The great outdoors

Last Saturday (July 19), Seth and I managed to get all the usual weekend housework done by 9 a.m., so I proposed that as soon as Analee woke up from her morning nap, we ought to go do something fun as a family.

We chose to go to Cress Creek, a fun little trail less than a half-hour away from home. It's not what I'd consider a serious hike; there are picnic tables scattered all along the trail, and from the trailhead to the creek is entirely paved. Not exactly Mt. Borah or Tablerock, but perfect for a two- or three-hour excursion with the kids.

Trip highlights:

Eating a picnic lunch of egg salad sandwiches and grapes

Seeing a lizard that scurried home when Bekah got too close

Bekah approaching the lizard with caution.

Dipping Analee's toes into the creek

After this experience, Ana kept trying to walk back into the creek ... even though she still had her shoes on.

Seth and Rebekah attempting to play Pooh Sticks

Their sticks never made it through; there were too many bigger sticks to get stuck on.

Managing to get the stroller up three unpaved switchbacks before turning back]


To view more awesome images from our little adventure, click here.

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five years

This morning, as I was leaving for work, Andrea told me, "You've been home from your mission five years today." That's right... FIVE years. I've been HOME for FIVE years. That blows my mind.

In commemoration of that, I'm re-posting the links to my mission galleries. Because, like, I know you all totally want to see pictures of my mission.

• MTC


• Roma (map)


• McAllen (Balboa) (map)


• McAllen (Office) (map)


• Laredo South (Santo Niño) (map)

I still can't believe it's been five years. It feels like I just barely got home. Heck, it feels like I just barely left.

"Skateboarding"

So I was trying to finish the computer work on Tyson and McKall's engagement pictures (All done! Just need to rename and such ... ) in the extra bedroom downstairs (because my Mac is banished to that room) when Bekah came in and kept pestering me to help her go skating on the ice in the bathroom.

Skating on the ice in the bathroom? I had no idea what she was talking about.

Apparently this is what she was talking about:

No actual ice, thank goodness. No, she's just "skateboarding" on her play cutting board with her bowl as a helmet (Safety first!) on the slick floor of the bathroom.

Here she comes!

Oops! Biffing it on the laundry room carpet. Her skateboard met up with some more friction than she anticipated.

We love Wii

The Wii brings family together ... to fight goblins. Seth battles with the Wii remote while Bekah utilizes a dinosaur and ducky. They were playing "The Legend of Zelda."

Okay ... we've officially owned a Nintendo Wii for over a month, so it's time for the review.

However, first I must admit to something. This is my first Nintendo. Ever. This is such a new thing for me that I have to stop and think as I type the word "Nintendo" (I've made good use of the backspace key as I've misspelled it several times already).

The last "gaming system" I could claim part ownership to was the T.I. we played "Hunt the Wumpus" on as children. Sure, we had our Macintosh on which we'd play "MacMillionaire" (riveting!) or the later Macintosh on which we'd play "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" (in black and white!), but nothing as extraordinary as the Nintendos with "Duck Hunt" and "Super Mario Brothers" that EVERYBODY else in the world owned (or so it seemed at the time).

So now I (we) own a Nintendo. And our lives will never be the same in many ways.

Another day, another Wii daddy-daughter date. Seth and Bekah attempt the sun salutation pose while doing Wii Fit yoga.

Way #1: Competitive racing. Not only have I proved that I can occasionally hold my own against Seth while playing MarioKart, but I have also proved that I can occasionally not be last place as we play against Seth's co-workers over the Internet. I am a speed demon, people.

Way #2: Body image. Wii Fit mocks me relentlessly as I strive to reach my goal of losing four pounds in two months, only to find myself farther away from my goal now than when I started. And then it has to mock me further by asking me why I am putting on weight (albeit only a fraction of a pound). Is it overeating? Snacking? Succumbing to idiocy and buying Wii Fit?

