Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Catching up on the rest of the week....

Friday
While it was gloomy and rainy outside, it was a very good thing as it gave us a down day...a day of rest, as it was leading to....

A Very Full Weekend!

Saturday
OK, my day started back in our backyard trying to complete the work I had started on Thursday.  Another several hours of work and I had the edging done.

Doesn't really look like that many hours of work, does it?

Now, I just need to reinforce the low sides and order the filler material.

For the afternoon, Kristen put together a bowling trip for the family with another family, the Conroy's.  It was the first time for Kevin and Ben, the Conroy's two boys, got to go bowling that wasn't candle pin variety.  We had a great time at PINZ, though I was so busy that I didn't even take one picture!  We then made it home for a late dinner and a little relaxation before bedtime.

Sunday
We started the day at church, of course.  Then, home to get ready for another get together at the house.  Kristen invited a number of friends and their kids to come hang out for the afternoon starting at 4:00.  So, we had lunch and let the kids have some down time, while Kristen put her ribs in the oven.  Then friends arrived and we had the whole front and side yard full of games, people and excitement.

We were exhausted by the end of the night and had enough energy to simply get the kids inside, wash their feet and get them and ourselves to bed.  A fun weekend, but tiring.  Hopefully a few good memories and time well spent for everyone.

Vacation, day 4

So, you saw the pool in the previous posts...you also could see that it didn't seem to be too full.  Well, it is supposed to be able to fill up to around 30" of water.  Of course, that is contingent on a person setting it up in a flat space.  It wasn't set up in a flat space.

So, I have been tasked with creating said flat space.  And I started that work yesterday.  I can't say I made a lot of progress.  I certainly did a lot of surveying and planning and such...but only got so far in digging the areas for the 2x4's and driving in the stakes.  Hopefully, I can get it dug out and set up by the end of the weekend and figure out how much pea gravel or sand or whatever we need to put in it to level the area out.


After all that hard work, we did have some friends come over for dinner.  The kids had a blast, we had awesome ribs that Kristen made and she go to enjoy her second fire in our fire pit.



The weather was perfect for it and the kids got to play out side till 10:30, which they thought was an awesome treat.  They even learned a new game called "Man Hunt" from the other kids.

Friends

We are so blessed with awesome friends. One of my best friends in the world and his wife sent this gift to Jude...

First...what an awesome gift! Three tiers of diapers, a John Elway beanie baby, a onesie that included the comment "Broncos Rule, Patriots drool." and a Broncos blanket. Now as amazing as it is, and they did a great job getting diapers that were the right size, they decided that they needed to make sure we understood why we got this particular gift...

In the card that was attached was the following little jab..."We're doing our part to make sure your parents rear you with proper values. It's evident by their Christmas card that your brothers morals are slipping. You are their only hope."

See the picture below for the reference to our Christmas card...

Investing in others

This topic has been on my mind lately and it came to me again yesterday when I was driving between offices and I heard this song...



One of the lines in the song says...and I became a friend a friend would like to have....
It got me thinking...with how busy I am with work, family and church, do I do a good job of investing in my friends? Giving them time, following up on stuff in their lives and praying for them on a regular basis are all things I could do better. After all, relationships, friendships, the experiences you have with people will matter way more than how your career went and what your house looks like. Like most of the rest of us (probably..), I will always need to keep tweaking my priorities to make sure that where I spend my time and energy aligns with where I want my investments in this life to be.

The longest game of pool ever

It is always longer for someone watching, and that was me, but this
certainly seemend to be the longest gmae EVER. Really...this is what
the table loked like after half an hour...not including breaks!

This may have been a test in patience..but, those are always easier when
you are among friends :)

Playing pool were dave, tim, lisa, and michelle.