Responsibilities..

Judy takes time to get some web-surfing done while the kids take care of other things..

Princess Party!

Micah enjoying the slide like a boy..

Marketing in 2007..

This is great. I almost threw this away before noticing the advanced marketing on the top left corner. (You may want to click on the picture so that it zooms in and you can see it.)

"Rayovac 12 pack -- 4 MORE BATTERIES vs. other leading brands 8 pack"

Katie Walks!

Season of Changes..

This summer seems to be a Season of Changes. Obviously, our family is changing with the good news of baby #3 on the way. I would like to say that I have changed--after reading that book (last post) in my relationship with Judy and my view toward my role in our relationship. We have also changed vehicles. We traded in our Nissan Armada for a Honda Odyssey minivan.

We had been considering unloading our Armada for a few months. Gas money was a large factor. The news of baby #3 brought about real thought to 3 car seats. The truck seated 8, but we couldn't come up with a good way to configure them. We could have done 3 car seats across the second row, but then would not be able to access the last row. The thought of climbing up into the truck to load kids into the last row, folding seats up and down, and putting some in the second row didn't seem right either. I'm sure we could have managed. I would hardly call this a tough situation.

All of those factors aside, when your pregnant wife drives the kids down the road, depresses the brakes, and finds that the truck does not respond, it seems like high-time to find another vehicle. I would like to say that this is a one-time occurrance, but it has happened once before. Two separate times for the brakes not to respond does wonders for your confidence in a truck. I would also like to think that Nissan had some big recall, or atleast a technical service bulletin, related to "the truck no longer stops while driving", but that is not the case.

In all fairness, both times we took the vehicle in after brake failure, Nissan politely serviced the vehicle. By politely, I mean they allowed us to bring it in and they serviced it. The second time, they had no apologies for the brakes failing again. They claimed it was not related to the first time, and replaced most of the brake controls. When I picked up the truck after service, the brakes made a funny noise. The service manager took a look at it, then told me he would have to order a new part (the same new part they just installed) again. What a relief, huh?

Needless to say, we were motivated to find a Honda minivan. We did our research, shopped a few dealerships, and talked with friends who recently purchased the same vehicle. We made a stop by one particular dealership, expecting to "seriously look", but ended up buying that night. It was all very quick. Oddly enough, we hadn't expected to purchase that night. The salesman was fantastic, the dealership was honest and open to respectable deals, and made the purchase one of the best we've had yet.

We love the van and it provides more than we need. We are no longer a "truck family", but atleast I can say we are now a "Honda family". Honda continues to live up to the reputation we have known for so long.

As far as other changes.. Micah seems to have an amazing grasp on "no diapers" and it would seem that there is no looking back now. Katie is [still] not walking, but we hope she does soon. I'm sure there will be other big changes soon. I will keep you informed as they pop up!

Family Time..

I just finished re-reading Gary Smalley's book 'If Only He Knew'. I have read it several times now. He confronts husbands and challenges them to a better relationship with their wives.

Toward the end of the book, he takes a moment to speak on the subject of relationship building for the whole family. He shared camping as an activity that had a proven track record of unifying a family. As illustrated in his book, it isn't always easy-going while they were camping, but made the way for long-lasting memories that they all remembered and laughed about for years.

Below is one story from his book that made me think of so many of our trips and camping experiences as a family.

"Colorado was the destination for our own trip in our own trailer. We could hardly wait to experience the beauty of snow-capped peaks and sniff the aroma of pine trees. I could already hear the sizzle of rainbow trout frying in the pan. As we started up the mountain, our station wagon slowed from 50 miles per hour to 30, then to 25, then to 20, until we finally slowed to the pace of 15 miles per hour. "Hot" read the temperature gauge. I felt like I was wired to the engine because my palms were sweating so. Our children sensed the tension in the air and became hyper and loud.

"I've got to stop at the next pull-off area," I told them. My nerves were frayed as I pulled over. All three kids jumped out immediately. I hadn't even had time to worry about the overheated car when our youngest, Michael, screamed at the top of his lungs.

His older brother, relieving some pent-up energy, had kicked what he thought to be an empty can. Unfortunately, it was half-full of transmission fluid. The can had landed upside down on Michael's head, and he was covered from head to toe, a terribly unhappy little boy. His nose, his ears, even his mouth were dripping with it. Not expecting such a calamity, we had no water in the trailer to clean him up. We worried that he had injured his eyes because he blinked rapidly the rest of the trip."