The Boston Massacre- 2006

I love baseball. Just everything about it fascinates me. Many of you know I worked at Angels Stadium for four seasons and I got to see some great games. I enjoyed four games of the World Series in 2002 and got to see my team win it all. But the worst times at the stadium were when the Red Sox would come to town. I posted a story about this before and you can read the details here. The Angels open up a three game series with the team from Bean town today and Anaheim better get ready to host the biggest bunch of myopic fans the world has ever known. Please take a minute to check out my friend Rich's blog about his feelings of Red Sox Nation. I can't agree more!!! It was great to see the Sox lose five straight to their arch rivals from the Bronx. I couldn't help but grin from ear to ear this past weekend. Go Angels!!!

Seth go to Petco!

I got a call from my friend Matt who lives in San Diego the other day and he invited me to go to a San Diego Padre baseball game with him. I looked at my schedule and lo and behold, I was free!! So I jumped at the chance to visit another Major League stadium. I had been to the old Quallcom a.k.a Jack Murphy stadium in San Diego a few times and it was not a very baseball friendly park. It is a much better venue for football. Anyway, the new baseball stadium is nestled in the historic "Gaslamp" district in downtown. What a cool place. There are tons of cool restaurants, clubs, and bars surrounding the park. By about 5:00, when we got there, the surrounding area was a buzz. We had some beers in a bar about two blocks from the park and by the time we left it was wall to wall people heading to the park. What a good vibe. It reminds me of the vibe at PNC park in Pittsburgh or SafeCo field in Seattle. The stadium itself is very pleasing to the eye. It has all blue seats and a lot of tan tiles and steel. There are two large towers that serve as light-towers but also house luxury suites. The towers hearken back to features of the old Padre's stadium when the team was part of the Pacific Coast League (minor league baseball) back in the 1940's and 1950's. Our seats were on the field level, first base side, a bit outside the baselines. Like many of the new baseball only stadiums, this one has its perks and quirks. There are a ton of luxury suites, an upscale area called the Toyota Terrace (right behind home plate), a couple of five star restaurants, and enough angles in the outfield wall to give Euclid a headache. A couple of the coolest things in the park include a place just outside the outfield wall called "The Park in the Park". It is a grassy area with a bit of hill for people to sit and watch the game, or throw the ball around. The is even a mini baseball diamond the kids can play on. My favorite part of the stadium is the old Western Metal Supply Co. Building. This building was on the property when construction started. It has some historical value to San Diego and the designers incorporated this building when they made the plans for the stadium. One corner of the building serves as the left field foul pole (quite a cool feature). The bottom floor is home to the Padre's team store. The roof is a group party area complete with its own bleachers, and the middle three floors are luxury and party suites. One really neat feature is that from the team store you can walk out at field level and watch the game from the left field corner. I stayed about an inning and watched the game from there. What a great way to honor the history of the area. We had a great time at Petco Park and I cant wait to go back. Enjoy some pictures I took:

Our Seats were about twelve rows down from here.

The Western Metal Supply Building.

Me on the field level just outside the Padre's team store.


From behind the fence by the team store.


Behind right field in "The Park in the Park".

Long Awaited Pictures.....

Here are a few pix from my adventures this summer. I have many, many more, but these are some of the good ones

Watching Fireworks on the 4th from a super secret location

Mission Alaska VBS @ Big Lake!
Big Lake Alaska
(Mt. Mckinley is in the background of this one
but it is over 350 miles away so it seem so small.)

Hatcher Pass Alaska


Beautiful Alaska Flowers

Sunset in San Carlos Mexico (no photoshop here just the raw image)

David @ 40 feet

Jill and I are off for Napa tomorrow to taste wine...and to see my sister. I should have some more good pictures then. Later.....

Alaska Pictures

I have not had the time to dowload any pictures from Alaska yet but you can check out My Pal Ingrid and her blog to see some of the events from Alaska. Enjoy!!

WOW!!

