Decisions Decisions...

Ok, I was thinking just now that I have been posting a lot of pictures lately.  So my question to you, blog-land is, do you care about my pictures enough to continue to see them here on my blog, or would you like it better if I started a different blog solely for pictures?  I could also link my photo gallery on the side bar, and I am cool with that, but then, its not my kids that the pictures are of.  If I do the photo blog, I will make it private and you all can ask to see it if you want.  If I link the photo gallery, I promise to not use any names at all, and the photos will all be available for down load for those who feel so inclined.  

Please give me your input.  I SWEAR I will not care if you vote to not see my photos anymore.  Thats the reason I am doing this.  Thanks for your help!

Things Nik didn't get to do as a child

The first of what I am sure will be a lengthy series (or not) of things Nik missed out on as a child.

Today: Buy ice cream from the Ice Cream Truck.

Now, we have actually been trying to get this one taken care of for some time, but the ice cream truck only comes by on Sunday's. So when it came by on a Monday, we jumped on it. Nik got his favorite, a fudge bar, and I got a lime Popsicle. I have been a Popsicle fiend lately. I eat them all and leave none for anyone else. But I digress. Here is Nik with his spoils:

Photo Update (long)

Look what we found in our laundry room...I thought Nik was going through Kix a little fast....

ps: if you attended any of the functions above, go to my gallery http://gallery.mac.com/nikenglish#gallery to see if there are any pictures of you!

Mourning Dave a Second Time

Last week we mourned the passing of LeRoi Moore (saxophonist for the Dave Matthew's Band), due to injuries following an ATV accident. Today we mourn the passing of the Dave Matthew Band concert that should have been tonight at USANA Amphitheater. Because of a fire out that direction a couple days ago, the show has been postponed and no new date has been set.

My parents were generous enough to get us tickets to this show back in May for our anniversary and we have been anxiously awaiting the arrival since day one. The tickets have been displayed on our magnetic calender and we have checked and double-checked that we could be there on time. We can only hope that they really do schedule another show date, and that we can make it.

Dave, we will miss you.

A Genealogy Poem

"I saw a duck the other day,
It had the feet of my Aunt Faye.
Then it walked, was heading south.
It waddled like my Uncle Ralph.

And when it utrned I must propose,
It's bill was found like Aunt Jane's nose.
I thought, "Oh, No!" It's just my luck.
Someday I'll look just like a duck!"

I sobbed to Mom about my fears,
And she said,
"Honey, dry your tears.
You look like me, so walk with pride.
Those folks are all from Daddy's side."

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Today is my parents 27th anniversary and I looked and looked and I do not have a picture of them! So I stole one from Mom's blog. I now have a new goal to get more pictures of my parents together!

Happy 27!!!

Back to School Tour Guide

My baby brother Jeff starts high school on Monday. And seeing as he is going to my high school, I was asked to come along to show him where his classes were. I was thrilled! I loved Cottonwood! I was so excited to be back there and to see some of the teachers I loved so much. But half way there I realized that it has been 5 years and Jeff is taking different class than I did. I started to get worried that I would not know where he was supposed to go.

I met my family in the Auditorium (or Assembly Hall, as I called it cause thats where we had all the assemblies...made sense in my head) and we sat through a "very informative" hour long presentation about the coming school year. Then we were told that the students had been divided up in groups and could go on a 10 minute tour of the school to get acquainted. I was surprised and a little disapointed because usually at this point they have you follow the students schedule and go meet the teachers and stuff. So, Lena didn't get to see her favorite teachers. And lucky Jeff got the group that didn't know where they were going, and didn't seem to be aware that no one could hear them vaguely explain what hall this was and what classes were taught here. We ditched the stupid group and everyone looked to me to where to go next.

