It's been awhile?

For all my sisters (in laws too.) who are blog maniacs and freak out when I don't update regularly I've just got 4 words for you...I HAVE A JOB.
That being said, it has been a LONG TIME. Especially when I downloaded 4 months worth of pictures from the camera. So here are some of the highlights/updates:

Christmas / Wii pictures:
Not sure how Melanie manages to look SO GOOD, whereas I haven't aged as well. I'm a lucky Man.

On December 23rd, Melanie's best friend Christi (Hart) Hales passed away. This was unexpected and sad. But through the knowledge we have of the Plan of our Heavenly Father, and the Resurrection, we take comfort in the knowledge we will see her again.

We drove up for the viewing and memorial service in Bartlesville, OK. The night of the viewing, I took our 4 kids and 4 of Christi and Robert's kids for Ice cream. You should have seen the looks I got at the Braum's when I walked in alone with 8 children in church clothes on a Friday night.


Natalie's 6th birthday party was...wait for it...a Princess Party.
Even Carson got into the spirit of things. "Look I'm down with the whole Princess look, but I still want my new Star Wars Jedi Fighter."

He's very secure in his masculinity. He may be onto something here, the hunter always blends in with his surroundings to sneak amongst his prey.


After Danny's team took first place in Football, he went and won first place in Basketball! He wears a legacy number.

Oh, by the way, Danny's Coach, Bishop Whitworth, is 6' 8" tall. Yes, Danny is now taller than his Mother.

Danny's Band also won...wait for it...FIRST PLACE at a band competition they were in. No Uncle Michael, not a "Battle of the Bands".

He's on a roll...I think I'm going to have him pick me some lottery numbers!


Natalie let me pull her first loose tooth!

And didn't even cry!

Jadi is playing Soccer again, and doing very well! Here she is on defense.

and on offense.
And defending against the Cheetahs top scorer.
This was a GREAT Saturday. Jadi had a game at 8:30 am, Natalie had a dance recital at 10:30 am and Carson had a game at 1:00 pm. We were ALL OVER Wylie.



Here's a video of the recital. (Just Natalie's dance.)




Carson LOVES SOCCER!
The Joy

The Pain.

The Treats.









Well that's a brief Summary of the last 6 months. If a picture truly is worth 1000 words, I should be good for another month or so.

We are the Champions!

Danny's first year of Tackle football has resulted in the following:
1. SuperBowl Championship! They beat the only undefeated team in the league Saturday night in a hotly contested night game...9:00 pm kickoff, to secure first place.
2. A trip to the Pro-Bowl! This is the first of two All-star team games he gets to play in.
3. A wonderful learning experience, and many bruises, but overall, totally worth it.

The sweat smell of being #1!

BIG DAVIS (That's what they'd yell at him from the sideline.) and Coach Cobb!

All Star Jersey. Since he weighed in at over 120 pounds, he had to be a #90 jersey. Apparently, the All Star team has more than 10, 90 series players. First All Star game is tomorrow night!

My Boy Eric

So, I'm getting ready to take Danny to go see IRON MAN, a little quality Father/Son time together. This weekend is the Father/Son Camp Out but I have to be in Denton tomorrow at 6 am to help finish an install at one of my customers, so we will not be camping out.

(Whew! Dodged that bullet. I'm ALL for camping out, but here in Texas, it's 90 degrees and 70% humidity. Not to mention that "Camping Out" with church activities means pitching a tent in a pasture. That's just not "Camping Out".)

Anyway, so when I got back from Albertson's with some boxed candy for the movie, Jadi saw it and wanted some. I told her no, that's for Danny and me at the movie. Immediately, she's begging to come. Like the Seagulls in Finding Nemo: I want to go! I want to go! I want to go!

Sorry Sweetness, this is a Father/Son activity...Guys night out...Daddy/Danny time. She turns around, tucks her hair up behind her head, and in a deeper voice says "But I'm your son Eric. I want to go on the Father/Son movie night too."

It was pretty funny, but like any good comedian, she's got to take it to the next level. She pops into the den with a hat on, saying "Look Dad, this is Eric, I really want to go with you and Danny to see this movie."

Here he is, my Son Eric:



If it keeps me from having to buy any training bras for another couple of years, I'm all for it!

LDS or FLDS?

Recently with the debacle going on in Texas, there's been a lot of talk on the news and around the water cooler about "Those Damn Mormons!" My boss sent this to me and I think it sums up the differences between us, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and them, Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints...aka the Nutjobs in Texas. I apologize for the length, but I feel it's totally worth looking at.

Some Mormon Women Sing


Some Mormon Women Dance

Some Mormon Women write scary stories

Some Mormon Women have lots of money and REALLY GREAT HAIR.

I know hundreds of Mormon Women. They do all kinds of things, and live all kinds of different lives.

This woman served as a leader in the Mormon church. She recently spoke to teenage girls worldwide. She encouraged them to stand up to peer pressure, strengthen their families and serve others. (Click here for more.)

None of the Mormon Women I know look like this

None of them are marrying off their teenage daughters and none of them want to share their husband with anyone.

Furthermore...
Some Mormon guys can throw a ball...


Some Mormon guys yell at the ball.

Some Mormon guys make scary movies

Some Mormon guys have a lot of money and REALLY GREAT HAIR!


I know hundreds of Mormon guys. They do all kinds of different things and live all kinds of different lives.
This is one of the leaders of the Mormon church. On April 6, 2008 he spoke about honoring women, especially mothers, and gave advice to husbands and children about how to treat the women in their lives. (For the whole story, click here.)

None of the Mormon men I know look like this...

For any of my friends or family who'd like to know more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I'd be happy to discuss our beliefs with you.

Demise of a Digital Camera?

