You Can't Drink This Gin

some more Disneyland

jefemaximoiv — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:16:23 +0000

10/27/2009…we went to D-land with Uncle Eric, here is some video.

Random fun…

jefemaximoiv — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:38:40 +0000

I know I haven’t been very good at keeping this blog consistent…but maybe this video will satisfy your craving for Gin family news…

Carter Plays Ball with Uncle Eric

jefemaximoiv — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:29:23 +0000

Uncle Eric captured Carter’s fascination with "ball", which could be universal for all kinds of ball, but usually means baseball.

Does your job let you do this?!?

jefemaximoiv — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:52:07 +0000

Life in ministry is certainly difficult at times…the frustrations and heartache of working in the lives of others can be overwhelming and debilitating, but for all of the negative, I can’t imagine working in another field. One of the nicest things is the flexibility of schedule, at times I can bring work home and get a lot done in the quiet of the evening when everyone is sleeping…at other times I bring home to work…check it out!

This is me and my boys multitasking in my office…I am dutifully checking my Facebook account to "interact" with students (yeah OK!)…Carter is watching a DVD in the corner…and Abbott is just being cute…go go gadget arms!!!

Facing the world.

jefemaximoiv — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:06:24 +0000

6/13/2009, Cara and I finally freed Abbott from the confines of his infant seat while in the stroller. He absolutely loved his newfound perspective of the world. Who knew there was so much to look at?!? For his part Carter has found a new riding partner and has taken to "making sure Abbott is always on the lookout" by poking and hitting him from time to time. It is a little frustrating when we’re in a hurry, but nonetheless amazing that we have two little guys rollin’ side-by-side.

Bathtime Fun

jefemaximoiv — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:59:34 +0000

Carter loves baseball part 2 & family fun time.

jefemaximoiv — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:57:53 +0000

Here is some raw video footage from play time…in it you’ll see Carter throwing his baseball…running off the screen (that’s him running the bases, as far as we can tell, or he is just crazy)…laughing…kissing Abbott who is “training” in the exer-saucer…and of course Phoebe telling everyone how it is…enjoy.

Carter loves baseball part 1.

jefemaximoiv — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:14:20 +0000

I took Carter to one of Cornerstone Christian School’s boys baseball games a few weeks ago…since then he has grown more and more in love with "BALL!" as he says…yes it is baseball specific, while watching game two of the NBA finals at a friends house Carter was constantly asking for "BALL!"…Jason kept trying to insist that ball was already on since we were watching basketball…Carter was adamant that "BALL!" was not on TV and handed him the remote so he could remedy the situation…here are some shots from Cornerstone’s CIF Championship Game (which they won against former league rival Cate!! Go Eagles!)…my dad met us in Long Beach for the game and came bearing gifts for Carter…his glove, ball, and bat are his favorite toys right now…

One interesting thing is that Carter has picked up on some unique aspects of baseball…the first thing he did (all of these are without any staging or coaching from us, he picked these up purely by observing) is he crouched down like a catcher and extended his arms forward…next he developed this textbook batting stance (left handed!), compare it to All-Star Albert Puljols…finally he started to try to dive head first while running (we have since put a stop to this as he was reckless and not very coordinated in his attempts, although nonetheless cute and amazing)…it’s crazy how much the little guys soaks up…I guess I won’t be flipping of any more drivers in traffic.

Family outing to Solvang…

jefemaximoiv — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:08:17 +0000

5/30/2009…our family along with Grandma Jane, Gappy (that’s Great Auntie Phyllis, to the uninitiated), and BokBok (that would be Great-Grandma Sue, it’s a Chinese thing!) traveled to Solvang, an authentic Danish village 75 miles north, for a fun, family, day-trip. (Have any of you parents out there noticed that sometimes our motivation for certain outings centers around photo ops for our children? Just a thought.) Our day was filled with fun times, yummy food, and of course wonderful family.

After our time in the village we went to Sunny Field Park, a really cool play area right outside of the city…it had a huge playground made to look like a Danish village/castle, baseball fields, picnic grounds…not one easily impressed by such commonplace things, this was a really great find (our good friends the Fishers told us about it, thanks Ben, Melissa, Madeline, & Hudson).

***WARNING: Excessive pictures of Abbott on a swing for the first time…can’t…stop…taking…pictures…"***

Carter made a new friend at the playground, his friend was obsessed with leading Carter all over the place…Carter was seemingly content to follow, but we may need to address the stranger-danger issue soon!

One of Carter’s true passions is baseball…there were some kids playing and he was instantly drawn in…we sat watching for several minutes (an eternity for the attention span of a toddler), he cheered wildly and the kids marveled at the fact that they had a "crowd" watching.

It was a really great day!

The not so big three oh…

jefemaximoiv — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:56:50 +0000

So on 5/26/09 I turned 30…no I didn’t break down with anxiety about my morality…in fact I have always looked forward to aging and desire to age happily and gracefully…maybe this is because for me retirement = golf!!!…for my birthday my wonderful wife made me a cake of brownies…even Carter got in on the action.

Apparently Carter is a very serious baker-man…and Phoebe is a great "supervisor" of all things culinary.