Ever hit a truck at 100 on a motorcycle?

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Not much to do today, so I really should have done some blogging, but I just didn't feel like sitting in the office 1/2 the day. I spent the morning mowing the yard. My first time this year. Thus far Shena has taken care of it because I've had trees and limbs to clear in the back yard. It rained last night, so I didn't really want to go out in the mud, otherwise I would have done more in the yard. They have scraped it so it isn't as rough as it was, but there are a lot of chips on the surface and still a lot of branches out there. I'm going to have to go section by section to get some of those big branches out of the way. It would take years and years for those to decompose. We are having a hard time trying to decide what to do with the backyard. Some days we think we should go ahead and seed...at least with rye...so that it isn't so muddy, but then we think we don't want to take the chance of the seed going to waste because it is too late in the spring to seed. That would just be a waste of money...and it would probably be muddy anyway. The other thought is to lay down sod about 10 feet back from the deck towards the house. That way the boys at least have some place to pay this summer, then seed the rest of the yard in the fall. I'll have to do some pricing to figure out if it would be worthwhile or not. I wish we had the money to sod all of it. I'm not real good at bringing grass to life...so any advantage I could get would be nice. Oh well. I also spent part of the morning moving some logs from the side of the house to the back where the rest of them are. They are from an ice strom about 3 years ago that cause a tree to come down in the back...somehow it felel between our house and the neighbor's fence and didn't cause any damage at all. Anyway, we cut it up and just put it to the side. There it sat all this time, getting eaten by termites and looking ugly.

We went to mom's to clean her house after I finished with the yard. Dad dug a hole for one of his plants before he left, but for some reason never planted the plant. I did it for him...it will probably die before he gets back because I packed the dirt too high or something. Not good with those things at all.

We came home, ate a late lunch, then I headed to Lowe's to get some more paint for the room, then went to Home Depot to look at their storage buildings. We are still trying to decide what size and how much we want to spend on one. We defintely need one, we just don't want it too be too small or too big, either. I'll keep you up to date.

I spent the afternoon playing with the boys in the living room while Shena laid down. Her stomach was bothering her. We had dinner, then watched "Cops." We watched this moron on a motorcycle try to run from the cops and wound up hitting a Ford F-150 at about 100 mph. Knocked the truck out of its lane and onto the curb. Dude was pretty much folded in half, unconscious and not breathing on the pavement when the cops got there. They showed his helmet later, and it was cracked from the back up to the crown of the helmet. The EMT got him resucitated (sp?), but who knows if he made it. Shena goes "That is why you will NEVER have a motorcycle." I guess she thought that I was going to be running from the cops if i had one, or something.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Not much to report...the boys were pretty good for the most part. They both took pretty long naps in the middle of the afternoon while I was out at Lowe's and Home Depot.

Arellano Update
Today was Lettie's birthday. We tried to call and talk to her, but she didn't answer her phone. We (the boys and I) left her a message, but she never called back. Hope she got it. If not, Happy Birthday Sissy.

Christensen Update
None to report that I know of.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT^:
Sleep: 11:30 - 8:00 - Shena was very nice and let me sleep in some this morning...didn't have anyplace to be, per se, so I took advantage of it.

TODAY:
Breakfast: none

Lunch: Beans with corn tortillas and cheese, A&W

Dinner: Tortellini with spaghetti sauce, covered with cheese, corn bread twists (corn bread shaped like twisted rolls), water.

"They blocked me in!"

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Shena called me at work on fire at about 10:00. She was on her way out for errands when she realized that the construction guys had parked behind her then left. The boys were being kind of bad and she had to threaten their lives to get them into the car, then they had to sit there and wiat. I called them guys to see how long they would be..."10 minutes, 15 tops." She said it was 25 minutes later when they showed...she was not a happy camper. I think they knew it too. They apologized several times to her and kept asking if she was still mad at them.

After work we decided to go out to eat with Plummer's to Mexico. Shena had talked to Danny Crockett earlier in the afternoon and they had talked about doing something, but Danny didn't call back until about 5:30, and we felt bad dogging them, so we all went. It was fun, except we didn't got there too late to get the back room like we normally get (at the Battleground location). Somebody was already back there, so we had to sit at two different tables. It made it kind of hard to talk, and Brad wound up sitting with all the women at the big table, while Cade Kelson Hank, Ed and I sat at a booth. I felt bad he couldn't sit with us.

After dinner we tried to get Crockett's to come back to Plummer's to play pool with us, but they said they had too much to do. They had been out of town all week and had to do some grocrey shopping, so they skipped out on us. We played pool until about 9:00ish, then headed home.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Gave it already.

Arellano Update
None to report that I can remember.

Christensen Update
None to report that I can remember.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 12:15 - 7:00

TODAY:
Breakfast: 1 bowl of frosted mini-wheats

Lunch: beans with corn tortillas and cheese, water - a couple of cookies and milk

Dinner: Mexico - Lunch fajitas (chicken), tortillas, beans, rice, Sprite - had a ding dong at Plummer's...I asked Dede to make me some brownies but she told me to make my own...not very nice if you ask me.

At the baseball game. The baby that you can see behind us was being fed sweet tarts by her mom for the first couple of innings. Just a hint, don't feed a baby sweet tarts. Their stomachs don't like it. She started puking not too long after the picture was taken. Almost lost my own dinner. Good thing we were outside and the smell didn't ever blow my direction. I would have been in trouble.

Cade with his arm stuck. You can't tell, but he's been crying. He was mad at us when we mentioned we might use lotion. I guess he hates smelling like a girl that bad. Kelson has started putting his hands in his mouth all the time. Drives me nuts. I hated it when Cade went through this same stage.

Painting Away

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
As far as the house goes, the drywallers came and finished up their job. They sanded down the mud, then the regular construction guys came in and primed the walls for us. That meant that when I got home for lunch she started grilling me with questions about what colors I liked for the paint and the drapes, etc. One of these years she will figure out I'm not the one for specifics when it comes to deocrating. I might vetoe a color or two in general, but when it comes down to the details in a room, I really don't care much.

I spent the rest of the lunch break running back and forth between home and Lowe's. The electrician was out to finish his job, so we needed to get him light bulbs and a flood light for the back of the house. Long story short, we had to go back three times today to get the right bulbs. We finally got what we needed, though, so no worries. Just makes me wonder, how many Llano's does it take to BUY a flipping light bulb? You woulnd't think it would be that difficult to get the ones that fit.

Instead of having Elder's Quorum Presidency meeting, I went out with the missionaries on splits. They were splitting with the set from one of the other wards in the stake. Two of them got to go out to eat with the Plummer's, while the other two had to go on splits with me. Tell me, which would you rather do? The guys who went with me had frozen pizza for dinner. the guys who ate with the Plummer's got taken out to a decent restaurant. Didn't seem real fair to me.

Shen couldn't get any help from most of her friends to paint the room. It was kind of short notice, we just found out this morning that she could paint tonight if she wanted to. Teresa felt bad that no one was helping and I was going out with the missionaries, so even though Munsey was out of town, she brought Coit over and the boys played while the moms painted. They got a good coat and a half done by the time I got back...and they actually only painted for about an hour and a half (the rest of the time they spent feeding the kids and talking). When I got home Teresa was headed out to give Coit a bath and go to bed (about 9:00, at this point). Shena and I painted until about 11:00, putting on a second coat and touching up where we could. We actually ran out of paint, so we'll have to buy some more before we can finish.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Shena said the boys were pretty good. The put a gate up in the addition doorway so they could keep a bit of an eye on the boys. Cade also played "deputy" for them and let them know when the two year olds were getting into something.

Arellano Update
I talked to Lettie for the first time in a while. I feel bad because it isn't all her fault that I don't talk to her much. Seems like everytime I used to call she was working, so I kind of quit calling as much. I'll have to work on that. She was telling me some funny stories about what was going out there. She is having some bad luck with cars. She wrecked hers yesterday in the rain trying to avoid a guy who pulled out in front of her. Then while she had it at the place to get it aligned it got hit by somebody, they don't know who (another customer or an employee), but it was in their possession, so they are getting it taken care of. I'll stay out of the car next time she is around.

Christensen Update
None to report that I know of.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 11:15 - 6:35 - didn't have a hard time getting to sleep last night...I actually had a hard time staying awake until Shena got to sleep...I think I even beat her to sleep (I can count on one hand the number of times that has happened since we've been married.

TODAY:
Breakfast: 1 bowl of frosted mini-wheats

Lunch: Wendy's - Big bacon classic, no tom, no onions, fries, coke

Dinner: Two pieces of pepperoni pizza (Teresa brought us some leftover pizza from their dinner last night), A&W - after we finished painting, I had a couple Famous Amos and milk.