So, some of you may have heard that Carson dropped our digital camera into a tub full of bathwater. I took the battery out, and let it dry out for about 10 days, and it's working...mostly alright. Anyway, when I went to retrieve pictures from it, there were some interesting shots.


Here's Gracie, our second cat. Nice picture, but neither Melanie nor I took it. (There's a previously unknown accomplice...Jadi or Natalie.)

Now it appears that Carson has gotten a hold of the camera. Either that or his sisters thought this was his better side.

Next is a picture of Minnie, our third cat. Decent picture, not sure who took it. I'm thinking Carson, as the very next picture was this:

What could possibly go wrong here?

Nice dish floating in the water. Taken leaning over tub, looking down. Again, what could possibly go wrong?

The guilty party self portrait. Taken with the arms extended OVER THE TUB, camera facing back.
Not sure if this is the actual "OOPS" money shot or not. Blurriness could be caused by water distortion, or subject being too close to lens.
That's the next picture, followed by 4-5 blurry photos, where I'm sure Carson...or unknown accomplice was PRAYING that the camera was fine.
First picture taken after "drying out". I was pretty sure that it was done for. A few days later, started working better and we got this.

Melanie still thinks the camera is defective, as it appears to be distorting her image by a few pounds.

Kodak makes a pretty good camera.

Jadi's latest Soccer Game

Jadi had two games this week!
Monday night they lost. It was really cold, and I'm not sure any of the girls wanted to be out running around. Unusual for Texas in April, temp was in the low 50's with a cool wind blowing. The same time Jadi was playing soccer, Danny had a basketball game. There's a spring league put on by the High School Coach and Players. They're the coaches and officials. Danny's team lost, which he informed us was because the refs were cheating for the other team. (I think the refs may have been checking out the girls who came to watch the game.) I missed out on both games because I was losing a softball game across town.

I took Jadi to her soccer game last night, they played the very first team they played this season (4-1 loss) It was a very exciting game, scoreless through Halftime, good defense on both sides of the ball, girls passing and playing together. The other team finally scored with about 5 minutes remaining, and although we had 4 shots on goal, just couldn't slip one past the keeper. Our team has really improved since the first meeting, and we will see this team again...GO LADY LIGHTNING! I shot almost a whole roll of film. (See kids, before we had digital cameras, we had cameras that used film. Which after you took the pictures, you would put into a shoebox, wait 6-8 months, then take it to Costco, where they would print out double copies of each picture, whether you wanted it or not. Even if your eyes were closed, or it was blurry or someone was naked, you got copies of each picture, and you PAID for each picture.)

I should have those pictures posted to the Blog by Thanksgiving...Christmas at the latest.

When Melanie went to Oregon for Michael's sealing, I took Natalie and Carson to McDonald's one day. McDonald's Happy meals are running a Disney Princess / Pirate theme currently, and in Carson's Happy meal, he got a water/stick-on tattoo of Pirates of the Caribbean Skull and cross Swords. I put it on his arm. Now, almost two weeks later, it's still prominently displayed on his arm. He will lift is shirt up and Flex the Bicep for you to see his Ink. Again, pictures to follow by New Year's.

That's life as we know it.

TAGS

I know, it appears that I'm caving on the whole "Tagging" thing. Actually, I couldn't think of anything funny to post, so I'm going to answer Valerie's Tag.

Jobs I've Had:
City Plywood (Ages 12-24 Summers and when not in college.)
Subway (1 semester.)
Barnes & Noble
PrimeSource (Outside Sales Building Products)
Aiken-Ford Lumber (Lumber Broker)
PrimeSource (Sales Mgr., Outside Sales)
Praxair (Territory Manager)

All the Places I've Lived
Bell, California
Carson City, Nevada
Provo, Utah
El Paso, Texas
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Farmington, New Mexico
Freemont, California
Eugene, Oregon
San Jose, California
Wylie, Texas

4 Favorite Movies
Star Wars Series, although the first 3 hold a special place in my heart.
Braveheart
Blues Brothers
Indian Jones Series (4th one comes out in May!!!)

4 Favorite Foods
In-N-Out Burgers
Mexican
Italian
Thai

4 Weird Things About Me
I like to pick my nose.
I can’t do any household remodel, repair, or construction in general, without swearing.
I LOVE teasing my kids.
According to my in-laws…I’m a Pervert. (If your spouse’s family/extended family are prudish…you become the Pervert by default.)

4 Favorite TV Shows
The Big-Bang Theory (You've got to check it out!)
BattleStar Galactica (New version on Sci-Fi channel.)
New Amsterdam
Dexter

4 Places I'd Love to Go
Alaska (Cruise)
Tahiti
Holland (I'd like to see the tulips.)
Disney Land (It is the HAPPIEST place on Earth.)

Yeah, this post should get some interesting comments.
Just remember, I LOVE my In-Laws. My Mother-in-law is not nearly as prudish as people think she is. Last time they visited, she brought me some Kama Sutra Honey Dust...and told me "This stuff is great for a romantic weekend. Kent and I tried some and Loved it."

For a picture see link below.

http://www.boutiqueromantica.com/images/kshoneydust_350x230.jpg

Detailed Description

Kama Sutra Honey Dust secrets a gentle surprise with every kiss proferring a taste of nature's sweetest gift. This sensuous, edible powder is made with pure, natural honey, one of ancient India's most prized skin conditioners. Dust it on yourself and your lover, leaving a silky-soft glow, a delicate fragrance and a irresistible taste. Includes an air-tight canister, a satin pouch filled with powder and a handmade feather applicator designed to tickle more than your imagination. A delicately sweet sprinkling of pure, natural honey.

With that one gift, she instantly achieved "Coolest Mother-in-Law in the World" status.