Father's Day

Nothing like a little peer pressure from Julia to get us back on the "blog" wagon! Did anyone else get an email from Julia this afternoon? Ahem!!
Joanna and one of her 5, count 'em, FIVE roommates came over for lunch after church. They actually "scooted" over from their abode which is, oh, let's say, perhaps 25 mi. from our abode. Scroll down to see how they got here.
Well, at least they wore helmets and traveled mostly the backroads and the ferry. But, I digress...
The highlight of Father's Day: our kids gave John an IPOD with all the bells and whistles. He had been using Hillary's for the past few wks. as he wanted to listen to some sermons while he's at work on a remodeling job. Today, before Joanna and Katie got here, and before he opened his presents, John decided he wanted Hillary to teach him how to load things onto her IPOD. Hilly very patiently sat with him and went through the process knowing full well he would soon be opening his IPOD which she had surreptitiously loaded with his fave CD's and podcasts and then wrapped for him to open today :>)


Joanna gave her daddy an IPOD 101 crash course.

Did I say crash? Silly me especially as I think of how Joanna and Katie got to our house today. Let's just say this mom was glad I didn't know their mode of transportation until they got here. Now, I'm waiting for a phone call when they get safely back to their place. Granted, the little Tripod or Trident or whatever it's called only goes about 20 mph and it does only take $1.97 to fill its tank and they are taking the backroads. I know what you're thinking because I'm thinking it too! Just don't say it and just don't show the scooter pictures to mom/grandma :>) Like I always say, "Parenting keeps you humble. It keeps you on your knees." AND I'll just say one more thing about that: remember the rides in your dryer?? Okay, not quite equal because the dryer was still in the house.... nevermind! Ooh, just got the phone call they made it safely back home. Now I'll be able to sleep. Hope you all had a nice day! We'll see you in a little over a week!! Jo's in the yellow with her ultra-cool shades.

Angelina and Brad Caught on Film!

We can't go anywhere without that darned papparazi finding us! Here we are in disguise as bicyclists attending the grand opening of the new Soroptomist park last Saturday where we just donated $1 million.

New Feature on our blog

You may have noticed that I added a new feature to our blog. It is favorite books. I entered the first book title which has the words "Silver Needle" in the name. You might guess that it is about sewing/quilting but it is not. Silver Needle is the name of a tea. Laura Childs writes books about a fictitious tea shop but if you ever read one in this series you would wish it was real! Get it at your local library!

Emily (Bronte) Abraham Writes for Anxious Public!

Our own Emily Abraham co-wrote a play that was chosen to be performed in Sacramento. For details see the link below to the Sacramento Bee article!

B Street actors, l-r, Mike Pollock, dressed as a bear, Mike Nardelli, as Ranger Rick, Julie Marchiano, and Tracy Power as sisters who are camping in the play perform in "Lost and Clueless" at Marina Village Interm school on Monday, May 11, 2009. Marina Village Interm school students Emily Abraham and Alison Bramford co-wrote a play, "Lost and Clueless." The B Street Theatre is taking their one act play around to other area schools as part of its Fantasy Festival - the 23rd year the theatre has produced kid-written plays for kids.

http://www.sacbee.com/livinghere/story/1888836-p2.html

They're Off!

John and William officially began their BIG BIKE RIDE TO CALIFORNIA on Saturday afternoon, May 2nd. We drove them and their traveling companions, Adam and Andy, another set of twin brothers, to the coast where John helped them set up camp at a Biker/Hiker campsite. They rode about 30 miles on Sunday despite William's blown tire, the tire, not the tube. He found a new use for duct tape and off they went. They went another 40 or so today. Two miles of that were walked rather than biked because of that pesky tire. They're hunkered down at another campsite and hope to get a new tire in the morning. It's rainy out there today so the ride's been wet. They're still enjoying the trip despite the tire and the weather. Ahhh...to be young again!!
I apologize for the lack of photos. I had the camera but just didn't feel like taking pictures as they set up camp in the rain.

Clarktastic!

Grandma and Clark



Aunt Mimi and Clark

Grandpa and Clark

Clark and his fan club!

I had a great week with Ben, Alli and Clark. I got lots of quality time with Clark even if some of it was in the wee hours. He is a great baby and Alli and Ben are very comfortable with a newborn and are making their way just fine. Can't wait to see him when he comes to see us in July when we add another boy to our family! Big year for us!

Clark is Finally Here!

I know all of you have probably seen all of the pictures of Clark on our blog, but just in case, here is one from this morning. Clark and I got to spend some daddy/baby bonding time while mommy slept in.