Water Feature.

So we were supposed to go camping this weekend with our best friends from Sioux Falls, but our camp sites were flooded out.  They decided to go to Omaha and hit the zoo and Ginger Cove, the lake our friend's parents live on, we decided to stay home since we needed to be at church on Sunday morning since Steph was singing and I was playing drums.

So on Saturday we went to work on our "water feature" that looks sooo nice on one of our back patios.  When we told some friends we put a little pond thing in, he said, "you guys live on a lake, why do you need a pond feature?"  I hadn't thought of it that way, but it looks nice and it is land that I don't have to weed eat or mow, so it is good!

Downtown MLPS

Most of my photography is based in an outdoor rural setting so it was nice to get to go downtown MLPS and get some shots.  Here is one.

Jack

Steph and I had a great weekend without the kids, thanks to both sets of grandparents.  We went to MLPS and then on to Wisconsin for a Jack Johnson concert.  We loved Jack's music before we went to the concert, and after we love him even more. 

White Rabbit???

May I Have Your Attention, Please.

Grandma Clarice and Grandpa Roger are here for a couple weeks and our family couldn't be more happy...especially Kolby, she has Grandpa Roger wrapped around her sticky little fingers.

Here are some pictures from the first day of their arrival yesterday...note, Grandpa's constant attention to Koco...

Of course our house has been pretty busy with the 4th of July on the lake...we had a great time with a lot of friends over the 4 days of fun.  Here are some of the photos I took when I had some time to myself.

Storm Chasing, Fine Art and Energy Drinks

Most of you know about our side business http://www.lakehausproductions.com/ ... well, we also have some fine art prints that Steph and I sell under that same business name, we call them the "HIS signature" series.  They are landscape photos that I have taken over the years and we add a piece of scripture to them that ties in nicely with the print.

This weekend we were at the Brookings Arts Festival selling our prints.  My dad came up with the idea of using the covered wagon and cookfly (sort of like an open sided tent shade) to use as our "booth"  it worked out great and Steph decorated it sooooo classy.  We sold a lot of prints and I am always humbled to know that people will buy pictures I have taken and pay hard earned money for them to hang in their home...it is flattering to say the least.

We had a great first ever show, the Brookings Arts Festival Staff gave us several comments, and we were also invited by a head hunter to go to another art show in Minneapolis to sell our work, and they waived the booth fee for us...I think they are hard up for artists?!?!?!?

There was a slight change in weekend plans as on Friday the TV show Inside Edition called a fellow free-lance photojournalist friend of mine and offered a gig on Sunday that paid so well, we couldn't pass it up.

We left Huron around 11pm headed West...slammed a lot of Monster, Red Bull, RockStar and sunflower seeds and arrived in Rapid around 2AM, got up at 7AM and were ready for work.

We were shooting video for a story that Inside Edition is doing on Silverline Tours a storm chasing tour operation that is based out of Denver.  So we ended up all around the western edge South Dakota, got close to Nebraska and spent most of the day in Wyoming.  We didn't see any tornadoes, but the super cells we saw were really cool...(don't be surprised if I have some prairie weather pictures to sell soon)

So we worked from about 9 to 7pm MT and were somewhere in Wyoming and we drove all night to get back to Huron around 3AM or 4AM.  I slept at Bob and Pennys house and was at my desk a little after 8am.

I am on a high from our booth at the arts festival and my work for Inside Edition...now the follow up, my mother and father-in-law arrived at the house at 11AM this morning...it never slows down at our house!

Brilliant.

Giving Up...

I have started many things...only to give them up later.  I was gonna be a boxer after watching Rocky III, but getting hit all the time sucks.  I rode bulls until I was about 23, my shoulder kept popping out of it's socket which isn't normal, so I quit that...(but still have the desire to climb back on one!)  I stared reading a bunch of books that didn't hold my ADD attention span.  I have a mountain bike rebuild project that has been sitting in my garage for 2 years now.  I haven't filled the nail holes on our trim in the kitchen.

It happens, we get into different routines in our life...things change, and our changing dreams and life patterns force us to basically give up on somethings.

What brings on this post about quitting, you ask?

I ran into a friend of mine's little brother...he's like 27 or something.  I haven't seen him in quite a while, and I almost didn't recognize him.  He was wearing farmer-style overalls and had put on like 80 pounds.  I told him I liked his overalls...he said yeah, "I gave up trying to find jeans that fit...the overalls don't fall down and they make them for fat guys who eat a lot of cake."

Now I have "wintered-well" a few times and 10 or 15 pounds goes on pretty easy, but at some point don't you say...I have to do something about my clothes not fitting?

So if you ever see me wearing overalls, take me out for a run...a long run.  I have always said, "I work out like a maniac so I can eat like an idiot!"

