Bean's Big Baseball Bash

I've always said that Kate deserves a lot of credit for the effort she puts in to our kids' birthdays and holidays. She always downplays the effort, claiming that she does nothing special. She and I will disagree on that point especially after yesterday. Kate worked hard to pull Bean's 4th birthday party together. To employ some baseball parlance, Kate hit this one out of the park. Lauren is into sports, and since we did a basketball birthday last year, we went with a baseball theme this year. We went with Mexican food, since we weren't in the mood to barbeque burgers and dogs again. Kate spent most of the party making tortillas on the griddle. This after spending all day (and part of the previous day) making cakes, cupcakes, Cafe Rio salad dressing and chicken, as well as her apple dumplings. Bean absolutely loved all of her birthday presents. Except for one. She opened an outfit Kate and I geve her, looked at it and very matter of factly said, "I don't like that." Say what you will about Bean, she's honest.


Kate was worried that no one would be able to tell what was portrayed on top of Bean's cake. I told her that anyone who didn't had been beaned by too many fastballs...

Bean decided to sing Happy Birthday to herself, and even brought the microphone...

Some jerk (me) overbaked the cupcakes, so if you tried to pull the 6-4-3 double play with them you would end up with a balk...

The party coincided with the final game of a 4 game series between the Yankees and the Red Sox. Derek and the boys delivered a win for the Bronx Bombers, and later dedicated the last game of the series sweep to Lauren.

This was the first year we used a real bat for the pinata. And after some near misses and a couple of 'foul balls' it will be our last...

Kate was worried that the pinata would break too easily, so she reinforced it. So much so that she had to break out her 'big guns' and go 'Albert Pujols on it.

The pinata was as big as Barry Bonds' head...

It was a great party. A good time was had by all. Bean was so tired after the party that she fell asleep without even taking off her new Yankees Crocs. She and Kate expended so much energy on the party I may have put both of them on the DL for a while...

Pioneers, Parades and Peril

Last weekend we celebrated the hard work and sacrifices of the pioneers who settled the Salt Lake Valley by taking a day off work and stuffing our faces. As usual I took the kids to the parade on the morning of the 24th. It was plenty hot, and the nice lady in front of us put up a giant umbrella that gave her and her kids some great shade, and completely blocked our view of the floats and horse poop. She got a little irritated when my kids began to crowd around her, trying to see, but as you might imagine, I did nothin about it. Last year the parade started with an F-16 flyover. So many people complained about the afterburner that rattled windows and made little kids cry that they changed things up. Instead we were treated to a flyover from a KC-135 refueling tanker. It was somewhat of a letdown.

As you can see, Bean didn't really get into the parade...

Whitney was the only smart one, finding a shady area to watch the parade.

You may recall this picture from last year of Samantha enjoying the fireworks.


Contrast that picture with this one from this year, in which Patrick had to hunker down while Jeff tried to make the neighborhood look like a war zone...

As usual, Paul came to the barbecue at Alley's house loaded with glow in the dark toys for all of the kids. It was a great time, and no limbs or eyeballs were lost...this year...

A Short Trip

Yesterday I completed my class on Public Policy and AIDS. After sitting in the library for 8 hours and finishing with a final exam I took my kids up to Tanner's Flat campground to see the family. Chas is heading back to Hawaii next week, so this weekend was the only time they had to get a camp trip in. By the time I got up there we only had a couple of daylight hours left. While the girls made s'mores Patrick and I went on a short hike. He did really well for a short little guy. I was happy to see how much he enjoys hiking. A chip off the old block...

We didn't stay overnight, because I had to teach in church today. But it was a nice relaxing evening.

Uh, Whit, your marshmallows are on fire...

I would like to commission a study about how many marshmallows are actually eaten as opposed to those that just end up in the fire.

Patrick was kind enough to stop every once in a while to wait up for me.

This just really pisses me off.

In case you're wondering, yes, he is hiking with flip flops on...

11 Years and Counting

Last night Kate and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary. We kind of made a big deal about it. The first half of this year has been a major challenge, with my school schedule, our work schedules, Kate's health, the girls, Froggy getting smashed, and everything else. We both feel that we have handled everything pretty well. So we decided to have a special evening. Plus, it was a milestone anniversary, being 10 years since our temple sealing. Kate bought a beautiful new dress. Being the bonehead that I am, I didn't bring a camera along to get pictures of her in her dress. But I will post pictures as soon as I can get them. We spent the evening at Franck's Restaurant in Holladay. It is a beautiful place with excellent food. I will be sure to go there again. But not before I can save up some money. It was a very relaxing evening, and I was able to dwell on how lucky I am that Kate said 'yes' so many years ago. When I think about it, it doesn't seem like 11 years. It has gone by fast. And yet I can't remember what life was like before she and I were together. I know I am getting mushy, so I will stop now. But if you go to Franck's, get the halibut.

Check out the whole menu:

Independence Day 2009

In honor of Froggy, and in an attempt to get rid of the stain in the street, we decided to light all of this year's fireworks on the spot where she was killed. We didn't get rid of the stain, but the firework display was impressive.

Bean was glad that uncle Chas came to watch fireworks with us because he decided to wear his Yankees cap, instead of that awful BYU hat he wears...


