Michael's Tooth

Michael, Jr. lost his first tooth! One day it was loose, and the next day it came out at Burger King. When it first got loose he suggested we tie it to a door and slam it like on TV! We just told him to wait. What a big boy.

China

Well, we went to China. I have to say it was pretty amazing. What you may find more amazing is that I ever got around to blogging it. The secret is, the computer is back at the bottom of the stairs. We may be blogging more often now that I don't have to walk up a flight of stairs to do it! Lazy! Oh well. Here are a few pics to get you in the mood, and then Desiree is making an album on her Facebook page with a lot more.


While we were there we met with President Obama during his visit. The kids wouldn't shake hands with him 'cause Mom is a Republican. Quite embarassing.


Desiree met Jackie Chan and thought about trading up. But couldn't get a better deal than eternity!


This was in Tiananmen Square with the famous huge picture of Chairman Mao in the background. General Tsao was nowhere to be found.


This is the Sacred Road of the Ming Tombs, it was amazingly peaceful. Even more amazing since Mike, Jr. and Zach were there! It was one of our favorite places and was lined with statues of animals and soldiers.


The Great Wall was the crown of the trip. We want to go back and climb again. It was amazing to think of all the work and lives that went into this, for good or ill. The Chinese call it the longest tomb in the world. Desiree and I hope it was not just a once in a lifetime opportunity.


This was in Xi An, where thousands of terracotta warriors were buried to escort some emperor to wherever he went. It was pretty cool.


Here is how tourists ham up the emperor's sacred guard. There's one of me around here somewhere also!


These were not the same place, just in the same direction, but Chinese signs were a laugh a minute!


Check out this sign outside the Government Headquarters! Just kidding, it was outside some palace, but still quite funny, and I think it is supposed to say no 'loud' speaking.


This was just a cool building in a fairly popular style in Shanghai.

If you are going to China, go to Beijing. It has the most, best, memorable stuff. Favorites were the Sacred Road, the Great Wall, and the Pearl Market (not just pearls). We had a great time, and wished you were all there with us. More posts to come . . . eventually.

That Boy is a Runnin' Fool

Well, I haven't had a lot of time lately but I wanted to mention that I accomplished a goal this month. It happens on a day to day basis, goal-setting, but this one was a biggie. On August 3rd I overheard a buddy at work talking about how our Chief had challenged him to run 100 miles during the month of August. I asked what the setup was and he said he and the Chief were going to keep track of mileage and do 100 miles total during the month.

I thought about it for a minute, or less, this guy always gives me good ideas. I told him I was in and started that night. Initially I ran 3 miles a night and a couple in the morning through the week, but by the end I was doing 4 1/4 miles a night and finished at a little over 100 miles run that month. I was talking to Desiree about how I used to get a stitch in my side after two minutes of running. I weighed 215 at Graduation in 04 and it took a lot just to finish the 1.5 mile run for the Navy Entry Program.

Ironically, Chief had work responsibilities that kept him off his schedule, and my buddy Lighty got sick and couldn't run for over a week. Neither of them finished. When I was asked, 'Why did you keep going?', I simply said I didn't do it for them. I did it for me. It felt great to get it done, and I really feel proud.

Anyway, the kids are big as fence posts, and twice as smart and Desiree is doing great. And Lighty, the aforementioned buddy, mentioned that we might want to look at the Okinawa Marathon. It is in February, and the 20 week training schedule would start in two weeks to have us ready. I am thinking about it. Love you all, and miss you. Can't wait to be back.

The Slackers

Anyways, sorry we have been such slackers. I still need to figure out how to get the pictures from one computer and put them into this one. Michael is now on graves so life is backwards right now. Some news is that Zachary is 3 now, and doing great with wearing big boy underwear. Yeah!! No more diapers. Also we got a dog named Sheba. The family was PSCing and couldn't take her with them. She is a 5 year old mini dachsund. She was already house trained and kennel trained. She is a very easy first dog. Of course she follows me around like a 2year old child. She is waiting for me by the door even when I take a shower. She is a crazy girl. Now there is some more estrogen in the house. Oh and Michael Jr. was so brave yesterday. He had to get 6 shots for kindergarten. The nurse said he was the best she has seen. He later enjoyed his coconut milkshake from Baskin Robbins. Anyways, thats for now.

Desiree

Brothers

I didn't have to put them up for this. They did it all by themselves. Whenever they fight I know that deep down they love each other.

Michael's 5th Birthday

For Michael's birthday we rented a camper on Whitebeach. We were the only ones there. These are actually rocks not boats.
Michael loves throwing rocks into the water.
Happy birthday honey.

Michael's favorite toy.

Music Men