2009

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

Now that another year is almost under our belt it is time for the Christmas related activities to pick up. We have already been extremely busy around our house with them, and we still have a little over a week to go! Tara finished helping to organize the school's holiday shop for the kids as well as the community coat drive - they ended up giving away over 500 coats! Great job Tara, you are a wonderful, caring person and we all love you very much.

Of course Black Friday kicked off our holiday activities, but the first family event to take place this year was the school show that Samantha's grade put on, "This Old Gingerbread House." Sammy had the role of the director in the show, and she did a spectacular job. We were all so proud of her! You can see a few pictures of her in the play by going to the Current Events page and clicking on Samantha's School Show.

We have also had a few Christmas parties to attend already, beginning with Tara's Dad & Mom's. We went for dinner and to open presents on Saturday, December 12th. Everybody had a good time eating, opening presents, telling jokes, and being together. We also had a family gathering on December 13th with my Dad's side of the family. I was neglectful in taking my camera in, so unfortunately I don't have any pictures to post here (if anyone wants to share theirs, feel free to email me!). It was great to see everyone again - we really need to do these kind of gatherings more often! Last but not least (and in reality it was the first one I should have listed here) was our visit from Santa Claus! We were surprised with an early Christmas on December 11th after celebrating an evening out for Jayden's birthday. After returning home to a tree surrounded by presents we couldn't help but spend the rest of the evening opening and playing with our new gifts! All of the pictures from our Christmas activities can be found on the Current Events page under Christmas, appropriately enough!

As I mentioned, we celebrated Jayden's third birthday with a dinner out at Red Robin on December 11th. This is one of the kids favorite restaurants (all you can eat french-fries) and Jay was especially thrilled to be able to order macaroni-n-cheese. You can see a few pictures of our laughter by clicking on Jayden's Birthday Dinner on the Current Events page.

Since we will be going on vacation soon, this may be my last post for a while. I will try to keep things updated while I am gone, but I make no promises due to my uncertainty about internet access. Just remember to keep coming back to see what is new. In the meantime, have a wonderful Christmas, a happy new year, and see you soon!

Monday, December 7th, 2009

Has it really been three years already? I guess it has, because we celebrated Jayden's third birthday on December 6th with family and friends. That marks the last time that we will celebrate that occasion in our household, so in a way it was a sad day. On the other hand, Jay seems to finally be fully grasping the whole potty training thing, so that is a reason to celebrate!

Things are starting to pick up around home, with Christmas celebrations, school activities, and sports starting to creep up on us. Tara is heavily involved in the school's holiday shop for the kids as well as the coat drive, and I have been recruited to be a head coach for Samantha's basketball team and an assistant for Tyler's. And here I was thinking that things were going to slow down once I finished my final semester of school at the end of December. It certainly doesn't look that way!

I do have a couple of updates this time around. As you may have guessed, Jayden's Birthday can be found on the Current Events page. There are several pictures of her opening presents and of her and her cake. Feel free to check them out. I have also added pictures from the kids final session at their basketball clinics, which can be found on the Basketball Clinics page of Current Events. One more picture was added to Samantha's Football, and it was her team photo - for some reason it wasn't given to us when we got her individual photo. I finally managed to get it scanned and added, even though we have had it in our possession for several weeks now.

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

Where does the time go? It seems like I was just getting ready for the Thanksgiving break and now here it is, already the first day of December. Christmas, here we come! Of course there are a few more weeks of work and school to plow through before we get there, but that too will be over with before we know it.

There aren't any additions to the website this time. Although we kept ourselves way too busy during the past holiday weekend, nothing we did warranted a whole page of photos dedicated to it - it was just a lot of eating, shopping, decorating, and eating. Mmmmmm, turkey. Samantha even spent the weekend in Tennessee with her Grandma Gail but came back with only a few pictures, none of which really showed what she spent her time doing (except for riding in the car!). We did manage to decorate the outside of the house and put up the tree inside, and we have a few minor things to work on inside to finish it up.

Since I don't have any updates to share today, I should probably whet your appetite with some of the things that we have coming up... Tyler and Sam have a couple of basketball clinics coming up on Saturday, December 5th. Jayden hits the big 0-3 on December 6th, and we will be holding her party that afternoon. Sam has a school play on the 8th, and she has a speaking role that she is very excited about. The weekend of the 11th and 12th starts our run of family Christmas parties, and we have gatherings with both sides of our family that weekend. Of course that brings us a little bit closer to the event that the kids have been waiting for since last year, the visit from Santa on Christmas!

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

Nothing too major to report this week. We had a busy weekend as usual, but not a ton of pictures. I did take some pictures from the kids third day of their basketball clinics on Saturday, and that constitutes the only update to the site this week. As always, check out the Current Events page for the new pictures.

We did attend the Holly High School production of "Beauty & the Beast" on Saturday as well, to see Tara's cousin Claire as one of the "Silly Girls" who chase after Gaston. Aside from being extremely long, it was a well done rendition of the classic Disney movie. We also attended my nephew Donovan's birthday party after the play. I forgot to bring my camera inside with me, so no pictures from that.

Sunday was busy with church (Samantha was an alter server this weekend), homework, and errands. We did finally manage to squeeze in a picture appointment for Sam, so check back sometime next month for those photos.

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

Since I can't be certain that I will update the website before Thanksgiving actually arrives, Tara & I would like to take the opportunity to wish every one a Happy Thanksgiving from our entire family. We are truly blessed to know you and have you as our family and friends.

We have, for us, some relatively slow weeks coming up. Our weekends are still pretty packed, so remember to keep checking out the website for new pictures.

I have a couple of updates that I was able to post this week. Up first is the addition of the second session of Samantha and Tyler's basketball clinics, which took place on November 14th. As always, the pictures can be found by going to the Current Events page and clicking on Basketball Clinics. I have also added some pictures from Tyler's football banquet that took place on the same day. You can see those pictures by clicking on Tyler's Football on the Current Events page.

Last week I added pictures from the first week of the kids basketball clinic and our trip to the Henry Ford. If you haven't seen those already, make sure you check them out too!

Friday, November 6th, 2009

After many, many months of procrastinating, forgetting, a lack of time, and just plain laziness I have finally managed to scan the kids pictures from their various sporting activities throughout this past year and get them added to the website. And when I say finally, I really mean that - some of these pictures are over six months old already! I mean it's about time I got off my duff and did something about it, right?

Time for the update rundown. As I said, I scanned a bunch of pictures from the kids sporting events this year so, on the Current Events Page, check out the Samantha's Baseball, Tyler's Baseball, Samantha's Fall Soccer, Tyler's Football, and Samantha's Flag Football pages for official League Pictures. Also on Samantha's Flag Football page is the addition of her League Banquet pictures. One more addition to the site is something we haven't had to do for a couple of years, but since we have slacked off a bit on the birthday pictures we actually broke down and ordered school pictures once again this year (which is something I wanted to do all along, but that is another story). You can see Tyler's fifth grade picture and Samantha's third grade picture by clicking on School Pictures on the Studio Photos page.

