No you cannot borrow my phone.......

......But Happy 30th!

I was just telling Ryker and Kya, while we were in Alaska about the dangers of carrying your stuff in your sweatshirt pocket and getting on and off boats. 

"Uhhhhh Tori, I have something to tell you, but before I do, just remember it's my birthday......"

 

Perfect outfit for going out to a nice birthday dinner.

(Okay, so this is really more embarrassing for me than Ty.  I know I was never fashion forward, but how the hell did this outfit make it into my closet!?)

I love this picture not only for the picture itself, but the story of how we got that thing is one of my favorites.  Thank you Ty for saving us and for your hooping and hollering enthusiasm during the rescue! 

(Please note that this joker is 6'4".  That is one BIG fish!)

No more jumping off the tophouse for you.  Too much of a liability with you old folks.

Play Time!

Clayton let Seth borrow this bad boy for a couple months.  He's been knocking down trees, pushing stuff around, and kicking up mud!  He seems to enjoy playing, I mean working on it so much that I felt bad when he had to leave for a week to go long lining right after we got it.

Waiting patiently for her ride.

Making popsicles

I wonder if I have enough berries?

They had been begging for fly this dragon kite for months every since the Chomjak's gave it to us.  Finally, it was a cloudy, windy March day, but we got a big enough break in the rain to let 'er fly!

The Dragon did not disappoint!

Happy Birthday Uncle B!

 

 

Kya changed into her "Mike and Sully go to College" shirt (AKA Monsters U) because she wanted you to see it in case you wanted to go to the movie with us for your birthday.  It's on Friday if you are interested.  Let us know though because she is really concerned about saving you a Monsters U pez dispenser if you are coming with.  Otherwise, she is giving it to Colton.  I tried to let her down easy, but she still thinks you might show up. You know because it would be "a super fun birthday movie."

This is you in your fridge snowboarding.  I asked Ryker why you are in the fridge and he said that it is too hot in Montana right now and the fridge is the only place cold enough for snow.

This is Kara snowboarding.  I asked why she wasn't in a fridge.  I was told that there is not enough room for two people in your fridge so she was on a mountain.  I reminded him that he told me that it was too hot in Montana for snow right now and that's why you were in the fridge.  He informed me that there is always snow in the mountains, but you were working so you couldn't go to the mountain. 

Real cool Kara.....taking Brian's birthday off work to go snowboarding without him....real cool...

Anyway, hope you have a great birthday even though your wife is off gallivanting around while you are working!

A Dad is a Little Girl's First Love......

It was all about Dad today.  We don't let a little distance stop us from giving our Dad his day! 

Having lunch with DadBear and talking about how RealDad is doing fishing today.  Yes, by the end of the day, Seth was being referred to as "real Dad."

Ryker decided to take Dad for a Father's Day ride.

He even stopped to straighten him up after he noticed a little slouching. 

Much better

By the time Kya and I got back to the yard, this was the scene we found.  What the heck Ryker?   Dad is getting dirty and why are his shorts saggin'?!

Headed to town!

The kids wanted him in the backseat for the ride back home.  Nothing but love for the old man on Father's Day!

They gave DadBear their presents at dinner.  Ryker made his at school.  I'm not sure what is in that envelope, but he has a ton of ideas about where Seth can put that painted oyster shell (don't worry, one of them is not to make it into a necklace like he did for some other unlucky person).  Kya made hers at Larkin's birthday party and she picked the jet stencil as soon as she saw it and wanted to make something for Seth because "Dad likes to fly airplanes and he would love an airplane painting."

We did a lot of other things with DadBear today, but I didn't take pictures of them all.  That would just be crazy.....it's not like I'm crazy....  A little weird though, yes.  The point of this whole exercise was to appreciate all the wonderful things about their Dad.  We had a lot of good discussions about Dad's, we talked about their Dad, my Dad, other people's Dads, and all the great things Dad's do.  We did such a great job celebrating Father's Day, I don't think anyone would have even noticed that we lacked a RealDad!  We even sang him a Father's Day song and had ice cream after dinner. 

We hope you are catching a lot of fish and had as good of a Father's Day as we did!

 

Now onto the man who helped make 50% of my craziness possible.....

You can't see it in this picture, but this cake says "Dad we all love ya" and is signed "us." 

That is still the case, we just also miss you like crazy now too!

In his younger days

In his element....always goofing around.

This picture makes me just about cry....I can't believe my parents would buy such a hideous couch!

Seriously though after Kya telling me today that all she wanted to do was hug and kiss her dad today, I felt so sad for her, but after seeing this picture, I feel pretty sad for me.   I have a totally different perspective......I'm so happy that she'll get her chance in a few months.  A lot of little girls her age don't even have father's and I can't imagine where I would be if I hadn't had mine at that age. 

The best advice I ever got from my Dad:  "You don't have to grow up.  I expect you to be responsible and make good choices, but don't ever grow up.  I never did."  In the context of the situation and our conversation, it may be the best advice I've ever gotten from anyone.  