When asked about the fireworks package that Kate bought, Whitney answered, "You picked a winner, mom!"


Samantha was "blown away" by her dad's great firework display




Literally...

Usually a picture is worth a thousand words. Thanks to Pat and Whit, this one is worth two.

The newlyweds (Shared and Kat) graced us with their presence.

Can you guess what happened about 10 seconds after this picture was taken (I'll give you a hint: Scott was glad Patrick decided to wear undies)

When you don't have pockets, improvise...

Next time you think about shaking hands with Kate, think twice. Firday as she was in the bathroom getting cleaned up, Bean came running in, stark naked. Seeing Bean naked is not a big deal, as she frequently sheds her burdensome clothing. As she entered the bathroom she proudly held up Kate's emerald ring. Taking the ring from Lauren, Kate asked "Where's my wedding ring?" She knew that Bean would have swiped both of them, since they had been on the dresser together. Bean answered "He he he! It's in my bum!" She then unclenched her butt cheeks, reached around, and produced the ring. When I heard this story I couldn't help but think of this classic movie moment...

The Graduate

Samantha was presented with her diploma from preschool. I can't believe that she will be in kindergarten next year. The kids are just getting too big to cuddle...

The Big Dog in the Ballpark

We brought home our new dog this week. Her name is Yankee. I'll bet you can't guess who named her. She is a purebred German Shepherd. She was born on Patrick's birthday, May 1st. Even though she is only eight weeks old she already dwarfs Blossom. And Blossom doesn't like the hyper little puppy. But then again, Eddie and Al don't like either dog.

Rain on my Parade

Last night was our ward's annual campout. We had a lot of fun and ate like kings. I was the first to arrive at the campground, and was able to snag the prime tent site. Shortly after dinner and just before the campfire program our friend Megan got a call from her husband, Scott, who was working in Taylorsville. He informed her that a half inch of hail had just dumped on Taylorsville and that the storm was headed our way. Moments later we were soaked by a cloud burst. There were about 80 people in the campsite at the time. All of those who were not planning to stay the night jumped in their cars and went home, leaving the cleanup of dinner to the handful of us who were planning on camping. It was a very neighborly gesture. I threw the Shirley kids in the tent and told them to wait until the storm was over.

The lighning was close and the thunder loud. The kids were getting scared so each time the light flashed I would yell 'Wow! That was awesome!' It seemed to work, because soon they began doing the same. Because I had picked such a great tent site, we were completely dry. We were the only ones. Soon I realized that my tent was the last one standing. So I helped Rex pack up all of his dutch ovens and cooking gear and load it into his trailer. I was still planning on staying, but I realized that Rex was leaving with the breakfast materials. I figured it was best to break camp while I still had some daylight, because if I waiting two hours and the rain hadn't abated, or if we got water in the tent, I would be breaking camp in the dark and alone. So we packed up and came home. By the time we got home (20 minutes) it was clear and beautiful. Figures. Oh well, better luck next time.

Get Your Head in the Game

This afternoon Francie called to inform me that Kyle Korver was at Harmon's signing autographs. My first thought was to wake Kate so we could run down there. But since she was working tonight I decided to let her sleep. I took the kids over (Whitney refused) and stood in line with them. He was very personable, joking with Patrick about his shirt that reads "Voted Most Likely to Squish Stuff". He even signed Lauren's autograph to 'Bean'. Now we'll see if he will even be back this year...

The Importance of Articulation

For the past several months Bean has responded to the question "What's your name?" with the response "Lauren Webster". We had no idea who Lauren Webster was. I assumed that she was a character from one of the many TV shows the kids watch. On the last day of school Lauren came home with a packet full of papers. Kate was going through the papers when Bean began to yell "Look! Look! Lauren Webster!" She was pointing to her name placard, which had the name "Lauren" on it. It also had a drawing of a lobster. As it turns out the teacher placed a drawing of an animal that started with the same letter as each child's name. It wasn't Lauren Webster after all. It was Lauren Lobster...

All Grown Up

It's been a week since Kate's 30th birthday party, and I am just now posting about it. I am ashamed. I created a video tribute to celebrate Kate, just as I did for Stretch's 60th birthday. However, because of the sheer size of the file I had trouble uploading it. So I had to break it up into three parts, compromising my artistic creativity. I also had some issues with YouTube and copyright issues, so I had to change the music a little, which should make Pat happy, since she complained about the awesome tunes I had attached. So enjoy.

Kate made some heavenly apple dumplings. Ingredients: sugar, butter, apples, dough, Mt. Dew and guilt.

The Air Force sent a KC-135 and a quartet of F-16s for a flyby to mark Kate's birthday. I thought that was very nice of them...

'Blossom' made her debut with the family that day. She is what Bean refers to as a 'chick-a-wah-wah' and she is our new canine.

Do you think Patrick and Josh coordinated their outfits? I really hope not...

And Beckie was her usual pleasant self...

I worried that the inclement weather would ruin the party, since my house is not big enough to hold 50 guests. But after a short shower things turned pretty nice. (And don't think I don't see that finger again Beckie!)

Of course that snooty, annoying little Omnibot had to come in to try to steal the show...

Hey robot! See that ring on Kate's left hand? That's right. Back away jerk.