Happy Thanksgiving

We hosted Thanksgiving for Bobbins' family, my mom and Coach, and Featha & B with G-vieve at our house this year.  Bobbins and Julia worked very hard Wed. afternoon and this morning to prepare a wonderful meal, which turned out delicious.  The fresh organic cranberries were probably the biggest hit (and I don't generally like cranberry with my turkey meal), although Mrs. M's stuffing is always up there and there were a lot of good pies.  Bobbins worked so hard she slept till 9am this morning.  She did up a great turkey which I thought I did fairly well carving up.  Jack's motorcycle was also a hit while Coach, Featha, and I threw the football in the frontyard.  Anna got to stay the night with her cousin MM while JoJo got to go with Nana T and Pop to the hotel.

 

 

Shopping w/ Julia

The other day MM got to go shopping in Scottsdale with Julia.

 

 

Juicer

Our friends let Bobbins borrow their juicer, and she's been trying it out for healthy and tasty ways to get all her veggies.  Here's one of her first concoctions.  She went strong at first but hasn't been with it as much lately.  Novelty wearing off.

2 Remarkable Stories

Two very remarkable and inspiring stories about the Holy Father recently:

'It was like being in Paradise. I felt only love': Terribly disfigured man who was held by the Pope relives the moment that moved the world 


Pope personally calls Traditional Catholic writer, says he considers it important to be criticized 

Sis Citites 5K

Solo again this year at this run, like last year, but unlike last year, didn't run as well.  A whole minute slower actually, clocking in at 22:18 (a 7:11 pace).  That mysterious 89 year old (who didn't age from last year...) was in the top 3 again, and a 46 year old won it with a time of 17:14 (a 5:33 pace).  I was 8th out of 80.  Maybe next year Bobbins and the girls will make it out.

New Toy

Somehow The Dog got a new toy while I was gone.

Southern End of the Lake

We stopped at a couple points for Julia to snap photos of the southern end of Lake Havasu, right where the Bill Williams River dumps into it and not far from Parker Dam, which created the lake. JoJo, the sourpuss, didn't want to get out of the car.

 

London Bridge

Also on our way home we stopped in Lake Havasu City to see the London Bridge.  It was a nice day out and we enjoyed walking the length of the bridge, seeing the little museum & gift shop, and taking in the lake.  I told Julia all about my experiences with COLAET in summer 1998 (eons ago).

 

We ate lunch at the In n Out right by the bridge, then visited my cousin Ryan briefly at his job before heading home.

Vet's Day

On our way home to Phoenix we stopped at Desert Lawn Cemetery for Veterans Day.  It was nice to see the flags out and my grandparents' grave, and I think neat for Julia to see.

 

The girls of course found a way to have fun despite the solemnity of the occasion.  JoJo found a little horse named "Rainbow" to ride.  God bless 'em.

River Walk

Later that day we took a nice walk by the river and let the girls play on the awesome playground at Rotary Park.

Visit with Grandparents

For the long weekend recently I took the girls and Julia up to my hometown to visit the grandparents and show Julia where I grew up.  But really to give Bobbins a much needed break.  We arrived to watch the ASU-Utah game on TV, which thankfully the Devils prevailed in the end despite playing poorly on offense (credit to the D for keeping them in the game).  The girls got to see their grandma do the 2nd reading at church, and we had a nice pot roast for dinner.  Sunday we went down to Tri-State to pick up some stuff and see Grandpa.  The girls got a very special ride.

Mmmmmm

Start 'em Young

We bbq'd the other night and I had a nice tall bottle of hard cider.  MM wanted to try the last sip.  Why not?



I'm sure this photo will provide laughs in the future, maybe as part of a good ransom of our sweet daughter.

New Pegboard

Bobbins needed more storage in the pantry, and like the laundry room, no wall must go-unused, so I put up a 2'x4' piece of pegboard (painted blue by Bobbins) for her to hang spices and baskets full of other things.


I'm sure at some point we'll put a shelf above the pegboard to hold even more stuff.

Cool Video of Jerusalem

A colleague at work who just went to the Holy Land sent me this short, very cool video on Jerusalem.  Check it out.

2013 Family Photos

We did them this year out at the Compound.  Here's just a preview:

 

Pope Francis

So being the resident Catholic guy a number of people at work have asked me about Pope Francis and his reported 'unorthodox' comments over the last few months, including saying "Who Am I to Judge?" regarding homosexuals and saying the Church should back off the pro-life and traditional marriage activism.  The Washington Post and New York Times have recently published articles on the travails of 'conservative' Catholics under a Pope whose style has been unlike JPII's and B16's and who certainly has given pause to many.  A number of folks among my friends and family are certainly bothered, bewildered, even bewitched by some of the things the Pope has said.

For my own part, I haven't been thrilled, but I understand where the Holy Father is coming from and can applaud the effort.  We must reach out to people where they're at, not shout out them from an ivory tower.  The Pope isn't changing doctrine, just emphasis and style.  And it's working.  Many who have long seen the Church as a bunch of fuddy-duddies who hate gays & fun and cling to old myths while occasionally doing some good are now seeing someone, perhaps, a little different.  We should want that.  I can see Jesus himself doing something similar.  He conversed and found favor with prostitutes, tax collectors, lepers, and others in the face of opposition, even from his own followers.

So I look with hope.  That doesn't mean there isn't a tinge of fear in the background -- people love to hear that they can do whatever they want without repercussion, and that's the interpretation that some are taking from the Holy Father's words.  But I think it's starting a dialogue that might not have been there before, and if that brings sinners (which we ALL are) closer to Jesus, then all the better.

Camping 2013 - 2nd Day

Needless to say, it was freakin' cold that night.  We all huddled in our tent, Bobbins, the girls, and I on the air mattress, Julia in a sleeping bag, and The Dog in his ratty old travel bed at our feet.  I think everyone but the girls got about 2hrs sleep.  The girls, of course, slept like babies, MM sucking her thumb and JoJo thrashing about.  As soon as the sun was up, Kevin and I built a huge, lovingly hot fire and we all thawed out to have hard-boiled eggs, home-made muffins, and OJ for breakfast.  We decamped and were home by 1pm.  A great time was had by all.

Camping 2013 - 1st Day

For our annual camping trip, we set out east of Star Valley near Christopher Creek, which was closed due to the shutdown.  We pulled onto a dirt road, drove down a bit, and selected our site.  Kevin and I got to work building the fire and pitching tents.  Bobbins, ever hungry, got to work making homemade popcorn once the fire got going.

 

To give the kids something to do, Kevin and I built a teepee.  We cut in half an angled tree to make the initial A, then chopped a bunch of fallen logs to stack against it, covering it with leaves.  It took us a couple hours and it was a blast.

Later, he and I took all the kids minus Sam down toward the creekbed, which had a number of pools with crawdads for the kids to play/splash in and for The Dog to drink from.  It was another fun hour of walking around.

We had fired hot dogs for dinner, to Bobbins' consternation, but which tasted great to Julia, the girls, and I.  It wouldn't be a true American camping experience without smores.  Julia made her own and seemed to enjoy it.  For school that week she wrote an essay about how much fun she had.