Masquerade and be sure to know your own limits

Another few weeks and here I am again at the computer looking over the pics and seeing what we have done in the past few weeks.  Fortunately I have a lot of pics to choose from.

We have been taking a lot of pics of James lately

He loves to pull himself up on things and stand

The other night we were eating dinner and Brenda spotted a deer in the backyard.  We have seen lots of "sign" of deer, but this is the first one we have seen on our actual property.

I got a week and a half ago to go out to Billings for some urgent sampling needs so off I went.  I left on Saturday and was back on Wednesday.  In the meantime my rents were on their way to Bozeman so my dad could have a final interview for a position at Manhattan Christian.  They stopped by the house on the way and were able to keep Brenda and James occupied (the former is usually harder than the  latter).  Good news is my dad got the job and now they are going to be moving there in a few months.  I can't wait to visit them there and explore that area more.

James thought playing with my dads pen was the funniest thing ever.

Getting back home after just four days and I think the kid lost some weight.  Brenda and him both got violently ill as I did two weeks before that and he really slimmed down.

Then it was back to work.  For those of you who are concerned that I have girled up and have taken to reading the directions, let me assure you I have not.  I basically use the book as a reference to see how they think the bike should be put together and then I put it together my way and make notes where they were obviously wrong.

The bike is coming along nicely and I cannot wait to get it going.

James loves the camera and it is kind of hard to keep him away from it....I assume he got this from his mother.

Going on a bear hunt is a favorite right now.

Last weekend Friday we went to wedding of a couple in our lifegroup.  They wanted an alternative wedding with a theme of being "dramatic victorian".  Now this is something that I would not normally be into, but I think that the wedding went well and actually was a very good time.

They had masks for you for the masquerade ball reception.  Here are a few other girls in our small group.

They call me the golden bandito, stealing hearts one at a time.   James must have wanted a turn as well.

Our friend Laura made her own mask by knitting it...she did a great job.

James got a chocolate mask

The throne and the ladies.

Note Brenda rocking in the background.

Classic Brenda dancing technique....hot.

Sunday it was 60+ so we went to the park.

I was not feeling great on Saturday morning and my stomach was killing me so I took it easy.  Sunday was the same so I actually took 2 naps and tried to stay immobile.  The pain during the night was too much though so Monday I went to the doctor to figure out what it was.  It was not a normal stomach pain and I thought it may be my appendix.  Well after a bunch of tests and going to an ultrasound it is official....I am not pregnant.  I did however have some sort of hernia.  It was one of those "you know your getting old when..." moments.  Good news, all in all though since it actually felt great today.  So, I started thinking what could have caused it?   I have not been doing a heck of a lot of lifting lately, but then it hit me.  Recently I changed to 16oz can of Keystone from my normal 12oz....eureka!!!!!  I am going to switch back immediately and hopefully it will not happen again.

The 16oz can strikes again.  Note to self, my limit is 12oz.

Ooooppps

Life has been pretty normal and I think sometimes when it is that way we forget to take pictures of the things we do.  Last weekend Brendas folks were out here along with some other friends for the Washington State B basketball tourney.  It was great to have them out here and we actually got to go to a game and have some classic high school basketball fun.

The week before that I was out of town for work and just happened to get the stomach flu.  Sweet, puking at the job site is a great way to start off the week and loose weight at the same time.  That may have been the worst week of work ever.

Ben and Laura gave us the great toy in the background of this picture.  We went to see them a while ago since I had to drive to Sunnyside for a short job and it was nice to see them.

James is very happy and always is ready for a game of hide and seek.

We were messing around the other day right before our small groups came over and then it happened.....James fell, or more accurately, I dropped him and man did he cry.  Big ooooppppss.  I felt like a idiot and about the worst dad in the whole world.  He looked ok, but was acting a little off.  A nurse in our small groups soon arrived and assessed the situation.  Seemed to be fine, but then it happened, he puked.  Classic sign of a concussion.  After he puked he was much more like himself and actually smiled and seemed like himself, but the puking concerned us.  So off we went for James's first trip to the ER.  He was checked out and monitored for a hour, but they thought he was fine and sent us back home.  Close call, but I guess parenting is about learning and I will have to tone down the roughhouse a bit, and be way more careful. 

