Little and Big Huskies

Husky Picture Day! New season, new coach, new excited fans.

Thomas and Graham as Jake Locker:
Jake Locker and Drew!:

Jake and the boys:

Fans:

Goal in Mind

Nathan is saving for a mini-fridge for his room. He is asking to do extra jobs around the house in order to reach his goal. I have found him searching on the Internet for the best deal. What a smart consumer. He thinks he may have found "the one" at Target. Once he gets this mini-fridge, he plans to stock it with juice, pop, and hummus- all of which he will buy with his own money, he claims. I think he just threw hummus in there in hopes that Scott and I will let it all happen. Stay tuned...

Flip-flop Diet

Murphy LOVES flip-flops. Here is pair number 8 that he feasted on:

Pair number 9, which he dined on yesterday, and which were mine, did not receive a photograph opportunity because I was too ticked off.

Family Reunion California Style

Family Reunion 2009. Long Beach, California. What a fun-filled, memory-making time we all had. Happy to be together. Happy to see Bob and Theresa winning their fight against cancer. I loved the time we all spent together, and I tried not to take a moment of it for granted. My family is huge in so many ways: huge in number, huge is personality, and huge in heart. We all can't wait for the next one!

Many photos were taken from our week together. Great photos. I couldn't represent our wonderful time together with just words. So here are a few, more than a few!, images:

The Family:

My dad with his 4 brothers and 4 sisters:The cousins:

Mom and Dad:
Party of 5:

Scott and Mom:Danielle and Kristine:

Me and Kathleen:

Genevieve and Mike:First, I need to say something about the younger generation. The cousins had such a wonderful time together. For some, this was their first time meeting each other. The joy that they had playing together, talking, laughing, made everyone in the whole family realize how important this reunion was, and how important it is to keep getting together in the future. Nathan has since become email pen-pals with his cousins, and it makes me so happy to see these younger relationships developing.

Drew, Campbell, and Jackson:

More cousin time:

Pool time:

Beach time at Crescent Bay. We heard there was a storm surge out in the ocean that week. The waves at Crescent Bay had a pretty good shore break...just ask Carlo who ended up being thrown by the waves to the shore and broke his collarbone.

Nathan and my dad:

Dave, Jackson, Isabel, and Campbell:

Drew was a little unsure about the waves:

Nathan found his confidence this year in the ocean. He loves to boogie-board:

Gotcha!:

Part of the crew:

Disneyland:

Drew's only request of the day: to go see Micky's House:

We rented an electric boat and cruised Newport Harbor. This may have been the highlight of the week:
Me and Theresa:

Me, Danielle, Olivia, and Theresa
Serious bling:
Seal Beach:

Life for Nathan without the boogie-board:

Boys who were not ready to head home:

Question of the Day:

Thomas: "When you pass your driving test, and get your driver's license, do they give you your first car, or do you have to buy it?"

"They" certainly don't...and your dad and I probably won't either. Sorry to burst that bubble!

Ocean Park July '09

In July, Danielle and Thatcher joined us down at the beach house for a change of scenery, Murphy's birthday, and lots of cousin-bonding time.

The boys: Thomas says they were playing "War"...reminds me of a Charlie's Angels pose:

What would our summer be without Nintendo DS?:

A dead crab:

The boys and the beach:

Their fort:

Danielle and Thatcher:

Family Fun:

My favorite image from the week:

A special shout-out to Danielle for her great photography skills! Thanks! You take after Grandpa (hee hee).

Murphy is 1!

Our sweet, only slightly destructive puppy, is now 75 pounds and one year old. He is still very sweet. Very mellow...and still not very fond of retrieving or swimming. We hope for more active days. He loves our family. Lets the boys crawl all over him and talk silly to him. He is crazy for other dogs. We love Murph.

Murphy was a lucky dog and got to spend his first birthday down at Ocean Park: Crab is a fine birthday treat:

As is running through the ocean with Nathan:

Happy Birthday Murph!