Just to keep you interested in coming back again, I have some information on possible future updates for the rest of the year. Both Tyler and Sam are participating in a basketball clinic over the next several weeks, and I am hoping to be able to get some pictures of them playing and learning. There will also be a trip or two to The Henry Ford coming up, as well as a variety of family gatherings as the holidays approach. Finally, there will be a lot of pictures coming along at the end of the year, so stay tuned!

Friday, November 13th, 2009

Last weekend was a busy one for us, and this past week hasn't been a whole lot slower. Our Saturday was jam packed with the start of the kids basketball clinics, with Samantha's session running from 9:00-10:30am, and Tyler going from 10:30-noon. After the sound of pounding basketballs was drilled into my head for 3+ hours, we headed into town to stop at the new Goodwill store to check things out (and buy some clothing for the kids that we normally wouldn't spend the money on). Once the kids had picked over everything we drove out to the high school to tour the annual Holly Holiday craft show. We did manage to get a brief respite in the afternoon to eat lunch, but then it was off to church for Tara and Sam, as it was her day to be an altar server. After church we headed out to dinner at Red Robin in Flint before wrapping up the day with some shopping for some basketball accessories and some groceries.

Sunday didn't involve as many activities, but it was still a long day overall. We spent the day at the Henry Ford, touring the museum as well as Greenfield Village. We capped the weekend off with a stop at Pizza Papalis in Dearborn for dinner.

As for the week, it started out with catechism for Tara, Tyler, and Sam on Monday. On Tuesday we attended the kids parent teacher conferences (both are doing pretty much as we expected - not bad, but room for improvement as well). I did manage to get some yard work done on Wednesday, including putting the cover on the camper. Sam woke up sick Thursday morning, and that evening we worked on cleaning up the house, including a thorough picking up of the boys room. The girls room was completed Friday, as was the living room (it is amazing how much gets deposited there on a daily basis by the kids) and the bathrooms.

Unfortunately there isn't much of a letup this weekend either. Saturday is full once again, with another session of the basketball clinics, a catechist class for Tara to attend, Tyler's football banquet is in the afternoon, and we are getting a visit from friends in the evening. As of right now, Sunday may provide a moment to breath, but as always that is subject to change!

With regard to the website, I have two updates this week, and they involve a bunch of pictures. First up are a few photos from the kids basketball clinics. You can find them by clicking on Current Events and then going to Basketball Clinics (appropriately enough). Up next are the photos from our trip to the Henry Ford. There are a ton of photos here, grouped by the various parts of the complex that we visited. As you can probably guess, they can be found on the Current Events page by clicking on The Henry Ford.

Friday, November 6th, 2009

Sunday, November 1st, 2009

Since it has only been a couple of days since my last update and many of you may have missed it, I am going to leave my previous comments below. I will say that I have added pictures from Samantha's final football game to the Current Events page, under Samantha's Flag Football. Halloween pictures are also new this time around, and those can also be found on the Current Events page. Check them out and let me know what you think!

The old comments:

Friday, October 30th, 2009

I'd like to take a moment to wish everyone a very scary Halloween this year!

As you may have noticed, it has been quite some time since I last updated the website with any new additions or words of wisdom. Well, today that ends! After my old laptop hard drive took a turn for the worse, due in no small part to an "operator error" on my part, I ended up ordering a new one to replace it (Merry Christmas to me!). That process turned out to be quite an adventure, thanks to a certain large discount retailer (one where they claim you can live better and save money) and their draconian price-matching and delivery policies. Anyway, after waiting two weeks for delivery, I ended up purchasing a different computer at another, more responsive national electronics retailer (one with big yellow tags) that was better, cheaper, and was able to provide delivery much quicker. Needless to say, I am still working on getting all of my stuff back to normal... well, as normal as normal can be when you are talking about me!

Despite what you may believe, the most important part about RodandTara.com isn't my witty banter. I know, it's hard to fathom, but it is true. In reality, the important things are the updates. Since it has been a month since I last made any changes to the site, I have made a lot additions this time around. There are a couple of brand new additions to the website, and a bunch of updates to Tyler and Samantha's sporting events.

I'm going to start out with the updates... First up, in order on the Current Events page, is Samantha's Fall Soccer. I have added pictures from games 5, 6, 7, and 8. Next on the list is Tyler's Football; his last three games have been added as well. Finally, Samantha's Flag Football has had games 3, 4, 5, and 6 added to it.

Next up are the new additions to the site. On October 10th, after one of Sam's football games, we loaded the six of us into the family truckster and drove to the Palace to watch the Detroit Pistons during their open practice session. Tyler even went down on the floor to shoot a free throw! You can see these pictures and read about our adventure on the Current Events page by clicking on Pistons Fanfest. I have also added some pictures of the kids playing in the leaf pile in the back yard on Tuesday, the 27th. You can see those pictures by clicking on Fall Fun, also on the Current Events page.

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

I am really sorry that it has taken me a full month to update the website. Unfortunately, due to some "operator error" on my part, my computer hard drive uh... broke a little bit. Needless to say it has taken me some time to get things back to normal. Well, as close to normal as I can be, anyway. Hopefully over the next few days I will be able to catch back up on a lot of activities that I have missed since last update. Check back soon to see if can actually do it!

Monday, September 28th, 2009

I don't have a big write up for the home page this week. Between school, work, and various practices I am having a hard time finding a lot of time to sit down and update the website. Hopefully things will settle into a routine for me with school, and that will help me find a little bit of spare time to keep things a little fresher here.

Updates this time around are limited to Tyler and Samantha's sporting events over this past weekend. By clicking on the current events page you can find the updates to Samantha's Fall Soccer, Tyler's Football, and Samantha's Flag Football.

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

Sorry that this update is a couple of days later than I would have liked, but we spent a grand total of about 3 minutes at home aside from sleeping this past weekend. Our Saturday was jammed packed with sports, from 8:00am to 3:00pm, then we had a wedding reception in the thumb at 5:00pm. We got home a little before midnight that night, and woke up Sunday and kept on moving. We ate breakfast at my parents house so that we could spend a little more time with three of my aunts who were in from out of state - hello Sherry, Connie, and Julie! In the afternoon we headed over to the St. John's Applefest in Fenton. When we ran out of ride tickets, we headed back to my parents for a late dinner with my two remaining aunts - see you next time, Connie! - as well as Erica, Donovan, and Marissa. By the time we got home it was past bedtime for the kids, and Tara and I were so exhausted that we weren't far behind.

Back to the kids sporting events... it was a tough weekend as far as the results. Samantha's soccer team lost their game 2-1, bringing their record for the season to 2-1. Her flag football team also lost, by a score of 16-12. If they hadn't given up a safety and had made their extra points, they would have at least gotten a tie. Hopefully they will be better next week. Tyler's football team lost as well, though turnovers were their undoing. The final score ended up being 20-12.

