In early November, Mimi, my Grandmother, had a stroke. She was taken to David Grant Hospital at Travis AFB where she was taken excellent care of for nine days. The doctors told my Aunts that she can no longer live alone. For a woman as strong willed as Mimi, this was not going to be easy. After a week or so at the convalescent home where her husband is she moved to Lodi to live with my Aunt and her family.

Today, I went to visit Mimi. When I walked through Hope’s house Mimi was reading through Christmas cards and get well letters. She was looking at pictures and asking me to identify family members.

The stroke has had some affect on her memory. It is sad to think that she may not remember who I am, but it must be scary for her to be going through this. After a few minutes of talking with her I could tell she remembered who I was. She talked about my “beautiful” wife, our “tall” daughter and the one with the “red hair”. Those descriptions were all I needed to know she knew exactly who I was. Of course, she kept looking at me and calling me her “handsome”, a name she has called me for many years (no cracks about her eyes going bad... she can see just fine).

After spending some time just talking with Mimi and going through her speech therapy excersizes, my Aunt Hope mentioned that she had started speaking Italian. Mimi’s parents were born in Italy and they all spoke Italian as children. She hasn’t spoken Italian (except for the random single word) in at least 50 years. I asked her to speak to me in Italian and to my amazement, she just flipped the switch in her brain and speaking in beautiful Italian.

The stroke has also really affected her ability to speak. She in understandable but sometimes the wrong word comes out. The doctors told my Aunt that the stroke likely unlocked that part of her memory.

The thirty minutes I spent with Mimi was amazing. I had such a wonderful time with her. I hardly understood any of the Italian but hearing her speak it brought tears to my eyes.

In the middle of our conversation I pulled out my iPhone and recorded it.

Listen here.



Mimi and Matt - Thanksgiving 2008


I love you Mimi.

Family is Forever!

Happy 16th birthday Emily!



Check out the rest of the pictures here.

Happy 4th of July!

Even though the city of Stockton cancelled our annual fireworks show due to the current budget crisis, there was still reason to be down at the waterfront on Independence Day. The second annual Taste of San Joaquin was held along with the first annual Way Out West BBQ Championship was held at the Weber Points Event Center on a perfect July day.


As soon as we paid our $1 dollar admissions we could hear an 80s rock band playing on the main stage. We made our way back and hung out and watched Aquanett perform songs from Ratt, Metallica, Poison, AC/DC and other rock bands. These guys really rocked. The guitar player was incredible. He had all the licks down and easily went from Kirk Hammett to C.C. DeVille without missing a beat (and thankfully didn’t dance like C.C.).


After listening to Aquanett for a while we ventured out to try some of the BBQ prepared by the 20 or so competitors. By the time we got there most of them had sold out of their BBQ but there were still a few remaining with plenty of chicken, ribs and brisket left. From what I tasted, Smokin’ Yankees had the best brisket and East Side BBQ had the absolute best pork ribs. After a few samples of BBQ we tried some specialties from local restaurants: egg rolls from On Lock Sam and nachos from Bradley’s were the best.

Loki Rhythm entertained on another stage, bringing world music and jazz to the waterfront with their African drums and beats.

After a full day of music and food we headed out to Lodi to watch the fireworks.



Check out the rest of the pics here.

I had a great Fathers Day today. Dawn and the girls let me sleep in and then made me a great full breakfast, the kind that easily makes you forget about lunch hours later.

After just relaxing around the house most of the day we headed down to Merced to take Dad and Missy to dinner.


We went to Big Bubba’s Bad BBQ for dinner. Well, we thought we were just going to eat dinner. Dad and Missy told us that they had a mechanical bull there but we thought it was just for show. Well, Makenzy and I each ponied up the $4 for a chance to ride the bull.

Check out the videos here:



Happy Fathers Day to all the Dads out there!

And check out the pics here.

I’m really starting to think I’m getting old. I’m not feeling old. It’s just that all these kids around me keep getting older. Today we drove down to Modesto to Beverly’s graduation party. I have known Bev since she was a lil’ tike and can’t believe she’s now 18.



Becky & Tom threw an awesome party. It was wonderful seeing them and their family again. It was also great seeing Tina, Ken and (most of) their kids again. I couldn’t help but comment all night on how much all of these kids had grown.

Congratulations Beverly on graduating from high school... we love you and are proud of you. See you all again real soon!

I only took 185 pictures, mostly because I had a lot of willing subjects. I have pared them down to 82 of my favorites... check out the pics here.

Nothing says April in Stockton quite like the Asparagus Festival. We headed out Saturday late morning, just after they opened and made our way to the main stage to watch the Deep Fried Asparagus Eating competition. This is always a crowd favorite and once again, was a sanctioned International Federation of Competitive Eating event.

