Happy 6th Anniversary, Sweets!

That's right. Six wonderful years ago, Sarah and I said I do. A lot has happened since. Kids, jobs, dogs, houses... the list goes on. We've had a ton of fun, and have made some good memories.

I just wanted to say thank you to my wonderful wife. I don't know what I would do without her. Here's to a hundred more years of the same. I love you.

Indiana Jones and the Worst Ending in the World

Sarah and I were able to catch a movie last weekend. It's good to have friends that watch your kids and dogs every once in a while. Thanks, Holly and Steven.

So, what did we go see? That's right, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. If you haven't seen it already, you should go catch it. Just make sure someone else pays for your ticket.

It wasn't horrible. The beginning was good, and the middle held up. But the ending... oh, the ending was horrible. The movie never really felt like the three great movies that preceded it. It just never really felt like an Indiana Jones film. Don't ask me why, it just didn't. However, I dealt with it since my wife and I were enjoying our first movie without kids in I don't know how long. Then came the end. I won't spoil it, but shame on George Lucas and Steven Spielberg for allowing it to happen.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - 6/10

If you really want to see a good movie that's out right now, go see Iron Man. Sure, it'll help if you enjoy comics, but I haven't read a comic in years, and I still loved it. Good action, Robert Downey Jr. was exceptional, and the supporting cast was great. Jon Favreau did a really good job with this, in my opinion. It was a better "say hello to [insert superhero's name here]" movie than Spider-Man.

Iron Man - 9/10

Wow. I've seen two movies this summer. Is the world about to come to an end?

Now Batting...

I'm pretty sure Maddie could DH for the Mariners right now.



I know she could pick a better first than Richie Sexson. And I'm pretty sure she's faster than Jose Vidro. Now, if we can just get her to run to first without chasing the ball first.

Say Hello To Scooby

So, we recently took a trip to Gresham/Vancouver to visit some folks and test the waters concerning trading in the Nissan Xterra. We need an all-wheel drive ride, and the Nissan had problems that we were both getting tired of.

I like staying at Holly and Steven's because I get my Steven fix. I could do without seeing Holly.

We were interested in looking at Subaru's. Sarah liked the Outback, and I liked the Forester, so we wanted to look at both. I'll tell you right now why I don't like going to car dealerships: salespeople are vultures. A lady started walking up to the car before we had even parked. She was talking to me about how she could help before I put foot one down on the ground. Horrible.

I did my best to deflect her. We ended up talking to the sales manager instead of her. He was much better.

So, after much deliberation about leg room and dog room, and a quick test drive, we went with the Forester. Say hello:

SCOOBY










During our trip down there, we were able to visit with Erin and the girls. Needless to say, our kids are all very big fans of Chuck E. Cheese.

Check The Gear...










Oh! HELLO!










GIRL TRAPPED IN TUBE!!! STORY AT FIVE!!!










No matter how much Sarah and I hate dealing with car dealerships, visiting with the Dooley Clan is always fun. Just wish we were able to see Jared. Next time, my man. Have your paintball clothes ready!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

I LOVE THIS WOMAN!!!










So much love...









This one goes out to all of the mothers I know. I'm lucky to be blessed with two, and I wanted to say thank you to both of them. So, to my mom, Lola, I love you. Thanks for the trips up here to see us, and for everything else you do for us. And to Debbie, who took me in and has treated me like a son, thank you.

To Martha, we love you very much. Thank you for all that you do.

To Sarah, mother to my kids, I love you. I don't know what I would do without you.

To Erin, my sister from another mother, you're such a great mom.

And to mothers the world around:

if you happen to stumble across this blog and read this, Happy Mother's Day! Keep up the good work.

Here They Be!!!

I'm a little amazed at myself. I actually put up pictures of the dogs before I put up any of the kids. Nice to know where my priorities lie.

Eh, you guys have all seen the kids before. I guess I wanted to show off something new. Just kidding.

Anyway, here are some recent pics. Still no sports pictures from the Madster though.


GIVE ME HAPPY!










Like father, like son...










I'm da KIIIIIING!!!










The Two Princesses













As you can see by the picture of Mads there, Sarah and the kids recently took a trip to Disneyland. I wanted to go, but Sarah said I couldn't. She's quite the tyrant. They had a lot of fun, and Mads finally got to meet some princesses, something she didn't get to do last time. It was Maddies third time at Mickey's place, and she's never going again. HA!

So, there they are, Erin. Don't say I never did anything for ya!

Just Some Good Ol' Boys...

Well, I mentioned some new dogs in the previous posts. I just thought I'd offer some proof that they exist. Meet Bo and Luke, the Dukes of Tonasket:

Bo










Luke









They're great dogs. A little rowdy, and they have a habit of mauling Bradon when they're loose in the house, but we like them just the same.

They're big fans of the lakes around here. We took a trip down to Wenatchee today so we could do some shopping. On the way back, we stopped in a small town along the Columbia River to let the dogs run for a bit. It's hard to get Luke out of the water once he gets in it. Bo is warming up to it, but Luke is older, so he handles it better.

Anyway, there they are, our two rapscallions.

A New Job?

I am a huge Mariners fan. So huge, in fact, that I find my fandom is seeping its way into Sarah's pysche. She loves going to games, and we're both anxious to take the kids to their first game.

A funny thing happened on that front this last week. Years ago, I was turned onto a site called USS Mariner. This site is run by a few diehard Mariners fans. They post game threads, and general discussion threads about the club. This site has infected me. It has turned me from a casual fan that would catch the occasional game into someone who pours over the minor league rosters looking for the next Mariners superstar. I even went so far as to send an email to the club detailing some roster moves I thought they should make.

Well, they actually made two of the moves a few days later. If you ask me, the moves were a direct effect of my email. Stop laughing, Nic!

So, there you have it, folks. Say hello to the new general manager of your Seattle Mariners!

A Quick Recap

For those of you who don't know these things, I'll make a quick run-through of everything that has happened over the last five years.

In March of 2003, I joined the United States Border Patrol. After spending five months at the academy in South Carolina, I was transferred out to San Diego County to start working. Sarah and I moved out there and spent the next ~4 years there. During that time, we had both Madison, who was born in 2004, and Bradon, who arrived in 2007. Mid 2007, work offered me a transfer to Oroville, Washington. Sarah and I had wanted to transfer out of San Diego for a long time, so we jumped at the chance. In September of 2007, the four of us arrived in Oroville, WA.

Up here has been great. We bought a house; a nice little place on about two acres of land. The yard needs a lot of work, but the house is in good shape. And, since moving into the house, we bought two dogs. I, especially, was excited. I have wanted dogs since we moved to San Diego, but we couldn't get them because we were in apartments all of the time. So, we went crazy. We now have two dogs, a yellow lab named Luke and a golden retriever named Bo. We call them the Dukes of Tonasket, seeing as that's where we live.

Work is good. It's a lot slower than it was down south, but we didn't move here for the work. It's near impossible to buy a house in San Diego County unless you are a gajillionaire, which we are not.

To recap:

A new job, some new kids, plenty of moving, a huge transfer, some new dogs, and here we are.

We're loving it. I'll put up some pictures of all of it soon.