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!

The $6 Man

The doctor recently diagnosed me as having tendonitis in my left wrist, which certainly explains why it has been rather sore lately and I've had to wear a brace for support. As a result, I am back visiting one of my "favorite" places on a regular basis: SportsMed physical therapy.

Fortunately, my physical therapist, Dave Osteyee, really knows his stuff and has been giving me exercises and treatment that have really made the wrist feel much better over the past couple of weeks. At my last appointment, he fitted me with the (pictured) wrist device that attaches to a battery and sends electrical currents into the area, speeding the flow of blood and, thus, healing.

Upon leaving the office, I felt like the $6 Man.

Fatherhood

Fatherhood . . .

. . . you're doing it right.

Monsters U.

On Memorial Day, some friends and I went to see Star Trek into Darkness at a local movie theater. We may have become the last people in Utah to see the film, but at least it's finally been checked off of the list of Films I Need to See.

At any rate, our mutual friend Rickey snapped the above photo of Pepe and me next to a display for the upcoming Monsters University as we left the theater.

Good times were had by all.

The Improvables in Springtime

I may have mentioned this once or twice before here on Disconcertingly Choppy, but I perform improv comedy on the weekends with a very talented group of people called the Improvables.

At any rate, whether you already knew that or not, we've had a lot of great shows lately, and things have been going well so far in our Saturday night home at Playbills' Theater in Clearfield. Today's post includes some photos (not taken by me) from some of our more recent performances and theme nights.

The fourth Friday in March was our annual Mustache March performance. I gave a heart-wrenching performance in "Oscar Winning Moment":

. . . during which Ian and I also had a memorable chat together:

After the show, those of us who grew mustaches just for the occasion posed together:

Let's face it: Mustaches are cool. And we wear them pretty well.

A couple of weeks ago, we also welcomed a talented team of players from USU Improv to the CenterPoint Legacy Theatre black box for a face-off with the Improvables. What a talented a fun group they were to have on our home turf:

As you can see, I'm  very lucky to belong to a group of amazing performers and friends.

King of the Hill

This kid, who is currently running the other kids ragged on the McDonald's playground as I type this, was king of the hill Sunday in Grandma's and Grandpa's backyard:

I don't know exactly what was going on back there, but suffice me to say that this kid definitely has quite an imagination.

The Girl with the Square Eyes

Kylee looked really cute when she borrowed Grandma's glasses and tried them on the other day.

Sometimes, there is really nothing else to say.

My Dinner with Jenna 2013

It was my niece Jenna's 10th birthday last week, and, lucky girl, she got to go out with me to dinner and to the store to pick out her own present to celebrate the occasion. 'Cause that's the kind of uncle that I am.

A girl after my own heart, Jenna picked Wendy's for our meal, after which we went to the store and got her a new game for her Nintendo DS.

Good times were had by all.