Watermelon

My nieces Jenna, Kira, and McKenna recently enjoyed some watermelon together.

It's just, you know, another Sunday afternoon at Plowman family dinner.

Weekend of Reunions

I'm a week late in posting, but I made it out to Spring Mobile Ballpark in Salt Lake City last Friday, July 19, to attend what has amounted to my annual Salt Lake Bees' baseball game. Mike had obtained some great tickets (behind home plate) through his work, and he invited Biz, Jeff, Kylee, and me to tag along for the evening.

As for the game, well, the hometown squad was beaten soundly, 18-7, which sounds more like a football score than a baseball one. There were also two grand slam home runs, which is something I had never seen live, as well as multiple other two- and three-run homers throughout the skirmish.

The real highlight of the evening, however, was the appearance of five actors from the 1993 movie The Sandlot at the ballpark. They, along with the film's director, were in town to commemorate the 20th anniversary of having filmed the movie in Salt Lake, and, in addition, they sang "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh-inning stretch.

Following the game, I went over to the nearby Off Broadway Theater to perform with my Improvables teammates Bryan and Keenan in a head-to-head matchup with our sister troupe Laughing Stock. This was another reunion for me, as Improvables co-founder Eric Jensen appeared on the Laughing Stock team, and it was also my first performance on the OBT stage since I discovered their Improv-okie nights and began taking improv classes there approximately 11 years ago.

My "weekend of reunions" was rounded out Saturday night by my 20-year high school reunion at the Little America hotel in downtown Salt Lake. I saw many old friends from the Bountiful High class of '93 there and was able to catch up with them, as well as meet their spouses.

Pioneer Day 2013

It's Pioneer Day, don't cha know? It's the holiday that we celebrate here in Utah that commemorates the day in 1847 that Brigham Young looked out over the Salt Lake Valley and said, "One-hundred sixty-six years from today, our pyromaniac descendants will be blowing up this valley piece by piece with bottle rockets, Roman candles, cannons, M-80s, Molotov cocktails, etc."

No, of course, he said, "This is the right place; drive on." As a family, we gathered at Mom's and Dad's house in North Salt Lake to barbecue (the hot dogs and steak were delicious) for the occasion, afterward we gathered in the street for a small fireworks show.

Here, Jenna, Kira, and Dave throw snaps out into the street:

If you think I was joking about the cannon comment, by the way, the parents' next-door neighbor actually brought out a small cannon to fire some ear-bursting shots into the atmosphere.

Meeting the Muñoz Family

I recently met up with some old friends from the mission field: Patty Muñoz, who ran my pensión (i.e. cooked my meals) when I served in the Barrio de Dios Ward in Cusco, and her daughter Rocio, who was just nine or 10 years old the last time I saw her and who now lives in North Ogden with her husband and baby boy, Liam.

Patty was in town from Peru to visit her daughter, so I took advantage of the opportunity to catch up with my old friends. It was good to see them and to relive many of our shared memories from the good old days.

Christian Jordan Arrives

On Thursday, July 11, Ben and Adi welcomed their first child, Christian Jordan Plowman, into their family at 12:46 p.m. at University Hospital in Salt Lake City. He weighed 7 pounds, 10 ounces, was 20 inches long, and has red hair and blue eyes.

Here is the "before" shot of the parents, taken just five days prior to the birth (following a family movie outing to see Despicable Me 2):

And here is the "after" shot of Christian, taken just yesterday:

I am grateful to have my fifth nephew (of a total of nine nieces and nephews) here safe and sound.

Let Freedom Ring!

I'm a few days late in posting these pictures, but I thought y'all would like to know that we had a fun family get-together this Fourth of July at Scott's and Claudia's home in Lehi. Eden had returned from his mission to Quito, Ecuador, just two days prior, making it also a sort of homecoming party for him, as well.

The day started off with a delicious barbecue of hamburgers and hot dogs in the backyard. Jake enjoyed the shade while Ben, Kira, Jenna, and McKenna cooled off in the pool.

Dallin and Jackson provided the post-lunch entertainment, chasing our cousins' chicken all over the backyard (and finally caught it, I might add).

Following the annual family soccer game at a nearby park, darkness fell, and together we enjoyed some fireworks.

For all intents and purposes, it was a typical family Independence Day but a good and memorable one nonetheless.

Book Number Four

My fourth (co-authored) book for my employer, Reading Horizons, has just hit the shelves.

It contains several new stories added to the Reading Library and also updates and addendums to others. If you'd like to purchase a copy or want to have one autographed, just let me know.

Have a safe and happy Fourth of July, everyone. Let freedom ring!