Touchdown Tunquist!

Notice anything strange about the picture above? (Hint: take a look at number 81) How many 12 year olds don't hesitate to smile even when their team threatens the penalty of death? With a smile like that, you just have to show it off! We are also pleased to announce the first ever TOUCHDOWN of Austin's football career last Saturday! He caught a pass while playing tight end and was brought down in the endzone for his first ever touchdown. The only thing better was if I was videotaping at the time. You'll just have to trust me on this one. Incidentally, I finally posted the video of the force fumble and fumble recovery by Austin during the kickoff of his first ever football game. I also posted the first goal of the new season by Nathan.

Finally, things are progressing well here in the Pacific Northwest. Lisa and the boys have re-adjusted from summer living back to work/school. We had a good visit with "Grandpa Dave" this past weekend. We kept him pretty busy with all of the boys sports, etc.... Some pictures from his visit can be found here. It was nice to have some days of good weather to get out and do some things with him. Lastly, who cares about the Chicago Bears (3-0, but playing in a weak division) when the Broncos finally look like they are rolling on a full head of steam. They will be the team to watch! ; )

Tonight Michelle and I are taking the boys on their first campout. Although it is supposed to rain, I think the boys will really like sleeping in the tent and making smores. I will post a picture of the trip as part of my next post.

Insidentially, congradulations go out to A.J.--a.k.a. the "hawk"--for putting the beat down in his football game. Also, congradulations to Nate for leading the league in scoring so far this season.

By the way, the Bears are 2-0 with the NFL's leading passer and defense. And come Sunday night, we will likely be 3-0. Looks like the Lombardi trophy is coming back to sweet home Chicago!

Football and Futbol (Soccer)

A lot of our time was involved with football and futbol this weekend. First the good news, Austin and Nate both won their first games of the season. Nate even made the first goal in the first game of his season. His team, "The Turfburners", went on to win 7-1.

On the kickoff of Austin's football game he caused a fumble, recovered it, and headed for the endzone. He was dragged down short of the endzone, but his team was able to score right away. He played starting defense and special teams. He had a forced fumble, fumble recovery, and a sack. He played wide-receiver twice, but actually prefers playing defense. I operated the scoreboard and clock. It was fun to watch from the shade of the booth. Lisa did some superb videotaping. I'll try to post some video of their games soon....

Now the bad news, our NFL team, the Broncos, suffered an embarassing loss on Sunday. Not a good way to start a Superbowl season. Losing to the RAMS!?

Hey everyone..... I just wanted to mark my spot here on this new blog page. Everything is good here in Lodi.... The kids are doing GREAT. When I have some time to learn how to put pictures up I will.

Labor Day Weekend

We had a really nice 3 day weekend. On Saturday Lisa, Nathan, and I hiked 3.8 miles and saw 4 different waterfalls at Silver Falls State Park. We even got to walk behind 2 of them. It was pretty amazing! (You can see more pictures by clicking here or by clicking the family pictures link in the links section on the left.) Austin spent all day Saturday traveling to Eugene with a friend to see the first Oregon Ducks game of the season. They beat Stanford 48 to 10. He had a great time.

On Monday we went to the beach for some surfing (Austin and I), boogie boarding (Nathan), and relaxation. The sun came out and we even got a little burned. It was a really nice day. We made it home in time to shower and go to a friends' home for a barbeque. The boys start their first day of school today and Lisa will be heading back to work. We had a really nice time this summer and I know it will be painful for them to re-adjust to school life.

Brian

Goings on in Chi-Town

Hey,

Things are good here. Spence is standing up and contemplating his first steps. Thomas has become enamored with searching for golf balls when we go for walks. He seems to find a couple each day. As for Michelle and I, we have been tied up with church stuff. Her primary program has kept her busy while I have been involved in planning the 11 year-old scout camp. We'll be glad to have both things done. That is about it for now.

Jason

Are you ready for some football?

I know it hasn't been long since my inaugural post, but I just couldn't wait to add more information. At the same time, I wanted to learn how to add pictures to the blog. This post should accomplish both. Austin (aka AJ) had football pictures last Saturday and I caught this picture with my camera phone. Not bad for 1.2 megapixels....

The temperature was in the 90's and he and his team wear all black. They look good, but are grateful for cold Gatorade. They scrimmaged 4 other area teams non-competitively - the head coaches stand behind their players on the field to give instruction and witness areas they need to improve upon - playing 4 games in 2 hours. He plays wide-receiver or tight end on offense, and outside linebacker on defense. He is number 81. His first game is the 9th. Nathan also has his first soccer game that day. I'll fill you in on the start of Nate's soccer season soon hopefully.

Brian

The Inaugural Post

Well, this is it. Finally. I set-up the blog (naming, background, fonts, etc...) weeks ago, but I am finally putting it to use. This is the inaugural post of what I hope to be a handy, rapid, and efficient "family newsletter". I've always admired those who create a monthly, quarterly, or even annual newsletter. I know we all enjoy reading them - especially when multiple relatives contribute. Now I hope to contribute information about my family on this blog, and have other family members make comments, etc.... Ideally, it would be great if every family established a blog here on blogger.com so that we can link our blogs together. That would be the best way to stay in the know. The worst-case scenario would be that this turns into my own little online journal that I write and few read. I can live with that too.

Anyway, I'm happy to kick things off with this mediocre post and welcome comments from all!

Have a great Labor Day weekend,
Brian