Farming

Nate and Beckett took a drive out to the Kansas countryside. Beckett liked holding the map.
This weekend the three of us went to the farmstead. Beckett and the cow checked one another out.
B also liked ringing the cow bells in front of the milking barn.
No trip to the farm is complete without feeding the goats. They are hungry and greedy. Beckett enjoyed watching Nate dole out goat treats.

Four goats in a row.

Goats are pretty entertaining.

Water

We're heading into another week of hot, hot temperatures. In a Kansas summer the only bearable outdoor activities involve water. I came back from our trip to California fired up about spray parks. Beckett had a great time at the spray park there, and I didn't have to worry so much about him drowning or drinking the whole pool. So I set to searching for one in town, and I found there are a bunch of free spraygrounds (as they call them here) on the other side of the state line. One just happens to be in the park right near Abby's and Ava's house. So we all ventured out for an afternoon at the sprayground.

This sprayground is a bit more intense than the one in California, but Beckett plunged right in.
Ava was a bit more tentative, but once she got the hang of things I think she liked the park even more than Beckett.
The babes decided they would each carry around one of the two cups I brought along. Here they decide who gets which one and then they held on tight to their respective cup for the rest of the outing.

Below the kids play in the serious side of the sprayground. Those are some wet babies.
The other day we let Beckett play outside with the hose. At first he just played with the water.
Here Zephyr fulfills her lifelong ambition of worming her way into as many pictures as possible.
Then Beckett decided he was thirsty and started drinking from the hose.

We're so proud.

Storm Troopin

Today is Toby's birthday. Who's Toby? He's the kid I grew up with. He's also the same guy who flew across three states and show up at my place of work dressed as a storm trooper. Now I know we all have good friends, but ask yourself when was the last time any of your friends showed up dressed as a storm trooper? That's what I thought.

Beckett was as shocked to see Toby as I was. You can't see it, but he liked pounding on his armor.

Here we are at my office. Did the Empire really give thumbs ups?

Toby was actually the perfect height and build for a storm trooper. Note to Toby: Remind wife that Toby is the perfect build for an intergalactic tough guy.

Toby was one of the judges for our ward's annual Golden Tongs BBQ. Storm Trooper Toby gave out the awards.

The kids went crazy.

The IT Ops team loved Toby's outfit. Justin, here, is wearing a Star Wars t-shirt with a storm trooper on it.

Meanwhile, Scott's desk had a picture of Luke, Han, and Chewy.

Dan thought it would be fun to pick a fight. (Not a good idea.)

Later that weekend we visited the Steamboat Arabia Museum, which has the largest collection of pre-civil war artifacts in the world. Toby was thrilled since it gave him lots of ideas for constructing his dream cabin. Toby wants to do it Grizzly Adams style with no electricity.

This is what Wal*Mart looked like 150 years ago.



Lastly, we visited the Liberty Jail and Independence. Toby started the weekend as a Storm Trooper and ended it as Superman. I think he's more of the latter than the former. As a father of 2.5 who owns his own start-up and can beat anyone I know at rock climbing, cycling, and flying a helicopter, Toby really is a super man. Happy Birthday.

Brooke and Aaron's Backyard

We took a trip to see the sealing of Keontay and Daysha to Brooke and Aaron. It was a beautiful ceremony, and the kids looked like angels. We are so happy for them all.

We had some good times while we were visiting. We had dinner with the whole family twice at Val and Dorothy's. We took three trips up to Mormon Center where the Sacramento Temple is located. We went to a sprayground. But we were terrible about taking pictures. Seriously, what you will see below are all the pictures we took. We kept forgetting to bring our camera when we left the house. Thus, the title of this post. Every single picture we took during this trip was in Brooke and Aaron's backyard.

And a marvelous place it is, too.

They have a baby pool.

Beckett jumped on the tramp.

The Stephens have chickens.
Keontay pulled Daysha and Beckett in the wagon.