What an amazing couple of weeks it has been. Mission Alaska was one of the best mission trips I have ever been a part of. The kids were amazing, the team worked fantastic together, and besides from some travel mishaps it was a drama free event. We did have some issues getting back to Los Angeles. First of all, our plane had a clogged fuel filter that needed to be fixed and the parts were in Seattle so our plane was delayed until the following day (about 12 hours). The airline put us all up in a hotel and we got a few hours of sleep. Then back to the airport for another round of check in and security. We were delayed again and finally on our way to Seattle but we were too late and missed all of our connections. We had to stay another night in a hotel. The team took in in stride and we were all doing great until at 1 in the morning there was a small fire in the hotel. We all packed up quickly just in case we had to leave. The fire department put it out and we could go back to sleep. Most people just stayed up since we had to be at the airport at 4 am anyway. Then it was back to the ariport for round three of check in and security (what a pain) We finally got back to LA none the worse for wear. Because of all this I lost a day of work and prep for my vacation. I got it all done (some of in in Mexico) and now I am sitting in a wonderful house right on the harbor of San Carlos. It is a guys SCUBA diving trip. We drove the 14 hours here this time and the weather has been a bit on the hot side. It has been above 95 almost the whole time, but the diving has been great and the company even better. There is nothing better than great friends, good times, and cold margaritas. One second while I have another sip... the sun has just set and the sky is colored in reds and oranges that will blow your mind. I will post some pictures when I get back to the states. That is the short update from here, talk to you all later.....

This is a "Real" Post

It is Friday morning and I still have to pack for Alaska and do some paperwork, and go to the store for some supplies, but I know that I really need to post on my blog. I really enjoy posting and it has been far too long! Let me get you updated since the last "real" post.

I was at the beach last week for a bonfire for our Alaska team and snapped the picture above. The sunset was amazing and I love it that you can see downtown Long Beach in the distance. If you click on the picture you will see a larger version of it. Enjoy!!

I have taken two summer school classes. Like I mentioned in a previous post, they have been quite intensive. My first class was on the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, & Luke) with an emphasis on the writings of Luke. The class was awesome but I spent at least 5 to 6 hours a day outside of class doing the homework. We had to translate a ton of Greek and do some reading in a big commentary. The class was worth the work. Dr. Middendorf is amazing. Although we did not agree on everything, he always makes the story come alive. It was awesome reading the book of Luke straight through in 9 days. It was easy to see the connections and the themes. My second class this summer was "Multicultural Ministry in an Urban Setting". It was so-so. The info was good, but it was nothing new to me. We had to do an urban research project that I just finished last night. It took a lot of time and effort but it is finished now. I have one more class this summer. It is "Intro to Research". It is a one unit class that is all done on the internet. It will not be very fun but it is a requirement and another hoop to jump through. It seems like I have been jumping through a bunch of hoops lately.

I leave for Alaska today and I will be back in SoCal on the 16th. I am very excited about returning to Alaska. It will be great to go back to the same places and see some of the same kiddos. Fundraising for this years trip was an adventure. First of all we have a few more people going this year (23 compared to 17 last year) so we needed to raise more funds. On top of that, because of fuel prices, airfare was much higher. Last year we spent about $250 per person on airfare. This year it cost almost $600 per person. Then there is the cost of rental vans and gasoline. As I started adding up the numbers I realized we had quite a hill to climb. After totaling all the costs up I realized that we needed to raise about $26,000 to meet our costs. I was shocked. That is a lot of money!! I was sure I was going to have to ask the team members to pony up and pay the rest of the bill and I was not looking forward to that. I was honestly worried. But God had other plans. Right when I started to worry, God provided. We received a few large donations and then the floodgates opened. Every day I received a couple of checks in the mail and soon not only had we met our goal, but we had exceeded it!! God Is Good!!!! I am humbled and awed at his provision. I know that God has given us an emphatic "YES" to go on this trip. To God be the Glory!! I will give you an update when I get back. If I have access to a computer I will post from Alaska.

When I return I have three days and then I am off to Mexico for vacation. It will be a small group heading to San Carlos. This should be the year of a big trip, but we all agreed to keep it small and just go and spend time relaxing and making our own schedule. We are driving this year (14 hours) and it should be much better than my last trip to San Carlos on the bus ride from hell.

I will be home for about four days then it is off to Arrowhead Lutheran Camp where I will be serving as "Shepherd of the Week". It will be my first time back during summer camp since 1998. I am looking forward to it. My nephew AJ will be going with me and he will be in Little Chief Camp that week. AJ lives in Colorado and he comes out each summer to stay for a while with us and to see Grandma.

On the adoption front, our file has been approved by the supervisor of the Department of Children and Family Services. That was the last paperwork hoop to get through. Now we have one more class to take and then we will be eligible for placement. Our social worker said we have been "fast-tracked", whatever that means. I will keep you all posted on any further developments.

That is about it from here. Jill is busy tutoring all summer and making some extra money. She loves it and we both hope that at some point she can do it full time. Well I better start packing or I will be mad at myself for spending so much time in front of the computer. Talk you all later....

Wow...

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

Not much time here...VBS this week...Class every night this week...My parents are here this week...Mission Alaska next week. YIKES!! None of it is bad, just not enough time in the day to do everything I want to.

I love summer time!!!

Talk to you later..........