And here we are!

Another state that I haven't previously visited… :) I finally get to see what it looks like in North Dakota!

A nice looking lobby in Minneapolis, Minnesota

On the way back from my walk, I saw this goose on her nest.

 

This storm front was chasing me when I took a walk in Milwaukee…

I finally put together my reel from Johnny’s graduation…

 

Great memories from my mom’s diary!

RetroBlog 1974-05-16

Eat your dessert first because you never know…

This is the right way to advertise ice cream.  "Oh yeah, and we have sandwiches".  This is my kind of place.  I just happened to pass by on my walk during my travels in Milwaukee so I HAD to stop for dinner on the way back.

I don’t think that’s a motorcycle… haha.

Coffee is always a nice way to start the work day/ ;)

 

I guess if you’re desperate…

Johnny and I were eating breakfast and saw this among the beers at B&B…

I had my suspicions at to what it might be… So I looked it up.
Zero carbonation. Zero sugar. Zero carbs. All Natural. Crafted by moms, enjoyed by everyone.

Zero everything, except VODKA!  Pretty funny marketing, actually.

I guess we wore these two out at the competition…

I couldn't get them to volunteer to drive back… I think they wanted to squish in the back seat, haha.  They look cute together. 

Hannah and I found a dead body in our hotel closet…

Andy competing in the pro open Dama in the D.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

…Julie has released another batch of babies that are making their way all around the house by climbing form one window sill to the next.  This one was on the far bedroom window on the opposite end of the house from the porch and their nest.  Cute little toddlers.

You never know WHAT might happen when Andy’s around…

 

The random plant…

 I liked the colors on this newly released pro model kendama.  It reminds me of my hometown high school colors.  Even better is the random baby plant that is part of the display…

A painting from the venue

The kendama competition was held in an art museum.  This is one of the paintings that hangs in the stairwell.  I have always liked it and decided to "take" it home with me. ;)

My dama for the weekend.

This is a second round of the one I got when I first started doing kendama with Andy.  It's a twin set of brothers that are world champs.  This is Nick's version.  I thought it made a nice shot and kind of matched the hotel carpet. :) 

People put a lot of work into making pretty kendamas

I liked the shirts from this year’s competition in Detroit

I thought the colors at this vendor table were interesting.

Ok, so I had to shoot some pics of the merch too, haha.

The man at work!

Andy's honing his skills before the competition starts.  I am also dialing in my camera settings to stop the action. ;)

For being a simple Choice Hotel…

 …It was a pretty nice looking place inside.

It’s nice to be chauffeured on a trip!

Andy, Hannah and me headed to Michigan for a Kendama contest the weekend before last.  Now you get to enjoy some of the pictures from that.  Andy was nice enough to drive up.  It was a rare chance for me to sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. :)

An improved use for the cup holder in my car!

We recently celebrated the passing of our long time friend and pastor

Dale Kurtz married us 29 years ago, was instrumental in our lives, and lived a good example of evangelism for the Lord.  He died on our anniversary this year.  Fitting. 

Do you ever feel like this?

Like you're running around like a chicken with your head cut off?! This was a momentary glitch on a video meeting at work and my virtual background. Sometimes, it does feel exactly like this, haha!

I like the look of the blooms in the back yard

 This was the view 40 yards off our back porch as spring sprung. :)

I had a nice dinner with Isaac and Ian on Sunday.

Isaac is headed off for his summer photography job and we wanted to get together before he left.  It was a good time of laughter, memories and cameras.  We talked about what they're both up to for the summer and prayed the Lord's blessing over all of us.  Isaac wanted a picture with me before he left and Ian obliged.  

I expect to see some of Isaac's work soon!

It's fun to see how each of the kid's lives are unfolding before them.  I love you all and pray for you all the time.

The second cool picture from my new camera.

This one was an accident.  I was just trying to show Andy that I'd converted over to his brand of phone case, but the picture came out better than I expected.  Or maybe I am just weird and it's a dumb shot? You tell me?

Zoe makes a really nice car companion.

A cute one too. ;)

The first picture from my new Sony that was kind of cool…

I have a new toy…

This is bad news for me trying to stay current on my blog and you trying to keep up… 

I finally found the camera I have been looking for since October (it seems like there are inventory shortages or something).  So, I am taking more photos again as I get to know it and have new capabilities.  So sit back and enjoy. :) 

Itty Bitty has become a regular lap resident.

After we each have breakfast, she'll jump up and settle down as long as the dog isn't too near. ;)

Heading out for a while…

I am off to Europe (Dortmund, Germany with a stop in London, England) for some sales meetings and product testing back in 2005.  I loved the view out of the window of the plane as the day closed off and we settled in for our overnight flight.  

I am going to leave you there waiting to see the scenes from this trip for a little while.  I've gotten behind on my modern blogs and events so I'll pause the retro blogging for a couple weeks.  I know you all like those, but I've been having too much fun real-time, so you will have to enjoy that for a bit. 

Thanks for your love, support, and prayers through the years and today.  It's so fun to look back and enjoy the memories again.  See you retro visitors again soon. Haha.

RetroBlog 2005-06-03

Andy and me enjoying a Friday night of Veggie Tales and “puffies”

Those things are sooooo good.  And since they're all air, there aren't any calorie implications, right?! ;)

RetroBlog 2005-06-02

Itty Bitty, barely bigger than a camera!

Somebody posted this on-line

It brought back memories as I quickly searched for our names.  I probably still have one in my box of high school memories.  We're guilty of all the things we laughed at our parents for…

We were checking out the progress at the Greene

I can remember when it used to be a huge woods with all kinds of paths we would explore.  We even used to take the passport and the Touareg behind Bill Knapps and do some four-wheeling.  In 2005 they started clearing the land and we would go over and check out the machines and the progress with the kids.  This was one of those days.

RetroBlog 2005-06-02

This captures more what Brazil really looks like.

The rolling green hills, the mountains in the background, and the peaceful beauty of the place.  It was a nice contrast to the hustle and bustle of the two big cities.

RetroBlog 2005-03-03

Julie and I took a trip to Jungle Jim’s for Mother’s Day

We took Zoe along so we parked out back in the shade.  We noticed that the tram track, station and cars are getting closer to reality… It made a pretty picture too. Haha.

The dog seems to be feeling a little better too…

She's up to some of her old hijinks again, haha.  It's good to see.

Pepper is nothing but a pair of eyes in the shadows…!

Remember The Christ?

There are two good points here.  First, I said to remember The Christ from yesterday?  This is the view from the feet of that famous statue in Brazil.  It gave me a memorable view and one of my most epic shots.  It is looking down on Rio De Janeiro, Sugar Loaf Mountain and the bay.

Secondly, that is also good advice…. Remember the Christ, our Christ, our savior.  He offers his gift to the word, to anyone who will accept him.

RetroBlog 2005-02-26

Seen at our vet…

The lion laying next to the lamb…

I'll let you decided which is which…?!

Bitty found a new favorite spot…

She curls up on Julie's empty purse just about every day now.  It's warm next to the frog :)

Brazil from Sugar Loaf Mountain!



This is looking into the Rio Harbor.  I cobbled these two shots together because oddly, image stitching doesn't really seem to exist for the iPad these days.  Hopefully, you still get an idea how pretty the view was from up there.  Off in the distance, just to the right of the stitch, you can see "The Christ".  More on that later… ;)

RetroBlog 2005-02-26

Be careful where you store all your stuff, haha!