grace id just like old man......poor thing

grace will be having her tonsils out on may 21st. she snores like a buzzsaw. i took her to the ear nose and throat doc. afterwards i tried to explain how it would all work. i told her about ice cream and popsicles and i told her her daddy would be right there with her and the i tried to explain how surgery works........... the five year old brain is an amazing thing. i explained to her that she would have the same doctor i had. i told her that he would come talk to her and then they would give her something to make her sleep. they would do the sugery while she was asleep and that when she woke up she wouldn't remember a thing......... she sat for a second thinking, then said " but i want to remember you guys and what 10 + 1o is. kids are amazing, i enjoy being a father so much more than i thought i would.


pray for gracie on the 21st

love ya'll
joel baby

p.s. you're all my bff's

We're Back

We have returned safely from Seattle. It was fun. We took several cool pictures at the Mukelteo Ferry. If I can figure out how to download them from Michelle's phone I'll post them. Seattle was beautiful, but rainy (I know, not in Seattle). It has been suggested that we plan a grown-ups only trip. I would suggest Las Vegas or San Diego. Thoughts?

Greetings from Seattle

Well, here I sit in my hotel in sunny Seattle watching it rain cats and dogs. I do like it here, but it's much better when it's sunny. I came up for work and will be here all week. I highly recommend the hotel I'm in. It's the Silver Cloud Inn-Bellevue Eastgate. The view from my room is rather nice. Out the one window is the Seattle Temple. In fact, I see it from the in room Jacuzzi. Michelle will be joining me on Wednesday for a mini vacation until Friday. Well, just a quick note to say hi.

Love you all,

The Big Kahuna

i need a twin and a cowboy hat

i just bought a scooter! we have been a one vehicle family for quite some time now, which i have absolutely hated. so for some reason we ended up at the scooter dealer yesterday and steph and i fooled around in there parking lot, playing with the four wheelers and rhinos and stuff. we ended up sitting on the scooters as the sales person approached us. he gave us the usual salesman garbage and asked if we like to take a test drive. steph immediately said yes. after 5 seconds worth of instructions from the salesman she takes off! she slowly winds through the various obstacles on the lot, through all of the other vehicles and is almost back to us when........... you guessed it, she wrecks and lays the bike down. so we promptly asked the salesman for a credit app. which he responded with "damn straight i'm getting you a credit app". 10 minutes later i was on the open road, wind in my hair, bugs in my teeth...... free. only one problem, i am 320 lbs. i'm sure you've all seen the picture in the Guinness book of world records with the 2 great big fat twins on the little tine motorcycles with the cowboy hats on. i was one of them, sans twin, sans cowboy hat.

on the bright side, it gets 97 mpg and the payment is very low. now all i have to do is figure out how to transport a big gulp on it and i'll have it made!

hope all is well
love you all

joel baby

p.s. i never capitalize

SPring has Sprung (sort of)

Well, from time to time we have seen bursts of spring. My Bradford pears are on the verge of erupting with beautiful white blossoms. The parks are full of children flying kites and playing soccer. We also had 2 -3 inches of snow last week. Welcome to Utah.

This week our children, Emily 9, Kayla 7, and Hannah 4, started swimming lessons in anticipation of our planned trip to Orlando, FL. It was encouraging to see all three jump right in the water with no noticeable fear. Hannah was particularly amusing (as she often is). She seem to have a great deal of natural ability, much like her great-grandfather.

Michelle continues to work with the Young Women as Mia-Maid adviser, and loves it. She has a knack for working with those girls. I am still busy working with the Bishopric.

Our basement is progressing at glacial speed, but it is progressing. Hopefully we will have a dedication party by the end of summer. We'll keep you posted.

Please feel free to post your own experiences and comments

We love you!