The Sperrys

First Vacation in 7 Years - Part Deux

2010-04-01T21:12:00.000-07:00

Temple Square and Chicken Parmigiana

(OK, so finding and uploading all these pics wore me out, so I'll type an explanation to them all later... sorry... c'mon, gimme a break, people. This is why we don't blog anymore. It's too much like work.)

The First Vacation in 7 years...

2010-03-30T22:12:00.001-07:00

So, I guess it's been a while since we've posted anything to the blog. Sarah and I find it a little more convenient to miniblog these days (i.e. facebook), but since there are a few of you still out there in the blogosphere that care about our blog, here goes the report on the vacation to Utah.

Day 1 - Saturday, March 20
We had originally planned to leave around 6 or 7 in the AM, but that soon became 11:00 in the AM and we were finally on the road having loaded everything and cleaned the car inside and out at the last minute (that was I, John, that had the pleasure of a morning car washing). So we headed for Boise for a mid-trip stay in a hotel. We weren't sure how that kids would take the long trip so we booked a room just in case they decided to go all Lord of the Flies on us. On the way up over the mountains we decided to stop for a stretch and a few pics (BTW, get ready for a lot of pics in this post).

Once we got over the mountains, we stopped in bend for a little picnic lunch of sandwiches, fruit, crackers, and string cheese. We made sure the kids ran around a lot while we were stopped.

At around 7:30 we pulled into our Boise hotel to check in. The kids had been miraculously well behaved to this point, but just as I was finishing up the check-in process, Jack decided to announce that he was done with driving by screaming "OUT!!!" So, to his elation, Sarah let him out.

The night was uneventful; Taco Bell for dinner served to us by a woman with incredibly bad blackened teeth (I don't even want to know how long a person doesn't have to brush to get that bad), a creepy dude smiled at Sarah, and a dog staying in the room next door barked whenever it heard us.

Day 2 - Sunday, March 21
Our drive would carry us all the way to Orem, Utah where we would set up camp for the week. The drive only took us 5-6 hours from Boise and except for a couple stops for gas, was pretty uneventful. It had been nearly seven years since Sarah and I were in Utah together and it was sort of an odd feeling for me. I didn't really know how to feel. We had spent only a year together in this state, yet there were so many good times and a few bad times to recall. The mountains were beautiful, of course.

So, we made it Jon and Libby's house. Jon greeted us outside and of course we felt so welcomed by them. Family Rocks!!!! They were so gracious to let us set up home base with them and basically clutter their home for 5 days while they went about their business and we about ours.

Jon and I immediately started shooting each other... with cameras

The cousins were such a good influence on Arwen that she began reading and didn't go anywhere without her book that her cousin gave her.

Libby and #5 were such good sports when I started shooting them for no apparent reason.

This game drove me nuts. I agree with you, Jon, there is no penny.

OK THAT'S ENOUGH FOR NOW. I'LL CONTINUE THE SAGA WHEN IT'S NOT LATE AT NIGHT AND I'M NOT TIRED. DAY THREE IS NEXT - TEMPLE SQUARE AND CHICKEN PARMIGIANA.

October

2009-11-04T09:36:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been more than a month since I've posted!! So, lets go through the month. Firstly, Eleanor turned four! I think she had a great birthday and aside from the poor cake choice (NEVER go with strawberry, it was so sicky-sweet we had a hard time eating it.), and a grumpy Jack, things went well. We went to the coast that weekend and it was surprisingly sunny and the kids had fun for a little while, most particularly Jack since the ocean, sand, rocks, and shells are so new to him. We went to Florence and got to walk out on one of the jetties. On the day of her birthday I skipped class so we could have dinner and presents at a reasonable hour. Continuing the tradition from my family, I let Ellie pick whatever she wanted to have for dinner. The result was watermelon, corn, mashed potatoes, and dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets. :) It was actually a very decent meal. She had also requested a Minnie Mouse cake, so I cheated and ordered an edible image of Minnie Mouse from Albertson's. The result was as follows:

Now, I get to show some pictures of Ellie on her birthday. I have to say, I am so proud of my little girl. She has grown leaps and bounds and is starting to be very helpful and sweet with her brother (although still mostly a bane to Arwen! ;) ). She gives the best hugs and is so fun to be with. I've discovered recently that she is teachable, a quality I've never mastered. She is also very good at tracing, as I've been teaching her to write some letters. Another thing I've noticed is that she is very athletically inclined, making skipping and running look amazingly fluid. But, something that makes me very happy is that she's got grace and talent when she dances. So, without further bragging or ado, here are some birthday pictures of Eleanor:

Trying on earrings:
I like how excited she looks in this one:

Showing off what she got, ignore Jack blinking, he looks funny!

Arwen trying on dress-up stuff:

And, this is how Jack felt towards the end of the evening: (If I remember correctly, he hadn't had a good nap that day.)

Happy Birthday Eleanor!!

I suppose I could go into Halloween for this post, but I lack the energy. Arwen is home with a fever and Ellie has been febrile as well. I only have a cough at this point. John finally went back to work after battling a fever for two days, I just hope I don't get it. Happy November!!

Jackisms and little updates

2009-09-27T19:30:00.000-07:00

I know it's been about a month and a half since I've updated, but I thought I'd just let you all in on some things that Jack has been saying lately. He's learned to say four of his colors and a few other things. This isn't a complete list, just a few of them, and this is how he says them:

black= "buh-LACK"
blue= "booo"
pink= "beak"
yellow= "lullow"

Arwen= "awwuh"
Ellie= "ell"

slide= "lahl"
balloon= "buhloo"
cow= "boo!" (instead of moo)
walk= "wahk" (I realize that is about the same)
milk= "guk"
water= "wah"
soccar ball= "hockah bah

and my personal favorite:
thank you= "wahcome" (welcome)
The best part about this is that he says it without being prompted. I'll give him a sippy cup with milk and as he walks away I'll hear him say "wahcome."

OK, so that's my little Jack post. Now here are pics of the kids I took just tonight, so they're very recent. Arwen is a big first grader this year:

Ellie is looking less like a chubby toddler and more like a little girl. But she's still tiny!

Jack is just huge! His feet are the same size as Ellie's (only fatter! ;) ) and all of the kids are about the same size around in their waists!

(ignore the food-stained shirt!)

I love my kids! And just in case you're wondering, I love my husband, too! John has been extremely busy this year since he's the technology coordinator for the whole building and he's teaching a new curriculum of technology and has twice the students he had last year. He's been impressing his superiors and peers and is making people's technological lives easier. Eventually, he'd like to teach language arts, but it's an interesting and enlivening break for him.

I survived Italian this summer (thanks to John) and lived to tell the tale! I'll be starting my last term of my Bachelor's degree this Tuesday and I'm really looking forward to being able to say that I FINALLY have a college degree!

Alright, that's all for today's post! Ciao, ciao bella famiglia!

Arwen got her ears pierced today....

2009-08-12T00:31:00.000-07:00

Hello, blogosphere,

It's been a while since either of us has blogged on here. If you're looking to point a finger, I'd blame it on FACEBOOK. Really there is no other reason. Mini-blogging has become so much easier for us.

Well, tonight I started to feel a little guilty for being so lazy. I mean, it's a crazy cycle of progressive laziness. Think about it. When e-mail showed up on the scene, we no longer even bothered getting dressed in the morning because there was no need to go buy stamps before the mail man got to the box. When blogging happened we stopped CCing our emails to everyone in our address books, and now that Facebook is here, we no longer have a need to even be personal anymore; just shoot it out there for anyone that may have known you at some point in your life to see.

So here I am, taking a step backward, yet I feel it is a progressive step in the right direction. I'm getting personal again... sort of. I might even go buy some stamps tomorrow just to show all the cyberjunkies that "hey, I'm tired of impersonal mini-blogging, and I'm not going to take it anymore... or at least I'm not going to do it as much anymore."

Anyway, to my point.

Sarah and I decided after seeing our daughter sport some cute but excessively cheap toy clip-on earrings for the past two weeks, we would take her to get her ears pierced. Long story short... I cowered and cringed, she cried, we hugged, she got a sucker, and she looked in the mirror and loved it. The End. Ok, that's not all of it. She was very brave after the first one. I think this is why guys usually only get one earring, because after the first one, we're outta there. This is also why women have the babies.

Here's a pic.

She only looks mad because after we got home, I made her clean up a mess she made. What was I thinking? She was coming off of a little narcissistic ego boost, how could I ask her to do the menial labor of a mere mortal? Well, nobody's perfect.

4th of July Festivities....

2009-07-05T13:09:00.000-07:00

Just like the rest of the nation, we celebrated Independence Day with a barbecue and fireworks. The best part: we didn't have to pay for anything.

We were invited to out friends Manny and Michelle's for a BBQ in the afternoon. The food was AWESOME!!! Manny really knows how to make a mean burger. Unfortunately we forgot our camera so we didn't get any pics of the BBQ. Suffice it to say, we and the kids had a wonderfully relaxing time; that's really saying something considering it was at someplace other than home.

After dinner we came home to our neighborhood engulfed in smoke and 5 foot sparkling displays of Independence Day celebrations. Around the corner from our house lives a member of our bishopric. Having been informally invited a few days before, we walked the family down to the Cole's to enjoy their fireworks with our meager supply of sparklers.

Here are some pics.

Our New House

2009-06-26T20:08:00.000-07:00

...and the fun that comes with it!

