Oktoberfest---Ja! Das ist gut!

Guten tag. As is common knowledge, and perfectly sensible, September means Oktoberfest. This is always a wild time and this year was no different. We usually all go up with Lindy's family, eat bratwurst, sing some Deutsch, and dance with Lindy's former neighbor, Phillie, an honest-to-goodness German Frau. We also spent some time up in Park City last weekend for an intern retreat. It is the last hoorah before winter when people get sicker, the days get shorter, and interns don't see the sun for weeks. It is the residency's way of buttering up the poor saps. We had a really nice time hangin' with our peeps, golfing terribly, eating at some fancy place with Michael Jordan at the next table, and playing a little with friends and co-workers. Anyhow, here are a few pictures from our weekends in the mountains:

Finn got in the spirit of things really fast at Oktoberfest.

Finndy and Krissy, Lindy's mom.

Finn and Kennedy hitting the dance floor. They weren't exactly tearing it up if you couldn't tell. Herr Fritz und Fraulein Smurderburg however had fire-feet!

Pppplllllllttttt....

This is Jesse with the aforementioned Phillie. She is 84 years old but was throwing Jesse around like a rag-doll.

So weird, but just by being in this fake house with the gingerbread man made us feel like a true Deutsch family, ready to pickle some cabbage. Yum.


This was perhaps Finn's favorite thing at Oktoberfest- the ramp that he could run down over and over again. The lady in black was offering some booze to the mountain goats.

Kennedy with perhaps the best face-painting job we have ever seen.

The whole fam-dizzle. Lin's brother Jefferson, his wifey Taisi, and their kids Braxton and Kennedy.

This was in Park City with Jesse's intern class and their spouses (except for one). Smiles are present only because they were not at the hospital.

This is the new ride thing at Park City, the coaster. It is way fun and was crazy going 40 mphs through the splashes of autumn colors.

Jesse and Aaron working on the Civic. While driving up a hill in Park City, the poor car's muffler and pipes fell off and started dragging. The fancy-pants' in Park City apparently didn't like our noise and the fact that the dragging metal was either going to blow our car up or start a forest fire. Using a little American ingenuity, the boys wired 'er up and got 'er home without a hitch. Here in O-town, the people welcome this kind of noise and the hommies were giving us little head-nods as we pulled into town. However, because we like our neighbors, we got it fixed and she sounds like some hybrid or something, quiet as a cat. Looking back, it was probably a bad idea to have both the doctors under the car at the same time.

Meet the Andersons

We are desperate for friends. For some reason, even though we think we are the greatest people ever, we don't seem to make friends easily. We must be socially inept or something. Since we are now living in Ogden, we thought that we would join a gang and that way we would have friends all the time, not to mention the protection we would get from our hommies. Lucky for us, we have met some really great people here so far. One of the couples we now do a little hangin' with are the Andersons. Aaron is a first year resident with Jesse and there seems to be a little more than friendship there. Ann is lovely and is the great mother of Daxton, their three year old son. Finn digs Dax. "Dax" is one of Finn's favorite words. He says it everytime we go outside or get in the car. The Andersons probably think they drew the short straw when for some reason we, the Spencers, clung to them. They ended up moving a couple blocks from us and we are sure that any day now, we will see a "For Sale" sign on their front lawn. Until then, party on dudes. Here are a few pictures of this truly remarkable family. Pray for them.

The Utah State Fair was a huge success as usual.

The ladies and their boys. Finn was going for those earrings.

Pooper-scooper.

Enjoying some corn-on-the-cob at the fair.

Finn's favorite thing at the fair was the pig-pen. They were more disgusting than ever. One of the little porkers peed on the face of the other little porker and the second porker didn't even move. We have sworn off bacon.

Finn trying to get a look at the tiger show.

Melts your heart...

Looking forward a few years...

Lookin' for the ladies at the fair. Carnie ladies are the hottest.

Aww....

This was after our ride at the Lagoon. It was amazing that the kids made it without any tears. Party animals.

If you look closely, you may be even to see Lin's head.

Another portrait of America's favorite family, just before the fireworks on July 4th. The LaRose family is that smiling bunch behind them. Ben is also a first year resident with Jesse. More on them later perhaps...

Dax looking all innocent but you know his three year old brain is churning with mischief.

Onion Days didn't stink

For those of you who don't know, most of Jesse's extended family lives in Payson, Utah. Every year at Labor Day, the fine town of Payson throws a bash and both sides of Jesse's family get together for reunions over the weekend. It is always a wild and crazy time. This year was no different. We start the festivities with a golf tourney. Even though Lin's favorite part of the day is driving the cart and looking dead sexy, her team actually used a few of her drives this year. Sadly, her team took last place. Jesse's team was victorious mostly due to the other three people on his team. He stunk it up but had a good time was had by all nonetheless.

The goddess of golf.

The weekend then consists of hanging out at grannie's house, going to the parade, eating lots of good stuff, and going to the park and carnival for scones dirty roller coaster rides. Below are a few pics from the weekend. It is very sad, but we didn't take any pictures of any carnies.

This year there was a big water feature in grannie's backyard. We are getting fancier and fancier.

This is Finn with his cousin Maddox taking wagon rides down the hill.

Finndy on the annual hike to the grotto up Payson canyon.

Kaylee, another cousin, at the top of the grotto.

Sorry there aren't too many photos. We play too much and forget the camera. Below is a little clip of one of the newer traditions at grannie's- the annual dance party. For some unknown reason, ungraceful Jesse always has to help things get going. He would like everyone to know that the clips in this video are far from his finest. Finn is quite the dancer lately. We will have to get some video of his breakdancing moves on here soon. All the cousins are quite good on the dancefloor. We are a very happenin' bunch.