Next Stop...

So as Summer rapidly approaches, it is time to start getting excited about the (too) many trips we have planned this year. Here is a summary of what is coming up between the last week of May and Labor Day:

• Visit Susie and Adam in Colorado (as well as the many others from my family that have moved there)
• Camping for the weekend (June)
• Traci to St. Louis for PartyLite National Convention (July)
• Camping (July)
• Traci and I on a cruise (August)
• Guys weekend (for me and a couple of friends) in Boston

Needless to say, there is a lot coming up and although it will probably get crazy. It will be nice in the sense that Traci and I will have time alone with the girls, as will the grandparents. We also will be travelling with the girls on a few of the trips, which is always fun as well.

Since it will be our first time in Boston, for the three of us going, if you have been there and have any suggestions as to what would be fun, please let me know. We will be taking in a Red Sox game as we are all big baseball fans, and when you have the opportunity to go to the oldest MLB field, you jump on it.

On another note, how about the Dodger Stadium announcement this week. A $500 million renovation to be complete by 2012! Although we (the fans) will probably be the ones paying for it, it will be pretty cool when it is done.

By the way, we got a new camera this week to replace the one we lost. It's essentially the same camera since we're holding out for a much nicer one once we the money for it (hopefully next year). So I should have a picture of me with glasses up fairly soon. I know you're dying with anticipation! TTFN

Update

A lot is happening as is normal in April. Since I last wrote anything, here is what has gone on.

Last week, Courtney became a Christian, which is very exciting. She actually started the conversation by asking Traci if she knew why we celebrated Easter. Courtney then explained what she knew about Easter. Traci used that to talk about what it meant to be a Christian and ultimately helped Courtney ask Jesus into her heart. It's probably the best e-mail I will ever get at work (Traci letting me know it happened)!

My birthday was two days ago and it was pretty low key, which is fine. I went to work like normal and then went out to dinner at BJ's and had a birthday Pizookie. Yum yum! I got one of the coolest gifts ever from my parents. It's a digital scoreboard that keeps track of all Major League Baseball games and updates itself (via free satellite feed) every half inning for every game. It also shows current standings and upcoming schedules for every team. It's also a clock. The only downside to it is that I've had a hard time finding a place in the house where it gets a strong signal. Still, it's awesome.

There was one sad event from the birthday and that is that we lost our camera at BJ's. It appears someone stole it after we left it or dropped it there unknowingly as the restaurant has not had anyone turn it in. There would have been some cute pictures from that night too, but at least the camera is replaceable.

The night before my birthday I was able to take in a Dodger game with my friend Martin, whom I worked with at UAL. It was fun catching up with him, especially since he just became a dad in November. It was also a good game as the Dodger won 11-2!

I had my annual eye exam a couple weeks ago. Now I'm seeing things in a new way...I have glasses. I just picked them up today and am still getting used to them. There is not a big difference in my vision, but the edges on things are sharper now. I told Traci I'm bringing sexy to nerds! There may not have been a nerd this sexy since since "Revenge of the Nerds!" Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating, but I'm now an official nerd. If we had a digital camera, I would post a picture so you could see the new me. Eventually, I'll get one up.

I joined the gym (24 Hour Fitness) a couple weeks ago. I've gone a few times now and it feels good, but free time to actually go is hard to come by lately. After all it's April. if all goes, well, I'll be dropping weight as I make it more of a habit to get to the gym. Traci and I have been taking advantage of the kid care there as well so we can work out at the same time. It's pretty cool. $2 / kid / 2 hours...not bad at all!

Tomorrow is the annual (sometimes 2x per year) paintball outing. I already feel a little sore from the gym today, but I'll be in pain after tomorrow anyway probably, so no big deal I guess. it should be fun. And for the first time ever, I think, it's not supposed to be in the 90's! It's actually only supposed to be upper 60's. Sounds like good weather for paintball.

The birthday madness of April continues as Traci and the girls are going to a birthday party tomorrow while I'm being pelted. Then we go to another one on Sunday in Corona (literally just a few minutes/miles from the paintball field...it's a Corona weekend)!

That's all for now. Have a great weekend and keep rooting for the Dodgers!

Last Weekend, Part 2

In addition to the Dodgers Coliseum game, last weekend was our church's third annual Serve Weekend. I was a project leader for the third time in as many years, but unfortunately, I had to cancel my project a week before we were supposed to do it. However, I think that was all part of God's plans.

