Ten Years Behind Us, Forever in Front of Us...

Ten Years!!!!! Into the double digits we are now.

This is us after being married for only a couple of months. As a member of my family likes to joke, we've been married for 10 years and it's really only felt like 10 minutes................................

under the water!

Not really, of course. We have had our trials. Speaking of which, right now it seems like we're swimming in the middle of one our bigger bumps in the road.

I love having a best friend with me, behind me, supporting me, loving me despite all the faults I carry. Dave is as good as it gets, man. He is the creme de la creme.

I hope that forever is as good as the last 10 years - minus mold in the basement. I couldn't ask for a more perfect companion. Here's to you, darling. You are mahvelous! A tribute and collection to the past ten years.....

Our lovely blooms at one of places in Missouri


Our other Missouri house on a wonderful Saturday when we used to be able to sleep in.


Gonzalez family reunion in Providence, RI.


Nauvoo, Illinois.


Our first house in Wyandotte, MI

This next sequence is what I like to call: Fun With Facial Hair...


Phase I: Hairy Dave


Phase II: Cleaned-up Hairy Dave


Phase III: Metal-head Dave


Phase IV: Metallica Dave


Phase V: Bad cop Dave


Oh yes, fishing in Missouri.





California dreaming...


Lounging at Dave's Grandparent's house.















To Dave, the man who has carried me through the best years of my life.

To Daddy Dave...How Do I Love Thee?

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!! And to all who earn this title, whether by their own children or not, a wonderfully wishful and fabulous Father's Day to you, too!

I have been blessed with wonderful fathers all around. My own father, a wonderful example of sacrifice and devotion has taught me a number of things and makes me proud to see his triumphs over the trials of life. My brother, although not a dad of his children, has consistently proven worthy with his love for and affection to my babies. My father-in-law is a perfectexample of patience and love. I feel so blessed to be part of his family. And my fave, my husband, David. He deserves an ocean-sized lot of thanks and love. He has put up with an astounding amount of drama this past week. I've been an emotional wreck and have had only a small reserve of patience for everything I call my life. He has been kind and loving through it all.

This Friday marks our 10th (!!!!!!!) anniversary!!! So awesome to say that I married the COOLEST person ever. I am so thankful that "forever" is only our beginning. A famous poem that expresses my love:

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints—I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!—and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
-Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Dave's Take

Working on Father's day.....pretty awesome.

So, we are finally getting things back in order. The freezer and refrigerator are back up and running. The smell from the basement is still not the greatest. We sucked up the extra water yesterday with our home carpet cleaner and are now just running fans and two dehumidifiers downstairs. Still stinks though. The insurance company is supposed to send out someone to assess the damage. There is a bright side to this though. Griselda and I realized a few things that we didn't know before, such as:

1. air conditioning isn't a necessity, unless you live in hell I mean Arizona......
2. although cable phones / Internet phones are great, if your power goes out for over 4 hours, the usual battery life of your cable modem, you have no phone service.
3. battery back up sump pumps are great. Having a back up battery available for your back up battery is priceless.
4. black outs are a good excuse to go out to eat every night.
5. a weather radio / battery powered radio is great when your sound system is worthless.
6. life does go on without Internet access.
7. friends can be lifesavers

So, thanks to everyone who went out of their way to accommodate us by changing work schedules, letting my family hang out after I locked Griselda out of the house, etc.....

Otherwise, here is the family .....

JJ

A Tank. Walking. Such a smart BIG boy. loves stuffed dogs since Griselda won't let us have a real one for a while.

Kaelan

Seriously the funniest kid I have ever seen. One day we were having dinner and he starts talking with a monotone voice during the whole meal. after about 10 minutes, I stop, look at him, and ask,"Kaelan, are you trying to be a robot?" He replies in the same monotone voice,"yes I am." Who does that as a three year old? Out of the blue. Really.

Lathan

Getting really skinny. Must be growing or something. Had a fun birthday. Loved his presents. Caught spiders in the basement much to Griselda's disappointment. Had his big school opera. Going to be a big kindergartner next year. Time flies.

