Over the Edge

On Friday Jason participated in "throw your boss off the side of a building day".

His employees raised over $1,000 for Special Olympics for Jason to go...over the edge.

We drove down to Albuquerque for the big event and the whole way I was reading all their suggestions about 'working out', 'rock climing', and at a minimum 'squeezing a stress ball' to be ready to repel down a 16 story building.

Of course, Jason had done none of this, and I was petrified he wasn't going to be able to do it. 

The official picture before the decent.

Jason said the worst part was leaning back to get started. 

My view from the street.

Almost to solid ground

I shouldn't have been worried, Jason handled the repel like a pro. 

Yet again, I was shocked.  Don't know when I'll learn.

  He always surprises me with his 'never worked out since I've met him' superior athletic ability.

He also handled the interview portion like a pro.

Receiving his medal from a Special Olympics athlete.  You'll see a little mop of  blonde hair by Jason's hand ready to lay claim to the gold.  Jason got to wear his medal for exactly 2 seconds.

It was a great day for a great cause, and if you think something like that might be an adrenaline rush...Jason's hands were still shaking 15 minutes after he was finished!

Swamp People

JR has been waiting for this trip since January.

He was so super excited to go alligator hunting with Jason and Grandpa Gary, and thankfully, it turned out to be a great hunt. 

(I believe their final totals were 15 alligators: 1 over 12 feet, 1 at 11 feet, and none under 6 feet.)

The alligators don't look too happy, but you'll notice JR is all smiles!

Bear Pictures With No Bears

As I was loading pictures off the camera, the ones Jason took on their bear hunt popped up.

Since I wasn't there (and don't hunt) I'm not sure my commentary will be accurate, but surely it'll be entertaining.

Jason and a horse standing beside what I'm guessing is a compressor.  And I'm also guessing it's an Exterran compressor since he'd never take a picture with a competitor's compressor.

Jason riding the horse. 

JR looking for bears, or the next level on Super Mario Brothers.

Apparently fathers don't brush their children's hair on hunting trips.

 JR riding on top of the dog kennels.
I think this was the day they only fed my poor child 3 crackers.

I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a "sort-of pretty scenery" picture, or "Look! There's a bear." picture.  I've looked and looked and can't spot a bear, so I'm guessing it's the first option.

And since I don't have a picture with Jason and a bear.  How 'bout a fish?  This is one of the four fish he caught while Kyle was running around McDonald's shirtless.

Jason's Acting Debut

Here's the video Jason's company made. 

There's lots of inside jokes and compressor references (since that's what they make) so it's not something you'll want to watch all the way through. But if you want to see Jason and hear his Scottish/pirate/Texas accent then you can give it a look-see.

Even Better Than Black Swan*

*Not that I've seen Black Swan, but it's the most hyped movie of late I could come up with.

Every buisness unit in the West Region of Jason's company makes a video each year. (Farmington is the Southern Rockies Business Unit.) I'm still not sure why they make these videos..something about team building or yearly initiatives blah, blah, blah...but they take them very seriously. 

The first time I heard about these videos was right before we moved out here.  I'm sure the look on my face was priceless when Jason informed me he was flying to Farmington so he could be in a video. 

(Truth be known I probably said, "Can I be in it too?! )

And though I wasn't cast as I-Look-Like-I-Just-Ate-a-Lemon Renee' Zellweger, Jason did a great job as Tom Couch-Jumping-Crazy Cruise in a remake of Jerry Maguire.  His squeals of "Show me the money!" were right on point.

Last year he played another well know Scientologist when he donned the famous sparkly coveralls to lip sync and dance to Greased Lightning.

But this year they really outdid themselves. 

My dear husband (who I have begged each year to put me in the videos though he never does) took on an Academy Award winning role.

May I present to you...

Jason as Sir William Wallace in

Exterraheart.

(Jason works for Exterran.)

Oh yes, you read that right.

"Every man dies, not every man sells compressors."

And yes, he would be wearing his Exterran "field" shirt with a kilt!

And yep, that would be a hair extension braid hanging down the side of his face.

And the "staff" he's holding? That would be some kind of giant wrench thing.

