Reno Balloon Races

Over a week ago you may have heard about the crash at the Reno Air Races. If you didn't, one of the planes crashed right in front of the VIP section. As of yesterday, 11 people have died and over 50 had been sent to the hospital, including an 11-year-old boy from our ward. Pretty scary.

A week or so before that we went to the Reno Balloon Races. Much safer.

Here we are at a bright and chipper 6AM.

The first balloon in the sky!

This was fascinating. I've never been close to a hot air balloon before.

This one was a favorite of the crowd. Only they played the main Star Wars theme when it lifted into the air instead of the Death March. Psh.

It was a pretty fun morning! Was it worth dragging everyone out of bed at 5AM and disrupting their schedule all day (= even more whining than normal)? 

Still not sure...

Children are a Blessing

I love my kids.

They're pretty funny.

These kids are pretty cool, too. Little Samantha was born in August.

And she was blessed at grandma and grandpa's house. (Congrats Michael & Amanda!)

According to Judi, all of her kids came out with spiky hair.  I really hope my next one has it.

Happy Birthday To Us

Happy Birthday to me....

Happy Birthday to me...

(This "cake" was amazing.)

Happy Birthday Dear.... oh yea. US.

Happy Birthday to US!

Summer Catch-Up

The rest of our summer -- in photos.

Flowers that popped up in our yard this summer. It was fun moving in January... all spring and summer has been full of surprises. :)

Popsicles were a daily thing.

Even dad liked them.

One of our random trips to Tahoe.

We're really excited that we didn't have to give up the beach when we moved!

Any guesses?

Hint: The scarf is "hair."

From left: Katie (office assistant), Dr. Jack (head of the Reno office), um...the wolf, Steve, Dr. Cliff (head of the whole shebang), and Michelle (marketing chick)

Last month Steve's office had their patient appreciation picnic. It's kind of a big deal... over 1000 people came. They had bouncy houses, lots of food, face painting, and lots of giveaways. Even the UNR mascot made an appearance.

Ellen

As I was going through photos that I wanted to post here (Ahem... a lot of them.) I realized I never posted photos from my Aunt Ellen's funeral. I wrote a post about it on my other blog along with some thoughts I'd been having over the summer, so if you want to read about it, click here.

At first I thought having a family picture taken right after the graveside service wasn't the ideal situation, but maybe it is. It was a poignant reminder that families do exist beyond the grave. The feeling of peace was incredible.

Me and my roomies. Uncle Paul (R), and my dad (L), who, if he was wearing black, would be a pretty snappy secret service agent.