10 Years of Marriage...10 long years.

We had a great time a couple weeks ago when we had a chance to see Joel and Abby when they swung by good old Greenacres for lunch and then a run to CDA for a walk around the town.  They claim to have the longest continuous dock in the US or something like that so we had to go out on it.

James doing his best fantasy island impression.

Brenda and the boys

Then we got to see a bunch of cars at Car D'Alene which just so happen to be going on that weekend.  We had to get a picture of the two of them in front of this car because at their wedding they had the same car.

 

A couple weeks ago Brenda had a chance to go down to Sunnyside and see her family and visit with Whitney who was visiting from Minnesota.  I had a couple of work meetings that precluded me from participating, but they had a good time all the same.  Originally I had a lot of work scheduled for the Sunnyside area, but with all of scheduling and conflicts this work has reduced significantly more than I anticipated so all the plans I had of being down there for extended periods of time is now segmented to short stints.  That is how it goes with my job sometimes.  Two weeks ago I got a call on Friday and had to be in Salt Lake on Sunday (Fathers day) so off I went.  Got back on Monday, but that was the type of thing that happens more frequently than you might imagine.

Fathers day afternoon I got a chance to pick what I wanted to do.  Since I had to get on a plane that night, I had a case of the Mondays a day early and spent the day watching Phil throw away the US Open.

And here is a picture of the ladies when they went out for a night on the town.

Got a new phone for work and now I really feel like I have jumped into the future.  I now have a smartphone and got to take a few pics with it.  Here is Brenda testing the slides strength.

Matthew has started to get ticklish.

I finally got the hammock set up in the yard.

 

Brenda and I just got done celebrating our ten years of wedded bliss.  I know there were many naysayers out there, but alas I have been able to keep a woman somewhat satisfied for ten years now which is no small feat.

 

For our anniversary I had the great idea of going to a small shed in the middle of nowhere without running water or electricity.  This is when you know you have married the right one for you…she was totally game and had a blast.  Last Friday we headed out to Montana to visit a Fire Lookout for our anniversary. 

This one just so happened to be named Sex Peak….and no, I am not joking.  On the way we stopped and visited the hot springs in the area and although it was about 85 outside, we had a great time hanging out in the pool without any kiddo responsibilities.  Thanks to Jim and Jan for taking the rugrats off our hands and they had such a good time I think they were kind of sad we only stayed one night…the kids that is, not Jim and Jan.  Friday was so clear and nice we kind of wondered what the lookout would be like in a storm.

 

Just look at the view you get for $30 and a little planning.

Sunny and warm there.

We thought about going out to dinner, but with views like we had up there we had to plan on cooking up there.  Of course cooking during camping falls on me and I was more than happy to cook steaks, brussel sprouts, rice and bread.

The next morning we had a chance to see as a lightning and rain storm passed overhead.  We had a blast and are looking to visit another one in the future.

Summer is here

James had his second birthday party and I had forgotten to post a few of the pictures for everyone to see.  We had it again at the house and he shared the party with Noelle, his friend who turned 3.  Brenda loves to put these things on, but when she said we were going to have 40 people over I was a little shocked.  That shock wore off when I realized 10 of those are all part of the same family and over half of them would be kids.

Here is Matthew enjoying the party and a little attention.

 

Caterpillar cupcakes for the party.

James really had a good time blowing the candles out again and again.  Izumi brought trick candles and the kids really thought they were cool.

He was excited about a new to him book about cars.  The old book is very funny and one that I actually like to read through.

James and Noel having the time of their lives on the swing.

Matthew before church the other morning.

James on the same day...his shirt was clean and dry for almost 30 minutes, a new record.

I think he is playing with a balloon here, but also showing off the carhartt shirt.

 

With the weather nicer I found time to get the bike out on the town.  There was a cafe racer club meeting in CDA at a bar so last Tuesday I headed over there.  The bike ran good for about half the ride, but I am now having some electrical issues that need some major work.

Once I got back Matthew wanted a ride but settled for sitting on it and getting a picture taken.

 

The weather has been awesome and unseasonably warm. We have had a chance to go on the Centennial Trail a couple of times and also a chance to go on the Route of the Hiawatha.  We thought we would be tough this time and start at the end and go up and back.  We made it both directions and the boys did great, but we were very sore at the end of the ride.

