Saturday, June 16, 2012

Dave's Take

Griselda had her run today. One of our friend's from Residency came up to run it with her. Thankfully we had highest temperature of the year today, 102, to make sure that nobody was cold. They both still did really well and had a great time. It was a girls only event and seemed pretty well attended. The aid stations that I saw were all manned by dudes wearing grass skirts and coconut shells. I saw a guy walking along the trail shouting words of encouragement wearing a girl's running skirt and carrying a faluza horn. Here are some pics of the running chicks....

 

 

 

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

JJ's new present

So this happened when Kaelan decided it would be "fun" to throw a plastic squirt gun into a pool full of little kids. I am thankful and sad at the same time.....he got JJ.....so that means he missed everyone else. Poor JJ!!!

Monday, June 11, 2012

Funny Momements

Having all four boys take a shower together makes for some pretty interesting situations with alot of funny ones as well. Tonight - funny moment #1 Daddy: Stop playing with the toys Haefan. Haefan: Ok. 30 seconds later, Haefan is still playing with the toys, slips on shampoo and falls. Haefan is now crying. Kaelan then points out that his bandaid has fallen off. Haefan now starts bawling. While all this is happening, Jeydan manages to slip and fall as well. So now Haefan is bawling, Jeydan is crying, and I am putting shampoo into Kaelan's hair. Kaelan then looks up at me, in all seriousness, and says, "That's not good." Awesome!!! One of those couldn't have said it any better momements. Tonight - Funny momment #2 Haefan while bawling gets soap in his eye. As every little kid he refuses to put his open eyes in the shower water. Lathan decides to help. He gets a cup of water. Lathan: Haefan, look at the tree. Haefan confused as to why there would be a tree in the shower opens his eyes. Lathan quickly throws a cup of water in his face. Problem solved. Now why didn't I think of that...that's because if I did it that would be inhumane abusive behavior. If Lathan does it, its just Lathan being a big brother. Man I love my kids. Dave

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Dave's Take

Great quote today at church. A friend in our ward who was baptized last year and had a very "rough" childhood said, "I struggle with life, but I don't struggle with this. The gospel is perfect.". I couldn't have said it any better myself.

The school year is over. Lathan turned nine years old this week. He is my mile stone baby. He was born during the last year of medical school. So he has been through 4th year rotations, residency, private practice, and three moves. He is a great kid. Does well at school. Has an interest in books and asks some deep spiritual questions that make you stop and think. He is also getting bigger. He is rapidly approaching the height of his mother. He loves to stand next to her and be almost her size. He is doing swim team and water polo at the high school this summer. He also has a Stanford water polo camp that he is going to go to soon and a science camp down in San Jose. He is super excited for all the fun summer activities. For his birthday he got a kindle and has been reading nonstop.

Kaelan is also super excited for summer. As our "old man" of the family he is excited to play but dreads the idea of chores. He loves to hug and snuggle. Still wants to sit on Mom and Dad's lap when he can. He did awesome at school this year. Got into a shouting and pushing match with a girl and a teacher. That was fun. Got caught lying by his new favorite teacher, Mrs. Bickmore. He made it through the year though. Griselda and I have noticed that sugar is like his "crack" or "PCP". He gets wired. He becomes more energetic to the point of making bad decisions which almost always involve a crying youger brother. So, he is going on a sugar free diet. So far he is doing ok. We will see how long we all last.......we love our sugar!!

Jeydan is also excited to have started his summer. He gets to go to Kindergarten with his best friend Laker next year. The kindergarten is at the same school as Lathan and Kaelan so he feels super special. He is excited to have been signed up for soccer at the end of the summer. Soccer is definitely his favorite sport. He loves to run, push, kick, and score goals. He is biding his time until then by doing swim team with Kaelan and Lathan.

Haefan is in the endless summer phase right now. He is enjoying the good life of never having to go to school. He continues to grow up. His vocabulary is crazy old. He is still a little shrimp but seems to be getting a little bigger maybe. His size though definitely helps his coordination. That kid jumps of the 4th step, flies from bean bag to bean bag, and hits the trampoline with his older brothers. His arial awareness he definitely gets from his mom.

