Cheeeeeeeese!

For my loyal blog readers, a sneak peek of the 2006 Christmas card photo, brought to by the wonders of red-eye reduction.

They grow up fast...

Here is a pic of Emma with some of her girlfriends after the school Christmas program.

Nice View

Jonathan and I were playing catch with my balsawood plane. Turns out it flys high enough to go onto the roof!

Turkey Time

The kids made some stellar turkeys for Thanksgiving. Ingredients: Apples, marshmallows, cranberries, raisins, milk duds and tootsie rolls. Tasty.

Party Time

My lovely wife was kind enough to throw me a party in celebration of completing my doctorate. So here are a few pictures. They include Dad and Meg hanging out, the "Moms" (Laura's, Todd's, and Ben's - that's Laura's sister Betsy's husband...did you get all that), and Emma mugging with Aunty Betsy. Fun times!

Clowning Around

The boy and I decided to have some fun with my new toy. I just purchased a MacBook Pro. Based upon my life up until this point, I almost feel like I'm altering my theological stance. Sure is fun!

Trick or Treat!

Yes, we do the trick-or-treat thing. It is great opportunity for us to get out and connect with our neighbors. Meet people and build relationships where they are! At first, Meg thought it would be better to go trick-or-treating without a costume...but then after I left with the big kids, she realized that she was missing out on the loot. So Laura and Meg joined us later after coordinating our neighborhood location via cell phone.

Fall

OK, so it doesn't really get "Fall-like" in Southern California, but we did accumulate enough leaves on our lawn for a nice pile.

Catching Up

I have been a bit negligent about posting pics. So, here is a collection for the last few weeks. Meg discovered that it is fun to pull all the toys out of the entertainment center and hang out inside. Emma went to Cheer Camp and finished off the week by cheering at the football game. Meg showed off her sunglasses sprarkly shoes (both of which she wore to bed). Emma and Jonathan decided the other day that it would be fun to make mudpies. What could be more entertaining?

Last camping pics...I promise.

The group we went camping with is a collection of friends and mutual acquaintances that have dubbed themselves "FROMAC" which stands for "Friends of Martha and Christina". One night we decided to play around with open-shutter photography. The bottom picture was accomplished with six people with flashlights spelling the letters and me duck-walking in front of them with an LED light wand. The top picture was me again with my light wand doing a little performance art. The trippy thing about the top picture is that you cannot see any part of me in the picture, just the light wand.

More Camping...

These are not very "campingish" pics but they are the kids so I thought I'd post them. I must give credit to our friend Jim who actually took these pics. Nice camera.

Camping

Yes, I know...I'm a sporatic blogger. So here are a few pics from our last camping trip of the season this last weekend. We went to Lake Cachuma, north of Santa Barbara. As far as captions go, Laura was doing a bit of early-morning reading to the kids, Emma tried her hand at fishing, and our friend Jim is showing off one of his many toys...a remote-controlled glider. It was a blustery and dusty weekend, but we had a good time. The only downside is that someone stole our rainfly.

Elephants, Horses, and Pigs...oh my!

We went to a Fall Festival at Ken and Kathy's church today. Meg petted a baby pig. Jonathan and Meg rode a minature horse together. And Laura, Emma, and Jonathan rode on a elephant. All that and snowcones. Quite an evening.

Goo in Socal!

After the race in Orange County, we zipped home for lunch with Laura's old Calvin roomie, Sue. We had a great time catching up and comparing our harried kid-driven lives. We miss Goo!

The Race

Seven months after knee surgery I ran in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Race for the Cure with a team of my co-workers. It was only a 5K and my race time was not stellar, but it was good to be out running again. Laura and the kids were there to cheer me on as I ran in the Orange County heat.

Curses! Foiled again!

I know this is blogging no-no to post an old picture since things are supposed to be current, but I thought this picture was worthy to bring out of the archives, particularly if you are new to my blog. This was done to my office by a gang of my co-workers about a year ago. Yes, that is aluminum foil. And yes, they wrapped EVERYTHING, right down to the individual pencils on my desk. Productivity is apparently over-rated. I take solice in the fact that people usually don't pull pranks on those that they dislike.

Power Reader

This may be too dark a picture to see (I tried to lighten it) but it captures Emma following her passion for reading. She reads constantly, morning until night (even after dark). Reading lights are handy things!

Not What You Think

No, we didn't get a cat. This is "Tiger", who roams the neighborhood and is extremely friendly. One of the kids left the back door open and he wandered on in. We try not to encourage it. And yes, in case you were wondering, Meg really likes that helmet.

First Day of School

Lunchboxes, backpacks, and new pencil boxes. That's right, it's a new school year. They grow fast...

