End of School - 2011

Yesterday was the last day of school (FINALLY!!!) for Ann and the kids. On Tuesday, both Jacob and Jennie made the Principal's List for Honor Roll (GPA above 3.74). Both kids had strait A's !

For Jennie, this was her third Principal's List (all three trimesters this year) and for Jacob, it was his 9th - he made the Principal's List every trimester since the 4th grade!

Nice job!

Sunny SoCal Sunday

Too nice a day to spend indoors....

Ahh...THIS is why we live here

Jacob with his best 'We want YOU!' pose

I realize that this is just 1/2 of Jennie's face, but come on, still kinda cute, don't cha think?

2011...has been a long year - so far!

Well, my apologies that it has been nearly 4 months since my last post. 2011 has been a bit on the...challenging side, shall we say....

January through March, we are all going pretty crazy with work, school, catechism, dance, guitar, scouts...you know the basics. I was working some pretty insane hours and Ann and the kids saw me (tired) mostly on the weekends.

I have had stress in my work before, but this year, it was especially rough. After a couple of work related issues, I left THQ in April.

For the first time in my career, I was without a job and without a 'ready to go' new job. Strangely, it may be the best thing to happen to me in long time!

I've been able to spend time with Jacob and Jennie, being a bit of a 'Mr. Mom', driving them to all of their after school activities. I've caught up on some projects around the house and have all of the computers backed up and running smooth.
That being said, I am looking for work, and I have a couple of things in the works now. Rest assured, I'll be sure to post when I do land somewhere new.

Ok...on to pictures!

Jennie's Spring Picture

Jacob's final elementary school picture - and last with braces! (for now)

When in doubt - go to Disneyland!

Jennie - 2011


Jennie - 2005

Both kids made the Honor Roll and the Principal's list (Straight A's)...

...although I question the screening process...

Jacob 'at the pool' on Memorial Day...

Jennie actually 'in' the pool on Memorial Day

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Been a while...

Life sometimes gets in the way of the things we like to do, and forces us to deal with what IT wants us to do.

Sorry for the gap in posts. I'll try to get things posted more frequently.

Here is a little treat for today...here is a picture of all of Art and Doris' grand kids:

(from left to right)
Miles, Mathew, Jennie, Eric, Jacob and Steven

And here is one of all of Janet and Terry's grand kids:

(left to right)
Jacob, Jason, Jennie, Alyssa, Amanda and Devin

We're a pretty blessed family.

Holiday Trip to Disneyland

Because we had one open weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas...

Because it was a gorgeous weekend...

Because we wanted to get into the holiday spirit...

Oh, who am I'm kidding - we're Disneyland geeks and we just went to the park!

It was a great day to be at Disneyland - blue skies and 70 degree weather (on Saturday).

The kids are finally getting to the age where they can go on rides by themselves...Heimlich's Chew-Chew isn't a great example (they went on Grizzly Rapids by themselves), but this was an easier picture to get...

..as was this one on the Tea Cups.

Great view from the top of Tarzan's Tree house.



They have their issues, but they do genuinely love each other...


...I think...(based on Jennie's expression)



We spent the night at Paradise Pier, and this was the view at 6:00am on Sunday.





On the left - September 12, 2004. On the right, December 5, 2010.
Man, time flies and the kids are growing up WAYYYY too fast!

After

Jennie on Splash Mountain

Tempeture be darned...Jennie wanted to go on Spash Mountain.

After picture to follow.

Thanksgiving 2010

We went to Blythe for Thanksgiving and took some great family pictures.

This is why I am the luckiest man in the world!

(back row) Jacob and Devin
(middle row) Jennie and Alyssa
(front row) Amanda and Jason

Vegas Baby

Last weekend , we took the kids to Vegas to see LOVE, the Cirque du Solieil show, and The Blue Men Group. Both shows were awesome, and we all had a great time.

No we weren't in Paris...just Vegas!

OK, so they are brother ans sister...but there is a bit of a resemblance to John and Cynthia (John's first wife- see below)

...maybe I'm looking too hard :) !

The Bellagio had some amazing sculptures.

Of course we had to check out the fountains!

Muddy Buddy 2010

Once again, since I've lost most of my mind, I participated in the 2010 Muddy Buddy. This is my 3rd time...they say with age comes wisdom...HA!

Anyway, I say participated, because I cannot in all good conscience say that I ‘ran’ it!

I had a new partner this year – David Sapienza who I work with at THQ.

We looked much better at the start of the race - pictures to come.

And as in previous years, the athletic abilities of my partner far outshined mine, allowing him long breaks at the transition areas waiting for yours truly to show up.

Race stats for this year's and previous Muddy Buddy events.

For the first time, the Muddy Buddy folks published the info on overall ranking (not just by age group). This year we came in 450^th out of 576 teams that finished.

The good news is that even though my times have gotten slower, I don’t hurt as much as I have in the past…at least today!

And on a very fun final note, Jennie decided to run the Mini Muddy Buddy this year. It consisted of a short obstacle course, followed by a crawl through the mud.

I've put a few pictures below.

So happy when the day starts...

...and then at the end!

The difference in the race clock time and our actual time is based on when our group (Wave 3) started...I promise that I didn't cook the books for a better time!

Say what you will about her old man, but Jennie was born to run!

Little explanation... Jennie is trying to get under the flags, but she is stuck in the mud!

A very helpful member of the ROTC pulled Jennie out of the mud, then accompanied her through the rest of the mud pit. Please note the position of my daughter's hind end...

On the very last flag, the young princesses’ plan of only getting her hands and legs muddy came to a quick and splashy end!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Oh Jennie...its just mud!