His first full time job now that he's got his college degree. I am proud of both the boys and their pursuits.
2022-01-31
I can’t really believe it!
It's been 34 years since they made it this far… I was just out of High School. And to top it off back then, we had the privilege of cheering them to a loss. ;) I'm not holding my breath. Pro and even college sports have turned me off over the last few years. But it's good to see my old team getting some press again…!
2022-01-30
Happy birthday to Julie!
I bought her tickets to see Hamilton in Dayton. We were waiting for the show to start so I figured I would take a few pics.
So many fun gifts for Johnny
Janice made a new home for Julie's invisible friend, Porpin so that he could keep Johnny company. Laura made this great cross-stitch welcoming Johnny too. It's fun to see all the love for each other on both sides of our family! 
RetroBlog 2002-01-21
Johnny had a great Pooh Bear themed nursery!
Even the little night light, glowing on the wall. It was always funny how fast the boy's little warm bodies could put you to sleep when you were holding them! It makes me want to take a nap just looking at the picture while I blog it today! Haha.
RetroBlog 2002-01-21
2022-01-29
The master at work…
This is the cigar box Andy picked out for his knives. He needed to fix it up, and you can see him doing that here along with the results. He can house a whole second layer under the ones he has now. He could hold something like 20+ total. He better get collecting!
This is my third all-time favorite picture of Johnny.
We had gone over to Julie's parents for her birthday. Julie though up a cute little pose of him in the basket with some Pooh characters. Problem though, he was hungry… I would put his little finger in his mouth and we would be satisfied just long enough for me to try and snap a pic. Then we would revert to loud complaining! You can see that the finger is already out and he is just about to launch another volley of wailing! I guess he's right, I tortured him as a parent!! Haha.
RetroBlog 2001-12-29
2022-01-28
We always enjoy getting together for our family parties.
This time my mom was the guest of honor for her birthday AND the hostess!
My artisan tacos from my mom’s birthday party :)
Everybody chipped in an the fixings and my sisters pulled together a really nice taco bar. This was my creation.
Biking to Young’s Dairy and back
So, I got this out of order. I didn't scan it in until the winter, but I think it was Sumer 2001 when we got a group from work together for this ride. What a lovely bunch of geeks we were. Our visiting colleague from Switzerland was used to climbing mountains on his bike so he set the pace… 
RetroBlog 2001-06-15
Here I am reading Johnny a bedtime story.
It looks like a Christmas story, on Julie's birthday. I really enjoyed these times to share my faith, and strengthen our father-son bond!
Funny, that shirt reminds me of the Palm Pilot days. Avantgo was a program that grabbed news stories off the internet and synced them to your device so you could read them later. My how times have changed. ;)
Also, those hiking boots…. My favorite pair, ever!
RetroBlog 2001-12-29
2022-01-27
This past weekend, Andy and I did some shopping.
We went looking for cigar boxes we could modify to hold our knives. Here is how mine turned out. I had to extend the length of the channels and then carefully cut out the wood logo to fit in the well where knives would lay.
Johnny made it out for Christmas.
Here he is visiting my old house, and my mom and dad's current house at the time. Little did he/we know he was visiting his future house and where he would grow into a young man. This was on his first Christmas.
RetroBlog 2001-12-25
It looks like the two of us fell asleep on Julie.
I like seeing our two profiles with Johnny asleep on my lap. I guess there was a lot of sleeping going on in those days?! Maybe somebody was wearing us out?!
RetroBlog 2001-12-14
2022-01-26
Twenty years later and the kids are getting better tools and bags than me!
Andy bought himself a new bag and fancy driver drill to help him in his daily work flow. It's a great bag and even nicer drill. I'm jealous, but he's the pro now! Same deal with Johnny. His new camera, new phone… They're leaving me in the dust! :) I guess that's the way it's supposed to work. Maybe we didn't do so bad as parents, but I give most of the credit to the boys. They're both good at what they set their minds to. We are proud of them.
And this is how we celebrated at work.
It's too bad the Krispy Kreme store closed, I miss "Hot Now" on the way to work!
RetroBlog 2001-12-10
I am heading back to work after two weeks off with Johnny
It was fun to help Julie and get to know this little guy. I look like such a kid too. At least I got rested up some as well.
RetroBlog 2001-12-13
2022-01-25
We finally got to celebrate Christmas on Julie’s side of the family.
And THIS is what it looked like! This is a fun looking game named Ninja. I would try except falling down might hurt…. We even had Hannah (Savannah, mom) and Savannah (Hannah) join. I give up and am just going to start calling them both Havannah…
And so begins 365 one-a-day Johnny pics…
This is one of my favorites. The blanket was crocheted by Julies grandma before she died and before she knew Julie even wanted kids! We found it with a note when we were cleaning out their house back in 1993, after their death. It has always held a special place in our hearts.
