Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts

Saturday

Hello ... Grandma Jackie!

This is an Ode to my Grandma.

I can't count how many times I've seen my Grandma Jackie wandering the halls looking just like this.

So, when Chris fixed Keeley up this way one night, I just had to snap off a few pics.

Grandma ... I hope you like the look. It reminds me of you!











Love,
Al

Thursday

At Work with Kaitlyn

We had a take your child to work day - about a week ago or so. Chris and I were able to bring Kait and Keeley to work with us ... I got Kait ... and Chris got Keek.

Here were a couple of shots from our day. I really had to crack the whip to get Kait doing something.








It was so much fun. I would definitely do it again!

And my boss even sprung for us to share some pizza with the kids. Very classy!

Al

Wednesday

Dad ... Why didn't I listen earlier?

The older I get ... the smarter my Dad gets.

I don't know why, but for some reason as I was growing up, I never paid attention to the things my Dad did. He could fix anything mechanical. He could build, or re-build, anything. He was a great coach. And I could go on, and on, and on.

In fact, even as I became a teenager, I still didn't learn many things from him that I could have.

The funny thing is ... now that I've been working at this new company for almost a year - he already knows the entire industry better than I ever will. And I NEVER learned any of it from him.

SAD!

I know.

However, one thing I've tried to do ... especially as I've gotten older, is listen to his advice. One of the things he talked about last summer, when gas was at $4 a gallon, was fuel efficient cars. And the one he suggested was a Scion XB. I took his suggestion to heart, and picked one up.

Here's ours:



And so, I was pleasantly surprised when Christy found this article, by By Dan Shapley at thedailygreen.com, the other day. An article that talks about the best 'used' cars on the market by ...

ranking the small cars among Consumer Reports' picks by fuel economy. The years were chosen at random, but the fuel economy shouldn't differ within a model. (Do your own comparisons with fueleconomy.gov.)
Most Fuel-Efficient and Reliable Used Cars

1. 2005 Toyota Echo - 31 mpg
2. 2006 Honda Civic - 30 mpg
3. 2005 Scion xB - 29 mpg
4. 2007 Toyota Corolla - 29 mpg
5. 2006 Toyota Corolla - 29 mpg
6. 2005 Toyota Matrix - 27 mpg
7. 2007 Pontiac Vibe - 27 mpg
8. 2006 Mazda 3 - 26 mpg
9. 2003 Mazda Protege - 24 mpg
10. 2004 Subaru Impreza - 22 mpg




Check out #3 on the list. Yep ... that's the one my Dad suggested.

This is just 1 example of the many times he's offered me advice, and it's turned out to be great. Sometimes I wish I had listened a WHOLE LOT sooner.


Thanks Dad!

Al

Friday

Keeley Torture ... Oh So Cute!

I had to include this video of Keeley.

Chris and I both loved the way she looked in this shirt and these pants. So I took a quick 20 second clip of her giving me some 'Keeley' attitude.

It's pretty cute to see how she reacts when I torture her like this.




Al

Thursday

The Girls on New Year's Night 2009

Hi ... and Happy New Year!

I shot this video last night just after midnight, to ring in the new year. Actually, I wouldn't have done it, but I thought the way Kait was wearing her hat was totally cute.

So I shot it anyhow.
I hope ... those of you interested in the family, enjoy it.




I am noticing that we are starting to get a LOT more viewers that I don't personally know. That being said, we are still planning on putting out a lot more posts about ourselves.



However, I just wanted to let you know ... if you're reading ... the content of this site is mostly about my family. I do offer some opinions about other things from time to time ... but for the most part you're going to be seeing the Speer family.


Alright?

This is my fair warning.

Thanks -- Blessings, and Happy New Year to you!

Al

Christmas Gift Videos

I got a sweet gift from Christy. Instead of showing you WHAT I got, I think these videos will give you a better feel for what I got.

I lieu of the destroyed beach video (last weekend), Chris decided to give me something that works a little bit better. A Flip Video Cam ... and these clips display some of its cool-ness.

Merry Christmas ... again! What an amazing day we had here.

First of all - here is Keeley's gift video:


And Here's Kait's gifts:



And a World Debut ... Christmas 2008:

Never-before-released photos from Kaitlyn.
Here's a few shots from Kait's personal picture collection. You are the first to see them.








