A fundamental question of life.....

Do you like to take pictures or does it just kill you to falsely portray your perfect happiness and contentment with the world?

So I've been hiding away for over a month since my last post.... you might ask, what have you been up to Mr. C for all that time? Were you busy with those kids? Were you involved in another house project? Were you busy saving the world through charitable service? Well, NO! I was pondering the complexities of life in my cave.... I was focusing on this one profound question that from which all life revolves.....If you know the answer to this question, you have your orbit in life figured out and your destiny is much more clear.... the question is of utmost importance, of a profoundly fundamental nature.... Let me lay it on you, here it is: FUNDAMENTALLY, DO YOU LIKE BRUNETTES OR BLONDES? Profound isn't it? Yup, it had me deep in thought for over a month.

Lastly, one final word I'll leave with you is that I am getting old.... yup you know when you are getting old when:

1. Even your moles start growing grey hairs (I'll spare you the pictures on this)

2. When you go to the barber, they offer to trim your eyebrows, nose hair and ear hair

3. The fire department pulls a truck up to your house "just in case" as your family lights the candles on your birthday cake....hmmmm.... not a bad idea

New news? Talmage is potty trained horray! Maxwell turned 5 yippeee! Brigham crawls all over the place OH NO!!! Back to keeping the house clean again, we have a babyvacuum cleaner sticking everything in his mouth.... nothing like a new crawling baby to help you realize what a pig you are....

What a way to end the Summer

The project finally ended!!!!! I was so sick and tired of this project. We put new countertops, backsplashes, and new tile (after tearing out the old tile). Lani got pretty good the farther the project went on and she helped me push through. I swore this was going to take us till Christmas but she refused to let it be so. She pushed hard and now we have 600 square feet of new floor tile, new backspashes, new granite countertops, essentially an entire kitchen remodel and I must say I am plum tuckered out! So before school started and after we worked our toooooshies off, we took our longest vacation in 7 years!!!!! The sum stats: 12 days, 4238 miles, 10 states, 3 nights in hotels, my family, Lani's family, nice cool mountain weather, lakes, rivers, cliff jumping, Savanah's 10th birthday! What a way to end an otherwise miserably hot Texas summer slaving away at my house!

On our way back from up north we spent 36 hours in Utah and this was a great picture of Brigham with his mom and his two great grandmothers (ages 98 and 87)!

The kids loved stopping in Lewiston and seeing my Uncle Chip and family. They wouldn't shut up about how cool his place was and being able to ride in the tractor. My Uncle Chip is the reincarnation of the "Pied Piper" of children. I've never seen anyone attract more kids just by being in the area. Some of my kids take time to warm up but even my most cautious were in his lap tickling with him within about 3 seconds. I've never seen anyone like him.

This was my favorite. My bro Ammon, took us way up the Coeur D Alene River to the most pristine swimming hole I have ever swam in. It was sooo deep and crystal clear. We never could touch the bottom even trying to while jumping off the 35 foot cliff. I took my snorkel gear and the bottom at over 25 feet deep looked as clear as my hand. It was incredible. Savanah and Kimball even took a jump off the 10-12 foot cliff. They couldn't even swim at the beginning of the summer and the brutal Texas weather has forced them to learn to swim. Trout swimming up to the surface as we looked down from the cliffs. Just incredible

My brother, sisters, and cousins kids all got together after swimming in the river and we had a blast at my mom's house. My mom and brother and his wife spoiled us like we've never known with good food, good rest, views of northern Idaho that were a site for these poor eyes, staring at the heat killed Texas landscape. Cool nights, sunsets over Lake Couer D Alene, it just doesn't get any better than this. I got to see my bro and my sis who I hadn't seen in over 5 years.

Swimming in Lake Couer D Alene on a "hot" day (hot for northern Idaho). That lake was extremely "refreshing" being that it took me about 20 minutes to climatize to the cold water. I mean I can't get water that cold in my refrigerator in Texas! It was spectacular.

This trip confirmed to me that north is where it is at. After 3 months solid of 100-110 degree weather, I had had enough. It is amazing what 65 degrees can do for your energy and mental health. We especially loved the forested mountains of Helena to Missoula to Couer D Alene to Boise. The big rivers, lakes, and trees. I am a sucker for mountains with trees (conifers not shrubs!) Water, lots of water, in rivers and lakes. It was a promising trip which greatly satisfied many of our needs and we even used it to do a little investigating. Now we are back in the crucible and I feel somewhat refreshed even though the refreshment ran out this morning... oh well.

Oh, What do you do in the summer time (with a four day fourth of July weekend) when all the world is green?

Does the "caucasian-master" of your house put the labor (mexican) to work on projects? Is that what your "master" does, so does our "master".

Do you swim in a pool to keep yourself cool? Do you do summersaults off the diving board? Is that what you do, so does Maxwell.

Do you make strawberry/blueberry cheesecakes? Is that what you do? So does Mamma ("masta mamma")

Do you run round a track to not get too fat (from the aforementioned cheesecake)? We had the first annual 4th of July Cordova family mile..... everyone finished but Talmage (he only went 3/4 of a mile), Charity won it by a long ways, Kimball almost ran 2 miles and the rest of us were in the middle. We love how our neighborhood puts out flags early in the morning every "patriotic" holiday. Our neighborhood looks so awesome.

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.