T Fish Baptism

We were lucky enough to have Fr. Bolding do a private baptism for just one morning after 11am Mass. With all the Schaefers (godparents) and family, it was still a large group around the baptistry.

 

 

 

 

 

Back at the house, we had everyone over for food and fellowship. Bobbins made a tasty cake and little cupcakes.

Two ASU Games

I bought a couple extra tickets for the girls to come to the ASU-Washington game, a day game thankfully. Coach used my ticket and sat with Featha. We were 15 rows up from them, pretty high, but the same section. It got shade faster than they did. The girls were a little tired in the beginning, but they perked up when we went to see Aunt Katie, who gave them free hot dogs and water. The Washington QB imploded in the 4th Q with several turnovers, allowing the Devils to pull ahead. It was a fun time with the girls, who are always asking me to take them.

I was pretty fired up for the UofA game this year. It's been a disappointing season, after all the talk from Graham of the best team he's had in Tempe, and Herbstreit picking us as a dark horse for the playoffs (which I never believed). Norvell has got to go. At any rate, it was a 'beat UofA and maybe get a decent bowl' kind of year. So here we were, hosting the Mildcats, also a day game thankfully. Featha was late coming over so we barely made it into the stadium before kickoff, with all the extra security. We had the usual drunk kids on the light rail there, and plenty of alcohol-fueled tirades waiting to get in.

This is a decent re-cap of the game. We pretty much jumped right on them in the first half. I was pleased to see us finally throw deep, something we haven't done all season. We had a real balanced attack, and only kept UofA in it with a pick 6 on a bad play call by Norvell. Of course we were flat on both sides of the ball to start the second half. Rather than receive the kickoff, score, and put the game out of reach, we let UofA score 13 unanswered (luckily two FGs rather than TDs) and get back in it. Like the previous week, the opposing QB imploded late, allowing us to secure the victory. A 3rd stringer, he threw two pick 6's that sealed it. I kind of felt bad for him having to step into that situation; he also got wrecked on a few plays, including UofA's last consolation score.

Still, no pity for the kitty! Graham's 3-1 against the team down south, and I'm pretty sure this was Rich Rod's last appearance in the Territorial Cup. Hopefully the Devils can beat Cal and finish with a nice 7-5.  

San Antone

Had to go San Antonio for work back in September. Went with my colleague Ben, who is evangelical, so we had lots of talks about the Bible and childbirth. We just missed getting into the Cathedral of San Fernando (at left), and also missed the Alamo, although that was not as big a bummer as the Cathedral.

Labor Day Wkend at the Cabin

The plan was for us and our friends to haul the families up to the cabin for Labor Day wkend, but the women didn't feel like roughing it, and I didn't feel like having all the kids for two nights, so we just went up for one. Karin, JoJo, Booch, and I left Sun. morning after Mass at St. Joe's. We unloaded at the cabin, then headed out to the shooting spot. Zach drove up too, with Margaret riding with him. I tried to talk Karin into shooting, but she refused. Kevin eventually joined us with his boys and Sienna. I got to shoot my new Glock, which was fun, and shooting that .22 Ruger rifle is always a good time. After a couple hours, we returned to the cabin and the fire pit next to the garage. We chopped wood, built a fire, and grilled some meat for dinner.

 

 

 I was a little worried about the sleeping arrangements, but it worked out fine. Jip started out on the floor next to her sister, but eventually she joined Booch and I in the bed. We had a quick breakfast and a nice long walk "around the block" before driving back to Phx. The traffic was ok. We ended up stopping at McD's on the way home, like we did in Flag on the way up. Karin didn't seem to be as scared of the mice as Julia was, and said she had a good time. I'll get her to shoot a gun yet...

Chickens!

I pretty much figured we'd end up with the chickens some day, and sure enough, we did, at the end of August. Jacopone got a dog, and she ate a few of them, which was a real bummer, because they were producers (of eggs). Bobbins wanted to keep them, so I reluctantly agreed to set something up at our house. This was also part of her birthday present. We bought an overpriced coop and put it on the west side of the house, where my garden shed used to be.

 

That white one was the lone survivor from Jack's. We were doing really good about keeping Olden away from them until one day the door was left open enough for him to sneak out and attack. The poor white one was by the trees and didn't stand a chance. Bobbins had just clipped their wings so they couldn't fly up out of danger. Olden annihilated the white one (the best producer) and got one of the brown ones before Bobbins could rein him in. We had to burn the carcasses in the fire pit. Looked just like chicken you bake in the oven.

Just an Average Weekday Morning at Our House

End of Summer Golf Outing

D and I were having few takers on our annual end of summer golf outing at work, so this year we decided to enter a charity scramble connected to our work with just one 4some -- myself, D, Sean, and Charles. They had way too many gimmicks to raise extra money. The winning score was something like 36. I think we shot a 56. (This is an 18 hole course.) It was my first time playing this course, Lookout Mtn at the Pointe Tapatio. I drive by it every day on the way home from work. There were some fun holes. I'd like to play it 'for real' sometime on my own.