I came across lovely Father’s Day Portrait below on AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com and thought “If that dad deserves such an amazing gift of love, so does mine!”.

Mason Makaio Farley, born May 26, 2009.  Weighing in at 9 lbs 3 oz and 22″ long.  It was an easy pregnancy and easier birth…it only took us a few years to get him here!

1 year ago

3 months

5 Months

9 Months

12 Months

Watch out parents…read the shirt.  Mason is now a toddler and ready to take on the world.

Last night was our ward (Church) talent show, in which all four of us played an important role.

Tia was in charge of the entire show and put in a lot of effort on the logistics, food, scheduling, etc.  She also MC’d the entire evening.

Kalani has been in a kid’s choir for the past year and took the opportunity to showcase some of her talent by singing Deep in the Heart of Texas.

As for me (and Mason), I saw this as a golden opportunity to pass on a tradition to my first born son:  performing Ice Ice Baby.  This was my 4th performance, and I thought it would be good to get Mason up there with me near the end so he could work on his stage presence.

Age 14, Ice Hair in Full Effect

His Eminence

My resume of Vanilla Ice performances now stands as follows:

1. 1992 – My first ever Church Young Mens / Young Womens combined activity (a talent show)
2. 2000 – In Tarbes, France, at yet another Church talent show
3. 2009 – On a cruise with my best friend
4. 2010 – Tomball Ward Talent Show

I would try to say my wife made me do this because she was in charge of the show, but there’s no hiding it… I was born for this.

So without further adieu, here are Kalani and Matt, doing what they do best.

I work in a high-rise in downtown Houston, an area in which I’d hardly expect to see much wildlife.

Earlier this week I head to the printer to pickup my printout, and out of the corner of my eye I see a bird sitting on the window sill. At first I just assume it’s a pigeon, but upon closer inspection I see that it’s a raptor!

I snapped a few pictures with my camera phone and emailed them to a few co-workers, one of which identified the bird as a Peregrine Falcon.  How neat!

(click images to view larger versions)