Hoppers Game with the Fam

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Talked to Shena about 11:00, and she said she had just talked to Dede who had said Ed was feeling pretty sick. Said he woke up with a fever and a sore throat. I called him at noon to find out what he thought he might do. He said that he just didn't feel like going to the game at all. That left me with three tickets to try to pass out. I asked Shena if she wanted to go, she said she was still planning on doing something with Dede, so not to worry about it. One of the guys here in the office came by my office this morning asking if there were any tickets left. I had to tell him that I was using all six. I felt bad. But since Ed got sick, I was able to give Bill (office guy) the tickets after all. He was pretty excited. He had made plans with his wife last night to go, then was disappointed when he didn't get the tickets like he thought they were avaialable. He said he only needed two, but I told him to go ahead and take all three in case he came up with someone else who might want to go. I thought for sure I wouldn't need it. Notice I said "thought." As I was leaving the office and about 1/2 way home, Shena called said that her plans with Dede fell through too, and could she go to the game. I tried to catch Bill at the office, on the phone, but he didn't answer. I flipped around, went back to the office to try to catch him but he was gone (in the meantime I'm dealing with 5:00 rush hour traffic on a road that is under construction with lanes closed and the whole bit). I called and left messages for Bill both on his office phone and his home phone asking him to call me so that I can get that other ticket if he wasn't using it. I called Shena and she said "no big deal." But I could tell it was a big deal and I was going to be in trouble if she didn't get to go. When I got home things were kind of a mad house (see below). Shena wanted to go tanning before the boys and I left for the baseball game, and she thought she could run over jump in and then run back and still have 1/2 or so before we had to go. We were planning on leaving at 6:30 so that we could get there at about the start of the game. In the mean time, the boys and I went outside so that I could try to finish fixing their basketball hoop. One of the construction guys game me the idea of putting caulk into the cracks in the base, which I did two days ago. The dang thing has just kind of been in the way since I put it outside to get it out of the house. It has been moved from inside the room, to the deck, to a picnic table in the yard, to the deck, to the house..etc. It had mud all over it from being moved around so much. So I cleaned it off good, carried the base inside and then pulled out an ax dad bought to work on the trees with to use as a heavy hammer to bet the pole back into the base. All the while, the boys are running around outside in the back yard throwing dirt clods at the house and in the holes around the addition and at each other. Kelson is getting dirty and eating dirt. I'm trying to hurry and get the hoop fixed so that we can get dinner and to the game. (We didn't want to eat at the game because of the price of concessions). I was in such a hurry that I put the pole into the base backwards (or so I thought). I didn't realize it until I tried to slide the base under the bed where it used to be, only to find that it didn't go under the bed because the hoop was facing the wrong way. Instead of inspecting it to see what was wrong, I immediately started pounding on the bottom of the pole to get it out of the base again. Once I finally got it out, my caulk job had been compromised and sand started leaking again. I went to put the pole back in when I realized that it was keyed...in other words, it can only go in one way. I had the BOTTOM pole in right, I just had the hoop itself in backwards. So I pounded the pole back in, slid the hoop out and turned it around, and slid the sucker under the bed. I don't think the cracks will be an issue any more. I tried to get some sand to come out after I put the pole in the second time and I couldn't get any out. For some reason, through all of this, I was still in my shirt and tie. Not sure why I didn't change before had...it would take too much intelligence, I guess. It was now about 6:00 and I had no idea when Shena would be back (I thought she would have been back by now). So the boys and I run over to McDonald's to grab some dinner. We run it home and as we get there, Shena is waiting for us. She thought we had left her. I still hadn't heard back from Bill about the ticket, but I remembered Teresa saying that when she and Munsey went, they only had two tickets and they just carried Coit in and they didn't say anything to her about it. So we decided to give it a shot. Shena changed clothes (which always requires my answering her question "Which do you like better?"), and we headed out about 6:45.

Breath. Whew. Long paragraph. It was a bit cooler than I expected at the game. I was hoping it would be a nice night, and I almost didn't grab a jacket, but I'm glad I did. I had it on as soon as we got there, and of course it just got cooler as the night went on. They boys were very good. They climbed around a bit, but they didn't do any screaming and they watched the game for the most part. Kelson was clapping after every pitch. He of course didn't know you are supposed to root for one team, but it was cute to see him clapping all the time. They had fun. We stayed until about the 7th, then headed up to the playground that they have there. As we got to the top of the stairs, one of the mascots was there, but Kelson didn't see him. Cade kind of grabbed my hand, but was ok. We tried to get Kelson to look up to see him, but he was too busy looking at something on the ground. When he finally looked up into the mascots face, he freaked out. He back pedaled into Shena's leg, then started screaming. She picked him up and we walked over to the playground. They played there for about 15 minutes. At one point one of the other mascots came walking towards the playground and Kelson just froze and started yelling for me to come and get him. I picked him up and he buried his head in my shoulder and wrapped his arms around my neck. As we left, I told him to say "goodbye" to the mascots...he picked his head up and said goodbye like he was saying goodbye to grandma or grandpa. No big deal. I guess he was happy to be getting away from them. Very funny.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
As I pulled into the driveway after work, Shena yelled "come here, hurry! Cadde is stuck in the stove!" I thought it was the fireplace she was talking about, and I thought it was a funny situation. It was neither (not that scary thought). He was messing around near the kitchen stove and shoved his arm down between the handle and the door (pictures to come). She said he'd been there for 20 minutes. She had asked him if he was stuck and he just said "no. I'm waiting for daddy." Not sure why. We tried a couple of things, but finally put some lotion on his arm and slid it out. I don't think it really hurt that bad...just a little pinch probably. Funny kid. Not sure why he didn't tell Shena he was stuck.

Arellano Update
Mom and dad made it to SD
Christensen Update
None to report that I know of.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:^
Sleep: 11:45 - 7:00 - too many late nights...I just couldn't get my eyes open at 6:30. Shena nudged me, but it wasn't enough

TODAY:
Breakfast: 1 bowl of frosted flakes

Lunch: 2 pieces of leftover Domino's cheese pizza, A&W - also had a couple of Famous Amos and a small glass of milk

Dinner: McDonald's - quarter pounder with cheese, no onions, fries, orange drink - had a little popcorn at the game, then had a piece of cake just before bed.

Almost A Long Strange Trip

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
A little more progress on the house today. The guys put sheeting up under the addition to cover the insulation, then they also built new stairs for the deck. They had to make one stair to get from the house out onto the deck and then a new two step set from the deck onto the ground off to the right of the deck (where the old stairs were). They put the old stairs off to the left of the deck where they cut a new exit/entry onto the deck. They still haven't put any posts on it, yet. Not sure when that is going to happen. The drywallers came back by to touch up on tape and mud. They were only here for about 10 minutes.

During the day today I thought of getting tickets for the Grasshopper's game (there are 6 available here in the office) and having a "boy's night" with Ed and Hank and Kent (Dede's brother who is in town visiting). So I called Ed up to see if they would want to go (after clearing it with the wives first, of course...you didn't really think I was that dumb, did you?). We made plans, and then he said we should get together tonight to play pool because Kent is leaving for Utah on Thursday morning and if we were going to the game, we wouldn't get a chance to play before he left. We then made plans to get together at 6:15 to go out to eat and then come back to play pool after. Somebody (not sure if it was Ed or Dede, had the idea to go to some restuarant in Walnut Cove (35 minute drive). By this time it was 7:00, so we headed out towards the restaurant, when Ed decided he better call to make sure they are open before we drive all the way out there. Good thing. We were about 5 minutes down the road when Dede suddenly took a right into a church parking lot and started driving around in circles around the building. The restaurant was, of course, closed. So we wound up going back to the house and ordering pizza instead. I'm just glad we didn't drive the whole way out there to find out it was closed. We of course spent the rest of the night playing pool. We started the last game about 8:15 thinking it would only take a little while, but wound up taking another hour. By the time it was over all three of us (Ed Keant and I) were hoping ONE of of us would just hurry up and win. We were all tired and ready to go home or go to bed.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
The boys were really pretty good today. They got pretty tired as we were leaving Plummer's, but I talked to Cade and let him know that he would be in big trouble if he pitched a fit, and I think he was just too tired to argue. He kind of cried for a second, but I gave him "the look" and he supressed it.

Arellano Update
Stopped by mom and dad's to tell them "goodbye" since they are leaving for San Diego tomorrow morning. It was late, so the boys were a little grouchy. Kelson is almost always willing to give loves, so he did no problem. Cade was a grouch. He wanted me to carry him to the car, but I told him that I wouldn't until he gave grandma and grandpa loves. Is that bad? I hope that doesn't scar him for life.