Most of you know that we moved about a month ago; but John was finishing up his teaching for the year and watching the NBA playoffs and I was finishing up spring term and starting summer term early. Consequently, no pics or updates on our new abode. To sum it up, we love it! We are super happy with our place and the extra space that we now have. But, one of the things that we really like is that it's not a townhouse or apartment. It's a real house in a real neighborhood, really close to some members from our ward. Also, directly across the street from our backyard is John's work. Here is the place we now call home:

With a house comes the maintenance of the yard, which the previous tenants pretty much completely ignored. Thus, it's chock full of weeds and half-dead. So we borrowed a lawn mower for now (that's on our list of things to buy when we can budget it in) and used some weed and feed and pulled a lot of weeds. But, I digress. The fun part about all this (besides feeling like adults, finally! ;) ) is that we had to purchase a sprinkler and you know, it is summer...

Ellie, before the water:

Arwen, not nearly as wet as she would eventually become:
Jack got absolutely soaked!!
I just like this picture of my not-so-baby little boy.

So, now that John is out for the summer and I only have Italian to focus on this term (once I finish my Shakespeare paper on Macbeth, that is) we can really enjoy each other as a family, yay!!

I hope all of you are enjoying your summer!

p.s. please excuse the excessive amount of parenthetical statements in this post!

This is for all you lovers out there...

2009-06-25T22:52:00.000-07:00

So I've been experimenting with facial hair. After shaving the Western Conference Finals Beard I tried it again for the NBA finals. Turns out it works, by the way. Lakers won the whole thing. But I digress. So as I shaved my Finals beard this week, I decided to see what I would look like at various stages of hairiness. I wasn't a fan of the Mutton Chops and Fu-man-chu stage so I kept shaving. 90210 burns and Fu-man-chu didn't do it for me either. Finally I got to... wait for it... the handlebar 'stache with soul patch.... OH SNAP! I never thought I could ever look this good.

Sorry, ladies, he's married.

Unfortunately, Sarah wouldn't let me keep it. :-(

Sperry Boys and Their Loco Lakers Obsession

2009-06-10T17:24:00.000-07:00

So over the course of the last month I have been subjecting my poor family to the NBA playoffs... again. And like the last 8 years, they have had to suffer through my ups and downs with the Lakers.

This is what happened when the Lakers lost game 6 to Houston. Yes, it was an accident. I threw the cup at the refrigerator and Sarah's computer was cought in the crossfire. As you can see I did fix it with a brighter screen.

Unfortunately for the family the Lakers have made it all the way through the playoffs and landed in the Finals two years in a row. Now that it's looking pretty good for the purple and gold, I thought I'd share a little of how we've celebrated this horrific time of year.

A few weeks ago my frined Manny returned to the land of his nativity, Los Angeles, and while there he found himself surrounded by Lakers playoff pandimonium and thought of me. So, in his extreme generosity he bought me this #24 Kobe Bryant jersey. Can you believe that? What a guy. To date I have yet to actually purchase a piece of replica Lakers uniform since Sarah bought me the shorts and Manny the Jersey, and it gets better still.

Here I am sporting the Jersey and my WCF beard. As you all know, the beard worked. Lakers beat the Nuggets in 6.

Today I came home to see that our babysitter Katelyn was still at the house and Sarah was excited to show me what Katelyn had gotten for Jack. Looking for the treasure I laid my eyes in a beautiful gift indeed...

She got Jack his very own Shaq Jersey off of ebay. Can you believe the people that foolishly feed this obsession? So far I've sucked in my wife, my friend, and now the babysitter; boowhahahahaha, my plan is going better than I could have imagined.

So now for game 4 of the Finals tomorrow night we will have one of the greatest Laker wannabe one-two punch combos in history...

Jack and Dopey, are number 1
(Get it? Like Shaq and Kobe. I kill myself sometimes)

So that's the craziness my family has to put up with. Please pray for them :)

And I still have yet to actually buy a piece of Lakers uniform gear.

Day One

2009-05-27T09:19:00.000-07:00

I have a policy. Maybe you'd call it a parenting philosophy. My children will have a pacifier when they are newborns. It helps with the transition out of night feedings and it keeps them from crying as frequently in the car. But, they will not be allowed to use the pacifier past 18 months. Why 18 months? Well, because that's the age they can go into nursery at church and taking a pacifier into the nursery is just not a good idea. All went well with Arwen. She loved her pacifier, but we convinced her to throw it in the trash before she was 18 months old. Then came Eleanor. She, too, did excellently and we disposed of it in plenty of time to go into the nursery. But, there was one thing we hadn't anticipated. The age span between Ellie and Arwen is almost three years. the age span between Ellie and Jack is barely over two years. Consequently, when Jack came along we introduced the pacifier and were content until very shortly thereafter, when Eleanor took notice. At first it was just pointing at it or holding it, but it didn't take long before she figured out that she also liked to suck on it. It's been a battle for the last year to get her to stop taking his pacifiers and to keep them out of her mouth. To no avail.

A couple of weeks ago I tried to get rid of the pacifiers with Jack, but I gave in when he was miserable from teething and was crying in the middle of the night. However, Jack just turned 18 months old last Monday. This time I will not fail! Yesterday in the afternoon I stealthily removed the pacifiers from sight. Then, last night we put Jack to bed without it. And he didn't need it in the middle of the night! I'm soooo happy. But, today is officially Day One. Eleanor already asked where it was, but I told her he doesn't have one anymore. So far, so good. Jack seems quite happy under the circumstances. We'll see.

I just hope that it isn't a problem later this week when we move. I repeat myself: we'll see. Next step, getting him to sleep in his own bed at night!

How Bad Are Things...Really?

2009-05-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

You ever get the feeling that everything is going wrong in your world and you wonder what you're doing wrong?

So I'm lying in bed last night after yet another Lakers loss. I'm feeling pretty miserable that I probably need some sort of psychological counseling because of the two most recent NBA postseasons and this one isn't even over yet. But I guess I can get over that when the Oregon Duck football team starts another season with a strong effort, maybe get to #2 in the country and, yet again, let it all slip away.

So it's just sports. I can deal with that with some over the counter drugs. No problem. Then I turn on my computer and read the news. Oi Vey! So it seems that the world fits nicely in a hand basket. Whodathunk? I mean to say that all of the things that I hold sacred and valuable are now the butt of societal mockery. "Marriage you say. HAHAHAHA what a joke", "You mean to say that you wouldn't let your daughter kill her unborn baby so that she doesn't have to learn from the experience of making poor decisions. You'd rather give her love and support at any cost just so you can develop even stronger Christlike values?", "You believe in God and have faith in something that can't be proven? You're so delusional.", "Free market enterprise is for overachievers, you should just relax and let the government pay for everything, there's plenty of money".

I mean, what is going on with this country? By way of digression I just want to say that we need a president that's more like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. We don't need a friend in the Oval office, we need a leader with a killer, no-nonsense instinct and no emotion about making the decisions that WILL get the country back on track. Bill Simmons of ESPN said that toward the end of Jordan's career his teammates were mere coworkers to him. All he wanted was to win. No friendship was more important to him than winning. That's why he's not hanging out with Scotty Pippen and and boys ten years later. People hate Kobe for the same reason. Nothing is more important than winning (he makes a case that his family is more important, but it's sort of a toss-up). Why can't we get a president like that? George Patton wasn't interested in making friends, he wanted to win and sacrifice for the greater good. It's time we got a guy in the White House that people hate like teenagers hate their parents, but ultimately knows what's best. Unfortunately it's the people with the problem that are picking the guy to lead.

Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Gen. George S. Patton

Enough Digression. So after deciding how to fix the world, I began thinking about my immediate world. The realization of my own reality hit me like Derek Fisher "running through" a Scola screen. My world is without question the most perfect place. How could I possibly have anything to complain about. My wife is the most beautiful, understanding and patient woman in the world. When I accidentally shattered her computer screen after a Lakers loss she just calmly (not a good sign) said she was mad at me and went for a run (I've fixed the screen since then with a brighter higher definition screen so it's all good). I have three of the greatest kids in the world and I have the greatest job I could have ever asked for. I have the unique knowledge that Jesus Christ is my savior and nothing can ever change that. There is nothing wrong with my life no matter what happens in Staples Center, Autzen Stadium, or the White House.

The problem with the world is that people don't try hard enough to improve their own world that they depend on vicarious triumphs that ultimately have nothing to do with them whatsoever. If the Lakers win the Championship, it had nothing to do with me. I didn't win it, I have nothing invested except my own emotions which are controlled only by me. Jack making a 5 foot, flat-footed, two handed deuce (that's making a basket in a 3.5 foot basketball hoop) with my hand in his face is more thrilling to me than any sports team's victories. What else matters when I see my son smile because he knows his father loves to play with him. That's what matters. If you think your world is falling apart, take a look and see which world is falling apart. If it's the outside one and you can't do anything about it, let it fall. As long as your immediate world is intact, all is well, all is well.

Wow, it's been a while

2009-05-08T13:42:00.000-07:00

Well, it's definitely been a while since either of us has added anything to this blog, I thought I would share Jack's newest accomplishment. He can hit the equivalent of a 10 foot basketball hoop. As you've all seen in Sarah's video, he can drain most of his shots on a 3.5 foot tall basketball hoop, so I decided to up the anti and the hoop; I added a foot and a half to it. It took him all of five or six shots to start draining those. That's a five foot hoop. Considering he's not even three feet tall yet, I'd say that's like him being a good 6'5" against a 10' hoop.

