I Cannot Tell A Lie!

One of these.............can quickly fill one of these

THE CHERRY TREE

"I cannot tell a lie, it was I who chopped down the cherry tree." Okay, I am not really lying, but I must clarify. First of all it was two cherry trees and one other smaller tree. They had already been badly damaged by time and mother nature. Second, I used a chain saw, therefore there was no chopping involved. Incidentally, it must've been nice when the childhood chopping of a tree pretty much summed up the "skeletons in the closet" of a politician, but I digress. The kids thought it was pretty cool to watch that chain saw in action. I of course (like any non-metro sexual man) love to pull out the power tools every once in a while. I even kept most of the trees by cutting them into fire wood. Although cherry wood is really strong, the chain saw made for light work. The kids were great helpers the whole time. They loved to help load the trailer.

THE POOL

One of our sweet neighbors actually GAVE us this pool! It was brand new in the box, and look it at: It is HUGE! This has to be one of the biggest blow up pools I have ever seen! It even has a couch! The kids had a blast! They played in it for hours while I kept working in the yard. It was alot of fun, and a completely unexpected, VERY generous gift.

FROZEN CUSTARD

After dinner, we were going to go up the canyon, build a fire, and make s'mores. It started to sprinkle and looked like heavier rain was possible. Instead of the s'mores, we played numerous games of "Go Fish" and "Snap!," and then we went to the best frozen custard place ever (okay so it is really the ONLY frozen custard place I know of, but that shouldn't change anything)! It is the best! The kids loved it, and I was really surprised when they told me that I have never taken them there before. How could I deprive my kids for five long years? I go there after almost every Priesthood Session of General Conference, and here they have been doing without. It almost seems criminal.........almost. The real criminal thing is if I hadn't been there for five years!

This happened when Tinkerbell set her spoon in her (not so frozen) custard, and it splattered everywhere

• We were watching home videos of the kids on the computer the other day. One of the videos we watched was a Christmas one of the kids opening presents. As we watched McQueen open a present, he said, "look, I was strong that day!"
• My sister loves to have fun with the kids and tease them. They also love every minute of it. A week or so ago she had to go to New York for work. When the kids asked if they were going to see her, I explained that she was in New York for work. McQueen and Tinkerbell said, "oh, is there a lot of toilets she has to clean there?" Apparently she had jokingly told them that she just cleans lots of toilets everyday for work, even though she has a much better position. The kids must not have figured out that she was joking that day.
• The kids were playing with some cars in church on Sunday. Tinkerbell kept moving McQueen's car off of one spot. At first he was annoyed. Then he pushed a button that slides out these pretend saws from the bottom of the car. He then said, "if you move my hand off of here one more time, I am afraid I will have no choice but to really cut your car in half!"
• Just when I think my kids never listen to anything in Sacrament meeting, I get surprised. A return missionary was relating a story from his mission. He explained that one of the people he was teaching was a heavy smoker. Out of nowhere, McQueen piped up and in a very clear, disgusted, loud voice said, "OHH, I HATE smoking!"
• I was asking McQueen what music he wanted to listen to at bed time last night. He would not tell me, so I resorted to guessing. When I guessed what I thought he would want to listen to, he calmly shook his head and said, "GO FISH!"
• McQueen really needed to eat because of his hypoglycemia. He didn't want to eat, and wanted to know why I was asking him to, so I told him. He said, "DAD! Why do I have to have TWO things. When is my asthma going to get better then? I hate having TWO things!"
• McQueen was eating a fudge bar yesterday. My sister was here, hanging out. Just to tease him, she said, "hey, give me some of that, I want some." McQueen casually said, "sorry, can't share, I have asthma," while smiling the whole time.