Hangin' With Daddy

Paige and Ben like to have Dad carry both of them around on his shoulders. Good thing Dad is so strong!
Jeremiah had knee surgery on Monday, so he has taken up residence on the couch as he gets better. Ben really likes to snuggle on Daddy's chest! Jeremiah is enjoying the Hydrocodone the doctor prescribed - that explains why he looks a little out of it. He is one cute little dude!

Paige Works It Out

Today I discovered Paige in the office "working out" on the bike. She is burning some serious calories! I'll have to ask her what her regimen entails and maybe I can get on the same schedule.

great pasta salad!

Here's a new recipe to try for these hot summer days:



One 1 lb. box of medium shell or bowtie pasta ( I've used penne also)

12 oz. traditional feta cheese

1 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil

8 green onions, chopped

1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

1 c. pine nuts, toasted

one or two bottles of Marie's Poppyseed Dressing. ( Expensive dressing---I got by with one bottle.)



Cook pasta. Rinse in cold water, drain well, combine with one bottle of Marie's and refrigerate.

Drain oil from tomatoes and chop.

Mix all ingredients--pasta, feta, tomatoes, green onion, basil, pine nuts. Add more Marie's if you wish, and refrigerate until serving.

Temple Trip

There was a Filipino cultural exhibit at the DC Temple. There was an etching of Evan and me. Evan was so fat when the artist took our picture. So was I, I'm just glad she slimmed me down for the piece.

My dad's testimony was also featured along with others. These testimonies were showcased in the middle of the exhibit.
Evan was just interested in running around the temple grounds.
It was such a beautiful day to go to the temple. We were lucky not only with the weather, but also because it was the very last day of the exhibit. It was supposed to have been taken down last week, maybe they were just waiting for us to come see it.

Summer Beach Days

After showing her newfound confidence in the waves on Saturday, we decided to finally buy some boogie boards and let Carissa give it a try. We headed to Zuma on Monday and despite the coldish water, she had a blast!
Derek's not ready for the boards, but he enjoyed kicking the ball around in the sand.
Grayson not only enjoyed playing in the sand, he thoroughly enjoyed eating it. Lots of it!

Two Week Old Ben

Just thought I would post some cute pictures of Ben and Paige. Paige is being a great helper and fantastic big sister! All that practicing with her dolls really paid off. Things have kind of returned to normal around here and we are all adjusting to having a new baby in our house. Ben is a good baby - eats great, sleeps well and he is really cute!

4th of July in VA

This 4th of July we just went to our neighborhood fireworks show. Evan got to ride his car, which he loves.

He watched most of the show from Dad's shoulders...
...but got pretty restless by the end.
This is one of the only shots I got. I kept missing and taking pictures of complete blackness.
It sounds like everyone had a fun 4th! Thanks for sharing all your pictures.

Do you want to pet my monkey?

Evan loves his monkey.













They like to play the drum













and take a ride in his truck.
But his favorite is giving him hugs...


and kisses.

Run for the Heart of It!

Before I forget, I wanted everyone to know about a fun run fund raiser that Carrie's sister Allison is doing. The fund raiser is for the child Allison is going to give birth to in September. He has been diagnosed with Hypoplastic Left Heat Syndrome, which is the most severe congenital heart defect. He is going to be delivered September 17th at UCSF.

The fun run will be held on August 18th at 8:30 am in Roseville. I know a lot of you aren't in the area, but I just wanted to let you all know about it. There is a website with more information:

http://www.active.com/page/Event_Details.htm?event_id=1461294

I think that is all I have for now.

Summer Time for the Kid in Davis

Time for an update!

I finally finished the school year in mid June. It turned out well: I got credit for working at the dump and I managed have my best quarter GPA wise so far. According to my calculations, I have three or four more quarters left before I can graduate. I am done with my GE's so all my classes are either hydrology or engineering classes. Luckily, I am enjoying them and I have actually used some of the stuff I learned for projects at the landfill.

I spent the Fourth of July week in Aptos (south of Santa Cruz) with Carrie's family. We had an awesome house right over the beach. The Fourth was absolutely insane - drunk people blowing stuff up all over the place. I went golfing (although it didn't quite grab me) and even made ribs for everyone (with an assist from Brett). I posted some pictures from the week on facebook and everyone should be able to look at them by following this link:

http://ucdavis.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2162091&l=b4b8b&id=3225018

Summer Fun

I thought I would post a few pics from the 4th of July, and other stuff.. instead of just making sarcastic remarks on other people's posts...
We had a fun time in Encinitas with the Wilsons/Phillips. We started off with a big community breakfast co-sponsored by the Church, and then went to Seaside (Beach) to hang out in the sun/eat/boogie board/surf, then polished off the evening by watching the Del Mar Racetrack fireworks from the beach! I had forgotten how much I love it down there! And yes, that is a naked kid in the background:
6 of 7 nephews (clockwise from the kid in the hat): little Brett, Curan, Evan, Samuel, Cameron, and Liam.
Tyler
Here's a post-Police concert shot w/ our friends Natalie and Joel. It was totally awesome!!! The only thing that I don't think is awesome is that Tyler refuses to shave his beard.

Baby Ben Slideshow

More pictures of the newest addition. Benjamin is sleeping and eating like a champ!

Baby Boy Bailey

Paige's baby brother arrived on June 30, 2007 at 4:30 pm. He weighed 9 lbs, 4 oz. and was 20.5 inches. I'm not sure if he has a name yet, but he sure is cute. Ali is doing well and is a superstar for sure.