New Year's GOAL (not Resolution)

Based on the somewhat vocal feedback I have received regarding the frequency (or infrequency) of my blog posts (thanks Rob, Cindy Y., Char, Chris, and others) , my goal for the new year is at least to post twice a week. This is my GOAL - don't get cranky if I fail!

And no, 3 post in one day doesn't count as 3 for the week...

Stop Motion

Here is Jacob's first attempt at Stop Motion.

Nice job!

Traveling Back from Oregon

We made it back to sunny (ha!) California last night. We tooka bit of a side trip to Turtle Bay Exploration Park, as they were having an exhibit called THE ART OF THE BRICK. It is a very cool art exhibit featuring the work of Nathan Sawaya. It is ALL LEGO!!

Jacob with 'Yellow'


All Lego!


The aptly named Circle Triangle Square sculpture.


Jennie had fun too!

We found a great little sandwich shop in Redding called Mr. Pickles - of course we had to stop!

Ms. Pickle, meet Mr. Pickle!

Christmas in Ashland

'twas the Sunday after Christmas, and all thru southern Oregon...Ah, who am I kidding! We are having a great time here in Ashland with Ann's Mom and Dad (Mor Mor and Far Far) We spent a lazy Christmas Day, opening presents and going for a walk in the local park. On the craziest shopping day of the year,we went to the mall to get our tradidional 50% off calendars for the year. Today we are going to a play in Medford (The Secret Garden). Tomorrow , the Science Museum and perhaps a evening out for just Ann and I.

Here are a couple of pictures:

Solo shot of Jacob.

Solo Shot of Jennie.

Jennie wearing her Christmas present from Mor Mor - a 70 year old traditional Swedish girls dress, that belonged to Mor Mor, and was purchased in Sweden in 1939!

Ann and the kids in Lithia Park on Christmas Day.

Jacob on Wisteria Lane

Jacob was on Desperate Housewives this past Sunday. It was a quick shot, but it was part of the traditional opening montage that sets up the show each week. I've put a clip and a picture below, but for a bit, you can go to Hulu to watch the clip. He shows up at the 1:13 minute mark.

The only one standing.

Thanksgiving 2009

We drove out to Blythe for Thanksgiving at my folks house. It had been a year since the cousins had been together, so pictures were in order.

(L to R) Jason, Jacob, Amanda, Alyssa, Devin and Jennie

The Guys

The Girls

Click to enjoy a lovely fire.

Morro Bay Halloween - Part Deux

Chris and Cindy were kind enough to invite us to the Jensen family cabin in Morro Bay for Halloween weekend. The weather was AWESOME - temperatures in the mid 70s, slight breeze and very sunny. We spent both Saturday and Sunday mornings at the beach. Some of us walked, others ran, and Jacob and Jennie both added to their sea shell collections. Trick or Treating was VERY good to the kids! All in all , a great trip.

The mighty Morro Rock.


Camera was cool enough for everyone...except Jacpot!


Looking oh so SoCal.



Two dudes in shades.


If its Saturday, must be pancakes.


THIS is how to start the day.

The boy and the sea.

Jennie in her natural habitat.

(insert Karate Kid joke here...)

About 1 hour of Trick or Treating - about 6lbs of candy!

Halloween 2009

John Lennon

Dr. White (Veterinarian)

More to come.....

Pumpkin Patch 2009

We made our annual trip to Lombardi Ranch to get our pumpkins. It was quite possibly the windiest pumpkin day we have ever experienced.

Natural smile...fake smile...can you spot the difference?

Searching to the perfect gourd.

Jennie and one of her 'boys' (she kept calling the pumpkins 'he', like 'he's a cute one'.)

Flat, orange, unique. A perfect match!

Nothing like a thousand yard stare...at a pumpkin patch!

Sunday Flashback

I was cleaning up some files on the computer, and came across two videos I did from our trip to Maui in 2007. I'll try to get some more of the cruise up, but for now, enjoy!

Maui - 2007

Surfing 2007

St Thomas/St. John

The day after we left St. Maarten, we arrived on the Island of St. Thomas/St. John.

The Port of St. Thomas



They're goofy....



...but we love 'em!



During the summer of 2009, this is the only shot we have of the Little Mermaid.
(Don't blame me - I didn't go to Scandinavia this year!)

We went on a very cool catamaran /snorkel adventure to St. John.

Ah, the sky, the clouds, the "I'm better than you" stare down from Jacob.

The water was beyond crystal clear. By the way, the house in the right hand side of the picture is the park ranger's house. Nice, eh?

We saw sting rays and a couple of sea turtles and a ton of cool fish. All in all a very great day in the Caribbean.

...But First, Jennie and Arnold

Before moving on to the rest of the cruise, time for a little side story.

On most cruises, you are assigned a dining room and a table, and you eat at the same table, every night . On a Disney Cruise, you are assigned a dining staff, consisting of a waiter, and an assistant waiter, and this staff follows you to each of the 3 restaurants. In our case our waiter was Rodel, and our assistant waitress was Cloverly.

Jacob and Jennie with Rodel (left) and Clovery (right)

Rodel and Clovery were awesome, and by the 2nd night knew what we wanted to drink and had it ready to go when we sat down. Great service!

Now, as great as Rodel and Clovery were, the name of this post is Jennie and Arnold.

Our first night at dinner, the Head Waiter Arnold greeted us at the door, and Jennie took his picture.

Arnold - our head waiter.

From that moment on, every meal we had , Arnold made it a point to get his picture taken with Jennie. Our meal was not completed until the Arnold and Jennie picture was taken.

Nice smile!

The Cruise - yes, I'm finishing the Cruise!

I have been WOEFULLY behind on the blog, specifically on the end of the cruise. I need to finish that trip before I put up pictures from Ann and the kid's trip to Sweden (yes Doris, I'm working on it).

So...back to the cruise.

When we last left our intrepid travelers, we had just spent 2 glorious days at sea. The morning of our third day, we pulled into St. Maarten.

The Port of St. Maarten

After a quick breakfast, we headed off to the Tiki Hut Snorkel adventure. We took a little shuttle boat (more on that in a bit) out to this little floating tiki hut. The folks working the hut were great, and provided us with snorkle gear and a bit of training, and we were off into the water.

Tiki Hut Snorkeling

Well, mostly.

Ann and Jennie in the water, Jacob relaxing in the shade.

After a couple of hours in (and out of ) the water, we had a quick bite of lunch and headed back to the ship. On the way, the shuttle boat drive Derek, decided that Jacob looked like he could pilot the boat for a while, so Jacob jumped up to the helm and took control.

He looks calm and happy...




...but there were moments of 'concern'...

...but mostly, happy!

Captains Jacob and Derek

The obligatory tourist shot.

Liberty of the Seas and the Disney Magic

To give you an idea how big these ships are, the Disney Magic holds 2700 passengers and a crew of 700. Look how big the Royal Caribbean is next to the Magic! This ship is named the Liberty of the Seas, and has a capacity of 4,370 passengers , and a crew of 1300! Keep in mind, the bows are at the same point on the doc.

Next Stop - St Thomas/St. John!