Christensen Update
None to report that I know of.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 11:45 - 6:45

TODAY:
Breakfast: 1 bowl of frosted mini-wheats

Lunch: egg and cheese on corn tortillas, milk and a couple famous amos chocolate chip cookies

Dinner: Domino's - a couple slices of ham and pineapple pizza, mt. dew (caffeine free...I would have been up until 3:00 am if I had drunk regular dew).

Deck is Back in Service...Almost

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Spent a good portion of the work day studying for my CLU. I have until June 31 to take the test for this course, and so I set up a schedule to be done with chapters on certain days so that I have two weeks of review time before I'm scheduled to take the exam. I am about 3 chapters behind, so I'm trying to catch up. This is turning out to be tougher than when I was in school for some reason. Maybe because I am used to coming home after work and having the night to myself, as opposed to when I was in school I was in the habit of coming home and studying.

They got the deck bolted onto the house, but haven't put up the permanent posts yet. As mentioned in the pictures, I think it looks better than I had hoped. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but I think it looks fine. Hopefully we'll be able to put my grill back up there this weekend and use it. It's been quite a while since we grilled out because of the construction. They also got the dry wall up today. It actually makes the room look bigger, if you ask me. We are so ready for this project to be finished. It is taxing to have this go on for so long. The good thing is it isn't being constructed in the middle of our living space (like having a kitchen or bedroom re-modeled), but it is still a long process.

We had FHE with the Crockett's tonight. That was fun. Danny had the lesson, which meant we just supplied the meeting place and the treats for after. We had a quick lesson about forgiveness. Cade did pretty good, and of course Kelson and Cody didn't really recognize what was going on. They were just interested in playing. They were quiet anyway.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Shena said the boys were really good today, so we bought them McDonald's with some gift certificates that Kelson got from Graham Self for his birthday. Cade even told Kelson thank you for sharing his certificates. Kelson just said, "uh-huh."

Arellano Update
Mom and dad are leaving for San Diego on Wednesday. They will be gone for 2 weeks. Hopefully all will go well for Melissa and having the baby, which is the whole reason they are going out.

Christensen Update
None to report, that I know of.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT: ^
Sleep: 1:15 - 6:45 - I almost got up at 6:30...although since I didn't get to sleep until 1:30, I'm not too upset with myself for not getting up that early.

TODAY:
Breakfast: None

Lunch: Cheese stuffed rigatonni (sp?), with spaghetti sauce, covered with cheese, rolls, water. I had a piece of chocolate cake with vanilla icing and a small glass of milk, too.

Dinner: Taco Bell - spicy chicken burrito (no tomato/onion) with extra cheese, bean burrito, no onios - A&W. We had cake and ice cream for the treat for FHE. Rocky road...mmmmmmm.

What the dry wallers did today. I was told it would be two more days before they are completely done with it (sanding and taping and who knows what all is left). But it looks like a room now. Shena will be painting towards the end of the week. We are oh so close, now! Yippeee.

The deck, covered in garbage. Just wanted to show you what it looks like almost put together. Actually, I wanted to show you that we now have stairs coming off of either side of the deck, which was Shena's (good) idea. Make it easier to get to the main part of the yard...before you had to go down the stairs and around the deck. Much less walking this way. Good for the lazy people like me. I don't think it looks too bad that low off the ground, either. I thought it might look a little funny being so close to the ground, but it looks ok.

My hot wife is so crafty. She used the cake pan that was an "Elmo" birthday cake and made it into what you see here. Impressive, no? Good thing she can handle stuff like that, because I would have been shopping at Baskin Robbins or Harris Teeter.

Kelson blowing out his candles (for the 2nd time...). Dad wasn't ready the first time. He was cute when everybody sang to him...he kind of put his head down and was acting all embarassed and stuff. He loved his "Bob" cake, though.

Come on dad, speed it up. I've got places to go and people to see. Get this thing put together all ready.

Looks like he is missing something, doesn't it? It's an optical illusion. Really he is riding his bike...can't you see him making the bike noises with his mouth? Silly kid couldn't wait for me to finish.

Kelson and Cade saying "Cheeeeeesssseeee." Looks sharp with that helmet and excellently put together tricylce. He'll be a babe magnet on that ride!

Cade wasn't paying attention and backed into and then fell into the box. Of course grandma and Shena jumped up with cameras. We all had a good laugh about it (Cade too).

Cade and Kelson helping Grandpa blow out his candles. I don't know what it is, but they LOVE to blow out candles. Weird kids.

I Thought YOU Had The Lesson

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Pretty funny situation at church today. In Elder's Quorum, one of the presidency (I won't say who, but his name starts with an "E" and ends in a "D") was supposed to have the lesson, but he didn't know he did. Joe Hamilton asked him if he needed a chalkboard, Ed just kind of chuckled and said, "No, I don't think I'll need the chalkboard." Turns out Ed didn't get the e-mail that Joe sent out assigning everybody their lesson dates. We all had a good laugh after that and gave him a hard time about it.

Got to have a nap today. The boys stayed at grandpa's after lunch. They didn't want to come home with Shena and I, and we needed to finish getting ready for Kelson's party. We had about 60 minutes before everybody showed up, so we both layed down for a power nap.

I say "party" but it really wasn't. Just had the Plummer's and Slacks (so that Hank and Coit could be there) over for cake and ice cream. Kelson had been asleep at grandma's, so he was a little cranky, but once he got to open a present or two, he was in a good mood again. He was funny opening his presents. He kept making this funny little squeal and was excited to show everybody what he got. Now that I think about it, I can't believe we didn't videotape it. Not sure what I was thinking on that one. After we got that new digital camera, we have used it so much we just kind of forget about the video camera. Of course grandma and grandpa were there too. Good times. Good times.

I spent part of the night reading an article on Edmunds.com about a guy who writes for Edmunds who went "undercover" as a car salesman for a couple of months. Pretty interesting, but also pretty long. Not sure why I read the whole thing. Can't say that I gained that much knowledge, but it was still interesting. Of course we watched "Extreme Makeover Home Edition". I still love that show. I like to see people being nice to one another. I've also read a couple of articles recently about it and what a good thing it is. One online, one in Reader's Digest. If you aren't watching it, you should check it out.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Shena did an awesome job on Kelson's cake. She is so artistic it's incredible. No way I could ever come up with the stuff she does and make it look as good as she does. You can see for yourself the pictures.

Arellano Update
None to report that I know of.

Christensen Update
None to report that I know of.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 11:30 - 6:30, 7:00 - 8:00 - I tried to stay awake at 6:30, but Friday night's late night was too much for me.
TODAY:
Breakfast: None

Lunch: Roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn niblits, rolls, sprite

Dinner: Cake and ice cream...my favorite meal

Pool Sharkin' It

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
One of those Saturday's that you have to LOVE. Nothing planned, even though I probably could have done some yard work, I decided not too. It isn't hot enough for the grass to have to be mowed weekly yet, (although every 10 days is probably pushing it) so I blew it all off.

Went to help Bevan and Amanda Buchanan move this morning. Brad Crockett, is just an animal. I've mentioned before how much he helped with the trees in my yard, and he was the first one there to help move, and was the last one to leave. There were a couple of boxes that I couldn't have lifted one corner of, and he was tossing them up into his arms like they were rolls of toilet paer. Anyway, enough of my weird fascination with his work ethic (jealousy?), Ed was in charge of calling everybody to try to get some people out to help. I'm not sure what kind of promises he made to people (pizza?, $25/hr?, eternal salvation?), but he sure did get them out. We had about 14 of us all together, for the Buchanan's little apartment. Needless to say none of us had to work very hard, or very long. Half an hour and we were out of there. They were moving out of the ward and were supposed to have people from their new ward at their new place to help them move in...nobody showed. It wound up being Bevan and Brad emptying the truck. He said it wasn't bad, but I feel bad I didn't follow them over like I thought I should have.

Since we finished the move so quickly, I had a few minutes before Shena expected me home, so I stopped by mom and dad's to drop off my clubs (I store them in the garage) and pick up a sprayer so that I could put Round-Up on some weeds and poison ivy in the back yard. It was broken, so I ran to Lowe's for a new one. I took about an hour to spray all that I wanted to get sprayed. Let's just hope it works because the backyard is COVERED with poison ivy.