We also ate a lot of asparagus and had a great time visiting all of the booths. I even tried the hole-in-one challenge. Of course, I didn’t qualify. Overall, it was another awesome year at the Asparagus Festival.


Check out the rest of the pics here.

Another Easter, another visit by the Texas Beckwiths. JR, Megan, Wynter and Audrey came out again this year and spent easter with us. Once again, we had all of the brothers and sister in the same house at the same time. Of course, that means we had the opportunity to take the same picture we took in 2007.

Yes, it does seem that I am wearing the same hat and shirt. Check out the rest of the 2009 Easter pictures here.

Happy birthday Elizabeth.



Another cousin turns 7!

Check out the other pics here.

Disneyland really is the happiest place on Earth. We planned our vacation to Disneyland and California Adventure many, many months ago. Long before Dawn and I thought the names on our paychecks would be changing, before anyone was using the term “credit crunch” and when the Dow Jones Industrial Average was somewhere north of 12,000. Boy, those were the days!

Obviously, a lot has gone on recently and the timing for our vacation couldn’t have been better! A wonderful week to unplug (a little) and just hang out! We didn’t go alone though... we did have our trusted advisor, Twitter, along for the ride. Specifically, @RMGreg! Greg, a seasoned Disneyland / Disneyworld pro, was tweeting and texting tips and trips of the park... thanks Greg.



We had an absolute awesome time at Disneyland and California Adventure. Makenzy and Dawn rode the Tower of Terror for the first time and Makenzy just loved riding the “big ones” like California Screaming and Space Mountain. Dawn, on the other hand, remembered how much she didn’t like that one as she screamed “I don’t like this” nearly the whole time.

Last time we went to Disneyland we took a night away from the park to have dinner at Medieval Times. This time we went to the Pirate’s Dinner Adventure. We all preferred this one to the horses and the jousting. Dawn, Emily and Makenzy were recruited a couple of times to join in the pirate’s adventure which might be one of the reasons we had more fun.

Check out the pics we took here.

After more than a decade, we got together this weekend with Van and his lovely wife, Christine and their adorable little boy, Evan (although the nickname “mini-Van” fits him well). The Saukams were out in California this week from Colorado so we just had to get together like we did back in the day.



We had an awesome time reminiscing about our high school days as we all took turns telling Christine about all of the crazy times we had. It was great seeing our friend Van again and getting to know his wife and son. We did finally get around to playing a little music and, as no surprise, Van has not lost any ability to sing!

Hanging out with Mike, Shauna, Shawn, Shane and Van (and all the kids that go along with this group) reminded us all that life is about the people we share it with. Great times, great friends.

I posted a few pictures here.

Yesterday, we finally made it back to our favorite beach - Cowell Ranch Beach in Half Moon Bay, California. It was a little over cast but still a beautiful day. As is usually the case, there were hardly any other people on “our beach” the entire day. We had an awesome time just relaxing and just hanging out on the beach.

We took a lot of pictures... here are the ones that made the cut.



Here are some pictures we took here in 2002 and again in 2005.

Today, we went to Grace’s in Sacramento to see Lori and Tim who were visiting from Florida. We all had a good time swimming and catching up with the cousins and other family. It was great to see Lori and her little son. Of course, I use the term, little, loosely given the fact that he is 6 feet tall!



We were also treated to Lee and his wonderful resonator guitar. After playing and singing Happy Birthday to everyone with a July birthday, we all sang The Boxer by Simon & Garfunkel and a couple of others. Then Lee played a couple of new originals. Here’s a small clip of one of his songs.



Click here for the other pics from today.

This year, we joined the Deckos and the Havenses at good ol’ Folsom Lake - Beals Point to be exact. Having last been here in 2002 we were looking forward to the combined camp sites - especially since the Deckos were actually camping in tents and the lil’ ones are older now.



To say the first day was hot would be a major understatement. The local newspapers had called it the hottest day of the year. With the mercury soaring to 110 degrees right about the time we arrived at camp and started to set up we weren’t doubting that one bit. There was still a pretty bad haze in the air from all of the local fires and we thought we’d not see blue skies for days.

Read More...

Happy Independence Day! To start the holiday I met Mike and Harold for the annual 4th of July Linden ride. It was perfect weather, not hot at all and just a little wind. Once we got back to Lodi I headed home for a quick pit stop before riding out to Manteca. After 80 miles I couldn’t wait to jump in pool!

The kids swam most of the day while I repeatedly got my butt kicked in ping pong (well, except for the game I played against Bruce). After some hackey sack and then a great dinner of hot dogs, beer brats and hot links we drove to watch the fireworks. Even though we were only a mile or so away from the Field of Dreams, the fireworks were a dud, too low to really see so we went back and blew up the arsenal we bought from the local fireworks stand earlier in the day.

Shortly after 11 PM, I jumped back on my bike for the 23 mile ride back home. Ok, I didn’t really ride home last night, but everything else really happened!

