blast from the past...

when suzy and I first met. I yanked her into one of those picture booths one night and got this great picture. I think we only had known each other for a few weeks. I think I wanted a picture of the two of us. I kept the pictures and tacked them at home on my fridge for all to see. those were the days I only got to see her on the weekends because LA separated our lives. we had fun back then, but I don't miss those drives back and forth. now its just a 7 minute drive home from work to see her. ha ha ha. much better.

new garden

suzy, our good friend Carole and myself starting a little garden at carole's house. it was an awesome time of hanging out and getting dirty. I can't even start to explain how much I miss growing things. I can't wait to get a place where I can have to my own and grow what ever I want.

body surfing

another great day. a full day of work, then off to the beach to enjoy the ocean, get a little body surfing in, and watch the sunset.

Sespe

oh the sespe. the joy of backpacking in the sespe. I love it there. even if its 90 degrees. its just a beautiful place to explore.

suzy was a champ. she beat me to the finish line, pack and all. there were moments, I was like "gee, slow down girl, the flowers are all blurry when we're walking this fast". we had a blast. did some car camping friday night. Saturday morning, we packed our packs and hiked in almost 10 miles to the Willet HotSprings. sunday morning, Suz and I did some exploring around the cabins, the hotsprings and the surrounding area. then packed out packs once again and hiked out. another 9.8 miles. here are some pics documenting the eventful weekend.

the long weekend...

what a great weekend. we are truly warriors. drove to apple valley friday. birthday bash on saturday. got some bowling in saturday night. drove back to santa barbara sunday morning. suzy went for a 9 mile run, I rode my bike. quickly drove over the santa barbara mountains for some tri-tip sandwiches and a beer at cold springs taveren. came back to santa barbara to get ready for the next adventure. suzy flew to san diego monday morning and I went to work....... now its tuesday and I nothing to do... oh yeah, we're going backpacking this weekend to willet hotsprings. I need to get ready for that. rockstar turn to warrior...!!!

bowling...

the fam went bowling after the 80th birthday bash. well I think it was bowling. the place was kind of run down. our lane wasn't straight and had a few bumps in it. to find a ball that fit your fingers but didn't weigh a ton was also nearly impossible. but we all made the best of it and got some great laughs in. especially from watching each other attempt to bowl. I'd say our best candidates for best bowling were between: jill and her thud technique, the silver fox and his hop to victory, Nick and his two-step shuffle, and suzy's determination to throw 100. we all came out with smiles on our faces.

the big 80

suzy's grandpa turned the big 80 this last saturday. her grandma thru a bash for him that he will never forget. I said to him, "wow a lot of people showed up, this is great". he said, "yeah its funny, I didn't know I had so many friends." we both laughed. everyone had a fun time. here's a pic of the man himself. a legend I say. sometimes he's probably laughing at me, as I try to figure life out. heck, he's got more than 50 years on me. I think wisdom comes with age. like a wise old man. I think of Yoda from Star Wars.

weekend hike...

just some pics of the family taking a stroll thru santa barbar mountains. all hikes around here are awesome right now. flowers are blooming and green color is everywhere.

trading shoes for pedals...

after many attempts to keep on running, my chin splints just won't let me run down the street and back. I give up. its the most painful thing I've ever felt and the more running I do the worse it gets. I have huge knots of stuff that you can feel nest to my ankle bone. its crazy how much they hurt when I touch them. this bring me to..... I'm not running the marathon anymore. I gave my pass to my sister, who wanted to run in it but it was sold out. so suzy and my sister will be running together. I'll be right next to them on my beach cruiser. we ran last sunday for 8.5 miles. I like riding the cruiser much better. ha ha ha. I've become suzy's personal waterboy, foodboy and jacket holder.

H I B M A . . . . easter in the park

we had easter in the park with a bunch of friends. potluck style after church. camera in hand, suz and my mom are trying to get zaden to speak words like Hibma. suzy's old last name. the little squirt can't say it, but they think he can. girls get all crazy over kids, especially when it come to first words. its pretty funny to watch. heres a few other pics of the day.

my wife the rollerskater

last week I came home from work to find suzy roller skating in the driveway. all by herself. new talents come out just about every week. anyway, when we bought her the rollerskates at the garage sale, I didn't really think she would end up using them. I was wrong. when no one is looking, suzy is a roller skater. ha ha ha ha.