Just too darn predictable I guess !

I've been found!

Let me explain. Rhonda has been away for the past week with a group of girls up at their annual church camp. Well...I do not like being alone in the house so I attempt to find things to keep me entertained.

Now my life is not at all like a rock star in a rock and roll band, nor is it as interesting as some people may think. In fact, it is pretty much get up, go to work, leave work and go home, go to school, and finally go to sleep. Any thing out of this routine and we have to start taking my pluse.

Yesterday my school class was cancelled which set things in motion. Both of our cars have lost their air conditioning and the weather here has been in the 100+ range for this past week. In addition, the smoke from the recent fires in our area has created a fog of smoke that may be responsible for the cancer of generations to come. Soo....on my way home I was feeling very hot and smokey, kinda like a bar-be-qued driver, so I decided that I would take a detour and see what shows were showing at the Feather River theater in Oroville. (This is unusual since I usually go to the Yuba City or Chico Theaters.)

As the story unfolds...I left work a bit early thinking that I was going to do some school work to stay caught-up in my classes. And to add insult to injury my cell phone's battery had died.

Well, I went on a movie marathon and was in the theater for over 6 hours. During this time members of my family were trying to contact me. (Cell phone not working I did not know they were trying to get a hold of me.) When I got out of the theatre I plugged my phone into the car charger and had a slew of messages. ( All from concerned family members.)

I guess it is unusual for an over 50 year old to go MIA for 6 hours. Well, during this time it is my understanding that all of the hospitals were called (I had been experiencing some pain in my side for the past week as a result of some bruised or broken ribs), California Highway Patrol was notified (thinking that I had a pain attack and had crashed), the local Sherrif and Police had been notified (cuz I have a tendency to "run away", not), the two local theatres had been checked ( Yuba City and Chico of course not Oroville because it is unusual that I would go there), employees at my office had been contacted at their homes (by the Sherrifs depatment. Most of the employees in my office think I am a felon on parole anyway) , my neighbor who is a sherrif had been contacted ( the neighbor who is very loud and says "Hi !" to us from 2 houses down. I can expect some loud neighborhood humor), my parents were called (85 and 84 years old and surpirsingly were still awake!), a reverse directory was used to contact my other neighbor across the street to see if I was home ( both cars were gone since Rhonda had one and I had one), Rhonda was notified and was worrying that "I had left her" (I had just been up to her camp the day before and saw her in her 1/2 week camp attire. Also, if you know me, she is the love of my life and after 30 years you would not think leaving her would be a thought.), all my children were notified (which accounted for all of the messages on both my cell phone and home phones), and a missing persons report filed (the Police in my home with Coleen. I am just glad they were gone when I got home).

I must admit that I am glad that I have been found. It does make me feel loved! However, I have decided to be less predictable in the future so this same thing will not happen again when I decide to...I don't know...go out for dinner on my own, decide to play a round of golf without family approval, or maybe just sit in a warm bath with the phones off for a few hours. None of which I do very often and certainly could be cause for alarm.

Easy To Be A Dad !

This is not a picture of me though some of you may think so. I just found it funny and thought that it reminded 0f me of being a father. lol Actually, I have found that most of my memories involve my kids in one way or another. It is ironic how we try to figure out how to be parents then about the time that we feel we are making progress the kids are out of the home. Wait! Maybe that is why we feel like we are making progress. Ha Ha

Now this is a picture of me! I am the little one in the center. On my left is Scott my brother who is 2 years older than me and on the right is my brother Greg who is 4 years older than me. You can see why Rhonda married me. I was such a cute but onery little kid. I think I was four or five at the time of this picture. ( A long time ago) When we would visit my Grandpa Schwendiman as I would walk into their house he would always spank me. I asked why? He said that if I hadn't already done something to deserve it then he was sure I would.

Now here is the real reason that I am a proud father! These kids make it easy to be a good father. I am so proud of them! The world is definitely a better place because they are here. I love being around them and will attribute my future dementia to them. lol Any father should be so lucky to have such wonderful kids!

Of course, I take no credit for the kids being so wonderful. How could they fail with such a wonderful wife and companion. Isn't she beautiful? It is such a pleasure to go through this life with a true soul mate! Thank you dear for raising such great kids. (I add that she has done this all the while trying to live [deal] with me.)

Mother's Day Dinner

It was not going to work out having everyone at our home for Mother's day so we decided to all meet in Vacaville which is halfway for Cortney and Cecil and us. That way we all got to be together except Crystal and Brian in Utah. (We will get to see them in two days! Yeah!)

This was such a fun time. Look at Rhonda. Doesn't she look beautiful! She seemed to be so happy with eveyone around.

Juggling Family Matters

I thought this picture was cool and seeing as how our family is getting together this weekend it was somewhat appropriate. I guess it just gives me a sense of what life is all about. Ever since our first child was born we dedicated our efforts to our family. We did some pretty cool stuff together and have some fun memories. Of course, not all of our experiences were fun and games.

I guess this is where I am supposed to tell some sort of family story...... like the family trip to Oregon and siging songs around the camp fire and having the others campers join us because it seemed like we were having fun. Especially the times we tried to make up verses to "One black bug bit the back of a bear as another black bug bit back!" etc. Then as the temperature started to fall we realized that we had left all of our coats home and had to run to Walmart and buy some for us to stay warm! Sometimes we were such dorks! Singing "The ants go marching one by one" and I stopped to put a couple of branches in the back of my shirt so I looked like a reindeer. (Yes, it is on video and each of the kids have a copy of this dork moment.)

As everyone gets ready to come and visit for Eric's graduation I am hoping for a few dork momnets again! They always seem to be the very things that measure a family and our ability to love one another.

Just us

I thought that you would like a picture from the front. It is not the most recent picture that I could find but I tried to embellish it with flowers.

This month is a special month for Rhonda and I! We will be celebrating our 30th anniversary! What a kick it has been being married to such a wonderful caring person for this long. She definitely is the glue that holds us together.

I truly am thankful that we can be together for eternity. There is no one else that I'd rather be sharing mortality with than her and certainly no other to be by my side forever!

A couple of other events that happen this month...Mother's day....Treven's birthday....Macyie's birthday...Eric's graduation which has spawned a family reunion of sorts! Thanks to all the kids willing to get together for picture and a day of fun!

I LOVE IT WHEN OUR FAMILY IS TOGETHER !

Waiting....wondering.....

Have you ever felt that you are just waiting....?

Often you are not sure for what or who. But it just feels like there is going to be something else.

Recently quoted Pestalozzi said, "In distress, determination is half way to salvation." What is going to come through the door? Will it be pleasing to the sight? Will it sooth the conscience? Will it frighten or discourage? Do you wait until the door opens on its own or do you open it anxiously to find out its secret?


Waiting...wondering...

Our Kids

Dug up some old pictures and thought that we would post them. Sometimes we look at pictures of our family and wonder where the time went.

I wish I could have them back as little ones that came running when I came home. They each are special in their oun way! However, if we had them back in their youthful state we would miss out on the blessings that we have received by gaining the son-in-laws and the daughter-in-law that we have.

Sooo...here is our happy family!