Shena told Teresa Slack that we would go with her to see a house that her sister-in-law had painted a mural in and that was in this year's Parade of Homes. The house was in Plummer's neighborhood, so we stopped by there first. Ed and I wound up playing a couple of games of pool before we headed to the house. We all walked over from the Plummer's. On the way, Ed got sidetracked with talking to one of his neighbors. The house was nice...no it was niiiiicccccceeeee. One of the bedrooms was big enough to put at least three kids in...and they would still be comfortable. We saw the Slack's there, and they came down to Plummer's after they were done looking at the house. Munsey, Ed and I played pool while the girls talked and giggled. Munsey kicked our butts. It was obvious he had played quite a bit. He said he took several pool "classes" in college for electives. It showed. After the Slack's left we decided that the Plummer's weren't tired of us yet (or so we thought in our heads...we'll never know for sure), so we stayed a while longer, ordered dinner at Ham's, then came home about 8:00 ish.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
The bad thing with being at Plummer's all afternoon is we didn't get much done around the house. Shena realized once we got home that she needed to finish laundry, iron shirts, make a cake and decorate the other one, etc. But we were having too much fun at the Plummer's. Well worth it.

We like that the boys like to stay with Grandma and Grandpa, but we don't like the way they come home after. Grandma (or was it Grandpa?) let them stay up until 11:30. Never a good idea. No matter what time they go to bed, they get up at 6:30. That means if they go to bed at 8:30, they get 10 hours of sleep...if they go to bed at 11:30, they get 7 hours of sleep...and they sure do act like it. They were little poops all day. They wouldn't take naps ("I'm not tired..."whine). They kept having these screaming fits, crying, screaming, uncontrollable. It was a long day as far as that goes. We'll have to have a long talk with the boys before they can spend the night at Gma and Gpas again. Maybe we will have to have a talk with the adults too!

Arellano Update
None to report that I know of.

Christensen Update
None to report that I know of.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 12:30 - 7:30 - I was hoping to get to sleep sooner, but it didn't happen. Just laid awake for a while for some reason.

TODAY:
Breakfast: 1 bowl of frosted flakes

Lunch: none

Dinner: Ham's - cheese lover's burger, no tom, no onion, fries, caffeine free Mt. Dew (thanks for sharing, Dede, I know it was a sacrifice.

Temple Night

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
The construction crew started working on re-attaching our deck today. They lost use of the bobcat they had earlier, so they had to improvise a bit to get it back to where they were going to put it back on. I wasn't here to see it, but they supposedly used some old logs to help roll it into place. They didn't actually bolt it up and in place yet, they just got it back under the door. It looks a little funny because the room is several feet wider than the deck, but otherwise I think it will be fine.

After work Shena and I went to the temple with the Lundrigan's and the Williams'. We rode with the Williams' in their new Town & Country, as did Leesa. Gordon was in Lumberton (coast) all day, so he just met us in Raleigh. We had a 7:45 session, left at 6:00 and got there at 7:15. It was nice to be able to be comfortable about the trip and not feel rushed. We took a way that Shena and I had never been, but will be sure to use in the future. Rather than fighting the interstate traffic, we went south first, then east. The roads we were on were still highways (four lanes and divided), but they were much less traveled, and the scenery was much better than the interstate. We had a good session, then headed out.

As we walked out to the car, we had planned on riding back with the Williams'. Leesa mentioned just as we arrived in Raleigh that she hadn't eaten. We had time and we tried to get her to eat before we went in, but she said she didn't want to. I was hoping that we would all at least stop and get dessert, but the Williams' had told their babysitter they would be back by 10:00 (not sure what Susan was thinking on that one...we didn't get out of the session until 9:30), so they had to head straight home. Shena and I had already put our bags in their car, but we still asked if they would be offended if we rode with the Lundrigan's so that we could stop and get some dessert with them. They said they didn't mind, but I still felt bad. I felt like we were ditching them. I hope they didn't feel ditched.

We wound up stopping at Chili's, and once we got inside I got hungry, so I wound up ordering an appetizer. We also had some dessert, then headed home. We had a good time talking to Gordon and Leesa. We like all of our friends, but sometimes it is good to just have a double date as opposed to a triple or quadruple date, as often happens with our group. It was 12:00 before we got home, so we just kind of headed straight for bed.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
How could we head straight to bed? What about the boys? That was the best part of the night...they spent it at G'ma and G'pa's house. Cade had been bugging for quite a while, since dad got back from Mexico, Shena says. So we finally let them stay over there. I don't think either one of them said "goodbye" to us when g'ma showed up to pick them up. They were out the door and didn't look back. Makes me wonder.

Arellano Update
None to report that I know of.

Christensen Update
None to report that I know of.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:^
Sleep: 11:00 - 7:10 - I crashed last night. once I fell asleep I was gone until about 7:10 when Kelson and Shena woke me up. All that sun I guess.

TODAY:
Breakfast: 1 bowl of frosted mini-wheats

Lunch: "Tuna burgers" as Shena calls them, "tuna melts" as I call them...tuna on buns, covered with cheese, broiled in the oven, lay's chips, A&W, had a few cookies and milk, too.

Dinner: Russian Dressing Chicken, white rice, bread, water - then as mentioned earlier, Chili's - fajita quesadilla with beans and rice (which I didn't eat much of...the rice and beans weren't good at all), Shena and I split a "Molten Chocolate Cake" and I quote from their menu "Warm chocolate cake with chocolate fudge filling. Topped with vanilla ice cream under a crunchy chocolate shell." It was VERY good. Made our drive home very satisfying.

"Rough" Day of "Work"

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Went to Charlotte for a seminar and CE credit put on by John Hancock. Actually, not Charlotte, but Huntersville, just a bit north of Charlotte. Anything close to Charlotte I call Charlotte because I can't ever remember what all is down there. After the seminar was a golf outing, which is always a plus. They brought in the son of Gary Player, Wayne, who is a pretty good golfer himself and has worked as an instructor before.He played one hole with each group (there were about 9 groups all together). Pointed out one or two things we could work on with our swing, etc. Nice guy. He had a S. African accent, which surprised me for some reason. I guess he grew up down there, but I thought he would have done most of his growing up in the US since his dad played up here. The tip he gave me helped with my drives, but I couldn’t necessarily get it to help with my irons…yet. I think a little practice on the driving range will help.

We played at a course called Birkdale. Nice layout and design, but it was still kind of in rough shape after the winter. They had aerated the greens a couple days earlier, so they were still pretty jumpy and bouncy. Otherwise it was a nice course to play. The weather was nice, too, about 80 and sunny, very slight breeze. Made it pretty comfortable golfing weather. Jim and I played on the same team with one other guy. We were playing captain’s choice (everybody shoots from the same spot, you pick which ball you want to play next, etc.). Since we were only a threesome we had one extra shot that we alternated on. The guy that was with us had to leave after 9 holes, so on the back nine Jim and I had two shots each. We wound up at –2 for the round, which was good enough for 4th or 5th, I’m not sure which. I didn’t stay until all the groups got in. It was a good time anyway.

At the house, the tree guy came out and ground up all of the stumps in the yard. I didn’t get to see any of it. They said he started at 9 and finished about 5, going the entire time, stopping only for gas. I didn’t realize that the stumps would create so many chips, but they did. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get to see the machine run. I know what stump grinders look like, I’ve just never seen one in action. Maybe another time. As far as the yard goes, it is pretty much done as far as the heavy work goes. They will be bringing in a bobcat in a week or so to grade and even out the ground a bit. After that, we asked them to wait and plant seed in the fall, so we will have all summer to decide where we want to plant trees and flower beds, etc. As soon as the pollen dies down Shena and I will have to spend an afternoon or two out there.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Shena said the boys were poops all day today. I find a little comfort in knowing that Ethan (my nephew) is going through the same thing, but I am still frustrated in not being able to get them to mind Shena when I'm gone. Not sure what to do about it.

Arellano Update
After golf, I got home as quick as I could to get to a "party" that was going on at Dad's house for his brithday. Some of my aunts and uncles were there, and of course there was plenty of food. Dad got a ladder and some plants as presents...what he wanted. I got there after everyone else was finished eating, so I ate on my own, which is no big deal.

It's also Melissa's birthday. Happy Birthday, Sister-in-Law. Wish we could have partied with you too, that cake looked good.

Christensen Update
None to report that I know of.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 11:30 - 7:00 - I think I'm about ready to start getting up at 6:30. I'm still not getting to bed as early as I'd like, but I think my body is adjusted to 7:00...I wake up at that time no matter what now. I'll try to start 6:30 on Monday and see how it goes.

TODAY:
Breakfast: McGriddle, Hash Brown, OJ - I was starving for some reason. And I needed something to help keep me awake on the drive down.

