Just a note from Iraq. They all love me. 

Cade and JD chillin in my living room. JD is on his way to Nevada. He goes to college in New York, that one where they had that big assed riot. We played 21 and JD won it with a three pointer. Check out my little yellow rail-roader flash light by the couch. Mindy cooked us burgers and dutch oven spuds, I can't spell potatoes correctly, lol. Just like that dumbass VP under the first Bush. Ya'll have a good night.  

Two Weeks Left of Class

Things are going great. Did great on all my finals and quizzes so far. We have air brakes and signals coming up next week. I have already learned so much about the railroad. The instructor said I could bring camera to the field if I wanted. So next Tuesday I should have some good pictures to post. Talked to a former Schneider man who went to work for UP about 3 months ago, he is out of Reno. He is a Conductor on his own now and loving it. Getting paid about 2.5 times as much as driving the bid truck. I can't wait for that. The work is gonna be good for my body. Gonna be doing alot of work in the yard on my feet. Glad Mindy bought me some super work boots. I will never wear cheap boots again after wearing RedWings. They kick ass. More comfortable than my Nikes. After these two weeks then I start 7 weeks of work in the railyard and train riding. Then it is back to class with two weeks of Conductor training. I am so glad I made this move. We have two unions to choose from. Think I will join the Brotherhood of Engineers and trainmen now under the Teamsters. Both Unions will take us out to dinner in our last week. Being a right winger by nature, it will be wierd. But I think unionhood will not affect my core political beliefs.

The Backyard

Just a picture from the back porch. The fern like tree by Daisy's doghouse is not doing very good. I need to trim all the dead branches again.We need a new fence real bad. Hopefully when I start making the big bucks with the railroad I can get one put up this summer. I think this will be our home until we die. 30 years until retirement baby. 

Backside of the House

Here is a view from the backyard. The vines are sure kicking butt this year. Need to get the grass greener in the backyard. Can you say cow manure, lol. My rasberries are coming up all over finally. After two years I might actually have one to eat. Was gonna plant the garden today, but have way too much studying to do. I am actually standing in the rasberry patch right now. Remember click on picture for full screen image. 

Our House

Here is a picture of our house. The tree right of to the right had all of it's new leaves blown off in a storm earlier this spring. Only the maples in the back yard are doing good. 

Off to Church.......

Here is the kids before Church today. Remeber click on picture for full screen picture. I wonder where mom and dad are today. Hi Grandma Dixie and Lisa, the only other people to look at this blog. Remeber you can leave comments on each post by clicking on the comment button. My childhood friend Jeremy might be checking out my blogs today too. I don't know what Jakeb did with his tie. 

Saturday Night Activities

Sorry I haven't updated. Here is a mini collage of the kids tonight. Matthew and I were watching the Lakers game and Cassidy and Jakeb were watching Brother Bear. Kenadey was just being her smily self. Got out of class early today. Doing it again on Monday. 

Matthews Baseball Game

One more baseball picture. Matt swinging, playing third and leading off on second. 

Matthew Getting Hit by a Pitch

Make sure you click on the picture for a full screen image. Went to American Falls for Matthews game. I told him to stay, get hit and take a base like a man. At least he didn't get it on the nards. That is the ball bouncing off of him. And there is the bruise, pretty cool. 

Here are the Big Locomotives

We went to the yard for a bit of orientation. It was pretty cool. I just took picture when we first got there. I was pretty impressed by the locomotives and all the different types of cars. I am getting so excited. 

The First Day

Wow, what a day. I can really get into this. Classes were held in one of the nicest hotels in Poctatello. Free coffee, can't beat that. All the people from Nampa that got hired were over here. I think there are 23 of us future conductors in class. We get to go and check out the railyard tomorrow afternoon. I will take my camera but I had better ask for permission first. I do not know how they are with that sort of thing. I probably better not talk about specifics as it pertains to classroom stuff. Future applicants might get into a certain mindset and not apply themselves as they should. All I will say is that the instructors are 120% professional and knowledgeable. We did watch movies on the history of Union Pacifc and that was very interesting. I will study homework everynight so that I have zero chance of failure. You all know how big a procrastinator I am.

Twin Falls, Idaho

Here is the Twin Falls bridge. My camera was coonected on the power cord si I could not move to get a good picture. 

