Happy Birthday - Family Reunion

Today is DW's birthday and also her family reunion. We spent most of the morning around the house and running to Auburn and back. Holl was playing in the band for the parade so we had to wait around for that. G-man and Linc went down early with their grandmother. The parade was eeeh! Sparky raked in the goodies mostly because there was little competition. There were the usual suspects; VFW, drill team, band, old tractors, horses, fire trucks, etc..

We went on down to the old place and seven of the eight kids were there with their kids (24 grand kids). A time was had. There was much talking and playing and lots of so forth.

Short and ...

Tonight was G-man's tournament game. The 0rieles (G-man's team) lost last night and were in the losers bracket so they played at 6:00. Grandpa came to the game tonight as did Ash and Holl. G-man batted 4th both games. He is quite a good hitter. in the first inning he had a double and two RBI's then it came back around to him again and he had a walk. In the five innings they played he did pretty good striking out once and getting hits the other times. G-man has been their most consistent hitter through out the season. It was a close game where it was tied at 14 into the fifth. The O's didn't get a run in the top of the fifth and then the other team got a run to win it in the bottom of the inning. G-man had a really great game and played right field and first base. I think he had a great time. I'm glad that they lost because that ended their season. If they would have won they would have had to play tomorrow and "The Yankees" coached by the mother, son team of Margret and Bret #art the "uber-coaches". I'm so glad G-man wasn't on their team even though the Yanks have won all their regular season games and most likely will win the tournament.

Sterling-Silver Lint Clawson and graveyard

Introducing Holl's new kitten his name is Sterling-Silver Lint Clawson. This is a rather large name for a rather small cat. Holl's grandma W. was instramental in finding this little ball of fluff. She heard that Holl was looking for a kitten and she started to look around. Holl was losing hope that she would get a cat soon, she thought that she would have to wait for two or three more weeks before any cats were available. I don't think Ster has touched the ground since he arrived. The cat will be a celler dweller the same as Sulu was as per DW.

DW and the boys went for a hike up graveyard canyon today and Linc got some nice pictures some of which you see here. Yes DW is 6 months along but she had to get out and go for a hike. They found some Sago-lilly flowers as well as a deer and some rather steep climbing.

Handcarts and Rockets

Today the boys shot up their rockets. G-man bought his but I helped sparky build his. we went to the school play ground and shot up G-man's first. It landed somewhere between the play ground and Wyo sis's house. We never did find it. Sparky's didn't get that far off the ground it did some acrobatics and landed about twenty yards away. Linc and Hol got back from Martin's C0ve tonight about 7:30 which was around two hours later than the other busses bacause they won the lottery and got the bus that over heated. I have this calander and today reminded me very much of my brother-in-law.

Family stuff

Here are some pictures of DW's nieces and nephews from her sister that lives where DW is going to school.

sister-in-law has three kids under four and a half time kid in kindergarten. She is one busy lady seeing as how she also works. She is some kinda saint for putting DW up for twelve days as well so I personally salute Mil S!

State wide

Well, DW went back to school at 1:30 this morning and Linc and Hol headed to Martin's C0ve at 5:30 this morning. That left yours truly and "the boys" at home so I decided that with my family scattered all over Wy why not go fishing. So when the boys got up we had breakfast then got ready and went fishing. We fished for awhile then had lunch then fished some more. All we caught was some moss but I really didn't want to catch anything because then I would have had to eat it. I don't like eating trout. I like the taste but as soon as I hit a bone it's over. The lefties got to use the special left handed reel that dad special ordered for himself. After we got back we saw this in our front yard.

We weren't in the house half an hour before DM-I-L came by she gave the boys some money to take me (us) out to dinner. I've got a great mother-in-law! I got to see DW's new nephew. Cute and little. DW wishes here kids could have been born with heads as small as her nephews.