Here's a pic of him draining the rainbow jumper from downtown. He was in his diaper in the pic so I used a little photoshop (Gimp, actually) magic and put Luke Walton's shorts and Andrew Bynum's Jersey on him to make it look legit. :)

I can feel the courtside squishy seats of Staples Center on my bum already.

Again, the shot is real, the uniform... not so much.

My Pre-Playoff Lakers Rant.... This one's for Kobe.

2009-04-15T11:21:00.000-07:00

Around this time every year I find a way to rant about how the Lakers are going to take it all this year. For 6 years I've said so and for 6 years I've been sadly wrong. This year is different. Not only are they going to take it all, they're going to regain respect.

But that's not what I want to talk about today. After a conversation this weekend with my brother-in-law in which we were comparing the cocky nature of high performing athletes such as Lance Armstrong and Kobe Bryant. I can't truly speak for Lance because he is still very unknown to me apart from his most famous accomplishments. However, Kobe Bryant is an athlete for whom I have much respect and admiration as an athlete. As for his public transgressions, I know a lot of people who still hold him accountable as though it is their job to be his judges. Anyway, I don't want to go into a diatribe about how Kobe has been wronged in his career because it's not true. He has been a complete @$$ at times, but why judge a man without knowing him.

I found a recent article, last week recent, in which Rick Reilly of ESPN magazine followed Kobe around for one whole day leading up to a game. It gives a little insight into the man. And yes, he's still just a flawed man like all of us.

Here's the article.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=4068270

Bring it on suckas!

2009-04-03T14:17:00.000-07:00

So, maybe I'm just glad that I finally have a boy. After years of not caring and even being gleeful that I only had little girls, I have discovered the joys of having the male variety.

Yes, all parents wish their kid was good at something. For a lot of dads (most, if I'm not mistaken) having a boy that is good at some sport is preferred. Thus, I can see the accusations right now. But, trust me, we didn't expect this. It turns out Jack is freakishly attracted to all things basketball. Namely, the basket and the ball. I didn't realize how much he was attracted to it until he started getting really excited when he saw a basketball game on TV. Then, when we were down in Roseburg, we (Joleane, Mom, and I) took the kids for a walk and Jack kept striding off across the street or back to where we had come from because he saw a basketball hoop and wanted to get closer. "Bah!" (Ball)

Anyway, here's the proof. How many one-year-olds do you know that can do this?

So, bring on the game suckas!

2009-03-29T22:26:00.000-07:00

Hey, Everyone,

I hope a rich uncle or long lost relative sees this before Sarah pulls it off for being ridiculous. :o)

Here's what I want for my 30th B-Day...

http://eugene.craigslist.org/pts/1095715059.html

Ok, I gotta go before Sarah catches me. :o)

Jack and I

2009-03-17T08:47:00.000-07:00

So, we finally have a way to videotape the kids. I am so happy about filming Jack's giggle, that I'm going to swallow my pride and post it even though it shows how awfully my belly sticks out...(sigh). Anyway, so here is our sweet Jack.

p.s. I'm wearing the first T-shirt that I've ever bought for a race. Joleane and I participated in the Run for the Shamrock last Saturday and even though the weather threatened rain, it was actually nice to have cool weather to run in. I ran in my first 10K race, YAY!!

I ate a Cosco muffin...

2009-03-01T12:20:00.000-08:00

...And then I went jogging. I figure it was better to have consumed the poppy seed goodness before I went because my body used the enormous stores of simple sugars to fuel my run. The sad thing is that the calories I burned during the trip were mostly used to burn off the muffin I had consumed that morning. But, there is something to be said for having run FARTHER THAN I HAVE EVER GONE BEFORE!!! I...went...seven miles!!!! So, even though I'm sore today and even though I was gastrointestinally sick the whole rest of the day yesterday, I'm happy. It looks like I'll be able to do that 10K I signed up for on March 14th, after all.

P.S. Costco muffins are the devil's magic!! 690 calories for one double chocolate muffin and it's half composed of fat!! I suppose eating a stick of butter might be worse for you...

John's Band has a new web site...

2009-02-27T22:03:00.000-08:00

Well, my band, The Hi Fi Ramblers, has a new web site that I threw together. We just got a tenor saxophone player and have sort of changed our style from Rockabilly to a Jump/Blues feel with a contemporary twist.

We're going to record this Saturday and hopefully get some of our new songs up on the site.

Check it out at www.hifiramblers.com

A Conversation

2009-02-21T08:33:00.000-08:00

Me: Arwen, thank you for getting Ellie to eat, but you need to eat, too.

Arwen: You don't need to tell me, I know how to eat, I know what to do!

Ellie: Then do it!

I couldn't have said it better myself, Eleanor.

Happy Birthday, Arwen!!

2009-02-07T08:28:00.000-08:00

This post has been way too long in coming since Arwen's birthday was in January! What can I say, I've been busy. Arwen turned six on the 30th! Every birthday of hers is weird because then we have a child that age for the first time, since she's the oldest. Her request for her birthday dinner this year was sandwiches and chips and oranges (I made her pick a fruit or vegetable to go with her meat and starch :) ). I was ecstatic because it was super easy to fix and yummy to eat. I had started working on her cake a couple of days before and it was really fun this year for two reasons. Firstly, John and the kids got me some cake decorating stuff for Christmas. Secondly, Arwen decided to go with a butterfly for her cake so I got to purchase and use a new cake pan, Yay! So here is Arwen blowing out her candles on her technicolor butterfly:

The inside is strawberry cake. Interesting, but I probably wouldn't choose it again (I convinced her it would be good.) Below, is Arwen opening a childhood classic--An EasyBake Oven. She really enjoys it but John and I are bummed that the desserts that come out of it are so nasty. At least Arwen likes the taste. :)

According to Arwen, everybody is "so into Hannah Montanah, but I think she's stupid." She was happy enough to get Hannah Montanah slippers and I think she was trying not to be like the other kids. Maybe it's because she has a Dora backpack and maybe other kids don't? I'm so new at all of this. But she wears her slippers ALL the time. :)

My favorite part of the evening was doing one of her new puzzles with her. This one happens to be a penguin family, but we also completed a princess-ball-themed puzzle.

You're probably wondering why no one is in the pictures except for me and Arwen. Well, John had the camera and Jack and Eleanor completely conked out on the couch, giving Arwen some nice personal attention, which was good. Also, we could eat our cake in peace until the little ones woke up!

Thank you to so many who sent cards and money and gave her presents! Wow, my daughter is six--so weird.

It's the little things

2009-01-24T09:06:00.000-08:00

Jack has been changing a lot lately. To the trained mother's eyes it is obvious that he is not the little boy he was a couple of months ago. Last night he surprised me by drinking out of a straw! I often plug up the top and then drop it into his mouth, but this time he slurped up his water all by himself. What a relief! Another change in Jack is his hair. It has gotten so much darker. I suppose I shouldn't have expected any differently since John's hair is so dark. And finally, Jack is growing--boy is he growing! I measured the kids a couple of weeks ago. Arwen and Ellie are about 11 inches apart. Ellie and Jack are only 3 inches apart! (Poor Eleanor will always be the smallest, but her personality commands so much attention that I think she'll survive!) Consequently, it shouldn't have surprised me when he reached up and took the measuring cup off the kitchen counter and having played with it to his satisfaction, reached back up and slid it into the sink!

Right now Jack's favorite activities include watching cartoons with his sisters, growling at whoever growls back, spinning in a circle with me, and playing ball with John. He has become quite insistent and often demands John's attentions and only calms down when John starts shooting a ball into the Jack's basketball hoop. He loves to retrieve the balls for John so he can watch John shoot it again. He has also become insistent with me. When I stand at my computer he positions himself underneath the bar and pushes against my legs to get me away from the counter until I relent and pay attention to him!

Those of you who know us really well know that we're unsure if we're going to have any more children, so I'm soaking up all of Jack's attentions, relishing in the hugs that only a baby/toddler can give, and enjoying the fact that he is so much less moody than the girls are! So every little thing becomes a big thing in our lives.

Jack as been sick lately and I took this picture because his cheeks were so crazy red! He was pretty miserable and you can see it in his sleepy little eyes, but at least he still managed to smile for me.

I like this following picture because it's Jack standing next to John's favorite basketball player (and probably athlete in general), Kobe Bryant. As you can see, Jack is also at the peak of physical condition!

Hope you all have a nice weekend!

Dessert Tag

2009-01-08T20:06:00.000-08:00

OK, so no one tagged me, but I thought this would be fun to do.
Here are my top five desserts ranked in order of yumminess.

1. Marilyn Sharp's Chocolate Mousse Cake--Best dessert on the planet if you love chocolate.

2. The Roadhouse Grill's Original Roadhouse Brownie Sundae--By the way, if you happen to purchase this dessert without sharing it, you'll be tacking on over 2,000 calories to your meal!

3. The Olive Garden's Black Tie Mousse Cake--Enough said.

4. Marie Calender's White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake--This is the best cheesecake I've ever had.

5. Marie Calender's Double Cream Lemon Pie--Mix super creaminess with the tartness of a lemon meringue pie and you get this lovely dessert, which is my favorite pie on the planet.

To all those dieting, including me, I just had to get this out of my system. I also apologize to those rare few who don't like chocolate, since this list is incredibly biased.

I now officially tag Patti, Juliann, Libby, DeLynne, Laura, and Emily. I would love to tag Joleane, but I don't think her fellow teammates would appreciate it! ;)

PS I haven't gone running since the race...so sad.

