We have a 10 year old...

Hard to believe, but 10 years ago today, Cameron was born. Below are just a few of the pictures that I have kept in my wallet over the years. The wear and tear on the pictures is obvious, but they were ones that I was always proud to share with anyone that asked about my family.

Cameron is just a great kid. Anyone that meets him, quickly learns that he is an intelligent, caring young man with a soft heart and a sweet tooth. He is determined to be good at everything that he does, and has an eagerness to learn that I wish I had. While he can be a bit shy at times, other kids and even adults migrate to him because he accepts everyone and always looks for the positive. He is a fun, protective older brother, and a loving, obedient son. I am blessed to be his Dad.

Happy Birthday Cameron!

July 2009 Recap - Part 3

For those that know me, they know that I am not the outdoorsy type. I actually enjoy getting out into the mountains and an occasional hike or campout, but it is not something I grew up doing, so it is not something I do frequently today. This past July, I went back to Colorado to visit my grandparents who are both in their mid-to-upper 80s.

I went back with my dad and brother, Justin. We decided that we would take my Grandfather's old aluminum fishing boat out to a nearby reservoir to fish for some trout. It was a beautiful day, and after getting the boat out on the water, for some reason I got stuck with the job of dropping anchor. There were two in the boat, and from what I could tell, they were both attached... you know where I am going with this. Anyway, I started to untangle one of the anchors, and listening to the instructions from the front of the boat to "just throw it in," I did so, and watched as the rope followed the anchor down to the bottom of the reservoir. Fortunately, we had a second one, which was in fact connected to the boat. And while I may not be the smartest angler, I was the one who caught the most fish. See proof below.

This is all you'll see from Justin... For him, this is all that fishing entails.

Dad finally got one right before we were leaving...


Count them...


I know it is tough to get past the pasty arms, but hey four fingers. I hadn't been to the pool much.

This is my grandpa overseeing the fish fry operations...


While life in small town Colorado can be slow at times, it was a good visit with my grandparents. Justin took some great pictures while we were over there.

July 2009 Recap - Part 2

For our family vacation this year, we decided to rent a cabin in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee with Kenna's family and G'ma and G'Pa. We always see the commercials for Gatlinburg, and it looks like a fun place anyway. Well, what they forget to tell you about is the insane traffic and that Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg are the Las Vegas for pancake houses, mini-golf and go-cart tracks. Hard to believe that so many people want to try to get a glimpse of Dolly Parton.

The cabin we rented also looked and sounded a lot better online than it did in real life. Other than the phone and satellite not working, no pool (as originally advertised), an inoperable gas grill, pool table and electronic dart board, it was great. Actually the cousins had fun and it was functional for sleeping and eating. Once it stopped raining, we actually got to enjoy the outdoors a bit.

Other than the traffic, the area is beautiful and the Great Smokey Mountain National Park is worth seeing. Below are are just a few of the fun moments captured on film.

On the way...


The hot tub became our pool after we found out the "advertised" pool did not exist...


We did let the kids play one of the 100 mini-golf courses...


Monica and I waited 45 minutes for this 30 second ride. By the look on my face, you would think we were headed for a water fall. Not really...

July Recap - Part 1

Julys tend to be really busy at our house, especially the beginning of the month when we celebrate Monica's and Treyton's birthday on the 6th and 7th respectively. Around the same time we celebrate a bunch of other family birthdays so we have plenty of cake and ice cream to go around. This year, we celebrated Monica's 4th birthday at a friend's pool, and then hosted a mob of Trey's friends for flag football, hot dogs and of course, cake. Rachael of course gets credit for the flower cupcakes and football cake (7th birthday). Pictures of the scenes are below.




The yellow team...

The Red team...

The prize...

June Recap Part 2 - Megan's Arm

For those that follow our lives, you know that Cameron and Treyton have been unfortunate enough to have broken an arm early in their lives. When Cameron was still crawling around in our Utah house, he fell down a couple of steps and suffered a buckle fracture. I couldn't find a picture to share, but it was a traumatic experience, particularly for mom who was watching when he fell.

When Treyton was two he was helped off of the couch by his brother and a friend, Sam, and that also resulted in a trip to the emergency room. As you can see by the pictures, the injury required a bit longer stay at the hospital.



Well, it happened to us again in June of this year when Megan fell down a couple of steps at Grandma's house. This is when we found out that she suffered a buckle fracture on her wrist.


Here she is with the fashionable pink cast.


Fortunately, all is well. Since Megan can't hold still, her cast actually fell off a few weeks later.

San Diego - June 2009

In June, Rachael and I got to spend two days in San Diego following a work trip. It was our first trip back to the city since our honeymoon 14 years earlier. We squeezed a week of activities into those two days beginning with a photo-op with Jay Leno prior to a private showing for the event I was working at. The next day we ate breakfast at a cafe next to the ocean, took a brief nap on a bench on the boardwalk, dug our toes in the sand on the beach, saw a movie, had a fantastic steak dinner and went to the Padres baseball game. We must have walked a couple dozen miles, and despite the sun burn, we had a great time.

April Arizona Trip Recap

Back in April, we took the family to Arizona to visit Rachael's sister and my brother and sister. We stayed at Rhonda's hotel with Rachael's two other sisters and their families. All told, a house that normally has three people was now invaded by a small army of 18 more people. Believe it or not, it rained while we were there and the temperature did not approach the extremes that we typically hear about. The rain and the lows in the 50s did not deter the kids from swimming in Rhonda's frigid pool. Below are some pictures that highlighted our trip...

Rhonda's dog, Cutter, had to be in the pool if anyone was in it.


We also got to meet cousin Charlie for the first time.


Cutter got attention whether he wanted it or not.


The cousins in the blow up bounce house.


The girls had a party with Aunt Rhonda, while the boys went to an Arizona Diamondbacks game.


We also celebrated Megan's first birthday.


She knows how to party...