Family Letter 2006_05_29

Well we have had the most interesting time recently. First off let me tell you that the weather is changing up here and we love it. The sun has finally broken out from behind its veil of cloud cover. Not seeing the sun everyday really makes you appreciate it; that and the fact that the sun still can't melt ice cream like it would in Arizona (anyone ever tried to cook eggs on the sidewalk). We broke down and bought ourselves a propane tank for the BBQ grill. We were not able to take the one from Arizona due to the possibility of mass explosions. Anyways it has been so nice being able to enjoy the outdoors. For those of you who have not been up here we live right next to a forest of sorts (its a lot of trees). We bought some plastic (but sturdy) lawn chairs and we have really enjoyed sitting out on the back porch watching Alex play with his truck with some BBQ chicken on the grill.

Speaking of Alex he is changing oh so much. He has grown tremendously and is no longer our little baby but our little big boy. He has the energy of the energizer rabbit and bounces around the walls like a crazy man. He is a lot of fun but a lot of work. The last couple of nights when Sarah and I lay down after putting Alex down we have just fallen asleep, clothes on, lights bright, and sometimes the television talking.

He is become a boy in the toy world as well. He used to play with dolls or cleaning tools and we always just took it with a grain of salt. He was gone full testosterone on us and plays with cars and big trucks. He loves racing his cars on his slide, window sill, vacuum pole extensions, dad's belly (talk about acres!) and just about anything he can get his hands on. We bought him a huge truck from Costco and he loves taking it out back and piling rocks into it and then dumping them out again.

He is also beginning to explore a bit more things to eat. When Mom and Dad Foote were here last weekend Mom bought a chocolate shake from Jack-In-The-Box and shared it with Alex. He sipped it looked up and smiled, “num num num num”. It was extremely cute. Normally we don't give him any kind of cookies or treats because most of them contain either nuts or eggs. The other day we discovered that Oreos contain neither. He LOVES oreos!!! We have the picture to prove it.

My job has just changed somewhat. We received a new manager after they decided to split up our groups. On the same day he started as a brand new manager his boss saddled him with overseeing a couple of groups until more managers can be hired. Well in all of that mess another group was in desperate need of help and I was in desperate need of work. I have been moved to the Certification group. Basically what I will be doing is ensuring that all of the paperwork gets proper approval from the FAA (and the other regulatory agencies). Its pretty interesting and it has been very nice being busy. I may even be able to put in some overtime. I've had to offload some of my old projects and maintaining relationships with my old teammates is weird but overall I think it is a good thing. It is supposed to be a temporary loan but both groups have expressed a desire to keep me in their groups.

This week Sarah and I are going to the hospital to find out the sex of the baby. We are pretty sure that it is a boy from the last ultrasound but the technician wasn't certain. Frankly we would be happy with either. My own opinions show how selfish a parent I am. If its a girl it will be nice and hopefully docile but then when she grows up I'll worry about paying for a wedding and a chastity belt. If it is a boy then I can enjoy having all my hair grayed prematurely and then worry about keeping his hormones in check. Either way we shall love them completely.

Well I better wrap it up. We love you all.