Just a Little Happy Post

2009-01-07T10:20:00.001-08:00

So, as I was thinking about how the last week of the term I'm going to be writing two ten-page papers, I got a happy thought. I'm going to be graduating this year! That's right folks, if I can manage to learn enough Italian to pass the course this spring term and then continue through summer with all my other classes, I WILL BE DONE!!! Well, sort of. I'll be done with my undergraduate studies, at least--WOOT!

The Race

2009-01-04T20:35:00.000-08:00

I hesitated to write about the New Year's Day "First Race" that Joleane and I participated in because I don't have any pictures. You see, the night before was a very late night for both of our kids. But, beyond that, it was a very late night for our husbands because they decided to go for a midnight ride after the new year arrived and so none of us adults got to bed before 2 o'clock in the morning. Because of this, Joleane and I decided it would be best if we let the others sleep and so we didn't take any before or after pictures. However, I would like to blog about my experience, for those of you interested in more than just pictures.

I had an interesting dream the night before that I'd missed the race and Joleane kept waking up almost hourly afraid that she would miss the race. So in the morning we were glad, but wary, to be on our way. Let's face it. To the average person of not that great physical health, running hurts. But I was psyched to get started. We drove over to the Valley River Inn (by the mall in Eugene) and walked in to get our packet. I had worried that I'd be required to show ID (we both registered online), but all I had to do was announce my name and I was handed a packet with my number to pin on and then given a chip timer to zip-tie to my shoe. We took some time looking around and nibbling on the Fig Newtons and drinking water. I started to see people show up from all ages and we even met a man who was over 80 years old who'd run many marathons in his life and won many awards.

Finally, it was time to line up and as the wind started to really pick up, Joleane and I were feeling the chill and ready to start running. I don't even remember whether it was a bell or a gunshot or what, but we were off. Many, many people passed us. But there were plenty that we passed, as well. One of the most shocking facts of the race was how many really young runners there were. Out of about a hundred runners, at least two of them were little girls about Arwen's age and there were a few boys that didn't look older than grade school age. We plugged along and as I passed the older gentleman I commented with a cheerful, "good race." His reply was, "I'm a lot slower since I turned 80." To which I responded, "I'm slower and I'm not even 30 yet!"

I passed a couple of people just cheering the runners and I commented to Joleane that I should probably be them instead of actually in the race. The weather turned out to be not so bad and as I rounded the last bend I could see the finish line, equipped with a timer. I was mildly dissappointed in my time and I picked up my speed to a near sprint as I approached my personal victory. Coming in at 31 minutes and 20-something seconds I slowed down and smiled as I crossed the finish line pads that picked up the chip attached to my shoe and recorded my time. I came in 64th out of 108 people.

So, that was it. I completed a 5K in an actual race with real runners for the very first time in my life. And, do you know what? I enjoyed it!

Restoration, Resurrection, Rebirth, Phoenix from the flames... call it what you will... but it happened.

2009-01-03T19:16:00.000-08:00

Exactly 5 days ago I somehow managed to crash the 'C' drive partition of my hard drive. Needless to say I panicked. I spoke with family and got some great advice (thanks Jon, James, and Tim), got a great deal of sympathy from friends (thanks Chadwick), and got some winning tips from a you tube video, and in the end my confidence was bolstered to the point of charging back at the bull. You see, If my hard drive was lost, all of our Christmas pictures would be lost. If you don't think that's scary, then you tell Sarah that her memories have been erased.

Anyway, long story short, I did it. It only took two trips to Fry's Electronics in Wilsonville, two hard drive trades, one hard drive enclosure, a cheap piece of data recovery software, a new Vista license, two tanks of gas, and the last 5 hours of my life and I was able to recover my entire broken hard drive. I am just lucky that there are people out there who have come up with the lifesavers for those of us idiots that have never "gotten around to" backing up our stuff.

I'll explain the two trips to Wilsonville. After Eugene and Springfield had failed me in every way possible with regard to my electronic needs, I packed up the family and we hit the road. 90 miles later I bought a SATA hard drive to replace the broken one and a hard drive enclosure for the recovery of the broken one. I then thought I might have an IDE hard drive, so I walked back into the store and traded the drive and the enclosure for their IDE counter parts. We then drove 90 miles back home only to find out that I do indeed have a SATA drive. This morning I packed the family back up in the car and we drove back to Wilsonville. I got what I needed, and that is that.

Addendum: I now have an external HDD and have my computer set for a weekly Sunday backup party. Everyone's invited!!!!

Summing up Christmas 2008

2008-12-31T11:32:00.000-08:00

Well, the holidays are almost over and I would be remiss if I didn't post some pictures of our season. But first, a brief explanation: John took some pictures of Christmas morning. John got a new flash for our camera (Thanks, Dad Sharp!) and took some even better pictures when we were in Roseburg. John dumped them on his computer. John's hard drive crashed. We no longer have our Christmas pictures.

However, I did get some pictures of the kids yesterday that will supplement this post. First of all, Jack seemed to enjoy Christmas and all his presents, but he did manage to burn his fingers on Grandma and Grandpa's pellet stove because I wasn't being watchful enough. The funny thing is, he's quite tough and was a lot less upset after I stopped icing the burns and just let him run around again. Behold:

One of the most beloved toys of this Christmas was a $3 foam sword that Ellie got from me and John. Ellie's been using anything and everything for a sword and we figured that she'd be better off with something less dangerous than a hard plastic tube to brandish. In this picture she's saying "Raaawrrr!!" (And her mouth has chocolate on the side.)

Do you know that point when you realize that your kid can do something that you can't? It's really bizarre. This is the first time I've experienced it and it fills me with pride. It turns out that Arwen has pure raw talent in...(drum roll please)...the Hula Hoop!! For those of you who saw her on Christmas day, you didn't get the whole picture. She got a heck of a lot better. She's wicked good at it and I can't do it at all. She even gets into the rhythm like those people who've been doing it for a while. The following picture is of her Hula Hooping with both her and Ellie's Hula Hoops and they are two different sizes. She keeps telling people that now she doesn't have to practice at Wal-Mart anymore. Turns out she's wanted one for a while.

Finally, I just wanted to post a picture of what DeLynne (and Ron ;-) ) gave us. This meant so much to me and John. For those of you who don't really know her and her abilities, you'll get a good idea. My camera flash made the center of the picture (mostly Jack) look washed out, but it really looks like how the girls appear in this picture. Thanks Delynne!

We hope that you all have had an excellent Christmas and that you have a good New Year, too! I'll post the race after tomorrow!

We've Got Spirit...How 'bout you?

2008-12-16T16:26:00.000-08:00

That's right folks, you can't hold back the Sperrys. It is cold here. And I mean, COLD! As far as Oregon goes, it is crazy cold for this time of year. It snowed yesterday and nothing has happened today except that it hasn't gotten above 25 degrees Fahrenheit. I know you people in Colorado and Utah will think we're wimps, but seriously, it's cold. But, we've got spirit! In temperatures below 20 degrees today John changed the oil in our car! Why? Because, "It needs it."

Because of the cold snap and the icy roads and the snow, our school district closed the schools. Thus, I have had the pleasure of John's and Arwen's company for two weekdays! Because of John's presence and the threat of worse weather to come in the next few days, I decided to go for a jog. Most of you know that I'm going to run a 5K race with Joleane on New Years Day and I need to be prepared. I'm so new to this jogging thing that I am afraid of not being ready. Thus, when I do run, I try to do over 3.2 miles (5K) just to make sure that I'll be able to. When I started out today I was thinking, 'Wow, New Years Day is going to suck if it's this cold...or colder.' I did manage to scrape out 3.8 miles. But, holy cow, it was so slippery! There were several times that I didn't end up on my butt in spite of starting to and I think Heavenly Father blessed me to avoid any broken bones because I prayed beforehand. The sun has been out all day and there are still many icy patches. At least I got in some exercise before the rest of the bad weather hits town. We've got spirit! (Thanks again, Joleane, for giving me a reason to exercise!)

On a different note, Jack keeps astounding me with his mannerisms. Today I looked up from the dishes to see him in the living room laying on his stomach coloring in a notebook like a ten-year-old. I was quickly brought back to reality when he reminded me that he's only one by pausing in his scribbling to take a bite of the crayon. His other new trick is the word "out." He looks at me and says, "uts." I tried to get him to say it when he wanted out of his high chair, but then today he just said his version of it all by himself. I promptly removed him from his confines and he was happy. Hey, I know what he means, and that's good enough! ;)

Hope you're all staying warm.

Season's Greetings... with pictures :o)

2008-12-13T09:00:00.000-08:00

As promised, here are some pictures John took last night.

This is the result of moving Ellie to the couch after she fell asleep on the floor.

You can see a somewhat naked Eleanor asleep in the background before we moved her to the couch.

There were some pictures of John, but he doesn't like them enough to have them on the blog :(

Coming Soon

2008-12-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for the lack of posting and I will get to it soon, with pictures and everything! I am in the middle of U of O finals and I am feeling a little too stressed to put forth much time or effort to the blog. But, I promise a decent post to come. And, on the plus side, my overall tone will be much brighter since I will be on Christmas vacation, woot!

ps for those interested, I have 2.5 finals left to go...sigh.