Lots of pictures added to the website this week. Tyler's Football, Samantha's Fall Soccer, and Samantha's Flag Football have all been updated on the Current Events page. The addition of Wedding Reception and Applefest are also new to Current Events. The wedding reception was for my distant relative John and his new bride Sue. Everybody enjoyed themselves thoroughly while there, especially the kids. The kids also had a blast at Applefest.

Sunday, September 13th, 2009

What a start to our sports seasons, as both Samantha and Tyler both opened with big team wins. Sam's first soccer team opened up with a back and forth 5-4 victory, which they could have won by a larger margin if only they hadn't missed the net so often in the first half. Tyler's football team also got their first win, a 16-8 victory at Durand. This was a tough game, as they couldn't seem to catch a break from the officials.

Add the games in to our busy schedule of work, Tyler's football practice (four nights a week), Samantha's soccer practice (two nights a week), and Samantha's flag football practice (on Friday nights, meaning that we have a practice Monday through Friday now) we are now tied to sports fields for six days per week until the end of October. I can't even begin to count the number of times that I have said hello/goodbye to myself as I came and went from home.

We did manage to sneak in a relaxing four day weekend camping in St. Ignace over Labor Day. As always, the highlight of our trip was the annual Labor Day Bridge Walk across the Mackinac Bridge (we made it in an hour and forty minutes, and that was with Drew walking the entire way!). We had a contender that came close to taking over the top spot, however, and that was our trip to the Tahquamenon Falls. The kids really enjoyed wading in the river when we stopped at the lower falls. We had to promise to plan to spend an entire day here the next time we go.

I think that the weekend was just what we needed before heading home to resume our normal routine, along with the addition of school for Tyler and Samantha. Now we have to worry about fitting homework into their already busy schedules. After their first week things seem to be going well - the kids like their teachers and they have friends in each of their classrooms, which helps when starting out a new year.

As you can imagine, the biggest update this time around is the addition of pictures and my journal from our trip to St. Ignace. I have added over 200 new pictures from Labor Day weekend alone! You can view them all on the Camping page under Current Events. Pictures of Tyler and Samantha from their first day of school have also been added to the website, which appropriately enough you can find on the Current Events page under First Day of School. Pictures from both Samantha's soccer game and Tyler's football games are new as well, as is the addition of schedules for Tyler's Football, Samantha's Fall Soccer, and Samantha's Flag Football, all of which can be found on the Current Events page as well. Finally, I have added several new pictures to the Wallpapers page from our St. Ignace trip.

Friday, September 11th, 2009

What a busy past few weeks we have experienced! We have been tied up with work, Tyler's football practice (four nights a week), Samantha's soccer practice (two nights a week), and Samantha's flag football practice (on Friday nights, meaning that we have a practice Monday through Friday now). Starting tomorrow you can add in the beginning of two of those sports seasons (the other follows one week later...), meaning that we are tied to the sports fields six days per week until the end of October. I can't even begin to count the number of times that I have said hello/goodbye to myself as I came and went from home.

As you can imagine, the big update this time around is the addition of pictures and my journal (coming soon, I promise!) from our trip to St. Ignace. I have added over 200 new pictures from Labor Day weekend alone! You can view them all on the Camping page under Current Events. I have also added some pictures of Tyler and Samantha from their first day of school, which appropriately enough you can find on the Current Events page under First Day of School. Finally, I have added the schedules for Tyler's Football, Samantha's Fall Soccer, and Samantha's Flag Football, all of which can be found on the Current Events page as well.

Give me some more time and I will also be adding some wallpapers from our camping trip. Remember to check back soon for those items.

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

I know it has been a while since I have updated the website, but during that time I finished my summer semester at school, which kept me pretty busy. In addition, the kids fall sports seasons have gotten under way, and I am once again coaching with Tyler's football team. To top it off, Samantha is playing both soccer and flag football this year!

Well, we have just returned from our annual Labor Day trip to St. Ignace for the Bridge Walk over the Mackinac Bridge. We had a great weekend, and were truly sad to see it end, forcing us back to reality once again. Since we had to go back to work, Tara and I decided that it would be a good time to send the kids back to school as well.

Football and soccer games start this weekend, so I will be adding those schedules soon (hopefully!). For now, feel free to check out the addition of the pictures from our camping trip in St. Ignace (located on the Camping page under Current Events) and the pictures of the kids on their first day of school (also on the Current Events page).

Monday, August 17th, 2009

We would like to wish a happy birthday to Tyler, who turned 10 today. We really couldn't ask for a better son.

Life is about to get a lot more hectic for us around here. Although school won't start for a couple more weeks, the sports season got started yesterday. Tyler got his helmet picked out in the afternoon, and his practices started today. I will be volunteering as an assistant coach once again this year, and I am hoping that it goes better than my last two coaching attempts! Now we are just waiting to hear from Samantha's coaches (yes, coaches - one for soccer, and one for flag football) so her season's can get underway - hopefully without too much conflict between the three sports. There are many days that I think that we must be absolutely crazy.

Another major change took place in our house this weekend too, as we may have sold our beloved Camaro SS. As much as we didn't want to see it go, it is a necessary step in order to achieve some of our life's goals in the future. Hopefully this step will allow us to spend more time camping and experiencing more of the things that we love to do.

The updates this time around include pictures from our attempt at camping in Port Sanilac for the Deckerville Homecoming. I have also added pictures from Tyler's 10th birthday party at home with family. In addition, pictures from our trip to both the Woodward Dream Cruise and the Back to the Bricks car show in Flint this past weekend can be viewed as well. All of these pictures can be found on the Current Events page.

Sunday, August 16th, 2009

Life is about to get a lot more hectic for us around here. Although school won't start for a couple more weeks, the sports season got started today. Tyler got his helmet picked out this afternoon, and his practices start tomorrow. I will be volunteering as an assistant coach once again this year, and I am hoping that it goes better than my last two coaching attempts! Now we are just waiting to hear from Samantha's coaches (yes, coaches - one for soccer, and one for flag football too) so her seasons can get underway too - hopefully without too much conflict between the three sports. There are many days that I think that we must be absolutely crazy.

Another major change took place in our house this weekend too, as we have sold our beloved Camaro SS. As much as we didn't want to see it go, it is a necessary step in order to achieve some of our life's goals in the future. Hopefully this step will allow us to spend more time camping and experiencing more of the things that we love to do.

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

We have recently returned from a great weekend camping trip in Bay City with our friends Jeff and Becky as well as their boys, Thomas and Andrew. We enjoyed a nice relaxing weekend with them, and the kids definitely had a good time fishing. They are convinced that we need a boat now too! We are looking forward to the day when we can do it again, that is for sure.

There isn't a whole lot of exciting news to report here at home. Tara and I are both keeping busy with work, thankfully, and I am in the process of completing my second to last class (finally!). The kids are enjoying their summer off, although they are starting to wear on my nerves at times. Before we know football and soccer will be starting back up, and the summer will be over. My how time flies.

