late Thanksgiving pictures

Eli D. aka Huckleberry Finn, scrounging in the hay for candy.

We had great weather for Turkey day as we ate dinner out in Kevin's botanical garden of a 'backyard'.

Showing off Oliver's beautiful blue eyes.

It was good to see my Dad and his wife Cathy while they were here for Thanksgiving.

Ollie's early Christmas present. This bike seat is really cool and he just laughs and laughs the whole time he is in it.

busy busy busy

So I showed up to the trunk or treat and it was... unseasonably bright outside. Stupid daylight savings time in Nevada. Liz crafted the costume. Duct tape boots. I told people I lost a bet so I wouldn't look like I actually volunteered to wear this. Oh well. Pretty much everyone over 40 had no idea who Nachoooooooooooooooooooo was. Take it easy!
Liz and I went on an exclusive Hoover Dam tour w/ a group from my school. The father of a guy in my class is a tour guide and it was so cool to see the 'innards' of the dam.

Grandma Lindsay flew up to visit Sin City. It was brief, but fun. Turns out Oli is a mega-phone mouth. I wish you all could hear the audio from this picture, and you would know what I mean. It makes church not so fun.

My wife the philanthropist. Elizabeth worked her behind off getting donations from local businesses toward the Down Syndrome Organization of Southern Nevada's annual festival of trees and lights. She put together a 'party tree' w/ a gumball machine (seen to my right), bounce house rental, cotton candy machine rental, and a bunch of other stuff I am forgetting... which was auctioned off w/ the $$ going to the organization. Our friends Adam and Julia Olsen got Liz involved. It was a fun night w/ some fancy food.

Oliver is walking. That dang 'ol head creates a top-heavy situation though. He's still working out the physics.

... and a parting shot of Elijah Dale in deep thought. This kid is awesome.

Maybe I've been studying too much, but this was really funny. We eat quite a bit of popcorn 'round these parts, and this is the traditional 'delivery' system by which the uncooked popcorn gets into the micro. He usually nails it on the first throw. This kid brightens my day. I was talking to him on the phone the other night from school, right before he went to bed and he said "daddy, I want you to come to my house". Sad/adorable huh?

The ending of the video was total improvisation. What a goofball.

My nephew's 50cc motorcyle... he is 4. I've got to get me one of these.

Oliveeee in the bath. A little bit TOO cute huh?

Good Weather Days

We had a kind neighbor gift us this 3rd-wheel-kid's-bike-trailer thing the other day as he saw us struggling w/ Eli's little training wheel bike. Just one more to our fleet. All we need is a tandem and a 'tall bike' (google it... they are pretty cool) and our collection will be complete. I shudder to think what this life would be like sans beach cruisers.

Elijah loves his new bike. It's designed w/ a little tensioner on the chainless sprocket, to simulate actual pedaling. He doesn't know the difference.

And yes, I doctored the photo. I've been wanting to 'blur' a background for a while to make the people 'pop', and in this case I killed two birds w/ one stone because our neighbor's front yard is literally a dump. He collects junk from who-knows-where and then sells it for metal recycling $. So not exactly a scenic view out our front door.

Future Sun Devil

Elijah came up w/ this all on this own to show people how old he is. I'm so proud of him. It just goes to show how ingrained ASU is in our family. GO DEVILS!!!

"Hidden SoCal"... on the cheap

Elizabeth and I decided, kind of on a whim, to take a quick vacation trip to Southern California for something fun to do over this break between semesters. I did a little investigation and found some hidden gems to visit... along side some serious beach lounging of course. The first night we went and visited Liz's Grandpa Kellis who is in a nursing home, and then we stayed w/ some of Liz's extended family; Stacy and Bob Gleason. They were such awesome people. We wish we would have gotten a picture w/ them.

Mission San Diego de Alcala, founded in 1769. The first mission to be established in California. Admission was mearly a donation. We did a little tour around the original chapel (where they still hold mass), the first Padre's living quarters, and a few other well preserved areas.

Elijah striking a pose.

Horse races at Del Mar Racetrack. This was a lot of fun. We watched the first race by the rail, and the second up in the stands. The weather was great, and we got in w/ reserved seats for FREE. It happened to be some kind of free Wednesday thing. It seemed like Liz and I were more excited than Elijah was to watch the races. Sitting in the stands, it got really loud when the horses came around to the finish line w/ all the money on the line. The boys held it together though.

First Newport beach, and then to La Jolla. We liked Newport better... much less crowded, and less seaweed and stuff in the water. I taught Eli how to duck under big waves. He recently realized how fun it is to dunk your head under the water, and has been really excited to go swimming everyday since.
Instant classic. "Daddy, look at me!" Elijah loved the beach.