Griselda

Wishing that she were pregnant. Really. Having to ration out the pregnancy tests now. Anyway, exercising still. Freaked out a little with the power outage. Didn't help that I locked her out of the house one day. Still a trooper and survivor of 96 hours without power with three boys under the age of five in the middle of the summer. She never ceases to amaze me.

Me

Working. Applying to fellowships. Job searching. Trying to get ready for my Sept triathlon. Glad to be alive, and to have power truth be told.

Dave

Take II

The power is finally back on...... It came on Thursday at around 5pm. It has been off since sunday. Griselda is SOOOO happy to have power back. She was going through and having to deal with technology withdrawals, hot flashes, crabby baby syndrome, being locked out of her house by her husband, spoiling food, leaky freezers, and finally to top it off, a flooded basement. It was AWESOME!!!! Anyway, at least we have a reason to clean out our freezer, fridge, and basement. Our phone is also finally working if anyone tried to call. Check out the theme song for us the michigan skeehans.

Dave

Dave's Take

Last night around 6pm we had a big storm come through our neighborhood and knocked out all the power. With no computer, a cable company down, cable phone out, and cell phone power dying we are feeling very communication deprived. So, if you don't hear from us for a few days, the power is probably still out. We are all OK. Luckily, Lathan got a bug catching kit from Nana and Pops so he has been finding all the spiders that are hiding out in our house. The last count was 6. Made Griselda cringe every time he would yell, "I found one!"

Funny story

Griselda has a great one about Lathan telling everyone at Costco that they were number one. Honestly this story is better in person so you aren't going to find it on my blog. Thankfully, Lathan was full of funny stories on that particular day. He walks into the bathroom completely naked grabbing his scrotum. He then asks,"Daddy, what are these two hard things?" I ask, not really looking as of yet, "Where?" "Right here," he said. I look and quickly tell him, "those are your testicles." "I am going to squish my testicles then!" That didn't go over well. I then had to go into a very detailed conversation regarding why it hurt, what testicles are, and how he uses them. Not something I was expecting to have to talk about with my 4 year old son. So we went through the whole babies are made from mommies and daddies and that is where the daddy part of babies is stored. He then asked more questions after more questions and finally afraid that I was going to have to explain the act of baby making to a 4 year old I quickly cut him off, told him enough, and put him in the bath. Whew, I didn't like where his questions were going. Not ready for a full bird and the bees talk yet. Man.

Anyway, we are all fine. Lathan had a great birthday. Hotter than hades here with the power off. Look forward to talking to you all when our phone works again.

Dave

And the Winner Is........

{Be sure to check out the other "newer" posts below!}











Davelicious, Davinski, Davarooni DAVE!!!!!!

So for those of you unaware, I competed (and completed!) in my first x-tri this weekend! It was a 1000m swim in a local lake, 20K mountain bike trail ride, and 4 mile path/trail run. It was lots of nerves that turned into lots of fun. I didn't expect to do very well since I didn't think about training until about 2 weeks ago. Since that time, I swam once, rode the trail all the way through once, and ran once. Dave I and joked that I shouldn't be working too hard the two days before the race since it was time to "taper." When you train for 4 or 5 days, then you need to taper for those last couple of days, you see. It's the accelerated version.

He's been such a great support to the family while I raced to get my rear in shape. He watched the kids, trained with me, and cheered me on with the boys. I couldn't have done it without his love and ego-boosting support. Now the results.... the good news is that I came in 1st!!!! Wait, hold on, hold your applause - 1st in my age group (30-39). Now the bad: I also came in last (also in my age group since I was the only competitor in my age group doing the triathlon - a few others did the duathlon). I think I also finished last out of the 9 girls that competed, excluding my friend that dropped out because she thought the bike course was too sketchy. So officially, I wasn't last, but I really was. I thought I did all right, but it never feels good to come in last (although there were a handful of guys still behind me). I suppose that's what I deserve competing with real triathletes AND not training. I almost made it to the finish line in front of another girl, but she sprinted the last 50 feet to overtake me and since I felt like I was already sprinting to keep her behind me, there was nothing I could do but play the slow-motion image in my head of me reaching out with both hands (dream-sequence style), shaking my head and screaming in a low-pitched, slowed down version of me screaming NOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Still, I'm happy to say that I'm hooked, though. Gimme more! I feel I have a better edge if it's an x-tri because I'm usually a bit more aggressive on downhill trails considering my background in competition and all. I need any advantage I can get with my lousy running ability. It's downright sad, but comical. At least to Dave and me! Anyway, I'll continue to blog later this week about our Memorial Day camping trip, soccer games, etc., now that I've retrieved photos from the last couple of weeks and they are ready to post [FYI: new post below!!!].