Check out the pictures here.

Last weekend, we celebrated the 28th Extravaganza at the National Hotel in Jackson, California. We drove up on Friday night and had a grand ol’ Extravaganza type night.



On Saturday we had our normal get together which was made even more entertaining by a stunning theatrical performance by FNGs Randy and Sue. They had a (fake) speech planned that got everyone thinking they were leaving early because of something someone said about them. Sue even brought out the tears and everyone was up in arms. A few of us noticed her husband video-taping the whole thing and grew increasingly skeptical. After a few minutes they finished their joke to roaring applause... good one guys.

Hope and Joe hid the flag this year and a few of us spent hours in the heat looking for it. In the end, Randy followed the hints and grabbed the prize... now he has to come back next year.

I especially had a good time being scared out of my mind, not once, but twice, when Hope and then Grace snuck in my room. I was not expecting Hope and wondered why Grace was trying to distract me. When I went back and found Grace there a few minutes later I really freaked out. Even though I expected her to be there, it still scared the crap out of me. Dawn and I even got Mike pretty good when she walked away and “accidently” didn’t shut the door all the way. C’mon! Really? Well, Mike fell for it and hid out in our room for a minute, amazed at the prize he just fell into, until I jumped out of the darkness yelling, “did you really think we’d let you in like that!”

Extravaganza ’08 was a blast... only 360 more days ‘til the next one!

Click here for the pics that were fit to publish.

April in Stockton... you know the routine. Asparagus Festival! This, the 23rd one, was held in beautiful downtown Stockton on what felt like the hottest day of the year. Emily and I arrived at 6:45 in the morning to register for the 5k Spear-It Fun Run.

This was the first organized run either of us have ever did and felt good out there, not stopping or walking at all. When we approached the water station Emily even suggested we slow down a little and let the group ahead of us go through and get their water. This way, we would miss the mess of the bunch and get our cups without stopping... what a smart idea.

We completed the 5k in 33:35. I've ran faster but haven't ran at all since December. It sure was a far cry from my first attempt at running a mile in 2006.



So, besides the 5k run, I tried deep fried asparagus for the first time, we saw some amazing frisbee dogs and met Martin Yan from Yan Can Cook!

Check out the pics here.

Check out last year's Asparagus Festival.

Easter came early this year, and the awesome spring weather joined it. With JR, Megan and the rest of the Texas Beckwiths in town (well, in state is more like it) we had lots of opportunities for pictures. Easter turned into a three-day weekend celebration with everyone meeting at the Havens house on Friday, then our house on Saturday and then our annual Easter bash on Sunday.

Check out our pics here.
Friday


Saturday


Sunday


Remember, bookmark our Flickr site as we sometimes publish random pictures between events.

Makenzy turned 9 last weekend which meant that she got more parties and more cake than any child needs. Last weekend, on her actual birthday we ordered her favorite take-out (DaVinci's), rented a movie (The Last Mimzy) and had cake. Then, this weekend, she had two more parties.

First, Makenzy and some of her friends were treated like princesses at Panda Girlz. The folks at Panda Girlz really put on a great party for Mak and her friends. Hair, make-up, nails, followed by a fashion show, karoake and crafts made for one of Makenzy's favorite parties ever. If you have daughters you should check this place out.



Party number two was pizza for the family and our favorite family pizza joint where the kids (and some of the adults) quickly went through handfuls of tokens on the redemption games. I wonder if the major casinos help fund the redemption game manufactures, to help turn today's youth into tomorrow's slot machine addicted gamblers.

Check out today's pictures here.

Today, we went to Vacaville to Pietro's Pizza to celebrate Kelsie's 6th birthday and to spend some time with Mimi and Ralph. It was great to see Mimi and Ralph. He was in great form and seemed to really enjoy having everyone there visiting with him.

Here's a picture of everyone with Ralph. Not sure why Makenzy isn't smiling.


Click here for the rest of the pictures.

We've been a little late putting up recent pics so here they are.



Junior's birthday 1/25/08



Hornbrook Trip 1/18/08



Macworld 1/17/08



New Years 2008

Oops, we've not posted in a while. The Christmas season was great. Here are some recent pics.

The Nutcracker

Gingerbread house

Various recent Stockton Thunder games

Christmas

Deal or No Deal DVD (plus on YouTube)

Happy Thanksgiving! This year, we hosted the annual festivities and had a great turnout. Most of us ate a lot more than we should have, but given the cornucopia of good stuff (c'mon, it's the only time of year I can use that word) we had no choice.



Another Thanksgiving means another Annual Field Goal challenge. This year, we played two rounds. The first was won by Joe (of course) and the second was taken by Ken! I have got to practice more during the year.



Check out the pics here.

