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September 27, 2006Took Aren to IHOP for her birthday today, since I was not here to celebrate it. It was funny; I mentioned that it was her birthday to the waitress. Before we left, they came out to sing her their version of Happy Birthday. Aren was so embaressed. Yet, she noted that it was worth the free ice cream.I added the dates from the 19th to the 26th today. I was away so I was unable to update my site. You will have to look at the entire blog to see it all, I am sure. |
September 26, 2006Back home in Helena at 10:30 PM MT from Spokane. The drive was fine; I did have trouble getting gas at the Flying J in Couer D'lene. Wouldn't take my card: it has scratches. Plus, the attendant wouldn't turn the pump on when I selected to pay inside. No matter. I left and went to the gas station down the road.The flight was long enough. I left DFW at 12:30 PM CT and arrived into Salt Lake at 2:10 PM MT: about a 2 1/2 hour flight. I came in at concourse B and had to walk all the way over to concourse E, on the other side of the terminal. I had almost an hour until my connection, so I had some time. I left SLC at about 3:00 PM MT and arrived into Spokane at 3:30 PM PT, an 1 1/2 hour flight. After getting my bags, getting on the shuttle bus to the north parking lot, and leaving the airport, it was about 4:30 PM PT. |
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September 1, 2006Back to work today. Chris is doing very well. We walked downtown to the city/county building to turn in a form for my work. Chris and I have been trying to get around more without driving. She had been walking to work; it is only 1/2 mile away from the house. I, on the other hand, bike to work. For me, it is about 5 miles to the Missouri River WTP.Kids seem to like school. They have some homework this weekend. I have to stop by the grocery store tonight and pick up about a dozen large paper grocery sacks. I have to help the kids make book covers for their school books. I remember when the schools supplied the paper book covers: the ones with the Dr. Pepper ads all over them. Now, the parents have to supply them. Can you believe that? We had bought the elastic covers that just stretch over the books. Those are not approved. |
August 30, 2006Chris is home from surgery today. She had a hernia repair and gall bladder removal. It was done laparoscopically. This meant she had to stay in the hospital only one night. Pretty incredible.I took off work yesterday, today, and tomorrow to help. Ridge and Aren started school today: orientation only, though. Brandon and Aubrey will start tomorrow. Ridge is a freshman in high school now. Aubrey is in 8th, Brandon in 7th, and Aren in 6th grade. They sure grow up fast. |
August 18, 2006Aubrey ran just under 4 miles at the August Road Race here in Helena yesterday evening. She came in at a time of 29:42 which is about 7 1/2 minute miles. Certainly not her best, but it wasn't a real competive race. It's mostly high schools kids out running to raise money.Chris, Aubrey, Aren, Kayla and Kelsey (Aubrey's friends) are leaving today to spend a few days at a waterpark. It's for Aubrey's birthday. Brandon has a bowling party on the 26th. |
August 9, 2006Aren went to D.A.R.E. camp this morning. She will spend the next few days at camp swimming, paint ball, canoeing, etc. Brandon did this last year and had a blast.Put up the video of Aubrey's 5K run at the Headwaters Run in Anaconda. You can see it on the main page for a while or on YouTube. |
August 6, 2006Aubrey and I ran in the CRECC race today. The pictures are here. It was tough. Aubrey improved her time by 3 minutes. I did by 17. Of course, I ran all the way this year; whereas, I walked half last year. It was fun, though. |
August 5, 2006Tomorrow, Aubrey and I will run in the CRECC 4.2 mile run. Everyone runs in a red dress which includes the guys. It is quite an event. Will let you know the results. It is all in fun; no real competition. |
August 4, 2006Chris' last day at Blue Cross Blue Shield. Her boss was sweet enough to give her a gift card to a nice resturant in the downtown walking mall. Windbag Saloon has some very good food.We both went and saw the movie Barnyard at the theaters afterwards. It was funny. |