I need to get to bed since this week is snack week for Lathan (he has his birthday celebration at school tomorrow since it's a busy week preparing for their annual school opera). Don't forget that Lathan turns 5 on Sunday. I've got a big boy!

Love to you all!

Memorial Day Weekend with My Boys

It was so beautiful in the evening, but still a little too chilly for my taste.


Finally! A picture of us both.


It looks like JJ is sweating, but it's really sunscreen and a runny nose.


Sand never gets old with these guys.

Parks, Swimming, Soccer, and Vacation - All in One

So I've been slacking in posting lately, so here I am catching up all at once.

Here's the synopsis:

Lathan played soccer twice a week on his friend Fisher's team for the last month. We've been going to REI for a few camping items and letting the kids have a little fun on the rock wall. The weather has turned spring-like and the boys have loved going to the park. We were able to spend some extra time with Dad and go camping over the Memorial Day weekend. I trained a little for a triathlon on the 31st, so the boys have enjoyed some extra time in the jogging strollers. I had both the boys in swimming lessons for this past month also, so we've been hitting the gym pool a lot more lately. Nothing too exciting, but definitely some funny stories in the mix of it all. Dave I'm sure will fill in the blanks at a later time.

REI fun.


You can't be a boy without testing the limits of everything you do.


This is Lathan about a month ago.


This was the typical scene at the soccer games with the occasional fast play (for which Lathan still wasn't bold enough to kick the ball, but he'd at least run with the pack).


Daddy bonding time.

Dave's Take II

Here are two reasons that you should never be engaged with vehicles of any kind and be on a cell phone.....

Dave's Experience

OK, about 3 months ago my residency had a meeting with a bumper-car activity afterward. It wasn't straight bumper cars though, there was a ball and some long plastic scoops that you could use to pass and catch the ball. Also, at either end of the court there were hoops that you could score on. Anyway, the cars went pretty fast, didn't have the standard car steering wheel but some makeshift steering wheel that worked backwards than that of a car. Pretty weird. Anyway, I always picked out the fastest car and so my story begins. There was a break between games, so I thought that I would call Griselda and let her know that I would be home soon. So, I had one hand on the steering wheel, one hand on the phone. While talking to her, the game started. No problem, I just kept circling in the corner on my car avoiding all the action. The action moved far down the warehouse so I was safe. All the sudden, the other team got the ball, hucked in my direction, and everyone started coming straight at me. Now the predicament. I only have two hands. One is steering. One is holding the phone. The scoop is between my legs. So I had to act fast. I quickly decided to let go of the steering wheel, grab the scoop, get the ball and save the day. What actually happened was, I crashed full speed into the wall, came all the way out of my seat to standing position, popped the top of the car off into two pieces, all the while talking on the phone as if nothing had happened. People still are talking about "the crash" to this date and I still get garbage about talking on my cell......but I am not the only one with a funny phone story.

Griselda, is going to be doing a triathlon next weekend. It is at a local county / state park and involves a lake swim, mountain bike ride, and then a trail / street run. Griselda wanted to go over the course for the mountain bike portion just so that she would know what to expect. So yesterday we went. Truthfully, it is a pretty technical course. A lot of single track, logs, close trees, rock sections, steep hills, the works. So, we climb to the top of the first big hill and head down, Griselda going crazy fast. She has this theory that it is safer to stop at the bottom then try to brake while descending. Crazy. Anyway, we missed a turn off and so we had to go right back up our crazy down hill portion. As an aside, we had some friends watching our boys and told them to call our phone if they had any issues. Half way through the climb the phone rings. Instead of stopping, Griselda grabs the phone out of her pocket and keeps riding while talking on the phone. Eventually, it got too steep for her to do this so she pops her left foot out of her pedals and leans to the....right side. As she realizes the mistake and frantically tries to get her foot out, she continues to talk as if nothing was happening. So imagine watching her tip over with no intention of avoiding the fall, having at this point submitted to the inevitable, all the while talking on the phone as if nothing was going on. Then as she hits the dirt, she goes, hmmmpppp. Only then did the phone conversation stop and get replaced with uncontrolled laughter. Here is Griselda, sprawled out over the whole trail, clipped into her pedals, trying to talk on the phone all the while laughing uncontrollable. You really had to be there......

