Spotty Rain today...

Otherwise a normal day. Had a few errands to run and a dozen phone calls to make and messages to return. It was nice to get that rain. June is supposed to be our rainiest month --which doesn't mean much in Amarillo, TX. We'll take what we can get and spare having to water the yard one more day this week.

I was glad to get one drumline arranging project completely done and delivered and now off to the next. It sounds like a lot of fun: Music from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Yesterday was my birthday. 28 years old. Once you hit 25, the next big birthday is 30. Think about it, every birthday you have growing up is a big deal because it means getting to plan the party you're going to have and figuring out which of your friends will be invited. But there are some more specific milestones I'd like to point out:

Year 5: Kindergarten.
Year 10: You've hit double digits.
Year 13: You've become a dreaded teenager!
Year 15: You will at some point be able to start the process by which you get your driver's license.
Year 16: You get said driver's license. Also, sweet sixteen if you're a girl -- and I'm definitely not one (no, it doesn't matter how I throw a ball).
Year 17: There's a magazine dedicated to it (never read it; again for girls) and you can go to R-rated movies by yourself.
Year 18: You can vote.
Year 20: You're no longer a teenager (although, you probably haven't acted like one, hopefully, for a few years)
Year 21: You can drink alcohol. And if you waited to drink until you were 21 (as I did), you find out that it's really not a big deal. Did you know that most people who have serious alcohol problems drank underage?
Year 25: My favorite so far: your car insurance is likely to drop in rates!

and what's next for me?
Year 30: Become a thirty-something and prostate exams... Also, I understand that the word 'fiber' becomes part of your everday usage...

Now here are some pictures of the family:

Here is my wife Kayla and I right before we left the hospital with our new daughter Regan Renee`.

A close up of Regan at 7 - 10 days old.

And Kayla and Regan at the Park.

My first father's day!

Now that you've met the family, here are some pics from other aspects of my life:

Here's a good picture from the Drumline Cook-out/Baby Shower for Regan. From left to right is Katie Lyn, Amanda and Joel. These are just a few of the very talented freshmen class of percussionists coming up to the high school. The others aren't pictured because none of those pictures turned out to be that good. (Is Josh capable of taking a good picture?)

We had a good time at the Wingo's house. Actually, their name comes up as "Winog" on caller ID, so I have a distinct feeling that Wesley might end up being called "Winog" a few times this year!

Here's a picture from our Percussion Ensemble Concert this year. We had Dr. Lisa Rogers (right side), professor of percussion at Texas Tech University as our special guest artist. Dr. Rogers played two pieces with the ensemble; "Farmer's Trust" by Pat Metheny, arranged by Steve Houghton and Tom Warrington. And "Blume 'n' Cuban" by Jeffrey Nearpass.

The ensemble peformed various other pieces including, "Lua," by Airto Moreira (arr. Steve McDonald); "Head Talk," by Mark Ford; "The Doomsday Machine," by Michael Burritt and "Finale from Symphony no. 1," by Prokofiev (arr. Rice).