Lunch: Turkey sandwich on wheat, lettuce, mustard, Lay's chips, water, chocolate chip cookie - not bad, but not as good as Grandover's box lunches.

Dinner: refried beans and cheese on corn tortillas, coke, piece of orange cake with vanilla frosting and a small glass of milk.

Skipping Work for a Baseball Game

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Did a little playing at work today, which was nice. Some of the guys in the office have season tickets to the Greensboro Grasshoppers baseball ("A" Marlins affiliate). There was an 11:00 game today, and nobody was using the tickets, so Heather, Megan, Teresa and I all went up at 12:00 to eat lunch and watch part of the game. Turned out it was "Guilford County School Day" and there were about 4,000 kids there. It was like being inside an elementary school cafeteria. There was this constant buzz of kids talking, and of course nobody was paying attention to the game. The Grasshoppers had put the kids in certain sections and had kind of "hijacked" the seats we were supposed to be in, so they told us just to sit wherever we wanted. We wound up sitting on the first base side, a couple rows back. It was a nice day, so we didn't sweat too bad. We got to see about 2 innings is all. Just as it was time to leave, they finished the 7th inning, which wound up being the end of the game because they had a double header and apparently they only play 7 inning games when they are playing double headers in "A" ball. We (or at least I) had a good time. I felt like I was in the middle of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."

After work I didn't have anything that HAD to be done, which was a nice change. Just spent time with the family.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Cade and I went shopping at Lowe's for a present for Kelson's birthday. It was fun. We just kind of took our time and looked around. Nice to have an "off" night for a change.

We invited Shena to go to the baseball game with us, because she worked this morning in the office. She didn't want to very badly...allergies and she was afraid mom would be getting tired of the boys. Point is, I asked her to go, so hopefully I'm not in as much trouble for going as I would be had I not offered.

Arellano Update
Swapped cars with mom tonight. I have to go to Charlotte tomorrow, and wanted to take the Nissan to save gas. Mom will be driving Marcos' car, Shena mom's.

Christensen Update
Today was Bart & Cherie's Anniversary. Shena said it was snowing in Idaho today (mid-April...go figure) which they thought was a good sign, since it was a blizzard on the day they were married. Congratulations Bart & Cherie!

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 11:00 - 3:30 - 4:00 - 7:30 - Kelson woke up coughing and gagging. ^Took a bit for me to get back to sleep after.

TODAY:
Breakfast: None

Lunch: Foot long hot dog, Dr. Pepper - Had to drop $8 for that. Expensive lunch for so little food. It was fun anyway. We didn't pay for parking or tickets, so that made it ok.

Dinner: Left over stove top and chicken from last night, wheat bread, water. Had a couple cookies and milk just before bed.

Cade & Kelson Helping in the Yard

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
No work has been done on the house for a couple of days. They are waiting for an engineer to come out and look at the footings to approve them. Not sure what that is all about, but they are apparently unable to continue until this happens. They did, however bring sheetrock into the room to get it ready to put up. I'm not sure if they are doing that themselves or contracting it out. They talked about having somebody else come out and do it.

After work the boys and I moved chips outside. We just had two little piles to do, so it didn't take long. Cade was a good helper (as you can see from the picutres below) he helped me shovel the chips into the wheelbarrow. I didn't even really ask him to. He just wanted to help. Kelson only stayed outside for about 1/2 or so before he go tin trouble and had to go in with Shena.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Shena IM'd me in the middle of the afternoon asking me my height and weight. I thought she was filling out a form or something, but turns out she was playing with some kind of Body Mass Index calculator. If I would have known that I would have lied. She got mad at me because of what I eat and what the BMI thing said. Apparently guys get to eat more than girls. Or something.

We found out today that Cade got into the magnet school that we were trying to get him into. It is a "lottery" type system. They take the applications that they get, then start pulling out names until they fill up the classes, so it's not like he got there on any kind of merit. We are excited none the less. The minimum amount of time he has to stay there is one semester, so we hope to be able to tell by then if he is doing ok with it or not. I think he'll be fine. The magnet school is a spanish immersion school where they go all day speaking Spanish only (even homework). They say that now is the time to teach kids a foreign language since they pick it up so easily at younger ages. Shena was a bit concerned that Cade wouldn't pick up English like he should, but all the research I've seen is that the kids from this school test just as well or better than the kids who go to a traditional school. We may as well let Cade learn Spanish while he is at it. He could actually care less, he just wants to go to school.

Kelson was a bad boy tonight. He would listen to me and stay in the yard while Cade and I worked. HE kept wanting to play in the puddle of water, so I told him he had to go inside. He got mad and started screaming. He went as far as the addition, then started playing in there, next thing I know I look up and he's laughing sticking his hand out of a hole he has put into one of the screens. All I had to do was yell and he started crying. I think he knew right away what he did wrong. But he still isn't listening much. The terrible twos sure aren't fun.

Arellano Update
Talked to Marcos for a few minutes tonight. He only calls when he can't find mom or dad. Said he is starting finals in a couple of weeks, but he's having spring fever right now. I told him it happens to most all of us. It is hard to focus on what we are SUPPOSED to be doing when the weather is nice outisde for the first time in several months.

Christensen Update
None to report that I know of.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 11:15 - 7:00 - I could have gone to sleep earlier last night, but I wanted to finish watching Tombstone. I fast forwarded through half of it, I just wanted to see how it ended because I couldn't remember.

TODAY:
Breakfast: 1 bowl of frosted mini-wheats

Lunch: sloppy joes on hamburger bun, cheese, lays sour cream and onions chips, A&W (1/2 bottle) - had another shot of milk and two cookies (feels like deja vu)

Dinner: Stove Top and chicken casserole, wheat bread, A&W - had a couple of cookies just before bed

My hottie wife and cute kids. Ever since we took pictures of the boys before church on Easter Sunday, Cade has wanted us to take a picture every week as we head out the door for church. Last week, we humored him (we had time) and took a picture. This week, no way. We were running late.

Cade and Kelson "helping" grandpa mow his yard. Notice Cade is wearing gloves, Kelson's are in his pocket, and the "ghetto - mexican style" padding on the handlebars. That is so dad can turn the mower as quickly as he wants and not feel guilty for knocking Kelson in the head.

The North Wall of the house, after being fully sidededed. They stil have to do the trim, but this gives you an idea of how much they had to re-do so that the colors would match.

Kelson cheesing for the camera. He loves to wear other peoples shoes for some reason. I went outside to take a couple of pictures, he grabbed some shoes and followed me out. As soon as he sees a camera the first words out his mouth are "cheeeeethththe."

A view of the yard after the chipping was done. You can see several piles spread out through the yard. That is what dad and I spent doing the last two nights...wheelbarrowing (word?) the chips back to the back left corner of the yard.

Chipping away. I am working on the fourth pile at this point. The main part of the pile is on the left hand side of the picture. We still had the big piles that are off to the left (out of picture) to do.

Cade laughing at me for some reason. I can't remember exactly why he was laughing. Probably just my goofy looking face.

What the yard looks like, before the stumps have been ground down. You can see there are still some stick piles that need to be cleaned up, but most of the debris is gone.

Great Big Steaming Piles of Ships - er Chips

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Kind of a typical Monday. Running behind. On the way to work I realized that I hadn't brushed my teeth yet. Before you freak out, I have a toothbrush and paste at work (for the off chance I want to brush after lunch) so it wasn't too bad. Then I realized that the tie I had on had a HUGE stain on it...took up about half the tie. Luckily it was cold in the office so I wore a jacket all morning. Then when I got home for lunch, the bread we were going to eat was moldy, so I had to run to the store, which meant I had about 10 minutes to eat. Never fun to eat and run.

After work, I started working in the yard. The tree guy is supposed to come out on Wednesday to grind up the stumps, so I had to get the remaining wood piles out of the yard and the chips moved to make sure there weren't any stumps under them that needed to be ground down. I got all the sticks and logs moved when dad and mom arrived. We worked until dark, and got the two big chip piles taken care of. As dad would pull out a shovel full, steam would rise out of the pile...not because it was cold out (it was about 70 degrees) but because of the heat that was being created as the chips were decomposing. Pretty cool (but stinky).

I jumped in the shower after the yard, and Shena and I ordered dinner. I got a gift certificate to The Loop for my birthday. Everytime we thought about using it in the past, it was too late at night and they were closed. We barely got our order in time tonight. We ordered about 8:30, and they close at 9:00. We are lucky theyd didn't say "sorry, the grill is closed."

