July 4th Weekend - Lots of running

Hi all,

I wanted to give you an update on the Holiday weekend. The family and I went down to Houston for the weekend since I had Thursday thru Sunday off. We packed our bags, left the house in shambles, and headed South at 6:30am.

On the way down we stopped in Huntsville and had lunch at Chili's with one of Brenda's old missionary companions, Marcie Toole and family. We were able to visit with her husband and new baby boy. After seeing a one month old I realize now how HUGE my kids are.

While we were waiting for Marcie we stopped into a Home Depot to buy some cabinet hinges for my Mom. All I can say is I think we saw every aisle in the store because we thought it would be a good idea to let our three year old stretch his legs. We got a break when we drifted by the lawnmower section because David mows the lawn with me and wanted to try out the new electric lawnmower. He sweeps, washes dishes, loads and unloads the dishwasher, vacuums, and sets the table too.

We were excited to see all the improvements in Nana and Grump's house. There are new laminate floors, tile in the kitchen and downstairs bathroom, new counter tops, a new back splash, and progress towards a bunch of other projects. We'll update the site here with pictures. I spent a little time hanging cabinet doors with James.

Later that night we went to the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion and listened to the Houston Symphony Orchestra play patriotic songs. We had lawn seats and David would do some kind of impressionistic modern dance to the songs. It was hilarious, until he ran. He was in time out three times before the night was over.

On Friday we had a family meeting. People who know our family know that these meetings can result in drama just short of bloodshed. We talked about the happy subject of funeral arrangements. How fun! Now for those of you who haven't planned you estate, this is no laughing matter. Even if your spouse survives the paperwork has to be filed. If you live in Texas go to and click on consumer. There you will find forms for everything you will need in the event of the loss of a loved one.

Later that night we went to see fireworks in the Woodlands and played some chicken foot at Jon and Jocelyn's.

Saturday we headed over to Andrew and Maxie's for a Fourth of July parade. The parade consisted of all the neighborhood children on bikes riding behind the Precinct 4 Constables on 4-wheelers and in their police cars. We thought the kids would love it! Well, THEY did. Because all our kids didn't have bikes we put a few in a wagon. I drove the wagon. I ended up RUNNING to keep up with all the bikes for four blocks with sirens wailing in my ears. I was sweating. In the end the officers gave us each a nice junior badge and we have great pictures of David riding one of the police 4-wheelers.

We decided to go to the local park and pool to go for a swim. David was very excited. In fact, he decided to go out the front door and head into the street he was so excited. After I caught him I told him to wait for everyone else to get their suits on and we would all go together. He whined but gave in. We finally head over and we notice that off in the distance there are a few storm clouds, but no big deal. We only wanted to stay for an hour. As soon as we get to the pool David jumps into the kiddie pool and decides he would rather go to the big pool. I get in with my Dad who hasn't been swimming in years. As soon as we get in the lifeguard whistles for adult swim. That was the longest 10 minutes of David's life. He just could not understand why Dada could swim with Grumps and Uncle Andrew and he couldn't. He was MAD and UPSET. He cried the whole time. There were two slides into the pool that Andrew and I used and David was beside himself. I told him he could come in in just a few minutes. Well, all of the sudden those rain clods seemed closer than I remembered. The next thing I hear is thunder, followed by the lifeguards whistle for a "thunder" break and everyone had to get out of the pool. David was out of control. He had waited so patiently and was sooo sad that he could not get into the pool. So to make a long story short, I RAN him across the street, back to the house, upstairs to the bathtub, and we made a mess playing with toys together because David was going to get in some kind of pool, one way or another.

Later that evening we went over to Nana and Grumps house and watched Harry Potter 5.

Sunday morning rolled around and we met the family at church. Wendy decided it was her turn to be energetic and we spent most of Sunday school and the last hour RUNNING around and looking at pictures on the wall. One painting in particular has a lamb sitting by a lion, and by the end of church she could say "lam" and kitty ka".

We had a nice lunch at Andrew and Maxie's, dropped by Jon and Jocelyn's to say goodbye, saw Scott Ricker in the parking lot, and headed home. That's when Maxie called and let us know we left the pack-n-play at her house.

All in all it was a good weekend. Until the next fourth...