WARNING... Graphic content!

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BAM!! Canker Sore! Well... 'aphthous ulcer' to be more precise. But there is good news everyone! After much research on the matter, I have discovered DEBACTEROL! This prescription only medicament is a chemical cauterizing agent and the pain relief is permanent and immediate! I usually get these little boogers after biting my lip, or when I had braces... I would get them all the time. They can also be caused by stress, particular foods, or even some ingredients in tooth paste (SLS).

This is what it looks like. I plan on having this on hand for my patients, becuase it works soooo well.

Republico Dominicana!!

The trip was a success! It was friggin' HOT!! My scrub top was drenched everyday. We were able to see a ton of patients. Muchas gracias again to those who were able to donate to my trip (I'll be sending some personal packages in the mail in the next few days).

This is a car dealership in the capital city Santo Domingo. I'm sure it's just a shell of a truck... but it's still pretty cool to see.

This is the crew from UNLV.

Motorcycle taxis were everywhere. I drove one in the mountains a few days after I snapped this picture. This picture was taken just outside the hotel we stayed at in Santo Domingo.

Some cute kiddos in front of their casa. It was definitely 3rd world.
Santo Domingo Temple. It was muy, muy bonita.

Resemble anyone famous? This dude was awesome. He had already been told he looked like Pres. Obama. He was one of the few who showed real gratitude after we worked on him.

Barack in his late 20's. This guy was also very thankful for the dental work done for him.

The last sunset. This was taken in Punta Cana. We stayed here the last 3 nights of the trip. Most of us got sunburns and some kind of viral flu (possible H1N1) which I am still recovering from.

NTW in LV 2009!!

Elizabeth took the boys to a kid's museum and it was really cool. I ended up going down on my lunch break 'cuz it was right around the corner practically.

Gigantic "operation" game anyone?

We went up to Mt. Charleston on Friday (no school... yeah!!) w/ the Ferrin's and the Bauerle's. I cooked up some fingerlicking BBQ chicken.

Liz's 28th B-day was on the 2nd of July. I snapped this picture as Noah and I sang the birthday song to her. The candle is in a half-eaten, retail purchased cupcake. The Cupcakery... anyone heard of it? Bah-humbug I say. Liz has always wanted to try it. Happy birthday baby!

A cool shot of our long-haired Eli-Beeli. I say buz it... Liz wants to keep it around for a while. It's really too hot in Vegas for long hair, but he just looks too stinkin' cute/ awesome.

Random photos

Date night. Wait a minute... shouldn't that be me she's kissing?

Braces off baby!! Sorry Cindy, the 'terrorist beard' is back temporarily. It's getting a little gnarly though... it'll be off in a few days.

Slightly blurred picture of Oli balls wrAstling Eli Deezel. It's cute to have them playing around together.

Eli turns 3 and Memorial Day Fishing

Liz is the Ace of Cakes 'round these parts. Even though you can only see 2 candles, we celebrated Elijah Dale's 3rd birthday two weekends ago. Liz put together a great party w/ a slip-n-slide, kiddy pool, and one of those spray-spinner-hose attachment toys. It was pretty hot and the small corner of shade was definitely in demand.

Eli blowing out his candles.

On our usual route to AZ over the Hoover dam we ran into some dam traffic, so Oliver got to sit on my lap for a while (i.e. we weren't moving). I hate dam traffic. Ha ha. That never gets old. They are doing a lot of dam construction too. Yep, still funny.

Noah driving Pappa Markham's (Liz's mom's father) little 12', 6hp fishing boat that we used to do some serious Trout fishing. You've got to love northern Arizona's trout lakes. Heaven.

Taking the family out for a little mid-afternoon boat ride. It was slightly overcast. It was so relaxing and fun for all. Oliver is sleeping in his car-seat at my feet (out of camera view).

14 hrs of driving, mucho dineros spent on snacks, bait, lures, fishing licences, etc, 5 solid hours on the water = ONE TROUT. Definitely a hit to my ego. Them fish just wernt bittin' I reckon. We threw everything at 'em, but we had a blast out on the water. Brandon Tackett (Liz's sister Catherine's husband) went out w/ Noah and I for some early morning Memorial Day fishing that won't soon be forgotten.

Cinco de Mayo!!!

Eli and Oli, Oli and Eli.

Who's got a couple extra bucks?!!

I and 9 other dental students are heading to the Dominican Republic in July for a one week long dental service mission and we are paying our own way for the trip, to the tune of 15 hundred dollars. So I know this probably isn't the best time to be soliciting donations, but if anyone has the means and the desire to do so... a tax deductible donation would be mucho appreciato (that's Spanish (j/k)). No donation is too large or too small. Thanks for the consideration. More information if interested!