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
The boys were not very good today. Shena's was really not feeling well (allergies), and they were being poops. I think they just get a little cabin fever after a while. Hopefully this yard work we are doing will help them a bit. They won't have grass all summer, but at least they will have some room to go out and run around a bit.

Arellano Update
Already mentioned that mom and dad came over to help out. I'm going to make fun of mom now, but that doesn't mean I didn't appreciate the help. She and dad picked at each other the whole time. He kept trying to get her to move the wheelbarrow to prove that she could. She wouldn't, but helped by picking up sticks and piling them up. She also made part of the wood pile fall down when she put one too many logs on it. Dad gave her a hard time about that. She had to quit after a bit because her foot was hurting.

Christensen Update
None to report that I know of.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 12:15 - 7:00 - I got caught watching "Tombstone" on Encore last night. I didn't realize that Billy Bob Thornton was in it, he looked very different, and also "John Locke" from "Lost" is in it too. I finally realized how late it was at 12:00 and turned it off, even though there was still two hours left in the movie...thank goodness for TiVo right?

TODAY:
Breakfast: None

Lunch: sloppy joe's (Erin's recipe...very good) with double cheese on buns, sour cream and onion lay's, kool-aid - had a shot of milk and two cinammon and sugar cookies

Dinner: The Loop - Loop 'n Cheddar, fruit cup (trying to eat healthy, can you tell?), A&W - chocolate milkshake (well...that eating healthy didn't last long, did it?) - I also had another shot of milk and one cinammon and sugar cookie - they are the best fresh

Strawberry Dreams

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
I need to explain the title of yesterday’s posting. I forgot to yesterday for some reason. After we got in from working in the yard, something felt a little funny with my right foot, but it didn’t register in my head to analyze what it was. After about 20 minutes of walking around I realized that I couldn’t really feel my big toe. It was weird. I almost wish I hadn’t figured it out, because the rest of the night (and all day today) it was bothering me…like an itch you can’t scratch. Really weird. I must have somehow pinched a nerve just a bit or something, I don’t know.

Church was ok. I only stayed for sacrament meeting because my back was bothering me. Not really my back, just my back muscles. I didn’t do any heavy lifting yesterday, just a repetitive bending over to the ground and then standing back up again. It took it’s toll. I’m a big wuss anyway. Anybody else would have been fine.

After church we had dinner with mom and dad. I actually got a nap this week. I don’t know how long it has been since I’ve had the chance to take as long of a nap as I wanted. It was nice. We stopped by the Plummer’s on the way home to look at a tricycle that they have for Hank that we were thinking of getting for Kelson’s birthday next week. I hope he doesn’t read this…that would spoil the surprise. We wound up talking for about ½ hour, then played a quick couple of games of pool (we didn’t bet this time though, it was Sunday, and we felt guilty about betting on Sunday).
After Plummer’s, we put the boys to bed, and then Shena and I watched “Ladder 49” with John Travolta (he’s dreamy) and Joaquin Phoenix. Not a bad movie. If you don’t want to know what happens, don’t read the rest of this paragraph. Shena watched Brian’s Song today, which is about a football player who gets cancer and dies…so she was crying like a baby after that. Then we watched this movie, where the main character dies and leaves a wife and 2 kids, and she was bawling like a baby again. Add on to that her allergies and her head was killing her pretty good. That’ll teach her to watch sappy movies

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Kelson and Cade were good boys at church and at Grandma's, but Cade was a poop when we left Plummer's. He likes being over there so much that it is hard to get him to come home. I told Shena on the way home maybe we should write Dede into our will since the boys like her so much. I know that would make Marcos mad, so we won't do it...but I'm sure Cade wouldn't mind if he could live at Dede's all the time.

Kelson fell asleep at the dinner table at Grandma's. We were all eating strawberry shortcake in the living room, while he was eating strawberries at the table. He had asked for second, and then he got quiet a few minutes after I gave him his seconds. We thought he was getting into trouble, but instead he was asleep, sitting up in the chair. Lucky he didn't slide or fall out and bang his head on the table or the tile floor. He had one piece of strawberry left in his bowl. I wonder what was going on in his mind just before he fell asleep? "So tired. But must...finish...strawberries. Only......one............more...................zzzzzz."

Shena hates this time of year. She developed allergies about our 2nd or 3rd spring out here, and it has been hard on her ever since. She can't do much outside because her eyes burn and her head starts to pound. I feel bad for her. I've never had ANY type of allergies...ever. Not to foods, not to pollen, so I can't really relate. I just know she is miserable. One of the bad things about living on the east coast is all the green.

Arellano Update
As mentioned earlier, ate with mom and dad. Dad's been working hard in his yard some more. He's going to have a forest of his own in his backyard before the summer is over if he keeps up this pace. He's planted 5 trees back there already, and he is only 1/2 done.

Christensen Update
None to report that I know of.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 11:30 - 8:00 - I was beat after yesterday. I don't think I even opened my eyes at 7:00 this morning.

TODAY:
Breakfast: none

Lunch: Grilled steak, home made mac and cheese, green beans, yeast rolls, strawberry jam, coke - later had strawberry shortcake (mom's been reading my blog...she knows how much I like strawberry shortcake now)

Dinner: none - we had a little popcorn as we watched America's Funniest Home Vidoes, then I had a piece of cake and milk just before bed.

Who Needs A Right Big Toe?

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Nothing exciting to report today. Shena found me a chipper at A-1 rental, bad thing was they didn't open until 8:00 and then they close at 5:30, so the chipper had to be back by 5:30 or I would be charged for Sunday and the hours I had it on Monday. Pretty dumb. I had to buy a tongue and hitch first, got the chipper, then headed to the house. I was kind of expecting some scouts to show up, but didn't see a single one all day. They've been advertising in the ward bulletin they were looking for work to do to raise money for their scout trip, but apparently they don't want the money real bad, because they've had two weeks in a row that they could have come to my house to make money, and nobody has shown up. Maybe they just didn't want to work for me, I don't know. Anyway, it took me about 30 minutes to get the chipper backed up into the yard. I don't have a lot of experience with backing up trailers, so it took me a bit to figure out which way to turn the wheel. Luckily Shena was out there helping guide me, or I probably would have driven through the addition or popped a tire or something.

I worked on my own from 9:00 until about 12:00, when dad got done witha meeting he had. By the that time I had finished two smaller piles, but I didn't think there was anyway we would get through all of the piles we wanted to. But it went about 3 times faster with the two of us. All I had to do was worry about feeding the branches in, while dad seperated the piles and moved the branches closer to the hopper. That chipper could handle a good deal more than I thought it would. And it sped right along. We had to stop about 2:30 to fill up the tank (and it was much easier to back the thing in this time, since I had a little experience now), but otherwise it ran non-stop from 9:00 until about 4:45 when we finished the major piles that we wanted to get to. At that point my back was killing me and dad was wearing out too. We probably could have put in a bunch more, but we had had enough. If we had one or two others there helping, it would have been nice, but we got about 95% of it done on our own.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Cade was not a good boy today. Our hall coat closet isn't supposed to open all the way. It has a door stop on it that stops it about at about 90 degrees. For some reason he was a punk all day, and I don't know if he got mad at Shena or what, but he pushed the closet door past the poin it is upposed to go and blew out the screws on the top hinge. It leans now from the top and the casing is cracked and broken.

Arellano Update
As mentioned, dad came out to help with the branches. After we were done he and I were hungry because we hadn't eaten all day. Dad thought Golden Corrall sounded good, so he invited us out.

Christensen Update
None to report that I know of.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 11:30 - 7:00 - didn't get to sleep as soon as I'd liked, but still got a good jump on the day.

TODAY:
Breakfast: 1 bowl of frosted mini-wheat

Lunch: None - wanted to keep that chipper going as long as I could before I had to take it back.

Dinner: Golden Corral - as I list this off remember, it isn't a full serving of everything I ate...just a couple bites of each...also remember I didn't eat lunch, so I wasn't being that much of a pig: salad (with cheese, boiled eggs, carrots, thousand island), pot roast, roasted potatoes and carrots, rotisserie chicken, green beans, mac and cheese, two yeast rolls, water - for dessert, banana pudding, some kind of white cake with chocolate frosting and some kin of whip cream stuff...not good at all, some kind of chocolate crunch thing...oatmeal and caramel and choclate syrup...pretty good, raspberry and vanilla twirl soft serv ice cream - milk. Man that sounds like a lot. But I didn't feel stuffed afterwards, which is the measuring stick if you ask me.

Not A Chipper to Rent In Town

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Work was work.

