Hello Again

It's pretty sad when literally the first time I think of this blog during the week is on Friday morning. Oh well, it's been a very good and busy week.

We really enjoyed our visit from my parents last weekend. Mom was sick much of the time, but it actually made it better for all of us (except Mom?) because we just stayed close to home and didn't feel the need to do any big day trips or sight-seeing events. Dad and Mom both just played a lot with the kids, and we all had a great time.

I left Monday afternoon for New York and have been here the whole week. It's been a very productive trip as I've gotten a lot done with my team out here. Time has flown because of how busy I've been with many meetings and working sessions, and that's just how I want it. I didn't do anything distinctly New York (broadway shows, shopping, etc.), but I did go for a run along the Hudson River one evening, which was nice. I also decided to go see a late movie last night (my coworkers told me it's pretty normal in NY for people to go to movies alone) and saw Star Trek since I was pretty sure Angela didn't care if she saw that one - I actually liked it a lot. I capped the evening off with a couple of enormous pizza slices from a corner shop, and then I felt like my work here was done... The interesting sight of this trip was walking past a homeless man peeing on somebody's parked motorcycle on the street - nobody seemed to think much of it.

So it's back home tonight and I can't wait to see everyone. They've all had a good week from the reports, and it'll be nice to be together as a family again.

Long Weekend Anyone? ... Yes Please!

It's already great having Grandpa and Grandma visiting us - the kids picked up right where they left off the last time we were with them a few months ago, especially Brig, who's getting old enough to remember people and events going back a ways. Unfortunately, Grandma has been sick, so her trip has consisted of a lot of rest and trying to put on a happy face for the kids. Hopefully she'll feel better so she can enjoy her stay.

Rumblings out of Portland have Rosemary very close to delivering baby #2. We'll keep an eye on developments from the wild and untamed Northwest, and let you know when little boy Groesbeck is born.

On a totally unrelated topic, I read an interesting blog last night about a 17 year old kid from Salt Lake who just summited Everest this week. It's pretty interesting to read his thoughts throughout the journey - you can find it HERE. That's an amazing thing for anyone to do, let alone someone so young. You can go ahead and log that under "things John will never do".

I think I'm one of 7 people working today ahead of the Memorial Day weekend... looks like I better get back to work then.

Where is the week going...

Sorry I haven't been as diligent in updating (like you care...)...

Dad and Mom are currently in the air on a plane headed to sunny NoCal to spend the long weekend with us. We're excited to have them coming our way, and hope we can show them a good time. It's nice that the weather is much more moderate than it was last week - from 100 degrees Sunday to high 70s today.

Micah did well in her PYT auditions, and has had callbacks every night this week (sort of a round-two audition) for singing, dancing, and acting. She's also cautiously optimistic that she and the director might have worked out a way for her to miss a week of rehearsals for YW Girls Camp this summer and still get a good part. Nothing determined yet, but we think she's done well enough to justify some consideration...

Congratulations to Dan for graduating from Wharton MBA school last weekend. The best part of that is the next 1 1/2 months in which he's not a student, and not an employee... what a blissfully irresponsible life! We still wish he was headed out here, but happy for his job at Microsoft.

Gotta run

To start off with, I'll tell you it's been almost 100 degrees the last couple of days. Every once in a while we have these hot spells that seem to only stay for a short time but they really throw everyone for a loop. Should be a little cooler this week. My allergies have also been unusually bad this last week - probably because I've spent a lot of time outdoors recently - and I'm hoping that goes away as well.

Last week was a fun one for me. I got to play golf twice - once with a couple of good friends at a nice country club, and once in a work golf tournament up in Napa. Thursday and Friday we had a work offsite where the whole Finance org went up to Napa for some fun and out-of-office bonding. The golf was fun (there were other activities for non-golfers) - my team won the scramble tourney - and we had a really nice stay at the Westin. It was very fun to hang out with friends and coworkers in a relaxed setting.

Ang has been ultra busy with her PTA stuff. If I haven't mentioned it, she's currently the Vice President of the PTA for her school, and will be El Presidente next year. So every singly night she has loads of work to do as she works through the transition from the old board to the new board, etc. The amount of time she's working, I can't help thinking she might as well just get a job and get paid for it!

Micah tried out for another PYT play this weekend. The play is Aladdin, but I understand it's different from the Disney production, so I'm not too sure what to expect. She did well in the auditions and got call backs for all the important things she wanted. It's a summer play, so it would be something to keep her busy when she doesn't have school.

I played basketball a couple of times last week and had a great time. It had been months since I last played, and sometimes when you take a break and then start up again, there's something fresh about it and everything seems to click. Very fun! I can also use the exercise as I've been taking it pretty easy since the triathlon.

