Trick Or Treat through the years...

Trick Or Treat 1971: I was only 2 years old and I dressed up as a pretty non-threatening clown with a teddy bear on my shirt! Wow! I'm surrounded by my cousins Debbie, Linda, Donna, and their friend Stephanie. I don't remember much about that night other than I got candy and was probably climbing the walls from a sugar buzz.

Trick Or Treat 1980: I can honestly say I don't know what got into me here! I was in junior high I think and was borrowing a wig (possibly from an aunt...?). I remember getting on the bus and having a classmate Mark sit next to me and asking me to a dance. Classic. Still, I'm really not sure what in the world I was thinking!

Trick Or Treat 1983: In the poorest tradition of bad taste, I went as President Ronald Reagan with my cousins Gary & Donna, my sister Mary and her 2 friends as well as my friend Kevin. That's him playing the deranged assassin cleverly disguised in a ski mask. We had a less-than-politically correct M.O. I'd go up to the house first and ask for candy in my Reagan voice. As the candy was being dropped into my bag Kevin would jump out from behind the bushes and yell, "Mr. President! Mr. President!" and then fire a few rounds off with his cap gun. I would then "escape" to the next house as the assassin stopped for candy too. We'd repeat this act at every house. File this one also in the 'What in the world got into him' folder. That folder is quite large unfortunately!

Fall tree & bench

This was a shot I went back to the park specifically to take in the evening sunlight a few days ago. The setting sun magnified the gold in the leaves on this tree at the top of a little mound at the local park. What I like most about the photo is the bench underneath the tree. Looks like an album cover to me... I think I may try to get Winter, Spring, and Summer shots from the same angle.

Harvest festival

Several local farms in the area open their property and barns up to the public this time of year with Harvest festivals. One just down the road from us has chickens running all over the place for the kids to chase; pigs to pet; llamas, wallabies, bunnies, goats, and baby cows as well. They also have a corn maze (0r would that be a corn 'maize'????). Katie Grace really enjoys getting a ride on the little pony. Here she is on him this past weekend.
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Unbelievable ending to college game!!!

Upward basketball

John has played Upward basketball since he was 6 years old back in 2002. Back then, just as today, he played with contagious enthusiasm and didn't seem fazed by the fact that his first 3 baskets were in the opposing team's goal! He's had a lot of fun over the years and has developed the skill of rebounding and putting the ball back in (the correct goal too). This year's team has had to play against much older kids due to a lack of 12 and 13-year olds. They've had to face 9th and 10th graders (about 15 years old)! John's team, the Aggies, have stayed close to them every game so far and even pulled out a couple of wins including one this weekend. The pre-game prayer and half-time devotion combined with the non-competitive nature of the league has made it a valuable experience for John to develop as a basketball player, a good teammate, and a good citizen. He's made a lot of friends over the years at Upward and we have enjoyed watching him every step along the way including his first year coach (Bob) giving him the best offensive player award after a game in which he scored 2 baskets for the other team! I told Coach Bob that the other team wanted to give the same award to him as well...

FLASHBACK OF THE WEEK: Oct. 1985

This photo was taken by the high school yearbook staff near the beginning of my Junior year. I was outside at lunch with Melinda (just to the right of me) hanging out with some of our friends. This pic actually made it into the yearbook the following Spring. I was given a copy of it by the yearbook teacher (Mrs. Flanders) and it's one of my favorite photos of all-time. Melinda and I became fast friends that Fall and would eventually begin to date in April of 1986. Andrea, who is busy with her family in the northern Cincy area, is at the left of the photo. Next to Melinda is Trish & Amy who will remain our dear friends forever. Standing at the far right is Kim who we hear from on occasion. She runs into Mel's mom in the Eastgate area. April, who is sitting and trying to get some last minute homework done, was at the reunion a couple of months back.

Photos in the park

Usually in the fall we take the kids to one of those department stores to have their photos taken as well as having one done of the whole family as well. This year we decided to try something different. We took the camera up to the park and used a tripod to take some portraits ourselves. We had a lot of fun and were able to use a bunch of different beautiful backgrounds and settings. The next day the weather took a turn for the worse and has been raining since so we made it just in time! Here are a few from the crop of photos we took.

