Blog Update 6-25-2009

I thought I would take a few minutes and put some pictures on the blog since it has been so long since the last one. I wanted to start with a couple of pictures of Jordan. He was one of the groomsmen at his friend Ian's wedding and looked pretty sharp in the tux. The first one is Jordan with Ian on his right and Ian's cousin Alex Ranney (and Jordan's friend) on his left. The second is just of Jordan.

A couple of weeks ago Beth and I flew out to Seattle to see our oldest son, Ethan, graduate from Seattle Pacific University (SPU) with his Masters (MS) degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. Out daughter, Emily and her husband, Rob, with their two children, James and Anna, also flew up for the festivities. This first picture is of Rob and James at SPU when Ethan got hooded.
Here is Emily at a luncheon we attended.
The ceremonies occurred over a couple of days. On Friday Ethan was "hooded" at SPU; on Sunday the actual graduation ceremonies took place in the stadium in Seattle. Here is a picture of Ethan, his wife, Heather, (who is a major reason why Ethan could get his MS) and their children, Eliza, Liam, and ? who is due to make an entrance in July.
This is Ethan and his parents-in-law, Peg and Tim Bullock. The Bullocks have been so good, having Ethan and Heather and family live in their house for the past three years while Ethan attended school. Without them I don't think Ethan would have made it.
Ethan at SPU just before the hooding.
The ceremonies at the stadium were pretty long since it involved ALL the graduates, both graduate students and undergraduate students. James got worn out (and Nana wasn't complaining about cuddling her grandson)
Here I am with Liam and Eliza at SPU. Not sure what we were all looking at.
Here is James hamming for the camera with Nana in the background. This was at a cabin that Rob and Emily rented outside of Poulsbo, WA.
Another shot of us at the stadium. Nana has James and I have Anna.
On Saturday we all met at the cabin and our dear friend Sue Santos came over with Nicole (our 2nd daughter - actually Sue is our 2nd daughter too - don't try and figure it out) and with Sue's husband John, and Nicole's boyfriend Travis. Here is a cake celebrating: a) Travis's graduation from Jr. College; b) Ethan's graduation from SPU; c) Nicole's birthday; and Emily's birthday. The cake was delicious and the company even better. Sorry I don't have pictures of John and the other kids.
Here I am with Anna at the luncheon. She is just 4 months old but loves to teeth on other people's fingers. Actually she will teeth on her own fingers, fist, or anything else she can reach. She is so good-natured and fun, it was so tough to leave everyone.
Here are Ethan and Heather at the hooding ceremony.
This is just outside the cabin. The area is so beautiful, covered in ferns with towering evergreens. Liam, Eliza and James. They played pretty well together for not spending much time with each other.
That concludes the blog for tonight. Hopefully I will get some more on later.

A few more pictures

I couldn't resist adding a few more pictures.  Besides, our "other daughter" Nicole, reminded me that she wasn't in the last blog!

So, here are a few more, I hope you enjoy them:

This is Jordan holding his niece, Eliza, the day she was blessed, in Provo, Utah

And here is a great picture of Nicole, this was done as her senior picture in 2005 - isn't she beautiful?
...and of course, here is Nicole again, with Jordan, as they began Kindergarten in 1992.
Poor Jordan is not in this one, but...notice the look of happiness on Emily's face as she stands next to Grandma Linnie?  And an equally happy expression on Aaron's face as Ethan holds him. The others are cousins, Bethany Henry in front with Kevin Cannaday next to her, Kevin's brother Scott behind him, and Kelly Henry next to him - taken in NH.
These next two are of Ethan and his good friend Maegen (Schroeder) Jenne, taken at the Schroeder home and yard in NJ.

Aaron at the Grand Canyon - really a nice shot.
Jordan, Emily and Aaron at the Grand Canyon, that is me in the right corner.
Since Emily just had Anna, I thought a picture of her with her mother at about the same time in her life as Anna's would be appropriate.
And since Emily is wearing braces, here is what mom looked like when she wore braces, although she was a bit younger than you.
And last, a picture of Beth in her wedding gown.  This was the one I think that was used for the announcement in the paper.  What a gorgeous woman, then and now.