I am also on the leadership team at our church for Serve Weekend and was fortunate enough to be able to go around to about a half dozen projects on Saturday (before the Dodger game) and what a blessing that was!

I don't think I can put into words how moved I was at our first and last stops of the day. The first stop was the largest project of this year. About 70 people were working on a lady's house which was in violation of city codes. Picture paint chipping all around the house as well and 5-6 foot tall Dandelions and a large variety of other shrubs and weeds that nearly made the house invisible from the street. The manpower and effort supplied by God through the 70+ volunteers on this project was overwhelming. It looked like a whole new house and property when they finished. You can actually see some of the pictures at the Serve Weekend Picture site here.

The last project we visited was one that was taking place at First Day. This a home for the homeless where they can live for up to 6 months and work on getting back on their feet again. I had heard a lot about it from the previous Serve Weekends but had never been there. It is truly an amazing place. There are 45 current residents. Again, I can't describe what it was like visiting there, but I am amazed at the strength the people have there, both the residents and the staff.

Serve Weekend is being taken to the next level in our area this year as in mid-May, at least 15 other churches in Whittier will be doing their own Serve Weekend and we are working with them to make sure they are successful. It's very exciting to see this happening and of course it helps when one of Whittier's City Council members is fully on board with this! (He attends one of the other churches that will be participating in the next round of Serve Weekend.)

So, needless to say, last weekend was very busy, but well worth the busyness. God is doing great things in our community and I couldn't be more happy to be a small part and witness of it.

Last Weekend, Part 1

Last weekend was a very long weekend. I will focus on the Dodger experience last weekend, which was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, or so we assume it to be. In case you didn't know, this is the Dodgers 50th anniversary of moving to LA. They played their first season in Los Angeles in 1958. Since Dodger Stadium did not open until 1962, they played in the Coliseum from 1958-1961 (even winning a World Series there in 1959). Until this past weekend, the largest attendance ever at a baseball game was an exhibition game between the Dodgers and Yankees which drew 93,103 fans. This past Saturday shattered that record with attendance at 115,300 (also an exhibition game)! We were fortunate enough to be there, but the experience was less than pleasant.


We made the poor choice of parking at Dodger Stadium for free and taking the free shuttle to the Coliseum from there. We waited in line for 1 hour and 20 minutes after parking at about 5:00 for the 7:10 game. Ultimately, we got into the Coliseum in the bottom of the 1st inning.

Getting into the stadium was an adventure worth forgetting all by itself. We stopped at the porta-potties outside the stadium. They were pretty nasty, not to mention almost overflowing. Once we made it inside, the congestion of people got so bad at one point that we were shoulder to shoulder and hip to hip with everyone else, all the while, the poor girls were walking while holding our hands. It got too bad to let them continue walking so Traci picked up Skyler and my dad picked up Courtney. I was very scared for them as it was very unsafe. Finally we got to our section and hiked up to our seats in row 81. Yes, that was row 81! And to top it all off, we were as middle of the row as we could be. I settled down for minute and then went with my dad back down to get food. Which meant another hike up to our seats.


Since Courtney didn't go to the bathroom in the portables (can't blame her!), she finally decided she had to go. Fortunately, my mom volunteered to take her. So from the 3rd through 6th innings, I was actually able to watch the game.


With all the madness, we decided we better try to leave early. Normally, I detest leaving early, but under the circumstances, I agreed with Traci that it was the right thing to do. So top of the 7th we hike down and out of the stadium to get in line for the bus back to Dodger Stadium...out of the stadium, along the street following the ginormous line, and then nearly back to the coliseum for the end of the line. We get in line at 9:30. Total wait time...1 hour 45 minutes. So we're on the bus back to Dodger Stadium at 11:15, with both girls already asleep (and my back killing me from holding Courtney). Ultimately we get home around 12:30 and of course the slept until about...oh...7:00. Oh well.


So as you can tell it is not an experience I want to go through again. However, it was pretty cool seeing the game in a different place, with a very odd field shape. To give you an idea of our view, as well as the fun we did have, I'm including some pictures here. I hope you enjoy them. And at least the rest of the weekend was beyond outstanding...look for more info in Part 2 coming soon. Enjoy the pictures! Oh by the way, the coolest part of the night was seeing all 115,300 doing the wave. That was certainly a sight to be seen. Extra points to whoever started that one! The last two pictures were our attempt to capture the wave in a picture. And how often do you see the players from both teams doing the wave? That was pretty cool too.