Another great grand son....

Today, October 4th, Mary Kate and Scott became grandparents. The new arrival, the son of Dan and Sara Griffith, has the noble name of Jack Weston Griffith. He was born today, the 4th, in Jacksonville, FL. All concerned are doing fine.

Great grand child number 4!

April is the cruelest month............

Hi Everybody,

Nothing beats being at sea on a warm, sunny Mexican afternoon sampling the local suds. Kathryn arranged a grand birthday celebration beginning with a champagne breakfast in bed, then a manicure and hair style compliments of Chib, roses from the Victorville young people, good Scotch and Lady Godiva chocolates from friends and lots more champagne. These birthdays, of which I've now had 2 more than the Biblically alloted three score ten, just get better every year.

Of course April 2nd saw Cael and Marcella celebrating 19 years of marriage and Colin marked his 29th birthday the same day I marked 72nd....the 12th.

Last Saturday Cael, Chib, Tim, Pat and respective families had a barbecue and pool party at Chib's place in Victorville. I understand I have many photos coming of that event.. Cael and his family were spending the weekend at Disneyland and was therefore close enough to drive to VV.

More celebration lie ahead....May is the biggest month for celebrations, noting 7 birthdays of grand kids in a single month.

More later.

Grandpa

The college and university kids........

Next month the family will boast 3 granddaughters attending college and universities! We're very proud of each of them. Here they are:

Erin in her dorm room at San Diego State University where she is currently a senior majoring in Marine Biology. We visited her in her dorm early in March. It's a lovely campus and the dorms, while small, are efficient and her room has an awesome view of San Diego.


Elizabeth graduates from Woodham High next month and in August will enter the University of Central Florida in Orlando to begin her college career. Here she is shown with equipment from her last stage production.








Megan (shown will all her siblings save Dan) manages a full time job while attending classes at Pensacola JC. She first
majored in early childhood development but I
understand is now considering another career path.. Keep us informed Megan!









Good luck to each of these fine young women. You're the greatest!

Time to pick it up again

Hi Family,
My six month vacation from keeping up the family site is about over. It's time to post some of those terrific photos I've received and bring all the news up to date. I can't promise that I'll go back and pick up past months but I'll try to make the news as current as possible. Stay tuned!

For example, Mike enjoyed a recent visit his grand kids Logan and Andalyn. Grandpa Mike Jr. just celebrated a very significant birthday....He can now join AARP!

That's it for this time. See you on the family site.....soon I hope!

Looking ahead

May every member of our family enjoy a safe and fun New Year's holiday and may 2006 be a year marked by peace and joy.

This photo of young James the First (first great grand child) was taken by his mother and sent to me via email. He is indeed a beautiful child.....but then aren't they all?

Each family has reported having a fine Christmas. Santa must have risked a hernia judging by the number of computers he delivered around the country, but then a computer is as vital to this generationn as a Big Chief Tablet and a cedar pencil was to mine.

Shannon's birthday on December 31st ends the year and Kevin's and Scotty's birthdays on January 1st begin the new one. Let's hope that 2006 brings good health to each of us and peace to those shattered parts of the world that need it so badly.
.
So here's to a Happy New Year and a blessed and joyful 2006 to the whole family!

Will I ever catch up?

The answer to that is, probably not. But I fully intend to try as soon as I return to Rocklin early next week. The photo is from my last stop on my 2 month, 10,000 mile, 20 state and Canada trip in the VW van. I spent 2 nights at Liam's before hleading home across the vast unpopulated tracts in Utah and Nevada.

I have 1200 more photos to edit before sharing them via blog or web site. As you can see it is no small task....especially when getting ready for Christmas and the holidays.

I'm writing this from Chib's in Victorville where we celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday with a fine traditional meal prepared by Chib.

I hope all of you had a lovely day and are looking forward to the Christmas holidays with great anticipation.....at least the grandkids will.

Comments, as always, are welcome. Check in and let us all know what's happening in your lives.

Love,

Grandpa

Mapping the trip....so far

The trip so far: 7,000 miles, 18 states and 2 provinces of Canada. On hold for the period of 10/10 to 10/21. I will be back on the road west from Chicago on Saturday.

Dad/Grandpa