Family picture

Here's an attempt at an updated family photo. These are from Easter. We're not a super photogenic family.

Dirt-biking in the desert, a while back

We went camping in the desert with some friends the weekend after Easter. It was, of course, a dirt-biking trip. No one really camps in the desert because it's a beautiful place. Although it does have some charming characteristics, like the sunsets are great. It also reminds me a lot of where I grew up, Midland, Texas. Every time we arrive in the desert, I have flashbacks to my childhood.

Penny loved "driving" the buggie.

We camped in a tent but used the back of the van for our cooking and such. Ginger looks confused.

Penny with her little friend, Wyatt. They have the exact same birthday, except he's one year older. She loves him.

Twinkle, twinkle

Here's a cute video of Penny singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." We missed the first line of the song but you still get the idea. I love her little voice. Apparently she's already discovered that the ABC song and Twinkle Twinkle have the same tune.




Here's another video of parts of other songs and "I'm so glad when Daddy comes home." Some of it's boring but I'm not a pro at editing video clips.

Don't Call it a Come Back

33 years of faithful service is going to be 34. The van passed it's free smog re-inspection!

I'm still sort of reeling from the emotional roller coaster I've been on the last few days. Here's how it went down. Last time it failed the guy recommended I get the carburetor rebuilt. I bought a kit to do that like 8 years ago and when I saw how complicated the instructions were I put it aside and forgot about it. So I dug it out of the van's medical kit and figured I had very little to lose at this point so I just went for it.

Monday- Pulled old carb out and started taking it apart to clean and rebuild it. Half way through I realized that the kit I had was the wrong one so I aborted mission and put it back together with the old parts and put it back on the van. Went to bed at 2 am.

Tuesday-Van wouldn't start in the morning. I figured I did something wrong when I put it back together so I took it back off that night and tried to rebuild it again. This time I just went all the way. Took everything apart and cleaned thoroughly (it was totally filthy in there) and ruined the original gaskets so with a razor blade and a few gaskets of the wrong shape from the kit I made one gasket that seemed promising. I put it all back together and when I picked it up to go put it back in the van a spring was laying on the table where I was working. That spring should have been one of the first things to go back in. So I rebuilt it completely again. Went to bed at 3:30 am.

Wednesday (today)- van started right up this morning! I guess it worked. Took it for a test drive and it was running great. Got home and there was a puddle of antifreeze under the van. Apparently it sprung a leak. Found that and fixed it, then started it back up and went for a drive. It was running poorly this time. Don't know why, but I spent a few hours trying to figure it out and couldn't. Then since today was the last day for my free smog retest (hence the late nights) I just drove it to the smog place still running kind of badly. I had no expectation of passing, but I figured I could at least use it as a diagnostic to see what was wrong after all my tinkering and make a new plan.

I said a little prayer in the waiting room while the van went under the sniffer. And when it was over, Jesus came and told me that it passed. That is, Jesus Portillo, the technician. I don't know if he waved the tester in the general vicinity of the tailpipe, but not directly in it or did some other trickery, and I don't really care. I was kind of in an incredulous shock. I thanked him, paid my $8 certificate fee and drove home to my faithful wife who had told me it would be alright. She was right.

So, I need some food and a lot of sleep, filled with dreams of me and the van and the new adventures we'll have in the 2009-2010 season. Those dreams may be something like the video below- special thanks to Dave and Kelsey for finding it.

Van Video

Four generations of fashion

My mother died four years ago today. In her memory, here's a walk down memory lane.

This picture is of my mom (on the far left) with her two older sisters. My grandma loved dressing them in matching dresses and lining them up by age. About 1954.

Another set of matching dresses, again lined up by age.

This time my uncle made an appearance in the line-up.

This is from my childhood, circa 1985. My mother obviously liked the tradition of matching dresses so she made these dresses for my sisters and me. Except she took it one step further and made a dress for herself out of the same fabric. I'm the one with the dark hair on the left. Becca's on the right and Juliann's the baby. Bald babies run in the family.

Here's the same baby dress my sister was wearing on Penny, 2007.

And the same dress on Ginger, 2009.

As soon as I learn to sew, I'll make myself and the girls matching dresses and post some pictures.

water play

It was 99 degrees yesterday. It was miserable. I'm not sure how I'll survive another summer without air conditioning. You'd never know I grew up in a hot desert.

In order to try and stay somewhat cool, I filled some bowls with water from the garden hose and let Penny mess around outside with the water. She loved it.

"Quality Taste Guarantee"

On the outside of my carrot cake mix it says, "With Carrot Flavored Pieces."

What does that mean? Are all the orange specks just some random food product dyed orange to mimic the taste and look of an actual shredded carrot? Is a real carrot so hard to include in a boxed cake mix? I guess that's what I get for not making carrot cake from scratch.

I found the following quote on Betty Crocker's website while looking for a picture:
Betty Crocker SuperMoist cakes are today's family tradition, for special occasions and those spontaneous celebrations when only "homemade" will do.

I guess since you make the cake mix at home it still counts as "homemade."