Our Cute Family - Stick Figures & Silhouettes

A cutesy website - widdlytinks.com allows you to get all crafty creative and stuff... Look, I made a representation of our family as cutesy stick figures and silhouettes, too. Now I just need it as a vinyl sticker and we can be like millions of others with it on our car.

Quicky: Kanab-Style with a Bucket

We headed to Kanab, Utah to visit the in-laws for a quick 4-day weekend at the beginning of October. It wasn't much warmer due to the high winds we had for pretty much the whole trip...

We tried doing s'mores over the in-law's fire-pit, but the winds made it quite difficult.Without fail, Thing 2 discovered some messy goodness
Thing 1 even had some driving instruction, and with the in-laws approval can now drive the Rhino around the property...
The in-law's neighbors have a zip-line and rigged up a child seat, so Thing 2 had a fun ride...

We even shot a little movie of him in action:

And after a nice long day, Thing 2 decided he'd be most comfortable watching tv from a big bucket...

Mud Boggin'

Mud and Boys
Is it just in our nature?

Here is yours truly - Mud Bog circa 1973
(Me on the left, my buddy Chuck on the right)


And Thing 2, the other day
(Koda will be a year in August - she's getting big)

(2009 in case you guys forgot)

Summer Ketchup

Did I just make a pun? It is about time for me to get back on track and catch up on the ol' blog...

June - 2009

Thing 2 plays with sunscreen

Just look at those eyes... Busted! Luckily the couch is leather, so the clean up wasn't too bad.

Early in June, we took a quick trip to Moab to meet Mrs. H's half-sister and family - we went river rafting and then camped 1 night in Moab and then back to Kanab to visit Mrs. H's parents.

The only pics we took were of us at the North Fork of the Grand Canyon. Although it was June, being at 8,000 feet meant is was still chilly. And of course we didn't have a coat for Thing 2 - so we made due with a swim cover-all that used to fit Thing 1.

The fam-damily at the beginning of the trail out to the vista

Thing 1 and I take a breather half-way out...

Behold the beauty of the cover-all...

Couldn't get Mrs. H to hike to the end of the vista, but the kids had no problem.

A little tired from the hike, but what a view!

Cousins "J" and "C" enjoying the grandeur of the vista

Grand-dad "C" and Thing 2

Mid-June, Mrs. H and I dropped the kiddies at my parents on our way to San Francisco (anniversary trip).

We took a tour of the city, starting at the renovated Ferry Building and drove down the Embarcadero through Fisherman's wharf. Up to Steiner street to see the famous "Postcard row".We got to go inside the last house on the left and see the restoration the owner had recently completed. It was cool to see gas lamps flickering throughout the home.

Potty-break at Grace's Cathedral (funny how the tour guide chooses the rest-stop...) We continued through Golden Gate park, with a brief stop at the Japanese Tea Gardens.
The Golden Gate Bridge from the north vista. It was a really sunny day - lucky for us.
Lunch in Sausalito and a ferry ride back to our starting point. We walked down Lombard (the curvy part) on the tour, and later went back to drive it ourselves. If you haven't really seen the city, do yourselves a favor, take the city tour. It was worth it.
The next day, we went north to Muir Woods - proof that I could be a tree-hugger...Back to the city for the required stop at Ghiradelli square for an ice cream sundae.It was a quick 3-day trip. Thing 1 and 2 seemed to enjoy their time with Nana and Papa and their cousins.

Thing 1 and her cousin "N" playing in the back yard...

Thing 2 and his cousin "D" enjoying a frozen treat.

While we were in Chinatown we found some cute outfits for the kids (maybe a little hokie) - the picture turned out nice....

Achy Breaky, Tooth!

(Caption say's "worst case of ninjavitis I've ever seen.")

It certainly feels like Ninjas are engaged in the ultimate battle in my mouth.

Last week, after grumbling to the Mrs. for the past 2-3 days, I went to my dentist complaining about a pain in one of my molars. Thought maybe there was something stuck in between the back 2 molars that floss and toothpicking could not clear.

After an x-ray, it was discovered that part of a filling had broken loose, and as my dentist put it the "perfect storm" occurred - some nice bacteria were lurking patiently (thus the ninja-vitis reference) and they attacked when the shields were down.
The bad news was that part of a filling sheared away and took some of the tooth sidewall with it. My dentist tells me, "good news, we can salvage the tooth. Bad news, the tooth will have to be crowned."
So I have to go see an Endodontist, but the one he recommended isn't on my insurance plan - Grrr! (lousy HMO, mumble mumble, curse-under-my-breath...) So we call the HMO and finally find one whom he can recommend... But, I couldn't get into to have the root canal done until the following week. Grrr! again.

My dentist gives me a prescription for lortab to tide me until then... It works nicely at night until the effects wear off and I'm up at 3 am writhing in pain...

Anyone know if this is still available? Think it might work, too. May really make me loopy but if it deadens the pain, I'm about ready for anything.
Part 2 of the story. I finally get to see the Endodontis - hurray! 'pain, pain, go away...', I'm thinking as the Endodontist administers shots in the upper palate - man I have yet to experience anything more painful. Novocain applied and doing its thing, and now the drilling... and more drilling... and more drilling...
He tells me everything is going smoothly over the loud drilling into my skull (I did wonder why the drill bit hadn't yet made it to my brain...)

Uh-Oh, Houston, we have a problem... I hear him talking over the drilling about the 'decayed nature' of the tooth to his assistant, to which later he tells me "we didn't get everything done today. We'll need to schedule another visit."

"Ok", I say with a sigh, pondering at how much more $$$ out of pocket...
The receptionist tells me, "our next available is in 10 days. Is this ok?" Thinking that the pain had been taken care of, I agree to this date. I must have been high from the novocain, because as soon as it wore off, I was greeted by my old friend, Mr. Tooth Pain.

Luckily, a cancellation has me back in tomorrow - Fingers crossed - hoping the good doctor will fix me all better.

No Daddy, I Do It Myself

Thing 2 has witnessed Thing 1 rummage through the fridge and pantry for snacks and treats enough times, that it appears he can do it all by himself.

Mrs. H and I were chatting as we heard thing 2 pull the stool over to the fridge, open the freezer, get the ice cream out, scoot the stool over to get a bowl out of the cupboard, find the ice cream scoop and voila,

"daddy, I do it myself", he says...
He's learning too quickly... (BYU product placement not intended, but it is cool, huh?)

I Hate You!

This goes out to Mrs. H... She just has not been "feeling the love" lately.

Sunday early evening, Mrs. H was trying (and she was having her nerves really tested) to help Thing 1 with her homework. Thing 1 was protesting and just fighting against being helped. I left to attend a youth activity for my church and returned home about an hour later to witness:

The ultimate Prima Donna behavior (Mrs. H swears it is all payback for the way she was as a child). Thing 1 was yelling at the top of her lungs out her window "I hate my mom! I want her to die, and I really really mean it!".

Some would say that means she's doing a good job at parenting. At first I felt a little embarrassed, as many of the neighbors were out and about (strolling the sidewalk or socializing with each other on that beautiful Sunday evening).

The shrieks were very clear. (the mental picture that ran through my mind):
And to top it off, last night (Monday), the new cat (Mrs. H picked him out) climbed on her while she lay asleep and peed on her.