Way #3: Boo-boos. Already I have suffered multiple injuries from playing the Wii. I couldn't move my shoulder for days after swinging a "bat" a million times just for a few coins in Mario Party, I couldn't laugh without clutching my abs in pain after doing planks in Wii Fit, and I couldn't let anything brush against my side after I got what I thought was a hernia while doing jackknives in, again, Wii Fit. (Turns out it was an internal infection ... so, technically it's not Wii-related. Or is it? Wily Wii.)

Way #4: Trendiness. Okay ... so despite the loserness I experience with MarioKart, the not losing enough I experience with Wii Fit and the limbs I lose ability to use with multiple games, I am cool. I own a Wii. Now maybe I can convince Seth that we need an iPhone.

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Don't fear the flosser

For months I have prepped Bekah for today: her first dentist visit. Apparently no amount of prepping could prepare either of us for what transpired.

I had told Bekah that she would need to open wide. I had told Bekah that she would sit in a special chair that would go up and down (slowly, I reassured her) and lie back. I had told Bekah that there would be a lady who cleaned her teeth with a special toothbrush. If only it were that easy.

First of all, she didn't want to sit in the chair. So I sat in the chair and had her sit in my lap while the hygienist made it go up and down. I asked her if she could then sit in it alone. "Yes," she replied. "No!" she immediately replied after that. But I got her to sit in it.

Then came the X-rays. She didn't want the vest on. She didn't want to keep the film in her mouth. She didn't want to hold still. She REALLY didn't want me to leave the room long enough for the hygenist to push the button. So in the end, I put an extra vest on me and held Bekah's face in my hands while the X-ray was taken. Oh, yes ... and I promised her she'd get no balloon from the hygienist if she moved a muscle.

Next, the cleaning. She gladly chose raspberry toothpaste, but then she didn't want to lie back in the chair. She didn't want to open her mouth. She didn't want the hygienist to stick that crazy thing in her mouth. She DID like "Mr. Thirsty," the straw that sucks out the excess water. It wasn't until the hygienist relinquished the toothbrush to me and let me try it out on Bekah's teeth that she'd let the expert take over.

Flouride. She liked the sound of the "duck-billed tray," as the assistant called it, but when Bekah got a look at it, it was a no-go. But I think this assistant had had her share of hog-tying tykes before, because when Bekah refused, she quickly changed tactics. Instead of the tray, Bekah had the flouride applied with a Q-tip.

Finally, the dentist himself. Bekah didn't want to sit in that chair for a second longer. And she certainly didn't want to show her pearly whites to this strange man. In the end, she reluntantly opened just wide enough for the mirror while I cheered her on.

All the fears dissipated, however, when she was told she was done and could have a new toothbrush (Pooh! Red!) and a balloon (Floating! Pink!).

Good thing there were no cavities (although who could tell when all they got were fleeting glimpses?); hopefully Seth and I can quell Bekah's dentist-related fears in time for her next visit in January 2009.

Nerding it up in Snowbird

No one will contest the fact that I am a nerd. Always have been. And I will continue in my nerdy ways until my dying day (which will probably involve some sort of freak Star Wars paraphernalia accident).

That being said, Seth is actually taking vacation days to attend a Jostens yearbook workshop with me in Snowbird, Utah, this week. Yeah ... time off for yearbookies. Woo-hah! And I asked him to do it.

You see, my dad has been teaching at this workshop thing for 20+ years, and I have had the opportunity to go with him a few times. The first time I went, my little brother Tyson and I got to watch TV in Mom and Dad's hotel room while they attended classes. Years later I attended the workshop as a yearbook student. But the last few years I have come as the slide show producer.

Throughout the three-day workshop, photographers (including my dad and myself) shoot candids and group photos of the students and their advisers, and it is my responsibility to pull those elements together into a media production for all the attendees to watch after they receive their awards.

This requires a lot of time on my feet taking pictures, a lot of time in the hotel room working on the computer, and a lot of stress knowing that I have a huge deadline to face.

But I love it.

And Seth has been nice enough to accompany me this year. He's been the videographer/soundtrack producer/co-editor.

The awards ceremony starts at 3:45 p.m tomorrow, and so far we've been able to put together 2 minutes and 40 seconds of our 8.5-minute slide show.

Not the getaway most couples would envision. But for nerds like us, it works.