LPN FTW!

"borrowed" this picture from facebook. don't know who took it but it's an awesome pic. congrats to my sister on this remarkable achievement!  we've always approved of you. now you're approved by the state of minnesota.- way to represent sistah!

happy fathers day dad

happy father's day to my dad, a perfect example of what being a great dad should be.  also, i could not be a dad myself without my awesome wife and kids. thanks to all and enjoy the day

more than a feeling...

after much debate, strategizing, fretting, and procrastination, the price summer vacation is inked and in the books. we've decided to ship out to boston in early august to spend some time with family for a week. our last trip out there was 2008 so we are in line with the "every 2 year" plan which was our original goal. details, other than flight itinerary, are loosely based at this point, but we are in contact with effected relatives on our eventual east coast invasion. more to follow...

happy anniversary mom & dad!

day at the park...

scheduled to take the family to the annual company day at valley fair. hoping the weather holds up, it's sorta iffy right now


updated
we made it about 6 hours this year. weather could have been better but it could have been a lot worse too. no heavy downpours but some steady mist especially at the end of the day. the good news was that there were hardly any lines for any of the ride. owen graduated from the "mild thing" to the highroller this year. alaina was the only one of us who braved the "steel venom". all in all, a good day.

more things i find on my computer...

"fluttering leaves"

schools out!

happy 11th noelle!...

wishing a very great day to a very sweet girl on her 11th birthday. i know you read this :-) love you!

UPDATED with pics...

the "catch"...

i've estimated that i've been to between 150-200 mlb games in my life, which puts me at approximately 5 games a year for the past 35 years. there's a margin of error there but if that formula holds true, that puts me at 175. i've been to fenway park, the old busch in st. louis, miller park, yankee stadium, wrigley field, us cellular (new cominsky), and of course the metrodome and target field. in that time i have had occasion to sniff a few foul balls but i've never been close enough to actually nab one. that ended for me on sunday night. i have learned from sitting in sec 123 of the dome all of those years, my previous digs, that you never give up on a ball fouled behind you hit into the upper deck. many times the ball comes bounding back down to the lower section, and a ball that was hit nowhere near you, suddenly ends up in your neighborhood. that is precisely what happened on sunday night. a texas ranger batter (either david murphy or justin smoak - things got hazy in the immediate aftermath) hit a looping foul ball, way over our heads in section 118, into the upper deck. i stood up and traced the path of the ball until i saw it disappear over the railing in the upper deck, paused for a moment, and then sat down, essentially giving up on it. no sooner had i sat down, i sensed a commotion in my row, and suddenly the ball was bouncing around at my feet. i immediately hit the ground and tried to smother it like a live grenade, sacrificing my self for the other soldier's in my foxhole. in reality, i was in a perfect spot to snatch up this souvenir and had only to contend with one extra-large man, sitting just to my left and in front of me, who didn't have a particularly good angle nor was he agile enough to join me on the floor. it was all a blur after that as the pop vendor in front of my gave me a "high-five" and i passed the ball over to my family to admire. one for the ages.