As you can imagine, the updates to the site this time are limited to camping pictures from our trip to Bay City. Feel free to check them out on the Camping page of Current Events.

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

We have had another long break between updates, but not a lot has been happening with the family lately. Since returning from our camping trip in Traverse City we have basically been staying around home getting caught up on chores and attempting to relax a little. The kids are enjoying their summer break, and their break from sporting activities too. Before long we will be right back at it, so Tara and I are trying to enjoy the respite as well!

While we were camping Tyler was asked to go to Arlington, Virginia and Washington D.C. by Jerry & Gail. Gail, Tyler, and Adam (Tyler's cousin), left on July 17th to meet up with Jerry, who was already there on a work assignment. They toured various sites in the area before returning on the 19th of July. I have his pictures posted now on the Current Events page under Tyler's DC trip.

One of the ways we have passed the time lately is by taking bike rides as a family. We have gone on a 5.4 mile ride to the Dairy Queen in town for dinner, as well as a 6.1 mile ride on the back roads on the East side of our house and a couple of 5.0 mile rides on the back roads on the West side of the house. It was on our most recent of the 5.0 mile rides where we had a couple of accidents. I will let you read more about it on the Current Events page by clicking on Bike Ride. There are a few pictures of the aftermath there as well.

Finally, I am on a mission to lose some weight (again). I have recently read to make this effort known to hold yourself accountable for your actions, so that is what I am doing here. The exercises I attempt to do and the results will be posted on the Rodney's Exercise page of Current Events.

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

While we were camping Tyler was asked to go to Arlington, Virginia and Washington D.C. by Jerry & Gail. Gail, Tyler, and Adam (Tyler's cousin), left on July 17th to meet up with Jerry, who was already there on a work assignment. The toured various sites in the area before returning on the 19th of July. I am still working on sorting through the pictures, but check back soon for the update from their trip.

Saturday, July 11th, 2009

Well, after a long break between updates I am back with a vengeance! We have returned from our week long camping trip in Traverse City, where we participated in lots of fun activities (although not quite as many as we would have really liked, thanks to the rain and unseasonably cool weather). As always, the camera was always by my side, so there are lots of pictures. You can see tons of pictures on the newly added Camping page under Current Events. I also have wallpapers to add once I finish working on them, and am putting the finishing touches on the diary as well. Check back often...

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

Baseball season is officially over in our household, and it didn't necessarily end the way either Tyler or Samantha wanted it to. In Sam's case, she just missed making the all-star team, and she was pretty bummed out about that. I told her if she works hard at it, next year will be her year. Tyler ended the season on a high note individually (he hit a sweet double!), but his team lost their tiebreaker game by 6-4 score, eliminating them from the playoffs. Although the kids were wishing the season could last a little longer, Tara and I are certainly looking forward to a break from spending 3-4 nights a week at the ball fields (not that we would have minded attending an all-star or playoff game, mind you).

For now we are in waiting mode... waiting for the next sports season, mainly. Tyler will be playing tackle football again next season, although he will be a level higher than he was the past two seasons. Sam wanted to play tackle football too, but Tara and I couldn't stand to see her give up on soccer as she seems to have potential there. We talked her into sticking with soccer, but she is also going to try her hand at football as well - flag football for this season. That should keep us busy during the week once all that starts up!

We are also waiting for our camping season to get underway. We will be heading to Traverse City soon, so remember to check back often for pictures of our trip.

I only have one update this time around, and it is of Tyler's final baseball game this year. The pictures can be found on the Current Events page by clicking on Tyler's Baseball and looking for the 'new' icon.

Saturday, June 20th, 2009

Thanks to a big win by Tyler's baseball team, his season will continue at least long enough to play in a tiebreaker game. A win in that game would put them in the league championship game! Dates and times for those games are yet to be determined, but as soon as I find out I will post them here.

Samantha's season did come to an end this week. Although it was a rough year for the team, she played well - just missing making the all-star team. She was highly disappointed, but she vowed to work hard this summer so she would make it next year.

Since my last major update I have added pictures from the last two baseball games of Sam's season. I have also added pictures from Tyler's two make-up games from this season, both played this past week. You can find all of the pictures by clicking on Current Events and looking for the Update! notification.

Friday, June 19th, 2009

Yesterday was supposed to conclude our baseball season, but thanks to the unpredictable Michigan weather that has been pushed back to tonight, with one last make-up game scheduled. Of course, looking at the weather reports for the area it is doubtful that we will be able to complete that game tonight either. Maybe sometime this weekend...?

Once the baseball season is over I likely won't have anything too new or exciting to post for a couple of weeks, until early July most likely. We are planning on having the opportunity to spend some time in Traverse City around then, and we are looking forward to the break from our usually hectic lives.

I have added pictures from Samantha's final to baseball games as well as one of Tyler's, who has that final make-up game to play yet. You can find both of their pictures on the Current Events page.

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

This is likely to be the last week with regular updates for a while as the baseball seasons wind down for Tyler and Samantha. Things should settle down for a while this summer before picking back up in the fall. As much as we enjoy watching the kids sporting events, this is a welcome break for Tara and I. We can finally manage to get a little bit caught up in the around the house stuff.

This update is limited to Samantha's baseball game on Tuesday. As you can imagine, you can see the pictures by clicking on Current Events followed by Samantha's Baseball.

Remember to check back soon for the pictures from the kids last scheduled baseball games (we may have a makeup game or two coming up, but those aren't yet determined).

Friday, June 12th, 2009

More rolling update information, this time with two of the paragraphs that I amended. You can read the original full text as posted on June 10th below...

The sports activities are going full swing too. Samantha's soccer season came to an end on Saturday, June 6th. She had a very good season, scoring several goals and improving her all-around game. The team finished the spring season with seven wins and a single loss. Not to shabby... Baseball is still going strong for another week or so. Samantha played in her 11th game of the season on Thursday, June 11th (the game scheduled for Monday the 8th was postponed/cancelled due to tornado warnings in the area). Tyler's team has played three games since our Mackinac trip, winning two and losing one. The first game back after the trip was a rough one for him personally, but he has been playing better in the games since then. He was finally aggressive at the plate and decisive in the field with his throws.

As you could tell, there has been a lot going on, which leads to a lot of pictures to add to the site - over 200 this update alone. Click on the Current Events page for updated information on Samantha's soccer as well as Tyler and Samantha's baseball games. You will also find the addition of pictures from the Mackinac trip and Samantha's parties on the Current Events page.

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

I am kind-of on a a rolling update process here, so I am not including everything from the homepage that I have posted, only the additional text that I added...

As they would say on television infomercials - "But wait, there's more". I have also added 34 new wallpaper choices from the Mackinac Island trip to the Wallpaper page. Feel free to check them out and use them on your desktop.

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

Sorry for the long delay between updates. It has been a very hectic week and a half around here.

