Another one...

This is an embryo at 12 weeks old

This is an ultra sound picture of the baby at 12 weeks.

The baby is about 2 inches long and weighs about one ounce.

The baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements.

Oh..........this is not what's happening to Amy and I.

Congratulations to John (my brother) and his wife Amber as they expect their first child. We love you two and pray for healthiness for Amber, the baby and especially YOU John.

Potty on the toilet................

We have a big boy. Gavin is starting to want to use the "big boy chair" for going to the bathroom. Last week at daycare he insisted on using the toilet to go to the bathroom and he actually went.

Then on Saturday he told Amy "Poop," so Amy put him on the toilet and he went poop, she cleaned him up was grabbing his diaper, he said "poop" again and pointed to the floor where he had finished going "poop". Luckily I was gone so I didn't have to clean it up!!!

This is a fun stage with Gavin. He is starting to say more words and his personality is really starting to come out (not sure if I like this all of the time).

Happy Holidays to you and your families!!!!

Nothing

The title sums it up. That's how I have been feeling lately. Another word could be shitty. Life is crazy, I wish I could figure out at least a little portion of it. It's been tough the past couple weeks; the job front has yielded nothing which just starts the roller coaster of feelings. I am trying not to get beat down, but damn..................

that's about it

Pushing your luck

Well OJ pushed his luck and got bit in the ass for at least 9 years.

At least the jury found him guilty this time

Some picts

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend. It's always fun to get together, eat, sleep, and watch football with family. Our immediate family has grown over the years. It started with 5 kids and now is 5 kids with 4 kid-in laws, 4 grand babies with one more on the way and Uncle Joel.
Man I love these guys, if you do not know my family, you are missing out and I am surprised, because they tend to be around at almost any type of party or gathering. It's also amazing to me the different personalities within my family. Politician/Sales, Engineer, School Teacher/Coach, Lawyer, Adult Daycare provider, Co-op Manager, Furniture repair business owner, HR Manager, Financial Asst., Grant writer (i think) and Construction guy.



Gavin is Daddy's little helper lately. He wants to help with everything, and for those of you who have a 20 month old, you know this means everything.

It really is fun to watch is mind work and try to figure things out and how he gets so excited about the smallest things.



"Oh yeah this is the life, I just need a bowl of pop corn to go with my sippy-cup and movie"

New Favorite "Home" store

I have had the pleasure of traveling to our local Lowe's store over the last few months. It has quickly become my favorite store to shop at and not just because of all of the tools.
* The store has always been clean
* Prices are very reasonable
* The customer service is exceptional. I was just there the other day and had no less than 10 people say "HI" and asked me if I needed help.
* And they have cool tools

It's amazing to me, I have been in customer service off and on for several years, it only takes a little amount of effort, but means so much (you people in management know exactly what I'm talking about). I have had many experiences with good and not so good customer service, so, kuddos to you (Management Team) for making it a priority to help and serve your customers. I am now a loyal Lowe's customer.

Just what's been happening

Amy and I got to spend some much needed time away together, it was only a night and she was sort of working, but it was nice, especially because her work paid for it.

The "Big Buck" got away from me this year, but I did have a nice hunting beard going.

Gavin got a new "cycle" and we can't keep him off it.

Gavin and the dogs made their annual trip to Crossroads Animal shelter for pictures with Santa.

And Amy's mom Deb, bought us a new TV, WOW is it big and awesome compared to the other one we had

Later for now

Feed My Starving Children

I had the opportunity to travel to Brooklyn Park on Saturday with our youth ministry to Feed My Starving Children. If you have not heard about this organization, please check out the link.
We had a great time with both the senior and junior high kids and made almost 13000 meals in about an hour and a half.

FMSC is a very interesting organization and there are two very important things that set it apart.
1. It is a non-profit Christian organization
2. 94% of donations go toward feeding children around the world...did you get that 94%

There are many more great qualities about FMSC, so please check out the link, here it is again.

Feed My Starving Children

THUD

You know that sound when you really just want to headbutt the wall...THUD. That's what I've been wanting to do lately. What a roller coaster of emotions the last couple of weeks. The job search still is a work in progress. As of now I am laid-off for the winter and am looking for something steady. I am also helping a friend/softball teammate, who owns a roofing/siding company, by trying to sell for him. There is a really long story to this....I won't bore you, but it's frustrating, more so because it's not a steady income.

On a different note, I had a great time deer hunting with my family. I didn't see anything, but my dad shot three, one being a very nice nine-point buck (picts to come)

I have the fever

I always get restless this time of the year and this is why.

The deer hunting opener is on Saturday and I have been dreaming (literally) of seeing a buck like this.

I'll keep hoping for the deer, but praying for safety for the 500,000+ hunters hitting the woods this coming weekend.

Can I come back??????

Is it really November?

Where the hell have you been?

What have you been up to?

What are you doing now?

How is your family?
* Amy
* Gavin

How is life treating You?

Did you vote?
* More important- Are you glad the commercials will stop?

Do you still have the dogs?

