My First Baby Shower

Tomorrow at work will be a first ever experience for me... the first baby shower I've attended. My friend Mike and I came up with (what we hope will be) a great idea for a gift from both him and me. I'm not gonna post what the present actually is, just in case Kim happens to check my blog sometime tonight, but the packaging itself may provide clues!

Celebrate Independence Day 2009

Once again, Independence Day is upon us. A time for friends, food, and fireworks.. and food!

I've been wondering now for a few years why I continue to put myself through the irritation of planning a 4th of July event.. as most years it has resulted in countless disappointment and irritation. This year was looking to be no different. My friend Kristen and her husband weren't going to be able to come, and getting a committed yes or no from some of my other friends is starting to seem impossible now days.

Add to this, that our traditionally "friend only" event somehow picked up countless family members - parents and siblings - and you have a recipe for suckage of epic proportions.

Or.. at least that's how I thought it was going to turn out. I'm not sure what it is about me or if its something that happened in my childhood to cause this, but I've always been of the opinion that if family is involved, the event or get-together or whatever you want to call it is automatically going to suck. I have to be honest, at first I wasn't the least bit looking forward to spending the holiday this way... in-laws, my friends parents, my friends in-laws, the parents kids... I read this sentence and it sounds something akin to waterboarding to me.

However, I honestly ended up thoroughly enjoying myself... probably for the first time ever at something like this. I'm not sure if it was the combination of friends and family or maybe, just maybe, that I can in fact really have fun with my family once I let go of the "uggggh this is going to SUUUUUCK!" disposition.... Madness, I know.

Everyone seemed to have a really good time, and I guess in the end that's what this day is all about. Being able to get together with friends... and family... and celebrating our freedoms and what makes this country truly great.

Less text, more pics!

The little ones having a great time together


The barbecue hard at work! Delicious!


Kaleah's first Independence Day!


I can neither confirm, nor deny, that this was ours...
(but it was awesome)


Children love holidays even more when they're cracked out on sugar!


The "finale" fountain in progress
(yes, those are fountains stacked on top of each other)


The 4th Division of the Tank Army lies in wait, prepared to strike!


You know you've put on a good show when all that's left is
piles upon piles of burning firework remains.

Make the Smart Choice, Don't Drown...

Well as everyone knows, we've been getting a lot of rain here in Utah over the last week or two. Apparently that's a major issue for some people who love to drive their cars into giant 5 foot deep lakes of water.

As a public service announcement, I'd like to remind all of my fellow Utah drivers that cars do not float. You will sink. Sinking in water typically results in drowning. And drowning usually = death.

The National Weather Service and I, via the Severe Weather Alert service, would like to remind you to make the "smart choice"


Just say no to drowning!

Scenic Evanston, Wyoming

Today in preparation for the 4th, Jeff and I made a run to Evanston in hopes of procuring some good fireworks at a fair price. My store of choice was always Porter's, dating back many years into my youth. Porter's has since been converted into the TNT warehouse, so that was naturally the first stop.

Living in Utah, it really sucks trying to find fireworks. What little fireworks are sold here are not impressive, and usually very expensive to boot. One of the greatest things about the store was just how obscene the size of some of the packages were. I was really tempted to buy one of these, but previous run-in's with the county sheriff made me decide to not test my luck.


On the way back to the freeway we passed one of those adult novelty stores. Normally, this isn't really my thing and I just drive on by, however I couldn't help but laugh at the last item on the sign. I felt compelled to take a pic so that I had proof I wasn't just making this all up in my head.


Somehow I don't think "I swear honey, I was just getting my Pac Man on" would cover me from my wife's wrath...

The Blight

A few days ago I posted about our budding Garden of the Apocalypse.
Things have been going pretty well up until my first visit to the
Garden since the weekend.

The pictures I had last posted were of bounty and green flourishing life...
imagine my surprise to find the garden half dead in a matter of 6
days. The combination of high rainfall plus lack of sunshine have
produced the perfect storm for The Blight, better known as black spot
fungus. In nothing flat we now find ourselves fighting for our harvest.

Everything I've read about this fungus says it's really hard to get
rid of once it gets a foothold on the area. Hopefully we haven't
reached that point quite yet. A good trimming and ample amounts of
fungicide should help us get back on track tonight.

However, the dandelions seem undeterred by this new plague.......