My Talented Sis

My sister, Lizz, is super talented at design. She has been sewing since she was in 7th grade and was offered a scholarship to The Art Institute of Seattle for her talent in fashion design. She doesn't use patterns either. She designs all of her stuff herself. I just designed her a blog at www.lizzarahdesigns.blogspot.com to show off the stuff she makes. Check it out! She also has some of her designs on her etsy shop. 

$100, a Garage Door, Boating, and Death Wings

On Saturday, Gary's former bus aid needed help moving, and she said that she would give $100 to us if we brought some people to help. It only took us a little while cause they didn't even need that much help. After that, we planned to go boating. 

There was a little change of plans when Tyler turned the handle to open their garage and the handle fell off. So Gary and I tried to help. Finally after Tyler's bloody knuckles, a sawsall, and the neighbor lady helping out with every kind of tool you could imagine, we got it open. It was then fixed temporarily with duct tape so that it could be opened again later.

I guess it is true what they say about duct tape.

Then we went boating with Jeremy's family. They were kind enough to let us tag along. 

Holding on for dear life because Gary says "Go faster!"

Jeremy is crazy good at wakeboarding!

Playing King of the Tube!

Tyler on the little surfboard that was stuck in the garage earlier.

Gary wakeboarding--his skills have tripled in the last few weeks!

Riding the little surfboard.

Afterwards, we took our $100 and went to the new Buffalo's restaurant in Hurricane where the Death Valley Wings burn your insides. It was to the point that you might have thrown up. Take a look at everyone's faces. Haha! If you go there, don't let the waitress tell you that they are a little hot. 

Yes, those are tears!

Ah! Give Megs something quick to relieve the burning!

Gary wasn't the only one crying!

Kim thought just a taste was enough!

Tyler tasted it...and he might be sick.

Nicole trying to get the taste out of her mouth.

These wings were so hot--to the point where you know you are going to have some type of war zone in your stomach for the whole night. We'll remember to bring some Tums to pass around the table next time. If you can eat ten of them in 60 seconds, you get a free T-shirt. I think Gary is considering undergoing training to try it next time. Let us know if you want to be a witness.

The Olympics

We have been watching the Olympics around here like crazy. Michael Phelps, Shawn Johnson, Ryan Lochte, Dalhausser & Rogers...these people amaze us. We keep trying to find an easy sport that maybe we could try to be good at and then go to the Olympics. Gary says maybe water polo cause they don't look like they are in the very best of shape--or maybe table tennis. Probably volleyball is out of the question. Every now and then there is a magical moment of awe when we play with our friends at good ol' Vernon Wirthlin Park. Mostly those moments come when we actually volley or somebody kicks the ball. Ya, we are definitely not yet up to Olympic standards. It definitely takes a lot of dedication in any sport to be as good as the Olympians. But the dream continues. How cool would it be to jot down on a resume, "Won a gold medal (or eight)--best in the whole wide enormous world at ________"? The only thing that could beat that would be "I walked on the moon," as Brian Regan says. We love the Olympics!

Check out this bruise I got last time we played volleyball. 

Phantom of the Opera

Gary's friend at work is somehow connected to major entertainment shows in Vegas. She was trying to get us tickets for The Blue Man Group for this weekend, but somehow they got put under the wrong name. We got 4 tickets to The Phantom of the Opera instead. Before we went to the show, we went to eat at The Cheesecake Factory. My sister was in town for the weekend with her friend, Mike, so they ate at The Cheesecake Factory with us. We went to the show with Jeremy and Kim and got on the 11th row in $150 seats for free! It was so cool when they go back in time in part of the show. The chandelier started out on the stage covered up like it hadn't been touched in years, and all of a sudden was pulled back up to the center ceiling, and the theater was transformed into looking new again. It was awesome! 

Megs, Gary, Jeremy, and Kim after the show 

My Redneck Husband

Yesterday was a blast. We went to Quail Creek and windsurfed and got sunburned, and then later on, we went to the Washington County Fair Demolition Derby. I have found that Gary's secret aspiration in life is to be a redneck. Every excuse he can get to act like one, he wholeheartedly dives in. I am kicking myself now that I let the batteries die in the camera. He had on some wranglers and boots that he got from a friend from Texas when he was in high school, and wore his Texas Longhorns shirt. He could barely walk, and when he did, it was sort of penguin-like. I had to help him tie his boots because he couldn't bend over enough to reach them. He even bought the jerky that comes in the round thing that looks like chew. Wow. I couldn't let him look like that all alone, so I wore some knee high cowgirl boots that I picked up at the DI. It was funny. I am just sad we didn't get any pics. I got a couple of the derby and then the batteries died. I guess it leaves it all up to the imagination.

New Photography Blog

So I finally got around to making a photography blog. You can check it out here or under our favorites list on the side. Thanks!

Why I Love Summer!

Also included in the fun this last week was that we went wake-boarding twice. That is more than I have gone in like 4 or 5 years. I was so happy to do it again! We went to Quail Creek and Gunlock. It was Gary's first time to try wake-boarding when we went to Quail Creek, and he got up his very first time trying. He is just a natural I guess. I got to go cliff jumping again too. Gary isn't as fond of it as I am, but he still jumped.

Gary's 1st time!

Megs wake-boarding

Uh...Why am I doing this again?

5 minutes later...I have to!

Why am I still in the air?

Splash!

Wing Night and the Dollar Theater

We had Wing Night with a bunch of our friends at our house on Friday. It is a greasy night for sure. This is when we fry up some hot wings and drizzle them in our special sauce that tastes as good as Winger's. We also fry up some french fries, and this Wing Night I included some homemade egg rolls. We had salad too so we could categorize it as  healthy meal, although I don't think it helped much. Then we went and saw Iron Man at the dollar theater. We know some great tips for those of you who would like to go to the dollar theater because we are frequent visitors:

• You need to go just before the movie starts so the lights will be off--you don't have to see the how dirty it is
• Avoid the dirty curtain at the entrance at all costs (If you miss part of the movie while waiting to sneak in as someone else pulls it open, it is worth it)
• If you get the unpadded armrest, do not use it--I did once and got a cut on my elbow...maybe I should've gotten a Tetanus shot
• They will give away the all the leftover popcorn if you go late enough that they will be cleaning up things--Jeff and Jenna got a huge garbage bag full once
• Snacks and popcorn are priced higher than a regular theater or any baseball game--this is obviously what they make their money on
• Do not expect this

• Do expect this

We seriously love the dollar theater. Where else can you enjoy a semi-new movie on a huge screen for a $1.50?

Roadrunners Game

We were going to play Volleyball on Thursday, but instead we went to a Roadrunners game where the mascot tried to eat Nicole's head. Then he tried to eat mine.

Gary and Tyler caught some sunflower seeds that were being thrown to the croud.

Seriously, if you ever want to catch anything at any event, invite Gary. He catches everything.