At the Fair: A Photographic Journey

We went to the fair.

We spent too much time.

We spent too much money.

And I took too many pictures.

But that's how we roll.

All things in embarassing abundance.

Here is our day....in pictures.

Brock brushed a giant cow!

Brock is so not goat-shy. Weird and wonderful kid!

Give me a brand-spanking new BSU jersey anyday:

Checking out tools. Imagine that...

Two littles regarding one another...

Stock horses are HUGE and very intimidating. These horses were kept behind bars b/c

they bite. Luckily, we caught them mid-bath and were able to sneak in a little nose rub.

If Brock were an ear of corn...

or a tomato...

John Deere

The cutest eggplant in the bunch...

E-I-E-I-O! There was a farmer...

The cutest sheep ever!

Brock, as a sobbing onion.





With a little help from a pretty girl, Brock mastered the ag puzzle. Thank you, Miss Idaho.

This is my favorite picture of the day:

It would have cost us $15.00 for our little family of three to take ONE little itty bitty ride on the ferris wheel. So we took pictures in front of it instead.

Two Years. Six Months.

Two Years....

Yesterday we said our goodbyes to Sean.

For the next two years, Sean will serve the Lord

on a 2-year mission in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
He'll be in our thoughts and prayers every single day.

(Pictured above: Sean with Brock, Jamin, & Travis)

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Six Months...

Today marks Amelia's six month angelversary.

Its been so much easier than I thought it would be and flown by so much faster than expected.

We feel very at peace knowing our angel is resting in the arms of Heavenly Father.

A six month angelversary calls for brownies....right?

A little bit of (humorous) history...

Warning: Sense of Humor required!

Humans originally existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters/gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and lobster in the winter.
The two most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups:
1 . Liberals, and
2. Conservatives.
Once beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early humans were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That's how villages were formed.
Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to B-B-Q at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as the Conservative movement...
Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly B-B-Q's and doing the sewing, fetching, and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the Liberal movement.
Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women. Those became known as girlie-men. Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the invention of group therapy, group hugs, and the concept of Democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that conservatives provided.
Over the years conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass.
Modern liberals like imported beer (with lime added), but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare. Another interesting evolutionary side note: most of their women have higher testosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are liberals.. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn't fair to make the pitcher also bat.
Conservatives drink domestic beer, mostly Bud or Miller. They eat red meat and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, engineers, corporate executives, athletes, members of the military, airline pilots and generally anyone who works productively. Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living.
Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to govern the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America . They crept in after the Wild West was tamed and created a business of trying to get more for nothing.
Here ends today's lesson in world history.

One Shoe, Two Shoe, Old Shoe, New Shoe

"The one thing children wear out faster than shoes, is parents." -John J. Plomp

Buying new shoes for Brock is often an expensive adventure. You see, just like his daddy, Brock has gigantic feet! Clarke wears a size 15--an insane size that is not only difficult to find, but uber-expensive. Brock is already a 13 1/2 (kids), double wide. Until now, we have always had to shop at specialty stores that sell shoes that would fit our little guy's big feet and paid dearly for them.

Hello Mr. Stride Rite...I hope you're enjoying all the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ we had to invest in YOUR crazy expesnive product!

How serendipitous that we should find a new pair of church shoes for Brock that did not bankrupt us.....and at JC Penney of all places. Yup. I guess I can toss those specialty store coupons now. Whew! As an added bonus, they look a lot like another pair of shoes I've seen around here....

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Bonus pics: Brock's ladybug

Hunting Season or How Spaghetti Sauce Saved the Day

Yesterday as I was working on the computer and Brock was playing in the backyard, I heard a tapping at the back door and looked up to see Brock standing on the other side of the window wearing a goofy grin, happily waving his hand. "Look! I found a roly poly, mommy! I'm just going to put it in my room." He said it so matter-of-factly that I knew I had to act fast. Quickly, I searched through the pantry for the one and only empty jar I had stashed away, thanks to spaghetti sauce, and was able to save my house from a roly poly invasion by showing Brock how to make a great home for a bug. We explored the backyard to find the perfect home decor for Brock's bug jar and decided on two maple leaves, several blades of grass and a handful of dirt. To which, Brock added about 30 rocks. He then proceeded to spend the entire afternoon hunting for bugs to fill his jar. He was delighted with the hunt and it gave me plenty of time to work uninterrupted. The perfect win-win situation, thanks to an empty jar and a summer afternoon.

Brock's best Gene Simmons impression...