Tyler and I went to Mackinac Island for his school field trip June 1st through June 3rd. We had a great time on the island, seeing and learning all kinds of new things. We stayed at the Island House hotel, which was has been in operation since 1852! We toured forts, rode bikes and boats, and did lots of souvenir shopping. We were both mentally exhausted when we returned, but we are also ready to go back and explore even more.

The sports activities are going full swing too. Samantha's soccer season came to an end on Saturday, June 6th. She had a very good season, scoring several goals and improving her all-around game. The team finished the spring season with seven wins and a single loss. Not to shabby... Baseball is still going strong for another week or so. Sam hasn't played any games since my last update (the game scheduled for Monday was called due to a tornado warning). Tyler's team has played two games since our Mackinac trip, winning one and losing one. The first game back after the trip was a rough one for him personally, but the game on Tuesday, June 9th, looked much better for him (even though the team lost). He was finally aggressive at the plate and decisive in the field.

To top of the list of activities, Samantha turned 8 on Saturday, June 6th. We had her birthday party with family on Sunday, after she completed her First Communion mass at church. It was a busy day, but very exciting for her.

As you could tell, there has been a lot going on, which leads to a lot of pictures to add to the site - over 200 this update alone. Click on the Current Events page for updated information on Samantha's soccer and Tyler's baseball games. You will also find the addition of pictures from the Mackinac trip and Samantha's parties on the Current Events page.

I'm not done yet, though. I am hoping to sort through the pictures of the Mackinac trip for Wallpaper additions. They will be coming soon, assuming I can find the time to actually do the work involved. Remember to check back often for more!

Thursday, June 4th, 2009

This has been an incredibly hectic week! Tyler and I spend three days on a field trip to Mackinac Island, so I am behind on updating the website with pictures of games that I missed. I finally got some of them done today, but the pictures of our trip will take me a little longer to squeeze in. Check back often for those updates (as my time allows me to, of course).

All that being said, the updates with time around are of Samantha's soccer game on June 1st, as well as her baseball games on the 2nd and 4th of June. As always, you can find the newest sets of pictures on the Current Events page by clicking on Samantha's Soccer along with Samantha's Baseball.

Saturday, May 30th, 2009

Another eventful week here. Multiple baseball games, a soccer game, a field day, school year-end celebrations, school, work - you name it, we've done it. Coming off the Memorial Day weekend, we got right into it on Tuesday with Tyler's All-Star year end celebration, followed by the meeting for the big school trip to Mackinac Island next week. We took right back off on Wednesday with Tyler's baseball game (in the pouring rain). Thursday it was volunteering at the kids school's year end celebration, running games and passing out food orders. Back to the ball fields on Friday, when both Tyler and Samantha's team played and won (sort of... Sam's team actually tied). Saturday was busy as well with Sam's baseball practice, followed immediately by her sixth soccer game of the year. After lunch it was back to the baseball field for Tyler's game. At least Saturday was successful, with both kids teams pulling out wins. Plus, the Tigers won, the Red Wings won, and the Cavs got eliminated from the NBA playoffs.

Well, enough sob story about our busy week. The updates! There were plenty this week, but I first have to apologize to Samantha for not have any pictures of her baseball game on Friday. I just haven't figured out how to be in two places at once, but I am sure working on it.

I have added a bunch of pictures for Tyler's baseball team, as they played three games in four days this week. Tough scheduler. As always, you can find them on the Current Events page under Tyler's Baseball. Another addition for Tyler is the page for his school field day, which is also on the Current Events page, although you click on Tyler's Field Day and not Tyler's Baseball this time. One more set of pictures comes from Samantha's soccer game, a big 11-0 win. Those photos are on the Current Events page under Samantha's Soccer.

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

We had a lovely holiday weekend, although I spent too much of it inside working on homework. Yuck. I can't wait for it to end. Tonight was a little more relaxing, as I managed to wrap up the first of three 8-10 page papers I have to write this semester. In addition to finishing that, Tyler and I attended our informational meeting at his school about our trip to Mackinac Island next week. It sounds like we should have a lot of fun, assuming the weather cooperates. Check back late next week for pictures and to read about our trip.

I did manage to get out of the house on Sunday afternoon, when we all went to visit Tara's dad and mom for dinner in honor of Tara's birthday (which she got to celebrate by attending Tyler's baseball game and volunteering at the concession stand - yay!). While we were there Tara managed to get some pictures of the four kids together gathered around the pond in the back yard. I have posted those pictures on the Current Events page. You can find them by clicking on Jerry & Gail's House.

I have also belatedly added pictures from Samantha's field trip to Indian Springs Metropark that her class took on May 19th. Although neither Tara or myself was able to attend, Sam was able to take her Grandpa Gary with her. She also took our camera, and you can see the results of her handiwork by clicking on Samantha's Indian Springs Field Trip on the Current Events page.

Saturday, May 23rd, 2009

We had a tough week sporting wise here at home. Tyler and Samantha's baseball teams lost both of their games, leaving them 0-2 for the week.

The good news this week was the celebration of Tara's birthday on Friday, May 22nd. We celebrated by attending Tyler's ball game, and she even topped that by volunteering in the concession stand. I am positive that is a much better way to spend your birthday than say, going out to dinner with your loved ones or something like that. Happy Birthday, Tara! We love you!

I have several updates over the course of the week. Samantha's Baseball has been updated with pictures from both of her games, as does Tyler's Baseball. I have also added a new set of pictures from Samantha's Field Day at school on the Current Events page. She had a lot of fun participating in a bunch of activities throughout the afternoon.

Since I am not changing the home page every time I add pictures, you can click on the Update List page to see what has been added since your last visit.

Saturday, May 16th, 2009

Another crazy week under our belts. It all starts out with work and school, then we have two nights where I have to go to class, and three nights of baseball games. There is also one night of soccer practice and at least one night of baseball practice. The weekly schedule ends with a soccer game and baseball practice on Saturday. Sunday, for the most part, is our one day of free time (if you can call catching up on everything that we should complete but don't have time for during the week, such as yard work, etc.).

Let's see... this week I have added several sets of pictures. For Tyler, I have added two sets of pictures from his baseball games. Game 4 was another loss, but they finally broke through the win column in Friday's Game 5. Samantha had a busy week as well. I have added two sets of pictures from her baseball games, which unfortunately were both losses. She also played in a soccer game this morning, which was a win (yeah!). As always, you can find the recent additions to the site by clicking on the Current Events page.

One more addition. I have added a new Wallpaper page for cell phone wallpapers, in particular Blackberry Storm sized screens. You can find them by clicking on the Wallpapers page.

Since I am not changing the home page every time I add pictures, you can click on the Update List page to see what has been added since your last visit.

Sunday, May 10th, 2009

The kids and I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Mom's, Grandmother's, and wives a Happy Mother's Day today. Relax ladies, and enjoy it. We love you!

We have completed a busy week this past week. I am finished my last four classes over the next couple of semesters at school, but I have been unable to finish them all online - so that means that I am back on campus two nights a week this term. We also have four baseball games to attend for Tyler & Samantha (two on Tuesday, one on Thursday, and one on Friday). We capped it off with Sam's soccer game on Saturday, as well as Marissa's fifth birthday party later that afternoon. And to think, only a month and a half of this schedule left!