Dad's day

Well, all you fathers out there, happy fathers day. I wish I could wish my father a happy father's day and in a way I suppose I can. I would tell him of his grandson who looks very much like him and is quite athletic. I would tell him of the talented and beautiful granddaughter who has much of his sense of humor. I would tell him of this other grandson who is full of life and will most probably be the one to carry on the ham-ness he has passed down to me. I would tell him of the third grandson a rarity in the fraternal side of our family. I don't know of a single instance where there were three sons born to dad's line. Our last name now has a better than average chance of living on. This is of course dependant on weather or not the draft is reinstated in the next twenty years. Dad always told me that he fought so that I wouldn't have to. I don't think that it will extend to his grand kids. I would tell dad about the fifth kid on the way and how that will qualify us to use the cattle brand that he came up with of 7S. This will make our car a little more crowded but so what. I would tell dad how much I love him and stand in total amazement at what he did in his life, the childhood he went through, the young adulthood he went through, the sacrifices he made for his family. Anyone who could work with grandpa for fifty some years and not kill him must have a very special place in heaven. The thing I wish most is that dad could be here to watch his grand kids grow up. I know that he is aware of us but I wish my kids could have known him in this life.

Frog Found

FOUND

Unfortunately the frog didn't survive.

DW found it by scooping it up with other toys and miscellaneous items.

The sound was a cross between a gag and a shriek.

I think it was Dutch for "I really wish I hadn't picked this up!"

And how is your Saturday?

It's cleaning day for the boys. DW got back from school Thursday night and seemed to be getting along with her school work OK. After a day of recovery and searching for bonnets (more on that later) she is ready to literally dig into the boys' room. The cracker jack prize is the missing frog. I suppose I will know when it is found by the cry of disgust and/or surprise. DW has sent the boys outside to play feeling that it would be much easier to clean (read: through away) the toys and related crud from their room. I can remember mom cleaning my room and many prized items mysteriously disappearing, not to be seen again. Moms really have little sense of value when it comes to what is important to little boys. It may seem like a amorphous lump of metal and wood but in fact it may well be a highly prized work of art.

The two older ones are going to Martin's c0ve this coming Monday with the stake. It was originally going to be just for the girls but it was decided that all youth should go. Hol is going as her great-great-great-grandmother Lucy and they were going to have Linc go as his great-great-great-grandfather Jim, but Linc thought that was just too weird so he will get to portray someone else. I think he will regret it latter that he didn't portray one of his ancestors but that's the mind of a teenager. DW would go also but she will be at school. She does however get all the fun of planning and coordinating the little jaunt. It seems that bonnets are a rather intense item of clothing. Many girls are quite reluctant to wear them and it seems that there are few bonnet stores around these days. Mom to the rescue (so to speak), she made a pattern for her two granddaughters who are going (Ash is going too) and made them bonnets. She also helped them make their skirts and shirts. I think she would have made the handcart too if there wasn't some all ready there. I have been getting desperate calls from mothers and leaders about where they could get patterns for bonnets. It seems that this item has been neglected until the last minute in the hopes that it will be too late to acquire one. Hopefully all this madness will be over Monday when they take off.

Speaking of clothing that isn't necessarily the height of fashion. I was given some shorts that mom found on her trip to I.F.. They fit fine but I suspect they were meant to be warn by a much younger and skinnier person. The conclusion that I came to is that they were meant for a person who is around twenty is in a nefarious youth group and has a propensity for people of a similar gender. By the way the shirt is mine, I bought it some years ago. The back of the shorts has a S and a P on the back pockets which are lower down the leg and has added to my suspicion that the manufacture of this item really didn't have a 40+ year old father in mind when they were designing this particular garment.

Sorry, what was that?

I have been noticing things about myself that I really don't like. Recently I have been saying "ya know" after sentences. It's really bothering me and I'm sure it bothers the one I'm talking to, ya know! Another thing that is more noticeable to me is that when the TV is on I have very little awareness of what is happening around me. I know this has been going on since childhood. I first noticed it when I went over to Kenny's house and started watching TV with him and Orson. Well they left and went over to Orson's house and planned a slumber party with our me then came back and I was still watching TV. I've noticed that hard as I try I get distracted easily when talking to people I'm comfortable with, mother-in-law, Glenn, DW, kids. I really try to pay attention but some how my mind wanders. I wish to apologize to anyone that has noticed this and anyone who may not have noticed but I have tuned out anyway.