Griselda thought that I was pretty funny yesterday too. I didn't fall but every time I would get close I would let out a loud grunt. I must have sounded like a large boar in heat or something, grunting all over the stinking forest. In our defense, I haven't ridden a mountain bike since I was seventeen. Have never ridden with clip-in pedals or shocks. Of course Griselda hasn't either but she is / was a professional athlete for goodness sake. Anyway, enough excuses.

Anyway, the message is that Griselda is crazy fast on a downhill mountain trail, can't clip out of her right pedal on demand, and that I absolutely shouldn't be trusted with multitasking while driving and talking on the phone.

Dave

Dave's Take

I just spent half an hour on a post that got erased due to an "error". Hmmmmm, so here is the nitty gritty.

JJ

Clingy. Walking. Pooping a lot. Fun kid.

Kaelan

Little old man. No memory. Hitting brothers.

Lathan

Reading. Pee pee that looks like a pig.

Griselda

Clipless pedals and falling. Triathlon next weekend.

Dave

Working. 1st Tri in september. Gotta lose the winter weight.

Going camping at the tip of the thumb. Look for pics next week.

Sorry for the outline format. Stories were really much more detailed, I just can't bring myself to write it all out again.

Dave Skeehan

Dave's Take

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Moms, you guys are awesome. Seriously under paid. Hardly any recognition of what you do. Really no time off. Constantly working overtime. Always having to do odd jobs that really don't seem to be in your job description. You guys are amazing. So many people are who they are today because of you and what you do. Working hand in hand with God to make and mold men and women of stature. I truly think that God has a special place in his heart for all women, especially mothers.

I would like to thank my mother and also my wife Griselda for always keeping me on track. Smacking me upside the head when I start to veer off course. Thanks for always supporting me. Always telling me I can do everything even if you had your doubts. With your help I know that my boys can be superstars or even super heroes if they want.

Thanks Mom. And a very special thanks to me incredible, talented, extremely intelligent, beautiful, spontaneous, patient, loving Griselda.

Dave

P.s. we are all doing fine. Anxious for the summer.

It's Official...

I've been tagged - no nothing more than that. It seems that I've been able to get away with not having to do a "tagged" for some time. But my time has come it seems and I thought that I would do it to avoid being a poop. While I'm at it, though, I thought I'd add a few more photos from our awesome California getaway!

We were going on an evening walk in Lake Tahoe and needed some extra insulation; these were the only available options that night. I can't believe my dad actually still wears these!



Betsy and her electric personality coming out again.



Betsy is such a fun mom. Can't help but feel her energy rub off on me.



Fun in Reno.



Neither one of these guys wanted to pose. It could've been so cute, but JJ was a bit cranky.

OK, on to the tagged....

Rules: Answer these 8 questions and tag 5 people...

WHAT WAS I DOING 10 YEARS AGO? I was finishing up my professional snowboarding competitive half-pipe tour and preparing for the most awesomest wedding to the most grooviest and lovablest guy ever (June 1998).

FIVE THINGS ON MY TO DO LIST. Besides laundry? I guess I want to live in a foreign country where we could learn a new language. Serve a mission. Teach my boys all I know. Have another baby.

SNACKS I ENJOY? The organic Oreos that are made by the local supermarket brand here. Chocolate-dipped strawberries (even if the chocolate is in non-melted form - essentially choco chips and strawberries).