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

2008-11-25T08:58:00.000-08:00

This post is for all you white-trash moms out there (that's right, Laura B.!). It all started Sunday night when I was somewhat aware of putting Jack to bed in The Last Diaper. I thought with wild hope that there might be another one in the car, as I went to sleep, pushing away the nagging worry of what I was going to do if there wasn't one. Monday morning dawned freezing cold and I searched the car in vain--actually I searched the house in vain, too. So I decided to just let Jack wear the soggy one and hope that it didn't leak through from the time I took Arwen to school through the purchase of a package of diapers. It soon became apparent that the diaper was already leaking and I needed to find a solution, fast! Inspiration struck and I went upstairs to get the most masculine pair of Eleanor's underwear that I could find. I grabbed a pair that were teal-blue and headed for the bathroom. I found what I was looking for in a snap and headed downstairs with my spoils. Armed with a maxi-pad-lined pair of panties and the baby wipes, I proceeded to replace the soggy diaper with something truly girly. Jack did have a funny look on his face when I slid the underwear on, but after that momentary confusion he went about his business as usual none the more knowledgeable. (On a side note: it turns out that he and Eleanor have pretty much the same size butt!) We made it to Arwen's school. We made it to Wal-Mart. We made it home. I changed Jack when we got home and was pleased to find that my inspiration was sucessful! Nothing leaked out and even the panties were dry!

Poor Jack, we're trying so hard to treat him like a boy, but then his mother goes and does something like this...I can't wait to tell his first girlfriend. ;)

My Baby is a One-Year-Old!!!

2008-11-19T09:19:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Jack!! (Yesterday). Goodbye formula and bottles, hello milk and peanut butter. (I've been introducing peanut butter for about a month now and he seems to be just as non-allergic as my girls are, thank goodness!) I skipped class for Ellie's birthday (also on a Tuesday) so the family had to wait until I got home to eat and do presents for Jack, but he didn't seem to mind. Thank you to all of you who sent cards!!!

John made an awesome ragu (meat sauce) and we had French bread and pasta. Jack appeared to really enjoy his meal and downed quite a bit of it. Then we cleaned up and I let him go at his cake and ice cream. I was thinking back about how the girls acted during their first birthdays and I don't remember either giving them a utensil or them using one. I gave one to Jack and he tried to use his spoon for quite a while before he gave up and went at it with his hands. Also, I remembered that Ellie and Arwen both had chocolate cake for their first birthdays, as well. So, I guess it's my personal preference being enforced on a kid who either doesn't care (hey, sugar is sugar!) or can't express preference for a different choice! On a related note, I weighed him last night with just a diaper on and he weighs 25 pounds!!

I did get a little emotional during dinner as it hit me just how much I love him and what an important part of our family he is. I am so thankful for our sweet baby boy!

Here are some of the pictures that John and I took:

This was his favorite toy and my normally camera-friendly baby, would not smile for me because he was so intensely focused on this music-maker.

Jack really enjoyed the frosting stuck to the bottom of his candle. You can see that he's really tired. It was about nine o'clock at night by the time we got to cake!
This is "the damage" from allowing him to feed himself his cake, but I think he enjoyed his birthday, don't you?

I love you, Jack.

Weezer: Not just for grownups

2008-11-10T23:52:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine was commenting on her blog about listening to church hymns lately. Humorously, I have been thinking about this post about a different sort of music for a couple of days now. You see, little girls like Weezer. About six years ago my brother told me that his then 2 year old daughter was singing "You take your car to work, I'll take my board..." At the time I found this both greatly amusing and incredible. I still find it halarious. But, now I see it as either part of the Sharp family rock-music-loving genes OR as a strange small girl Weezer loving phenomenon. And, if you're curious, I'm leaning toward the second.

Just one example, you say? Nay, nay. I have two more examples. I will call them, Arwen and Eleanor. My daughters LOVE Weezer. I'm pretty sure that Arwen listened to the Blue album and Pinkerton quite a bit when she was younger. And I know that both girls have been exposed to the Green album. But, oh, how they pine for the Red album. Is it because "Dangerous" has the word "Booyah!" in the chorus? Maybe. But their favorite line--the one they yell (sing loudly, you might call it, if you were being generous) is "And when it's party time, like 1999, I'll party by myself because I'm such a special guy!"

Some of you may shake your heads and wonder what I'm exposing my children to. However, I am filled with glee to hear them singing their collective guts out in the back seat along with me and their daddy. We are, for just a little while, a content little family doing something we all love...together.

A First

2008-11-06T22:14:00.000-08:00

Today I got my first bloody nose.

At least, if it's not my first, it's the first that I've had in a LONG time. Jack decided to fall on me while I was lying on the floor, causing a collision between our two heads. He was pretty upset and I was feeling weird and then I felt warmth running down the inside of my nose.

On a related note, Jack seems to be falling and bleeding all the time now. It's quite disconcerting because I don't remember the girls injuring themselves so much at this age. Maybe it's because he's WALKING full-time. That's right, ladies and gentlemen, he is now only crawling rarely. We are three for three with our children walking during their eleventh month.

Happy Friday, by the way!

Michael Crichton - October 23, 1942 – November 4, 2008

2008-11-05T11:55:00.000-08:00

As some of you may know, my (John's) favorite contemporary author, Michael Crichton, died yesterday of cancer. He was 66 years old.

Michael Crichton was the first author that made me love to read. When I was in the 7th grade I saw the old movie "The Andromeda Strain" and was later told to read it by my brother, Ron (at least I think it was Ron). I read it, didn't understand most of the science, but I loved it. There was something amazingly attractive about the way he wrote. After "The Andromeda Strain" I read "Jurassic Park" at least 3 times before graduating high school and continued on with "The Lost World". Since that first book I've read only a few of his other books including "The Great Train Robbery", "Timeline", and "Congo" (6 total).

If not for Michael Crichton, I would probably not have read a single book until college. There will always be a special place on my book shelf and in my heart for his works. While I've read only a fraction of his books, I truly appreciate what he gave to readers in terms of compelling stories and entertainment.

As a tribute to him, I have made it my goal to read all of his published works that I have not yet read (that I can still find) during the year 2009 (approximately 16 works).

For you, Michael

Shamless Plug

2008-11-04T21:35:00.000-08:00

Or should I title this post, "Ode to Cake Wrecks." Either way, if you look to the side of our blog and check out some other blogs we are related to or just like, you will find Cake Wrecks. If you want to laugh your butt off (excuse the vulgarity), please read this blog! The sheer horribleness of some of these cakes would be enough, but her witty humor adds a welcome addition to the situations. The first time John and I went through this blog late one night, we laughed so hard that I was crying! If you go back to her first posts you'll understand her purpose. Today she posted some election cake wrecks that were wreck-tastic...you'll see. (By the way, she's non-partisan--a welcome relief.)

Ah, Gluttony, thy name is Halloween

2008-11-01T23:02:00.000-07:00

So, Halloween this year was a low-key affair. We got the costumes a week early instead of the day before (thanks to Arwen's grade school's Harvest Carnival) and I've never seen Ellie look so pretty. If any of you remember, she has been a cow two years in a row because of her lack of any provable growth hormones. So, this is the first year that she got to pick out her costume, a renaissance princess. Other than the fact that very little would keep her from getting run over by a car, because she is so small and because we got a dress in NAVY BLUE (I'm stupid, I know), it worked great. Arwen picked out this lovely woodland fairy thing and somehow we managed to make it through Halloween without dressing them both as a certain over-done Disney princess icon with a blue dress and blonde hair. I opted to deck them out even more with gold glitter in their hair. Glitter hairspray is such a good idea...in theory. Unfortunately, my children didn't react well to high-velocity sticky liquid coming at them and Arwen remarked several times that it got in her mouth. What can I say, I haven't used hairspray in forever since I hate it, too! Jack wore our final stint with the cow costume, but we didn't take any pics accept with my phone because he was asleep while the girls were getting dressed.

Ok, so this pic of Ellie wasn't exactly a pose...

How often do you get a picture of a kid with a tootsie roll in their mouth on Halloween? OK, probably yearly!

We made it a late to the carnival right before the trunk-or-treat but it was awesome because we didn't actually have to walk in a circle to get the cupcakes! :) (Thanks, Mom and Dad Sharp for a nice evening, by the way!) And when we got home my lifestyle change went out the window as Arwen, Ellie, and I gorged ourselves on candy. Thankfully they didn't get very much this year. Jack was just so happy to stand over the pile and swish his hands back and forth so that the candy flew in several directions.

These pictures are actually of Halloween Eve when I (yeah, like I'm gonna just hand over the steak knives to the kids!) carved pumpkins with the kids. Jack loved his pumpkin and was delighted that you could take the top off.

No, really, he LOVED his pumpkin. At least he eats his veggies.
I hope you all had a nice Halloween, too!

A Good Day

2008-10-29T21:18:00.000-07:00

Last night I was feeling very frustrated. My house has recently come to look like a demilitarized zone. Everyone who knows me knows I'm not the best housekeeper/organizer. Honestly, John is much better at keeping things in check than I am. I am more thorough, but I don't do it often enough to even look clean. So pathetic. There is also an insane amount of laundry piling up, because of both clothes that need to be folded and clothes that need to be washed and folded. On top of that, I had a paper due today that was going to take up plenty of my time, in addition to actually attending class. Unfortunately, this particular class means a babysitter, which also means that my house shouldn't frighten people when they walk in the door. So at the end of the day, yesterday, I was thoroughly overwhelmed and tired. Then, John made a command decision that changed my whole day. He decided to take a personal day and stay home and help me with the kids (Ellie and Jack are grumpy and have colds) and help me clean the house.

