Mr Papa's World » Family

Introducing Sandy, Our New Labrador Puppy

Suzanne — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 21:23:20 +0000

After much convincing by our daughter, Mr. Papa agreed to get an adorable female yellow Lab named Sandy. A local family had the litter of 8 boys and 1 girl, and Mr. Papa said we could get one if the girl wasn’t already taken. We were the first to ask specifically for the girl so we got her. It has a been quite a while since I have had a baby puppy since our
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Savannah Places 11th at State National Geographic Bee

Suzanne — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 19:42:36 +0000

On Friday, April 1, 2011, our daughter Savannah placed 11th at the Arizona state level National Geographic Bee competition. She qualified for the bee by winning the school bee, then score high enough on the written test to qualify for the 100 or so positions at he state bee. At the state bee, the competitors are divided into 5 groups of 20 to compete in preliminary rounds. The top 10 with the most correct answers
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My New Audi A6

Mr Papa — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 22:55:21 +0000

I recently decided it was time for a new car. I have been driving my current vehicle, a Mercedes E350 for 5 years now. I have put 120,000 miles on the car and it has been an absolutely wonderful car. Suzanne’s car is getting long in the tooth too and I really don’t want to have to replace two at once. And it would be nice if we could hang on to the Honda for the kids to
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Our Home in Sonoita is For Sale

Mr Papa — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 18:09:55 +0000

That’s hard to say, but yes, we have put our home in Sonoita, AZ for sale. Why? Well, at least its not because we have too. There is no impending job change (about 24 years and counting and quite happy) or any financial hardship reason for selling the house. We have just come to the decision that at this point in time, for our family, its probably the right thing to do and move back a
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Photos from our 2010 Eastern Caribbean Cruise

Mr Papa — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 21:55:38 +0000

In early December, we enjoyed our 2010 cruise on the Celebrity Equinox as we sailed to the Eastern Caribbean. Hopefully, you were following along on my daily blog. Today, I have posted some photos from the cruise for you to check out.

The cruise was absolutely fantastic. Celebrity Cruises continues to do an amazing job ensuring the cruise is nothing but fun and relaxation. The Celebrity Equinox is a beautiful ship with much to do – or not.
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Technology is Great – Until it Fails

Mr Papa — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 04:33:01 +0000

As a true techno nerd, I love technology and the way it simplifies and enhances life. However, when it fails, it can be trouble.

This morning, as I prepared to head off to work (last day before almost a 3 week vacation!), the tension cable and spring on our garaged door opener failed. Oh what timing! And when that happens, getting the garage door open is all but impossible – at least for one guy. The door weighs
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Caribbean Cruise 2010 – Day 10 – Day at Sea

Mr Papa — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 14:42:09 +0000

Yesterday was a day at sea and the last day of the cruise as our Caribbean Cruise 2010 winds down. Tomorrow morning we will be docking in Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale) and the cruise will be over. This has been a fabulous cruise and has provided much needed rest and relaxation. The ship, the ports, the staff, etc have all been great. We continue to love sailing Celebrity.

This was another day at a sea, but it was
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Caribbean Cruise 2010 – Day 9 – Day at Sea

Mr Papa — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 14:10:02 +0000

Yesterday was a day at sea as we begin to wind down our Caribbean Cruise 2010. After today, only one full sea day remains before we arrive back in Port Everglades. This has been a great cruise and a couple of days at sea are a nice way to close out the cruise.

As has been our habit on this cruise, we arose around 8:30 and headed down for breakfast and a leisurely stroll about the ship checking out
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Caribbean Cruise 2010 – Day 8 – St Maarten

Mr Papa — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 13:53:25 +0000

Yesterday was our fifth and final port of call on our 2010 Caribbean cruise aboard the Celebrity Equinox. Around 8:00 AM we docked in the port of Phillipsburg on the island of St Maarten. We planned to go ashore late morning and rose about 8:30. This time we actually planned to stay ashore most of the day. We had planned some shopping and then a day lounging on the beach.