That's right, folks... Roller Derby is alive and kicking! We joined the F&F family and went to root on Nicole and the San Joaquin Valley Vixens Roller Derby team in a bout at the Civic Auditorium. This was the first time the kids had ever seen Roller Derby and the first time any of us had seen it live. It took a while for Dawn and I to understand the logistics of the sport but once we did, we had a blast yelling at the players.

These women are tough and took a lot of hard falls!

During one of the intermissions, I was selected to join the corn-on-the-cob eating contest. I took second place but could have won if the judges gave me full credit for that last cob!



Check out the pics here.

Well, another Halloween has come and gone. Next is Thanksgiving, Christmas and then New Years... it'll be here before you know it.

This year, I was Jack, as in Jack in the Box. I had a great time playing the part at work and then at the school for the annual trick-or-treat festivities. Thankfully, Mike was there to help me pass out candy to the kids because I had a hard time seeing most of them.

Here I am resting at the end of a long night. Yes, believe it or not, that's Hannah Montana on the far right!


One of the coolest part of the night was on my way. I went through the drive through at In-n-Out and they noticed my Jack head in the back seat. I simply said, "Sometimes, even I need a real burger!"

Next year's plan? Well, I've got some ideas....

Check out today's pics here.

The Stockton Arena was rockin' tonight when we were joined by 8,640 or so of our closest friends for the first Thunder home game of the season. Tonight, our Thunder squared off against the Alaska Aces in a contest that saw not a single fight (boo hoo!).



Thunder scored first near the end of the first period and followed it up with a second goal that saw a few Aces players collide into the goalie. It was like a traffic accident being taken apart piece by piece. After a few minutes, when the officials awarded Stockton with the goal, the arena went psycho!

Neither team scored in the second period but Alaska did manage to get a couple of goals in the final period in regulation to tie the contest at 2. Rohlfs ended the sudden death match at 2:10 into OT with a sweet shot. We may be 2-3, but at least we won our home opener.

For tonight's game, we set in section 114, row 5. It was nice to be a little closer and see some pucks go flying as well as really hearing the glass pounding, but sitting this close made it hard to see down on the other end of the ice.

Check out pics here. I took a lot of video but no fights and no goals. I did manage to hit record just after the game winning goal went in... check it out on YouTube here.

If you want to take a retro look back... check out the 2006 Stockton Thunder home opener or check out all of our posts on the Thunder here.

Wow, Emily is 14! We are starting to feel like we might be getting close, someday, to, actually, perhaps, getting (gulp) old.

Happy birthday honey! What'd she get from us? Tickets to see Gwen Stefani... rock on!



Check out the pics here.

Another year, another trip to the Del'Osso Family Farms Pumpkin Maze. I know... it's really a corn maze, but they call it a pumpkin maze. Mike, Shauna, Chris, Rachel, Maryssa, Shawn, Shawn jr, Natalie, Megen, Ken, KC, Jim, Junior, and Melissa joined Dawn and I and the girls for a trek through the maze. Dawn, Melissa, Emily, Shauna, Maryssa and Makenzy got out in just about 20 minutes while it took the rest of us just under an hour to find our way out. The maze seemed trickier this year - with a perimeter maze and one through the center. There were also three "bridges" which let us see over the top of the 20 acre field (not that it helped much as all I saw was corn!).



The haunted house was a lot better this year as they only let in small groups at a time. It kept the entrance completely dark and added to the fright. There were also a couple of new twists in the house this year, one of my favorites being the bathroom scene. Both times we went through in the afternoon, we had to physically push Emily and Maryssa through that part. Let's just say it was reminiscent of the Saw movies. Dawn and Emily went back in the evening for another walk through the haunted house and said they changed it up a little from earlier in the day.

Check out our pics here.

Happy birthday Angelo! We had a great time at Micke's Grove park in Lodi. Chris, Joe and I got robbed playing football, but that's cool... we'll get 'em next time!





Check out our pics here.

Did Stockton really need a new pizza restaurant? We might be a little biased (we love pizza) but I think the answer is a resounding "yes"! Stockton has had the reputation of "restaurant killer" for sometime. Gone are the days of Shannons, the Hatch Cover, Bella Vista, the original (and we would argue, better) Cancun, even Red Robin couldn't last in Stockton.

Through the years, we've seen too many restaurants come and go. Tonight, we ate at one that might just buck the trend.



Cibo di Vino opened recently on the Miracle Mile, right next door to the Empire Theatre. Although there are other items on the menu other than pizza, it was, of course, the pizza that brought us. The service was great. We had reservations and got right in but would have waited under the name, Jessica Alba or Billy Bob Thornton - very funny. After we were seated, our waiter came by to take our drink order. Cibo di Vino had a great selection of wines and Dawn and I each enjoyed a "flight of three" sampler. The pizza was awesome - I would rate it right up there with Michael's and Dante's. Great wine, great service, great atmosphere, and great pizza.

Our first restaurant review earns 5 rolling pins!



