2005 photos

Catching up
December 2005
The other day John was talking by phone with his friend Matt, and Matt said, "When are you going to update your family pictures on your web site? That's how I keep up with you guys! I look at that site."
So, at long last, here are a bunch of photographs, some of which go all the way back to the summer of 2004! Doesn't quite get us caught up -- we may have some from Christmas 2005 we will want to post -- but it's a lot.
As always, click on the images to see larger versions.

Fall & Winter

The end of summer brought the end of Sarah's stay in California, for a while. She had a nice farewell party at her Napa home, in the backyard of her wonderful landlords, before going to Florida to take a good job at the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. Her beau, Scott, went with her, which is a good thing. He's a good guy.
The party was really fun for all of us. That nice, fenced-in yard with a trampoline in the corner made for a lot of dancing, jumping and running-around fun for Riley especially, and for the landlords' two beautiful daughters.
Halloween was also a lot of fun this year. We get a ton of kids from the neighborhood asking for candy. Riley was Batman again, and Yas was a beautiful vamp.

Scott, Yasemin, Sarah, Riley, John and Maria.

Spring & Summer 2005

Spring and Summer of 2005 brought Yasemin's 12th birthday, which we celebrated at home, just the three of us, and Easter in the backyard of the home of Bobby, who is one of Maria's brothers.
We weren't able to take any time off work, so no trips, but had nice times at home.
Yas, as we all knew she would, is turning from a beautiful child into a beautiful adolescent. She will be come a beautiful adult. Her grades are mostly good, she is very athletic, so the world is her oyster, as they used to say.
During the summer we bought a wading pool, which only received one day of use. The weather was only warmish at the time, and the water from the hose was cold.
Riley and Yasemin had a fun time splashing around for a while, and we left the pool on the lawn for a few days. It was a certified grass killer. Still, we'll probably drag it out and reinflate it in 2006. John will try to find a way to get some hot water to it, which is what he used to do for Sarah, when she was little.

Our 2004 trip to Yosemite

We went to the Yosemite area in the summer of 2004, thanks to Maria's parents, who let us stay at a time-share condo at Bass Lake.
We had a really nice time.
The time-share is great. Two-story condo kinda place that can sleep, oh, six or more people, probably. It was just the four of us, though.
Swimming pool, video rentals, basketball court, flat trail through some neat but wildish area to the tip of Bass Lake. Lots of eagles, hawks, ducks, squirrels and other wild life to gawk at on a gentle hike.
Yosemite is about a 45-minute drive away, and I think we visited there twice during this trip. Once to the redwoods, once to the valley.
Wowsers, what a beautiful place. If you haven't gone ... find a way and do so. It's one of the greatest places on this little planet.
We took a bunch of photos, ate nice meals we mostly cooked ourselves, played with the kids and rested. Very nice time.
Sometimes we ate at a place in Oakhurst called Crab Cakes. Great clam chowder. Oakhurst itself is a pretty nice little town. It has a movie theater, a good KFC, Crab Cakes and one really good supermarket with good meats and fresh produce. Really, that's all anyone needs.
We were actually thinking of trying to find a way to live there until we noticed almost everyone there is white. No asians, blacks or other interesting colors. We like the idea of living in a more culturally mixed area.
But it's a nice place to visit.

Fall & Winter
The end of summer brought the end of Sarah's stay in California, for a while. She had a nice farewell party at her Napa home, in the backyard of her wonderful landlords, before going to Florida to take a good job at the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. Her beau, Scott, went with her, which is a good thing. He's a good guy. The party was really fun for all of us. That nice, fenced-in yard with a trampoline in the corner made for a lot of dancing, jumping and running-around fun for Riley especially, and for the landlords' two beautiful daughters. Halloween was also a lot of fun this year. We get a ton of kids from the neighborhood asking for candy. Riley was Batman again, and Yas was a beautiful vamp.	Scott, Yasemin, Sarah, Riley, John and Maria.
Spring & Summer 2005
Spring and Summer of 2005 brought Yasemin's 12th birthday, which we celebrated at home, just the three of us, and Easter in the backyard of the home of Bobby, who is one of Maria's brothers. We weren't able to take any time off work, so no trips, but had nice times at home. Yas, as we all knew she would, is turning from a beautiful child into a beautiful adolescent. She will be come a beautiful adult. Her grades are mostly good, she is very athletic, so the world is her oyster, as they used to say. During the summer we bought a wading pool, which only received one day of use. The weather was only warmish at the time, and the water from the hose was cold. Riley and Yasemin had a fun time splashing around for a while, and we left the pool on the lawn for a few days. It was a certified grass killer. Still, we'll probably drag it out and reinflate it in 2006. John will try to find a way to get some hot water to it, which is what he used to do for Sarah, when she was little.
Our 2004 trip to Yosemite
We went to the Yosemite area in the summer of 2004, thanks to Maria's parents, who let us stay at a time-share condo at Bass Lake. We had a really nice time. The time-share is great. Two-story condo kinda place that can sleep, oh, six or more people, probably. It was just the four of us, though. Swimming pool, video rentals, basketball court, flat trail through some neat but wildish area to the tip of Bass Lake. Lots of eagles, hawks, ducks, squirrels and other wild life to gawk at on a gentle hike. Yosemite is about a 45-minute drive away, and I think we visited there twice during this trip. Once to the redwoods, once to the valley. Wowsers, what a beautiful place. If you haven't gone ... find a way and do so. It's one of the greatest places on this little planet. We took a bunch of photos, ate nice meals we mostly cooked ourselves, played with the kids and rested. Very nice time. Sometimes we ate at a place in Oakhurst called Crab Cakes. Great clam chowder. Oakhurst itself is a pretty nice little town. It has a movie theater, a good KFC, Crab Cakes and one really good supermarket with good meats and fresh produce. Really, that's all anyone needs. We were actually thinking of trying to find a way to live there until we noticed almost everyone there is white. No asians, blacks or other interesting colors. We like the idea of living in a more culturally mixed area. But it's a nice place to visit.