Two Lizards

Either there's some unknown force in the yard or Olden is a particularly adept killer, but in addition to that bird a while back, these two lizards met their ends out back not long ago.

Thanks Officers

Bit of excitement in the neighborhood tonight.  I'm in the alley catty-corner to our house, finishing Olden's walk, trying to get home by 7:15 for S, when I hear a commotion in the house on the corner.  A younger gal owns and lives there with her boyfriend, but they're gone for long stretches of time, including now.  Just as I come around the fence I hear the house alarm go off and a black couple (young man and woman) hurrying out, he carrying a flat screen TV, her some other electronics.  They hustled to a newer black SUV parked in the street and sped away.  There was still plenty of sunlight and I was able to get the car's license plate.

I walked home and dialed 911, relayed to the dispatcher what happened, then waited a few minutes until the first officer arrived.  A second one pulled up and they cleared the house.  Three others arrived on the scene within another few minutes.  They took my statement and had me wait in case they located the burglars, so that I could positively ID them.  Unfortunately, the get-away vehicle was stolen so I didn't get the chance, at least for now.

Thanks to the police department for responding so quickly and professionally.

Hide-n-Seek

Play-doh Lesson

Bobbins was off and it was just me and the girls, them playing and me working on organizing our papers. Next thing I know, I look over and MM has a giant blob of play-doh in her hair.  Somehow she'd gotten into it and decided to wear it.  We had to bust out the WD-40 to clean it out.  A lesson learned the hard way...

Storms

Bobbins snapped this on our way home from church Sat., on Osborn looking west.  It was quite a storm.  Both of us don't remember having such severe dust storms when we were younger.  Sure, there were monsoons with wind, thunder, lightning, and occasional microbursts of rain.  But it seems like the dust (including the infamous haboob last year) is something new.  And sucky:  I've never had allergies before but have been hit hard with nasal drip the last two summers.


(Bobbins also thought of Francis while snapping this.)

Last Lunch in the Old Play Area

Camping 2012

Kevin got to pick our spot this year, which ended up being about 8 miles west of Heber just north of SR 260.  Because of the danger, there were no campfires allowed, which put a damper on our time.  Plus our godson Bash didn't sleep at all, so Kevin & Jess had a loooong night.  Still, it was nice to get out.  The old propane lamp we found on a bike ride earlier this year worked like a charm.

              

                 

We stopped in Payson at St. Philip for Mass on the way home.  We had everything cleaned up and put away at home by 2pm so still got some good relaxing in, our (my) Sunday requirement.

The 4th

Low key holiday for us, spent working on putting the girls into one room and converting JoJo's old room into a playroom.  Zach came over for a BBQ and to watch the Country Club's fireworks from the cul-de-sac across from us, with the neighbors.

         

         

             

              

             

               






Dad, we wanna play !





              

Movie Day

Bobbins took the girls to their first summer movie day at Harkins today.  Looked like a fun time...

What a Sign

from this webpage

Why We Don't Dress Up Anymore

Sensible explanation from blogger Jennifer Fulwiler:

I don't think that the social principle that you should dress up for what's important to you has changed since the 1950s; I think there's simply not that much that's important to us anymore. I wore faded jeans and a t-shirt the last time I went out to dinner, because it wasn't a big deal to me. As much as I hate to admit it, I wasn't that grateful to be able to be served dinner in a restaurant; it felt more like a right than an honor. However, if I got an invitation from Queen Elizabeth to join her at Buckingham Palace for tea tomorrow, you can bet that that outfit would be the furthest thing from my mind. We still dress up when we feel that an activity is an honor or a privilege.

JoJo's Actual Birthday

JoJo got a rough start to the morning of her actual birthday and wasn't very into the streamers her Mom put up for her to break through.

              

             

             
She was in better spirits by dinner time, buoyed by the prospect of cake

                

William's Baptism

The main reason for the CA trip in June was for our nephew William's baptism.  We were the godparents.

Proud parents Jessica and Mark.  They are doing quite well as a new family.



(No pic's of us because we didn't have anyone snap with our camera.)


This is a once in a lifetime occurrence!


Everyone gave Mark a hard time about his wild hair.




The men of the family, with Diablo doing his best impersonation of Mike.

(Needed to mess up his tie though.)




The granddaughters.





After the sacrament at the Church, we went to a nearby park to hang out and eat sandwiches.

            

            

           

Jessica, her dad Todd, and her sister Maggie.

Todd works for the San Diego Padres and got the official TV commentators to announce William's birth and full name along with Mark & Jess's during a TV broadcast.  It was pretty cool.  Mark has it on DVD.  William is their first grandchild.

Francis

Today was your due date.  It has been a long five months since you came "early."  We do not know God's plan for you but trust that His will was carried out.  We miss you terribly.  We loved you for who you were and wonder what you would have become.  Maybe someday we'll find out.

Chuck E Cheese Party

The Sat. in CA my mom and Coach threw JoJo a 2nd birthday party at Chuck E Cheese.  It turned out to be a pretty good time.  JoJo was a little overwhelmed by it all but Celly ate it up.

          

         

          

            

                 




It was her party, and she cried when she wanted to






           

           

          

           

This was a baby ergo, or one for the girls' dollies, which Celly took right to, but JoJo was happy to receive.