Something pretty cool happened at work today. A couple came through on a tour, nothing special there, and President Bob was talking them through. Well Bob was explaining what my machine was doing and the man answered in a familiar accent. Bob told me they were from Rotterdam. I immediately started talking to them in Dutch. They were surprises to have someone in the boonies of Wyoming talking to them in Dutch and Bob was amazed that I knew Dutch at all. We talked for ten minutes or so and then it was lunch time. That was a day maker. I haven't talked to a Dutchy for several years now and I realized something else, I'm loosing lots of words now that it's twenty five years on.

DW comes home tonight from school. She has had an interesting week from the things she has told me on the phone. I hope she doesn't fall asleep on the way home tonight.

I need to get G-man a lunch for tomorrow and Sparky needs a treat for after his T-ball game. I need to get Linc to Basketball camp at 6:00 and "the boys" to their baseball games starting at 6:45. I also need to drop by Wyo Sis's house for some measuring and such, so I'd better go. (Sparky is #4)

What?

I just heard a news item on our local news station. A certain woman named Ms. Butts is facing up to three years in jail for stealing three roles of toilet paper. When she was questioned they said that "at first she didn't come clean" about the theft but later admitted to it. This is her third offence hence the "rough" sentence. People are calling this the "toilet paper caper".

Wyoming in June

Here is Sparky in our back yard today. This is not that unusual for our little bit of heaven. I looked out the window this morning at a quarter to six and saw about two inches of snow. This next picture shows just what is going on on our street. DD just got back from talking this picture. The town is replacing our water system and they are to our street.

We are headed to the "nephew's" wedding Friday. The wedding is Saturday and DW has to head to UW Sunday for three weeks of school. The party just keeps going all month! Linc wanted me to show his room where there is a fan and a heater plugged in at the same time. I just want you to note the cleanliness of a fourteen year old's room. We don't have to tell him to clean his room (or Hol's she wants you to know) and we have deep discussions on how best to do the laundry. These discussions are led by the fourteen year old and he is instructing his mother.

Lost

LOST

One small frog, greenish brown.

Does not answer to "Froggie"

Last seen in G-man and Sparky's room.

If found please contact thier parents.

(A short memorial service will be held shortly after discovery.)

Common sense is dead!

Last week was the end of a trial where the company I work for was being sued for product defectiveness. A man who bought our product and in careless use of it lost his leg. He claimed that it was a design defect that caused the accident. He was taking off his "duster", a rather pretentious piece of clothing if you ask me, when our product was caught by his "duster" and caused the injury. Now if this "gentleman" had any horse sense he would have removed our product and rendered it safe before he did this, in fact he was carrying our product in an unsafe condition in the first place. Any ten year old who has ever been instructed in the safe operation on our product or any thing like it would have made sure to make it safe before he put it any where near his body. The trial was in Ohio and apparently they are only half intelligent there because the jury determined that it was half his own fault and half ours. The "gentleman" originally wanted $10 mil for his idiocy, the jury awarded $600K but cut it in half because he was half at fault. The big wigs haven't decided if they are going to appeal or not. If they don't it could open the door for every moron who gets his hands on one of our products to sue us for every stupid act they happen to do with it. The lawyer who, well, let's face it, is going to make all the money, and by the way is the son of Jackson's most famous lawyer said "... They admitted in this court that it can harm and kill people." Well, duh! Water can drowned people too. It's all in how you use it. It can also save your life and keep you fed. Sorry to ramble on but I've suspected that reason was dead for a long time and Glenn B. has even told me that it is but I didn't want to believe it. Now I do believe common sense is indeed dead. People have used our product for almost 25 years and very seldom been harmed by it. Car companies would envy our safety record. More people have been killed, I suspect, by lightning than our product. This may be the end for my job, we have been teetering on the edge for some time. This may just push us over the edge. I suppose not having to drive that far to work would save gas.

Hol is close to getting her cat

Some time this month Hol will have not chewed her fingers for six weeks. Her mom told her that she could get a cat if this happened. I would like another cat but they seem to live for such a long time. Hopefully we will get a better cat than the cartoon shows.

Baby for the youngest

Dw's little sister just birth today to a boy. This is her first and it is a bit early (@ two weeks) but the kid still weighted in at over six pounds. That's number two of I think four children that will be born to our (DW and mine) families this year. With this birth that makes all of DW's brothers and sisters that have had children. I believe this is grandkid number 27 for DMIL. That's a lot of birthdays to remember. She may add at least two more this year.