Since I have been updating the site relatively frequently this past week, I am not going to list each update here. You can see all of the updates on the Current Events page. You can also click on the Update List page to see what has been added since your last visit to the website was well.

Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

With baseball games multiple times during the weekend, the website updates should be coming along pretty steadily during the next month or two. Because of the amount of games to be played, I will attempt to update the pictures a couple of times per week, but I probably won't be creating a new home page write-up each time. I hope this is forgivable.

As for today's updates, they are of course limited to baseball pictures. Samantha's team had an extremely rough game. They lost in a blowout, but they at least tried hard. You can see and read more about it on the Current Events page by clicking on Samantha's Baseball. Tyler's team also lost his game, although it was much close than Sam's game. Tyler had a good game fielding, and his hitting should improve the more games they play. Just like Sam's game, you can find Tyler's game information by clicking on Current Events and then going to Tyler's Baseball page.

Monday, May 4th, 2009

What a busy weekend! Sorry the update is coming a little late, but between baseball activities on Saturday and cookie dough deliveries on Sunday I just didn't get around to the website.

As for the baseball activities, our day started off early for the Little League parade. Tyler and Samantha each walked with their teams while Tara, Drew, Jayden, & I watched from the parade route. Everybody involved seemed to have fun with the parade, so it makes it worth participating in. After the parade it was time for team pictures and lunch before the games got underway. Samantha was up first, but despite a strong start by her team they ended up losing the opening day game by one run. As you would expect, you can read more about it and see pictures from Sam's game by clicking on Current Events and then Samantha's Baseball. Tyler's team played their game later in the afternoon and it went much the same way as Sam's game. Strong start, close game most of the way, and then a one run loss when it was all over. You can get more details and see pictures by clicking on Tyler's Baseball on the Current Events page.

On Sunday we went up-north to deliver cookie dough from Tyler's fund raiser. We had a very nice visit with Uncle David & Aunt Sherry, as well as a tour of their home. The kids really liked seeing the rabbits (and I am now kicking myself for not getting out the camera that I drug all the way up there), as well as walking around the pond to see the geese and their nest. They even got to see some sucker fish! They also liked seeing the turkey feathers that were being prepped to hang in the garage. We had to leave earlier than they would have liked due to our late start from home in the morning (one of these days we will learn to get up and get moving).

We also made another cookie dough deliver to Jeff & Becky on our way home, and although it was past all of the kids bedtimes we enjoyed our brief visit with them as well.

Thanks everyone for making our weekend an enjoyable one!

Saturday, April 25th, 2009

This past week I have accomplished absolutely nothing as I have been recovering from my gall bladder surgery. I never expected to be so sore for so long. I'm moving around better now, but still can't do much bending or lifting. Another week or so and I should be back to normal. Thank goodness I have such a loving, caring, and wonderful wife who has been doing more than her share around the house and with the kids while I recover. I can't imagine my life without such a great person by my side. Thank you Tara, and I love you!

Our weeks are getting busy, without a doubt. Soccer and baseball take up 3-4 nights now. Soccer season is now in it's second week, and baseball starts next weekend. Crazy, crazy, crazy.

Speaking of soccer, Samantha had her second game of the season today. She scored her first goal of the spring as well, during a 4-0 win for her team. It was exciting for her today, and we were very happy to be rewarded for the hard work she put in during the game. This was our big event for the week, and you can find the pictures from it by clicking Samantha's Soccer on the Current Events page.

Saturday, April 18th, 2009

What a busy time of year this is going to be! Between baseball and soccer practices and games we are going to be running around like crazy! If the kids are having fun, then it is all worth it.

I just wanted to let everyone know that I am recovering well after my gall bladder surgery on Thursday, April 16th. Aside from being plenty sore, everything seems to be on target for a normal recovery.

Picture updates this time around are limited to the kids sporting activities - in particular Samantha and her team's activities. First up is her baseball team's practice pictures. Tara went with Sam to practice and managed to take a few pictures. As you would expect if you are a frequent visitor to our website you can find those pictures on the Current Events page by clicking on Samantha's Baseball. Also on the Current Events page is the addition of Samantha's Soccer. On this page you can find some pictures of Sam at her team's soccer practice, in addition to pictures of their first game on April 18th, a 1-0 win. Finally, I added a new wallpaper picture from our trip to the University of Michigan spring football game on April 11th.

Sunday, April 12th, 2009

I want to send out a big THANK YOU to everyone who purchased cookie dough from Tyler for his field trip to Mackinac Island in June as well as to everyone who chose not to buy but donated instead. We earned enough money to completely pay for his trip as well as part of mine, making the whole thing much easier to accomplish. We certainly appreciate everyone's help in getting this done.

Enough with that... the reason everybody comes to the website is for pictures, and after a long break I finally have some to post. First up is the beginning of baseball season, and the addition of pictures from Tyler's practice. You can find them on the Common Events page under Tyler's Baseball. Samantha will be starting practice this week for both soccer and baseball, so you can check back soon for those sets of pictures as well. Also, I have added a bunch of pictures from our trip to Ann Arbor to watch the University of Michigan football scrimmage at Michigan Stadium. We were able to get inside the locker room, so I was pretty excited about that. As you can probably imagine, those pictures are also on the Current Events page. You will see them after clicking on UM Spring Game. Finally, I have added some pictures of Easter morning in our house. Once again, the pictures are easily found by clicking Easter on the Current Events page.

Saturday, April 11th, 2009

One more thing... Easter is tomorrow, so be sure to check back for pictures from that special day too!

Sunday, March 29th, 2009

OK everybody, time to call in all of our favors from past & future fund raisers. Tyler and I are going on a 3-day school field trip to Mackinac Island at the beginning of June. His grade is selling cookie dough as a fund raiser. Each 2 pound tub costs $8.50, with $4.25 going directly to cover the cost of Tyler’s trip (and mine if we sell enough). So, if you are interested in helping us out as we have many others in the past, feel free to order. Not in the mood for 2+ pounds of cookies? Feel free to make a donation directly to the school (tax deductible!). I’ll let Tara handle the details on that one, though (contact her at via the email listed at the bottom of the page). A couple more things that you should know… the money is due up front unfortunately, and the items need to be refrigerated or frozen, so if you are too far away this whole ordering process may not work too well (but donations are still welcome). Sorry about that! Orders are due to us by April 12th, and we will be picking up the dough on the 21st for delivery.

If you would like to place an order, here are the options:

Chocolate Chunk
White Chocolate Macadamia Nut
Oatmeal Raisin
Peanut Butter
Sugar Cookie
Chocolate Chunk Walnut

You can contact us with your order by the email addresses listed below. Thank you in advance for your support! Not interested? We understand completely, and thanks for thinking of us. Oh, and feel free to pass this along to others who may be interested – any help is much appreciated!