Al
P.S. The dog in the photo that Kait took is not ours! We are dog sitting for a friend of Chris's that she works with. They are out of town for Christmas. Just thought you would like to know.

Wednesday

Business Woman ... On the Go!

I know it's Christmas Eve, and all, so I should be talking about Christmas-y things, but I wanted to share this little glimpse into our everyday lives here instead.


Keeley decided she wanted to see what life was like in the business world, so she dressed up as a business woman.

Here is the exquisite look she came up with:






She looks pretty snazzy - right?


Oh ... and Merry Christmas!

Al

Friday

Gucci Girls

I ran across these great pics tonight too.

They reminded of Gucci ... which was cute.

But the shots of Kait really made me think about how old she is getting, and how old she looks. MAN - it happens quick!










The good part about all of it is ...


They didn't get too many of their looks from me:




Mostly, it looks like God just gave them my best parts, and He spared them from some of my idiosyncracies.

Tuesday

Ahhhhh... Women to the Left and Right of me

You know...


This house was already packed with A LOT of women.

But now - We've added 3 more females to the whole, entire picture.


MAN! What in the world am I going to do with myself for the next 3 weeks.



Does this look like the face of a man who is easily amused?



Oh well - I guess I'll just have to get in touch with my, umm...,

un-feminine side.


Al

Saturday

Some of the SCARIEST Pictures You'll Ever See

Strange Headline... I know.


But, when you see what I'm talking about - I think you'll agree.


What you're about to see, are only pictures of an almost 9 year old driver.


Fast forward, in your mind, about 7 years or so...

And all the sudden it becomes clear why I had to title it this way.


Anyhow...

Enough from me.


I think the pictures will do more talking than I ever could.


Here - we see the 'attitude' that has become so familiar...
'I know it all, and I can do it myself.'


And now, we see the joy and excitement which comes with the
freedom they so desperately hope for.



Oh, but now we see the change...
The contempt, the sly thoughts of deviousness on her face.



And here...
The look of utter joy, as her plans have paid off in carnage and whiplash for me.



All I can add is this...

In 7 years, when what I'm talking about comes to pass...


LOOK OUT!

RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!



Love,
Al

Thursday

A Tribute to My Uncle - (kinda personal)

Hi,

Some of you already know this news...

My Uncle Louis passed away earlier this week.

Unfortunately, he was really quite young, so he should have had MANY more years left ahead of him.

All my memories, and those of my family, remember him as a very funny, very intelligent man.

My Dad told me that Louis actually taught him how to play chess. And not only that... but Louis could play without having a chess board in front of him. I used to play chess for hours and hours - but I could NEVER play without the board.

The thing I'll miss most about him is... the way he would wiggle his ears, and make me laugh. Every time I saw Louis he had a great joke, or a funny comment, that would just crack me up. He had a fantastic sense of humor, and a sweet spirit that I loved being around.

Photo provided from Statesman Journal

Here's a little more about the family - Uncle Louis

I love you Uncle. And my heart, and prayers are with your family tonight. I hope you are cracking a joke with God right now - I'm sure He'll be glad to have you home.

With Love and all best wishes,
Al

Sunday

Enjoying the Florida bounty!

We have discovered something since moving here to Florida. The fruits and veggies come into season much, much earlier here than up North. Yesterday we went berry picking at a local farm in Winter Haven. In Oregon and Washington you are not even thinking about getting local fresh berries until much later in the Spring and Summer. So we found a farm that had both strawberries and blueberries that we could pick. We were almost to late for the strawberries as they actually came into season in February. Can you believe that, February! But thankfully they are still holding on and we were able to get quite a lot. The blueberries are right in the middle of their season so we were all good there. We were able to pick about 6 1/2 lb in about 10 min or so. Another difference is the blueberries are HUGE. Like the size of cherries. Here are some photos that I just took of our bounty!

This last one is my favorite! It looks so Yummy!

IN OTHER BIG NEWS!!

