Ander rockin' out

Matching tattoos

With both Shane and I having tattoos, it's no surprise that Ander would want one too. Here he is sporting his car tattoo in the same place dad has his. As Ander would say, "Cool, man!"

brothers in the Bumbo

Thought I'd post these photos to compare how the boys do, or don't, look alike.

Ander














Ronin

Too hot fo play outdoors

so we build forts indoors and ramps for the trucks (note all the trucks lined up on the top of the couch)...

A visit from Auntie Teri

When Ander was 6-weeks-old and we lived in San Francisco, we drove up to see Aunt Teri in Oregon. With Ronin's birth, she came to see us in late June. Nikki, Scott and their family came down from Camp Verde for a day and we had a great time hanging out. John Chlarson and girlfriend Kim invited us to come over later that evening for grilled burgers and a swim, which closed the day perfectly (no photos of that though as I was too busy swimming.).


Aunt Teri teaching Ronin to stick out his tongue.













After all that play it's time for a nap.













Sierra with her Auntie.













They're growing fast. Dakota, 17, is now taller than Aunt Teresa.

Holding Ronin

We each have our turn:

Look at this scowl! So concerned...

Gr-Auntie Becky and Deb's visit

Mid-June saw Gr-Auntie Becky come to visit We saw her last when Ander was just a month or two old, so it was fine time to see how Ander had grown and meet Ronin. Deb coordinated coming out as well and it was great fun to have them here for a few days. They also went to Prescott over the Father's Day weekend. I drove up to join everyone for a Father's Day lunch to celebrate Howard and Uncle Bill.

Ronin with Gr-Auntie Becky. In 2007, she was holding Ander.



















The gals chatting and laughing and generally carrying-on.













Aunt Deb with Ronin and with Ander in 2007.



















Great-grandpa Bill. I have a photo of him holding brother Curt nearly the same way.

Cline family visit

Brother John was visiting mom and dad in California when Ronin was born. They re-routed their drive back to Missouri through Arizona so they could stop by. I hadn't seen the kids in years and none of them had ever met Ander. It was a nice visit with cooperating weather. We were able to sit outside and enjoy the evening as Ronin got passed from visitor to visitor and Ander played with his cousins.

Grandma and Kristin taking turns holding Ronin.















Kevin and Ander playing withthe battery-powered 4-wheeler.


















Kristin, Ander and Sarah having cake on the fort.













John and Robin on the swing.

Many faces of Ander

Ander in his new Spiderman sunglasses after a bike ride outside in the heat.


The largest goose-egg yet after Ander fell off the monkey bars on the playground, hitting one of them with his forehead on the way down.


His usual self.

Ronin smiles

He's learned how to smile.

Ronin's crying jag

To experience this more realistically, play it for 10 minutes non-stop.

Our beautiful baby boy

Shane took these as Ronin turned 1 week old.

Ander meets Ronin

His little face was so apprehensive when I opened the door to our hospital room. It was clear he wasn't sure what to expect. But once inside, Ander warmed up to his usual cheery and outgoing personality. He wasn't sure about holding Ronin, but Dad invited him to touch his hair and see how soft it was. That helped break through the wall a bit and the next photo is a very happy dad and sons.


Once the novelty of the brother was over (this took all of 2 minutes), Ander got down to business and took full advantage of the hospital's amenities and mommy's lunch. He thought the food was "delicious" and kept offering a drink of Coke to Ronin.

Ronin's hospital visitors

We had lots of visitors to the hospital to see our new arrival. Friends Jennifer, Courtney and Julie all made appearances as did "great aunt" Hazel and Uncle Howard, cousin Barbara and "aunt" Jeanette whose photos are on our phone. Thanks to those who sent flowers as well.

Pregnant and delivery

Nine months pregnant.

Ronin's weigh-in at 9 lbs. 6 oz. (WHEW!)


A crib shot.

Ander's antics

So I bought a bin to store all of the bath toys in. Drilled a couple holes in the bottom to let the water drain out. At the next bath, I brought it out to let Ander sift through them and choose what he wanted to play with. When I returned a few minutes later, he clearly thought the bin was the best toy of all. He had dumped out all the toys and was sitting in it like those old cowboy photos.


Ander's latest train track excursion...


He might be a bit messy at times, but there is evidence that he also likes things to be very precise in his world. We find things like this around the house. Cars, trucks or trains parked very carefully side-by-side or end-to-end, sometimes even in a mass car-jam, but all very deliberate.

Graduation day...

There were many points in time where we weren't sure if this day would ever come. But on May 28, we celebrated Laurie's accomplishment at Mesa's Centennial Hall. First photo below is her waiting to walk. The rest are following the ceremony. Her step-dad Steven is in the 2nd photo. Hopefully someone got a better photo of our family than the blurry one below. And, finally, with Grandpa Bill and Shirley.

Laurie's PROM

May 7 with boyfriend Drew.

Birthday trip to Sacramento and San Fran

Virginia invited me to come out to Sacramento the weekend before my birthday. She was there for a conference and extended her stay over the weekend. I flew in on Friday and we stayed with her long-time friend Libby. Friday was mostly raining and so we spent time indoors -- shopping. :)

Saturday, we drove into San Francisco and met up with Grace, her boyfriend Clayton and a friend from the American Cancer Society, Justin for dim sum. The dim sum was amazing as was the rest of the day, which was spent wandering around Chestnut Street, soaking in the sun, ambiance and people. We visited our favorite jewelry store Partita and ate gourmet cupcakes from Kara's Cupcakes. It was wonderful and a balm for my soul.

We returned to Libby's house that night, watched some chick flicks while eating pizza and having girl talk. Then I returned on Sunday. It was a fantastic weekend getaway. Below is the dim sum crew - from left, Virginia, Justin, myself, Libby, Grace and Clayton.

Boys on a bike ride

Shane taking Ander for a ride around the block.

We usually have the Hawk parked in the garage and Ander will climb up on it whenever we enter the garage and "ride" it. He thinks it is his bike. I keep telling him it is mommy's.

Visiting the Tucson gem show

Dad had his collection on display at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, so Ander and I travelled down there in February to see it and hang with the parents. Ander is in front of the display in one photo and insisted on taking a photo of the grandparents, so this is them from his height.

Painting the firehouse

At Christmastime, Ander received a large firetruck from Aunt Jeanette. A large box of presents also arrived in the mail from Aunt Teri. Lo and behold, the box is just the right size to hold the firetruck, so Ander and I built a two-story firehouse to hold his truck and the firemen (still have to get those...).

No firehouse would be complete without painting it red, so Ander and I spent a few hours on a Saturday painting his firehouse.