The Ranger

The Ranger is my old 1989 Ford Ranger my dad bought when i was in high school.  The kids love going for rides out in the country in it or hauling brush to the compost pile.  Mom is not as excited about it when I let them ride in the back with Billy as we cruise the neighborhood.  

Flag Football

This Fall Joel and Grant played their 1st year of flag football.  Once again I was their coach and because of that Grant got to play a year earlier.  I always thought i was pretty good at coaching kids but i nearly met my match this fall.  I would compare coaching 6-7 years football to herding cats.  Flag Football is "Flag" in name only.  Most of the time the kids miss the flags and just end up tackling the poor kid who has the ball resulting in a pile of kids someone getting a little teary-eyed. That being said we had a great time and the kids really started to get the hang of it as the season went on.  No TDs this year for Joel and Grant this year (they each came close a couple times but were tackled before they hit paydirt - with flags still attached).  The highlight was playing at halftime of the varsity football season opener under the lights.

Bye Billy

This Fall we had to put Billy down after a long year of battling all sorts of ailments.  I adopted Billy when he was approximately 1 and Mitch was 2 years old.  He was a great companion to all of us.  As you can see he was loved unconditionally by the boys and loved to spend time with them.  We will never forget all the goofy things he did like eating bubbles, chasing the sprinklers, sneaking food off the counter, licking everyone he met, letting the boys climb all over and him and sharing some R&R time on the floor.  We love you Billy and will miss you dearly!

First Day of School

Mitch starting his Sophmore year of High School.  I can't believe it!

Joel heading off to 1st Grade

Joel promised to look after Grant and show him the ropes.

Grant's first day of kindergarten!  Wow are these guys growing up fast!

Last Bonfire of the Summer

Campfires in the backyard!

Billy probably enjoyed campfires as much as the kids.  We always called him the "Black Shadow" as that was all you would see of him when he was running around the yard after dark at the fire.

Firesticks, karate and friends!