Check them out online - cibodivino.com.

Read the recent article in the Record.

Visit them for yourself:
1825 Pacific Ave, Stockton, California 95204

Tonight, we took Fred and Daniel to AT&T Park to watch the San Francisco Giants beat up on the Cincinnati Reds. It was a great game that went by very fast, with very little base hits and no scores until the 8th inning when Durham hit a single with the bases loaded, sending two Giants to home plate.



Check out the pics here.

Yesterday we spent the day at Marine World... I mean, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. Perfect weather, but a little crowded.



Check out the pics here.

Nothing says late July in this family quite like the annual Family Dinner a la Havens style. The weather was perfect, the pool was perfect, the food was, well, the food is always grubbin'!. Yes, a good time was had by all... even the losing volleyball team



Check out the pics here.

What a hot day in Stockton... I think it hit 100 degrees by 10 am! No worries though... that's why we had super soakers for the kids. Sure, a pool would be better but the Havens were out of town.



Check out the pics here.

Even though we have never owned a video game console we have wanted a Nintendo Wii from the first time we saw our young nephew play with his. Well, wii finally got one; Dawn and the girls surprised me with an early Father's Day gift. We only have Wii Sports and have played Tennis, Bowling and Boxing. The Wii was so easy to set up and connect to our home network. We all had a lot of fun creating our Mii's (even though Mak was a little perturbed that Nintendo didn't really offer her shade of red hair). Here's a picture of us - if anyone knows how to transfer high quality Mii's from our Wii to a computer please let me know.

Nothing says late April in Stockton like the long green spears of asparagus everywhere! Well, not everyone in our family likes asparagus but still enjoy going to the festival. Just the girls and I went this time and only stayed a few hours. Watching the competitive eating event was pretty cool... even though they were eating deep fried asparagus!




We even got to see Tyson, the skateboarding bulldog do what he does best.





Check out the pics here.

With JR and his family making the trek from Texas, Tony and his coming down from The Property and Lance even showing up, we had a great Easter at the house. Of course, that means everyone wanted a picture of all the kids... Ken, Lance, Tony, Mike, Me, JR and Missy... all in the same place... that doesn't happen too often.



Of course, there were cameras galore.

Click here for our pics.

Mike's pics.

Also, check out our Easter pics from years past 2006 / 2005 / 2004 / 2002

Happy Easter!

After Dawn's mornings started getting tougher we thought we would find out for sure. So, last week we took the test and... surprise! Guess what's coming to the Beckwith family?



After a trip to the doctor we discovered that she was farther along than we originally thought.



September will be here before we know it!

Happy birthday Christian!




After everyone devoured cake and ice cream and Christian opened up his gifts (and counted his loot) Ken and I went and picked up the boneshaker / penny-farthing. Mike and I had tried, unsuccessfully, to ride it a few weeks before but Ken was sure he could do it on the first try. And ride it he did... he had no problem riding it right from the start. Here's a quick video of him sprinting down Mike's street.

Even I was able to finally ride the bike.



Check out the pics here.

Who knew a birthday party at a toy store could be so cool. Happy birthday princess Rachel.



Check out the pics here.

Mak finally got her belated birthday trip to San Francisco. And, just as she planned, we had lunch at the Rain Forest Cafe and then hung out at Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf. The girls really liked watching the sea lions fight on the docks and also liked watching the street performers. One of the performers, Marcus Raymond, did some pretty cool tricks like escaping from a straightjacket and solving a rubik cube in less than 1 minute (after a kid from the audience scrambled it up real good).





Check out the pics here.

So many of my summers growing up were spent up at the R-Ranch in beautiful Hornbrook in Northern California. Even though spring is creeping up on us we were still a little nervous planning a trip up there this early in the year. With all of the snow on Black Butte and Mt. Shasta it looked like it was going to be cold. Lucky for us the weather was awesome and we had a blast hanging out with the Deckos. The Property at Hornbrook fits the Decko family very well and their home is awesome!



We even made a trip to Ashland which looked exactly the same as it did the last time we were there (probably 10 years ago).



Check out the pics from our trip here.


Christina took some great pics of The Property in December and January when it was snowing and asked me to publish them (it would take her weeks to do it over dial-up). Check out her pics here.

Jim, Natalie and the girls made it up to Stockton this weekend so what better way to party than to rock out at Fred's house! Even Linda and her boys came by!



Jim, Fred and I rocked out for a while (although I don't think we ever made it through an entire song) and even got some help by 15 year old Chris who was playing a great 5-string bass.



Check out the pictures here.

I think there might've been some video taken as well... Mik & KW, if you took any good videos send me the link!

*** update ***
Check out Mike's pics and Ken's pics, too.

Today, we went to see Mimi & Ralph.



Check out the pictures here.

