Jared's Birthday - Joe's Crab Shack

On Jared's Birthday between the afternoon and Priesthood Sessions of General Conference we went to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner to continue our celebration of Jared's Birthday. General Conference was another reason we had Jared's party on Friday night because I needed to go to Priesthood Meeting on Saturday night and Lori would not want to try and pull off a birthday party alone.
Here we have Jared and Ryan demonstrating what they think the lobster utensils are used for.

Lori and Brett are also demonstrating how to mis-use the lobster utensils.

For Jared's birthday celebration, they told everyone at the restaurant that Jared loves Big Bird (Jared pointed out to me later that he really does not love Big Bird) and so he was going to act like big bird. They put the cups in his mouth as a beak and gave him the take-out containers as wings. Then he was told that he had to run around the restaurant flapping his wings while they sang "Happy Birthday" to him. If he stopped, they would quit singing and he would have to start all over again. Fortunately for Jared, he did not stop.

Here is Jared at the end of his flapping adventure.

Jared's Birthday - Build a Bear

So much has been going on and just like that I am behind a week already. Last Saturday was Jared's 8th Birthday. We had originally planned to have his birthday party at Bounce U, which is a place with the blow-up slides and other toys that kids and adults (like me) really love to play on. But, Jared broke his collarbone and so that was out. Therefore, we moved our reservation all the way back to January for Brett's party and made arrangements for something a little less wild for Jared. It was a compromise but Jared was OK with it. Jared instead had a party at Build-a-Bear Workshop and invited a few of his friends.

Here is Jared stuffing in bear.

This is a picture of the entire crew as a group doing their best at nice smiles. From left to right we have Ashley, Madison, Jared, Ryan, Jacob, Mosiah and Brett.

This is the whole group making faces for the camera.

Following the activities at Build-a-Bear, we went to the food court area of the mall and blew out candles and had some cake. Here is Jared blowing out his candles.

Here Lori is cutting the cake and serving everyone. Jared is digging in.

Jacob doesn't need a fork. I am not sure what Jared is doing in the back. I think he is going with the fork-less method of eating as well.

Jared opened his gifts from his friends. It was a fun party.

The birthday party at Build-a-Bear was held on the Friday before Jared's birthday because we have football games on Saturday. So, before we headed to the football games on Saturday Jared opened his gifts from the family. His favorite gift was the rock tumbler/polisher even though he also got a Nintendo DS. Go figure. After Jared's football game, which he did not play in because his collarbone has not healed enough yet, his team sang "Happy Birthday" to him and Jared brought cookies for the team.

Beauty

Last trip to Sea World - San Antonio

This is the last of my catch-up posts at least for now, until I get behind again. So I can assure you it will not happen until the next time.

In August we went to Sea World San Antonio during the regular (and very hot) season and even braved the crowds on a Saturday. We stayed with our friends, the Andersons, and they were even willing to go in the heat to Sea World with us. The first day we spent most of the day at the water park portion of Sea World because we had never been there when it was warm enough. I do not have pictures of that because I was not carrying the camera with my as we were swimming and doing the water slides. It was a nice break to get out of the heat but it was so crowded we could hardly move. As a result we did not get the chance to do many of the slides.

We went to church on Sunday with the Andersons and then spent the day with them. The kids really enjoyed playing with Sarah. Lynn and I talked about going to see some of the old Missions in San Antonio but we could not get everyone to agree and get mobilized before it got too dark, so that is something we are going to have to go back and do. We have been to the Alamo a few times but not any of the other missions.

On Monday morning we woke-up to a shock. The neighbors backed into our mini-van in the morning and dented the driver's side front panel. Fortunately, the van was drivable and we went to Sea World anyway. That was a bummer but in the end it all worked out fine and we were able to get our car repaired. It was very good of the neighbors to own-up to the accident even though nobody was there to witness it and we got our car repaired without any problems.

This is Lori, Jared, Ryan and I on the newest Sea World San Antonio ride, Journey to Atlantis. Ryan was just big enough. Brett went with Lynn and Sarah on the Great White, which is a ride that Jared and Ryan are not tall enough to go on and Lori is too scared to ride, so it is not one for the whole family.