Sluggers

J-Man and I like to play ball in the front yard. I pitch and he hits. Meg wears Jonathan's helmet (just her size) and stands at attention on the side of the yard with the bat on her shoulder. J-Man begs to use a real baseball, but considering his hitting ability these days (good contact hitter) I'm not inclined to have him bouncing balls off the neighbors cars.

Cookie Monster

Remember how Cookie Monster got that wild look in his googly eyes before he ate cookies? I'm seeing some parallels here.

Dr. Teeth

The boy lost two different teeth two days in a row. He pulled out one and I pulled out one. Lots of frequent flyer miles for the 'ol Tooth Fairy.

Tasty Waves, Tasty Treats, & Fierce Creatures

We did some camping this weekend with some church buddies. Jonathan checked out the surf, James sampled the local lizards, and Adam transformed into the Swamp Thing. Who says camping is just about hot dogs and s'mores?

Grand Return

Hello all of my loyal blog readers (all 3 of you). Sorry for my long hiatus, but the digital camera was in Michigan with Laura. We went and did a bit of land shopping for her parents while we were there. We came across this sign at the bottom of a driveway. Great blog material.

Summer Treat

Let's face it. Fudgesicles are meant to be enjoyed.

A fascinating person

I went out onto the "streets" with my friend Ryan the other night. Ryan works for a community outreach organization in the area and visiting homeless people is part of his regular routine. We took a stack of lunches and went to a few of Ryan's regular stops. We ran into a number of people, most of whom Ryan knows through prior visits. I met a man named Gregory, who in many ways contradicts the stereotypical profile of a "homeless" person. Gregory shared with me that he has chosen to be homeless because he doesn't want the responsibility of owning or renting a home. He picks up cans and works odd-jobs when he needs money. He maintains a storage locker full of books and movies, but lives in a sleeping bag under a freeway overpass. We talked philosophy, religion, and social issues as rats roamed freely around his sleeping area. In his book "Under the Overpass", Mike Yankoski talks about how some homeless people resist integration into "society" because it represents a loss of freedom. After talking to Gregory, I was left to ponder my level of "freedom" and I was reminded how easily it is for us as people to become prisoners to our "stuff" (houses, cars, jobs, etc).

15 seconds of fame...

Where were you at 5:30 this morning? I was at a house in Lakewood getting Emma on TV. (That's her in the lower right with her signature pink glove) The local ABC affiliate is profiling various towns around L.A. this summer as a way to spice up the weather report. The tall gray-haired fella sort of on the middle-left behind the girls is the wacky weather guy. Emma's softball team, a few football players from Lakewood High, a few local residents, a rock band, a jeep with a machine gun mounted on the back, and a dancing cow were all part of the festivities. Laura stayed home and taped Emma's moments of fame. Sorry the picture is a little grainy, I just had my camera phone with me.

Representing

Much to Meg's delight, she received a new hat and backpack for her birthday. Both the backpack and hat are, of course, Mariner's gear. She went to bed wearing the hat.

It's the Pink Glove

Emma has been playing softball, trying out a variety of positions including outfield, second base, and of course, catcher. Eventually the equipment will probably fit.

Meg is 2!

Captions aren't really needed. The pictures speak for themselves.

Dave says that no one reads text on blogs...

My friend Dave suggested to me that most people don't read textual posting's on picture-based blogs. He may be right, but I'll keep posting anyway. Here is a quote from Edwin Raphael McManus in his book, "Seizing Your Divine Moment".

We have put so much emphasis on avoiding evil that we have become virtually blind to the endless opportunity for doing good.

That's us church! Let's get out and get our hands dirty!

All that we can't leave behind...

We finally bid the 1990 Honda Accord ado by taking advantage of the State of California retirement program for "gross poluters" (such a harsh designation). Being the good eBay'er that I am, I took the opportunity to strip everything that I could from the car before sending it to the junkyard. Yes, I will mail this spare tire to you if you care to bid.

Dave's "lottery-winning" grin

Dave and Jolene stopped by for dinner Monday night. We also took in Emma's softball game and saw her demonstrate some slick fielding. After the kids were put to bed, we enjoyed pie and discussed the most crucial topics of the day, including brain surgery and David Hasselhoff.

More Yosemite...

The bottom pic is a waterfall that we hiked to in Yosemite. The kids are wearing ponchos because we took the "mist trail" which winds up alongside the waterfall and SOAKS all hikers, literally to the skin. The top pic is a view from higher up the mountain looking back down at the spot where the earlier pic was taken. We decided to take the more dry route home. All in all we hiked around 5 miles. Super kids!