Jones Soda

We are very lucky to be in the neighborhood we live in now. We have been all over the map in Utah and probably set a record by moving about 9 times in 9 years. In each place we have lived we have found great friends. All of our neighbors here are great and one of them works at Jones Soda. He is one of Talon's favorite neighbors for a few reasons. 1. He lights fireworks all year. 2. He is the nicest guy in the world. 3. He gives Talon all the Jones Soda a kid would want. It's endless. No I'm serious. Just when we run out, he re-stocks our supply with more four packs of soda. I figure at 5 bucks a four pack, we are indebted to him for more than $500. It just does not end with drinks either, we've received shirts, balls, hats, and sweat-shirts. Now, he is either the nicest guy in the world or a really good salesman because when we are at the store Talon points out every Jones Soda stand.

Jones is one of those retro soda companies that try to do things on a smaller scale which makes them very unique. They do a million cool spiffs and promos for their company. A few weeks ago our neighbor gave me a coupon for a customized Jones Soda bottle. So I went online and filled out the order form and submitted a picture of the kids to have put on the bottle. Little did I know that it would be one of the coolest things in the world. I thought it was going to be one bottle of soda, but they sent us twelve bottles. This will be one of those things that Talon and Tyler can share the rest of their lives, that is, if we can keep them from drinking all of them.

On the back of the bottles it had a spot to add a quote. This is what we put on the back, "all for one and one for all My brother and My friend. What fun we have. The time we share. Brother till the end." We just want to say thanks to Scott for being such a great neighbor and friend to us and especially Talon. As many times as Talon has been over to see what you are doing to you letting him draw on your walls or help wash your car, you've been the coolest dude around. Thanks again for all the hookups.

Ouch!

CAUTION to Wii players everywhere: a remote when thrown with force may cause pain.


Unfortunately for him, Talon is just as accident prone as I am. He has always run into walls and things...no joke. I played Wii baseball with him the other day, the remote strap was attached as shown and we started pitching and swinging. The excitement must have been too much and oops, there goes the remote flying towards me. So keep arms, hands and feet inside at all times and watch for flying Wii remotes.

PS-I am sure you are wondering why there are no pictures of me and Talon playing the Wii. Well, you have to take that up with Eric. Take pics of Jay, take pics of Jay, take pics of Jay...unless of course they are ugly.

Hotel Pajaro

Recently Talon has been wanting do build things out of wood. Just about every night just before he is about to fall asleep he will call me into his room to tell me that he wants to build something in the morning after school. Normally he will come up with something clever to build. Some of the ideas he has come up with are: a bumble bee catcher, a bionicle house, or a box for the Gamecube so that Tyler does not turn it off while he is playing. Some of the things he asks to build or put together are the same things I wanted my dad to build. I used to grab my dad's tools out of the garage and I always wanted to know why he would get mad when I did. I finally understand why, it's because when the tools leave the garage there is a very good chance that it does not get returned.

Anyway, Talon wanted to build something and we decided to do a bird house. We probably could have bought one for a few dollars more, but this was excellent father-son time. He helped make some cuts, put in some nails and paint it. He was a very good helper and I could not have finished it with out him. Even though it is late in the season and many of the song birds are gone, we will get the occasional Blue Jay or Robin stop by and get a piece of the buffet. We cannot wait until the spring to see all the little birds come to our house for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Check out a few pictures we took of us building the house.

On Your Marks, Get Set, GO!!!

On Friday September 7th, Oak Hollow Elementary held their annual "FUN RUN." They hold this event each year for the students to raise money for their school. So Talon went around asking friends and family for small donations. I thought this was just going to be a walk in the park, but it actually turned out to be a big deal. It was very well organized. They had music set up, police and ambulance escorts, and even the eagle mascot showed up for support. The run started from their school and twisted around neighborhoods totaling one mile. Thats right I said one mile. I thought for sure the ambulances and other help were going to have their hands full.
We started walking to the start area, and as soon as we got close Talon takes off running. I am with Tyler pushing the stroller and I thought it would be a breeze, but Talon is running so fast that he gets at least 150 yards on me in the first few minutes. With all the kids around I lose sight of Jay and Talon and I keep thinking I would catch them. The other disadvantage we had is that Utah has very few flat roads, so of course the first 1/2 mile is uphill. Finally at about the 1/2 mile marker they slowed down for me and as soon as Talon sees me, he is ready to start running again. He ran so fast and only walked a few times to the finish line. It was so fun to see all the kids out there enjoying the run. Tyler loved going fast in the stroller and Jay is always up for some sort of exercise. By the end, I was drenched in sweat, Tyler had a smile on his face, Jay and Talon were ready to go another mile!
















Just a few pics from the race. Notice Jay is not in any of them? She makes me exclude her from all picture posting.
(Note from Jay: This is not true. Only ugly pictures are not allowed. He took 2 pictures and both were ugly. I deleted the first one as soon as he took it and the other one looks like I have no chin, just a long thick neck from my ears down to my shoulders. Generally that is a good look, but specifically it wasn't working for me)

Treats!Treats!Treats!

Before I got married, rarely would I scour the cupboards looking for a treat unless it was my mom's almond roca. Jaynann loves to bake and that has become a bad combination for me in the past few years. I will admit that I used to eat a bunch of junk food and my grandmother would always deep fry whatever she was making; whether it was lumpia, hamburgers, or burritos we could count on it being deep fried in oil. So, if you add those bad habits to chocolate chip cookies, cakes, or any other chocolate treat you will get a 200 lb. Eric. Luckily, I have learned to control those habits and the weight has gone down a lot, but I still have a craving for a piece of chocolate after a meal.

As much as I love the baking and try to avoid it, Jay has become quite the baker. In fact, our kids have lucked out because they will always get a special cake for their birthday or a special treat from mom on a special occasion. Below are a few masterpieces Jay has put together. Please be aware that you could gain a few pounds just by looking at the pictures.

Jay made orange cream, vanilla cream and peanut butter cream
eggs for Easter. Everyone got one with their name on it.

Tyler's favorite movie is Monsters Inc and she made this Mike Wasowski look-a-like

Tyler loved his cake!

Talon had a Pirate Birthday Bash and she made this treasure cake

Here is a dump truck filled with goodies, the dirt is cake and the worms are gummy!!

We are so lucky to have a talented chef.

Talon's first day of Kindergarten!






Talon rode the bus the second day and we
followed him to school.




He got the special job of holding the door for
all his classmates.



Daddy giving Talon some last minute advice,
like remember how to tie your shoes.

I have been helping at his school every other
week and it is so fun to see him in class. He listens
to her much better than he listens to me. I love
looking through his backpack at the end of the day
to see what he has done at school. It's amazing how
proud it makes me. Tyler and I miss him while he
is gone. When we drop Talon at the bus stop, we wait
until the bus comes and Tyler says, "I bus". Today he
ran after it. It was so cute! He wants to be just like
his big brother.