Welcome Kennedy

Funny Ryan Story

Deni was in the kitchen with Ryan making jello jigglers and he blew a bubble with gum. Deni told him he was getting too big and that she wanted him to stay little. He said - "Why?" Deni said, "Well, because I don't want you to grow up and leave me." Ryan said, "Well - You know Azure? She stayed at home for a really long time when she was big I'm going to do the same thing. I'll stay home when I'm big and be your baby boy."

Dad called us around 9pm to tell us that Teresa was heading to the hospital to have her baby.

Teresa called around 11pm to tell us that she has had her baby. Perfect Baby girl 21 inches, 7 lbs 5 oz. Her name will be Kennedy. We are going to go see her tomorrow.

Happy September!

The work week is almost over. One more day, or maybe I will take half a day off. Guess we will see how things go tomorrow.

Today after work, I went with Deni to Sam's to do some grocery shopping. The Camry was out of gas, so we decided it was time to fill the gas tank. Since gas prices have been going up and up, with no end in sight, we decided that now is just as good of time as any. I have never seen a line of cars waiting to get gas. At Sam's, there are 8 pumps (and 4 lines). Each line had at least 2 cars filling up and about 3 to 4 waiting in line. We paid $2.67, which is better than most places, but it cost $40 to fill the Camry. Ouch.

Tonight we went on a family bike ride. The sub-division next to us has the streets poured but no houses in yet, so it makes it a perferct place to ride bikes, espically since Ryan is still learning to ride. Ryan crashed a few times, but he is getting the hang of things, like brakes and steering.

So far so good with Ryan's school. I'm not quite sure what he does in a day, but he appears to have fun. Hopefully he is learning things too.

Crazy gas prices

Heard on the radio this morning that because of the Hurricane Katrina, that gas prices were supposed to jump from between 10 to 20 cents today. On the way in to work, I looked at Maverick across from Novell, it was already $2.51. I went to Sam's and it was only $2.38. Of course, I stopped and filled up the tank in my Tacoma.

I called Deni to let her know about the gas prices. Later that day, I went by Sam's and it had gone up to $2.61 - 43 cents!!!! Amazing.

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina was a deadly and devastating tropical cyclone that was the cause of catastrophic damage in the southeastern United States and will likely become the worst natural disaster ever to hit the United States with major global economic consequences caused by the severe disruption of oil supplies, exports, and imports.

Disaster relief plans are in operation in the affected communities. Some experts predict one million people could become homeless as a result of the storm. Currently five million people are without power in the Gulf Coast region, and it may be two months before all power is restored.

The aftermath of the storm compounded problems. In particular, the breaching of some the levees protecting New Orleans caused water to flow unabated into the city. There was also widespread looting, many people stranded due to flooding, and an ever present threat of contagious disease in affected areas.

Katrina may be the deadliest hurricane in the United States of America since the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, which killed around 8,000 (possibly up to 12,000) people. The death toll of Katrina so far is "in the thousands", stated by the New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin on August 31, but it will take weeks before accurate numbers are known. Katrina is also expected to be the costliest natural disaster in United States history, exceeding the 1992 Hurricane Andrew.

"My shoe fits"

At the dinner table tonight, Deni looked at Sydney and told her to "Tell dad - "My shoe fits"

Sydney looked at me and said "Daddy, my shoe shits"

We laughed and laughed and laughed. Sydney likes to pronounce her "F's" like "sh's"

Naughty Deni.

Family Gathering at Mom and Dad's

Went fishing as a family today up at Spanish Oaks Reservoir. We went in the middle of the day, so we didn't catch anything. However it was a fun time. Sydney fell in the water. I was only 3 feet away from her, and she had her life jacket on, so I wasn't that concerned. But the water was so cold, it scared her, as it took her breathe away. Both kids liked to play in the freezing cold water. Ryan held on to the outside of canoe, while I paddled over to the sandy beach from one of the sides.

We came home and put Sydney to bed for a nap. I worked on the garage a little bit. We can get both cars in the garage now, however, there is still work to do, as it is a very tight fit.