The Beckwith and Havens families had a blast up in Soda Springs this weekend. We had a great cabin and the weather was awesome - clear skies and no wind (until Sunday). There was also a great area for the kids to go tubin' and for me to get a few runs on the snowboard.




Emily, Makenzy and Junior getting ready to go out on Saturday. Check out the pictures from this weekend here.

Dawn, Emily and I went to see the Golden State Warriors take on the Miami Heat (playing without Shaq). This was Emily's first NBA game (in a suite, nonetheless). Great game... if you are a Heat fan. Since I don't really follow the NBA I didn't really care who won (the Heat burned the Warriors 118-96).



Check out the pics here.

and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and auld lang syne?

Happy New Year! We all rang in the new year at F&F's (although not as much confetti as the last couple of years). As we always do when we celebrate at F&F's, we did a shrimp-boil (with crab, too). And by "we" I mean a lot of people except for me ate the shrimp and crab; I picked around it to the saugages, potatoes and pearl onions. Santa brought Fred a new drum set so I brought the guitar and bass and everyone took turns rockin' out.



Pictures are up, check 'em out.

Christmas has come and gone once again. We had a great time hosting Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinner. The question is, at the end of the day, into how many pictures did Ken jump?

Joe taught us, once again, that he is really the only one that can kick field goals with any consistency. Everyone was very happy to see Mimi. It was also great to have Kelly and Dennis with us both days (Happy Birthday Kelly). Once again, Jack made his famous fried rice and brought the prime rib for Christmas dinner.

Check out pics here.

Merry Christmas from the Beckwith Family - Matt, Dawn, Emily, Makenzy and Sashi!

Once again, we made our way out to Forest Creek Christmas Trees in Galt to cut down our Christmas tree. Check out pics here.

This month, the three wives turned a combined 112 years old... I'll let you determine the respective ages. We had a little get-together at Mike & Shauna's (thanks bro). Check out pics here.

The Stockton Thunder lost their first home game this season when the Alaska Aces scored a late third period goal to tie the game and eventually beat us in the first shutout.

There was not a single fight in the whole game so I put up a goal instead. Click here to see the third period score by Brandon Hodge on YouTube.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there (well, except this unlucky bird).

Check out the pics here.

Thanks to Larry Johnson and the Chiefs... even though I only got to watch the last 2 minutes on TV... it was a great game... now we're tied for second place... bring on the playoffs!

Mak, Dad and Emo


Dad, Fiona and Shrek

Click here for pics.

Our new October tradition... Stockton Thunder Hockey!

Early last year, when we heard that Stockton's new arena would be home to a minor league hockey team, we were less than impressed. Hockey was never a sport that we followed in our house and it didn't seem to match very well with our warm weather and culture. We were much more excited to be getting Arena Football and Major League indoor soccer.

As the season started to get closer we decided that we wanted to be part of the hype of the new team and went to the second home game. From the moment we walked in the arena we knew this was going to be cool! When the game started we were on our feet, along with 9,000 other Stockton Thunder fans and we have been hooked ever since.

So, tonight we showed up, decked out in Thunder gear, ready to scream our lungs out for our hometown Thunder!

If you're a sports fan and live within an hour of Stockton, you have to check this out! Trust me when I say that hockey is meant to watched live; so many people have the same comment after watching their first game: "I could never get into hockey on TV... but this is awesome!"

What a game! The Thunder start the season 2-0 and right in the middle of the Pacific Division and end tonight's game being the only undefeated team in the ECHL.



The first fight of the night. The Arena went crazy when Huxley (Stockton) knocked Neilson right on his bum.


The Long Beach Ice Dogs scored an early first goal but the Thunder tied it up before the end of the first period (click here for the video from the first goal scored at home this season). The same pattern would continue for the second and third period with Long Beach scoring first and then Stockton getting a goal. The final shot in regulation came from Stockton with only 34 seconds left on the clock. The 5 minutes of overtime passed with no scoring so we were treated to a nail-biting shoot out. We tied throughout the first group of attempts so then we went into sudden death shoot out mode!

After 6 failed attempts by each club, Brendon Hodge slaps one in and the Thunder win a close one!

Congrats Thunder... you rock!

game stats

click here for pictures

What a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon than to cruise up to San Jose to check out the Tech Museum. We wanted to see the IMAX movie on the Tour de France but there was only one showing early in the day. We spent 15 minutes outside checking out the huge pool ball kinetic exhibit. It was such a challenge to follow a single ball all the way through the high tech maze of ramps, pulleys and loops.


There was a lot of incredible things to do and see and an easy place to get lost for a few hours. One of my favorites was the planetary exhibit... the girls really liked it too.



Mik, KW, Twon, JR - check out this video (64 MB).

(also videos of 'emily' and 'makenzy', 36 & 24 MB)

Of course... you can check out pics of our trip to The Tech here.

http://beckwithweb.com/vdz/2006-07-02_KWs/

I love these pics! I came across some pictures of Junior when he was very, very little and it reminded me of these pictures. Here are the mothers of, and the kids from 2020.