New Year so a new post

Hello anyone who is reading this. It has been five months since I have posted on here and I am embarrassed to have to say that. Just a quick overview. After Jordan came home he was able to secure a job for about a month and a half with Toys R Us in Manchester and that helped him get some cash for school. We suffered a terrible ice storm in the beginning of December and lost all power for almost 11 days. Luckily I was able to buy a generator and got it hooked up so we had heat and hot water. We left Jordan at home with the generator and headed for Arizona to Emily and Rob's for Christmas. Jordan joined us on the 23rd and power was restored the day before he left. We had a wonderful Christmas with Emily and her family, and Ethan and his family who flew down from Seattle, and Jordan. Beth and I actually spent almost a month in AZ and really dreaded coming home to the cold (the dread was well founded). Beth was home less than a month before she returned to AZ to be with Emily just before and after the birth of Emily and Rob's second child, a daughter, Anna Beth Brems, born February 18th, 21 1/2 inches long and weighing in at 9lbs 13 oz. Beth has been there since the week before Anna's birth and will remain at Emily's another two weeks before going further north in AZ to spend a week with her parents in Cottonwood. She will return to Emily's at the end of the month and I will join her for a week so I can meet my new grand daughter and participate in her blessing.

In the meantime, as of December 1, 2008, I am officially retired from my job. How do I like it you ask...I don't. So, if all goes according to plan I will be beginning a new job with Homeland Security (doing security/background investigations) on the 15th of this month. It is full time and I will be working from my home. I just am not ready to retire yet - I am sure that time will come. Also, I need to re-side and re-roof the house so the job will be allow me to do that. Besides, I am YOUNG!

Today (March 2, 2009) has been very snowy, over a foot so far and it is snowing again. Bored, even though there is a lot I can do around the house, I pulled a box of pictures out and have scanned some into the computer. They are random shots, recent and not-so-recent, but I thought I would post them. I think family members especially, but others who have known the family through the years might enjoy them. I will blog more in the near future. Happy New Year all!

I really like this picture.  Maybe because I actually look thin?

This next picture is taken at my parents home in NC.  My Dad is the first one on the left and my mom is holding Ethan and Emily.  The woman next to my dad is his sister, Audrey Bratt Nordley and behind her is her husband, Malcolm.  Beth is in the front.

This is my mom and dad at our house in Pennsylvania.  Next to my mom with his arm around her is her brother, John Aldrich.
Here I am in California - probably around 1977 - not a bad beard, eh?
So, this picture is a little different then the one above.  Here is a group shot, Jordan won't like it, I can tell.
Here is Jordan on the Pioneer Trek in 2004.  He was awesome, and could pull the wagon by himself if needed.  Would you expect anything else from Nephi?
Here he is getting ready for prom - yes, I cut the girl out ...
All the siblings at Ethan's wedding to Heather Bullock in Salt Lake City in December 2002.
I love this picture of my grandson, James Kenneth Brems!
My mother in NC.  I miss her.
This was a picture taken at Wallis Sands State Park in NH where Beth Henry (My Beth's niece) and her husband Jeremy Hutchinson were married.  Beth and I are at the left, next to Beth is Maureen, Beth's sister-in-law, then Becki, Beth's sister and then Beth's mother Patricia.  In back are Todd, Beth's brother and Maureen's husband, Frank Henry, Becki's husband, and Beth's dad - Ken.
Ethan, Emily and Aaron with Santa.  Ethan is happy as a clam, Em and Aaron...not so much.
Here they are again.  I must apologize to Jordan, I got most of these pictures out of Emily's box so there weren't a lot of Jordan in there.  Don't worry, more of Jordan will be coming.
Not sure why I have this one in here twice - but I am leaving it because it will take me forever to find it and remove it.
Ethan and Heather on their wedding day - isn't she cute?
Ethan and I fishing at Lake Winnipesaukee, NH.  What a whopper!
Ethan and Aaron
I love this one of Emily - such a lady when she eats.
I could not resist this one.  This is Emily practicing "the look".  Her husband, Rob, will recognize this look right away.
Sometimes she could really be adorable.
Here is Emily with my father.
And here she is with Aaron, who has his bottle of apple juice.  He hardly went anywhere without it.
My granddaughter Eliza and her brother Liam (Ethan and Heather's)
This is a picture of Beth's parents (Center couple) on their wedding day.  Next to her dad is his brother Chet, and next to her mom is Chet's wife Georgia.
This is Beth's mother's mother, Bonnie (Nana) Landis.
This is Beth with her father's mother, Grandma Linnie Cannaday.
This is a great action photo of Aaron (on the right with the frog) and his best friend Andy Lane.

And lastly, this is Aaron.

More to come...