Happy Memorial Day!!!

Happy Memorial Day, everybody!!! Even though the forecast called for thunderstorms today, we woke up to a bright and beautiful day. We had canceled plans for a pool party and BBQ, but with the change in weather, we went back to that plan.

Not before a great breakfast, though. Not having any obligations this morning, Dad took time to cook french toast and bacon. With our size family, consider this ingredients list:

• Two pounds of bacon.
• 23 eggs.
• 4 cups of milk (I'm guessing on that one).
• 3/4-cup cinnamon (guessing again - I don't use a recipe for my french toast batter).
• 1-1/2-cup sugar (yummy in the batter).
  
• 2 loaves of bread (and a little more).

Ahhh... the challenges of a big family and a favorite meal. Thank goodness for the griddle which can cook up to eight pieces of french toast at a time (I cooked 37 in total).

With the late breakfast (indeed - we slept in!), we skipped lunch and spent all afternoon in the pool. Had some friends over, too. I had planned on BBQ'ing hamburgers and hot dogs around 5pm, but around 4pm, we noticed clouds rolling in. So I started grilling up the food. Just in time, too - by 5pm we all were inside, while outside there was thunder, lightning, and rain. Not to mention the wind, and the fact that the temperature dropped by about 20 degrees. That's how quickly storms come up around here.

I was too busy swimming and/or BBQ'ing to take any pictures during the fun, but in this post is a photo of our pool under the cool, gray skies and rain. You'll notice that this year we got a solar blanket for the pool. It does a pretty good job of keeping the pool warm even overnight, so it seems like it's a good investment so far.

Steven's Silly Baseball Team

On the day formal pictures were taken for Steven's baseball team, they had a number of players missing. So after last night's game, I took several pictures of the team. Serious pictures, of course, but as I like to do, I had the team do a silly pose, too. I tell you... THIS Red Sox teams should strike fear in the hearts of the players of the Boston MLB franchise!!! :-)

Attacking Water

Our silly puppy!!! Whenever we're out doing anything with the garden hose, Shadow likes attacking the stream of water. Andrew shot video of our silly puppy doing this this evening. By this coming weekend, our pool should be ready for the season, too, and Shadow loves playing with us around the pool (but he won't dare jump in!). That'll be fun!!!

Prom Time

Fancy dresses. Spiffy tuxedos. Beautiful flowers. Delicious dinners. Gorgeous hairdos. Fun dancing. Scrumdidlicious desserts. No... nobody got married; it's prom time! Christopher asked Norah Ashby, and you'll have to ask him how he asked her, and how she replied.

Here in Idaho, you don't just pop up with, "Hey... do you want to go to prom with me?" It must be a creative event. And the date gets creative, as well. Proms here are a day-long affair, and this morning Christopher and Norah and two other couples went hiking and did a picnic. Two of those three couples gathered for pictures this evening (one couple was running late), and the three couples are then tripling for the evening. Even as I post this entry, the six of them are at "The Melting Pot," a restaurant that serves appetizers, entrees, and desserts as fondues.

Christopher and Norah are pictured at the right, and I've posted more on Flickr, please click here. There are some really cute pictures posted there of the dates standing back-to-back, and of the girls dancing.

Andrew Baseball

Tonight Andrew's baseball team had a game. Though he pitches frequently, today he played mostly second base, and also center field. The coach loves him because he's a utility player and can play just about anywhere. We his parents love him because he's such an awesome kid (and because he's a good utility player). :-)

Unfortunately, his team lost 4-3; our bats just wouldn't come alive. The team got only four hits; Andrew got this first team hit to lead-off the bottom of the third inning, and he later scored that inning. You see (top right portion of frame) the ball ascending here off his bat; it dropped in to shallow right field for a hit.

You also see Andrew here at third base, just before he scored that same inning. A Mariners uniform!!! It's bad enough this die-hard Angels fan has to wear the uniform of intra division rival the Mariners, but at least it's not as bad as last year, when he had to wear the uniform of cross-town rivals the Dodgers!

Steven Sports

Below are the kinds of videos that grandmothers just love. So these are for you, Grandma Nancy! There is a short video of Steven bowling, and one of him batting. He swung at a low pitch, but hit it for a single. :-)

Brianna Piano Composition

Back on April 25th, Brianna participated in a talent show at her high school. She played her own (untitled) piano composition, written in F# minor. She placed fifth overall. Of course, I was in Asia, but Michelle took a video of the performance. You can view it below, or click here to jump to YouTube to view it there.

Dinner Table Hilarity: Satanic Chicken

Now... I don't mean to get off on a rant here, but it really would be nice if they didn't allow babies in business class! On my business class flight from Tokyo to San Francisco yesterday, there was a baby right across the aisle from me, and he screamed the entire flight. So much for a nice, peaceful overnight (sleeping) flight!

So last night at dinner table, I said "Holy COW am I tired!!!" Then Christopher piped up with, "Why not satanic chicken?" After a chorus of Huh???'s from around the table, Christopher goes, "You know... it's always 'holy cow.' Why not 'satanic chicken'?".

The affects of tiredness really hitting me, I thought I was going to fall off my chair, I was laughing so hard.

Ahhhhhhhhh... it's good to be home!!! :-)