RetroBlog 2001-12-03
I guess we slept longer than I remembered…
Watching your wife have a baby is hard work! Haha.
RetroBlog 2001-12-01
2022-01-24
We ALL slept in the next day.
We were exhausted from all this new parenting stuff! We laid in bed and noticed Johnny's little eye lashes for the first time. So cute.
RetroBlog 2001-12-01
Johnny’s first day at home…
…and he's already had a brush with the law! My friend Mike had to come see him, of course! It looks like we must have planned ahead and had some of the Christmas tree up and started early that year too.
RetroBlog 2001-11-30
2022-01-23
These days, Itty Bitty has finally decided we aren’t so bad…
She's taken to jumping up and settling down in our laps almost every day. It's about time! It's been a year. I guess she's decided we haven't tried to hurt her yet, maybe we aren't going to?! Haha.
It’s time to break him free and do this on our own!
Here the nurse is cutting of Johnny's house arrest ankle bracelet. We were free to go give this parenting thing a shot on our own…. Now what?!
RetroBlog 2001-11-30
Julie’s mom made this blankie for Johnny.
He's fast asleep with it here, in the hospital on day three. It turned out to be one of his favorite things as a little boy. It made a great security blanket. :)
RetroBlog 2001-11-29
2022-01-22
I’ve been enjoying using this Bible to read during my devotions.
You can see that my great grandfather gave it to my great grandmother in 1925. I appreciate the example and family heritage that we enjoy.
Evidence of my first nap with Johnny…
Day three of Johnny. Nap is probably the right word for his part, but mine is probably closer to passed out! Haha. Nothing like holding or feeding a warm little baby body to make your face slide off into sleep! I look pretty comfy, not sure he does.
RetroBlog 2001-11-29
2022-01-21
The Hansard family made us this nice bookmark to remember Merea
This is the front and back of it. It's fun to see some of the memories and also still learn something new about her even though we lived next door so many years. It's nice to be included in her friends of the neighborhood. She will be missed, but was confident in her salvation and our reunion. Reach out to me if you have questions about how to have that same confidence in Christ.
Where does Johnny get his good looks?
We thought he and I looked pretty much alike on day one. That's him on the right and me on the left. Of course, now I see a lot more of Julie and Steve in his face too. I guess he's a good combo of us?!
RetroBlog 2001-11-28
2022-01-20
It’s fun to see the bedroom lights coming on across the street…
…and to know the plumber is starting his day as the sun rises. :)
Changing the first diaper for my new family.
It looks like I even passed inspection from grammy!
This just proves it whenever Johnny decides to give me a hard time these days, or maybe when I need help getting cleaned up in my old age? hahaha!
RetroBlog 2001-11-28
2022-01-19
I’ve been enjoying some walks in the “park” with our pup.
Zoe seems to like it too. Especially her first snow. About half the time, she was snow-plowing with her nose!
It's fun to have the paths out back to enjoy.
Johnny helping Savannah paint her apartment.
Her roommate and her are moving out so they wanted some help with the walls. Of course Johnny was happy to assist. It's cute to see them working a project together. I like the shadows on the wall.
All the grandparents getting to know Johnny…
…and bringing their special gifts. My mom made these stockings for each of the boys and my dad engraved their hammers (their first tool) for each of them. They still use both the hammers and the stockings. :)
RetroBlog 2001-11-28
2022-01-18
Julie finally got to celebrate her birthday with the semi-annual Jungle-Jim’s trip.
I loved the look of the place at sunset with the frozen "lake".
These two clowns showing off with their big and small guns…
We all laughed at the large difference between what Savannah brought and what Johnny was shooting. .44 Magnumm vs. .22 haha!
2022-01-17
When Savannah goes shooting…
…She brings her serious beast! And no, I don't mean Johnny! Haha.
.44 Magnum and the heft of this revolver make it quite fun to shoot!
I have always loved this sequence of the grandparents
It made me think about how they have so much input into our lives, but are now only able to look in the windows to see how we're doing. I remember that felt like a really adult moment. I like how you can just see the reflection of me taking the pictures in some of them too.
Funny that I am posting this when we are starting to only have the window view for our kid's lives too. It is special to have a family that is so close and excited for all the milestones in our and our kids lives!
RetroBlog 2001-11-27
2022-01-16
Last weekend I took Larry and Christopher to the range.
I think Larry like it! It was fun to hang out with both of them for sure. I'm ready to do it again too!
My hand was almost as big as the little guy!
I remember thinking this was a big step and that I promised him I'd take care of him!
RetroBlog 2001-11-27
We get to meet out little Johnny at last!
I remember Julie saying, "Awwwwww, he's so cute!"
RetroBlog 2001-11-27
2022-01-15
Julie has put one of her birthday presents to good use!
She's making some beef jerky out of flank steak and it is gooooooood!
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