I want to have the bike done soon so I got on making the bars.

And then I got some new rubber to get the bike ready for the road.

Valentines Dinner

Everyone knows that valentines day is a way to make you spend money.  I head that the average someone spends on a loved one on VDay is like 120 bucks.  Luckily for me, I have set the bar pretty low and now have a wife with realistic expectation.  That being said, my friend Chris thought we should put a dinner together last Sat. to let our wives know we care.  Since I had to work all day Saturday he was in charge of the shopping and then we would make the meal when I got back.

The mood was set and we really were in for a treat.

Always a favorite is scallops.  I have never really made these before and had them turn out good, but Chris had a system and scallops on a bed of leeks with a vinaigrette dressing was absolutely amazing.

Then we brought out the racks of Lamb.  I had never made this either, but found a recipe that I thought would work and it turned out so tender and juicy.  I had lamb one other time in CA and it cost like 40 bucks and I got food poisoning from it so this was a refreshing change.  Although it is a bit pricey to buy yourself, it was well worth it for a special event. 

We also had gorgonzola/pear/candied pecan salad.  Making the candied pecans was not that hard, and the salad was again....very good.

Bacon wrapped asparagus....need I say more.  Oh ya, dessert was Creme Brulee, which Chris did a great job with since it had to be made ahead of time.

This was by far the best meal I had ever had, and I actually made it. I have eaten out  at some nice places with Kobe and lobster and other pricey/delicious foods, but I would choose this meal hands down as the best ever.

This week I was home every night except for Valetines day.

James usually get a bath after dinner, and since I was home this week I got to do the honors.

I think his butt is red from being pinched to many times...it is so cute and I cannot resist.

He has a cold now and is coughing all of the time, but with his 9 month checkup on monday, we have elected to wait till then.  I fugure he will get over it eventually

So Cute.

This past week I got the frame and misc parts ready for paint. It took a few more cans than I thought it would, but I think that the final product is very strong and looks great (see below pics). 

Yes, motorcycle frames can be sexy.

I also got the engine mostly polished up and back together.  Notice the WD40 and the hammer, my two favorate tools.

An this is what the thing looks like currently....yes, sexy again.  I know there are a lot of odds and ends to complete and it will take a lot of time yet, but I was excited all the same to see what it looks like now.

Out to the San Juans

The weather  could not have been any better this past weekend as we headed out to the west side for some fun in the sun.  There was hardly a cloud in the sky all weekend which made for a great time visiting the rents. 

James is really loving pulling himself up and getting into everything.  He also seems to have some remnants of sweet potatoes on his face in this pic.

The classic flannel shirt which allows him to fit into the Greenacres cutting edge redneck scene.

We arrived on Friday and headed out to Friday Harbor on the ferry on Saturday.

You could see Mt. Baker and Mt. Rainier at the same time as well as the Canadian Cascades and the Olympic mountains...it was as clear as could be.

James enjoyed the ferry and we always have a good time watching it dock and the cars load and unload.  It would be a great job to be a captain of one of these ships.

Another cute kid pic.

Brenda enjoys the scenery as well as the sun...she was almost getting as white as me this winter....me in summer that is.

We kept pinching ourselves thinking"is this really February?"

James getting a ride from Grandpa

Another stellar view

The grandparents.

We got a chance to check out the local art scene.  I know there has got to be about a million similar photos out there...what were the people thinking would happen.  I also have yet to reach full maturity, but that may never happen.

Then after fun and games we re-enacted the cruise chip hitting land by crashing a giant solid chocolate cruise ship into my mouth.  This has been in my parents freezer for a long time....15yrs to be exact and it had to go.  I think it was from when my sister went on a cruise with some friends.  Didn't taste too bad, but most of it got thrown out.

I kept trying to get James used to this view, but not sure if it worked.  He did think it was quite funny though.