Water under the bridge

Robert got to go away for work this week! He was given a boat tour of the new Bay bridge being built...he said it was amazing going right underneath the existing Bay bridge, and to be right up and close to the one being built. Here is directly under the existing bridge.
The existing bridge is a double decker. The new bridge will have a separate bridge for each direction.
This doesn't look too wide...however, it is 80' wide....wide enough for 5 lanes of traffic.

This is the color it will be painted....

Happy Birthday, Lauren!

Happy Birthday, Lauren!!! How old are you, anyhow? You must be around 40, eh? (Notice I didn't say which side of 40...just that you are "around" 40!) Here are some old pix for ya....here are Lauren Dean (as we always called him) and Daryl..ages 8 and 7.

Stanley, Daryl, and Lauren warming up in Grandma and Auntie's house after some serious sledding down their hill! I could be wrong, but if I remember right, I think their pants were in the dryer!
This would be Daryl and Lauren's 8th and 9th b-days....in the back are Shirley, Joanne holding Kelvin, and Stanley standing tall! In the front are Grandma, Daryl, Lauren, and me!

Generation Gap

Ok, so yesterday Jared came up to me with a look of incredulity and awe in his eyes... And he said" Mom, things are SO different now than they were in the 90's!!!" I had to smile.....But in the eyes of an 8 year old....I guess the 90's WERE a long time ago! Even though he was talking about things like automatic sliding van doors, and Lauren and Sandy's "neat microwave" that has a fan that tilts out when turned on, it caused me to reflect a bit on the 90's.....
Yes, Jared, in the 90's we were newlyweds....now we'll be married 18 years this year....
In the 90's we had tots and thought the crying in the night would never end....now we have a 12 year old and we are desperately trying to hold on to the years.
In the early 90's we were adjusting to early adulthood...now we are classed as middle-aged....
In the 90's we had no idea how rich we would be in 2008....rich in love, rich in family, rich in friends....Yep, the 90's was great, but 2008 is even better!

Happy Birthday, Trent

Well, can you believe it? Trent is already 12 years old!!! We celebrated his birthday by going out to the restaurant of his choice, then coming home to cake! We missed our cousins! Trent is really feeling it tonight, not having any family around!

The other 2 boys went out and bought a little something from them out of their own piggy banks...this is Trent telling Jared thank-you.....
And Byron...

And this is the proof that I'm still taller than him (only 1 1/2 inches) at 12 years old!!!! :)

Stats:

Height: 5'8 1/2"

Shoe size: 12

Clothes size: (now we are into mens'sizes!) Shirt is small to medium, and pants are 32x32.

Favorite activities: Sports and computer! He loves playing basketball (center...howdja guess?), and he's first base and clean-up hitter on his Majors baseball team(he just hit a home run!) He also enjoys playing racing games on the computer. And did I meantion reading? Or what about reading? Oh, and one of his favorite activities is reading...you get the picture! Reading is like breathing to him....he could NOT live without it! He LOVES books of any kind!!!

Happy Birthday Brother!

Happy Birthday Daryl! Thought you might enjoy some pictures I found from our growing up years!

Here he is at one....look at those eyes!
Age 4Age 5...in the shirts Mom sewed for us.
5th grade6th grade

11th gradesenior
Daryl (soph in college), Tonya, Elaine, Lauren
1990

Mommy, does this count as a bath?

Well, beautiful weather officially is here. The 2 boys got out the sprinkler this afternoon and had lots of fun jumping thru it!
Byron (above) and Jared (below)