Also, baseball practice starts this week for Tyler, and in a couple weeks for Samantha. Keep checking back often for more pictures.

Sunday, March 22nd, 2009

It has been a hectic couple of weeks since my last update. First, I took Tyler & Samantha to the Holly varsity boys basketball playoff game on Wednesday (March 11th), which was an exciting win versus Grand Blanc. On Friday the kids went to Tara's parents house for the weekend and Tara and I went to the basketball game against Flint Southwestern, which was unfortunately a loss. The team ended up 19-3 overall, which is a great season regardless.

On Sunday (the 15th) I ended up in the ER with what they told me was kidney stones and a warning about high blood sugar which they thought may have been diabetes. After a follow up with the doctor on Monday and an ultrasound on Tuesday (the 17th) I learned that it wasn't kidney stones, but gall stones - goodbye gall bladder! It was back to work on Wednesday after taking a couple days off to visit the doctors and get some rest. We also got a phone call saying no worries about diabetes, so at least we got that bit of good news.

At least this weekend was a relaxing one. Despite some recurring pain from the gall bladder, I am doing well patiently waiting for my appointment with the surgeon at the end of the month. We took the kids to a birthday party for Evy, known in our house as Drew's girlfriend (she is a girl who's brother was on Tyler's football team and she sometimes is with Drew & Jayden at their day care). It was held at the Flint Children's Museum, which was a fun place for the youngest three - Tyler wasn't quite as thrilled with it, however. Later that same day we welcomed into our home our friends Jeff & Becky, as well as their boys Thomas & Andrew. The adults had a nice relaxing evening talking while the kids played together peacefully. Unfortunately Sunday brought us back to reality, doing errands out and about and coming home to cook dinner and do laundry. At least the house is clean!

I don't have any pictures to add to the website this time around - things have been relatively quite around here activity-wise lately. Before we know it baseball will be starting once again, so updates to the site should pick up once again. Check back often!

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

There isn't much news to report here from our end. We are both still working, which I guess right now is a feat in itself. Hopefully it will stay that way for a while (at least until August or so - I should finally be finished with school by then, which in this environment may not help anyway). We have just finished up a round of sickness in the house. Tara, Tyler, and Jayden have all spent some long days sleeping with this latest bout. Hopefully it is all past us, but there are three of us that didn't get it so who knows?

As far as the website - I have added some more pictures form Samantha's swimming lessons from this past Monday. As always, you can find them on the Current Events page. I added them to the Samantha's Swimming page, so click there to see them.

Friday, February 27th, 2009

Things have really slowed down for us as most of the winter sports have come to an end. Tyler's basketball season came to a disappointing end on the 21st of February when we got bumped out of the playoffs in the first round. Samantha started to take swimming lessons during the season, and has been enjoying them so far. Drew is keeping busy playing with his friend Nick and his Girlfriend Evy while at daycare. Jayden... well, what can I say about her other than the "Terrible Two's" definitely hold true for her! As for me, I am keeping pretty busy with my school work (two classes this semester, and just a few more to go before I am finally done!) and praying that I will have a job the next day. Tara is still working hard for the school, and even harder trying to take care of us all at home. Thank goodness for her, or our lives would be a disaster!

New pictures on the website this time around are limited to the pictures from Samantha's swimming lessons. I managed to attend one of her classes on February 23rd, and you can find the pictures from that day on the Current Events page by clicking on Samantha's Swimming.

Sunday, February 21st, 2009

I don't have much to report on this time around. We are still keeping ourselves busy with work and school, and those two things take up most of our time. Tyler has just completed his basketball season (unfortunately it didn't go as we had hoped). Samantha recently started swimming lessons once again, but as of now I do not have any pictures of her in the water. Hopefully they will come soon. Drew and Jayden are keeping busy mainly by picking on each other, or at least it seems that way!

I have added two new sets of pictures this time around. First up is some pictures of our trip to the bowling alley that Tara and I took most of the kids to (Sam was off for a "Girls Night" with her Grandma Gail). Although we weren't very good at it, we had a lot of fun. You can find those pictures on the Current Events page by clicking on Boys Basketball. The second set of pictures are of Tyler's final basketball game for this season, a close playoff loss. One thing about this team is that they never really got blown out, and the tried as hard as they could. Although I only have a couple of pictures of the game, you can view them by clicking on Tyler's Basketball on the Current Events page.

Saturday, February 7th, 2009

On Saturday, February 7th, Tyler's basketball team played their last regular season game. I must admit, based on the Tyler's reaction after the game, that I feel terrible that we lost. All of the kids gave it their all, and Tyler had what I would call his best game of the season. Although he didn't score, he more that made up for it with his hustle on defense and offense. He had several good looks at the basket, but he just couldn't get a shot to fall (and most of the rest of the kids had the same problem). Despite some frantic play on our part at the end to get a lead, we fell just short - losing 21-20. I know haven't had many positive feelings about winning this season, I really think that we have a shot in two weeks for our first playoff game if we can just put everything together.

Now for the updates... a couple of days ago I added Tyler's official league pictures from basketball. As you can probably guess, they can be located by clicking on Tyler's Basketball on the Current Events page. I had also added some pictures that Tara took while attending Samantha's second grade class field trip to the Sloan Museum and the Longway Planetarium on February 4th. Those pictures are also on the Current Events page, listed under... ta-da... Samantha's Field Trip. Check them out! This time around I posted the pictures from Tyler's last regular season basketball game, which are also posted on the Current Events page under Tyler's Basketball.

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

I must say that I had a proud father moment on Sunday during the Super Bowl. Not only did two of my kids take a genuine interest in the game (that would be Tyler and Samantha), but one of them even went above and beyond. As 9:00pm quietly passed in our house, we managed to put the kids to bed. Tyler had been rooting for the Pittsburgh Steelers to win the game, so when Arizona scored late to take the lead I thought I would sneak in to tell him if he was still awake. When I went through the door I saw his head pop up. I told him that Arizona had taken the lead, he whispered "I know." At that moment he pulled his headphones from his ear - he had been listening to the game on the sports talk radio station (I listen to it all the time and Tyler has taken a liking to it as well). Needless to say, I was pretty darn proud of him. I thought it was cool that the game was important enough to him that he would sneak a radio into bed with him at night. At that point the game was close to the end, so I flipped his TV on and finished the game with him before kissing him goodnight and heading to bed myself. The next day, on our way home from basketball practice, Tyler proceeded to tell me he has listened to a few Red Wings games that way as well! What a kid...

Now for the updates... this time I have added Tyler's official league pictures from basketball. As you can probably guess, they can be located by clicking on Tyler's Basketball on the Current Events page. I have also added some pictures that Tara took while attending Samantha's second grade class field trip to the Sloan Museum and the Longway Planetarium on February 4th. Those pictures are also on the Current Events page, listed under... ta-da... Samantha's Field Trip. Check them out!