IF I WERE A BILLIONAIRE, WHAT WOULD I DO? Definitely never have debt again, then take each family (immediate, then extended, then friends, etc.) on awesome vacations where we could learn new cultures while still getting a tan, or even learn new skills, then start an awesome business doing something, I guess. Of course, something philanthropic, too. Don't know if I could narrow it down at this moment and to think that hard when I don't really have the money sorta feels like a waste of time right now.

3 BAD HABITS? No, not me. Ya, right. Ok, ok, ok. First, coming to terms with my faults and shortcomings (I'm aware of them, I just don't like to acknowledge and resolve or diminish them). Second, I have to pick at myself (nails, scabs, peeling skin, etc.). Third, not remembering or keeping in the forefront of my mind other people's birthdays/special days and acknowledging it.

PLACES I'VE LIVED. Grew up in Saratoga, CA. Then went to Provo, UT. Government Camp, OR. Sandy and Salt Lake City, UT. Mountain View, CA., Kirksville, MO. Wyandotte, MI and now Clinton Township. Sadly, this list doesn't reflect how many times I've moved. Thankfully, we are slowing down in that category now.

5 JOBS I'VE HAD. A lab rat (well, really I was working in a lab taking care of discarded samples that never made it for testing), a barista (for those of you unaware that is someone who serves coffee drinks and the like), a bus-girl for a fancy restaurant, a snow park and pipe maintenance worker, and a professional snowboarder.

5 THINGS PEOPLE DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME. I'm a constant worrier. I am a pack rat. I am a perfectionist. I used to weigh under 100 pounds as a healthy adult. I LOVE Martha Stewart.

Are you happy Judy? I did it! Now I'm tagging, um, no one? But I'd LOVE to see Mimi, Heather Hall, and Bill Skeehan do something like this.

Crazy-Cool California Captured on Camera

So there really is SO much that I've got and want to post. So I figure I'll do a little bit at a time. The first being the craziest, and coolest stuff. First, do you recall me mentioning those crazy SF slides in a previous post? Well, here is the video. Shortly after these were taken Lathan was bloody from a flying episode. I'm still learning with this parenting thing. Apparently I need to be more cautious with my children. I didn't think that was possible, but I think it's necessary, don't you?


Next, we had the chance to go snowboarding at Squaw for a day (Thanks Betsy!!!!). Here is a highlight from that. How lucky were we?







































Finally, I was able to visit with some old high school buddies. I know you are dying to see the photos, Saratoga posse, so here they are!

Together Again!

Finally, I'm whole again.

The truth is that I cannot locate the USB attachment to upload our awesome Cali pics because I haven't unpacked completely, so I will just update right now without pictures (SORRY!!!). I thought since I can't show you the pictures, I would make this post an homage to my wonderful husband. To help in doing so, I included a song from my favorite American Idol, Brooke White, who was cut last week. So sad, but somebody's gotta go.

Dave met us at the airport last night at 1:30am and we waited and waited and waited for the luggage to come. We finally arrived home at 3am and were in bed by 3:30. A long night, for sure. On top of that, Dave didn't snooze at all (even though being exhausted from all his late work hours and moonlighting) because he was afraid he wouldn't be able to wake up again for our airport pickup (he doesn't respond to alarms when this tired - even smoke alarms, which is a bit scary). What a guy! He really was taking every precaution to take care of his family. I feel so bad that he's almost no sleep because of us, though.

While I was separated from him, Dave worked his tail off - sorta literally. He worked REALLY late hours at work and so badly wanted to help me out still that he wrenched his back in the process. I asked him to clean our great room carpet IF he had the time. Well, he really didn't, but did it anyway. He also was sprawled out on the floor trying to put the furniture back since moving the bigger pieces threw his back out. What commitment and determination! I am so impressed. He also vacuumed the our minivan AND mowed the lawn - while it was raining on Saturday after he finished his rounds at the hospital!!!!!!!!!!! My goodness. I didn't know he had it in him. He's raised the bar. Now I'll be expecting so much more from him ;)

Anyway. I'll post again once I find the connector and can upload pictures. Lots to post, but it will have to happen after the kids are in bed. Thanks for such a great time California! We can't wait until we can make it home again.