There are like 9 tunnels on the route and a bunch of trestles as well.

James when we stopped for lunch. 

Matthew at the same time.  Both kids did great considering we rode for over 5 hours.

Obviously it was time for a nap, but as soon as we entered the 1.7 mile long tunnel he was right back up again.  Kind of hard to sleep when it is like 50 degrees.

Here is Brenda about ready to head into the tunnel.

James likes to hold Matthew as I have noted before, but it is just so darn cute.

 

Saturday Brenda was going to go to a girlfriends house to watch a movie or something so I took James to his first night at the race track.

We sat in the quieter section, but it was still really loud.  The races took a long time and we ended up not getting home till after 10:30, but he was still awake.

You can never have enough trucks, cars, or motorcycles.

 

That is about all that is going on here.  I know it is just a bunch of kiddo things, but that is how life goes nowadays.  Now its time to call Afghanistan for the 10th time today.  I guess you could say this is a little personal QC on the government I am conducting.  I think I should call Afghanistan and then Iraq and ask them to give money to my conservative group called "Conservative Christian Constitutional Protection of Marriage" of which I have applied for tax except status.....the perfect storm.  If you don't know what I am talking about you need to wake up.  Our government is corrupt(shocker) and being overrun by liberals.  Christianity is soon going to be classified as a hate group since it actually believes in a moral code of conduct.

SD for vacation

So we have been back for over a week from our trip to South Dakota to visit Brenda's sister's family and thought it was about time to let everyone know what went on.  When we got there I was starting to feel a bit under the weather and ended up with a sinus thing the entire time, but that is life.

 

On Saturday we got a chance to go and see Landon play in his soccer game.  It is the kind of league and age where they do not keep score, but I kept it all the same.  I think they won like 7 to 0 and Landon had two goals, so it was pretty fun.  The weather on the other hand was pretty cold and windy, it was actually quite a cold and miserable weather day, but that is only because we expected it to be warmer and neglected to bring all four seasons of clothing...we should have known better.

Landon posing in the normal soccer pose.  He was pretty good at soccer and paid very close attention unlike some of the other kids.

Landon had a train set with a remote control where you could go forward and back, but that was all he needed.  Notice the drool at the cool toys Landon had.

One day we just had to get outside and it was plenty windy so we thought it would be a good time letting the women and babies alone and getting out there to fly a few kites.  Turned out to be a perfect day for it and James's first time so we had a blast.

The kite at one point was actually pretty far up there and I was amazed that James was able to hold on when Landon let him have a chance.  Of course he also had to have a monster truck in the other hand, but that is standard.

Amazed at the height.

One day when Kevin was gone and the women needed a break I took the kiddos to the local park.  We had a good time, but I did have to reprimand a few teens for vulgar language...idiots.

James looking at the hole in the ground and being totally amazed.  I would have given my right arm for a fake snake to throw in the hole that day.

Look at those legs.  So cute and amazing.

The girls doing what girls do, roundoffs in the front yard.

James also made me a few sand cupcakes.  Landon and I were fake eating them and then James mimicked us, but actually ate some dirt.  Hilarious when your kid has sand all over his mouth and face.

Typical midwest front driveway sitting.

We loved hanging out in the driveway and chilling with the kids.

Hot air balloons came over the house one day and you can see it in the background.

You think this teeter totter is a little one sided.

Brothers kissing little brothers.

So the weather went from cold when we got there to one day it was like 94 and humid...seriously can't win sometimes.

Colleen came down to hang out one day as well.

Right after this picture Matthew grabbed his hair and just about scalped the kiddo.

Warm weather means time for sprinklers.

And of course drinking out of the hose which is a favorite of mine so I was glad to see my boy out there.

We also got to go and eat some lunch with Lindsey

All the cousins hanging out on the couch.  We had a great time and although I was feeling a bit under the weather and puked in the airport, the traveling was not as bad as it could have been.

Random picture of James hanging out on the stairs.

Matthew smiling like he does almost all of the time.

Happy birthday (he was 2 on the 20th) to James from aunt Tami.  Tee ball in the house is not a great idea on my part, but he is very good at batting.  I think we will have to move it outside.

Here I am with James riding the bike I built around the block.  Nothing like a cargo strap to function as a safety belt...pretty much awesome.