Happy Anniversary, Darling

I haven't gotten online for this since Thursday, so I'll post it now. I had a great time with you the other night. You are my life=partner, my best friend, the chocolate chips in my chocolate chip cookies, and My darling wife. I love you.

Thursday was our 20th anniversary. for those of you with more time in, I hope you've been as blessed as I have. For thoses who haven't, I'd say work on it and it'll be fun. This is currently the best time of our lives so far. It hasn't always been good, but we've come through a lot and are having fun being together now. I am overwhelmed how great Laurie is.

I worked and she didn't thursday. She met me in Grand Forks and we went to the Bronze Boot for dinner. It is one of those restaurants that looks like it's heyday was 40 years ago. Neon framed boot and all. 50's style architecture. However, inside it is clean, and nice. Thiis place really knows how to cook a steak. They cut their own, and is a place where we go for special occasions. A nice dinner and the server, whom I believe may be one of the owners, is very nice. she brought us a double dish of ice cream, toppings and two spoons to help us celebrate.

I was just thinking about the kids on Thursday, too. Laurie and I went to Disneyland for our honeymoon and then we went there when we were in San Diego this winter as a celebration of the 20 years. But I remembered the times we took the kids, too. Jeremiah and Alex's first time right after Eliza was born and we left her with Nana. We were working for a property management company out of L.A. at the time and we told the boys we had a meeting up there and had no one to look after them all day. We left early and they slept most of the time, but we got to L.A. early amid whines of "Are we there, yet?" And them we pulled into the vast parking lot of Disneyland and the lok on their eyes was priceless. A whirlwind day running from one ride to the next and having one of the best times of my life. Jeremiah pulling the sword from the stone, eating at the Blue Bayou. All of us one my favorite ride, the Pirates of the Carribean. We went to Tom Sawyer island and as soon as we stepped off the little raft, Jeremiah took of and got lost. We found him 10 minutes later with security and wet cheeks. Alex in a stroller, fell asleep during the Electrical Parade. and screaming during the fireworks. We opened and closed it that day. It was great.

Happy Birthday, David

There are only a few birthdays I actually remember. I almost always realize when they come but usually forget to say anything until it's past. Feb. 28th was my brother David's birthday. Assuming that he still celebrates it in some fashion, I want to publicly wish him a happy birthday.

If you'd like to do something for him, and yourself, go to the following website:

www.greenskypress.com

and read some of his stories. He lives in San Diego and we wish him the happiest of times.

Vacation.....Gotta Get Away

I wonder if this is what the Go-gos meant? Thanksgiving was fun, and we all ate a lot. Most of Laurie's family was there and everybody behaved. Later we played Mexican train and had dessert. Just a typical holiday, but we haven't been home for this time of year since we moved to ND so it was kind of special. Friday Laurie and I went to Old Town and walked around a looked at the shops. It has kind of grown up. It was always a tourist draw, but now it's more apparently commercial. Not bad though. Walking down the street, we passed the Whaley House, a landmark and famous haunted house. We didn't feel like going in this time. Later we passed the Chuck Jones gallery and found it pretty amazing. There were a lot of Dr. Suess paintings on display as well as Jones' work from his Warner Bros. days and his work on Dr. Suess' animated stories like the Grinch. There was also some great work by a few other artists. One amazing set of paintings and scuptures were by Markus Pierson. His work is centered on this coyote character. It's ahrd to explain, the work is kind of dark but not negative. A lot of hope, dreams, and love. I'd suggest visiting the CJ Gallery website or Pierson's to see more. They are really amazing. After all this we walked around the Old Town Square and saw some great shops as well as a Wells Fargo exhibit. Pretty cool. We met later with Gary and had dinner at Chevy's in Mission Valley. An okay restaurant. They don't serve shredded beef so that was disapointing and the Carnitas (hsredded pork) was a bit fatty. I thought it was better last time when we went there about two years ago. Oh well. I'll try to post a bunch of pictures soon. Later.

Anniversary Passed!

August 8th was the anniversary of our moving to North Dakota! Has it really been 12 Years? I've only been back to San Diego twice but we're going back this fall. A lot of memories, kids growing up, adjusting to new weather, different houses and towns, a great church, and now, Laurie's fantastic new career and my current job that's a departure from what I've always done. Wow... We first moved to Devils Lake into an apartment where some friends of Laurie's lived, Then moved to this house uptown. It had been fixed so two small families could live in it. One in the basement. We've become friends of the landlord and always stop to talk with them when we see them. The house was weird so we moved into this 80 yaer old huge house near downtown. It had one time been 5 apartments but was originally a single family dwelling. Here is where we spent most of our time in ND. Laurie eventually locked herself in the attic that was very big and studied for a year or so when she got into nursing school. It was here that we went through most of the troubles of raising high-spirited children. Here we lost Jeremiah. Then we moved outside Petersburg to our current place. 28 acres of hay and insects. There's a lot that needs to be done but I have never felt so at home in my life. I can sit out on the porch at night and listen to nature and sometimes I think I hear God. I know I see has hand out there. One day, it was evening and this fog rolled in. It was so low that it just sat in the channel that runs across our land. The sun was sinking behind it and the hay had been cut but more had grown. It was magnificent but faded before I could break my rapture and get a camera. One night I was coming back from the barn and walking towards the front of the house. It was lit up from the yard lights and there was this gigantic full moon just above the garage. I had no equipment capable of capturing such a sight but it was wonderous. It's August late, so football's starting which means the weather is changing. We'll be watching for tornadoes and soon the deer will be everywhere. I am so thankful for what I have. I know it really doesn't belong to me, God is just letting me use it. But until he calls me to a better place, I'll cherish this one. Selah.