TJ to the MAX

We were in Park City tonight and stopped by TJ Max. I've decided that TJ Max is good for a lot of things. One of which is giving you a frame of reference. For example...this is how Jack looks next to a pair of giant underwear.

For the Grandma's

Since the meltdown of our last camera, which also served as our video camera, we haven't been able to shoot any video. We just got a new one though thanks to some forgotten but not lost gift cards to Circuit City (Christmas '07 lives on!) We recognize that we go in cycles of super heavy on ridiculousness to really heavy on Jack. Sorry. This post is mainly for those who haven't gotten to see the lad in action for a while.

Something Silly

Earlier today Jack and I were reading books. Jack had a little toot. He looked down at his diaper, quite surprised, and said, "What's that?"

My name is Jack and I love Cars!!

Cars seem to be the one true love thus far in Jack's life. He takes them everywhere. The shower, the grocery store, at meal times, to bed, to church, on walks, you name the occasion, he has at least 2 cars. When its time for bed we tell him to choose two cars. For awhile he would dig through his box of cars and choose the two perfect cars for that night. Now he will hand me about four cars, and then try to take two in each of his hands too. I'm not sure where the obsession came from, but I think its pretty cute, and appropriate for a boy.

Tagged!

Here is a tag from my friend Kim. Where I've been and where I'm going.

20 years ago...

1. 7 years old, living in the "green house" as we all liked to call it. It was green on the outside, and just about everything on the inside was green too.

2.Lots of playing outside with our neighbors, Leslie and Lauren. And lots of getting in trouble for giggling too late at night (Carrie, Taryn, and I all shared a room).

10 years ago...

1.17 years old, trying to make it through one last year of high school

2.Working hard to make up all of the seminary I didn't attend in the last 4 years (I'm proud to say I finished all the work and officially graduated from Seminary before I started BYU!).

5 years ago...

1.Trying to focus on school while getting ready for our wedding. Oddly, that was one of my best semesters.

2.I was exercising a lot. I wish I had that same focus and determination now.

1 year ago...

1.We took Jack on his first trip out of the country (to Jamaica for Danielle's wedding).

2.We also went to Taryn's wedding in TX, and Eric's cousin's wedding in Chicago.

So far this year...

1.Found out we're having a baby, and its a girl!

2.Sent a brother and a brother-in -law off on missions.

Yesterday

1.Prepared my lesson for my primary class, and made handouts for activity days.

2.Made the mistake of letting my 20 month old fall asleep at 7:45 and paid dearly for it this morning.

Today

1.Went to church.

2.Went on a walk with my family to the park.

Tomorrow

1.We'll probably go to the library. We read through every book Jack owns at least 3 times a day. We're all ready for something new.

2.I need to dust.

Next Month

1.We'll add a little girl to the mix!

2.My in-laws are coming out here to celebrate Grandma's 80th!

In the next year...

1.We'll move to a new house (still in Evanston).

2.A lot more of the same old stuff along with learning to balance life with 2 kids.

In the next 5-10 years...

1.We'll probably be done having kids (somewhere in the ballpark of 5).

2.Hopefully we'll be back in TX, or somewhere a little bit closer to family.

There you have it! If you feel like reminiscing about the good old days, feel free to continue the tag!

I'm stupid

the scene: a mild and overcast wednesday afternoon. eric nears the completion of an appraisal inspection in rock springs.

the conversation:
eric: i'm all done. we'll get something back to your bank within a couple of days.

homeowner: sounds good

eric: you're welcome. have a good one.

eric's inner dialogue: you idiot! they didn't say thank you. why are you throwing out a preemptive "you're welcome"? they must think your a complete moron right now. either that or completely rude. as if to say that they must be thankful for my services whether or not they verbally state as much. why don't you just walk back to your truck and hope that they don't think about it too long. you trigger happy poor excuse of a polite conversationalist.

The Fresh Swedish Air

This post is tacky...sorry that's just part of who I (Eric, are you kidding me? were you really wondering?) am.


If you don't think this is funny, consider this. God created all things, including the magnificent and miraculous way the body functions. This also includes farts. Which is proof to me that he has a sense of humor. If he didn't think it was funny I'm sure we would all just burp more.

Palin

Last week my Uncle Doug asked me what I thought of Sarah Palin as McCain's VP selection. I essentially told him that I didn't know (in a more sarcastic manner as is my tendency). Since that time I've been doing some homework and of course her speech last night was very good. Did anyone else see her speech last night? I was really impressed by her. She is completely relatable and genuine. I never thought McCain had a chance to win the election until last night. It's too bad she's not the main ticket. (ron paul/palin would be sweet) Anyway if you didn't see the speech you should find it and read it/watch it. I would just post the youtube sections of the speech but they are about 8 minutes a piece. Please check it out though, home girl is legit and it would appear that we may end up with a person in the white house (although a vp instead of a p) who is actually in touch with the pulse of the country and not constantly flip flopping on important issues or just listening to special interest groups... and I gotta say that its nice to watch someone speak that doesn't make you want to vomit by the sheer sight of them, there are some really rough looking characters in politics. PS barak sucks. if you disagree please let me know why.

Labor Day Parade!

My favorite parade of the year has come and gone and it did not disappoint. The weather was pretty nice when we left the house so we grabbed a couple of umbrellas and jackets just in case the forecast for cold and rain was right, and walked downtown to meet the fam for the parade. Before it started Jake and Jack had a blast running into the middle of the road without moms telling them to "Get out of the street!" That's a common command at our house.




The parade started right on time, and the boys loved it. There were fun things for them to look at and people giving them candy. Jake got sidetracked with the first tootsie roll, and decided to eat that instead of getting more candy. Jack completely misunderstood how things worked and started throwing candy back at the floats. I guess that's actually better than 1 1/2 year old kids filling bags full of candy and begging to eat it all day long.

During the parade the wind started to pick up and big black clouds started heading our way. It was quite an ominous scene. When the rain started to fall I took Jack into the little shop we were standing in front of. I was afraid he was getting too cold. I was wrong. He was so mad that he was missing all the fun outside, so back out we went. Luckily, I had grabbed those umbrellas earlier. Jack and I sat on the sidewalk under an umbrella watching the rest of the parade go by while being pelted by rain, hail, and finally snow. Everyone was soaked and freezing by the end, but that is one Evanston parade we will never forget!

The rest of the day was spent at Grandma's where we all talked, played, and ate. Here are some pictures from the day.