Red Sox Game #2

CG: "Chris, I have an extra ticket to the RED SOX game on Saturday, wanna go?"

CS: "Do bears crap in the woods?"

CG: "I take that as a yes."

CS: "How much do I owe you for the ticket?"

CG: "Don't worry about it. My treat!"

Ok, well that is not exactly how the conversation went, but when a close friend offered me an extra ticket to go watch the Red Sox at Fenway, I cheerfully accepted, of course. I hadn't sat in the bleacher section at Fenway since I was a kid, but this time around the view wasn't nearly as bad as I remember. Granted, there were a few hits to deep center, including Big Papi's 3-run homerun, that I couldn't see, but overall the weather was great, the game was better, and the company was entertaining.

It was LDS night that night, so there were alot of soda-drinking, casserole loving, ice cream devouring, BYU graduating, Eagle Scout earning, cleanly-shaven, down to your knees short wearing, clean cut men and women there. Ironically, the pitcher that night for the Orioles was Jeremy Guthrie, an LDS guy himself. Jeremy actually went to BYU his freshman year before transferring to Stanford. We both were actually in the Missionary Training Center at the same time preparing for our missions, so we chatted a number of times and shared a mutual friend, Isabella. LDS ties aside, I'm still glad the Red Sox pounded him!


The view of the field from the bleachers.


Caro, David, me, Ben


I don't even remember this picture being taken. I'm sure I was pondering something like this..."When did I get so old? Most of the Red Sox players are younger than me!?!"

Wyatt was getting tired, needed some help getting around after the game.

Caro in one of her rare moments when she's not rolling her eyes at me.

Caro (bottom right) with her cousin (bottom left) with two boys she used to nanny for: David and Wyatt. Alex (the boy's dad) is in the back.

Summer Family Time

Having family that lives far away is tough at times. A few years ago I would have never believed that when I moved back to Boston, my family would still be far from me. It seems no matter where I end up, the majority of my immediate family remains a plane flight away. Nevertheless we try to get together as often as possibly. Last weekend, I was fortunate to have two sisters (with their husbands and little girls!) come back to Methuen and spend some time here. Annie's family was in town for a wedding and Elaine's family was here for a mini-vacation, I guess.

Although everyone still had their own agendas we still were able to spend some quality time together. We even took a day trip up to Maine together to see Grammie Erma, Uncle Tom, and Aunt Deanne. It was their first time meeting baby Lucy.


Me and Baby Lucy. Maya is currently in a band-aid phase and insists on sticking them just about everywhere, including Lucy's forehead!


Annnie with Grammie Erma holding Lucy.


Aunt Deanne with Lucy and Maya.

Grammie Erma with Baby Lucy

Uncle Tom holding Lucy. The look on Lucy's face is priceless.

Maya in hopefully one of many playtimes with Lucy

Maya and me with grapes on our mouths!

Mommy and Lucy

Grammie, Me and Maya.

4th of July

Ok, a little late....

I've only seen the Boston fireworks on the Charles River live and in-person once before in my life - when I was 19 right before I was headed off to the MTC (Missionary Training Center) and then off to Japan. When I moved back last summer, the 4th of July weekend was my first weekend in town after transplanting from Arizona. This most recent 4th of July marked one year for me being back east! Time flies.

Lumina is a good friend who spearheads alot of get-togethers. I'm more passive in my attempts to get people together so its good to have friends like Lumina who can make things happen. I just get the invites. Lumina and her boyfriend Rene were kind enough to stake out spots on the coveted lawn areas right next to the Charles River - prime real estate for watching the fireworks.

It was great to be with friends this night was we listened to the Boston Pops, Neil Diamond, and others perform on a near perfect night in the city.


Riding the T on my way to Cambridge


Rene, Me, Scott...with dinner.

The always happy couple, Rene and Lumina.

Me, Christina, Rene, Lumina.

Christina, Carolina, Lumina.

Caro insisted on dancing to some of the songs.

Tree Fallin'

If you lived in New England in December of last year, the ice storm we had was still a fairly recent memory. Nearly everyone had branches/trees fall in their yards. Even the roads were covered with debris and fallen phone/power lines.

A large branch had fallen on the roof at that time, but considering what could've happened, I was fortunate nothing worse happened. Regardless, since that infamous ice storm, one tree on the left side of the house had been damaged and has been precariously learning over the house ever since. The tree seemed to learn over the house a little bit more each week, and during a few recent thunderstorms I found myself a bit nervous as I laid in bed. If the tree were to fall on the house, my room would've been the unfortunate recipient of the brunt of the force - not something I want to walk up to!

Well, I finally for around to getting a tree removal service out to get rid of the leaning tree and one other large branch from another tree. Although it was only one large tree, is seemed to clear a huge part of the left side of the house. It almost looks like a new yard on the left side!

Fore!

Thank goodness for long holiday weekends! Last Friday was a day-off from work due to the observance of the 4th of July, so what better way to celebrate than to plan golf? We traded our usual Saturday tee time for Friday and teed off around 7am at Campbell's Scottish Highlands in Salem, NH. The course was soaked due to the near month-straight incessant rainfall we've received. Needless to say, the course was tough due to its dampness, but still enjoyable. As usual, I missed my scoring goal of being under 100, but any day I don't snap a golf club in half out of frustration is a good day! (Actually, I have never done that - I'm much too cheap and would hate buying new clubs!)

Shortly after we finished the first round at Campbell's, my golf partner, Scott, suggested that we go play a second round at Merrimack - a course that I have never played, but is only about 1/2 mile from my house! The course has been completely remodeled and was still in the process of being finished up, but despite eight par 3's, it was a much better course than either of us expected.

The day ended with us playing golf until 5:30, nearly 11 hours of golf for the day. I've never played that much golf in a week, never mind one day!

Here are some random golf pics. Not all of these are necessarily from Friday:


Merrimack -the couse less than a mile from my house.


My balls are glorious!