Summer - No Apologies

Ok, I am not even going to apologize for not writting in so long because I know that I will do it again.

It is summer time and we have a lot of things going on - I know I owe you all pictures. we had our family pictures taken by Angie Penrose. I highly recommend her to anyone who would like a real interactive photographer. Her link is right here; www.angiepenrose.blogspot.com My family is on the July 24th date. When I get the rest of the photos I will post a few, those were some that she put up not all the photos that were taken.

Ben is in baseball and loves it. He is still in Pee-wee but this is his last year and will do Little League next summer. Since he is one of the oldest on the team and also his third year playing he is doing much better. His first game he cranked a few hits into deep center field. His coach was pitching the ball so it made it a little more impressive than smacking it off a tee.

Elise and Janie have been spending the night at friends houses so much most of the planning time during our Family nights is devoted to where they are going and what they have planned that week. Thier friends are all becoming part of our family we see them so much and since they are nice and often include cousins, it really is not a bother. They both still do piano, and learning how to sew this summer from my mom. So they are both really staying busy.

Lydia and Natalie are both fun to be around. They are both professional mommy helpers, and sometimes offer help in ways that might be contrary to what mom would like. Thier main activities are mainly playing, watching a show or two, and being with mom.

My only news is that I now sympathsize with Darth Vader. After the insistance of my lovely wife I finally went and had a sleep study done. To her relief I failed it. She knew I snore at night, so it was no suprise to have a doctor prove it. What was suprising was the rest of what was found. It was suspected that I have sleep apnea. My brother-in-law Bret heped get the ball rolling and gave Joleena some info. The sleep study came back and not only proved that I have it, but that I have a sever form of it. I now sleep with my "Darth Vader" breathing machine. Although it does sound that way, Joleena agrees that it is better than the sound of me snoring. for me, the difference with the machine or without is night and day. More energy, not sleeping all the time. Literally, many of you may have seen it, I could literally fall asleep during a conversation with you at times, or driving, or anytime given the chance. But no more. It is like being a new person.

Sorry that it has been such a long time since the last post. Other things in our life sort of out prioritized posting to the blog. We will get the posts more up to date and also add a few pictures.

Christmas with the Family

Even though the Christmas season has passed, my wife and I have a hard time giving it up. Since we didn't have this blog then we thought that it would be fun to post a few things that happened to us during the Holiday.

A good place to start is the traditional visit to Red Barn in Orting, WA. As much of my direct family as possible will get together and go get our Christmas tree. This year we all didn't get one at this time but came to support my sister, Emily and her family since they were here visiting.

My parents and the rest of us love to be together for the Holidays. So any excuse to get together we have a little mini party and invite the rest over. Boeing was kind enough to let me have the whole time from the Friday prior to Christmas to the day after New Years off.

During this time Natalie started to walk and stand on her own. Ben lost two of his teeth, the two on bottom in the front. Aside from those life milestones, Christmas brought many gifts that the kids wanted. Joleena and I were also able to invite our friends, the Kohler family, over to the Christmas Eve Dickson family party. It was nice to share that time with good friends.

She will probably hate us for posting this when she gets older, but this picture is literally minutes after the historic event.