Now if I could just convince them to dress him up like Bradley Cooper or Ryan Reynolds for next year!

So Not a Cake Wreck!

Jason and JR spent most of Sunday afternoon working on their cake for the Father/Son Cub Scout Cake Bake. 

I was actually really impressed with Jason.  Jason's a great cook, but I do all the baking/decorating in the house, so I wasn't expecting him to be able to make a cake. I even called my dad to say, "Well, you know it would be amazing if JR was making it with you. But Jason? Eh. He's not like we are."

Jason, I take back what I said.  You did great!

Reed was seriously upset that he wasn't allowed to help.  So, in typical Reed fashion, he tried his best to be in everybody's business anyway and "boss" from the sidelines.

I almost freaked out when Jason started icing the cupcakes to look like tree leaves.  It was almost as exciting as learning he could make balloon animals!

Finished cake awaiting judging

I couldn't believe it. JR actually won 2nd place!

 (I'm in the picture with him since I was helping hand out awards.  I know you're shocked.  Me...right in the middle of everything.)

The competition was fierce. You can check out most of the other cakes over at our Pack 504 blog.

Jason and JR with their winning masterpiece.

Not Just a Turkey of a Day

This is what 40 looks like.

Happy Birthday Jason!

Fair Warning

Jason is home.

Which means he has a camera full of pictures, that I (loving, devoted wife) am supposed to be proud to post.

I do have one non dead animal picture, but then you might need to look away quickly and join me back here tomorrow when I'll once again be showcasing cute pictures of my kids and my own amusing stories.

So, would I rather go hunting with my husband or a spa weekend with the girls?

I'd say there's no contest.

 Hunting pictures:

And my wifely duties have now been completed.

Party.Party.Party.Party.Party.

You counted right.

That would be five parties.

Five parties from Saturday to Saturday.

Party hop with me...

Party #1- I hosted a Christmas themed baby shower. 

Of course, I have no pictures since I was trying to be a good hostess. 

AKA: "Okay y'all, so get something to eat and drink whenever you want. And don't worry, we won't be smelling diapers smeared in chocolate candy.  Our game for today is just to visit with each other." 

Party #2- Jason's surprise 40th birthday party. 

Surprisingly (pun intended), I really did surprise him!

I knew he had no idea when I casually told him where we were going to dinner and he said, "Why are we going there? I went there for lunch one time and I didn't like the food."

(He did like the food for his birthday dinner.)

But how could you not? Just look at that cake they made him!

Party #3-Kyle and Reed celebrate Price's 3rd birthday. 

We let the boys party during small group with chocolate donuts. 

(I use the term "small group" in the truest form of the word since the only members are Niki and me!)

I couldn't find any birthday candles, but the boys seemed to think that was just fine!

  Photos taken by Niki (which is why they are amazing).

Party #4- JR attended an ice skating birthday party. 

JR and his buddy/our neighbor Jacob (who was not the birthday boy).

Party #5- Shelly's 30th sort-of surprise birthday party.

I went in search of appropriate party hats for the big occasion, and since I don't have a Target, Hobby Lobby, or Party City in a sixty mile radius I came up empty handed.  I took my own stash of Christmas hats as a substitute.  (On a related note, can you believe our WalMart doesn't sell feather boas?! What a travesty!)

Picture stolen from Shelly's Facebook page.

Tiffany, Jill, Tiffany, and Ashley waiting for the birthday girl to arrive.

Picture taken with my sad, little camera phone since Jason took the real camera on his hunting trip.

With all these parties I'm finally feeling in my element.  Let's keep it up!

Going on a Donut Run

Doesn't every run/walk have a donut buffet before it starts? And don't all the participants carry an extra stash for the road?

Yep, that would be my diaper bag loaded up with, well diapers, and donuts. 

We headed over to Farmington, NM Saturday morning to walk in the BP/San Juan Medical Cancer Walk-a-thon.

We had a rough start figuring out where exactly everybody was going to ride.  (Cause even though it was a walk, there were two Ingys who didn't take one, single step.)

