2021-12-31
Thinking back on our crazy stunts, I guess we thought the ride and the view would be worth it!
In this shot, I have just ran off the side of the Swiss Alps in 2001 and taken flight. You can see my buddy Mike out ahead of me a little (canopy in the lower right of the picture). It was a beautiful and smooth ride for sure.
RetroBlog 2001-06-25
2021-12-30
Julie’s birthday
It was a different kind of holiday and birthday this year for sure. Julie doesn't have either of her parents around any more. She and I both had Covid19. Andy was out of town visiting Hannah's extended family in Georgia. But we still managed to find time and energy to celebrate Julie's special day. We are here for each other and making the best of it. It was nice to have Johnny over to laugh with while Julie opened her presents. It was fun that he was excited and maybe a little jealous of some of her presents too… ;)
Back in current day, you see Zoe concerned about the sunrise…
She jumped up on my lap and was very intently watching the western sky grow lighter as the sun rose in the east. She even let out a few small half barks at her concern for what was happening…. silly dog!
Going back in time again, I had another chance to go to Switzerland for work.
This time, Julie was pregnant with Johnny, so it wasn't advisable for her to go along. At the last minute, my friend Mike decided to join me. We had a blast including lucking into a first class return trip AND some bonus cash. Somehow we managed to talk each other into jumping off the same mountain that Julie and I had the previous fall…. In the top picture, you can see him almost paying attention to the safety briefing. In the bottom picture you get a feel for our launch point, I was next up! I'm not sure WHAT we were thinking…
RetroBlog 2001-06-21
2021-12-29
Just a cute picture of one of Julie’s current rehab critters.
This is Chipster Dufus just hanging out and watching his world. He should be able to be released in the spring. Maybe he and Chippy will find each other?
I left out one picture from our trip to Switzerland…
We stayed over a night in Paris, on the way there. That gave us a few hours to see the city. We enjoyed a trip to the Eiffel Tower and I captured this picture I really love.
RetroBlog 2000-09-04
2021-12-28
Andy managed to snag a Lego Tumbler from Jungle Jim’s for Julie for Christmas!
She used her downtime over Christmas to get it all put together. It's pretty epic!
It was fun getting Julie a replacement keyboard for Christmas.
The best part was capturing this picture of the sunset while I was getting it home…. It didn't quite fit in my car, so I rolled the window down, cranked up the heat along with some Christmas music and headed home!
2021-12-27
When I feel better, I’ll be taking THIS out back to play!
Julie bought me this awesome dueling tree for Christmas!
Christmas was a little different this year.
Some of us couldn't attend in person due to illness, so we did a gift exchange out of the back of our car then Julie and I participated over FaceTime. We got some of vibe still and enjoyed it. I like how Isaaac used some of his stocking gifts to tie Andy's phone up so we could join in. I do love the picture my mom got of her with all her grandkids.
I was digging out some of my archived prints to find info on my grandpa’s 1963 Cadillac
So I thought I would show them here. He was the original owner and won many car shows with this beauty. The best part is he would drive it around town too. I remember going to church in it when we would visit.
I took these pictures sometime around 1999 or so when he was considering selling it and I wanted to make sure we had it captured on film.
2021-12-26
Zoe managed to get in most of the Christmas pictures!
And Andy added a few more pieces to his amazing fashion sense…
2021-12-25
The shepherd’s wife
We saw this video at church last weekend. I thought it gave an interesting perspective. Christ came to save us all. He announced the news to common people. Have you accepted his gift? Do you know the eternal peace and hope? Reach out if you want to know more, I would be happy to share!
My first Father’s Day! Great memories.
My mom and dad went with Julie and me to see a Dragon's game. I caught this ball. It's the only one I've ever caught. I was a daddy for the first time on Father's Day and excitedly awaiting the arrival of our baby.
I still have that ball. It has a place of honor on my shelf of memories. Even funnier, I sill have that hat! Twenty years later and it's still a favorite!
Time has gone by fast, but I committed that I would love my kids and be a good dad. My kids tell me I am. Haha.
RetroBlog 2001-06-22
I remember this moment well.
My dad was proud and happy. I felt like I'd arrived as a husband and now daddy. I think we both did. :)
I think that dog is a friend of ours that we were watching while thy were on vacation.
RetroBlog 2001-05-12
We decided we better start telling our parents the good news I guess…
Here comes Johnny! We waited to make sure the doctor agreed we were pregnant (haha) and that we got through the first trimester or so.
RetroBlog 2001-05-12
2021-12-24
Remember the reason for the season!
The birth of Christ and him coming to earth as a sacrifice so that death is crushed to death and life is ours to live!
This is a great view of the manger scene in the fireplace woodbox at Julie's childhood home.
This is a great view of the manger scene in the fireplace woodbox at Julie's childhood home.
But did you notice the cat! Hahaha. Nanette sent us this so we could see what Julie's Mom's cat Toby was up to.
Jeff Pedro hanging out in the range…
We were testing some shotgun shells made with his ashes, the smoke lingered while we shot the league. Better yet, we used one of his guns. The Mossberg Showckwave They are working up a nice presentation for the family. We sure miss him! Even Johnny noticed and commented that it just isn't the same without him around.
Thunder over Louisville!
I was getting a little better at capturing fireworks with my digital camera the second time around back in 2001. The lower left is the Gallery House Bed & Breakfast were we stayed each year. The city sure put on a nice show! They filled the 2nd street bridge and dozens of barges on both sides with fireworks.
