Happy Birthday Danny!!

Happy Birthday Danny!  To celebrate the past year, I quickly took a photo from every month of the past year to give you a glimpse of why we celebrate Danny!

November...He truly understands the importance of work. He could hire someone to paint his garage, he could do it himself to make it look perfect, but instead he dresses his kids in old shirts and enlists them to paint.  He understands that the imperfections in the paint are less important than making memories!

October...He is a loyal friend and carves out time for his friends (especially when it comes to fixing cars).  He truly lives a life of service.

September...He is probably one of the most obedient men I know.  He is an amazing priesthood holder.  I am so grateful he can give our children blessings when they need one, baptize them and lead them by example!

August....He cooks!  He does a lot of things around the home which I am very grateful for! He has helped out this past year in so many ways when I was not able to emotionally or physically be there for my family.  What a blessing!!

July...Quality family time.  

June... After a long day at work, he will still find time to set up a tent, start a fire and make sure the kids have a fun time camping in the backyard.  He loves that kids are always over.

May...He got a beautiful piano to bless the lives of our family.  He wakes up each morning at 6am to practice with Scott and sometimes Tyler (depending on his mood).  What a blessing to share the talent that he is blessed with.

 April...He worked hard to get us a beautiful home, in a beautiful neighborhood that most importantly is biking distance to school and work.  That allows him to ride his bike to school with the kids and come home for lunch.  He sacrificed a 3 car garage (which was his top priority) for a higher priority finding a home with a great location which means time with his family!!! 

March...He gave me a beautiful baby boy!

 February...He rides the kids to school on bikes and loves being outdoors with them.

January...He fixes anything and everything we break.

December...He has supported me and our five kiddos so that I could go back and forth to help be with my dad!

November...He creates fun adventures for our family.

Here's to another wonderful year Danny filled with happiness, joy and memories!

An experiment

I'm all for the kids doing their chores.  They read the job chart, they know when they're done, and they're learning how to work.  Well, that's all good in theory.  I was a great parent until I had kids.

So today I tried something new.

I asked the kids to do their chores.  They were dragging their feet, even though there was plenty of time before church due to daylight saving time ending.

I told Blake that I'd do his job for him and that he'd pay me two of his Halloween candies.  He went for it.  Tyler offered me five.  Kira offered me seven.

I vacuumed the whole upstairs, vacuumed the downstairs, cleaned the kitchen, and they each paid me.  Tyler tried to pay me with the dum dums and smarties, and I said, "No, no, I get to pick."  I went for some Snickers and Reeses.

I was hoping that they would see that it's better to keep their candy and do their jobs, but no.  Was it a fail?  As far as teaching them a lesson, yes.  But it was an honest way for me to get their candy!  Usually I just take some while they're not paying attention.  Maybe they'll see that it's better to just pay someone to do stuff they don't want.  That's what the guy recommends in the wealth management book I read last summer.

Walt's memorial dinner

Last night we celebrated Walt's memorial in the form of a dinner at his Walnut Creek home.  We got the kids dressed up in their "nice but not church" clothes, I did Tyler and Kira's hair, and I just had to take their picture.  Of course, I bribe them with the iPad to do their hair.  I'm trying to get Tyler's to look like the Bieb's.  Even though Justin Bieber is immature, he does have nice hair.  Tyler has the best on-cue smile.  He's always down for a photo.

Kira's on-cue smile isn't the best.  I had to tickle her to get a natural smile but then I was using the 50 mm 1.8, and I had to move away, re-focus, and then shoot.  Still, I was happy with this.

They were all taking this picture with their cell phones, and when I showed up, the kids' attention span was done.  Here's the best.  Scott's smirk is like Han Solo's.  "I ain't in it for your revolution, princess, and I ain't in it for you.  I'm in it for the money."

Paisley and Kira.

Good old Cochise.

Erich Lietz, Walt's cousin

Bob Maddox

Some of the speeches got a little long-winded

Heinz Lietz, Walt's cousin

Scott read a poem by Walt's dad, entitled The Perfect Son

Pete spoke without the microphone

Mister was pretty happy throughout the service

Albert Lau was Walt's co-worker at Bank of America

Food catered by Wilma Lot

Scott couldn't wait to finish his reading so he could get out of his nice clothes.  This is the R2-D2 shirt he picked out himself.

Everyone always comments on what a good public speaker Heidi is.

It was a good service.  Between 60-70 people were in attendance.  

point-and-shoot photos

We got Walt's old point-and-shoot Canon camera.  No one uses those anymore.  95% of people use their phones.  I think it works well, though.  It uses SD, and I didn't have a card reader, so I had to order one from ebay.  Finally, it arrived, and I uploaded these photos from it.  Here is Parker, in July, in a blanket made by a patient.  Thanks, Elaine!  

Scott is into doing his own shopping.  Here is what he came up with.

 Where are your shoes, man?  Eh, whatev.  He still really likes his Alpinestars hat and wears it to school everyday.  I almost said he wears it to work everyday, but I was thinking of myself and my Lexus hat.

That's all for now.

Tyler gets baptized

Tyler was baptized a member of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 9/26/2015 at the Antioch Stake Center.  My parents, Uncle Jason, Roman and Paisley attended. 

I think the more interesting part of this photo is Kira and Scott.  Scott looks bored back there and Kira's practicing her poses.

 Paisley and Roman

Tyler with Bishop and Sister Hull

Dinner at Skipolini's.  Looks like several weren't ready for this picture, but oh well.  Skips has good pizza and the kids like the play structure.

Heidi didn't stay for dinner.  Instead, she went to be with her dad in Walnut Creek.