angela rowing

In case you didn't know it, Angela has joined the Great Miami Rowing club. Although she just started a few weeks ago, she likes it so much that she has joined the elite team which means she practices six days a week year round ... but she also gets to participate in competitions and qualifies for her High School letter.

new sled

We picked up a third pony to add to our stable. This 2008 Toyota Corolla LE had 1,010 miles on it. It wasn't all that Isaiah wanted but ...

angela candy

It seems candy is a common theme with Angela. Here she scored this giant lollipop from the Cracker Barrel. Yes, we went to the Cracker Barrel because Barb had a hankering for something fried.

istanbul

Although it was not my first trip to Istanbul, I took time for some sightseeing last night.

The Blue Mosque


Hagia Sophia


Grand Bazaar

home again

Here's Home Again by Isaiah and his girlfriend Morgan Sandstrom. He wrote and played the music; Morgan wrote and sang the lyrics ... Isaiah did the production.

barb dancing

Barb went dancing.

happy easter

The equation to figure out when Easter will fall is:

((19*t+u-w-(u-(u+8) \25)+1)\3)+15)mod30) +(32+2*x+2*y-(19*t+ u-w-(u-(u+8)\25)+1)\3)+15) mod30)-z) mod7)- 7*(t+11* (19*t+u- w(u- (u+8)\25)+1)\3)+15) mod30)+22*(32+2*x+2*y- (19*t +u-w-(u- (u+8)\25)+1)\3) +15)mod30)-g)mod7) +114)\31 = /`\ /`\

Well, at least that's what I read somewhere ... doesn't make sense to me. I know some of my friends are finding some significance in the idea that this will be the earliest Easter of our lifetime. Not me.

Just plain Happy Easter.

Hope

Here is Isaiah's latest composition Hope.

angela's fort

We got 13.5 inches of snow this weekend. What's more amazing is this fort Angela built - all by herself.

mason fields home owner association

Cool - I am now president of the Mason Fields Home Owner Association. I guess I just didn't have enough going on.

candy bar

As Angela's Birthday party gets closer, her creativity (and the cost) goes up ...

jones soda

Angela is getting ready for her birthday party. She loves the colors of the Jones sodas ...

really bored

Ok - now I'm really bored. This is what happens to me when a 15 minute job at the repair shop turns into hours ... it's just a piece of tubing for crying out loud! Argh ....

waiting

I'm hanging out at the Chevy dealer waiting for some work on my car (found a hole in the windshield wiper fluid tubing). I got a little board and this post is the result.

missing tooth

Emrie needs a new tooth ...

m&m boy

Isaiah enjoying the few Christmas M&M's Angela left ...

christmas leftovers

Angela and her friend turned some of our Christmas leftovers into a beach ...

christmas snowman

Emrie and Eli made a Christmas snowman complete with Hershey Kiss eyes and looks like a Tootsie Roll lips.

angel

We had an Angel visit us this evening.

christmas concert

Mason High School Honors Band had their Christmas Concert tonight. The boy on piano was great!

gingerbread men

Barb and Angela spent last Friday baking. They made all kinds of goodies ... I liked the cookies.



The cooking was for our busy Saturday. In the morning we went to "The Outlet" ... a drop-in center for homeless people. We go down there about once a month to hang out with homeless folks. Typically we shoot some pool, play some ping-pong, get involved in a card game or board game, but mostly just hang-out in an attempt to build relationships. Yesterday we had a special "Christmas theme" where we had some holiday snacks, drinks, displayed some of the artwork created by the homeless guys over the past few weeks, etc..

Then in the evening we went to our Solomon center for a Christmas shopping program we had. There kids from the low income housing area we serve came to pick up to two gifts for parents or grand-parents. In addition to letting them pick out the gifts we also helped them wrap them and gave treats, drinks, etc..

muffins

Barb is helping me get more fiber in my diet. She made me these great muffins but didn't think it mattered if she mixed the raisins in or just threw them on top. I think it matters.

lovin'

Wimber got some nice lovin' tonight ...

thanksgiving sleep

Dad really enjoyed Thanksgiving ...

merry christmas

From all of us to you ...

christmas tree

Barb likes her Christmas tree ... but now she sees a couple of spots for even more lights ...

family visit

Barb and my Mom look at coupons while my Dad makes some kind of point.

thanksgiving stuffing

We started out with plenty to eat.





But it didn't take long until it was all gone ...

more preparation

For fear that we might run out, my Mom and Angela make some last minute food preparations.

thanksgiving preparation

Barb got herself some roses for Thanksgiving.



I guess she thought she deserved them for all the cooking she was doing.

happy barb

Barb and I hung around the house today but apparently I made her happy.

lethargic wimber

Wimber continues to be pretty low energy ... here he is in one of his wilder moments.

sleepy rick

Angela thinks I look funny when I'm sleepy and also thinks I take embarrassing pictures of others ... she's getting even with me with this one.

isaiah tv

Isaiah and Wimber took some time out to watch tv last night ... Angela's feet are also there ...

isaiah music

Here's a photo I made fulling around for Isaiah's senior picture.

more of angela in the park

Here's another shot I took the other day of Angela in the park ...

barb is happy

I love to make her smile ...

angela fall picture

Angela allowed me to go to the park with her yesterday for some pictures. She steals her father's heart.

barb in autumn

Barb made the fall leaves look beautiful this weekend ...

barb and wimber

Barb and Wimber went to the park with me today for some fresh air and photos.

angela's straw

Angela hasn't felt 100% yesterday and today so created the 'long straw' to minimize exertion.

watchful wimber

Sometimes Wimber likes to sit on the walkway that goes between our bedrooms to overlook the activity in the great room below.

isaiah studying

Isaiah is beginning to really take this college prep stuff seriously.

downtown cincinnati

Here's a picture across the Ohio River (toward Kentucky) in downtown Cincinnati.

freedom center

Barb, Angela and I had a real nice day. After doing some service stuff this morning we went downtown to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. It was pretty interesting. After that we ate at PF Chang's - DELICIOUS!!!

Isaiah's Music

We finally got back some recordings Isaiah made with Katie Bustamante while we lived in Germany. Both songs are by Kelly Clarkson.

The first is Because of You and the second is Beautiful Disaster.

singapore nightlife

Here's a picture of me two weeks ago in Singapore down by the famous Fullerton Hotel. Singapore is a wonderful international city of about 4 million. I had a lot of fun there.