This was our second visit to St Maarten
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Caribbean Cruise 2010 – Day 7 – Dominica

Mr Papa — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 14:07:14 +0000

Yesterday was our fourth port of call on our 2010 Caribbean cruise aboard the Celebrity Equinox. Around 8:00 AM we docked in the port of Rousseau on the island of Dominca. We planned to go ashore late morning and rose about 8:30. Once again, we donâ€™t have any excursions planned any just intended to walk around town and do some shopping. Today was the kind of day I feared for a Caribbean cruise. It was hot and
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Caribbean Cruise 2010 – Day 6 – Barbados

Mr Papa — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 14:28:19 +0000

Yesterday was our third port of call on our 2010 Caribbean cruise aboard the Celebrity Equinox. Around 8:00 AM we docked in the port of Basseterre on the island of Barbados. We planned to go ashore late morning and rose about 8:30. Once again, we donâ€™t have any excursions planned any just intended to walk around town and do some shopping. Itâ€™s another sunny day with a few clouds and temperature about 80 degs. They are
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Caribbean Cruise 2010 – Day 5 – St Kitts

Mr Papa — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 21:23:53 +0000

Yesterday was our second port of call on our 2010 Caribbean cruise aboard the Celebrity Equinox. Around 8:00 AM we docked in the port of Basseterre on the island of St Kitts. We planned to go ashore late morning and rose about 9:00. Once again, we donâ€™t have any excursions planned any just intended to walk around town and do some shopping. The weather remains good with the temperatures in the mid-80s but a lot of humidity
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Caribbean Cruise 2010 – Day 2 – Day at Sea

Mr Papa — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 19:25:47 +0000

Yesterday was our first full day of the cruise and it was a day at sea. We love days at sea when cruising â€“ even better than days in ports. Days at sea are wonderful relaxation days and a very good way to recharge your batteries. We are currently making our way to the Eastern Caribbean where we will make 5 stops, the first being in St Thomas.

We slept in until about 7:30 in the morning (late for
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Caribbean Cruise 2010 – Day 1 – Departure Day

Mr Papa — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 13:52:18 +0000

Yesterday was the start of our 2010 Caribbean cruise on board the Celebrity Equinox. The cruise would be departing from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Our destinations would be St. Thomas, St Kitts, Barbados, Dominica and St Maarten. Add in four days at sea (plus the departure and arrival days) and it should be a fun filled cruised.

We flew in Fort Lauderdale on Thanksgiving Day. We celebrated Thanksgiving a day early back in Arizona with our kids and
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Showstoppers Anaheim 2010

Suzanne — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:29:06 +0000

We have put up our gallery from the Showstopper Dance competition in Anaheim in July. Savannah earned two Platinum Trophy’s and had a dance Class with Dancing With the Stars Dancer Lacy Schwimmer. Suzanne earned Three Platinum trophies in Song & Dance, Folkloric Solo, and Folkloric Trio. Sean even came in late Friday to save the day for the Folklorico Group. We had to have two boys for the dance
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High School Registration and Catalina Trip

Suzanne — Fri, 14 May 2010 13:27:27 +0000

Last week we got Sean registered for his High School classes. Since he completed Algebra in 8th grade, he’ll be able to take both Honors Biology and Honors Geometry. He also was interested in the Honors History because it involves more discussion in class rather than memorization of a time line. He also singed up for Honors English and regular Spanish 1. It will be a lot of home work for him,
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Rabbit in the Yard Creates Fun for All

Suzanne — Mon, 03 May 2010 15:32:09 +0000

We had a jack rabbit in the bushes yesterday. We didn’t want it eating the bushes or shrubbery, so we decided to have the dogs chase it away. Both dogs took off after it, but the puppy Stormy, was faster and had much more energy than out 8 year old dog. Stormy flollowed the rabbit across about 6 to 8 acres and then finally gave up. Sean chased both dogs to make sure
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High School – Wow

Mr Papa — Sat, 01 May 2010 06:41:49 +0000

So Sean enters high school next year. Am I really that old? And has time really gone by that fast! Wow…

Even worse, we have been doing a lot of running around for both kids getting them to various events almost every day of the week. We had hoped that it would ease up a bit when they hit high school. Looks like its just going to get worse.

Yesterday, Sean went to his high school honors orientation
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I Need to Clone Myself

Suzanne — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 19:11:25 +0000

Does anybody remember the 1996 Michael Keaton/Andie McDowell movie “Multiplicity” where the main character has spread himself so thin that he decides to clone himself so he can get everything done that he needs to around his house, work, and life in general. I am starting to feel that way myself.

I knew that Savannah and I would need to quit dance when Sean started high school because the school is 45 minutes in one direction
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Sean “Wins” Lottery

Mr Papa — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 05:39:02 +0000

We recently posted about Sean having to enter a lottery for his high school choice. Since we live in rural Arizona and in an area without a high school, kids get to choose which high school they want to go to. There are about 5 realistically choices in the area (ie within 45 mins) where they could go. As Suzanne alluded to in that post, Sean had picked Empire High School in Vail.

Empire is also known
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