Scenes from a Marriage: Lunch

Old Faithful, Yellowstone National Park, last month (thanks for a fun trip, Granda and Grandpa!)

Emily: Hey, Nate, have you seen my sandwich?

Nate: I threw it away.

Emily: Why did you throw it away? I got a doggie bag so I could save it for later!

Nate: Look, I asked you three times if I could throw it and you never answered.

Emily: But, I never heard you!

And, then, I tried hard not to cry, feeling a little hungry but mostly, emotional from the strept throat some of our party were afflicted with, as we continued on our 14 hour day in Yellowstone.

**excellent camera skills, Evan!

Why I Love Arizona (even when it's 110+ degrees)

I guess this series can officially begin now. (Who thought we'd be so lucky to have had the coolest June since 1913?)


I love Arizona right now because it has Tempe Splash Park, which in and of itself is super fun for the boys. They run around--though Luke actually prefers to run around OUT of the water on the hot rocks and pavement-- and get good and tired. So, they take lovely, long naps, which makes Tempe Splash Park super fun for me.

Unforunately, it's often very crowded. I'm thinking of buying my kids some neon-colored shirts so I can spot them more easily.



In our extensive trips to Tempe Splash Park, we have learned that Monday mornings are the least crowded, but if you can wait for an overcast day, the splash park is darn near deserted (even though it's still 103+ degrees).

We compound our fun by stopping by Sonic for some $.99 drinks (Diet Coke with lemon for me, Blue Water for Luke, and Sprite for Asher) and driving along with the Light Rail.

If Asher and Luke wrote this series, they would include one about the Light Rail. I would except for the tantrums that get throw when it's time for us to turn away from the Light Rail's path.

Happy Late Birthday

Happy Birthday Emily.

So Em turned 22 at the end of June (I know she is actually 32 now, but its an inside joke). You see, for the first 5 or 6 years we were married I was convinced Emily was turning 22 every single birthday. For some reason I just couldn't get it out of my head that she was 22 years old.

Of course if she were turning 22 this year that would make me a very odd and criminal man. This year, for Emily's birthday things were a little tight financially so we just did a low-key dinner with friends at some weird health food place that Emily picked. The food was ok, but not good enough to go back.

What was good enough to go back for was the German Chocolate Cake I made from scratch for Emily. That was the kind of cake you dream about for a week after and then cry when you wake up and realize that the cake is all gone (yeah I was pretty proud of my cake).

So as I was saying, the finances have been a little shaky for the last few months so for her birthday, my sister proposed that we go in together on a gift and buy Emily trip to Europe. So come September, Emily will be globe trotting with my sister in Italy, Austria, Hungary, Germany and any other more obscure and dangerous places Maren can convince Emily to go.

When Emily leaves the boys and I are planning on converting the house to a he-man woman-haters club (no girls allowed) where we can wallow in our own filth for about 10 days until Emily gets home.

Happy Birthday Love. I know I havn't posted much for our anniversary or anything lately, but you know that you are the most important thing in my life. When you are happy I can run a million miles and leap tall buildings in a single bound. Thank you for hanging in there with me (even if I can be an annoying sap about 99% of the time).