Siince the Plummer's got a new pool table, they invited a couple of us over to break it in. Shena and I and the Lundrigan's were the only ones who could make it. The boys ran around and played with Hank and the girls, the rest of us ate, then played some pool and talked. Since it was Ed's table, we all let him win most of the time. We didn't want to have him get upset and take his toy and not share anymore. We had fun, though and we left about 10:45 to head home. The boys were still playing at that time, believe it or not. They are turning into night owls like their dad. Not good.

I was planning on laving about 9:00 to head to Home Depot to rent a chipper. Everybody we called rents chippers on a "first come, first served" basis. The guy at Home Depot assured Shena that no one would be picking up the chippper at that time of night. And I didn't want to take the chance of being 2nd at Home Depot when the opened in the morning. Just before I left, Shena called Home Depot to make sure that they had the chipper available. Sure enough, somebody had beat me to the punch and rented it 20 minutes before Shena called. In other words, somebody was smarter than me and rented it just after dark so that they had 24 hours to return it, which would be just after dark on Saturday. I think you follow the logic that I failed to recognize. She called the other Home Depot out on Wendover, theirs was rented 45 minutes before she called. That left me up in the air - unsure if I would be able to find one tomorrow. Ed took the opportunity to tempt me to go and play golf with him Saturday morning. I resisted.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
The boys were really good and Plummers. They just kind of make themselves at home over there, now. Cade usually is careful not to knock down Hank as he head straight for Hank's toys. Kelson likes to wander around the house. All they do is talk about going to "Dede's." I guess that means they like it overe there, huh?

Arellano Update
None to report.

Christensen Update
None to report.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 10:30 - 7:30

TODAY:
Breakfast: None

Lunch: Pasta with spaghetti sauce, covered with cheese, Texas cheese toast, kool-aid - Shena said this was to make up for what we would be having for dinner.

Dinner: Sandwiches on hamburger buns (three meats - roast beef, turkey, ham) provolone cheese, lettuce, dijon mustard, pickle slices), Mexico Restaurant chips, cheese dip, doritos, A&W - we snacked on Skittles and Milky Way bites, then had hot brownies (Dede knows how much I like this brownie mix she has, so she makes it for me all the time...wait maybe that isn't just for me) with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup and caramel on top.

Red Neck Siding

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
We had a bit of a set back on the addition today. As they started putting the siding on, they came and got Shena and asked her to come and look at it to see what she thought. The reason they wanted her to come and look was that it looked like trash. The new siding looked so much lighter than the existing it was ridiculous. Problem was, when you held the new siding up to any other side of the house, it looked very, very close. The North wall of the house hasn't ever had any sun, so the color has probably stayed pretty close to the original. But the rest of the house looks slightly lighter. Shena came up with the idea to just do the entire North wall the with the new siding so that you couldn't tell where the new siding started. And because the colors are pretty close and the corners of the house have a white trip to them, you can't see the difference in the new and the old. We will have to wait and see what it looks like on the back side of the house where the addition meets the house. I doubt it will be as bad as it was on the North wall. Bad news is it isn't free to have them do the whole side of the house. I guess that is why they tell you not to count on the price you are quoted in the contract. There is always some kind of expenses that pop up that weren't expected. Let's just hope there aren't anymore of these from here on out...we are getting low on funds (contributions welcome!).

After work I foudn out that Ed Plummer was in town after all (he had told me earlier in the week that he wouldn't be back until late Thursday) and that they had delivered his new pool table today. He told us we should come over and play a quick game. So we stopped by for about an hour or so and I played him once (he beat me) and thens Shena played him once (he beat her, too). We are supposed to have a party there tomorrow night, but it sounds like nobody is going to make it but Shena and I. We'll have fun anyway.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Cade and Kelson spent part of the day at Grandma and Grandpa's again. Shena taught piano lessons, and she normally takes the boys with here, but I guess they wanted to stay with the abuelos today. Cade helped grandpa plant some trees, Kelson feel asleep on the mat by the sliding glass door. He was watching them work, but he just couldn't keep his eyes open.

Arellano Update
Mom invited us over for dinner. They had the missionaries over too. Good stuff. That meant I didn't even get home to change clothes until about 8:30 last night, which really isn't too bad. It just felt like a long time.

Christensen Update
None to report that I know of.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 12:00 - 7:00 - or so...can't remember exact minutes for some reason.

TODAY:
Breakfast: 1 bowl of frosted mini-wheats

Lunch: enchiladas, rice, beans and sour cream left over from last night, kool-aid

Dinner: simmered pork (not sure what to call it), beans, home made corn tortillas, cheese, coke. Just before bed I had a couple of bites of cake and some milk.

We Shouldn't Freeze to Death in the Addition

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Work continued on the addition today. They finally got an inspector out to inspect the "rough in." They weren't able to do anymore work on it until that was done. When I got home for lunch the room was filled with rolls of insulation. When I got home at the end of the day, the insulation was all up in the room. They said they still have to do the floor tomorrow and then they have to have a "insulation inspection" before they can start sheetrocking. It's starting to move along a little quicker now. Maybe 3 more weeks and we'll be done?

Had the missionaries over for dinner. It had been quite a while since we feed them. Last time we were signed up was the day after we found out we had mis-carried, so we didn't feed them then. Two nice guys. One is from Blanding, UT. I worked with a guy at Needham Jewelers in Logan, UT named Chris Kurtz who this missionary knows...a little. He actually knows the family, but not Chris real well, which I wouldn't expect since Chris was a couple years older than me, and I've got 10 years on these missionaries nowadays. After dinner the missionaries gave a quick lesson on faith, repentance, baptism and the Holy Ghost. One rolled up a hand towel and made it looke like a plucked chicken. Pretty clever. What did I learn? Faith is like a plucked chicken, I guess. Kidding.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Cade and Kelson got to go to go to grandma's for the third day in a row. Shena came in to work and so they spent the morning over there again. I know they love to visit, but I think they wear grandma and grandpa out after a bit. I'm not sure what they did all morning, I'll have to find out.

Kelson has been having nightmares the last couple of nights and I'm not sure why. He just starts screaming and crying. He isn't really awake while he's doing it, but he doesn't want me to hold him. Somehow he can tell who's got him and he wants his mom. Doesn't hurt my feelings. He's a nice kid and likes to give me hugs...sometimes. He was blowing kisses to the missionaries as they left last night. Shena said grandma taught him that because he doesn't like kisses from grandma, so he blows her kisses instead.

Arellano Update
None to report, that I know of.

Christensen Update
None to report, that I know of.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 11:05 - 7:00 - I was in bed by 10:30, but I couldn't get to sleep until 11:00. Frustrating. I seem to say that alot about my sleep, don't I?

TODAY:
Breakfast: 1 bowl of frosted mini-wheats

Lunch: corn tortillas with cheese, shot of apple juice - two oreos with milk

Dinner: home made enchiladas, re-fried beans, mexican rice, with sour cream, kool-aid (fruit punch I think), piece of spice cake with cream cheese frosting.

Life's A Beach...In the Boy's Room

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Spent part of my lunch at Lowe's. It was supposed to rain today and so I wanted to get a tarp to cover the chipper. When it rained last week, water got down in the blades and when we turned it on it all came shooting out. I can't imagine that having water on those blades is real good for them. I also got a 50 pound bag of sand to put in the base of the boys basketball hoop.

After work it still wasn't raining, so I quickly changed clothes and went out to finish cutting up the remainder of the trees. As we suspected, it was mostly branches. We got all the branches piled up and have a couple of log piles that need to be cleared, but otherwise we are ready to rent the big chipper on Saturday. Hopefully we can get the majority of the branches through the machine before we have to take it back.