So, today after Arwen went to school we went over to Alton Baker Park and John rode his bike past the mall and back while I jogged with Ellie and Jack in the double stroller. I was expecting to not be able to force myself to do anything but walk because I hadn't exercised since last week and I was up till about 2am finishing my paper. (It's true, my most productive hours with homework come when the kids are finally in bed. Unfortunately, this clashes with my desire to sleep at that time of day...or night...or morning.) However, I started jogging and was able to go over two miles without having to walk and I actually felt good. (This is important to me because I've decided to run a 5K (3.2 miles) with Joleane on New Years Day.)

After we got back Arwen came home and John made us all lunch and took me to school. When we got home we did some cleaning and some laundry (he mostly did the cleaning, I mostly did the laundry) and then walked around Wal-Mart deciding in just what color-scheme we wanted to decorate our Christmas tree this year.

The difference? My husband. It's so great that I am happier when he is around. It was a good day.

Eleanor Gets a Haircut!...and a Funny Picture of Jack

2008-10-18T17:35:00.000-07:00

So, Eleanor has thin hair. Not in thickness of hair strand. No, just in number of hair strands. So, I decided that as beautiful as she looked with long hair, it needed a fullness boost. I meant to cut it just below her chin. I put a towel around her neck, set her up to paint at the table, and took the first snip. Unfortunately, I failed to really examine how high up on her neck the towel was placed. Thus, I started cutting too short. You know that if you start too short, there's really nowhere to go. However, it turned out way cute and John and I are actually pleased with the end result. Although, maybe it's just that she's beautiful to begin with. I am, admittedly, biased. :)

I thought this picture of Jack was so funny that I wanted to post it. He makes this face quite a bit, actually, and I love it!

Don't forget to check out John's Health Blog.
http://johnandsarahsperryfam.blogspot.com/

Quirky Tag

2008-10-14T12:21:00.000-07:00

Alrighty, Patti tagged me (not John, hahahaha!) so here are six quirky things about me.

1. I get seriously creeped out (sometimes to the point of slight fear) by clay-mation and some computerized graphics. (Think Chicken Run and Toy Story)

2. I hate having my feet dirty and used to wash them all the time in the sink at the BYU dorms.

3. One of my favorite things to eat for breakfast is cold pumpkin pie. (My family will agree with me, but John thinks it's weird)

4. I am a super-klutz. I'm just glad I'm not as bad as Bella Swan. (Yes, I broke down and read and actually enjoyed Twilight) Why is this quirky? Because I'm also graceful, thanks to dance.

5. I love reading diet, exercise, and cookbook books. Actually, I used to be interested in pretty much any self-help book.

6. I suck at cooking real food, but I'm good at cooking desserts. This is mostly because I prefer the latter. (I know, an ironic statement when juxtaposed with #5)

I now officially tag anyone who wants to do this but hasn't done it yet.

Happy Birthday Eleanor!!!

2008-10-09T20:47:00.001-07:00

Sorry it's taken me so long to do this post. It's been kind of a busy week with school and laundry. Ellie has been in love with Arwen's backpack ever since she got it for school and so we decided to buy her one of her own. The one we found was perfect, it's about a fourth the size of Arwen's. Ellie and I spent the morning reading her new book, learning how to write the letter "E", going for a walk, and playing with her paper dolls. (Thanks Grandma Sperry!!) When Arwen got home we went to the dollar store and Eleanor picked out some toys, (Thanks Aunt Laura!!) and then we went to the playplace in the mall. Ellie voted for tacos and so we had tacos and corn for dinner and then Eleanor finally got her cake. I ended up making the cake the night before and Ellie got some nice time alone with John and me, since Arwen and Jack had already fallen asleep. She thoroughly enjoyed snaking on the cake tops and the frosting. It was such a fun day for me because I skipped all my obligations and just focused on Ellie's birthday. Here are some pictures of our sweet three-year-old. I will be eternally grateful that Heavenly Father blessed our family with Eleanor!!

Thank you to all who sent birthday cards. She LOVED them!

Six Steps

2008-10-03T17:57:00.000-07:00

Our little 10 1/2 month-old boy has been threatening to walk for weeks now. But, today he is finally on his way. He took six steps and has been practicing ever since, taking a couple steps here and a few steps there. I am so proud. Here are some pictures of him walking. He's sporting the shirt for his favorite college, of course!

This picture was taken a couple of days ago, but I really like it when he smiles like this.

School Days Are Here

2008-09-29T14:51:00.000-07:00

Yes, I realize that most of Oregon and Utah have been in school for a while now. I, however, just started today. It was nerve-wracking because I have to take a class in the middle of the day, which means I had to leave the kids with someone today. The good news is that when I came home the girls were enjoying playing Candy Land with the new babysitter and Jack was crawling contentedly around on the floor. That's right, NOT crying!! So, it definitely feels like fall to me. This is the first year that we have had three members of our family going to school. (John counts, right?)

On a side note, I'm happy because James and John's brother, Kris, are also going to school this term. It's always better to have company!

Dance of the Woodland Sprite

2008-09-23T08:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Eleanor wanted me to put on some music so that she could dance around. I was talking on the phone and told her to wait. So she decided to make her own music. She found a thick plastic straw and proceeded to get about six different pitches out of it just by breathing in and out of it. At first it was a little obnoxious until I noticed that she could make so many notes from it and that she was dancing so beautifully. I suddenly felt accompanied by a little woodland sprite dancing and playing her wood flute. She was so pretty and in her own little world and so I brought out the camera.

John and I have discovered (as posted in a previous entry) that we oughtn't underestimate our Ellie-Bean.

Our New Pardigm of Frugality

2008-09-14T20:00:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for responding to our last post (If you haven't read it, we would like to know what you think). Through the course of this day we have also figured out how we can save an additional $250 a month. This will be attempted by cutting driving miles to less than 150 miles a week. That will mean two tanks of gas in 4 weeks.

Our hope is that this will cut our gas spending from $300-$350 a month to less than $120 per month. This means that we will not take a trip unless there is surplus in our account or fuel compensation (such as a show for the band). Unfortunately for our families this will mean many fewer trips to Roseburg and Salem, but it is in our best interest to save some green.

I know it may sound like an easy enough task to keep the miles under 150, but do remember that Sarah is still going to school which would be a 16 mile round trip daily, so the bus will be in use.

This is going to be a serious adjustment, but if we can cut out Oreos from our diet completely, we can do anything.

We'll see how it pans out.

Cutting Back, Living Within Our Means...

2008-09-13T20:19:00.001-07:00

Beginning at the end of September we will be cutting back on a number of our superfluous expenses. Among them are the following:

Extended Cable ($61/mo)
HD Cable ($7/mo)
Comcast High Speed internet ($45/mo)
Data cell phone internet ($20/mo)
Text messaging ($5/mo)
Blockbuster Subscription ($17/mo)

The reason for this big change is three-fold: We can't afford it all anymore, the prophets have told us to live within our means, and some of it will be beneficial to our families general unity and peace of mind.

We have decided to sacrifice some of these things all together and seriously cut back on other things. We will be trading our Extended and HD cable package for Basic Cable ($10/mo), the only reason we're keeping any cable is because of Ducks football; they mostly play on the local networks anyway.

Because Sarah is a student we sort of require the internet so we are trading our Comcast internet for a slower, but cheaper, internet provider, ClearWire ($25/mo). Everything else mentioned above is gone.

Let us know what you think. We are going to be going through withdrawals, but we feel this is better for our family and our finances. Wish us luck.

Just Like the Movies (AAF)

2008-09-12T11:26:00.000-07:00

Do you know those movies where you know something is going to go wrong and you know what mistakes the protagonist made that could come back to haunt them? This morning I was the protagonist. John bade me farewell at 7:34 AM. Arwen's bus stops in front of our house around 8:15. I went back to sleep. When next I awoke it was 8:14. I checked out the window to see if the little girl across the street was still waiting and found that she was. I ran downstairs, deciding that I would tell one of the kids or adults to tell the bus driver that I would drive Arwen to school today. In the interest of time, I decided to forgo shoes. I walked out the front door and from behind me heard it click shut. Oh no, the door's locked! I quickly turned back around to confirm my suspicions and found the door, indeed, locked. I quickly walked out to where all the other little kids were waiting and told my neighbor what to tell the bus driver and added, "and I'm locked out of my house." He got his key, just in the off-shot that because we're in a duplex the keys to our house would be the same. Of course, they weren't and I thanked him and told him that I thought a back window to the house was open. Gritting my teeth and my disgust for dirty feet, I walked onto the dew-soaked grass and wet dirt and headed for the back of the house. John, please don't have closed the window. Booyah!! The window was open! I pulled the screen out (This is too easy; why haven't we been robbed blind??) and stuck my head in and heard Jack upstairs screaming for me. I yelled for Arwen, but, alas, she is my good sleeper. After managing to get my body in without touching anything with the bottom of my dirty feet, including the couch under the window, I quickly spotted a hand towel and wiped off my feet and raced upstairs.

On a side note, Arwen made it to school dressed and fed, but seemingly late, as it appeared that most of the kids were already gathered around the teacher on the carpet. However, as Eleanor, Jack, and I walked to the car (technically, Jack wasn't walking) I heard the bell ring. As my mother always said when I'd had a bad day, "Tomorrow's another day." Indeed, but tomorrow is Saturday, YAY!!!

Never Underestimate the Will of a Child

2008-09-09T08:46:00.000-07:00

Today I asked Eleanor to get me some toilet paper for Jack's runny nose. Quickly remembering that it was up high on the window sill I told her, "Never mind, it's too high for you." She walked over toward the bathroom and said to me, "Hey, me reach it just fine!" She then proceeded to climb up on the counter and get some toilet paper off the window sill. Those of you who know Ellie know that she is by far our smallest child and will soon be outstripped in size and weight by Jack. However, she has an indomitable spirit and will not be underestimated. I love you, Ellie!