Kyle didn't want to ride in my backpack at first, so Reed got in.  As soon as that happened Kyle started screaming, so I got to walk like this for a few minutes. 

 (I made Jason take this picture of me, to which he said, "You just want to put this on the blog and have everybody feel sorry for you."  Um, yeah. Why do you think I'm having you take a picture?!)

Reed, finally tired of Kyle's cries, traded out of the backpack for a ride on Jason's shoulders. And I have to give it to Jason, he walked for 3 miles with Reed up there!  Reed then decided to let Jason have a break (and take a little nap), while Ayi pushed him in the stroller the rest of the way. 

Kyle made all 6 miles on my back.  He passed the time waving at the other walkers, and giving the Farmington High School cheerleaders high fives.

JR thought he'd take the easy way at first.

But then when I refused to run with him, (I did have a 28 pound excuse on my back) JR got Granny Sherry to walk/run with him.  JR's goal was to "get to the front of the line". And though he never made it to the front, I do think they finished a good fifteen mintutes before we came in.

And, of course, if they give out donuts before the race, sodas are an obvious choice after, right?

Jason Freak Out Update

Well, it looks like my little plan worked.

(Bwahahahaha!)

Blogging about the keyboard gave Jason plenty of time to prepare for what was waiting for him at home, and the freak out was fairly nonexistent.

He even put everything together pretty much complaint free.

Oh, and did I mention that the keyboard came with a bench?
Yeah, it did. (I swear I don't remember seeing that in the description.)
So here it is.

I present to you the full "Small" Keyboard Because We Don't Have Room for a Piano, But We Might As Well Have Bought a Piano Keyboard.

As you can see, JR is already practicing the classics. I do believe he now has Hot Cross Buns memorized.

Jason is Going to Freak

Alrighty. Soooo I'm putting this out here in hopes that Jason will see this before he gets home. (He's not nearly the devoted reader he should be, so this may not work at all.) My plan is for him to see it, freak out away from the house, and then be calm and rational about the whole thing when he gets home.

As I mentioned last week, JR is taking piano lessons this year. Again, this is not something we rushed into. He's been asking for over a year to take lessons. I kept telling him 'no' (since I hated piano lessons so much), but he kept asking. I finally agreed to let him take, but how do you take piano lessons if you don't have a piano?

Of course I didn't want to buy a piano since:
1. I'm still not convinced he's going to continue to think piano is "fun".
2. We literally don't have the room.

So I decided to buy a keyboard. (Jason wasn't intersted in the buying process since 'piano' is not another word for 'hunting'.)

I found an 88-key keyboard on Amazon, got a seal of approval from our friend, Mark, (who plays the keyboard at church) and ordered it.

I envisioned JR sitting on his bed with his little keyboard in his lap practicing away.

Um yeah, not so much.

I started getting a little nervous when UPS Freight called me and asked if a tractor-trailer could get down our street. Then the UPS driver called to confirm I was home and said, "I have a piano for you!"

And even better than the giganticness...It came in pieces.

*Clap, Clap, Clap* Yeahhh Jason! You get to put it together! *And I'm still clapping excitedly*
(Does my sing-song, happy voice and claps make the getting to put it together more desirable? I was hoping so.)

Now some of you might be wondering (as my opera singing friend, JD, immediately asked) "Didn't you know how big it was when you ordered it?" Well, yes, the size dimensions were listed, but measurements fall in the math category, soooo....I just kind of breezed by those.

Okay. So Jason, take a deep breath. (And maybe one more.)

Here it is.



And here's the rest of it


And in case you're math challenged, size comparisons:

Dunkin' (But Not Donuts)

With all the pressure of an activity-less JR, back to school, and recent facial injuries I completely forgot about Jason's company picnic. I'll post Kyle and Reed's highlight of the picnic tomorrow, but here's something I just don't get to see everyday.


Oh yes. That would be my husband in a dunking booth. And what did I think of that? Well, I probably enjoyed my husband's time in the dunking booth as much as he would enjoy mine. (Is that politically correct, or what?)

JR was dying to get dunked, so they let him give it a go, too.


Looks like successful dunkees to me.