It's no crab boat, but still good

Every year Emily and I try to go on an adult vacation with our friends. Last year was an amazing excursion to St. Croix in the Virgin Islands. We have been trying to get another set up for this year and we have settled on an Alaskan cruise in May!

Today we bought the first item for this trip. Airplane tickets to Seattle. Southwest Airlines (I hate SWA, sorry Bob) has tickects to Seattle at half price. That is where our cruise leaves from. Round trip was $300 for 2 people. Awesome! It's like the gods of travel are smiling on our excursion.

So, if anyone is interested in going too, now is the time to decide. Let us know. It will be phenomenal. Oh, and no kids.

The clouds have parted

So, this may seem like no big deal, but I am announcing that I have a job! I was laid off from work at the beginning of December. Construction in AZ hasn't been the best. With fewer jobs available, there is a much lower need for construction managers. So, with a generous severence package, and a freshly updated resume, I hit the job market. My fantastic headhunter contacted everyone he knew. It looked as though we were going to be heading out of town. However, an opportunity made itself available locally with a national company.

This is huge.

Relocating would be a nightmare. Nathan has all of his benefits throught the state in place. His schools and everything are here. Our families are here. Because of this new position, there will be no lapse in insurance, no COBRA policy, and we will actually end up in a better financial state than if I was still at my previous employer. This is so great. It really feels as if the clouds have parted and the sun is shining on our little family.

Chad

Guess What!

IT STILL FITS!!!!!

8 1/2 years, 2 kids, and a severe addiction to peanut M&M's and the dress still fits. It wasn't even snug.

I appreciate all the effort that Emily puts into keeping herself healthy and in good shape. She is seriously going to kill me.

Chad

He will do it himself

Much of our day is spent listening to Nathan request hot dogs, marshmallow cereal (marshmallow matey's, we go generic style), letter ceral (alpha-bits), or bananas. He doesn't eat the bananas, but he sure likes to carry them around. We regularly tell him no in an effort to maintain some sort of normal meal schedule. This has turned Nathan into a food thieving ninja.
If there are gummy bears in a night stand, they will be snatched up and slaughtered in seconds. If the groceries were a little slow to be put away, he will snag the straggling items and return to his seat of choice and take care of business. If there is a treat or snack item that was accidently put on a low shelf, its lights out. The fruit snacks never had a chance. Nathan is a growing boy and his appetite may be a little ahead of the curve.

The Whole Hand!

This morning Caitlyn made a club for Nathan's birthday, and no club is official without a sign.

Following our birthday family tradition we took some pictures of Nathan right when he woke up, but since he usually rises before the sun he is especially hard to catch.

A little later in the morning we practiced how old he is. I think he likes the "whole hand" thing.

Happy Birthday Nathan, we love you!

You'd think I had won the lottery

I love free stuff. So when I won a Costco-sized tub of Jelly Bellies (they were really imitation, but it didnt make any difference to me) you would have thought that I had won the lottery.

It wasn't all dumb luck that made me win. It was my skills. I was the closest guess to how many were inside ("were" is the opperative word here because they are mostly gone now)

My nephew won the other prize of cheese balls. I was happy to see that one go. I definitely had my eye on the jelly beans.

And just in case you were wondering... my guess was 1632 and there were alot of guesses. Not to gloat or anything