The First Day of the Rest of Her Life

2008-09-05T13:21:00.000-07:00

Welcome to school, Arwen!! Arwen's first day of Kindergarten was yesterday, which was a huge step for her Arwen has never been a part of any organization (except church, of course) so she has never had any big structure as part of her life. No preschool, no dance, soccer, or music lessons--nothing. So yesterday was a big deal, for me, that is. The best moment was when we left her in her classroom and she and Ellie gave each other a big hug and kiss. When I picked her up (this is Sarah, by the way, even though John usually blogs for us) there was a little silence as we walked to the car, until I intoned a one word question, "Well??" As if reading my mind and in her most matter-of-fact tone she replied, "It went fine." Yes, that's it. As I probed further and then today after the second day of her new life in school, she truly seemed to enjoy it and spoke of the kids learning to form a line and also the snack that they ate. I guess I can't expect too much from a two and a half hour session. Still, my baby is all grown up!!! Below is Arwen all primped up and dressed for the first day of school showing off her nails and hair.

Duck Game

2008-08-31T00:05:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine, Matt Auxier, that I work with invited me to the Oregon vs Washington game tonight. So I went.

One thing struck me as I was at the stadium. The new Duck Vision screen. The thing is the biggest HD screen I've ever seen. The entire board is all screen. It's Ginormous! Here's a pic. Sorry it's so blurry, but my phone doesn't take the best pics:

As always it was fun to go to a Duck game; especially when we win. Booyah, 44-10!!!!

John's bike, and the car has returned

2008-08-30T15:12:00.000-07:00

Two wonderful things have happened in the last two days: We got out car back after being rear-ended, and I got my bike. YAY!!!!!

Here are some pics. Just click on each image for a bigger version.

Nothing makes you appreciate a Chevy like driving a Dodge for two weeks!

Cuteness...

2008-08-29T21:50:00.001-07:00

After a nice hardy meal, Jack decided he would have a modest repose on the sofa while the rest of the family went about the quotidian tasks of getting ready for bed. Anyway... isn't he cute?

Hair Cut, 10 Year Reunion, Cake, USA Basketball, and Bike Shopping

2008-08-17T09:54:00.000-07:00

One of the more mundane topics of conversation in our family has been the discussion about Sarah's hair. It has been quite sometime since she had gotten a haircut and it reached down to the middle of her back. So as we were walking though the mall the other day I asked her if she wanted a haircut. She lit up and said "really!?" The end result is as follows:

Today we also went to Stewart Park in Roseburg for a 10-year class reunion Picnic for Sarah's High School grad class. It was fun and we got to see some old friendly faces. Sarah got to hang out with good friends like Susie and Bonnie. I got see an old friend and talk for a while. All in all it was a nice time.

Sarah also made a birthday cake for a member of the ward and I was so jealous that we wouldn't be able to eat it ourselves. The cake was Devil's Food with white icing covered in ganache; MMMMMMMMMMMMMM, so yummy. Here's a pic: Now for my USA men's basketball rant. I've been getting up at the butt-crack of dawn in order to watch these games. I've noticed a few things as I watch my boy Kobe and the rest of the NBA all-stars woop up on the world. First, the facts: in the last four years the USA men's basketball team has left both the Athens Olympics and the world Championships in Japan with the Bronze medal (giving LeBron James the nickname LeBronze). This year the team is destroying its opponents by large margins comparable to the original dream team. The difference? Kobe. Kobe is one of the players playing now that wasn't on the previous two teams. While he isn't lighting it up on the offensive end, he is dominating the worlds best on defense. Kobe is one of the biggest differences. We know that he won't let his team lose. As many at ESPN have said, he has a killer instinct that takes over in dire circumstances that is unparalleled in the NBA (we're talking Michael Jordan is the only one in the same league). Kobe is, in my mind, the difference maker.
Finally, I'm getting ready to buy a bike for the first time in my life. I have never purchased a bike for myself and I haven't ridden a bike since I got my drivers license. Sarah's brother James helped me pick one out and even came down from Corvallis to go with me to Hutch's and test ride one. The bike I decided on was a Giant Tran Send LX. It is a commuter bike that uses narrower tires than a mountain bike but not so narrow as a road bike. It is complete with disc brakes, fenders and a hub mounted rack. I'm going to purchase it on Monday and hopefully it arrives within a week. Here's a stock photo:

I was rear-ended in our new car... GRRRRRRRRRRRR!

2008-08-13T18:49:00.000-07:00

It's hard to see, but there is a giant circular dent around the "O" sticker and the bumper and taillight are a little messed up.

I don't know what I did to upset the gods of the road, but today I was rear-ended in downtown Springfield. The damage was not too extensive and all the kids are unharmed, but it will take three days in a body shop to fix it.

I was driving west bound on Main street to pick Sarah up from school when a car darted out of a driveway between 15th and 16th streets. The car in front of me swerved to miss it, and I had to slam on my brakes to avoid hitting it. The next thing I feel is a solid but mild jolt from behind. Fortunately there were two police cars behind and next to us as the whole thing took place so there was no question as to fault and liability.

I talked to our insurance company, talked to Progressive (the other guy's insurance company), filed an accident report with the DMV, and had Kendall Collision Center do a preliminary estimate. It's been a busy day. The verdict is that the other driver was at fault, Progressive accepts full liability and will pay for all repairs, and get us a rental car. We don't have to pay a dime! YAY! It just sucks that we've had this car for only a week and a half and it's already damaged goods. :o(

Interestingly enough, the cop that saw it said that he saw my bumper "collapse" like it was trashed completely, then by the time he got up to see the damage it had popped out. Yay for modern technology. That probably saved me from mechanical or structural damages. The other driver's car was in bad aesthetic shape. And, oddly enough, the guy that pulled out in front of me was actually stealing the car. The cops were able to settle that little matter as well. So, as my mother put it, I sacrificed my car for justice.

The Specter of Sperry Place and Other Stories

2008-08-10T23:02:00.000-07:00

It would appear from the evidence below that we have a blue-jean wearing ghost in our house. It likes to walk in front of cameras while dutiful fathers try and snap pictures of their sons. I think it's a rather inconsiderate ghost. Either that or Sarah was running very quickly across my path... I like the ghost idea better.

Not much going on here. My friend Chadwick has introduced me to a number of things over the course of the summer, not the least of which being the Wii Fit. But he turned us onto a show on CBS called 'The Big Bang Theory". Like all shows, it's one that we saw advertised but had not time to ever care about watching it. If you're a science and computer nerd, it's the show for you. It is truly hilarious.

In other news... Jack is becoming more headaches than a barrel of monkeys. He's getting a tooth finally, and it's making him very grumpy. I swear I can make out the words "I hate growing up" billowing from his his cries. On top of that, he can now climb stairs, yaaaaaaaaaaaaay.... I mean "where's the tylenol". He's worse than the girls: if we lose track of him for a few seconds he could be up two steps by that point. The trouble is that once he's up he can't make himself come down and as we know from Sir Isaac Newton: what goes up, well.... it must needs come down with or without intent. But I guess a little three-stair tumble never hurt anybody...permanently.

That's it for now. I'm going to take two asprin and start again in the morning.

New Addition to the Family

2008-08-02T17:38:00.000-07:00

Well, we finally bit the bullet and faced the inevitable. Ever since our car broke 100,000 miles we've been having to fix a number of things such as, but not limited to: Fuel Pump, Water Pump, Front Rotors, and Transmission. So we decided to buy a new one.

After much deliberation we decided to go ahead and trade both of our cars in for the new one. I'm going to be a biking teacher this year. Who needs to waste gas for a two mile trip.

What we purchased was based in no little part on our monthly budget :o)

We decided on a 2007 Chevy Equinox AWD. Some of the biggest selling points for us were as follows:
- The price (of course) We traded in both of our cars and only had to finance 60% of the original cost. (a three year old Honda was $25,000. We financed less than half of that for a one year old Chevy.
- AWD (All Wheel Drive) With having a lot of ice and a marginal amount of snow every year since we've been here, It'll be nice to have a little more control on the road in winter.
- The Auxiliary media jack on the dash. We love being able to plug in the Zune without getting the hiss and fuzz of a FM transmitter.
- It was owned by a "Major Auto Rental Company" (according to CarFax). It had reasonably low miles.
- It still smells like a new Car :o)

There are a lot of reasons we love it, though. Here are some pics.

The Hi Fi Ramblers played the Britt!

2008-07-26T00:19:00.000-07:00

The show was absolutely awesome. Sarah, Jack, and I all took the trip down to Jacksonville (Oregon, that is) to play the decades old Britt Festival. As you know, we opened for Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and it was outstanding.

I was really surprised at the treatment. It was top shelf all the way. We didn't lift a finger to load or unload our gear; we got catered dinner; and Sarah and the rest of our entourage got "All Access" passes to back stage and the green rooms we were in.

The audience was great and they loved us. After the show we had so many people coming up to us telling us how great it was.

This was by far a new level in my musical career. There were probably at least 1500 people there. It was a rush.

If you want to see more pics, look to the right or go to our website at www.hifiramblers.com

Hi Fi Ramblers Opening for Big Bad Voodoo Daddy at the Britt Festival

2008-07-15T23:21:00.001-07:00

As many of you know, I am in a Rockabilly/Surf band called the Hi Fi Ramblers . This is a picture of us:

(www.hifiramblers.com)

Anyway, we have just been invited to play the Britt Festival in Jacksonville, Oregon and we'll be opening for none other than Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.

