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September 28th is my lovely wife’s birthday.

God has richly blessed me with a wonderful wife and mother of my children.

My oldest son, Wyatt’s birthday is today, September 29th. He is now only one year from double digits!

Ashton’s birthday is this Friday, October 3rd. She will be a big seven years old.

We celebrated all of our family’s birthdays with a few parties this weekend. Thank you to everyone who is a part of our lives and who make our kids and us feel so special every year.

And just for fun: here is Parker playing a game he calls “Skeeto.” The kids put a small fishing net (never actually used to net a fish) over their head and “sting” each other.

Sunday was my birthday and I crammed as many activities as I could into the weekend.

First, I got to play in a Disc Golf tournament in Carrollton. Yes, there was a hurricane that came through town on Saturday and, yes, we were out in the wind and rain attempting to put a flying disc into a metal basket.

Sunday’s weather turned out very well even if my scorecard was not quite as pretty. Still, a weekend of golf is a treat.

Sunday morning, we continued our family tradition of a donut breakfast complete with a birthday candle. I wished for more life as it has been.

That evening, we met one of my friends at Razzoo’s so I could pick up my Cowboys tickets for Monday night’s game…that’s right: Cowboys game! Ashton sported the umbrella from our fruity and appropriate, considering the day before, drink: a hurricane.

Monday night’s Cowboy game was great. A back and forth score, strange plays, and ultimately a win over the hated Philadelphia Eagles was a great cap to the weekend.

I went with my friend Geoffrey.

I’d say the $50 spent on the ticket for the kid next to me was money well spent. He later miraculously fell asleep amidst the screaming throng.

The weekend was great and the only thing that would have made it any better would be a bit more time with my family.

Finally, Tuesday morning saw us send our littlest boy off to a day of preschool. He was excited and ready even if we weren’t. *gulp*

What a great family and life I have. I have been blessed with 34 wonderful years…here’s to many more!

This past weekend, I had the wonderful pleasure of visiting some friends in Portland Oregon.

Our fantasy football league has been going strong since college and we try to meet every other year in a location outside of Texas for our draft. Since we have two members in Portland, we decided to make that wonderful city our destination for this year.

The flight out there was long but when the pilot told us that the land of Yellowstone could be seen out of the port side of the plane, I knew I was on the right track.

Below are some of the more interesting of the 150 plus pictures that I took while on the trip. Some with comments below the shot.

One of my Portland friends, Russ, lives in a old and homely apartment building that has a great communal courtyard. We were treated to a cookout the first night we were there.

We played a fun lawn game called Blongo Ball. Ever the competitors, we fought it out even at this simple game.

We also spent time in the morning in the courtyard laughing over a cup of coffee from the French Bakery next door. I highly recommend the fresh Portland berry tarts.

The football draft was at a classic old pool hall and bar at which we had our own private room.

The art, even in the restrooms, was very interesting.

We played plenty of pub games as well.

While the night life was fun, the highlight destination of the trip for me was a trip out to Multnomah Falls. This spectacular 620 foot waterfall is a sight that is breathtaking and humbling.

My lifelong friend, Jeremy (see post below), and I hiked to the top of the falls. Although the trek was arduous, the scenery took our breath away almost as readily.

There is a viewing platform at the top of the falls.

Those who are afraid of heights would have been trembling a bit. Our car is one of the specks pictured.

The setting sun over the nearby and massive Columbia River was a true brush stroke of God’s creation.

A footpath stone bridge crosses the lower falls which is also a great photo op.

After all the fun in Portland, it was great to see the smiling faces (not referring to the picture, of course) of my family as I arrived home in Texas. Thanks to all the guys for making my Oregon jaunt one to remember.