Happy Easter... and happy birthday to Elizabeth. We also celebrated Audrey's birthday since she will be in Texas for her birthday. JR & Meg are moving to Ft. Worth... UHaul's leaving Merced in one week and this is probably the last party at the Decko's house... at least this one (the next one's up there) Reeb bros! (click here for pics)



Also, here's a video of Rae Rae (slow pipes will suffer... 33 MB)

Given the choice between soccer and hockey, we’d take soccer. Add arena football to the equation and we’d take that every day of the week.

We really enjoyed going to Ports games at the old park but fell in love with the new ballpark on the waterfront. This made sense.

Hockey, though? In Stockton?

Well, we decided to go the second game at the arena tonight and let me tell you, we are cynics no more!

The Stockton Thunder is, hands down, the best entertainment value in Stockton. We have never watched hockey before but quickly caught on. Even the girls loved the game. At the end of the second period we got up to leave. That was, until the couple sitting next to us educated us. We had no idea there was three periods.

Throughout the final period, Emily and Makenzy were on their feet, cheering on their new favorite team.

I can tell we’re going to be seeing a lot more of these guys. The play is awesome. The entertainment is great. The crowds are better than anything else in Stockton.

This is exactly what Stockton has been begging for.

Now given the choice, we’ll take hockey every day!

Kudos to Dan Chapman for putting together another winner!

Go Thunder!

Ok... I know... it's been eons since we updated the site... Matt's bad. Anyway, we're back... with over 800 new pictures and videos. Three birthday parties... two holidays... tons of soccer and even some cool pool shots and field goal attempts. Anywhooooo...... enjoy.... and GO CHIEFS.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! What a great Thanksgiving... great food, hanging out with the family. Some of the boys went over to the high school and tried to prove who could kick the longest field goal, even though none of us had any real experience kicking a football. Check out pictures here.
Some of the cousins... wow... these girls are getting older and older!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN
Check out pictures here.

It aint Halloween season until the families go to the Corn Maze! This year was as fun as always but they made the maze to simple. Cool haunted house as always. Here are some of the pictures.

We finally took the girls to Disneyland! What an amazing trip... now we know why it is called the happiest place on earth. Click here for some pictures.

Wow! I can't believe our little niece has turned the sweet 16. That is just amazing... I can very clearly remember the day she was born... 19, 19, 19-89... seems like only yesterday. KC got a new camera (and I blew the surprise a little early by giving her a memory card) so I am sure that she will be sharing some pics soon!

Goodbye Party for Frank & Lee / Dinner & Swimming at the Costa's - pics here

8-7-05 Megan's birthday BBQ and John & Kathleen wedding Congrats to John and Kathleen... pictures here --> click me Happy birthday Megan... pictures here --> click me

Family Dinner, July '05. Happy 85th birthday Mimi! Great time was had by all. Click here for pictures.

Annual Bro's Camping Trip - Pinecrest This year we headed for the cool air and tall trees of Pinecrest... just a few miles from the Dodge Ridge Ski Resort. Besides me getting sick on Thursday (and not from drinkin') it was an awesome camping trip. The kids rode their bikes all day long and then went and saw a couple of movies at night on the outdoor screen across the road. On our second day me and KW headed out to Dodge Ridge, and by OUT I mean UP. KW did great on his inaugural climb (3.5 miles and about 1200 feet of climbing). Fred and Twon met us at Dodge Ridge. We headed up a mile or so (and over 2,000 feet) while mostly carrying the bikes and then bolted downhill on the double track (and very bumpy) trails. I had no idea that the ski runs doubled as bike trails in the off-season. Click here for pics of the trip.

What a cool 4th of July! H2O skiing... and of course all of the other fun stuff! 7 of us on the boat on the Delta. Mike and I and Twon got right up but Fred and JR took a little more work (Fred more than anyone). We promised him that we would teach him how to get up and stay up and he was determined to do it! An hour or so later he was finally skiing!!! JR and Brian got up pretty quick but the fun of the day was Fred. That poor guy... he was more patient than anyone of us would have been... especially with all of us yelling out directions and advice to him. Check out the pics page and the video page for some of the day's events.

What a nice Father's Day. I got to sleep in... until almost 9 am... Dawn and the girls made me and Grandpa Jack a great breakfast and then Dawn mowed the front yard (I still did the back yard). After yard work Emily and rode our bikes to Jack & Rita's for dinner. Jack made a killer tri-tip (and made me a great steak). We all practiced our drives and chip shots in his back yard and had a great time. Click here for the videos of our ride (pics, here).

