Back Blog

Dudes! I'm back. Okay, I never really went away. I just got lazy about posting. I have since learned that some of my friends and family who live in other parts of the country were looking at the blog to see what was happening in our lives. Who knew? And I guess if I wasn't posting, they felt like some little piece of their lives was missing. Sorry, Jen. I'm going to give this another try. I'm not making any promises, but I'll try to keep things somewhat current - starting with the last year in review.

First of all, the big news in our extended family is that for the first time in at least two hundred year, the firstborn to a Pike father was a Girl. My cousin Mark and his girlfriend, Rhonda, had a little girl, Madison Elaine, so we welcomed her into the family and teased Mark about how this was proof that he was adopted. J/K

Josh turned 10 this year, and apparently that comes with an attitude. I have to keep reminding myself that I'm trying to raise two Godly boys, so I have to keep my patience in check when he does things like leaving my good tools in the yard where I ususally find them after they've developed a protective coating of iron oxide. Anyway, he wanted to go fishing for his birthday, so we took his friend and went to Prado. We didn't catch squat, and after they got bored with sitting around waiting for the fish to bite, they entertained themselves by cutting up the last two worms we had into little pieced and then doing a Lord of the Flies dance with the worm pieces on a stick. Yea, boys!

We got ourselves two new puppies just before Christmas. If your keeping score, we started with two, lost one, and gained two, bringing us up to a grand total of three, yes three, dogs now. Angie wanted to get me a boxer for Christmas because our other dog, Pepper, is just boring. We went to the shelter to see one that got adopted just before we got there, but one of the ladies sneaked us in to see two puppies that somebody had left at their door. They were too young to be adopted, so we fostered them (read took them to the vet a lot because they had mange really bad) until they were old enough to adopt. So far, their talents include breaking the glass top off of our dining room table, slicing a leg in the process ($600 vet bill), breaking pots in the back yard and slicing pads off of their paws ($400 vet bill), digging up the yard, ripping our couch apart when we forget to put them in their crates, stinking out the house, and sitting in their water tub. Meet Snowball, the most intelligent of the three.

My brother and I had our first guys only family fishing/camping trip. We took my two boys, and two of our nephews to Seven Oaks for camping, fishing, and "training." Nobody got hurt (too badly) and we caught too many fish. Actually, Josh made us all look bad. I think he caught 7. I caught two, then took pictures. After Mike recovers, we might try it again.


Since I talked about Josh, I have to give props to Caleb as well. He has turned out to be quite the academic. The booger brought home straight A's last year, and is on target to do it again this year. He's busying himself with new "inventions" that he keeps in the engineering log book I got for him, and reading like ink was going out of style. He's made it through 5 of the Harry Potter Books. Did I mention he's in 3rd grade? Last year, he had the 2nd highest reading counts score in his class. Some little girl keeps beating him, but I don't think she sleeps.

The highlight from summer was the Great Space Race camp that we planned, programmed, and directed with the Armstrongs. God provided a great team of counselors, and the kids had a great time. Kev was the speaker, and did an outstanding job of challenging kids to "get in the race." It was tiring, but worth it. Ask me about it, and I'll talk your ear off. But I'm getting tired and don't want to type.

Last two things for this entry, then I'm going to bed. Angie and I celebrated 15 years last month. We spent a week in Monterey without the kids (thanks mom and dad) and saw a bunch of neat stuff. If you are ever in the area, you MUST visit the Big Sur Light Station. Freaking Awesome, if you like light houses like I do. They fascinate me. I have a bazillion pictured from the trip, but this one will have to do for you.
And finally, me. The biggest thing in my recent memory was the two days I spent in the hospital on moraphene because of the superhero power I have to produce boulders in my kidneys. I got to experience my first, and if I have anything to do about it, my last, kidney stone. The low down is this - THEY HURT LIKE HELL! Don't use antacids. I don't know for sure, but I think these were the main contributor. I drink more water now, and eat more plants. I don't want to go thru that again.

I was priviledged to have been nominated and conformed for a position on Flipside's Vision Action Team (board, for the old timers). So now I get to go to more meetings, and say my piece about the goings on at the chruch. It's a mixed blessing, because it has forced me to spend more time seeking God and thinking through a lot of what I do. But with great power comes great responsibility, and the hard part is knowing too much about the goings on of the church "business" and finding a balance that keeps the church operating without hindering our spiritual growth. Pray that I stay focused.

And finally, another blessing that fell in our lap this year, I'm the new Cubmaster for Cubscout Pack 628! On top of that, I had two dens last year, Bears (3rd graders) and 1st year Webelos (4th graders.) The last Cubmaster went on with his youngest son to do things with the Boy Scout Troop, so I (foolishly) volunteered to take on the responsibility. That means that I get to plan pack meetings, and since this year I have the 2nd year Webelos, I also get to plan and run den meetings once a week. I already have the date for the rocket launch, so I'll make sure to update you all on this year's rocket launch. Here's a picture from last year. (Yes, it has been that long.)

Love you all.