Do you have pictures of everyone?

Yes my friends, I am back to the blogging world and I promise, I will try and post at least a couple of times a week.

It's been crazy for the past six months. Lots of fun, joy and fear and tears.

Anymore questions? Post them and I'll answer................Soon, I swear.

Later for now

I need this gig

This is my little brother Keith (chillin' with Gavin). I have been living vicariously through him for about a two years now. He works for Starkey, a hearing aid company, which also has a foundation that donates a lot of money, time and hearing aids around the world.

Keith is part of the Sales/PR team and gets to do some pretty amazing things like traveling around the US for different functions, parties at the Playboy mansion, fishing in Alaska, meeting the president, driving Warren Buffet to and from the airport.............and his latest round of excitement.

Being a chauffer for and having breakfast with Arnold Palmer.

Over a month....sorry

It's been over a month since my last post. No excuses, just not feeling the need to blog.

A lot has happened since then.

* Gavin turned the big #1

* The Torkelsons celebrated the arrival of baby Zaila

* Our good friends the Andrea and Jesse had some of the worst possible news given to them in the middle of a pregnancy. They lost their baby.

* Amy and I have been able to get together with several couples in the neighborhood. We have some really genuine people around us and it's been fun getting to know them.

* Finally got to go hang out with our good frinends the Balvins for an evening to catch up, eat, play with the kids and watch hockey.

* I turned............................................you guess.

* The job hunting has turned up nothing thus far

* We have had the carpet in our house replaced. Thanks to Keith and Bret and Amy who all took time to help move furniture.

* Bought 5 pine trees at an auction for the yard and planted them.

* Started playing softball again and hit a homer in my first at bat.

It's been a roller coaster month and we have still landed on our feet. Thanks for all of the friends and family who show Amy and I love and support, we love you too.

Later for now.

What a great Easter

Amy, Gavin and I had a great Easter.

Sunday started off with a wonderful and extremely moving church service.
The music was incredible as usual. If you have not been to the Quarry and heard the music worship, you are missing out. There are some incredibly talented musicians that volunteer their time almost every Sunday....Thanks.

Probably the most moving part of the service was a skit that the drama team put on. You can view it HERE. It is not our drama team, but you get the idea (thanks Margaret).

We finished the day surrounded by family and food.

What a wonderful day to celebrate our Lords return.

He did what....

What a bitter-sweet weekend.

As I am growing in my faith, I am beginning to truly realize what Jesus did for me/us. But sometimes wonder why...for me? Do I really deserve something so great?

It's easy to say he died for us. But really "died"?

He was severely beaten, made to wear a crown of thorns, carry the very cross that he would hang from, and then NAILED to it.

I have worked in construction and have stepped on a nail before and it does not feel good, to say the least. Imagine........that nail stays in your foot, plus there is a nail in each of your hands.

The truly amazing thing is, Jesus knew what was going to happen and suffered this horrific pain and death for ME and YOU.

WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!

It just goes so fast

Our little dude is growing up so fast. At 11 months, which is my favorite stage so far, he picks up on stuff so fast.



He shakes his head "no" at us when we tell him no, as if to say "No, No" to us.




He is insisting on feeding himself, both with and without utensils He loves his stuffed animals He is also standing on his own.
And is a stacking machine! I think he is faster than me!! Later...

Still here

I know it's been a while since my last post, and to be honest I really haven't been doing much. My life is kind of in a funk right now. I hate funks, they are so hard to shake.


On the bright side things, Amy and I had a chance to go out for the evening with some of our neighbors and had a blast. Also, Amy and I get to go on a little date on Friday. The other love of Amy's life, besides food, is wine (I think I am in there somewhere), so we are going to a wine tasting at the Monticello community center.

There is just not much to talk, or write about. Later for now



I also found this quote on a friends blog and thought it was great.

“Let go of what you think life should be so you can experience the life you have.” - Rhonda Britten, founder of the Fearless Living Institute

Kicked in the gut

I received some more news yesterday that just gives you that feeling like you just got kicked in the gut. A couple close to me is filing for divorce. It makes me feel woozy just typing that word. It is a couple with a couple of children and some extremely high stress levels right now. I don't know all of the circumstances, but it just makes me sad hearing news like this, because they are such nice people.

Another bump in the road

Let me just start off by saying that I am sorry to all of my faithful blog readers. I have not posted in quite some time, because life has been sort of hectic.

First Amy, Gavin and I all are getting over the nasty flu bug that has been going around. I hate when both of my "babies" are sick, Gavin especially, because there is nothing you can do to help. The words any parent "loves" to hear from a doctor when their kid is sick "you just have to get through it." In the mean time, no one gets any sleep and you all feel miserable. You might as well put a big THIS HOUSE IS QUARINTINED sign our front of our house, because we are not leaving and we are also not inviting anyone over.

