Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom...

The other day I went over to Rusty and Megan's house to move their washer and dryer from the garage into the laundry room (Megan and Jen had just painted it)

When I arrived, I rang the doorbell...Rusty answered and I said, "You've got frogs".

(On two sides of their house they have wetlands...on the East side of their house they have a little lake). He agreed and acknowledged the pond. Pointing at the door, I said, "No, look at the door, you have frogs." There were four frogs climbing up the door and three more on the ground in front of the door. We plucked them off and threw them in the grass.

Then we went into the garage...I looked down on the floor and there was a small salamander crawling across the garage floor. There had been a box on the front porch for a couple days and we moved it to the garage. I think the salamander hitched a ride in the box.

* The largest frog was about 2 inches long and the salamander was 3-4 inches long

Life IS good!

First of all the picture is hung straight...the picture was taken crooked...
Jen's depression has taken a monster turn for the better.
The past few months have been a roller coaster ride with a lot more downs than ups
Two weeks ago, we hit rock bottom...Jen with her worst days ever and me not knowing what to do. Jen picked me up from work and I asked how her day had been...she had just come from her therapist...The conversation could be summed up into one word Despair...very few words, a lot of concern and very few answers. When it came down to what we could do, what our options were, what other things we could try - we were already scaping the bucket...we had tried multiple combinations of various medications. We were in the middle of another change.
The next day I asked Rusty to come over and help give Jen a blessing (his first - which was special all by itself)...
The next day...Jen picked me up from work and the familiar conversation started again..."How was your day?". Her response was, "Today was a good day." "...best day for a long, long, time." I asked how long it had been since she had felt this good --before Thanksgiving.
Every day since has been the difference of night and day...Jen has been goofy and happy and energenic, bouncy, bubbly...I think you get the picture.
The picture went up at the end of the first week of happiness...ironic huh?
It's good to have Jennifer back...no, it's GREAT to have Jennifer back

And the award goes to...

Today I received a service award for my contributions to Athletic / Activities in our league. GSHL stands for Greater Saint Helens League. We have 3 different divisions 2A 3A and 4A which consist of about around 16 different high schools.
Each of the schools in the league honored a volunteer...there were booster volunteers, field managers, over the top helpful parents, etc...
Our Athletic Director presented me with the award because of all my help to her (it is her first year), my work with Athletic boosters, helping hire a football coach, working with the city to get a new reader board, and for my willing to be the voice of the tigers until the day I die.

Peter Knows how to PARTY!!!!

Is that a PARTY HAT Peter (Tom Hanks)?

No?

Jen made a present for a couple in our ward who are having a baby boy. 

They are PEE CUPS. 

Protection for when you are changing the baby and don't wish to get sprayed.

No...really!

Happy Birthday Dad

"In life you get to meet some heroes, and he was a hero," Tom Field said of former CSU faculty member Robert E. Taylor

here are some things that I inherited from my dad...

• I mix my cereal. I cannot just pour one type of cereal in a bowl and eat it. It must be 2-3 different kinds.
• I fall asleep in an easy chair. It doesn’t take much and BOOM I am out…maybe with a little snore...can't tell- I'm asleep
• I don’t take medicine unless I have too. I am not a big aspirin/Tylenol person. The headache will leave eventually.
• I hate nose hairs, especially my own. I struggle with them just like he did. They make me sneeze. Trimmers don’t work the best either.
• I see myself making the same facial expressions he made and then thinking – yep I remember that expression.
• I drive a stick like he did…not pushing the acceleration, not wrapping up the RPMs, and staying close to the speed limit. As a teenage I could never understand why he drove the way he did - 30 years later, I do.
• Soda Pop and ice cream…love them both. He loved 7-up and Sprite...me? I breath diet Pepsi
• Love of the gospel, the scriptures, and words of the modern prophets.
• Allowing children to experience consequences. He was always wanting to know where I was going and what was my plan. But he wasn't so restrictive that I felt too confined. I got to receive the consequences, feel the joy and deal with the pain. I find myself dealing with my kids the way I remember him deal with me. I am always there for advice.
• I can be serious, but I prefer to be goofy.
• I can enjoy music in the car and there doesn’t even need to be a radio…coo-coo-ca-choo, Mrs. Robinson how are you today?
• Beef. I can’t get enough. I can pick out the perfect steak, cook it to perfection, and then enjoy every bite.
• Love and concern for other. Never a me first. It's "what do you want"

I brag about my dad to friends, co-workers and various other people every chance I get.

I love him

I miss him

He is my hero...

Connor Schtuff...

Here lies Connor's stuff...under the piano we have his fire cadet full gear - including mask and tank.

On top of the piano we have origami flowers.

The helmet - Well, it's my 365 photo for the day.

Connor is loving fire cadets. The fire department just got access to an abandoned house. The cadets are currently using to train on finding people in a smoke filled house. While they are in full gear (including a special shield that covers their face so they cannot see) they go through various routines used to locate people in a fire. Their are no flames - just the face covers to simulate a smoke filled room. The house may be potential controlled burn.

The origami is Connor's latest hobby. He is taking Japanese as his foreign language. One of the classes they taught the students how to fold the ever popular crane. Connor asked if he could have extra paper and took one of each color. By the end of the day, he brought home 17 different colored cranes. He then learned how to make a multi-color dragon. We now have penguins, tigers, flowers, stars, bracelets etc.

Connor rolled his ankle today at school. We thought for sure it was going to broken, based on where the pain was - who knew there were ligament further up the foot. Thought for sure that meant a delay in rugby (see post below if you missed it). He sent a text to his coach about his injury. The coach's only response back was "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah". Connor later called him and told him 7-10 days...Connor thinks less. Based on past experiences (elbows, hips, asthma, illness, bending poles with his face etc) we thought this would keep him out for a bit.

365...day 4 - Only 361 to go...

Last night was our Athletic Booster club meeting (held once a month). The years is getting closer and closer to coming to a close, thus ending a chapter in my book of life. I am resigning my post as President at the end of the school year.

This has been an education and I know more about high school athletics than I ever wanted to.

I have worked with 3 different athletic directors now. I think the one that is there will be so for a while.

I was also asked last night to be part of the hiring panel for the new varsity football coach.

I will continue to be the voice of the tigers (announcing Boys Football and Boys Basketball). I enjoy doing it...and I think the fans enjoy it too. It was funny last week, I was at the high school with a group of football parents. One of them commented on how good the football announcer was. I agreed with '...best one they've had since I lived here'...then I walked away. I heard one of the other parents say, "He's the football announcer."

The pic is my sweatshirt I bought from us.