July 31,2006Scott Gilden's funeral today. He was only 43. Scott was an operator with whom I worked with this past two years. He was out for about a year battling cancer. He looked like he was overcoming the disease. Last week, he passed away.Brandon's bowling party has been set. He is having a bowling party at Sleeping Giant Lanes (442-1104) on Saturday, August 26, 2006. His party is from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM. I reserved three lanes. He expects 10 to 12 kids to come. Aubrey's party is a road trip. I can not say where because it is a surprise. She knows that it is a road trip, but not where. She has a couple of her friends going. |
July 30,2006Headwaters 5K run in Three Forks, MT. Aubrey took 2nd overall female with a time of 24:26. She was first in her age group. She was behind the first female by only 20 seconds.Finally getting a break in the hot weather. Has been over 100 the past few days. Starting to cool off a little; enough to actually go outside in the evening. |
July 03,2006Wacy went back to Texas this morning. I had to work today so I did not see him off on his flight, but I did tell him goodbye this morning before I left for work.I finally started to draw a picture of Nena (Nena Kerner from the 80's band Nena). Hopefully, it will come out okay. I may even start a website about her. We have a YouTube group going about everything Nena. Quite a few guys have her music and videos. She has some new stuff and remakes of her old music. Really good. |
June 27, 2006Quite a few things to mention here since I've posted.Aubrey's team, Arsenal Blue, won second in the state cup soccer tournament held in Butte this last weekend. They won against Billings Black and Flathead. Lost to Billings White and tied against another (Will edit this with the team later). Aubrey was threatened with a yellow card for a legal sliding tackle in the box. The ref then threatened her with a red card for walking away and ignoring him when he spoke to her about the yellow. Wacy has about a week before he goes back down to Texas. Everyone seems to be having a great time this summer. Hikes up Mt Helena, computer games, PS2 games, and swimming. Weather is just now starting to get hot up here in Montana. It is up in the high 80s and low 90s. It is suppose to stay this way for a while. Getting some friends on YouTube. Check out my profile on YouTube. If you like Nena, as in 99 Red Balloons and more, I have a playlist of her videos. |
May 14, 2006Queen City Tournament. They beat Missoula whole-heartedly. The Strikers were shut out 6 to 0. Quite a change in determination in our team this time. They get their chance at Kalispell again in the championship game at 3:00 PM today. I am working so I can't tape or watch this one either. I will keep you posted.Aubrey has a busy day today. This morning's game, the championship, and a Vigilante game at 4:30 PM. |
May 13, 2006Queen City Tournament. We did not come to play - Coach Wilkins. They lost to Kalispell 3 to 5 in the second game. Arsenal Blue was down 0 to 4 at half-time. They will have to win against Missoula tomorrow to get any chance at avenging this loss. |
May 13, 2006Queen City Tournament. Aubrey and her Arsenal U12 Blue team just played Glacier in their first game of of the tournament. They were able to beat a suprisingly tough Glacier team 3 to 1. I did take video so look for some highlights by tomorrow. I will also post the results of the second game which has started at the time of this writing. I am at work so I am unable to tape the game much less watch it. Chris will let me know how it went. |
May 8, 2006Bought my Linksys WRT54G wireless router yesterday. I got it set up, but had to call support when the installer asked for the router password and the default would not work. The tech had me reset the router and it did work. I even called Bresnan to assist with the internet setup. It worked already, prior to the setup. The installer requested more info, though. It works. I have yet to get it to share the files and printer between the desktop and the laptop. Working on it though.I can and am using the laptop to get online now anywhere in the house or even outside since it is connected wirelessly. Cool! |
May 7, 2006Brandon bowled in the Pepsi state tournament in Missoula yesterday, Saturday. He bowled 32nd of 140 bowlers in the first round. He bowled a 101, 101, and a 143 in the first round of games. He returned in the second round with scores of 108, 115, and 159. This put him in 12th place out of the 70 that made it to the second round. Only the top six and two alternates made it to the final round on Sunday. This meant that he was only six spots from making it to the the final round. He really did very well. I have video. I will post it as soon as I can edit and upload it.Aubrey played two games in Billings the same day. The Arsenal U12 Blue won against Livingston 6 to 0. They lost to Billings White 2 to 3. One of the goals against the Blue was a PK that was inproperly called. The foul occurred just outside the box, but the Ref was pressured by the opposing coach to call it inside the box. |
