Long Time...

As everyone who bothers to look at this blog knows, Grandpa Burt passed away in early March. I've wanted to update this blog for a long time, but the truth is that he was the person we set up this blog for - so he could easily see pictures of the family and share them with his friends. All past attempts to update have gone unfinished. Therefor it is kind of hard to get back into it.

Hopefully this time we'll get it done.

So, it has been a while now and most things are back to normal. Still have a lot to do with his estate and still have to deal with the memories and the big hole in our lives.
and I thought I'd start by putting up some pictures from the last 5 months up. When I get the stomach for it, I'll put up some picture of Grandpa Burt from his photos, and of poor Tisza who left us about the same time.

On to cute pictures of children:



For Daddy's birthday went took a trip up to the Verde Valley to visit with Heidi's Dad and Sarah and go to the "Out of Africa" animal park. A very cool place, when it is not raining. Well it was raining and cold and windy. So we didn't see too many animals. But the people in the park were very nice and brought some reptiles down to the gift store and Ben got to hold a VERY big snake.



Andrew took his first Parks and Recreation class. This was kind of a survey of sports. He did very well at all of them, and liked basketball and t-ball the best.


The last bunch of months have been hard on everyone. Ben and Andrew have been great troopers and have grown even closer. Although the fight every once and a while, they generally get along very well, especially when they are exhausted. This is what happened when they went into Mommy and Daddy's room to watch cartoons one afternoon.


When it is hot outside, you have to come up with fun stuff to do inside. One weekend Molly and Shenea decided it was time to give Mrs. Miller a makeover. Ben decided that he could play the part of a high-dollar hair dresser and Andrew helped by primping hair.


Ben and Andrew had a nice easter. We hid eggs in the cactus and they carefully hunted them.


A nice shot of Andrew at his Great Aunt Loretta's house. He mugs just a little for the camera.




While in Fresno, we took some time to visit the zoo where Uncle Bo works. A very nice zoo. Just the right size and lots of cool animals. One of the best parts was feeding the Giraffes.



Hard to believe, but somewhere this summer Ben turned 9! Such a big boy now. We had lots of fun at his birthday party and he got some cool gifts, including more Legos. He even had his first big sleepover with a bunch of friends. Good fun.


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For vacation this year, we went to Uncle Bruce's south of San Jose. Everyone was there for the 4th of July week. The highlight was a great part on the 4th on top of a mountain (where we met Backer the wonder Poodle) and Ben got to scuba dive at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

For the following week, Daddy went home while Andrew and Ben took part in a musical theater summer camp (CMT) that Uncle Bruce's good friend, and Pastor's husband, runs. We were lucky in that they let Andrew in even though he was kind of young. They had a great time and the performance was fantastic. (If I get the time, I'll post some video of them singing) Ben played a Giant (Jee-aunt!) and had a pretty big part. Andrew was a very fierce dragon!

After that Heidi and the boys went up to Sacramento to hang out with friends. No pictures unfortunately.

Anyhow, here are the shots that are worth sharing from our summer vacation, in no particular order:


We made a trip to the tidal pools north of Half Moon Bay. Lots of cool creatures and a few fierce crab fights. These pictures include rare sightings of Mommy and Uncle Bruce.


This is Andrew playing with Backer. Silly hairdo but one very cool dog.


We don't have any pictures from the play, but the Sunday after the kids were invited to come and sing at an outdoor service of Uncle Bruce's church. The boys did a great job. As usual, Andrew made a friend at the camp.








The diving thing was awesom. Ben got to put on full gear and float around the tidal pool at the aquarium for about 30 minutes.



Although Ben did all the work at the aquarium, Andrew was the one that passed out at dinner. Zonk! Right on Daddy's leg during lunch.


We got a chance to head up to San Francisco for the day. Not sure if Mommy had much fun but us boys did. We spent the whole time down on the wharf climbing over and inside ships. This is Andrew and Ben manning the AA gun on the top of the liberty ship they have there.




Ben, Andrew and Daddy decided to finish up our day in San Francisco by taking a bay cruise. Mommy stayed on shore and enjoyed a nice sea food dinner. We cruised out past Alcatraz to Marin then back. A fantastic trip and fun was had by all.

Well, there it is! Let us know if you have any feedback or comments!
- Eric