After I got in from the yard and after my shower, I went out and got the sand to put in Cade and Kelson's basketball hoop. Cade has had this hoop for about 3 years now, and it has worked just fine without any real weight in it. When we first got it, we tried to put water in it, but when we would tip the thing to move it, water would leak out of the plug where it went in. Well we didn't think about picking it up and carrying it, we just took it back out and dumped the water. As I said, it hasn't been a problem, but Cade liked to hang on the rim after a dunk and tip the thing over, and sometimes when Kelson is on their bed, he will lean against the hoop, and I've been afraid that he will put too much weight on it one day and he will fall over the edge of the bed because the hoop tipped. Man, I'm making this a long story, aren't I? ANYWAY, I took the hoop out into the addition and then spent about 15 minutes lugging the 50 pound bag of sand up and then into the small hole that they give you to fill the base up. I finally get it all in, put the plug in, clean off the base off all other sand, then tip it forward to make sure none comes out of the plug. None. We're good to go. I wheel the base back into the boys room, set it just a foot or so from where it is going to go permanently, and then move some things from out of my path. I then tip the hoop forward again, and wheel it back under the bed. What's that? Why do my bare feet feel like they are on the beaches of Acapulco? It's leaking. From somewhere. I don't know where, it's just leaking. I tip the thing over but still can't see a hole or anything. I wiggle the square backboard pole a little and out flows tons of sand. I've figured out where it is coming from, but the problem is the pole isn't supposed to come out. Once you put it in, it is supposed to stay there...forever I guess. I run grab a hammer and a piece of wood and start pounding on the pole trying to get it out. With every swing of the hammer the sand comes out quicker and quicker. I finally get the pole out and see the problem. A crack in the base about 2 inches long right in one of the corners. I quickly flip the base the opposite direction so that that corner is up and there isn't sand coming from that. Still, there is sand coming out. I look a little closer and see a second crack, opposite corner about an inch long. So there is nothing to do now but try to run with this akward, 50 pound (48 by now after all the sand had been dumped out) base back down the hallway into the addition and out the back door. I dumped it on the ground outside to let it get as much sand out as it wants (and there it sits, in the rain as we speak). I had a nice trail from the bedroom down the hall. It was fun cleaning it up too, let me tell you.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Cade and Kelson got to go to grandma's this morning again. They played with grandpa and were good kids...as they usually are for them. For some wonderful reason they save all their bad boyness for when they are with mom and dad. They also wound up going with Shena to Enrichment Meeting at the church, since I was outside clearing trees. Kate Hiatt was there to babysit and Shena said they were good for her and behaved themselves. Cade probably had fun playing in the nursery again.

Shena got a pedicure today. She and Leesa went together and got pampered. I can't tell a difference when she goes to a professional. Her toes look the same to me. But I guess it is the "experience" that she enjoys.

Arellano Update
Dad started working in my yard at about 3:00 today. I felt bad. He called me about then to ask if I was working. I told him if it wasn't raining at 5:00, I'd be out there. For some reason he decided to go over right then. He said that if he had started working in HIS yard, he wouldn't have wanted to come over, so he decided he would just come straight over then.

Christensen Update
None to report, that I know of.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 10:30 - 7:00 - it felt good, but it wasn't a complete nights sleep. Kelson got up at some point in the night (not sure when, I was still pretty out of it). Shena took care of him.

TODAY:
Breakfast: 1 bowl of frosted flakes

Lunch: corn tortillas with cheese, a shot of apple juice and then a couple bites of cake with milk

Dinner: McDonald's - Big 'n Tasty (yeah right) with cheese, fries, orange drink - since Shena had her meeting, she just fed the boys mac and cheese and she ate cereal for dinner. That left me on my own after I got in from clearing trees. Everybody knows what I do when I'm on my own. Eat out. I was too tired from moving trees to cook anything.

Cade's Trip to the Dentist

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Didn't do anything but go to work today. Spent 5 minutes this morning talking to the construction crew about a fence. Went to work, came home for lunch, went back to work, went to mom's for dinner, looked at dad's new gardening work, came home, laid on the couch and fell asleep. That's it. Nothing exciting to report in there whatsoever.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Cade FINALLY went to the dentist for the first time today. We tried twice before to get him to go to our normal dentist, but each time he freaked out. They recommended that we try a pediatric dentist (their polite way of saying "Don't bring that kid back here ever again or we will ask YOU to quit coming too." Shena built it up for a couple of weeks. Saturday when we stopped to get a movie at the video store, Cade found "The Incredibles" Playstation game and wanted to get it. We told him we would come back and get it on Monday if he was a good boy at the dentist. He wasn't real happy with the idea, but he didn't pitch a fit. I got a phone call about 10:00, and I had been worried about how it was going. When the phone rang I hoped it was Shena telling me everything went well, but it was actually Cade all excited "Daddy! I went to the dentist! And I opened my mouth and they looked at my teeth and Cade is going to get "The Incredibles" game and Cade was a good boy." Pretty funny. Shena said they didn't use any power tools on him, just got him to open his mouth and count his teeth and I think they brushed them too. They had a gameboy that she said he held on to and played with while he was sitting in the chair. They said he will for sure need braces (how they can tell that already, I don't know) and that he has one cavity in one of his molers, so he has to go back in a couple months to have it taken care of. That will be a REAL dental experience for him. I hope this is a temporary thing. Maybe if we work a little harder on brushing his teeth we can avoid the cavities in the future.

While Cade was at the dentist, Kelson was at grandpa's playing outisde. He was "helping" grandpa in his garden. Shena said he was covered in dirt. Not sure if she got a picture of it or not. When Cade got there he went outside and helped grandpa for a while too. Those boys LOVE to be outside. That is why I can't wait to get this backyard done and grass in and a fence up so that they can start playing out there. They will probably spend more time outside than in front of the tv (at least I hope so).

Arellano Update
Dad did a lot of work in his yard today. He's creating a new border along his east fence with some new plants. He likes to work outside. Maybe I'll hire him to be the gardener at our house, too.

Christensen Update
Got our weekly e-mail from Ryan today. Sounds like he is having a few trials at the end of his mission. The adversary never gives up, so we can't either. He's got a good attitude and is well aware of that.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 2:00 am - 7:20 - one of those nights again. Made it a pretty tough day to stay awake

TODAY:
Breakfast: None

Lunch: Leftover Domino's from Saturday, had a few bites of cake and milk, too

Dinner: Homemade corn tortillas, beans, roast beef guiso, coke.

Love Me A Chili Burger

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Church was as usual. Afterwards went to mom's to eat lunch with the Idaho group. A beautiful day to cook out. Seventy-two degrees and sunny, about 20% humidity (which is like nothing out here), very slight breeze to keep you comfortable. Can't complain a bit. We even had a table to eat on outside. It was good times.

Watched The Masters most of the afternoon. What a great round of golf. After the first round on Thursday they were already saying Tiger was out of it. By this morning (finishing the daylight delayed 3rd round), Tiger was up by 3 strokes. Long story short, he was up by 1 stroke going into the par 3 16th hole. DiMarco (his only competition today) put his shot in the middle of the green, 15 feet from the cup. Tiger flew the green. He had to chip back onto the green. It is severely sloped down towards the hole, and Tiger played it perfectly, the ball rolled to the edge of the cup, stopped for about a second or so (and I mean STOPPED), then suddenly fell in. Incredible, awesome, suspenseful shot. I usually don't yell at the tv for golf, but I was screaming during and after that one. I don't know if I'll ever forget it. Wait, never mind, everybody knows I will, but I will savor it as long as I can before it disappears into the abyss that is my brain. If you didn't see it today, be sure to check out SportsCenter. I'm sure they will show it several times during the show.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Cade and Kelson played in Grandpa's tree today. Cade got scraped up and came inside crying. When Shena tried to clean it he freaked out. Not sure what his big deal was, but he was screaming like his arm had been but off. Putting a band-aid on it made it worse. Shena finally got him calmed down when we found a second scrape on the back of his other arm. Deja vu all over again. He freaked out when we cleaned it and put a band-aid on it again. I hate to see what happens when he really gets hurt. That won't be a fun trip to the emergency room.

When we said prayers tonight, though, he thanked Heavenly Father for band-aids. Said he was glad he could have band-aids to make him get better. Very cute.

Arellano Update
Dad said he was pretty sore from yesterday...of course. I don't know how you couldn't be.

Christensen Update
Shena talked to her mom for a bit, but I can't report anything she told me. :)

Daily Report
^LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 11:00 - 7:10 - I wanted to go to bed earlier, but I just couldn't get to sleep again. Very frustrating because I know I'm tired and my body is exhausted. I spent the day walking around like a zombie because when I finally DID get to sleep, I didn't sleep well. Felt like I only got 2 hours. You know what I just realized? I whine about my sleep patterns more than anything else. I'm sure it is getting annoying for the rest of you...I'll try to curb it a bit.

TODAY:
Breakfast: none - forgot it was fast Sunday last night, so I fasted about 3/4 day instead of 24 hours. Bad Cheeto.

Lunch: Double cheese burger (double cheese, single pattie), with fresh lettuce, mustard, ketchup and Sis. Yow's chilli...doesn't get much better than that, my friends...ESPECIALLY on fast Sunday when you are starving to death. Also had some potato salad, baked beans and Lay's potato chips with A&W. After a power nap while watching golf, I had two scoops of Neopolatin (sp?).

Dinner: Yeah, right. After that lunch? I wasn't hungry. Had a piece of yellow cake with chocolate frosting, though. It has eggs, water and flour...which are pretty healthy, and then I had it with a glass of milk, which is really healthy. I think I came out ahead on that.