Last wedding of the year

Yes I will have one more blog post before I turn 29 (tomorrow). I do not think that 29 is much different than 28 except maybe now I will stop getting carded while attempting to buy regulated merchandise (beer).

This weekend we went to the last of the three weddings we were invited to this summer. I am not sure why, but I actually do like weddings...wait that isn't quite accurate...I like wedding receptions-alot. Our new neighbors in our triplex are actually friends and it was their wedding that rounded out the summer of love. Will and Jenny had a great wedding and it was in beautiful Los Gatos.
Here is the blushing bride and groom.

Another picture...not in chronological order.

Reception dancing is where Brenda can always be found, and even though the music was not based on 80's hair bands, I did have a good time as well. I am rarely in pictures due to the fact that it apparently is my job to document the "Life and Times of Brenda".

Thriller by MJ always brings out the best in everyone.
YMCA...Good times.

Drew had a very good time and thought that it was warm enough to just sport the vest.. and armbands of course.

I had to put this picture in because it is the worst picture I have ever seen of Mindy, and Harry seems a bit confused.

Brenda playing the air guitar. I have three pictures of this exact scene played out during all three of our weddings this summer. She is very good at the air guitar. Brenda also wants me to point out that she is wearing her wedding dress...that is the dress she purchased to go to all the weddings in. I guess it may look a bit weird when all of the wedding pictures we have we are both wearing the same clothes. that makes it very hard to tell what wedding the pictures are from, but they are kind of blending together anyway.

Jon Patrick, Sarah, Mindy, and Harry pose for the camera (this is a better picture of Mindy).

Brenda tries to "bring it", but it had already been "brought".

Shaking it up.

These girls love to bang their heads and play the air guitar. Drew and Amy are amazed in the background. When a guy wearing only a vest and sweatbands is amazed at your skills you should be proud.

Here is Drews' brother Kyle and his old lady Heather. They had a great wedding reception a few years back...great...great reception.

Mindy "bustin' a move".


Here is a video of Thriller and the girls acting normal...for a dance.

Air guitar and ACDC, a deadly combination.

Ingredients for a good reception included *free*(a must) Sierra Nevada, great food, awesome DJ, and a few hours.

A quick blurb about the bay area rapid transit (BART). For those of you who do not know what this is, it is the public transportation in the bay area. It has been in the news a lot lately because of yet another dumb Union stike warning that didn't happen. I guess it is about 5 days worth of breaking news when there is even talk of a strike (this has happened twice in the past 3wks). Why must I hear about this as if it is going to cause thousands of people to die. Union workers get far too much pay for doing far too little. Health care and retirement union restrictions are killing America and all of the industries where unions are involved. Get a job, do your job, and pay for your own retirement by actually saving something. (this opinion is of course a generalization and places all unions in one category...where there actually may be a union which is needed and does good for everyone...not just its members).

Baby shower...no really.

It has been crazy out here and with all of my work and our slowest Internet since dial up, I have not had a chance to upload many pictures until now.

Two weeks ago I got to go to my very first baby shower(my cousins). Many of you may be saying, lucky John...I bet he had fun. Well, I was not a huge fan of the games, but sometimes you got to be a good sport and play along. It really was not that bad, and I did have a great time swimming and chilling with the extended family. It was well worth the trip to Davis and we got to send out cousins off in style (they are moving to England).
Brenda got 3rd in the baby game and she liked her prize.

Brenda with our cousin Cara(she is the one moving). They are both posing with their Diabetes trophies. Brenda got diamonds for keeping her A1C low and Cara got pregnant. I never would have thought that I got a good deal buying diamonds...but considering the alternative.

Matt and Cara and us. We really get along well and have a great time together.

The classic baby clothesline gift (this is now standard for Brenda and usually goes over well).

Jakey loved the ice cream and he also loved to swim(or sink is what he did better).

Last weekend we went on a hike near big sur with the 18-20something group from our church. We went up a river and hung out climbing over all of the rocks. We took the motorcycle down there and it was a perfect day for a ride.

The guys on top of a rock.

Trying to go up the river valley.

Ciki getting some sun on a rock.

So instead of paying $350 for a new backrest on the motorcycle and another $300 to get the seat reupholstered...I thought I would try and do it myself. I got a $20 piece of vinyl and some more foam to fix the seat and it too about 3 hours, but I got it covered and it looks almost as good as new. It is a lot better than paying 300 bones.

For the backrest I got two pieces of angle brackets, and then put a piece of wood between. Then I covered it with foam and vinyl and bam...for $10 I got a backrest. I also thought that I would make a little cargo rack. An old aluminum rectangular sign did the trick and then I mounted a few things on it and drilled a few holes and bam..done. All in all I spent about $40 to save $650+. It may not look expert, but I think it is pretty cool and functional.

Seat looks professional...right?

Here is the cargo rack that I built out of an old aluminum sign I found. It works out pretty well and I hope to try it's functionality soon on a camping trip.

Yet another view.

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.