Saturday, January 31st, 2009

No major news to report at this time. We haven't had anything too exciting happen with the family, aside from our usual busy schedules with school, sports, catechism, and soon to be Samantha's swimming lessons.

Updates this time around are limited to Tyler's fourth basketball game pictures. I am really getting tired of losing... so much so that I think that I will give up any future aspirations of coaching (assistant or otherwise). The important thing is that Tyler is having fun and is doing well (although he is frustrated by the losses as well) and I don't think he has any intention of giving up. You can see the pictures and read my thoughts on the game by clicking on Tyler's Basketball on the Current Events page.

Sunday, January 25th, 2009

Well, we had a couple of days where the temperature got out of the teens, but now we are right back to the cold. Brrrrr. I cannot wait to find a job in a warmer climate!

Lets see... Drew turned four on Friday, January 23rd. We are very excited about that fact, and he is very proud to have reached this milestone. We held his party a day later, on Saturday. Of course I had to be there with my camera - and you can see the results on the Current Events page.

In addition, Tyler's basketball team played their third game on Saturday the 24th. Unfortunately it was another loss, but the team really plays their hearts out. They made a furious comeback at the end only to lose by 2 lousy points. Unfortunately the coach and I were to blame for not giving them a chance at the tie by not calling a timeout after our last basket. Brain freeze on our part. Anyway, you can see pictures of that game under Tyler's Basketball on the Current Events page as well.

As for the website - I am finished re-adding all of the old information. Finally. Anyway, I have noticed the occasional trouble with the top and bottom links still, so please bear with me while I try to rectify that situation. Anyway, thanks for your patience.

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009

I cannot wait until this cold crap ends. The milk and pop that we store in the refrigerator that we have in our garage is freezing - inside the fridge! It has been a week straight of below zero or single digit temperatures when I leave for work. Thankfully the cold spell is supposed to end this week, but that can't come soon enough.

Now for the status of the website. I have completed the restoration of everything to the website with the exception of the 2008 page. The Current Events updates include pictures of Tyler and Donovan's basketball games, as well as pictures from our trip to Detroit for the auto show this past weekend. I will also be adding pictures of Tyler's basketball game as well as Drew's 4th birthday party this coming weekend, so please check back soon.

Sunday, January 18th, 2009

Will this cold and snow ever end? Here we are on what, day three of single digit highs? And today we got a couple of inches of more snow. Tara and I cleared the driveway last night and I would guess that we had at least 12" on the ground already. I went out and shoveled once again this morning (nothing like shoveling in the dark at 6:45am). Like we need this. Somebody please remind me why we don't live in Florida already? I am definitely ready to go...

For the recent visitors to the website - I almost have everything back to normal. Everything is up to date except for the past events. So far, 1999 to 2005 are complete and 2006-2008 are in progress. With a day off of work on Monday, I am hoping to make some significant progress this weekend.

OK, now for the new stuff. I have added the new pictures from Tyler's second basketball game. Unfortunately the outcome wasn't what we wanted, but Tyler is making vast improvements since last year and (most importantly) is having fun. The pictures are on the Current Events page, and you can see them by clicking on the "Tyler's Basketball" link. Also new this time around is a set of pictures of Donovan's basketball game that we went to after Tyler's game. You can find them on the Current Events page as well, under (appropriately enough) "Donovan's Basketball Game". Finally, I added pictures of our trip to Detroit to attend the North American International Auto Show and for lunch in Greektown. Of course those are on the Current Events page as well, under NAIAS Auto Show.

Saturday, January 17th, 2009

Will this cold and snow ever end? Here we are on what, day three of single digit highs? And tonight we are getting 3-6 inches of new snow. Tara and I cleared the driveway earlier tonight and I would guess that we have at least 12" on the ground already. Like we need this. Somebody please remind me why we don't live in Florida already? I am definitely ready to go...

For the recent visitors to the website - I almost have everything back to normal. Everything is up to date except for the past events. So far, 1999 to 2003 are complete and 2004 is underway. With a day off of work on Monday, I am hoping to make some significant progress this weekend.

Wednesday, January 14th, 2009

HOLY CRAP! Did it ever get cold overnight! I woke up (thankfully) in the morning to go to work and checked the temperature - 10 degrees! I knew it was supposed to be cold, but double digit below zero was not what I was expecting at all.

If you have checked out the website during this week, you know that I have been having a lot of trouble with the website. I am slowly adding things back, so please bear with me. For now I have re-added the 2009 versions of the Blog & Current Events. I have also gotten the old Update List, Blog, Wallpaper, and Family Dates pages back (easy stuff first). Give me enough time and I will have everything back to normal.

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

Well, I have been having problems with the website over the past month or so updating the website, so the time has come (unfortunately) to start all over again. I think that I may have it straightened out (finally), so I am going to try to gradually start adding things back to the site. I will also be attempting to add the old versions of the Update List, Blog, & Wallpapers as well (this is meant to be an archive for me more than anything else).

For now I have the Current Events up to date. That includes the 2008 Year In Review, which I posted on January 1st. I have also added pictures of Tyler's Basketball, which officially started on January 10th. Also on the 10th Tara & I took the kids sledding at Toboggan Hill. Those pictures have also been added to the site.

Sunday, January 11th, 2009

Now that we have had a week of work and school under our belts, it seems like we never had any time off at Christmas. Can we rewind a couple of weeks and do that again?

I have added two sets of pictures this time around for updates to the site. The first thing to happen is Tyler's basketball team played their first game on Saturday, January 10th. Although they lost, they played much better than I thought that they would and the game was extremely close. The other set of updates is a set of pictures of our sledding trip to Toboggan Hill in Davison. We have gone there several times in the past, and as the kids get older the more fun it is for all of us to go to. Both sets of pictures can be found on the Current Events page.

I have also made some changes to the page layouts for this year, hopefully you will like them.

Thursday, January 1st, 2009

Welcome back to our website once again in another new year. We hope that last year was a good one for you, and we hope that 2009 is a great year as well. It is hard to believe, but this is the tenth year of RodandTara.com. Hopefully I will be able to keep the updates coming frequently.

Updates this time around are limited to some more pictures of the kids playing with their Christmas presents. You can find them by clicking on Past Events, then 2008, then Christmas. I hope you enjoy looking at them.

I have made some basic changes to the site this time around, some of which were necessary and some were just a whim that I had. First, all of the 2008 pictures are now on the Past Events page. Obviously, with a new year, the Current Events page is now dedicated to our 2009 activities. Speaking of current events, seeing as this update is coming on the first day of the new year there are no activities to post yet, but I have posted my 2008 Year In Review. I know it is kind of long, but hopefully it is worth reading.

One of the changes that I made because I felt like it was to combine the Studio and School Photos into one grouping. Since we have pretty much decided to stop buying school pictures and stick to only studio photos, I decided that having two separate pages wasn't really worthwhile. Finally, I have "reset" the Wallpaper, Blog, and Update List for the new year. All of the old information is still there, it is now located on a 2008 version of their respective pages.

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