What a half month!

Redoing our countertops and backsplashes.... the kids were a great "help" in the project. I am all plum tuckered out. Kind of fun to reuse some old skills that my uncles "installed" in me and that subsequently fed myself and family during college years.... "thanks" Chip, Shaun, Blaine, Grandpa, and Bill. Now my wife has great dreams and grandeurs of what honey dos I should be doing to not let these skills go extinct. Lets just say that they definitley cut into sleeping time.

Our first family day playing at a real waterpark. The sixflags in St. Louis will never be the same after the Cordovas...... by the way, do any of you know how you get puke, pee, poop, blood and boogers out of public swimming water. Some of our swimsuits were a little too tight and others a little too big.

A wonderful fathers' day.... with the crew

We went back to Illinois to go to my residency's graduation. It was awesome to see GREEN again and to visit old friends.....

I almost rehydrated by just breathing the air and feeling the feel of soft supple grass under my bare feet again. Water everywhere!

Little Mr. Blue Eyes

If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times, don't climb up there!

I've finally found a place at home where I can go to get away from it all to just think and contemplate the profound mysteries of life without any interuption or distrubance.....

What! There is no rest for the wicked. No peace for the heavy laden. No quiet calm for the down trodden..... just like a bunch of little blood sucking monkeys!

Uh oh, what can of worms have I opened up? Do as I say not as I do.... the motto all good dads live by!

From a mother springs forth LIFE!

".... I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10). I think Jesus uses mothers to fulfill a portion of this promise.

".... No wonder our Father placed us at the heart of the family and thus at the center of the Plan of Salvation. We are the Lord's secret weapon. Premortally, when our Father described our role, we must have shouted for joy because of the ennobling stature He gave women in His Kingdom. The world won't tell us this stunning truth, but the Spirit will." -Sheri Dew, speaking to women at Women's Conference.

"Show me the women of any family or community, and I will show you the character and soul of that family and community" -Sheri Dew

I am grateful for the "Center" of my little family and who she is and what she does and the Abundant Life we all enjoy because of her.

Air Show

Kimball eats this stuff up... he doesn't know whether he'd rather fly the fighter jets or the B-52

The F-15 is ridiculous.... this is the jet that was so loud it almost knocked you down.

The Thunderbirds in the back.... enlarge picture to see better

If you've never been to an airshow, GO!!!! But don't forget the ear plugs :) We've gone to two in the last year and it is amazing to see what technology can do and what can be done in the air. My boys now want to be pilots when they grow up.... "forget that boring stuff like surgery, Dad, I want to fly jets!"

Weekly quiz

What does the Father of the above need to do first?

a. sight in the 300 Winchester Mag

b. start making friends real quick with an orthodontist

c. start saving those mail brochures of the All Girls School run by nuns in Vermont

d. become a member of the local jujitsu dojo

e. raise the family dating age to 20

f. all of the above

Do the above photos represent:

a. an actual live breathing Cordova child trying to chip in and HELP out?

b. someone trying to get a "faith in God" activity signed off?

c. an advanced ability to air brush and manipulate photos (ie. real smile)?

d. a public relations ploy in anticipation of teenage years to come?

e. all the above

Which breaks first?

a. the calvarium

b. the humerus

c. the femur

d. the oven glass

e. all the above

Future:

a. criminal

b. environmental terrorist

c. logger

d. president of the United States

e. all of the above

There's something women like about a STATIONWAGON MAN?

plum tuckered out

barely two years old and worn out

sunday nap, booger and all

sunday nap, shiner and all

sunday nap, he's cute when he's sleeping-quiety too :)

The first wagon...isn't she cute? I purchased her back at the start of residency in 2003 when I needed a commuter car. I liked her because she could haul 7 people (as much as my minivan) plus she got 25 mpg for the daily round trip of 22 miles. I never thought I'd like a vehicle as much as I've liked this wagon. She's hauled my family around, substituted for the van when it needed to go to the shop, been reliable for me. I've folded down the back sleep and slept in her on some long trips, my brother in law interviewed at 10 dental schools in 2 weeks and slept in her countless nights somewhere between Minnesota and New York. She is my original '93 camry wagon... don't even make em any more... so sad.

Well, now that the family went from 7 to 8 members, we don't all fit in the wagon....sad day. I have been doing some research and the full sized stationwagons are pretty good options for affordability (you can buy one for a few thousand), mileage (19-25 mpg), and passenger space (8 people!), plus, they are just so snappy and sharp (equivalent to a motorcyle). So I succumbed and bought this 1991 wagon on ebay last month. Little blue and big blue now are getting to know each other. She gets over 20 mpg, hauls around 8-9 kids, cheap to insure, and she is lightning fast with the 350 LT1 corvette engine :) My full sized van gets about 15 mpg and so Lani won't really drive it much unless the whole family goes. I thought this car made a fine addition to our "used car lot drive way". I now own 4 vehicles with 3 of them not worth 4K all together. In our posh neighborhood, I am the white trash driving down the street in my rusty camry or my tinted windowed 91 custom cruiser.... BIG DADDY'S in town! All the neighbors and their mercedes, SUV's, and 50k vehicles just shudder when we come clunking around the corner, I love it. All I need now is for Mike to show me where I can buy a jump suit. Rats, if I wasn't endowed, I could get myself one of those corrugated wife beaters and make all the mothers in the neighborhood hurry their children into the houses as I appeared on the scene.