Family

We went to Florida last weekend and although the circumstances for the family gathering weren't what anyone would choose, it was truly great to see all of the family members that I hadn't seen in SOOOO long.

When we lived in South Carolina we got to visit them a lot more often and would go down every Thanksgiving for big dinners at my mom's cousin Shelley's house. We got to visit a whole lot more because it was a relatively easy driving distance. I miss that. I miss them. :)

We get to go back in August and I can't wait!

At Grandma Rhoda's House: Jessica, Tina, Stephanie, and Stacy, and in the back (in the mirror) is Cousin Shelley

Footloose!

Grandpa Bill

My Grandpa Bill passed away this week. We are going out to Florida today to see the family. I wish we could have made it out there to see him one last time...But I know that we'll get to see him again. A little tidbit about my Grandpa, he was a Jazz Musician. I'm sure he's up in heaven having jam sessions with the greats and loving it! This is a CD he made back in the day:

1960, Criteria Recording Co.Engineer: Mack EmermanKenny Drew (piano) Bill Christ (bass); Bill Ladley (drums); Jim Lawrence (tuba); Loren Reichert (french horn); Lon Norman (trombone); Gene Goe (trumpet); John Georgini (trumpet); Duke Schuster (trumpet); Bill Robbins (trumpet); Gus Mas (saxophone); Billy Miller (saxophone); Berry Polger (saxophone); Jerry Brockman (saxophone); Jimmy Casals (saxophone); Kirby Campbell (saxophone).

Black pits of luna, Flamenco sketches, Eulogy, Waltz for Stephen, Off the grate, Blue monk, Don's idea, Night in Tunisia.

This is the first of several VSOP releases of Criteria recordings. Criteria was a small jazz label founded by Mac Emerman that showcased Miami jazz musicians of the late 1950's. All Criteria LPs are extremely rare and highly sought after. For the first release on CD we have selected the Modern Jazz Orchestra recording. Criteria was the brainchild of trumpeter/recording engineer Mac Emerman. His interest was recording jazz in Miami, which he termed Gold Coast Jazz. The music on this CD is primarily written, orchestrated and directed by Don Vincent. Don who studied at Carnegie Mellon and under Nikolai Lapatnikoff later went on to lead the orchestra at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas and currently runs a recording studio in Los Angeles. The band is made up of Miami's all stars of the day. It is a fine jazz orchestra. The compositions and arrangements are excellent, and Kenny Drew is terrific. Highly recommended.

Barbeque

I love making these kinds of videos lately, it's my own little scrapbook, because I'll never catch up on all my real scrapbooking! :) This is what we did this weekend: (I should probably tell you that the kids were playing with the ice cubes from the cooler, you'll see what i'm talking about)

Science Project

The other day we got some gift cards from WalMart that had little flower seed packets attached to them, so we decided to take a few and plant them. We are skeptical, so we'll see what happens. These were tiny little seeds, and they are supposed to be baby's breath. Brittany if these haven't started popping up in 6 weeks from now, I'm calling you! Isn't it amazing the things you'll do at work to mix things up every once in a while?

Reporting Live from My Office

I'm still at work... at 7:30 pm. But not because i'm working. Tyler is installing some cabinets in the breakroom of our new office! Things are coming along great. I don't think I ever put any pictures of what the finished product of the desks he made look like either, so here are some pics. He's so talented, it's awesome!

Oh and this is my desk, yes my actual desk, computer, junk, piles of stuff waiting to be done, etc... It's always this messy. I go through and re-organize my "piles of stuff waiting to be done" periodically so it doesn't look so messy, but then I can't find anything when I need it. :)

Feliz Cinco de Mayo

Wow, it has been a crazy couple of weeks, but not really filled with anything exciting. Just busy. We got most of the windows in our house replaced, because they were really old and drafty. It is so nice now, they are clean, you can see through them, I can open them on my own... Ahhhh new windows are bliss.
We went to a fun Cinco de Mayo party at my friend Kyle's house. He does it every year, and everyone brings yummy mexican food. Except, this one lady brought some stuffed mushrooms because she's pregnant and wanted them.
Tyler has been getting up way early lately to go play basketball before work with some friends in the ward. He goes 3 days a week, and it's really making me tired. :) I don't sleep as well when he's not there. Sometimes he goes and helps his brother with plumbing jobs on the weekends, and always has to get up super early for those, which totally kills any chance I had of sleeping in... Oh well. :)

The other night we had a fun party at our house, with a bunch of good friends. Some that we hadn't seen in a while, and some that we see all the time. It was a blast. We played some games on the Wii and ate crepes and lots of other food. I missed some of the friends that couldn't be there because they live too far away, it didn't feel quite complete without them there... But, that's what happens when you get older, all your close friends move away, and you move away, and then you just have more fun places to go visit on a regular basis. We're still saving up for Alaska, Brit.

Tina is moving to Washington DC tomorrow and I'm kinda sad because I'm really going to miss her. Her eventual destination is Boston, because her boyfriend Kevin is going to attend classes at Berklee College of Music there in Boston, but until their house here sells they can't get settled, and will be living with Kevin's brother and family. It's going to be a great adventure for them though, so I'm also excited for her. But I'll definitely miss her . :)

Hope everyone had a great 5 de Mayo and at the very least did some sort of Mexican bean dance in celebration. If not, call me and I'll have you come over for some authentic Mexican Potato Tacos.