He's sitting up!!

This past weekend Porter has been perfecting the art of sitting up. He can do it for a long stretch of time, but eventually gets off balance and falls. It's quite an accomplishment.

Porter's other great accomplishment is falling asleep on his own. YEAH!!! I just lay him in his crib and he puts himself to sleep. What a blessing it is and I don't even know how he started doing it. I have decided that I can't complain about him not sleeping the whole night. This makes up for it. I don't have to sit there forever trying to help him fall asleep because he does it on his own now. He ends up in crazy positions like this sometimes though.
Porter loves his pacifier. It has become his favorite toy. He is always trying to succeed in stuffing the whole thing in his mouth. I don't think it will fit, but he gets most of it in by putting it in sideways like you can see in the picture. It is so funny.

Our Family Photo

This is a little late. We took it in July, but thought it would be fun to have on our blog.

California

Well this last weekend I fullfilled a long time dream of going to California. I left home Thursday the 8th and returned on the 11th. Some old roomates and myself got together and kind of had a last hooray because the last of us is getting married in January. We picked this time to do it, because everyone's schedules fit perfect. Thursday I flew into L.A. and met up with my friend Jared who had flown in from Colorado. Our other friend Keldon who lives in L.A. picked us up and took us to his place for the night. That night the three of us sat up until about two o'clock in the morning talking about anything we could think of. Friday morning the groom to be, Ryan came and picked Jared and I up and brought his fiance Larissa. It was awsome to meet Larissa, she is a great person and ryan and her fit very well together. Keldon had class that day and so he was unable to hang out.
Ryan's parents and brother Stuart and his family were all in town also and because Stuart is in the Air Force he was able to purchase really cheap tickets and we all went to Knotts Berry Farms Theme Park in Orange County. It was alot of fun riding the rides and just being able to hang out. It was during this time that both Jared and I wished we had had our wives and kids with us. We talked all day about how our wives would have loved this or that, or would have loved to ride a certain ride. That night Jared and I stayed with Ryan at his house. Ryan lives with seven other guys and the place was a total bachelor pad complete with aluminum foil on the attenas and stains in abundance on the carpets, it also had a very "guy" smell to it (if you know what I mean). It was at this point again that Jared and I both were greatful we were not still single and had wonderful wives that liked to make our homes very crafty and homey and smelling good.
On Saturday morning Larissa invited us to go surfing with her sister Pam and brother-in-law Mike. Surfing is something I have wanted to try since I was a kid and we all jumped at the chance to go. Keldon drove down to Seal Beach where we were and joined us for the day. We had a blast. I have been told time and time again that surfing is not easy and guess what? It wasn't easy. It was, however, very fun. I got all the way up on the board three times, rode in on numerous waves and tumbled in the surf for the rest of the time. It was tough, but was alot of fun. We surfed for about three hours then cleaned up and went to eat with Ryans family. We were beat to death. After we ate Jared and I rode back to L.A. with Keldon.
That night Keldon took us to Santa Monica and showed us "The Promanade on 3rd." 3rd street in down town Santa Monica is shut off from traffic and is a big strip mall. they had all sorts of cool stores. We got to the end of the strip and went to poke around in the Barnes & Noble there. I was standing there with both Jared and Keldon and Jared pointed out a man that was looking at some books and said, "hey isn't that guy famous?" I looked and there was the actor Donald Sutherland. Jared kept trying to get me to go say hi to him and after some convincing I went and stood next to him and quietly asked him if he was who I thought he was. He informed me that he was, I introuduced myself (as if he really cared); shook his hand and asked if I could get a picture with him. He said "no" but was very polite however. The next morning we got up, had some breakfast and flew home. I had alot of fun in California, but I missed Bethany and Porter and knew it was time for me to get home. Let me tell you, any ideas that I ever had about wanting to live in a big city like that were gone. I like my small towns and lots of space.

Here we are, this is one of many cool little videos I have.

Here are various pictures of surfing and the steam train at Knotts Berry Farms

Fall is here and so are the Sunday drives!

We went to Brown's County State Park this past Sunday. We had fun going to all the look out towers and looking at the changing fall colors. We were a little early because there were still a lot of trees that were green, but it was still very beautiful.


Here is our Fall photo of the family.

This is Porter and I at the top of one of the look out towers. You can see the infamous southern Indiana view. All you can see are leafy trees for miles and miles. One of the signs said that on a clear day you can see for 11 miles.

Terry and I

We all went to get our eyes checked and we are sad to report that Porter had to get glasses too. Just kidding only Terry and I got new glasses, but as we were looking for ones for ourselves we couldn't believe these cute glasses and that they were so small. We tried them on him and he looked so grown up just like a little kid.

Porter tried on my new swim cap. I'll have to get a photo of me in it and post it later.

7 habits of a semi-effective person

Well Bethany tagged me. This is the first time I have ever written on this blog. I should make it more of a habit though. Well here are my 7 things.

1. I love facial hair. I know this causes complete and utter disgust from my wife but I just love it. I hate having to shave and any chance I can get to not shave at all or as little as possible makes life that much easier. I know Bethany can't stand it, but I ask her all the time "do you shave your legs every day?" Plus, besides loathing shaving, it makes me feel manly, as stupid as that may sound. I didn't get to the point where I had to shave every day until I was 20 years old and now that I have it I guess you could say that I appreciate it.

2. I am a complete dork. This will not be a surprise to those really close to me, but I am a fantasy/sci-fi dork. My favorite movies include Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and X-files. I don't think I have to write anymore about this topic because if I do I will only further exemplify my dorkiness.

3. I have a tinge of OCD. Not with cleanliness or anything useful like that. I have it when it comes to routine. I lay my clothes out the same way every night for the next day, I have to get dressed in the same order every morning. I eat the same thing every morning. I have to have my classroom the exact same way everyday before I leave. Its not like I will go "Rain Man" on myself if things get out of order, Its just nice to not have to worry about the inconsistency of certain things under my control. Like I said, just slight OCD... very slight, yeah definitely very slight, definitely very slight.

4. I love to be active. I know, I know, my stature would tell you other wise but I love to be out and about playing sports of all kinds, Preferably in the water. But, I do love baseball, basketball, football, rugby (when I get to watch it), I can get into anything I can understand. This is probably why I have yet to really like hockey, I've tried but its just too discernible. I LOVE to hike and camp. I know some would say this kind of takes away from my dork credentials but hey I am what I am.

5. I met "Slash" the guitarist from "Guns and Roses." Its a cool story ask me about it some time.

6. I love politics and history. This one should be kind of obvious since I am a licensed social studies teacher, but I have to mention it. If I could I would spend all day; in a library, museum, archives, special collections, watching history channel or talking to people who experienced history it just completely fascinates me to no end. I mean, isn't life about social interaction? I also love being politically active. I have for the most part lost faith in our political system. However, I try to be involved and slow down the continued digression as much as possible. I know this will set some people off but......... I am a registered Democrat.

7. I saved the best for last. I love my wife and son. They make life completely worth living. If I didn't have anything else in my life that I believed in or enjoyed doing and still had Bethany and Porter I would be still so happy. I look at Bethany often, even though she may think I don't, and wonder how on earth a guy like me got a women like her to marry me. I sleep so easy at night knowing that she will always choose the right and never go against what our Heavenly Father asks of us. Also, Porter is amazing. I can stare at him for hours and just wonder how amazing he is. Of course I hope that starts to subside a little when he gets older, it might spook him out if I stare at him all the time.

Anyway, that is my list. I hope you enjoy it and the spelling and grammar was correct. I tag Jared, Anya, Ryan, my mom, dad, Porter and Marthea.