Happy Birthday

I have been pretty lucky throughout my life, but I have been blessed to have a wife like Jaynann. Not only does she put up with my weaknesses, she tries to make them stronger. I do not give her enough credit for what she does for me and for our children. She is patient, loving, smart, and beautiful. All she wants to do is the right thing. She has a pure heart that welcomes everyone into our lives and I love her for her everything she stands for.

I asked Talon what his favorite thing about mom was and he said "playing with mommy and helping her make treats." She makes our kids feel loved and important. I hope that our kids can have the many wonderful qualities that Jay has to offer. Late last night we decided that she could go get a nice quiet night and morning at her mom's house. Its kind of a treat to wake up in the morning when you want and to get going when you feel like it because you know kids like to wake up around 6:30 in the morning. This morning Talon came rolling out of his bedroom and he asked, "where is mom?" About 30 minutes later, I hear Tyler yelling from the bedroom "mommy! mommy! mommy!" I went to take him out of his crib and he swiped my hand away because he wanted Jay to come get him. I don't think she realizes how much her kids love and miss her even when she is gone for 1 night.

I am sure Jay will see this and kill me for posting pictures without her permission, but it was worth it. While I was writing this I thought I might not have to write a card for her, but she loves them so much that I will probably have to come up with something for her. Would it be bad if I just copied what I wrote here into a card and called it good? Probably not, so maybe some flowers and a card would be a nice birthday treat. Happy Birthday Jay, we love you.

Eric, Talon, and Tyler.

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.

The Herd

I love watching kids soccer. It reminds me of a pack of wild animals running through the fields. There is very little separation from the ball. The herd moves where the little round white thing goes. If it goes out of bounds all the kids are out of bounds. If it crosses into another playing field you can bet at least 5 of the 8 are chasing it down. You can hold practices or tell them what to do, but as soon as its game time all soccer logic is out the window. There is no passing or shooting, its dribble or kick it towards the goal and hope that it rolls in. We love watching Talon play. He loves running around with his buddies trying to score goals. He gets to play with his cousin Seth and a few other players from a previous team. This is a new team and hopefully they do better than they did in previous years. I think this year his team might be one of the older ones and that is definitely an advantage. We took a few pictures today of them playing, we hope you enjoy.

California August 2007

We took a very long vacation in California. To save some time and brain cells I am going to give the quick and easy run down of events.

Drove to Vegas, Jaynann went to the Tim McGraw and Faith Hill Concert. Drove to Merced, hung out with friends and family, went swimming, went to Great America, went to Snelling to help build a deck, golfed with Ganon and Dave, hung out with friends and family again. Jaynann went to Texas to see Christian, Jaynann came back to Merced, hung out with Daniel and Rachel in Roseville. We went back to Merced and became very lazy and did the same stuff I mentioned before. Great trip, kids were great in the car, and we finally have some responsibility at home since Dave and Mom took care of us so well.

Check the pics...



Jaynann with Diana and her sister at the
Tim & Faith Pre-Show.



Faith up-close at the Pre-Show



Tim at the Pre-Show






Tim and Faith mixin it up



Jaynann says he is the "sexiest man on stage"







I had so much fun at this concert. I love their music!



Talon and his cousin Destiny



Talon at Grandma & Grandpa Crawford's pool



Tyler with Buddy in grandma & grandpa's backyard



Grandma and Talon at Great America



Tyler at Great America



Talon loved the rides





Looks like Jay is scared more than Talon is



Grandpa and Grandma Crawford with the kids at
Great America. Thanks guys!





At the train museum in Old Sacramento






Christian's graduation from the Air Force was so
great! All of us were there to support him. I am
so proud to have a brother serving our country!




My mom and three brothers! We went to
Six Flags and they won those basketballs.



My sister Kim and I outside of one of the rides.
We all had a blast going on all the rides together.
I felt like a little kid running around and hurrying
to the front of the line.



Talon munching on raw almonds at Uncle Jim
and Aunt Susie's Almond Orchard in Snelling, CA

Grandpa and Talon riding the tractor through
the orchard. Eric's dad used to drive this exact
same tractor when he was young on Eric's
grandpa's almond orchard. Eric's aunt and uncle
tracked down this same tractor and fixed it up.
It had been about40 years since he had driven it.

Eric and the boys hopped on with grandpa
and it was pretty cool to see 3 generations on it.



Did I mention that we drove? Thank goodness for
a DVD player in the car!