2007 Employees Golf Outing

I just received this photo via e-mail taken a few weeks back during the employees golf outing. Treva, Rudy, and I had a very good 9 holes shooting par. We birdied one and bogied one. The weather was of course perfect and the evening was topped off by a great dinner and door prizes. I took home one of the grand prizes for the 3rd time in the past 10 years when I won a round of golf for a foursome at a very nice local course here in northern Kentucky good through next year. In years past I won a golf bag and weed trimmer/edger. Now that the weather is turning south and we've been pounded with rain the past 2 days, it was nice to get this photo to remind me of how beautiful the summer and early fall were.

Birds on a wire

John took this nice shot of a couple of sparrows on the wire leading to our house. He's picking up the camera more and more and starting to think critically about each shot. Mel's dad has long been involved in photography so he's got a valuable resource to tap into there. The world of digital photography and the ability to edit the photo makes for even more possibilities. We'll see how he develops and what he Bobserves through the camera lense.

John & Abel

John ran into an old buddy of his yesterday before his basketball game. Abel and John were inseparable for years playing on t-ball and then coach pitch baseball teams as well as basketball for a few years as well. However, in 2004 they got too old for the programs they played together in and so for the past 3 years hadn't seen each other at all. That was until yesterday. Abel's sister plays basketball in the same church gym that John does. Abel was there watching his sister's game and so John got to visit with him before his own game began. We hope they will be able to hook up again from time to time this fall. Above is a photo of them the last time they were together back in 2004 and then yesterday afternoon at John's basketball game.

Lunch with Susan

Melinda, the kids and I had lunch today with my former boss and long-time friend Susan and her 2 oldest kids (well, Jamie and Cassie aren't kids anymore). I worked for Susan at a greeting card store she managed from mid-1991 to late 1993 while I was in college and then job-hunting after graduating. I stayed on for a while after that as well because my first job out of college didn't quite pay me what I had hoped. Anyway, got the big job I was hoping for in December of 1993 and ended up quitting (I prefer to think of it as 'retiring' from the card store). I had lost touch with Susan over the years so it was great to hook back up with her recently. Haden't seen Jamie & Cassie since 1993 and wow, time sure does fly by! We had lunch today at McD's and enjoyed looking at old photos and catching up on what we have been doing lately. I'm sentimental to a fault so this day was just perfect.

At the park

Mel took the kids to the park the other day and snapped a few nice shots while the early Fall sun was out. The weather has continued to be absolutely beautiful heading into the heart of Autumn. Without a doubt, this has been the most beautiful summer I have ever experienced. Day after day of blue skies and no rain (perfect unless you're a farmer). Not sure what the Winter will hold for us but that's the beauty of creation. It doesn't run in predictable cycles. As long as this planet has been around there have been climatic changes to the extremes that we can't be blamed for (sorry Al). From The Flood to polar ice cap melting and glaciers sweeping across northern Europe and North America leaving spectacular topography in its wake. The patterns throughout history of global warming and cooling and warming again. Volcanoes, tornadoes, and hurricanes (oh my). Earthquakes and tectonic plate shifting. Kinda self-righteous to think we had anything to do with all that eh? The hardest job in the world to get right is trying to predict the weather (short range) or the climate (long range). For me, I'll just stick to admiring it's beauty! Let's take care of it and keep it clean and admire it for what it is.

FLASHBACK OF THE WEEK: 1980

Here's Melinda in action back in the summer of 1980!

The Office - the box game

last of the reunion photos

Well, this should be about it. A few of these were sent to me by mom. Hope you enjoy.

still more photos from the reunion

Believe it or not, there are a few more photos that I will be posting in a day or two.

More photos from the reunion

Here are some photos from the reunion on Saturday. Click on the photo to make it bigger and then you can right-click on it and save a copy onto your computer. Keep checking back because I will be posting more in the coming days.