December 2009
Robert, Natalie, and Benjamin got home for the holidays and we all had a nice Christmas. Then most of the family made our annual trip to Perry's at Daytona Beach.

November 2009
This month the triplets turned three! Can you believe it? They are wonderful kids. Another of the monthly highlights was bruises - from going to a Paintball Park. Lots of fun and we have the marks to show it!

October 2009
Bonnie and I celebrated her birthday for the second straight year with a cruise. This time it was a full seven days at the buffet table.

September 2009
Ah, football season. Great hopes for the 'Noles but Saturdays are becoming discouraging.

August 2009
This was our trip to Club Med Sandpiper at Port St. Lucie, mostly thanks to Nanny. There were more activities than we could find time to do and the food was great. We swam, tried archery, played the pitch and putt course, swung on a trapese, played kickball and water volleyball, competed in sand volleyball and water polo, and did many other things. The staff was friendly and the week went by too fast.

July 2009
We had a relatively quiet July. The Brandon Independence Day Parade is always fun. Bonnie and I set up early and we had a location for the kids to grab beads and candy. We also had another Steppin Stone Volleyball session on the 11th and made it to Holmes Beach in Bradenton for some good times.

June 2009
June was the month for our much anticipated trip to England to visit baby Benjamin. And Robert and Natalie, of course. We had a great time, getting to experience some of the activities of Canvas Hourse, visiting with Robert and Natalie, and getting to see some nearby sights. The week went by before we knew it. Some of our trips included the Chadbury Chocolate Factory, the sites and canals of downtown Birmingham, Warwick Castle, and Shakespeare's home at Stratford upon Avon. And, oh yes, holding Benjamin was the best part of all.

May 2009
May 27 at 7:17 p.m. England time. Seven pounds 13 ounces, 20 inches in length. Benjamin William Braden born to Robert and Natalie. Oh what joy! The trip to the hospital and the hours of hard labor were, as we understand in looking back, not all that stressful. We are all glad that everything went well.

April 2009
Trying to get serious about QL 20. Spent a number of hours writing the synopsis of the book as I hear some agents might want to see it. A synopsis is about one page in length for every 25 in the book. In writing the synopsis I realized that there were two places where I needed to tighten the book, and did so. Soon comes the hunt for an agent.

February 2009
Of course the highlight of the month was our Colorado vacation with the MacIvers. We also enjoyed watching Seth play soccer, Savanah and Seth playing basketball, the the triplets playing on their trampoline at their house.

January 2009
January was a time for setting New Year's resolutions. Unfortunately, it was also a time to review how well I did on last year's resolutions. Failed miserably, except that I did convert the screenplay, QL 20 to the first draft of a book. Now in the process of bribing family members to read and comment upon it. For those of you who are desperate publishers or have masochistic tendencies, here is Chapter 1.