The Privacy Fence

Some time last year, or maybe it was the year before, I thought about how much nicer our back yard would be if we put up a privacy fence along the South border.  At first Kelli was against it, though I’m not sure if she had any real reasons or if she was simply being [...]

Caleb (and the rest of us) meets Jonas

Caleb had just turned 3 weeks old when he was no longer the newest edition in our extended family.  At 3:24am on Thursday morning his younger cousin Jonas Allen was born, weighing 7 pounds, 8 ounces.  I don’t recall knowing what his middle name would be.  Allen is a tribute to our late Grandma Allen. [...]

Caleb’s Birth Story

Editor’s Note:  It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to make a proper posting.  But unlike previous delays this one has good reason.  Our son has been born and we have been, understandably, been busy with all things related to this event.  Having said that, the following is an account of Caleb’s birth, [...]

All We Need Now Is the Baby…

It is finally safe to say that our nursery is complete.  All we’re missing is the baby, which hopefully will be coming soon.  Right now, we’re down to just five days until the due date but who knows when it will really happen. Here are some pictures of the nursery.  We weren’t really too keen [...]

07/27/2010 – 07/28/2010 – Lassen Volcanic National Park and Death Valley National Park

Before our trip began, neither one of us had even heard of Lassen Volcanic National Park.  It’s one of the lesser known parks in Northern, Central California.  As we were trying to figure out how we were going to get back down south to some of the other parks we wanted to visit, we spotted [...]

The Backyard Patio

Our backyard was, and is, a mess.  The ground was lumpy and the soil is pretty much straight clay.  This makes it very difficult to enjoy the backyard since every time you walk back there your shoes are getting soaked.  On top of that, with record rains so far this year, it’s even worse. One [...]

07/26/2010 – 07/27/2010 – Redwood National Park

Editor’s Note:  This is a continuing series of posts, in an attempt to record the experiences and details of a Great West Tour:2010 traveled by Kelli and me.  Redwood National Park is a little bit different than any of the other National Parks that I’ve visited in that the park is jointly managed by the [...]

07/25/2010 – Up the Coast

Having taken in a couple of days of the sleeping in hotels or our friends’ apartment, it was time to head back out on the open road.  Up next, we planned to drive up the coast on Highway 1, stopping whenever we saw something interesting, and eventually making it to the Redwood forests of Northern [...]

Work Baby Shower

Just wanted to give a quick “shout out” to my co-workers.  A couple of weeks ago they surprised Kelli and I with a bombardment of gifts for our baby.  Things like burp cloths, clothes, “onesies”, diapers, toys, and bath stuff.  It was really really nice. On top of that, this week, on Wednesday they through [...]

The Babymoon

Apparently, this is all the rage when it comes to couples that are expecting.  Before the child comes, go on a “babymoon” where couples can spend time together while they are still free to “pick up and go”. Of course, Kelli and I weren’t going to venture out too far, we still have much to [...]