 

Happy Father's Day to the man who silently taught me so many things by just being the perfect example of how to live a happy, honest, fun filled, considerate, responsible, loving, healthy life and always walking the walk instead of preaching at me.

 

Father's Day Interviews

Interview with Kya:

What is your Dads full name?  I can’t remember

How old is your Dad?  I can’t remember……older than me?

How much does he weigh?  ???? (blank stare)

What is his favorite food to eat?  salads

What does he do for fun?  Plays on the play set and in the sandbox

What is his job?  To work at the boat and at playing with us

What makes your Dad happy?  Going to swimming with me

What is your Dad’s favorite color?  red

What is your Dad’s favorite sport?  What is sports? 

After a few examples from me her answer was Golf

How do you know your Dad is smart?  Because he just loves me and can read papers

Is there anything your Dad is bad at and needs practice?  Not good at volleyball cause volleyball is too hard for Dad  (I listed volleyball in my sports explanation in a prior question, but as for her picking volleyball?  Well that may have been influenced by a conversation a couple months ago where I told them the sports I'm better at than Seth because Ryker kept telling me that Seth was better than me at all sports.  I did concede that Seth would always be faster and stronger than me, but explained that I had a few skills that made me better at some sports.  I may even have exaggerated my skills a little, hee hee.  He asked about every sport he could think of and I told him who was better.  Wresting was a split because I am way better at kid wrestling, but Seth was a real wrestler.  Someday I'll post the sports breakdown and you can decide.)

What is your favorite thing to do with your Dad?  Hit balls in the shop at the tball

What do you like best about your Dad?  Going to the park

What does he want to be when he grows up?  Firefighter.  He could get his costume on and pretend and practice.

If Dad went on a trip, where would he go?  Montana

If you could give him anything for Father’s day, what would you give him?  A hug  (I was thinking more along the lines of an actually thing and expected them to choose some big crazy gift, but duh, kids are not materialistic at this age.  Then she got sad and crawled into my lap.

If you could talk to Dad right now, what would you tell him?  I just really love him cause he’s really big.  Can I give him a kiss and a hug because he loves kisses and hugs? 

Ryker's Interview: 

What is your Dad's full name?  Seth

How old is your Dad?  50?  I don’t know.

How much does he weigh?  150 pounds

What is his favorite food to eat?  salads

What does he do for fun?  Chop down trees, play with us

What is his job?  Cutting down trees, catching fish

What makes your Dad happy?  Loving him

What is your Dad’s favorite color?  All the colors

What is your Dad’s favorite sport?  basketball

How do you know your Dad is smart?  Because he knows how to chop down trees

Is there anything your dad is bad at and needs practice?  Hmmmmm…….(thought really hard for a long time)……Cooties!  Kya beat me and Dad!

What is your favorite thing to do with your Dad?  Play

What do you like best about your Dad?  He plays with us a lot

What does he want to be when he grows up?  Skyscraper builder since he’s good at building

If Dad went on a trip, where would he go?  Far far away to Alaska

If you could give him anything for Father’s Day, what would you give him?  A heart 

If you could talk to Dad right now, what would you tell him?  I want Mom to get a motor home when her car is old and we need a new car.  Also, we love him and miss him.  Also, we dressed DadBear up in his clothes and he is doing Dad stuff today.  Also, we are going to take him in the car for a celebration after he mows the lawn.  (Yes, all those also's are his words exactly and I only wish DadBear could actually mow the lawn!)

 

 

Yep, we celebrate Dad with our without him!  Luckily we have a stand in.

 

 

Easter

I got home from my trip to Phoenix, just in time for Seth to take a guy's trip to Alaska....okay so it wasn't a guys trip, he was fishing our quota.  Those guys are his friends though and I'm sure he had a good time, so we'll count it!  He had to miss Easter but we decorated some sweet eggs before he left.

I didn't realize just how much fun you could have with a can of cheap shaving cream!

Ryker, Kya, and I headed out to Rick and Gail's for some more fun with Conner and Cassidy the day before Easter.

We packed our lunches and headed for the beach.

Huh?!  Someone hid our eggs while we were at the beach....

Easter Sunday, most of the eggs were hidden in our house.  How odd of that bunny?

Okay, so without Seth here my options were to get up really early and risk getting caught (we have too many windows in our house), put them out the night before and hope it doesn't rain, or hide them in the house.  I really didn't want to, but I ended up putting them in the house except for the real ones which went outside just in case we didn't find one or two.

Oh yeah, that crazy rabbit left Kya a kiwi too!  She thought it was hysterical.  By the time we went outside to look for the 18 eggs hidden out there, there were only about 5 left.  Seems Cosmos had quite the breakfast!

Egg hunt at Grandma's before church.

 

Ryker, Kya, and Asa

We would see this egg bandit over the next couple days packing around his loot.  I guess he saved a few.  Here I caught him digging one up in the backyard.  I was able to sneak up on him because he's pretty much deaf now and he looked a little guilty when he saw me. 

No one's mad at you buddy and we already knew it was you, but for a guy that's allergic to eggs, I think 13 may be a few too many to eat!