We decided it was best to just go through Jeff's classes. Turns out he is lucky and most of his classes are close together, and they are all near his locker. I was worried for a little while cause Cottonwood has brought in a Charter type school that has taken over some of the classrooms I was in, so those classes are taught elsewhere, and I worried that I would tell my followers that I was 'sure' that the class would be here, only to be proven wrong after walking the length of the school. Luckily that didn't happen. And despite the fact that I never took them in the wrong direction, or told them a class would be there, only to find it was not...I was always asked "are you sure?" every time I told them this was the direction we needed to go. Oh well. We found all the classes and made it out safely.

I forgot how big that school is. My legs were very tired by the time I got home. I guess I was used to it after 3 years. But now, after another 5 I am out of shape again. Good luck Jeff.

In other news, Talina and I played babysitter last night for the cutest 1 year old ever. Vivian (Mom) started her night job last night and we both got calls from Jake (Dad) asking if we would be willing to come by so he could go play basketball with the boys. Never one to turn down a chance to hang with Xander, I agreed. Talina met me there and we spent the evening wondering why someone would put two people who have never had children in charge. At least we were both bigger than Xander. He was a sweetie though, and went to bed with out any problems. When the boys came back Jake could not say 'thank you' enough. It was no big deal Jake!

Hope to be of service again soon!

William Thomas

Since I have been slacking and have not gotten my pictures uploaded yet, you will have to check out this website for a few pictures of brand new William Thomas, son of Tom and Liz. We went to see him on Friday and he is adorable! Nik and I both thought he looked most like Liz. Hopefully in the next couple days I can get more pictures up. Enjoy!

http://longaker.com/

Food For Thought

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/08/14/bigfoot.body/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Do you believe?

Desperation

Thy name is radio.

I must have tickets to Jason Mraz, if you don't give them to me, radio, you and me are over.

Keep that in mind.

Murder Mystery Fun

Friday night Nik and I were lucky to go to the Murder Mystery at Castle of Chaos. I have been dying to see this for months and wanted to get a big group together to come, but alas, it did not work out and it was only with much persuasion that I convinced Nik to come with me on the second to last night it was performed.

The story was that the current king had killed the rightful ruler and family and took the throne for himself (and he is poisoned at the very beginning). His daughter was being forced to marry one of his evil henchmen and there was a "Robin Hood" type guy that was trying to restore order. Ok, that was a really bad synopsis, but the gist of it is from the movie "Court Jester" with Danny Kaye. Which is a great movie for all who have not seen it. Good stuff. Anyway...

I had heard that this was like an interactive game of Clue, but I still didn't know what do expect. It turned out that we had to search the "castle" for "weapons", "gold" and other objects that might aid us in finding out who killed the king. We had to talk to the actor actors and fulfill missions to get the information we needed. At first I was wary because I am not good at the Role Playing thing (no comments) and I did not want to get into my character. But after a few minutes of watching the other players (about 16 of us in all) and watching Nik, I was more into it and we had a good time.

We had 80 minutes total and the time ended way too fast. When it came time to decide who did it I was still baffled. Nik chose one guy and told me to choose his wife, but I was unsure. So I picked some guy I had not talked to in hopes that I had missed something. But...Alas! I should have listened to Nik! It was the wife! Oh well, I should have known. She had the poison and she would want the other king dead, that would make her husband the new king. Dang!

The murder mysteries start up again in November, after the Haunter House season is over, so anyone interested in going with us, we are itching to go again!

Happy Birthday Molly!

Happy 60th birthday to my second mom, Molly F*!

When my family moved into the house they are in now, Molly and kids were the first to greet us. She was quick to point out that she had a son my age (only older by 2 weeks) and a daughter a couple years younger (2 years and 2 days younger. We thought that was cool). I was instantly friends with her daughter, Rachel, and usually annoyed with her son, Donny. Who would have guessed that long after Rachel and I parted ways, I would still be good friends with Donny?

Molly is a great baker. If she borrows a dish of any kind, it comes back full of something homemade and delicious. My favorite are her cinnamon rolls. I remember eating the divinity that did not set up properly (it still tasted fine!) and listening to her tell the story of the little village when making bread.

I still feel like family when I am in her house, and I love to just sit and talk to her. Happy Birthday Molly!

ps-mom, if you have a picture of Molly, please email it to me!