Keeley lost her first tooth! Well the first one that naturally came out anyways. She had to have one pulled by the dentist a couple of years ago because she fell and killed the root. So this is her first lost tooth! She is so excited about having the tooth fairy come and possibly leave her something! We have also noticed yet another big difference between our two girls. Kaitlyn as soon as she discovers that she has a loose tooth, she is working on it wiggling it and will not leave it alone until it is out. So she can go from barely loose to all the way out in the course of several hours. Keeley on the other had found out that her tooth was loose at least a month and a half ago. She never worked it or would let me wiggle it. She could have had it out days ago if she had just wiggled a little. But no not her. She waited until It practically fell out on its own. She did end up giving it a little tug to get it all the way out but not much was needed. It is just amazing how two girls from the same parents can be so very different. Here is Keeley and her new look.

this is really what she thought of the whole thing!
The other tooth next to the one that came out today is also loose. I wonder how long she will let that go?

Saturday

Fashionista's...

Greetings... Earthlings!

I haven't said that in a while.

We've been dreaming up crazy ideas again, and this is one of those.

This is a video the girls and I cooked up.
If you like watching us be a little looney, then go ahead and watch.

If you're sick of seeing me or the girls being weird, then there's no need to watch.

(Sorry - I screwed up on the video being played here - it should play now, as I changed the settings in youtube)




All the best,
Al

Thursday

Our New Place

HOWDEE!

Just wanted to add a quick post.
We shot this video of our new house on the day we signed.

I hope you enjoy it!
There's a few shots of the girls being all crazy and funky.




All the best,
Al

Wednesday

Home sweet home

Well...

It looks like things may be settling down on the home front.

We ended up putting in an offer on another home. The seller accepted our offer. We had a home inspection today, and for the most part everything looks pretty good - other than a few minor issues with the place, which we think won't be too bad to deal with.

Anyhow - here are some details.

In Oregon, our home sold for over 200 thousand. It was a little over 1100 square feet.
It was a well-built classic from 1980.
Here was the old place in Oregon
All-in-all it was a fantastic home, and it treated us well for 8 years.


Here's a little bit about our new home....

We are getting it in the mid-150's. It was built in 2003, with over 1500 square feet.
3 bed, 2 bath, and a family room, plus a 2 car garage.
This is one of the homes I wrote about in a previous post, it's the home on Sangria Pass.
This is a photo taken from just outside the front door. Looking into the entryway and
into the living room. It is all tiled in big 18x18 in Tiles. Something that I will have to get used to because it does not feel as cozy as I think a living room should. But it is very popular here in Florida.Also you can see the door way to one of the girls bedrooms on the left.
This is a photo taken from the living room looking into the dining room and kitchen. the kitchen is so much bigger than the house we had in Oregon. I love that. There is also a little eat in area in the kitchen but you can not see it in this photo. And it has a big pantry! So much storage. Got to love that!

Another look at the kitchen.

This is the other living room walls and looking back down towards the door way and the girls rooms. You can see the window of the second bedroom in the back of the photo. This is the window that is in the front of the house.

Here is the room that is behind the french doors off of the living room. It used to be a screened in porch. But the old owners finished it out and made it in to another room. we will use this for our office/art room! And you can see a bit of the back yard.

And this is looking out of that room back into the dining and living rooms.

This is the Master Bedroom. the door way on the left leads to the living room and the door way in the middle is the master Bath. The door on the right, that you really can't see in this photo, is the huge walk in closet that the girls really would like to have for a hide out! Again not the best photo but really there is just walls and windows on the other side.

And here are the crazy girls already trying to claim that space for themselves.


And here is another really cool part, the master bath! This tub is so huge that the girls have decided it is actually a swimming pool! It will be waiting for you Sissy!! No worries you can even fill it all the way up!

Here you can see the sinks and shower for the master bath. On the other side of the shower is the toilet, nicely tucked away so that you don't have to look at it if you are soaking in the tub! Someone was thinking when they came up with that design feature!

This one is not all that exciting but part of the home anyway. this is the laundry area of the garage. With the left over tile and grout from them having just redone all of that and the carpets in the house. So it is all fresh and new inside! They also painted the entire inside but I will most likely be redoing that myself.


So - we just thought we'd share a bit more about what is happening here.

We're pretty excited, because we'll finally be free of our 'neighbor of love'. And the girls won't feel so trapped, doing absolutely nothing, inside the tiny little apartment. While the payments seem a little scary, it's really not that much more than our rent payment anyhow - about $100 more per month - but now we'll be able to write off a bunch. We are set to close on the 28th of this month. So thankfully we will not be moving in in the heat of the summer like we had to do when we moved in here in the apartments. That was no fun.

Love,
Al & Chris