The second and bigger bump is my job situation. Last week I received the dreaded news, "I can't afford to keep you any longer." I wasn't overly shocked; because I could see this coming and truthfully am surprised it didn't come about six months ago. It sucks to hear those words and sucks even more to tell someone you love that you are going to be losing your job. I know there is nothing that I could have done to keep my job. I am the last of several lay-offs over the past year. The housing/construction market is in real trouble right now, and my boss has not sold a house for any profit in almost 9 months. I don't blame him either; he did his best to keep me employed. His is a great man and I wish him the best in whatever may come.

I haven't really wanted to post about it, but a lot of my family and good friends already know and have show great support to Amy and I. Thank you and please keep us in your prayers.

Burps

Why do burps give you such a bad taste in your mouth?

For example...a peice of pumpkin pie will leave a nasty taste.

Even worse a burrito...WOW.

Mail

Over the past three and a half days I have been working at the office, which I normally do not do, I'm usualy making service calls or some other type of call. So I thought it would be a nice change. Let me also say this, the company I work for has gone throught some drastic changes over the past few months. Currently it is only Matt (the owner) any myself doing everything.

So, like any other company, we get a lot of mail. Over the past few weeks, the mail has been neglected and when I say that, I mean not even looked at. I have had the lucky opportunity to open every piece of mail, separate it between the five companies run out of the office, separate even more from statements to invoices, then into buildings for each development and then file in the proper three ring binder.

Opening the mail alone took over a day. I have a headache!

So to make a long story even longer, I HATE MAIL and office paper work.

Later for now.

Global Warming my ass

When in sam hell is it going to warm up?

'07 is gone

I was going to write a big review from 2007, but decided not to. A lot has happened with Amy & I, our families and our friends. It truly has been crazy, wonderful, confusing, painful, and almost every other adjective one can think of.



* We have tried to sell a house, which did not work, so Amy and I now have and investment property



* Built a wonderful new house, which is not very fun with a pregnant woman



* Helped some of our best friends move about an hour away, which sucked




* Watched a younger brother (John) get married, get a new exciting job and buy a house

*Watched my other younger brother (Keith) also get a new and exciting job, while continuing his love of politics. There are other interesting picts from Keith's' job that I will not post, but do enjoy getting via email- trips to Alaska (fishing), L.A. (Playboy mansion), Miami and who knows where else.



* Welcomed a new niece into the world. Congrats Deanna and Bret on you first of may children.


* We even welcomed our own little "drool bucket" into the world on April 6


All of this and more under the watchful eye of great parents, in-laws, other family and friends. Amy and I love you all and are blessed that you are part of our lives. I (we) wish you great happiness and joy in the coming year.


OK it turned out to be long...I'm sorry

Getting bigger

I used to hear it all of the time, but kind of laughed. "When you have kids, they grow up so fast."

Well nine months into being a dad, I look back and laugh at myself. It seems like yesterday we were bringing you home from the hospital and being so gentle with you. Now you are rough-housing with us, trying to climb up the steps, making us laugh with your goofy faces and scolding us when your food is not ready fast enough.


We love you.....you little bugger.

Weekend NFL

I am going to make this a lot shorter than last weeks picks.

I really like all of the home teams
Green Bay
New England
Indy
Dallas

If there was an upset to be had, I think it would be New York over Dallas, but never the less I'm going with all of the home teams.

Wow....I suck

1-4 Football picks over the weekend didn't go so well.

Maybe I'll have better luck this weekend.
My picks will be coming soon, but what are yours

Saturday Games
Seattle @ Green Bay
Jacksonville @ New England

Sunday Games
San Diego @ Indianapolis
New York (Giants) @ Dallas

Football predictions

Washington vs. Seattle

* Even though Washington is the wildcard, I think they are playing inspired football and their defense is too good for Seattle. Washington by 5



Jacksonville vs. Pittsburgh

* This game to me is a toss-up. Pitt. is at home, but playing without RB Willie Parker. The Jags. won in Pitt. earlier this year. Each have MN ties on thier teams. Jacksonville- Mike Tice (Asst. head coach), while Pitt has Mike Tomlin (head coach) and Matt Spaeth (back-up tight end).

Pittsburgh by 3- field goal in the last 3 min of regulation



New York vs. Tampa Bay

Again a toss-up. Tampa is at home, but New York is good on the road. New York has the Eli Manning factor, it just depends on which Eli shows up. He'll either throw four TD's or four INT's. I love New Yorks running game with Brandon Jacobs. The Bucs are lead by a proven leader/veteran in Jeff Garcia. Tampa Bay by 4


Tennessee vs. San Diego
This is the easiest game of the week for me. San Diego with LT at home no problem.
San Diego by 12

I'm Late

I know I'm late on this post.

I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday week, with Christmas and New Years.

Amy and I had a busy but fun time this Holiday Season. I'm not sure who was more excited to get presents- Amy or Gavin. Amy is like a kid in a candy store when it comes to gift cards. You know I love you babe, but it's just so much fun to watch you think about what to get.

I will have a post soon on my 2007 wrap up so stay tuned, logged-in, or what ever.

Later

****A one day late Happy Birthday to my homie Brenton, I miss you man. I know I still owe you from last year, but we need to hook up for some BBQ at: