The Graduation Video

For all those that couldn't make it but really really wanted to

Here is The Graduation Video (right click and "save as" on the link)

you will need DivX Installed to view the file

Ben...

Chara made it into the paper...

and it had nothing to do with me sitting next to a reporter
for the North County Times at her graduation...

Graduation Video coming soon.

silly uncle boo boo

schools out for summer

so last night i graduated... that's right.. after seven years of school i have finally obtained my AA.... all of us felt a little silly... but we're not all sure we'll go to the same 'real' college.. so this way we at least got a graduation picture together.. i love all these girls so much..
christine.. thanks for always laughing.. at everything.. you are amazing..
jackie.. thanks for being the best mom ever..seriously.. you are so very cool.. and thanks for the beautiful leis.. straight from the big island..
judy.. thanks for being so positive.. and for the lucky skittles..
and sabrina.. thanks for the pony rides.. and for all the fun.. (and the xanax).. you are a blast...
here's to the whole gang.. i have had the most fun with you girls..

chara and christine after graduation

Best day ever

Nothing better than Waffle day for breakfast at work and then going to see the new Star Wars after work. the only problem is the work part in the middle.

Edit: Ok, scratch that whole best day thing... The Waffle was the ONLY good thing that day

thou shalt not kill

ben and i have gophers.. lots of them.. and they are tearing up my front yard, not to mention what they are doing to the foundation of my house.. so we have a couple options.. 1) we can try this ultra sonic device that sends out a noise that apparently the little gophers hate.. however i have heard that this doesn't actually work.. and this device runs on d batteries.. because we shove this device far into the ground, we wont know if the batteries have stopped working, until we get another gopher.. 2) there are many traps we can buy on line that are designed to impale the poor little creatures.. these horrible gadgets look a lot like medieval torture devices.. 3) we can stick juicy fruit down their little holes.. why juicy fruit.. well.. becasue the gophers love this stuff.. and they chew on it.. but then they can't figure out how to get it out of their mouths, and so they keep chewing it until they die of starvation.. 4) we can spray down our lawn with soap and castor oil.. which may or may not work..
so.. i don't know what to do.. letting the little creature get trapped, and having spikes run through their heads and/or bodies doesn't sound pleasant.. although it does sound a little more pleasant than death by incenssent mastication..
the whole problem is that i have seen these little creatures.. and they are very cute..so i don't want to kill them.. however they are very destructive.. it is very frustrating to work hard at trying to get your lawn green, and nice.. to come out every morning, and have piles of dirt where my green lawn should be..
so, as of now, i can't quite bring myself to kill the little creatures.. we'll try the soapy water and castor oil thing.. if that doesn't work.. i'm afraid it's time to skewer some gophers..

Natedog's Birthday picutures...


The Biola table was in full force with everyone having a good time.
We should get together more often.
good times...

Chara got her passport... The world is a better place now...

Here are some pictures of our camping trip at Carlsbad State beach. It was a great weekend. I loved it. Chara loved the shower she took when she got home. Thanks to the Sharps for planning it, the Parkers for bringing the fun, and to Natedog for the good grub. See you all next year when we camp up on Half Dome.

More pics to come soon...

Ben got his passport.

Chara did not (yet)
Keaton is just lazy

live generously

ben and i are apart of a book study that meets monday nights. .. we are currently reading brian mclaren's book, a new kind of christian. .. i had some thoughts... last week we disused how to truly be a christian means to not live in an individualistic society. to quote mr. mclaren " to be truly good means recognizing that there are ultimately no strangers. everybody is my neighbor. everybody is my brother....we are all connected". Our society values individualism. so i was thinking about when the young man approaches jesus and asks him how to get into heaven, and jesus tells the man to go sell everything he owns and give it to the poor. i don't think it's because being poor is a sure way to get into heaven. being rich makes being an individual eaiser. you don't have to rely on any one. and when you are rich, giving money away is a lot harder.. you tend to think, it's my money, i worked for it... and tend to value possessions.. maybe being poor is all about not having anything to call "mine".. so that we live in a society where we don't mind sharing with others.. it's not the money thats bad, it's how it makes us think and act that's bad. i want to live a generous life.. how do i reconcile that with the fact that i also want to buy a lexus?