Christopher's 4th B-day Bash

Ok, Ok, I tried to plan some games (musical carpets, pop the balloon) for seven 4-year olds... right? What was I thinking, all they wanted to do was run around, scream and open presents! Glenn, Linnea and I just laughed... well, they did eat the pizza and the FIRE TRUCK CAKE was cool!

Soccer

I just had to throw this picture in for Eldon. I love his philosophy about soccer (see his blog).

Well I love to watch Logan play. I like to see him out on the field cruising along with his long legs. He likes to play defense. He stands back by the goal and as soon as the ball gets near the goal he boots it clear across the field. He has hit quite a few kids who have gotten right in front of him and not suspected such a powerful kick headed straight for them. . . oops.

The other great part about soccer is sitting back in the beautiful fall weather and chatting with other parents. So I guess it’s not just for the kids, it’s for us parents too so that we can fulfill our need to socialize.

Field Trip

This is my first attempt at blogging but it was so much fun reading Eldon’s and Heather’s that I wanted to give it a try.

This is a picture of Logan and Fiak. He’s parents are from Afghanistan. I got to go on a field trip with Logan’s class to a working ranch. They had a great museum there with all kinds of antiques. Our energetic (third generation owner of the ranch) tour guide kept all of our attention as she spoke about her several artifacts. We listened to four different nickelodeons. They’re like a player piano but with several instruments inside. She even played an old graphaphone. They also had an archeological site of Indian ruins. There was a large size home and a church. Only the walls and holes in the ground remain. It was pretty cool.

The bus ride was loud and exciting!

Mom and Dad visit

Usually when Mom and Dad visit we have some type of Event, a baby blessing or Baptism, that keeps us in a frenzied pace. But this visit was just for fun with no major event. Nevertheless off we went running around at a frenzied pace. So here is some of what we did.

They arrived on Friday afternoon and all 8 of us piled into the van for our Friday night at the beach thing. See my Blog for more about our Friday nights. The girls ran off to see a wedding party taking pictures on the beach and we sat around watching surfers and the occasional train that came roaring by.

It had been a cloudy day but we got a break just as the sun was going down which made for a cute couple shot. Did everyone remember their anniversary on Sept. 5th. 39 years!!

Below Mom has on Her jacket and My jacket and was still cold. A moist ocean breeze and she thinks she is in the middle of winter. I can just see the cold in her eyes.

On Saturday we joined the throngs at Soccer. Paige had the early round at 8am and then a long break until Kate at 3:30pm

In between the games the kids wanted to go hiking in the canyon behind the house. Mom and Dad agreed to come along. We always find something interesting on these hikes and this time we found an large ant covered in white fuzz. It was unique and quite exciting. From the vantage point below we had a nice cooling ocean breeze before heading back.

Then more soccer.

Of course we had to do some "cooking". This time it was Mindy who did her Beef and Pork ribs which turned out great. If that wasn't enough for one Saturday we also watched 4 football games I had recorded. Dad slept through a good portion of them though.

Sunday was church and then to the airport. Mom was a trooper and stayed home from church with Ryan who was sick so Mindy could go serve in Nursery with a bunch of other snotty nose kids.

Visits are great. I am so glad our kids are getting to know grandparents that can go on hikes and soccer games. You Arizona folks drag them out.

Lazy Sunday

Colorado has such strange weather! One minute it's warm and sunny and the next minute it's cold and sunny. It froze last night and we had to break out the quilts and blankets. It has been a lazy Sunday morning with warm comfy clothes and a warm breakfast. I feel like it should be Christmas but Mike reminds me that Arizona Christmas is not comparable to the rest of the country. We broke out the winter clothes from storage today and we're watching the cold fall winds swirl the falling leaves in the street. Thomas read The Reader's Digest on the bed while we got ready for church. What a nice lazy Sunday.

Soccer Sessions

As a new soccer season begins I have found that how my girls play soccer tells a lot about their personalities.

Paige has fun and plays hard the entire game. Excited for good plays, offense or defense. Playing goaling is no fun because all you do is stand there. What you see is what you get, always. Paige can in no way hide her emotions.

Kate, in contrast, needs some kind of motivation to really play. For the first half of her game she thought mom wasn't watching, but talking to the other moms. May have been true but... Then in the second half she realized that mom was watching so she scored the only two goals of the game and had the sidelines gabbing. What you see is what Kate wants you to see. Just as Kate has supreme control over her body as she plays, she also has complete control of emotions.

So while the kids get to run around and get the wiggles out, we get to site on the sidelines and psycho-analyze every kick and every glance in our direction.

Labor Day Weekend

For all my new blogging efforts I have a hard time remembering to take pictures!! So below is the only picture of a great weekend. My gauge of greatness is if I fall asleep at my desk on the first day back to work. And I did, maybe only a minute, but I was out!

Saturday
- Surfing
- Beach with Mindy's brother Craig and family
- BBQ, London Broil

Sunday
- Church changed from 8:30 am (our favorite) to 11 am (of the devil)

Monday
- Wake Boarding and Skurfing (Click Here)
- Neighbors pool all afternoon
- Impromptu BBQ of the best damn hamburgers (I have now mastered this one)

Testing, Testing

Ok, I think I'm finally getting the hang of this thing. Just testing some things out, let me see if I can figure out pictures. I'm still a little confused, I posted something (I guess it was the old Blogger instead of the beta Blogger) and the pictures didn't show up there. I hope I'm in the right place now.