RetroBlog 2001-04-24
2021-12-23
What we didn’t know, while we were celebrating our anniversary…
…was that we had already added Johnny to our family! Of course, it doesn't count until you have TWO tests to confirm. Haha. It's been over twenty years we've had him! I look like such a kid in this pic! I guess I was! Looking back, I guess I was. We had no idea what we were doing! New parents never do. About the time you figure it out, the kids are gone. Even then, you only made do.
I'm proud of the way our boys turned out in spite of our lack of experience!
RetroBlog 2001-04-07
Julie has always liked stargazer lilies.
They were in our wedding. I've always made a habit of celebrating our anniversary together AND getting her some of the flowers too. This was for our anniversary in 2001. We've been close friends since 1985 (36 years), dated since 89 (32 years), and been married for over 28 years. That's a long time, and it seems to be working out well for both of us!
RetroBlog 2001-04-02
Look at these two love-birds!
I scanned these in back in 2001, but the picture is from way back in the nineteen hundreds, haha. Sometime in 1993!
I guess we decided to keep each other. It's great all fun we've had, the memories we've made, and the hills we've climbed together. I love you girl!
I guess we decided to keep each other. It's great all fun we've had, the memories we've made, and the hills we've climbed together. I love you girl!
RetroBlog 2001-02-18 (circa 1993)
2021-12-22
We enjoyed getting the gang together to celebrate Johnny graduating from college
It's was nice to have all the kids back from college and work to join us! It's really fun to see how their various schooling and career choices are taking shape. We're proud of Andy and his plumbing business pursuits, Johnny working/paying his way through graphic design schooling, Savannah having her full-time job already and Hannah finishing up high school while working and planning for the future too. We have great kids and it's always good to get together and enjoy US!
It’s not often you get to see yourself in professional pics in your shooting competitions…
Luckily I have a nephew photographer in my back pocket. ;) He wanted to check out what our league was all about and test out his fancy new camera too.
2021-12-21
Cognex gave EVERYONE a nice Christmas gift card this year.
Julie and I used ours to have a NICE night out on the town in Cincinnati. Morton's Steakhouse on the fourth floor of the Carew Tower. It was a great meal and our seats gave us a really nice view of the square. I even liked the little pewter pig candle holder.
NCAA fun
Back in 2001, Dayton hosted the open round of the NCAA men's basketball college playoffs. Steve managed to get Josh and me tickets. Good times.
RetroBlog 2001-04-14
2021-12-20
The reason for the season, Christ!
In church this week we heard the story of the announcement of Christ's birth from the perspective of a shepherd's wife. It got me thinking about how what Christ offered affects us, the common man, those he came to save, all of us! O come let us adore him indeed!
Spring sprung back in 2001
It was fun to watch this little honey bee gathering pollen and capture this picture while she did.
RetroBlog 2001-03-20
2021-12-19
Christmas trees present in an office I used earlier this week.
It's fun to see the decorations and the reflection of the light in the stone, but don't forget the real reason for the season! God sending his done to die for us and forgive us of our sins! If you don't know him, ask me, I will tell you how to and about how he's worked in my life!
Christmas from ages past.
Janice always loved to decorate at Christmas. This was her pretty tree and family room from 2000. I miss her!
RetroBlog 2000-12-24
Back in 2001, I was figuring out what all I could capture with my digital camera.
This was from a trip to the Newport Acquarium. I was pretty happy that I could get enough light to see his colors and stop most of his motion. It took some work, I had to manually focus, preset the exposure, follow the motion with and hold steady, but it ended up working pretty well.
RetroBlog 2001-03-05
2021-12-18
“All” the fur kids hanging with me during work a week ago…
It's almost as crazy as when the boys were younger!
I went to lunch in Detroit and enjoyed barbecue under the Barton Tower…
It was a ways off in the picture so I zoomed in and wrote beside it so you could "see" what it said. My empire is so big I didn't even realize I owned a seventies apartment high rise! Haha.
All the bad weather over the last week brought back memories of the tornado in Xenia from 2001
My dad and I helped through the night with generators and communication equipment. Some of the houses were wiped out for the second time and still got hit again in the more recent Memorial Day spat…
RetroBlog 2001-03-05
2021-12-17
Johnny joined us at the league competition this week.
It was nice for him to have time. Everyone was THRILLED to see him again. We had a backup gun stage that was really interesting and fun. It's nice to see my fiends so excited to see my boys again! We got many compliments too. They're good kids!
I always want to get a decent picture of the bridge to Canada.
But I guess this one from the highway will have to do. I visited Detroit last week and saw it again. It reminds me of all the back and forth trips I used to make to that area to support big three auto.
Going back in time you find our old friend Patty-O Possum visiting our back porch at the old house!
He would come up and snack on the dog food crumbs. Julie came up with that name which was a great play on words. He visited off and on for a many years. It was fun to see him there. We usually only caught a flash of his fur or tail, but one night, I got a picture.
RetroBlog 2001-03-05
2021-12-16
2021-12-15
Another scene from the Cirque Christmas.
Great feats of skill and strength, nice Christmas music, and good scenery work all combined to make a fun show.
It was fun to get a glimpse into the last day of college for Johnny.
This is some of his friend group that has stuck together since that first summer remote class when they got a jump start on their classes during Covid 2020. Johnny and Savannah are on the left.
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