The Gang

Here's Ace hanging with his usual posse, the Castillo boys and the Denham boys. These guys love dirt, rough housing, and each other.

You've Gotta Love PG

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Pacific Grove is a kids' wonderland. How many places in the world can you go to the beach and get a free kayak ride in a peaceful little bay with a super nice local mom? Not very many.
Syb ;)

Beautiful Cousins

A couple of times a year we get pics of Ace's and my cousin Brandi's beautiful girls Graham, Bishop and Merritt. And every time we get a pic of them, Arich and I are reminded of my poor cousin-by-marriage, Tim, who is their dad, and who is destined to battle a subtle, but nagging and constant, underlying anxiousness for at least the next 20 years or so. What spectacular little ladies!

We Like Cookies

In the above picture you see Ace demonstrating what we at the Harrison house call "The Cookie Trance."

Best Kept Secret...

A friend of mine calls Gilroy Gardens the "best kept secret" around here. She's so right! We went a few days ago, and we had a total blast. Thanks Grandpa Doug!

Fourth with the Denhams

We had a super time hanging out with our friends the Denhams (Bill, Claudia, Peter, Patrick and Stewart) on the fourth. They're a military family, so it was a real honor to celebrate with folks who are out there defending the rights we've grown up enjoying. Thanks, guys, for your dedication to our great nation.

Warning: Graphic Injury Image... For Reals

Last week at the studio Arich got a 1/4" square shard of plaster shoved under his fingernail... all the way to the cuticle. Eh gads. Since plaster is not fibrous, they couldn't just lift the nail up a bit and pull it out with tweezers. Also, because it's organic, risk of infection was high, so the shard had to come out pronto. (Not to mention Arich was in a lot of pain.) So if you can't pull out the splinter, and the splinter has to come out... the nail has to come off. EWWWWW!!!!! They took off the bandage today at his post op appointment. Talk about an occupational hazard... but what a cool pic for the Wall of Pain.

Introducing... Our Wall of Pain

In our close to 13 years volunteering in children's ministry, Arich and I have come across very few ministry components more outstanding than the great "Wall of Pain". As far as I remember the wall was the brainchild of Brent, a junior high pastor from Santa Cruz Bible Church back in 1994. With a kind iron fist and spiked mohawk, he helped effectively rule one of the most formidably rambunctious groups of junior high kids I have ever known. Injuries were common, tears (at least for pain) were not. We attribute this absence of whining and hem-hawing to... The Wall of Pain.

For years we've wanted to start one for Ace. At this point (thank the Lord) he's only had a few injuries worth posting. But the ones I have pictures of, I've thrown on this post, which will be the first of hopefully not too many more installments.

;) Syb