The past week

This past week we went out to the great Midwest. I say great without any hint of sarcasm this time because the weather was perfect and it was very relaxing. We flew to Omaha on Thursday and drove to Sioux Falls and staying with Ben and Laura (who share a backyard with Paul and Kevin). Ben and Laura just had twins not too long ago and it was great to see them. Those kids almost never cried and were cute so the stay was way more relaxing then I thought it would be.

Brenda and her old roomies with their children. Brenda is only holding one for the picture and has no intention of getting one of her own.

Besides seeing family the other reason we went out there is to see the second of my six college roommates get married. Eric and Rebecca’s wedding was great. As the pictures below show we had a great time.

Greg and his family...It did not take him long after the wedding day to get a kid (very adorable family).

Big pimping in a caddy after the ceremony. His brother forgot to unlock the doors ahead of time...dumb Brian.

Here is the happy couple...and Eric and Rebecca as well.

Hooker has a new girl now and here they are together...Eric, where is your other hand and why are you smiling???

Brenda loves to "bust moves" on the dance floor. We owned that place and most of the time there was only about 7 people on the floor and every time in included Brenda. By 930 the dance looked like it was going to die, but we kept it going for the next 2 hours (until we were kicked out).

The very rare Paul Lemahieu dancing picture...with moves like this you gotta love the guy.

Dorhout and his new girl. She is way to good for him and he needs to know that.

Another dancing shot. Huisken loves to dance and Brenda commented that she was very impressed.

The after party went till about 2am and then Brenda and I drove back to Sioux Falls.

The next day I drove back to meet up for a lunch BBQ with a few of the guys...You have got to love Brats.

Laura and Ben with Ashton(right) and Addison(left). We made these onsies for the kids one saying Little Mantis and Granger WA, and the other saying Smashing Jalapenos and Crewport WA (the name of Lauras fictional band in high school of which she was a member playing the...you will have to ask her..too riskay for this blog).

We also had a chance to go to the pool with my niece and nephew. They had a great time in the water, and although I got yelled at by a 16yr old my first time down the slide for not following the rules, I also had a great time. The rules state that “children must slide feet first”, and I figured that since all of the rules said children that they did not apply to adults…I was wrong.

Landon with Brenda at the pool. Lots of fun and I loved taking the 3month olds out on the lazy river and soaking them. Laura was very understanding and not hyper protective like a lot of first time parents.

Lyndsay and us in the backyard.

The Carolinas

So last week we were out to see my family and visit the smokies in North and South Carolina. Immediately when we landed we had to stop for some BBQ and Hushpuppies. The food down there is so good and I wanted to eat it all (I also love sweet tea).

Here is Brenda enjoying the last hushpuppy

A view from on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We spent the first two days in NC visiting the smokies and Brenda's Aunt and Uncle.

Here are our hosts. Their house had the greatest view of the Mountains.

One of the small cabins in national park

When we went to visit my family we had a great time and had a chance to mess around with the kids. We went to the Biltmore Mansion and had a great time there. The weather everyone was telling us was hot, but we thought it was perfect.
Here is the Mansion.

My Brother and his family. His kids are perfectly behaved and never had any attitude problems. I hope to be as lucky some day.

The downtown in Greenville is so nice and clean. We had a great time.


Here is a water fountain in the waterfront. We were there and then four girls showed up and they were...bit bigger. They had pretty small bikinis and shorts which they preceded to unbutton and leave half open to try to appear hot. This did not work. It was so weird having all of these kids there and then these girls show up and are taking pictures of themselves in front of the waterfall and in the waterfall...they were ridiculous. I, of course, told Brenda to pose like they were and she did (this was much hotter and she didn't need a bikini...although that would have been nice).

Here are 3 of the four girls. The fouth is taking pictures for the.....the......girls.

Here are the Greenville falls.

Brenda loves to eat...as if you didn't know that already. I love my dads face in this picture. He has no idea what is wrong with Brenda.

Yesterday we went to a wedding in the hills above Santa Cruz. It was perfect weather and the view over the ocean was cool. Free drinks during the appetizers helped us all enjoy ourselves.

Here we are...looking quite nice I must say.

The venue.


We did end up cutting a rug...we were the last to leave. This is not the first wedding dance that we have closed down. I am good at the air guitar.

Brenda is better at the air guitar.

Something I am sick of:

Why is it that if you are against gay marriage you are automatically homophobic. Just because you are against something does not mean that you are afraid of it. Gays seem to think that if you are against gay marriage then you are afraid of their lifestyle. This is not the case. I fear no Gay lifestyle, but am simply against gay marriage. By the way I also am against raising the income tax in California to cover the budget gap that our idiotic moron representatives cannot figure out, but as in the case above, I am not afraid of it. I am against Nancy Pelosi (as a person and in general), but in this case I am afraid of her and her shenanigans.