Cousin Gary's House In Twin Falls

We went to my cousin Gary's house in Twin Falls. He and his family moved from California last winter. My Aunt and Uncle just moved up to so they could be close to the grandkids and to be near their favorite nephew, lol. I know I got them to grin with that one. We had a fun day in Twin. We went to Mindy's Aunts in Buel. Both our families had lunch together at this kick butt all you can eat 50+ kinds of pizza restaurant. Took the computer tour over at Gary's and then to Homer and Sandra' s place over by the Snake River Canyon. Gary and I played on our pocket PC's and played a game that he gave me. The batteries died on the camera so I did not get any more pictures. I forgot I had the camera when we were at Lisa and Jody's place. We all had a blast. The kids got to play with lots of cousins and I got to play with my cousin Gary. Remeber click on the picture for a full screen view, 

Cassidy and Jakeb Watching T.V. in Moms Room

We have a 60 inch bigscreen downstairs and the kids are always in my room watching the little TV. I don't watch TV, why the hell did I get the big screen then. With the new job I sure in hell ain't gonna waste my time on the boob tube. I did try and catch them without smiles on their little faces. Looks like Matthew doesn't get to get on the blog today. We had practice tonight, it sure is nice having my nights off. Matthew brought home a few F's on his homework for the first time. We won't let that happen again. I would have drove myself crazy if I were my son. My poor parents, I can only begin to imagine the torture I put them through, 

Kenadey Taking a Bath, She Loves Baths.

Kenadey takes a relaxing bath everynight before she goes to bed. It is a ritual. 

Dan and I at the TruckStop, My Last Night Driving...

Here is Dan and I. It was dark so I did not see that. 

The Last Night Driving...

My last load in the big orange machine. Kinda sucks to give up such a easy, fun, well paying job like this. It is off to big and better paying things. I am kinda scared of the change but it should be well worth it, Had a ton of fun driving truck. Did this same Idaho/Utah route for 7 years and 4 months. At 250 trips a year, 350 miles a piece. That is 1800 loads and 630,000 miles. If I did finger curls burning 1 calorie a mile that would have burned 180 lbs of fat by now. Look at me, I am still a fat ass, haha. I will keep this in mind when I am rolling down the train tracks. Hey Dan, it was fun, Dan is the other local Schneider dude. He will probably read this in a few months when he breaks down and joins the internet community. 

Jakeb in Daddy's Big Truck...

Little Jakeb wanted to sit in Daddy's Orange truck. Went work before I saw Cassidy and Matt. No pictures of them today. I need to get more of Kennedy on here. I think Poppa John and Grandma Debbie are the only ones who look at this blog. You can click on the comment links and have your thoughts read forever and ever. 

A Self Taken Picture of Me Driving....

Just a self picture of me while driving down the road last night. I am training my friend to take over my Schneider route now. 3 more loads left to do with the great pumpkin "SCHNEIDER". Orange trucks, ya get it, haha. I am gonna miss it for reals. 

Cade and Jakeb Watching Matt's Game...

Just Cade and Jakeb while watching Matthews game today. Matt was 2-3, See kids blog for his pictures. 

Just a game collage of Matthew. The team was down14-3 and game back to within one. Matthew was the tying run on second after hitting a RBI. Then a strike out for the last out. I am so glad those kids didn't give up. They almost pulled out the comeback. 

Matt had a super game today. He went 2 for 3. A double and a rocket single. He started on third base, tagged out a runner stealing. Cropped this picture and ran it through a dry film filter on Adobe CS. 

Starting a Week Earlier

Just got a call from the railroad. They want us to start class a week earlier. COOL. No last minute vacation between jobs, but I cannot wait to start.

Dinosaurs Fighting it Out Behind the Kids....

Jakes pulling a face cuz I made him run back to Cass and Matt to take a picture. The kids are totally dead asleep now and Mindy is pecking away at her transcription and I am just posting on my three blogs. 

Matthew is About to Get Chomped....

I had to rescue Matthew from the jaws of death. He only got a few scratches, We sure had a blast today visiting Hogle Zoo, The Dinosaur Park and stopping in on Mindy's uncle for a surprise visit. We stopped in Preston to see Grandma. By the time we got home it was a good 15 hour day. Just had a ton of fun though. 

Was driving back to Idaho on a backroad out of Logan Ut and took this picture out of the car while we were driving. Soon, I will be sitting in one of these locomotives. Knocking on the wood. 

We then went to Mindy's Uncles house on the way back to Idaho and the kids had fun playing with the cousins and feeding their pet deer. My cameras batteries ran out before I could take a picture of their giant friendly pet Racoon. They have a good size spread on the foot of the Wasatch front.