April 28, 2006Posted a video of Cody's first birthday. You can see it here for awhile on my main page, too. I am off the next two days. Aubrey has a two Arsenal games in Missoula on Saturday. Chris and she will be going while the three and I stay here. I need to take Brandon bowling to get him ready for his Pepsi tournament in May. Looking forward to the time off. |
April 20, 2006Absolutely gorgeous day today. Must be near 70 or so. Thought is was supposed to be in the mid 70s tomorrow. Helena Forecast But, I guess mid 60's. It is supposed to rain on Saturday. Most of the time these guys are way off. We will see. Aubrey has a couple of games in Missoula on Saturday. I am off work that day. Brandon has a book report due next week so I may stay home to make sure he gets it done. I would rather go watch her play.Check my videos here on my site or you can even see them on YouTube where they are. |
April 14, 2006Spring Break It the last day of Spring Break for the kiddos. I am at the library using the notebook to type my blog. I brought Ridge along so that he can get a library card and check out some books. He will be enrolled here come Monday. |
April 8, 2006Went to Salt Lake City, UT to pick up Ridge from the airport. Took the new notebook to track the flight. Had to buy a day pass from Flying J truck stops to do this. The notebook has wireless, but was not able to find a free reliable connection on the road. Used Flying J to keep up with his flight. All for naught, though. He did not make it on the plane. Found out when we got to SLC. American airlines would not let him on; atleast, not on the last connecting flight. Arranged to have him on a flight later that day. We got him into SLC around 10:30 PM that night. We waited 8 hours at the airport; it was a long day. It was a long trip back. It takes 8 hours to drive back to Helena. I even had to work that day too. |
March 27, 2006I'm a slipping. Working really hard, though. Busy. Busy. Soccer starts next weekend. Bowling is done, except for Brandon's tournaments. He placed first in the city's single tournament. He goes to state soon. Aubrey's first game is in Livingston on the 1st of April. I will post that schedule very soon. I am finding some really amazing websites. I want to share them so I will set up a page just for that. The one that is at the top right now is YouTube. I have Aubrey and Brandon videos up. You will see one where I keep the picture of the day. |
March 12, 2006Wow! It's been awhile. Sorry I haven't been updating. That should change. We've dumped Qwest all together! No phone and no internet through them. Tried to get DSL through them using our current ISP, Internet Montana. Qwest, a usual, screwed up. We are keeping Internet Montana for dial-up, if needed. Hey, only $5 a month for 2 hours or less. We went to Bresnan Cable. High speed broadband all the way. 3 MBps soon to be 8 MBps according to the cable guy. |
October 29, 2005No much going on. Brandon and Aren are bowling. Daylight savings ends at 2 AM tomorrow.Still have yet to hear about the Arsenal tryouts for U13. It's gone to committee because Aubrey is playing up a year again. Political crap as always. |
October 26, 2005Dad's Birthday. He would have been 75. |
September 25, 2005Aren's Birthday, but the day my father passed away. Love you, Dad. |
August 18, 2005Aubrey will run the 41st Annual Road Race here in Helena. Brandon went to D.A.R.E. camp yesterday where he will swim, hike, canoe, and play paintball. Other activities are planned as well. Aren will be going with me to sign Aubrey up for U13 Arsenal soccer.School starts August 31st for Brandon and Aren. Aren is going to Four Georgians elementary school, whereas Brandon is going to CR Anderson middle school. CR may not open for a few weeks due to damage sustained from the earthquake. Why it took this long for someone to find such extensive damage is uncertain. |
