Such A Geek

Ok, I know many of you think that I am the coolest guy in the world, and I understand that in Bryce's eyes I can do no wrong. What, with my styling buzzed hair do, my glowing white skin, and my bulging muscles. As much as I hate to shatter the super suave image that everyone has of me, there is a dorkier, geeky side to me.
I have had a TON of spare time the past several months. I finished up all my requirements essentially last December for graduation and by early January had finished all my board exams. In January I found that the multiple hours a week I had previously dedicated to studying, now needed to be filled with a new hobby. With that extra time I had on my hands, I decided that I would give in to the temptations of my friend Jeremy and dive into the World Of Warcraft. I have always wanted to play it since it came out, but I didn't want to sacrifice my study time while in college or dental school by doing so. Now that I didn't have to worry about failing any courses or exams I immersed myself into WoW as it is called. And it is a whole lot of fun, if you are the gaming type.
I chose to play a human paladin. Mostly because horde is ugly and evil, and the players who choose that faction are generally 30 something dorks who live in their parents basement and wear an XXL t-shirt that they shoplifted from the store.
In the last 6 months that I have been playing I have been able to level up my paladin to the max (level 70) and get him some sweet, epic gear for both healing and damage. Meaning that I can go into a big group and be either a healer or killer.
Those days of no responsibilities outside my wife and children are now gone though, as I have begun work full time. I can no longer play mid-day when the kids are napping, so I am forced to scale back on my playing. But, the purpose of this post was to come out of the closet, so to speak. That's right, I am a gaming geek, and I admit it.

The day has FINALLY arrived!

After months of waiting around for graduation and lately for his license to come in, Cody has officially started working! Hurray! His start date was supposed to be 2 weeks ago, but was pushed back because the NERBS (northeast regional boards) messed up on sending all his scores to Colorado. But finally the day is here. Cody is now a working dentist! I'm so proud of him and all the hardwork he put in to earn his degree. Now he can bring home the bacon instead of me with my measly clogging paychecks!

Last night we were invited to the Egberts home here in Colorado Springs. They graduated 2 years ago from dental school at the University of Maryland. They invited 2 other couples that graduated then as well. It was so fun to see our old friends and catch up on everybody's lives. The picture below is of the Adams family.
This is the Egbert family. And unfortunately I was changing a dirty diaper when the Sonntags left. Everyone looked great and hopefully we'll be able to get together often.

Fun Festivities

Every year my family (Foster's) goes to the Oakley 4th of July parade and rodeo. Unfortunately we missed out this year. We decided to catch the Pikes Peak Parade and Rodeo instead. The parade was actually held in the evening, which was a first for me. Cody absolutely hates parades, so it was nice that he wanted to go and take the family. Tucker had a bit of a listening problem the night of the parade and once he had his candy, he spent his time in the bottom of the stroller, his choice. Now that we live in the land of armed servicemen it's been really neat to see how patriotic the people get. When these guys marched by you, everyone stood up and applauded to show their respect and gratitude.
Just a neat picture of men riding Texas longhorns.
Thursday night we headed to the rodeo. We had extremely crappy seats because we only bought our tickets the day before, but the before festivities were what the kids loved anyway. Here they are petting the "piggies".

The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo had a booth and they brought some of their animals. Apparently Tucker and Cody are holding the "friendliest" rattlesnake. I was impressed the kids even touched it. I am behind the camera for a reason!
I take the kids on a run about 3 times a week (post to come later)and we usually see "bunny rabbits" along the way. They loved the fact that they could get in the cage and pet this one. Aubrey is not so gentle in her petting, but loves the animals!
The rodeo was entertaining but not a very good show. There wasn't hardly anyone who actually rode an animal for 8 seconds or roped a cow, etc. The nice thing was they started with Bull Riding, which is my favorite part, the Oakley rodeo ends with it. Again, no one stayed on the bulls, but oh well, still fun. We lasted about an hour into the event and then decided to take the kids home. When I asked Tucker the next day if he had fun at the rodeo seeing all the horses, he kept talking about the pigs, snakes and bunny rabbits. I guess I should just keep taking him to the zoo!

Aubrey

Our little girl is now 15 months old. She went in for her checkup yesterday and surprisingly only weighed 21lbs. 8 oz. I thought for sure she would weigh over 25lbs. At her 1 year checkup she weighed 22lbs. 4oz. I guess she's thinning out. Not that she was ever chunky, but all her running around and going up and down stairs has thinned her out a bit. She's the same height also. 31 inches. Of course, we saw a new doctor, their scales could be different, etc. but it looks like Aubrey is just the same. The only outward physical difference you can see in her is probably her hair. It is getting so long and I LOVE it!


I have been having a blast trying fun new things for her hair. Of course, it only lasts until she takes a nap or we go anywhere in the car. Then her hands automatically reach up and start pulling the rubberbands out. It drives me crazy! She kind of is getting a mullet look because of it. All the hairs in the front of her head are short because she pulls her hair out and her back hair is long, long, long! I've thought about just not doing rubberbands for awhile, but then her hair would be in her eyes all day long. That drives me crazy too.

This is a typical Aubrey look at the end of the day. Hair is everywhere and she's goofing off with Tucker.
Apparently they thought they were hilarious and started eating their shoes. Aubrey loves dogs and is always barking when she sees one, she knows the sounds for a duck and cow and probably lots of others, but those are the most common. She is climbing everywhere, which is fine with me because she is 15 months old and not 12 like Tucker was. She eats great! Loves all fruits and veggies. She is a screamer and if she doesn't get her way that's what you frequently hear in our house. We're trying to help her learn to stop that habit, but all that does is produce a round of crying. She usually plays well with Tucker with some exceptions like when Tucker wrestles her down and lays on her. She's not a fan of that and more screams follow. She also loves to give kisses and she's been so fun to have in our house!

All Sides

I'm really excited for the release of the new O.A.R. album - All Sides. I have been anxious for this release since some of these songs were first recorded on the live album at Madison Square Gardens. Even though the album doesn't hit the stores until July 15th, you can listen to the entire thing on VH1's The Leak. It has some great songs on it that I think most people would really like if they give it a chance. Some of my personal favorites are Shattered and Something Coming Over. Enjoy the tunes from the boys out of Rockville, Maryland!

the 4th

We started our 4th of July out by attending our ward's annual breakfast. We are slowly starting to meet some couple's in our ward and had a fun time socializing and enjoying good food that we didn't have to prepare!
We hungout at home for most of the rest of the day. I did some shopping at Joann's (by the way I have updates on Pieces by Lisa), and then after dinner we headed to Memorial Park which is in downtown Colorado Springs. It is next to Prospect Lake which is an actual lake you can go boating on. We walked around, people watched (have to admit the people were kind of trashy), and settled down on the grass for a bit to let the kids run around and play.


Click on Cody's picture and notice his nice scratched up nose. He went mountain biking the previous day and had a run in with a tree!
After the kids played for a bit we walked back to our car, got some ice cream and headed to our friends house the Christensen's to watch the fireworks from their back deck. They were out of town, but graciously told us that they didn't mind if we used their deck. We were able to see fireworks from all over the Springs and had fun with our little family.

Scenic

This is what I get to see when I go mt. biking/hiking. Only 15 minutes from our house too. What are your trails like?