We can't wait to have my parents out visiting us this weekend. They're traveling a lot these couple of weeks because of Dan's graduation from Wharton this past weekend, and then I think they're going somewhere else the week after they come here. We're glad we get them to ourselves when they come here. The kids especially will really enjoy the time.

We finally caught up to the end of LOST this weekend and were surprised by the ending. For some reason we thought this was the last season, but we now know there is one more season next year. There were great episodes this year - completely unpredictable - already can't wait for next year. We were bummed though because we realized as we ran out of space on our DVR, it just continues to record stuff and deletes the oldest things on there to make room. We didn't realize it, but we lost about 3 old episodes of 24, so now we're not going to be able to finish the season. I was sort of losing interest anyway, so not really a big deal, but I'm sure we would've gotten around to it sometime.

Mother's Day and Camping Pics

We tried our best to honor Angela yesterday for Mother's Day. Brig and I picked up a big bouquet of flowers for her on Saturday afternoon, which went over pretty well, and the girls all made a bunch of cards and fun notes in school, achievement days, and on their own. We let her sleep in on Sunday morning, which worked great because most of my meetings were canceled so I was around to help with the kids. In church the ward was in upheaval because all the women were asked to go to Relief Society, and those who taught primary, Young Womens, Sunday school, etc. were subbed for by the Elders quorum, the YM and the YW - it was pure chaos in some of the primary classes, but good for the moms. Ang got a nice long afternoon nap as I played with Brig and helped the kids get their homework done, and then I made dinner of grilled chicken, barbeque baked beans, and salad. We did get Ang to make us one of her famous apple pies, and of course we helped her eat it. I think all in all she had a great day. We love her very much and are glad she puts up with us...

We also got to have a nice conversation with my Mom in the evening, and we could hear the background noise of what sounded like the rest of the family gathered to celebrate Mom. We missed being there, and we miss everyone.

Here are a few pictures of Brig and me at the Fathers and Sons campout Friday night and Saturday morning. We had a great time - he was VERY happy to be camping with Dad. I think his highlight was sleeping in the tent, although we also had a lot of fun sitting by the fire, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows, playing and talking with the other kids and dads, looking for deer and lizards, and playing catch with the football and with our a ball and our mitts. I don't sleep well on the ground, but it's totally worth it for the happiness that Brig gets from doing it.

Fathers and Sons

I'm taking Brig camping tonight at our Fathers and Sons campout. We're both equally excited - Brig's been asking me every day this week, "do we get to go camping today Dad?" I love it because it's something we can do together, just the two "boys" as he says.

Recently I was pushing Brig on the swings, and he kept saying "higher, higher". I was a little hesitant to push him unrestrained because you never know, he might let go. But he kept insisting, so finally I pushed him hard, and then he goes: "That's what I'M talkin 'bout!" I cracked up of course. We also had a funny report from when the kids stayed with the Baughs last weekend about Brig. Brad was trying to calm the kids down but encouraging them to find their Zen place, and he said something like "think of waterfalls". Brig then said, "but that makes me pee!" Of course there went the Zen place...

Brig cracks us up on pretty much a daily basis, but unfortunately I can't ever remember the small one-liners we get out of that kid. I'll try and be better about writing them down so I can continue sharing.

Things are going great, I'm psyched for the weekend, and I'm out.

One Excited Little Girl!

Today is Morgan's 7th birthday - her Golden birthday as a matter of fact (turning 7 on the 7th). We had a small celebration last night because we had a special surprise for her - she got the news last night at dinner that she and Angela were going to fly down to Disneyland just for the day and then come back tonight. Man, talk about a happy kid! At first she couldn't believe it, and then she couldn't stop talking about it. I went in to see if the kids were still awake when I got home from my bishopric meetings last night and the second I opened the door she sat up and started telling me the order in which she was going to do things at D-land.

I drove them to the airport at 5:30 this morning, and let me tell you, that was the easiest time we've ever had waking her up, including Christmas and Easter mornings. She was a total chatterbox in the car, and Ang and I just sat there smiling and chuckling at how happy she was. And the best thing is, it probably cost us less than a big normal birthday present would have. When I went to St George for a golf weekend a couple months ago I let myself get bumped and got a good sized credit from Southwest for doing so - that covered both plane tickets today with room to spare, so no cost on the flights. Morgan gets in free to the park today because it's her birthday, and she'll wear a button walking around the park all day which means that all the Disney characters have to come up to her whenever they see her and say happy birthday.

Morgan called us after they got off the plan and she couldn't wait to tell the kids that she was actually calling from a taxi - I guess that's the first time she's been in one. She also said the whole plane sang happy birthday to her, and they gave her a goody bag. I think she's definitely feeling the love today.

If any of you want to express birthday wishes, I would text Angela while they're at the park - that would mean a lot.