Stefanie and family came to see the house around 5:00pm. It was the first time that they had seen the house. We gave them the grand tour, then headed to Mom and Dad's for a BBQ with the whole family.

Our whole family was there, except Shane. Uncle Ken and two of his girls, Kara and Shannon were also there. It was fun to have almost the whole family together to visit. As always it gets crazy when all of us are there. With Teresa's 5, Stefanie's 4 and our 2, it makes for a crazy, noisy night. However the time flew by. It was 10pm before I knew it.

Boring Friday

Not much happened today. At work, I finished up reinstalling my laptop but work was slow.

When I got home, we work on getting the computer room cleaned up. It is at least workable now. Still lots to do, but is usable.

We took Ryan and Sydney to the park for a bit tonight. With the park so close, it is hard to say no to the kids. Ryan loves the monkey bars and is getting better and better each time.

It was Deni's turn to help put Linda to bed. Linda lives in our old neighborhood and is paralyzed from the neck down.

Tonight was our ward campout. However I'm on call this week, so we decided to not go as I wouldn't be able to get cell coverage, while up Spanish Fork Canyon.

Two words.... Two Wheeler

Today was a frustrating day at work. I didn't really accomplish anything other than invalidating what I had done the last 2 days, as I had to start all over. Very frustrating.

Deni met me for lunch and we went to Sam's and walked around.

We ate the fish we caught yeseterday and the day before. Fresh trout. Hmmm. After dinner, dad came over to watch the kids for a second while Deni and I ran to the parents night at Ryan's school. We were a few minutes late, and it only lasted 12 minutes. Wasn't that informative, but oh well. I hope Ryan has a good year and enjoys his class.

Two words.... Two Wheeler. Ryan learned to ride his bike tonight.
We went to the park by our house. There is a basketball court, where I taught him to ride. When I first let go, he road in a circle, almost twice. Then we had to run back to the house to tell Deni (Ryan couldn't wait for Deni to show up.) Then we went back as a family. Other than starting by himself, he can ride pretty darn good. He favors turning to his left for some reason, but we can work on turning later. He rode home from the park, the street way. I ran behind him. Stopped him once from going straight into a parked truck. Ryan told Sydney, "Sydney, when you get big like me, I need to ride a 2 wheeler, like me."

Click here to see all pics taken of Ryan learning to ride his bike.

Deni caught fish too....

Deni went fishing with Ryan and caught 2 fish tonight. I stayed home with Sydney as she had a high fever. Hopefully Sydney will get better and the whole family can go fishing.

Fishing and mowing

There are 2 things that I enjoy immensely. Fishing (and catching fish) and mowing my own lawn. Weird eh? Tonight I got to do them both.

I told Ryan I would take him fishing last night, but couldn't because the back of the truck was full of things. So I told him it I would take him today. We took the canoe and went up to Spanish Oak Reservoir. Within about 15 minutes of getting on the water, I had hooked the first fish. I made sure it was on the hook good and then handed my pole to Ryan to let him reel it in. It was a smaller fish, about 10-11 inches, but we kept it. Before I left, I told Deni were were coming home with 4 fish, so I wasn't about to come home with nothing.

A few minutes later I had caught the second fish that was a little bit bigger and fatter. About that time, it started getting darker and darker with rain clouds. I was getting a little worried about lightening sitting out on the Reservoir by ourselves, so I decided it was time to get off the water. Ryan played on the sandy beach, while I cast a few times. It started sprinkling so we packed up and came home. There is a fish cleaning place at the reservoir, so we cleaned the fish and came home.

The bishop came over to meet us tonight. I was downstair, according to Deni, "singing at the top of my lungs" while she let them in, so they heard me. Embarrassing.

Finally, I mowed the lawn. There is something about seeing the angled stipes in a freshly mowed lawn. This is the first time I have mowed my new lawn. We have a big yard. Wow. I mowed till dark. After mowing the lawn, Deni and I watched the reality tv show - Rock Star INXS