Here we are at Sea World looking at some birds. Ryan is wet because we rode the Journey to Atlantis Ride first and he got soaked.

Jared, Brett, Sarah and Lynn feeding the ducks.

Jared, Ryan, Brett and Sarah with the Flamingos.

Jared holding out a fish for the Seals and Sea Lions.

Brett Holding a fish for the Seals and Sea Lions.

Jared feeding a seal.

Brett feeding a seal.

This is a seal begging to be fed.

Sarah, Jared and Brett at the Seal and Sea Lion feeding area.

Brett and I helping Ryan feed the seals. Ryan was not sure he really wanted to touch the stinky fish.

We all went into a bird feeding area and fed some of the birds. Here is a family picture of us feeding one of the birds. It made Ryan and Jared a little nervous.

Brett and Jared contemplating whether or not they want one of the birds crawling on them.

Brett got brave and was able to hold one. We tried to get him to smile but he seemed a little stressed out.

Jared tried to coax one of the birds down but in the end having the bird sit on his arm freaked him out too much and it scared the bird away.

Brett and Jared getting an up-close look at one of the birds.

Brett holding another bird. He is trying his best to smile for the camera but he is not sure it is worth smiling over.

Greatwood Packers Football - Brett Game 4

Brett's team won their first game! Go Packers! We were really excited to finally come away with a win after a couple of hard fought battles only to come-up short. The Greatwood Packers Sophomore Team beat the Lamar Hornets 7-0. The Packers did a great job this game just moving the ball. There were not the break-away plays but they did an excellent job steadily moving the ball down the field and they were able to get the ball in the end zone for a touchdown. It was exciting!

This is the pre-game hype as the Packers come running out on the field after bursting through a banner.

Brett (#73) with his teammates taking a break on the bench.

The Packers in the huddle getting ready for some serious football.
Some action on offense. As I look at the picture I think they fumbled the ball on this play. The good news is Brett is making a great block.

Some more hard charging action with Brett doing some hard hitting.

Here we have the Hornet back on their heels. The Packers line did a good job of consistently pushing them back and picking-up yards consistently. Consistently doing the job is not as flashy as the big plays, but that is good football.

Here some more action with Brett making his block.

The Packers moving the ball up field.

Brett making a block. It is a good thing we got the telephoto zoom lens for the camera or we would not be able to get these shots. I still have to crop quite a bit to zoom-up. I thought that lens would be all we would ever need, but even now we could use more telephoto for the football games.
Brett holding his ground.

Packers moving the ball down the field.

Packers celebrating their win. Winning is not everything, but it certainly beats losing.

Brett celebrating his first victory. Winning is great, but it was especially nice to win the homecoming game.

Thought for the Day:

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race. - Calvin Coolidge

Greatwood Packers Football - Jared Game 4

Last week was homecoming and as such there was quite a bit of hype as part of it. The kids were in the Fort Bend County Parade on Friday. On Saturday the kids were introduced and there were the "mums" for the girls and "garters" for the boys. It was exciting and all the hype seemed to pay-off during the games. Jared's team beat the Lamar Hornets 12 to 6. It was a hard-fought battle and we were very glad when they came out on top. The Hornets had some very big, tough players and an exceptional running back. There were some heart-stopping moments in an exciting game and we were very happy when the Packers came out on top. The Freshman team is now 2-2 at the midpoint of the season.

Jared is still on the injured reserve with his broken collarbone. Here he is on the sideline with his team.

This is some defensive action against the Hornets.

Packer offense surging.

The Packers trying to get to the outside and pick-up some yardage.

The Packer's sideline with Jared getting comfortable.

One of the Hornets is trying to keep low in this picture.

Jared is so excited he can hardly seem to contain himself.

Thought for the Day (or post, as the case may be):

The trouble with so many of us is that we underestimate the power of simplicity. We have a tendency it seems to over complicate our lives and forget what's important and what's not. We tend to mistake movement for achievement. We tend to focus on activities instead of results. And as the pace of life continues to race along in the outside world, we forget that we have the power to control our lives regardless of what's going on outside.
- Robert Stuberg