August 1, 2005State Games of AmericaAubrey took the Gold medal this last Thursday at the State Games of America in Colorado Springs. It was supposed to be a road race, but was more of a cross-country race through hiking trail and river sand. We also spent Friday and Saturday night with Becci and Frank. They have a really beautiful home. We all had a good time. Friday was spent at the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame. We went to the Olympic complex, but there were no parking due to all the people visiting. On Saturday, we went to the Great Sand Dunes , 60 miles west of Wahlsburg. Aubrey and Aren made it to the 750 foot peak, but Brandon and I only made it half way. |
July 26, 20055.6 EarthquakeAn earthquake of 5.6 magnitude hit 39 miles south of Butte, 146 miles from Helena, yesterday at 10:08 PM MDT. Chris, Aubrey, and I were in the living room watching TV when it struck. At first, Chris and I thought the other was shaking the sofa. This slight shaking lasted probably three to four seconds. When the sudden shaking of the house occured, we both knew then it was an earthquake. Brandon and Aren came down stairs immediately. The big shake only lasted a second, but everyone in the neighborhood noticed. Most of the neighbors went outside. |
July 16, 2005Big Sky State GamesAubrey took the gold in the 5K road race on Friday. She beat Emily Burk by 21 seconds with a time of 24:21. She ran the 10K today and beat her last year's state record. She won gold in the 10K with a time of 47:30: Two minutes, 18 seconds better than her record. She was the fifth overall female. Chris and Aubrey are going to the Shodair Soccer Classic to watch Allison Moon play her last HS game. Allison is a friend of Aubrey's from DOTS, a high school soccer endurance training held during the summer. |
July 11, 2005Aubrey avenged the loss of her 1st place finish at last year's race at Drop and Trot in Bozeman this last weekend; She was able to keep her1st place finish with 17 push-ups. |
July 7, 2005Aubrey has a 5K run in Bozeman this Saturday. Added some stuff toUpcoming Races and to Past Races. Added Brandon and Aren bowling pictures as well. NEW! Mt Helena Webcam, see live pictures of Helena. |
July 5, 2005What a great 4th! Not only did East Helena have a incredible fireworks show, but they allow fireworks in the city. Everyone was putting on their own show all around during the display. It was truly incredible. There were fireworks 360°; everywhere you looked.I took pictures with the digital camera. They actually look like most came out very well for digital; my old SLR would have taken better, but it was stolen several years ago when I was in Fort Worth. I will get those pictures up here later today or tomorrow. |
June 27, 2005Holy cow, it hailed! I really mean hailed. I left work after 3 PM because a storm came just before the end of shift. It left almost two inches of pea-sized hail on the highway; it looked like it snowed! (I wish I had my camera.) I had to take my time getting into town; otherwise, I would catch up to the hail. It didn't get as deep, but the hail became larger (about nickel-size). |
June 26, 2005We're back from Montana Cup 2005 in Kalispell. The good news is that we all had a good time. The bad news is that we lost all three games. We lost to Bozeman 1 to 5. Aubrey scored the only goal in that game. She also made use of her amazing ball skills. I will try to get a video clip on here showing how she used a "step over" and cut to out maneuver the girl in front of her. It was perfect.They lost the second game 1 to 5 against Flathead. Sammy scored this one goal. The third game was played this morning. We lost 0 to 1 against Missoula. All these games were very hard fought. We could have won this third game, but they were lucky enough to get in a goal. I really do believe we out played them, though. |
June 22, 2005Haven't finished yet, most links won't take you anywhere yet. Fixed the soccer ball bounce in Arsenal Schedule page. Lost the proper routines with my jumpdrive. I restored those though.It's been warm up here: around 80's almost 90. Get quite a bit of rain as well. Aubrey has the state tournament this weekend. I will post you some pix and results asap. |
June 21, 2005Revamping my site. Really starting to come around. Including a separate blog page that is < iframe > into this page. This allows me to edit the blog page without having to go into this page and enter this text. |
June 18, 2005Been sick with "Walking Pneumonia"; okay now, though. Kept my web stuff on my jumpdrive. It cratered on me. I'm sending it to Lexar to be replaced, but lost all my stuff. I plan on revamping my site, with a new look and javascript routines. A great place for DHTML (javascript) is Dynamic Drive. |
| Last updated 08-19-05 |