A Bumper Crop

Well, this is a little out-dated, but we had a bumper crop of weeds this year. We got a lot of monsoon rain in July and August and the weeds just soaked it up. Here is a shot showing the difference between what I had weeded and what I hadn't. Michelle and the kids were really helpful this year cleaning things up. Just think, in a year or two I can just give this job to Rebecca and Tyler. Wishful thinking....

Seacliff Beach

While we were at Grandma and Grandpa's in July, we took their motorhome down to Seacliff beach and stayed for three days and two nights. We had a blast. The kids loved playing in the water and sand. Their cousins joined us for the first day as well. At the end of the day, we thought we were going to have to drag Tyler out of the water kicking and screaming. The only thing that helped us out is the fog rolled in and it got cold.


While we were there a school of fish came by and along with them came the birds. There were hundreds of them, probably thousands. The pictures don't do it justice. It was really amazing.

Nathan and Brayden were able to swim out and be amongst them all.

She is definitely a girl

Meagan was thrilled to have Grandma paint her nails. She is very girly in everything that she does. She has had a fetish for shoes since before she could walk and loves purses, hair accessories and now fingernail polish. Thanks Grandma!

Family Photos

In July we went to my parent's house and spent a week with them. It has always been the tradition when we visit to get pictures of the kids in front of Grandma's house before we go to church. I don't know how that tradtion started, it is probably just that Grandma want pictures of the kids in their Sunday clothes. Here are the best shots from this year.

The Shoe Cabinet

For Christmas 2007 my Dad made us a cabinet with four drawers to store all of our shoes in. He delivered it unfinished and my job was to paint it. It took us several weeks to decide on a final color and then it took several months for me to get it painted. I seemed to only have one weekend a month that I could actually work on it. It is a really dark blue and so it took several coats (4-5) before it was fully covered. It has its imperfections in the paint that probably I only know about, but overall I am very happy with it. It has sure helped to clean up the mess of shoes everywhere.

Tyler's Birthday

Tyler's real birthday is the day after Christmas. But really, who wants to celebrate their birthday then? So, we celebrate his half birthday in June. We alternate between family parties and friend parties and this year it was his family party. He came up with an extensive list of all the things that he wanted to do on his day and we were able to do all of them. He really wanted a pinata so Michelle helped him make one throughout the week prior to his big day. Then we all took turns beating it to a pulp. When all the candy fell, the only thing that Tyler picked up was the gum.

First Time at the Beach

After the first day at LEGOLAND we went to the beach and had a picnic dinner. It was the first time that Tyler and Meagan had ever been to the beach and the first time that Rebecca could remember. Meagan didn't like the sand and it took a while for her to get off of our laps.