SURPRISE! Boy, do we love surprise birthday parties! Cwissy, Belinda, Pam and Tom really did a great job with this Jamaican themed party. Everyone assembled at Pam & Tom's house about six o'clock and then when we were all ready, Cwissy made the call to Maria to tell her that someone had broken into her Mom's house... and to make it worse... the dogs were missing. Well, Maria, being the good daughter that she is... came running with all her friends. She burst through the door expecting to start a burglary investigation but instead heard the screams of "SURPRISE!" Caribbean decorations and food made the event very enjoyable. Check out pictures from the party on our picture page.

It was very nice to see Lori and her boy today. They could not have picked a better weekend to have Tim's bday party... the weather was perfect for swimming. Click here for pics from today.

She's here! Congrats JR, Megan and Wynter. Your new little addition is adorable.

Bruce and KW kicked our tails (again) in doubles ping pong. Bruce... the STOTM... read Slammin' fo' Dummies... and schooled me and Mik. Check out more pics here.

We spent the day at Cowell Ranch beach in Half Moon Bay. It was a perfect day for relaxing at the beach. Go to our picture page to see the pics. Also check out pics from 2002 at the beach 4/7/02 and 6/15/02. Wow, the girls have grown!

The Stockton Ports Opening Night.... Wow.... what a killer ballpark! Go Ports!!! Emily even got a baseball from one of the pitchers (she had to buy him a hot dog first but still a good deal).

The Library and Literacy Foundation has been one of our favorite charities so this year we participated in the 14th annual Trivia Bee.



Dawn and I made half the donation, while Tony donated the other half under his business, Homestuff. Since his business colors are black and yellow we decided to go as Team Homestuff.

To assemble the perfect team, I asked my good friend, Fred and my little brother, JR, to help. Of course, they agreed. The theme for the night: the 1960s. Uh oh... none of us were around in the 1960s - so I was glad I had a couple of history buffs to join the team.



After a tough first round of questions, we were eliminated with only 20 points. It was an awesome time and we can’t wait to do it again.

Extravaganza 2004!  Our 24th year. This year found we partied in Jamestown and had a BLAST!  Special thanks to our FNGs... such good sports and remember, you can only be FNG once... so, here's to next year!
Want to see pictures... sorry, those have been classified... if you were there then you will receive a link soon. Otherwise, these were the only shots fit to print:
  
     
  
  
 

What a road trip!  we are finally back from arizona.  uncle joey's passing is what got us there, but whatever the reason, it was great to see everyone.  when we told everyone we would be driving to arizona they said we were senseless and we should fly... add to it that we would be taking jack and rita along with us and i heard the same thing from everyone, "six people in the van is crazy... two of them being your in-laws is INSANE!" well... it was a lot of fun... driving 1,500 miles with your in-laws may sound difficult... but we passed the time by horsin' around and even singing "99 bottles of beer" (the greatest drinking song of all time!!! - thanks tom, for keeping me in check)

We spent the weekend at Bothe Napa Valley State Park.  Beautiful views, hiking, peace and solitude... no pager, no cell phone, capped off with trips to Old Faithful and the Petrified Forest... I really want to go back.

The Family welcomes the birth of Kenneth Gerald Havens, born today at 3:02 pm.  K2, as his little brother calls him, weighed in at 7 pounds and 3 ounces.  There was 18 7/8 inches of tape used to get from the top of his little head to edge of his big toes.  
Mommy, Baby, Daddy and Family are doing good now. Pictures can be found at the parent's site (http://kennyhavens.com/babynews/) along with a couple of pictures on our site.

Congratulations to Jim and Natalie.  Thier little bundle of joy was born today, a girl.  Well, Jim, you were practically the last one to have kids... it's about time. CONGRATS!  You guys are going to make awesome parents!!
9-20-01

As matrimony draws closer for two of the Brothers I want to take this opportunity to wish the best to both and good luck for my two new sisters-in-law; one of which was quoted as saying, "When I met your brother I knew he was Mr. Right, I just didn't know his first name was 'Always' " - I can't say which one said it but for anyone that knows my bros, it's easy to figure out.  

Our 21st year.  This year we took over the Gunn House Hotel in Downtown Sonora. The weekend was chocked full of partying, drinking and karaoke with undeniably the greatest performance of "Devil..." done by Joe and The Gang ever!  There was an unusually bad version of "You Don't Bring Me Flowers Anymore" done by two nameless people that was thankfully ended before the end of the song.  Someone checked the box that increased the key of the song up a few steps and the singers didn't realize it.   And then of course, there was the pranks!  Breaking in and thrashing rooms was not too difficult since the rooms were very old and the locks were antiquated simple to pick.  Salt in bed sheets, lotion on toilet seats, shaving cream on the door handles all made for a great weekend.  Kelly came up with a great song-title game to play around the pool.  Of course, the newbies did get the "Saints" march - courtesy of Mike, Shauna, Dawn and Tony.  Who knows what fun next year will bring!!!