Griselda has her big run coming up next Saturday. She is running the inagural "She Rocks the Trails" run here in Auburn, California. She is doing the 25km race which ends up being around 15 miles. She is nervous and excited at the same time. She has been doing her training for the last few months and is really becoming quite a runner. She's got some fly new shoes that make her look like a "super star".......Speedy Gonzalez might be back! Andale Andale Apurete Apurete!!!! Arriba!!! Arriba!!!!Yip!!!Yip!!!

The Sierra Skeehan's are doing just fine. Looking forward to another summer in California filled with friends and family.

So to end I thought that I would share our funny story of the week.

Setting: Griselda is washing dishes and cleaning the kitchen. Kaelan is messing around with us upstairs. I am in the bedroom getting clothes put away. Action!!

Griselda: Oh, I still have to go to the bathroom, take a shower, and get ready.

Dave: Me too. Maybe we should do it together?

Silence.....

Kaelan: Daddy!!!! That is SSOOOOO inappropriate! (Griselda and I both start snickering)

Kaelan: Boys aren't supposed to take showers with girls. You aren't supposed to see girl's peepees.

Silence....(Griselda and I both start laughing unconrollably)

Kaelan: Daddy, have you seen Mama's peepee? (All laughing stops)

Dave: I think that is something you should go ask your mom about.

That was a crazy funny momement that I will NEVER forget.

Dave

 

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Dave's Take

So, a busy week for everyone.

To celebrate our anniversary we went Las Vegas with another couple, our friends Beau and Monet. So, being non-drinking Mormons, not that I should have to clarify the non-drinking part, saying Mormon should be enough, but in Vegas who knows, we focused on the activities and food. We had to see the water show at the Bellagio. We rode the roller coaster at New York New York. We walked the strip. We drove by Gold and Silver Pawn Shop. We toured the Hoover Dam. We drove by the old Vegas strip. And we ate. We ate again. And we ate some more. Then after all was said and done, we laid by the wave pool at Mandalay Bay and floated on the endless river, which was actually only 300-400 feet long. We tried our best to avoid the half naked people or peep shows but unfortunately got a freebie at the beach as a future or past porn star mounted her "man" for a couple of hours. So either they were very comfortable with their sexuality or she had so many procedures done she couldn't tell where her stuff was and who was touching it. Only in Vegas.

We went to Barefoot Don's Running Store, owned and operated by a Mormon family, and got some new shoes for both Griselda and I. I had wanted to try on a pair of the Altra Lone Peak shoes from the Altra shoe company in Utah. Unfortunately their distribution to Cali is limited. So while in Vegas we went shopping and found a retailer just 1-2 miles from our hotel. With all the anticipation of finding the perfect shoe with a wide open toe box and good cushioning without any heel rise, I was really disappointed when they had a lateral mid foot rise/arch built in where my foot was flat. The shoes didn't work. The salesman had an alternative. The vibram five fingers. They just put out a new shoe with a rock plate made for trail running. I tried them on and I was sold. Here they are.

Felt funny at first with all my toes being separated. After a while though your feet forget and it feels great. Hopefully tomorrow I will get a chance to try them on the trail. I will keep you posted. I am playing around with the idea of using them when I get to pace Griselda's friend Betsy for part of the Wasatch 100.

So while we were off remembering why we got married my parents were remembering why they didn't have more kids as 8 grand kids, a daughter, and a dog descended on their house like a flock of locust. They held them off with beach trips, zoo trips, amusement park trips, and lots of sugar. Anyway, all the grand kids were alive at the time of our return. Griselda then stuck around for a tide pool trip and a giant sequoia trip. The kids had a blast and passed out upon coming back to Auburn last night.

Griselda then got some girl time when Tricia Byrnes, from her snowboarding days, came into town for the weekend. They got to hang out last night, eat some good food, and catch up on old times. It's always fun to meet up with people you care about and those who care about you.

While Griselda was off "playing" with the kids, playing may not be the word that she would choose, I had to go to Washington DC for a committee meeting. After 10 hours of meetings I got to run around Alexandria, Virginia a little. Was fun to see some cool shops and historical places but the most exciting part for me was coming home to the family.

Thanks to my parents, heather, and my nieces and nephews for entertaining the boys while Griselda and I were gone. Looking forward to the start of summer and the chance to see some old friends.

 

Dave