Lilly Mania

My lilies are finally coming out! They look so pretty. Here are a few pics!

The Days Favorite Snap Shots!

Big BlueClair Bear
Kate Kate
Bowen's little toes! He was so tired he crashed (sandy feet and all) as soon as we got into the car!

What we caught!

Like I said, not much was biting...this is what we caught...

Stephen - caught a good sized catfish! Way to go dad!

Clair - Right after Stephen caught his fish, Clair reeled in her line and exclaimed..."LOOK, I caught a worm!" Too bad it was only her bait...we all got a good laugh!

Kate - really did catch worms...from the bait container! She loves to dig the worms out for her dad to bait the hooks!

Bowen - Was the days winner! He caught many goldfish! Way to go son!

Holiday Fishing!

We went to Keowee Toxaway State Park on the beautiful Lake Keowee. It was a hot day, and not much was biting...here are some photos from the fisihing part!

Strawberry Fields Forever!

Last week we went with our friends Manuela and Katharina to a local strawberry field and picked FIVE GALLONS! Well, Bowen didn't pick...he ATE and ATE and ATE! The fun picking was followed by tons of work in the kitchen making jam and freezing strawberries! I made four runs of jam and put up 7 freezer bags of sliced and sugared strawberries. Enjoy photos from the Strawberry patch!

PICK...BITE...DROP INTO BASKET...REPEAT

Clair was VERY picky about what strawberries went into her basket!

Look at that juice stain...it was ALL down his arms too!

A little picnic for the happy strawberry pickers!

Fort Primos

Here are pictures of Papa's recent project...Fort Primos. He did a great job! Brooklyn and Jack have already broken it in a little, but can't wait to actually share it with their cousins! Mimi told Brooklyn that she needed to thank Papa for building it for her and her cousins and Brooklyn told her that she would thank him when he finished the sand box! She can be a real stinker sometimes. Thank you Papa for building the fort so that our grandchildren will have WONDERFUL memories to come. Now, we just need to get the Brights here!

Looking down the wall climb

Getting ready to slide!

Memorial Day Honor

I love Memorial Day, because it is another day that we have to be thankful for the men and women that have sacrificed for our country and the freedoms that come with our citizenship. I am personally thankful for those men and women and their families. I was watching the news the other day and they were showing how our National Cemeteries prepare for this day. It brought tears to my eyes to see current service men and women placing flags on every grave and then saluting the grave. It was just further proof that we live in a great country.

While in Utah, I took the chance to stop by the Provo cemetery to pay my respects to one of my personal heroes…my Grandpap. He served our country and made many sacrifices to ensure my freedoms remain in tack. For that I am grateful. I also took the time to stop at the War Memorial in the cemetery and found my Grandpap’s name. Here are a couple of pictures, including my Grandpap’s name...Jack E. St. Clair. Thanks Grandpap for your service to our country.

Newest Member of the Family

A couple of weeks ago, we welcomed a new member to our family. Her name is Lucy and she is Brooklyn’s new hermit crab. Brooklyn had been working to get a hermit crab for a while. She worked very hard to have good behavior for awhile, so that she could get a pink hermit crab. When I took her to the mall to get a hermit crab, she fell in love with a gold crab. We opted for a pink cage. I thought she would be afraid to touch it, but she held it with no problems. As soon as she held the crab she said, “This is Lucy.” We brought it over to Mimi and Papa’s, while Mimi and I took Brooklyn to Mimi’s work party at the Zoo. Brooklyn was so funny about leaving Lucy. Papa was sick and Brooklyn walked in and said, “Papa will you crab watch Lucy, but don’t get her sick…k?” About 10 minutes down the road…on the way to the Zoo, Brooklyn insisted on calling Papa to check on Lucy. She is a really great hermit crab owner. The day after Lucy joined our family was Sunday. Brooklyn wanted to bring Lucy to church. I explained that we don’t bring pets to church. At that Brooklyn said, “That one boy brings his pet dog to church.” (We have a kid in our ward that has a service dog…he alerts people when the boy’s blood sugar is dangerously low…he’s a diabetic.) I had to explain the difference between service dogs and hermit crabs. She seemed ok with leaving Lucy home, but insisted that Lucy be allowed to come over to my house for dinner. Joel said that Brooklyn carried Lucy around in her cage the whole day before church and then she carried her around at my house that evening. Here’s a picture with Brooklyn holding Lucy at my house before dinner.

Brings a SMILE to my face

One of the things that does my heart good is to see the big "white Y" on the side of the mountain in Provo, Utah. I don't know what it is about that place, but really when I drive into the valley and see Y Mountain...I get a little giddy. I know that sounds lame, but I guess I bleed Blue and that "Y" speaks to me! If you haven't been there, it's hard to really understand.

The other thing that brings a smile to my face when in Provo is to hear the Bell Tower at BYU when it chimes every hour on the hour. It plays, "Come, Come Ye Saints." It is just such a happy time. I stopped by the BYU campus...which is magical in and of itself. While on campus, I just had to stop and take a picture of Y Mountain and the Bell Tower...it brings the question - Can you ever have too many pictures of Y Mountain and the Bell Tower? Answer - Nope! It was also very interesting to drive by the dorms that I lived in. Guess what...Gates Hall is being renovated.

Have you thanked your spouse today?!

Last weekend my friend Kim and I attended a Singles' Conference in Salt Lake City. I always enjoy spending time with my friend Kim and we always have fun together. I don't know what I would have done if she hadn't have been by my side. Here are just a few highlights of my weekend...
The keynote speaker for the conference was none other than....

