Justin's Band Awards

Tonight has been a big night for Justin. He attended the 2008 Desert Ridge High School awards banquet and Justin won big. He got most improved Jazz student, biggest band geek, section leader award, chocolate and gift card for wind capacity and wind master.

Justin 2008 Band Awards

New Camera

I got a new camera. It's a Canon S5 IS. I really like it. I also got some lenses for it from www.lensmateonline.com. I got a 52mm adapter tube, a polarizing lens, a UV lens, and a wide angle lens. I finally got to take the camera out for the first time today to get some pics. The odds were against me because Tandi is out of town and all three kids are sick, but I made it to the Gilbert Riparian area.

The sun was very bright, which made adjusting the camera properly difficult, but the pictures came out pretty good I think.

Gilbert Library Riparian Reserve

I also took one video. I am really impressed with the quality of the video.

Easter

We had a fun Easter. The proof is in the pics... and vids.

Easter 2008

How Many Cannibals Can U Feed

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Online Dating

Fin

The bathroom is complete.

Bathroom Upgrade

New Floor

I started a big project this weekend. We have been having trouble with the toilet getting stopped up so I was going to make sure the wax ring was installed correctly and maybe get a new toilet. Since I was going to remove the toilet I decided it would be a good time to install ceramic tile.

We went to Home Depot Saturday to look at tile. It was amazing, we actually liked the cheapest tile they had on sale there and it was enough to do the floor.

The install has been going fairly smooth so far. I haven't made any major mistakes that I know of. We bought a tile saw a Harbor Freight. It was a big help.

I have to cut and install the last few pieces of tile and then grout and caulk along the edges. Then we are going to paint, then we are getting a new toilet, then we are putting a new cabinet above the toilet, and then Tandi will decorate with a new shower curtain and whatnot.

While at Harbor Freight we also got a rock tumbler. We didn't get the proper sand for it yet, but we have it running with some rocks from around the house and some park sand. HF is supposed to sell sand kits.

Pics below:

New Floor

Shooting with Alex

Alex and I went shooting near Queen Valley, AZ. It was fun and there weren't too many kooks there. We got a new target that was pretty neat.

The pictures are pretty darn lame.

Shooting

Kid's Tent

Alex and Garrett decided to build a tent using blankets and chairs. It's the most elaborate indoor tent I have ever seen. It has a cool long small entryway and then a big indoor area. It's pitch black inside. Alex made a video, but it's pretty dark.


This is the first video I have uploaded to YouTube so Arthur is responsible if there are any problems.

Wharton Trip

CW and I just returned from another trip to Wharton. The primary reason for the trip was to meet with an accountant, but we squeezed in a little fun. We took a lot of pictures I have posted a bunch of them and I will let CW post his (they were taken with my and Peggy's cameras and put on my laptop so I've burned them on CD's for him). I'm not putting links to all of the albums so you can just go to my web album and look at them. I put a few of the really high quality pics below.

Snowstorm

It's very cold and wet today. So cold and wet that the Superstitions and Four Peaks are covered in snow. I got a few pics after work before the clouds closed back in and it started raining again. It has been a very wet winter so far. It's very green here.

Feb 4, 2008 Snowstorm

Phoenix Zoo

We got a big burst of energy this morning and no one was sick so we went to the Phoenix Zoo. The kids had a blast. It's been a long time since we have been to the zoo. I was surprised that Garrett wasn't quite as interested in the animals as I thought he would be, but he still had fun. I rented an electric scooter at the zoo so I wouldn't be crippled by the time we left and that was a huge help. I don't feel drained at all. The zoo wasn't very crowded for it being a Saturday. It must be because of superbowl weekend and the superbowl is here in town so there is a lot going on related to that and there is the FBR golf tournament closing out this weekend. Pictures below:

PHX Zoo

Memories

One of my last visits prior to Dad's death I digitized a bunch of slides that Dad had taken. Almost all of his old pictures were slides. I am finally getting around to posting some of the pics. They include me and my siblings from long ago.