To give you a taste of what this festival is and who else is playing there, here's a little list.

Lyle Lovett and His Large Band
Clint Black
One Horse Shy
George Thorogood
Buddy Guy
and
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

The event coordinators got our name from a guy here in Eugene and they listened to our songs on MySpace and gave us the invite. Who says MySpace is all trash? :o)

If anybody wants to go, it's on Friday July 25th at the Brit Festival Pavillion in Jacksonville, Oregon. It's $24 for a "Lawn" seat and $42 for a reserved seat.

New Jammies for the girls. New Hair for Arwen

2008-07-11T23:16:00.000-07:00

Last night Arwen expressed a deep, sincere desire to get her hair cut. Today we did just that. She told us that she was tired of brushing and washing her hair so she wanted it shorter. This is what came out. We all love it.
Grandma and Grandpa Sharp came up today and that usually means good company, good food, and new clothes for the kids. All around, it's a good time.

Larry and I got to spend some time together at the mall today. We talked weight loss, cameras and other things. Sarah and the kids got to spend time with Grandma at home. The girls soon found out that Grandma had gotten them new jammies. The girls loved them and immediately put them on.
All in all it was a great day with Grandma and Grandpa Sharp.

New Lens for the Rebel

2008-07-08T13:18:00.000-07:00

We just bought a new lens for the camera and wanted to share some of what we've been doing with it. The lens is the Canon f1.8, 50mm. Again, these pictures are my first attempt at playing with the different speeds and f-stops, etc.

I've been trying a bunch of lighting scenarios, and I dare say this lens is exceptionally fast and clear for the price.

The girls

A little foreground/background action

For my final trick of the day, here's a little macro action. This is accomplished by attaching my standard zoom lens to the camera and then putting the 50mm face to face with it and shooting through the back of the 50mm like a magnifying glass.

New Kid Pics

2008-07-05T22:39:00.000-07:00

Here are some new pics of the kids. For some reason we have this thing in our family with putting our bottoms on our tops. As you can see, Jack is no exception to the tradition. those are his shorts on his giant noggin.

Arwen and Jack

Ellie and Jack

Jack

John's weight-loss blog

2008-07-05T22:34:00.000-07:00

Check out my weight-loss blog. I need all of the encouragement I can get with this. I'm doing well so far. I've lost 15 pounds from my worst weight ever, but I still have 100 pounds to go. Here's a preview:

The link is to the right, in our list of blog links under "John Gets Healthy"

Appendectomy - John's First Surgery

2008-06-27T21:08:00.000-07:00

Just days ago I scoffed at the current influx of blogs and blogger-mania within the family. I felt that there couldn't possibly be anything of such note that it had to be posted for the world to see. Then something finally happened to me that I had to blog:

I got appendicitis.

The whole experience was really quite uneventful in the end, but it was the first time I'd been in the hospital on my own account in nearly three decades.

It started on Monday morning right after I had finished my "Biggest Loser: Cardio Max" workout and eight Otter-Pops. I figured the slight percolation in my abdomen was due to the not so bright combination of high fructose corn syrup and high endurance lunge exercises. It would subside. All day I lived with the ache. At night I thought it was gas and I'd just take a Gas-X.

3:00 am, Tuesday morning rolled around and the pain had done the exact opposite of what I wanted it to do: It had gotten worse. I got up, spent some time in the bathroom, took another gas-X, and went back to bed.

3:15 am, Tuesday morning: that was the longest 15 minutes of my life. I spent some more time in the bathroom. By that time it was getting hard to lay on my stomach so I went downstairs to try sleeping in the seated position. As I curled up in the rocking chair I happened to glance at the computer at my feet. Out of curiosity I cracked it open and went to WebMD. My only thought was to rule out the improbable: Appendicitis. All I could think of was "which side is my appendix on, anyway?" According to WebMd, it was the right side of my lower abdomen. I poked the right side of my gut and immediately winced in pain. "Bummer" I thought. I quickly read through the other symptoms: nausea, vomiting, and fever. I had none of those symptoms so I thought "maybe I'm in the clear". Something kept telling me that I wouldn't be so lucky.

By 4:00 am Sarah was fully aware of what I had been experiencing and we had sort of uncouched the idea of appendicitis because really, what were the chances?

Pretty good, it turns out. By 5:00 am I knew for sure something was more than "not quite right", something was wrong. The pain was increasing. I tried to sleep again, sure that it wasn't appendicitis because I had no other symptoms.

By 6:00 Sarah had called her father. He and I spoke for about 3 minutes and he told me that an over-the-phone examination left little to conclude, but that he feared it might be appendicitis, and that if I was to take action, I needed to go to the ER because they would be better suited to the worst case scenario.

At 6:05 my mother answered her phone with a "what could possibly be worth an early morning call. I'm on vacation" tone in her voice. "Hey, mom. Sorry to wake you up. I was wondering if you would be able come and watch the kids."

"why?" she responding sounding a little more alertly.

"I have to go to the hospital." I got the feeling she was out the door before both legs were in her pants. She's always been reliable that way. Twenty minutes later my dad called and wanted to know what was up so I ran it down for him. He told me that mom was well on her way. He then told me to take care of myself and we hung up.

By 8:00 we were in the ER and within 20 minutes I was being seen. After a blood test and a helpful dose of morphine it was determined that appendicitis was the ailment and surgery was the remedy.

(In the ER right after the Morphine. Oh Yeah!)

I was moved to a room on the 4th floor with a beautiful view of downtown Eugene and some lovely trees. Sarah waited with me the whole time. I probably would have been much more scared without her there. A little appendicitis was nothing compared to three childbirths.

At around 1:30 pm I was moved to the waiting area where I would come to learn the meaning of waiting. For ninety minutes I reclined in a most uncomfortable bed waiting for the people in green to take me away to the OR. They seemed to be taking their time.

After the first 20 minutes an anesthesiologist came and told me what to expect but that he would not be the one administering the drugs to me in my surgery. After another 40 minutes a surgical nurse came in and told me again what to expect, and again he told me that he would not be in on my particular surgery. 30 minutes later they came and got me.

In the interim I learned that my blood doesn't breathe well while my body is sedated. As I waited in that long empty room I would start to doze off and an alarm would sound every time my blood oxygen level was too low. I would simply breathe more deeply and the alarm would turn off. After 45 minutes of being rudely awakened by the alarm, a nurse finally got worried and strapped an oxygen hose to my head. "Great, now I get to breathe through a tube while waiting to be cut open" I thought to myself.

(This is actually the after-shot, but you get the idea of what I look like in a breathing tube)

As a very genial surgical nurse wheeled me into the OR he asked if I had ever been in the OR before. I said no. He assured me that it was just like the movies: lots of lights, electronic equipment, doctors and nurses in masks, and lots of sharp things.

The next step was to move over to the operating table. I'm not a little fella and this table was maybe 16 inches wide. To make sure my large self didn't fall off the minuscule table, they proceeded to strap me down. This was getting better by the second. Then came the mask over my face, a woman's voice telling me the drugs were coming, a feeling of falling into a well then...

"John, John. You're okay. You're in recovery. You're okay now." The voice sounded strained and a little nervous. The nurse seemed to be trying to calm me down. I thought that was odd since I had been under general anesthetic for the last hour or so. I found out later that I had reacted quite violently to being awakened from the anesthetic. I apparently tried to strangle the anesthesiologist. The nurse at my side in the recovery room had sort of explained it to me, but I heard most of it as she explained it to another nurse. Recovery was not my bravest time. My mind was lucid and mostly alert to the point I could explain with great detail where I was and what I was doing there, but I felt out of control of my own body. I wanted to feel normal but I didn't. I wanted to be with Sarah but I wasn't. I wanted to go home but I couldn't. I was in limbo and it scared me. I felt like crying the whole time but I didn't. The nurse walked me though some waking up exercises and some light banter before I was taken back to my room.

I was so happy to see Sarah that I almost cried when she took my hand. I wanted to sleep, but I was afraid of falling back down the well and struggle to get back out. After a short visit I felt sleep coming on and we decided that she should go check on the girls and my mom and give herself the opportunity to change from clothes covered in Jack pee.

I slept for a little over an hour and awoke a new man. I felt much better. My wounds didn't hurt, I felt able to get up but was encouraged not to by the nurses. I peed, I ate, and I watched a little TV before calling Sarah. I had done it. It was over and all I had to show for it were three inch-long scars in a diagonal array across my gut that brought up images of an aerial view of the pyramids in Egypt. The first surgery of my life had gone without much in the way of pomp or circumstance. No collapsed lungs, no defibrillator, no clamps sewn into my sternum (as far as I know). It was like taking the car in to remove a recalled part: pretty routine for everyone but the car. I will never forget this experience. I will never forget the smell of saline sweating out through my veins. I will never forget the odor of the rubber that carried the oxygen to my nose and how it made all of my food taste weird. I will never forget how nice everyone was to me as I went into surgery and how they treated me like a violent criminal as I came out. I will never forget the day I got my appendix removed. Of course the story to accompany the three scars will be more along the lines of how I got shot three times in the stomach and survived. I mean, who cares about a laproscopic appendectomy anyway?

2008-06-23T16:31:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess now that everyone else has jumped on the bandwagon, we might as well too.

So without any ado whatsoever: Here it is, the SPERRYFAM2001 Blog.

Enjoy :o)