0 points for creativity

Ryan came to me crying just now (not an unusual occurence) and when I asked him why, through the sobbing he told me, "'Cause I don't want my middle name to be Joseph!!"

"O.K." I said, "What do you want your middle name to be?"

"I don't know...maybe Snoopy or something."

I just love these kids.

Ode to Summer, Part Three

Ode to Friends and Fun

The last part of the end of summer Ode is for the friends we were able to see and the fun we had. I should have more pictures of friends and fun but I am not good about taking my camera places. I should have at least one picture of us at the new Aqua Adventure WaterPark at Lake Elizabeth since we had season passes and went there about once/week. Maybe in a future post.


Sommer and her kids (who are EXACTLY the same age and sex as our kids) came to visit!! They moved away several years ago and it was great to see them. It was a fun but quick afternoon.


Ashley and Mike and family also came back to Fremont this summer. It was fun to visit with them and go to the beach! Jacob and Ryan were sad not to see them more. It was nice to have several friends who have moved away come back and visit. I miss them!


A trip to the Oakland zoo with our zoo pals, the Cheethiralas. We love going to the zoo with them!
The joys of camping... At least the weather was warm for this trip. We went camping at the beach on Memorial Day and nearly froze (the parents, that is. The kids could've cared less about the cold. They had a great time with friends)


A final watermelon-face of summer. sigh.

Ode to Summer, Installment Two

Installment Two: Ode to Katy

Katy is gone back to Utah but this summer she did everything for us. She babysat, painted rooms, washed walls, cooked, cleaned, taught piano lessons, helped Ryan ride his two wheeler, tried to teach Alison to walk (she is almost there...) and was a naturalist. We definitely miss her but know that she will have an exciting year as she works toward her goal of becoming an RD. Here are our pictures for her of some summer events although I think she has more that she needs to send me....

Jacob's kindergarten graduation

Katy and Alison at a water park




Alison and her birthday cupcake

Jacob and Ryan before we painted their wall blue

Ryan riding his two wheeler

Ode to Summer, the three-part series

With school starting on Wednesday, I felt it was time to finally get some pictures up from our summer vacation. I am breaking up the end of summer blog into three parts, a trilogy, you might say.

Installment 1: Ode to Cousin Visits

We enjoyed visits from many cousins this summer. These were a highlight of our summer. Our kids wish that cousins could visit every day. With G & G S moving soon, our yearly flow of cousins may dry up. Hence, the ode to cousins blog. Enjoy the pictures.

*** Note: Boy on far left is not a cousin, just a friend.

A new twist on the company picnic

Today we are going to my company picnic at Coyote Ranch. On hearing the word ranch Ryan asked, "Will there be cows there?" When I told him no he said, "I want to see cow pies." I asked him if this was because they are big and he replied, "No because they are stinky. Cow pies are my favorite kind of poo and my poo is my second favorite."
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A couple recent quotes

Upon learning two teenagers he knows are now dating Jacob said, "I bet they are going to get married. " I replied I didn't think so. Jacob thought about it and then asked, "Is it because he has glasses?"

Tonight I was watching TV when a commercial for the Octomom special came on. Ryan walked through and astutely observed, "That's toooo many babies. "
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Blogging from Stake conference: a new low for John.

So I'm out in the car with a sleeping baby for the last ten minutes of stake conference and thought I'd share a funny story from this morning.

While I was getting ready this morning I heard yelling and crying from the general direction of the boys. Apparently they had been wrestling and one of Ryan's toe nails scraped off a thin line of skin on one of Jacob's toes. No perceptible blood.
So this has Jacob totally immobilized and whining during the ritual pre-church scramble. After Suzy had had enough, she told Jacob to go show me his toe. After finally getting a look at the laceration behind all the drama, I couldn't help but laugh and ask Jacob what he wanted me to do about it (thinking nothing needed to be done). He replied in a very dramatic voice, "I don't KNOW!!!" To this I responded, "I guess I'll just have to cut it off."
To which Jacob yelled, "NOOO! I want to LIVE!!!"
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