Ricky Schroder. If you don't know who he is...you are WAY TO YOUNG! Here are a few hints - Silver Spoons, Champ (this one made me cry and probably still would), NYPD Blue (prior to joining the church...showing his bare butt is proof of that), Brad Paisley's Whiskey Lullaby video, and most recently 24. I really enjoyed hearing from both him and his wife.
Another highlight of the weekend was a Pinkberry knock-off in SLC. Anyone who knows me knows how much I LOVE Pinkberry...it is one of the things that I miss alot about NYC.

The place was called Lunaberry. Although it wasn't quite the same, it helped tide me over until I get to NYC in the next month or so.
Now for some lowlights of the weekend and the purpose of the title of this blog. The conference was an eye-opening experience. I realized that there are worse things than being single and if this conference is what I have to look forward to...no thank you. At one point Saturday night, my friend Kim turned to me and started singing, "Somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something bad." We did get a lot of laughs out, but it was mostly so we wouldn't cry. It was a little depressing. Kim and I heard and witnessed some of the most insane things...so we decided to write some of the weirdiest things down. I thought I would provide you all with a good laugh. Some of the best quotes of the night/conference:
* Kim and I were sitting on some chairs in the hall way, when I noticed a beared man walking back and forth in front of us. I knew he was waiting to pounce on Kim...I could see it in his eyes. Like a flash of lightening, before I could warn Kim he was on his knees in between us with some of Kim's hair in his hand. He then said, "Does this come out of a bottle?" Kim sort of laughed and said, "Yes." Within the 5 minutes he spoke to us, we learned more than we ever wanted to know about him. Right before finally leaving us, he said, "You know how ex's are, you've been married before." Kim of course replied, "No" and he said, "Now I don't beieve that." He then turned and asked me. He was such a creepy guy.
* While Kim and I were registering for Speed Dating (yes I know...desperate) these 2 somewhat cute guys were in line behind us. Kim and I were actually hopeful, as they looked close to our age and normal. A girl walked up to them and said, "Oh great just as I'm leaving the two young and best looking guys walk in." There was some uncomfortable laughter and then she said, "I can see it now you're TRO and you are UBLE (pointing at each of the guys as she said this). Put it together and you two are TROUBLE."
* A older women walked up to a guy sitting in the hallway during the dance and asked him why he wasn't in dancing. He said, "I can't dance because I've been married before and if I get that close to a women, I'll close my eyes and want to flip out the lights." Who knows what exactly that means, but it is really creepy! YIKES.
* A guy comes chasing a girl out of the gym and said, "I'd love to dance with you because I don't think I'm able to keep my hands off you any longer." That guy made my skin crawl...he was that oogy!
* I've saved the best for last. These people came up and stood in front of us. The women turned to the man and said, "Are you interested in doing higher celled soul sharing?" He said, "Yes I have always wanted to do that." They then proceeded to grab hands, close their eyes and they began to tell each other what they invision on a big white screen that they are picturing in their heads. Lucky for you all, I was able to snap a picture of the couple after they finished their "higher celled soul sharing." I covered their faces to protect them!

I would have gotten a picture of them actually higher celled shoul sharing, but Kim and I were laughing too hard and I just couldn't get a shot. They really were odd.
There were so many other things I could share...but I think you get the picture. So now the real question...Have you thanked your spouse today from saving you from having to attend these Singles' Conferences? If not...you should. I certainly have learned my lesson - there are worse things than being single, I could have to suffer through another one of these singles' conferences - over my dead body! :)

Bowen...Hockey Table Boy!

So, I wanted to post a few pics of Bowen. We ALL got haircuts a few weeks ago when we went to visit Stevie's parents! I wanted something new for Bowen...I thought longer up top and short around the sides...that way I can part it or spike it or partially spike it, or mohawk it. My mother in law did a great job (as usual!). Here are some pics of Bowen playing air hockey after dinner the other night! He loves to play, but mostly he like to score goals...ON HIMSELF! We've tried to teach him, but I think he just likes the sound of the puck...going in his own goal, as well as the enjoyment of retrieving it from the puck return below! Oh simple pleasures!

Backyard Sports!

We got a fence! Now I am happy to let the kids go out anytime and play! It is so nice to have it up finally. We can even play soccer and not have to worry about the ball going "over the edge"! Here are a few pics from a nice spring day outside playing soccer!

PS The girls are wearing necklaces (that they just got) that a neighbor girl brought them back from the beach!

Bowen playing goalie...well actually he thinks the goal is his tent...but whatever!

Kate and her mad dribbling skills!

Clair telling us we are all doing it wrong!

Kate striking a pose!

Clair...looks so grown up!

A Little Yard Work

I've been working very hard on our flower beds. I took out some of the pine straw and put out mulch. I also dug a trench around the flower beds to help keep the mulch contained and to help ease mowing/edging. We planted blubs earier, but they are not flowers yet in these pics. However, you can see the lovely planters I filled!

Monterey, CA

One of my favorite places to go on buisness is Monterey, CA. There are many reasons why I enjoy coming here. I've just spent the last two days, Thursday and Friday, in Monterey. Everytime I come I say that I am going to go to the Aquarum, but I never make it there. Maybe next time. It really would be a nice place to come...just for fun. Everytime I've come, it's been all work and no play. I had some time to explore yesterday evening, but I was too tired. One of the things that I always get to do while in Monterey is go to Tahama, which is the "memebers only" golf club owned by Clint Eastwood. I've been 3 times and I have never seen Clint...dang it! Now I am not a memeber, so why do I get to go there? Well, I go to Monterey to visit Bookette, a company that I work with. The President of the company is a member of Tahama and he takes me there for lunch everytime I come. It is a very posh place, so you can imagine how taboo it would be to whip out my camera and start taking pictures. Instead I just got these pictures off their website. The picture above is actually the club house. The picture below is the entrance to the club house. It really is a pretty place.


It sits high above the Monterey area on this big hill. You can see all around...beautiful!