Brecken the T-Baller

Here is a couple shots of Brecken playing for his t-ball team the Twins.

Note the batting glove dangling out of the back pocket...he saw a big leaguer do that.

He's 8.

So today at 6:17 p.m. Maxim will have officially been in the world for 8 years.

I decided to post these pictures of Maxim from Sanford's Cradle Roll archive...I remember thinking, "What am I going to do with a kid...am I ready to be a dad...what if I drop him?"  Well, Maxim has survived 8 years with Stephanie and I and I think he is doing quite well.

When they hand you that little human wrapped up in hospital-issued blankets you never know what is in the package.

Maxim is insightful, caring, free thinking, comical, and creative.  Some days when his little mind is wandering, and he is lost in his own little world, I can't help but want to get inside his thoughts to see what makes him tick.  He has made Stephanie and I much different people, for the better.  Thank you, Maxim...and Happy Birthday.

Lake Byron Falls

Our rain gauge actually overflowed this weekend.  It holds 6 inches.  I don't know if Maxim was playing a trick on us or not, but this picture shows that we did get a little rain.  The lake came up almost 2 feet.

If you have activeX installed and click on the photo it will make it full screen...I think.

Different Day Than You Planned

Ever wake up with this really productive day planned and you end up in a conference call for 2 hours, eating chips and dip at your mom's house for lunch, running out of time for a workout, and to cap the night off...removing a virus from your computer, while your wife, and 2 of 3 kids suffer from a virus?

Most days don't go as planned, but if you do plan a day...it will most likely just go.  -ME

Kolby is crying.

Since Kolby woke me up so early this morning her nap time happened at about 7:30am, so I was going to blog a little, and now she is crying again, and it is only 9:00am.

I now know why Steph can't mow the yard, feed the kids, hang up my laundry, clean the house, get the kids ready for all of their sports, and so on, and so on...I have just Kolby and I can't even do the one Saturday job Steph gave me to do, and that was water a few flowers...I hope it rains...not really.

"Woof, Woof." said Maxim.

So Maxim is pretty much self-sufficient in the personal care department, of course with some prompting by Steph...he will brush his teeth, shower and pick out clothes all by himself.

Tonight after a good day of "outsideness", Maxim needed a shower and when Steph went into the bathroom to get something she smelled a familiar smell of shampoo, but it wasn't the one you want your son using.  She asked him if he was using Kia's (our dog) shampoo and he said, "Yes, after I got it scrubbed up on me I realized it was Kia's!"

So he just rolled with it, I guess there is no sense in wasting good dog shampoo...Steph laughed at him and when she walked out of the bathroom, Maxim said, "woof, woof!"

The Lone Rangers

The boys got out on the horses last night and played a little Lone Ranger, fully equipped with cap guns and WILD imaginations.

The highlight of the night was when Grandpa showed the boys how the old western movie stunt guys used to bail off horses when they got shot....or did Grandpa really get bucked off his new horse?  Call him Casey Tibbs and see what kind of reaction he gives you.

Summer Break...now Brecken has some friends.

Maxim's last day of 1st grade was on Friday, and summer break has officially begun.

That is good news for Brecken, as he was starting to get a little bit sad for "friends".  I guess the other day Steph and Brecken were outside, on the trampoline and Brecken was playing his "butar" AKA guitar.  His song went something like this....

"Ohhhh, I don't got no friends,
But I got my grandpa....
I don't got no friends,
But I got my grandpa...."

My first thought was to correct his use of "got no" to "I don't have any friends," but then I realized that it was more of a country song, so the use of improper English is accommodated in this instance for song writing purposes.

Well, his friend/brother will be around for about 90 days now, all the time.  By the end of the week he will be begging for Maxim to go back to school.

We are sure this song will live on in infamy as Grandpa thinks it is pretty much the best song ever written.

Great Shirt

Cinco De Rogero.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Roger!

Marc.

Click Here For Marc's Caring Bridge Site.

The Cowboy Is 4.

I'm a little late on this post, but I have been driving a car for the last 4 days...the 13th was Brecken's birthday.  The little wild man is 4 years old now.

Many of you know he loves skateboarding, wakeboarding, playing hockey and being a cowboy...quite the combination of loves we know, and it makes for some interesting playtime.

I am not sure but I think every dad has been a "bull"  for their children to ride.  My dad did it for me and I do it for my boys as well, and lately Kolby wants in on the rodeos too.  Brecken and Grandpa share quite a bit of time on horseback, and with all the growing B-Wreck has been doing lately he didn't fit into many of his clothes, so for his birthday he got clothes, and he was pumped about it.  New cowboy jeans, a bullriding vest and brand new boots just like the High School kids are wearing.  He is pretty proud of his new duds and can't wait to go ride Juneau with his new boots on.

Here is the little picture I did to make him look like he was a real bullrider on the PBR tour.