provo for 4th of July this year, so the party is in our pretty much done backyard.
ALL of you loyal blog readers are invited to come over and swim and then bbq/grill for lunch.
The goal is to wear out the kids so they WILL take a nap in the afternoon so that they can stay up late enough for fireworks without being too cranky.
TJ and I already have tickets for the Transformers movie on Wednesday afternoon - so anyone interested in joining us, go to movietickets.com - we're going to Superstition Springs Harkins 2:50 PM showing. You can use this code: PSPrime737 to preorder and waive the "service fee"


These are just some more underwater pics from swimming this afternoon.

More swimming

Heather is the most photogenic, even under the water - every picture turns out good. TJ did his best to go underwater for a picture.

Another Baseball Game

Just 1 week after the great Braves handling of the Red Sox in Atlanta I got to attend a DBacks/Dodgers game in Phoenix. This time it was with my best bud, TJ, and MY cousins, Logan and Daniel. TJ got his habitual $3.50 rice krispie treat and I got a picture of him eating it. Either the treats are getting smaller or TJ is getting bigger (or both). Logan and Daniel played gameboy most of the game - but at least they were out of the house, their mothers tell me. Their favorite part was driving home after the game in the Mini with the top down on the freeway. I thought the pics here turned out pretty well considering they were taken with my phone. Oh, and the Dodgers won 8 to 1. TJ says he is considering becoming a Dodgers fan now :(

Hard at work

So, these are the "slackers" I work with.
David is sitting on the couch he and I found on craigslist and picked up right out of some poor guy's television "den" because his wife wants a sleeper sofa so the grandkids can sleep on it one night a month when they visit. We put the couch in our office across from our desks - it has recliners on both sides and makes for a great place to relax and refocus (or talk to a client on the phone).
Tim is taking notes here during a meeting that we flew across the country to go to. You may notice that his pen isn't even open. After I took this picture I picture shared it to his phone (next to his right hand) to wake him up. I'm sure he was listening well with his eyes closed!

Heather Swims!

Heather is a great swimmer after just 2 sessions (4 weeks) of swimming lessons! She even used some new fins yesterday to get across the pool really fast!

She can hold her breath long enough to get across the pool in just one breath. She's a good example for her brothers and for her cousins, who came over to swim yesterday afternoon. David and Sally were kind enough to dunk their daughters so we could take some underwater pics.

Me and the kids went swimming twice yesterday and ended up a little red. In between swimming we went to the McDonald's inside of Walmart and walked around Walmart while Susan got her hair "blonded." When we got home, Susan was already there, and TJ said "Mom, you look pretty, just like the girls in the Walmart ads!" - Susan said "Thanks, I think" :) Toby was the big eater at McD's - he ate two servings of apple dippers and half of my french fries and some of Heather's chicken nuggets!

Oh, and TJ and Heather and I went to the movies - we were going to see "Surf's Up" - but it was sold out - so we ended up at "Evan Almighty" which was actually pretty good! TJ was even looking up bible scriptures from the movie during church today.

Atlanta Trip

So, I spent Father's Day and my Birthday on the other side of the country. The highlight of the trip was attending the Braves/Red Sox game on Monday night - and the Braves won! It was a great game and we (my brother David and fellow AFTCO analyst Doug Jr from Houston - oh and the Bank of America representative that footed the bill, Doug t0o). There were something like five home runs, some rain, and lots of great plays.

Toby was especially glad to see me come home - I guess he is at the age where he starts to notice when things change, but doesn't know which changes are permanent or not. Susan says she's tired of having me home already, but I think she is just joking (!?!)

We learned some stuff at the 3 days of meetings - but it sured seemed like a lot of work to be 3 time zones away and sit through lectures. At least it makes me appreciate what I have - both in family and work.

Oh, we also went to the Coca Cola Factory/Museum - my mother-in-law should definitely go there sometime :)

I'm just anxious to get my body clock reset back to AZ time!

Heather Mermaid

Swimming Time

what are brothers in law for? In Marie's case, I'm just here to tease her. I'm sure she'll appreciate a swimming picture - at least I didn't take an underwater pic - not that I didn't try. She says that she only has two responses for me - she'll either laugh or roll her eyes when I say or do something. I hope she's laughing at this and not rolling her eyes.

Under Attack!

So, we were invaded last weekend. Susan's sister, husband and 4 kids (all younger than TJ) came to visit. They're on their way from Virginia to Guam. Quite a trip. They have to do what the Navy tells them, they say.

The kids had a blast playing together - Heather with Harmony (finally a "sister" for both of them), TJ had two followers in Connor and Ethan (lego star wars was a hit for them), and Toby had Ivan (both calling each other babys and making messes - Toby especially liked commenting on Ivan's messy face when he eats).

The highlight, I thought, was when I came home for lunch Monday and got the kids to clean the house while Susan and Marie were doing retail therapy together. The cleaning, of course, was in exchange for swimming (they chose swimming over going to the lake for jetskiing! Ben was bummed). Later, they got ice cream in exchange for running a lap around the house. Good thing it was a rare cool day in June yesterday.

We enjoyed their visit and hope they'll come again - in two years ;)

Got the Plate

The license plate finally came. Funny how they charge an annual fee, then it takes a month to actually send out the plate - seems I should get a month's credit? It looks good, though - thanks for the help in namin' the little car.

Toby helped mount the license plate - he found two mismatched gloves and was wearing them around the garage. It was surprisingly cool today, so me and the kids enjoyed some outdoor time on the bikes.

Cub Scout Day Camp

If you follow Susan's blog - she went to Day Camp on Fri evening - and she signed me up to go Saturday morning. Lucky for us, it was cloudy and not too hot.

This is a view of our chapel from the cow pasture next to it. It smelled bad. We launched paper rockets with 40 psi of air. TJ's rocket was perfectly balanced and spun high into the air.

Our neighbor, Dawn, got to lead all of the cub scouts in a congo line to the donut table at snack time. She wasn't happy that we were taking pictures of her and 60 boys attached to her.
One of the stations the boys went to was a drama station where they made scenery, masks, costumes, and did a skit. TJ is on the far right with his mask on. Dancing in front are his friends Taylor and Walker. When they are teenagers I'm going to show them these pics.