Mr. Bowen Is My Dad's Name Too

I am currently in the middle of my second week of student teaching 3 junior and freshman English classes at Cal High. I will be there until early May. It is weird being back at my old school but it has changed a ton. They completely re-modeled the whole school (technically built a brand new one) a couple years ago and it is super nice and seems more like a college campus than a high school. Today while my dad and I were building a greeting table for the Middle School room I smacked my thumb with a hammer. It honestly hurt-and still hurts-worse than when I broke my wrist and as such this entry will be rather short. My hand is throbbing. I will share some pictures from our weekend hike in Las Trampas and more. Enjoy.

Bauer and Izzy.

Ladies, not Las Trampas.

Tate loves hiking.
Tate also loves playing Wii.

A Wii Little Guy in the Canyon

Melissa bowled a 279 on the Wii yesterday. It was one of the most impressive things I have ever witnessed a human accomplish. All strikes and one spare. I wept uncontrollably. She even bowled (not the big score) while holding Tate in the baby bjorn (one of the most useful/dumbest looking contraptions ever invented). Tate is doing really well. He still eats and poops a lot but he is now coupling that with more awake time which is delightful. He has his 5 week check-up tomorrow. He is stoked!

Mrs. Earl Anthony.
The canyon & property from the sky. We live in the circle.

73 DAYS LEFT (this title has nothing to do with the entry)

The past 24 hours or so have found me not playing Wii at all. Truly a tragedy, or perhaps you could look at it from a perspective that says "Dan has a life." If only that were true. Instead, I have been editing incessantly, trying to finish up a wedding before I head out of town tomorrow. That's right folks, I am leaving town again. Sort of an impromptu camping trip to Relief Reservoir with my dad, Tom, Josh, Mark and Chris. A father/son expedition minus the younger brothers. Tyler has school and Justin has to work. Bauer is coming as well and is going to sleep in the bed of the truck with my dad and I. Pray. Melissa will be at home playing Wii all weekend. She is a big fan. Below you will find two different video clips.

This clip is from a wedding that I just finished. It features Nickelback on the soundtrack. Enough said.

This is a video of all of the baptisms that happened on the Arizona Outreach and Houseboats this summer. this video will be shown at church this Sunday for Student Sunday (Redundant). The footage was shot in Sedona and Lake Oroville. I accidentally put Matt Pine's name on there twice. The last guy is actually Mike Laine. Sorry Mike!

What a Wiikend

On Sunday, Melissa and my parents had a festive birthday barbecue for. It was just like Justin's jubilant celebration except we ate chicken. It was a lot of fun. My parents got a new puppy, Bella, which was a highlight of the day. Cute dog, tries hard. I am 25 now which sounds very adult-like. I remember my 12th birthday distinctly as it was the first one where I didn't get any toys. It was an odd transition. Not that I was ungrateful, I just felt like a kid still and wanted to play with GI Joes. However, after 12 long years, I got a toy again. My parents got me a Nintendo Wii. It is awesome. I feel like a nerd saying that, but it is. Next came that awkward rite of passage known as the birthday song. I have often struggled to understand why we sing this song. Not my family and friends in particular, but people in general. They did it when I was in Argentina too. I never really know what to do while people are singing. Pletcher suggested singing along, which helped a bit. It was fun hanging out with all my friends. Thank you to everyone that came or gave me a call/email/text that day. I felt loved. Yesterday we had our first annual Labor Day Baseball Classic. A group of guys went to central Park and played baseball. It was a lot of fun, even though I am pretty mediocre. My team lost the game, but won in the style/fun department, which in the end is all that really mattered to me. After the game we went back and played the Wii. The Ton came out and the Conley's were over as well. It was a grand time. I am still sore from Wii boxing. Pathetic.

Justin in Bella's kennel.
Me, probably about to pop out.