Harrison sitting on his own!

Your browser does not support the video tag. While playing with Grandma, Harrison sat up all by himself. I think Grandma has been taking him to her pilates class.

Grandpa and Harrison

Harrison and I had a fun play date. Grandma was at her Pilates class so we were having a "guy's day" - at least for a few hours. I loved it.

Total Solar Eclipse 2024

Here photos of the total solar eclipse and a video we took (be patient on the video the best part is on the end). We travelled to Vermilion Ohio to view the eclipse and show Jan where I went to Jr. High.

Made an end grain cutting board for Sami

I tried my hand at making an end grain cutting board. I used maple and cherry. It turned out pretty good in spite of a few slips of the router on the juice groove. I made it for Sami as a house warming gift for her new apartment.
Read more 🏷 Ed, Sami

Welcome Harrison Edward Villalpando (our grandson!!!)

Sara gave birth to our first grandchild today. Harrison Edward Villalpando was born at 10:50pm weighing in at 7lbs 3.1oz. and 19" long!
Read more 🏷 Harrison, Sara, Brandon

Tucker's 13th Birthday today (that's 64 in dog years!!!)

We celebrated our dog Tucker's 13th birthday today. We bought him a "Pup Cake" and sang "Happy Birthday" to him. Your browser does not support the video tag.
Read more 🏷 Tucker

Married 35 years to my best friend

We celebrate 35 years hitched today. I feel so blessed to be married to the most beautiful girl in the world
Read more 🏷 Ed,Jan

Our Little Girl has Graduated

Our youngest has graduated from Loyola Marymount University with Magna Cum Laude honors! We are so very proud of her and love her to bits. She is planing to teach 2nd and 3rd graders, and we know she will be successful because she is an amazing teacher. While student teaching she has had nothing bu…
Read more 🏷 Sam

More tinkering

I've been tinkering again since it's too cold lately to go out in the garage and do my woodworking. I've been exploring all of my smart devices in the house to figure out how I might be able to do them better. I got into a thing called home assistant which is a program that runs on a raspberry pi in…
Read more 🏷 Ed

Two Eds are better than one

Just playing around. I put my iPhone on a tripod and made this. Your browser does not support the video tag.
Read more 🏷 Ed

So much for this year not sucking

We are all very heartbroken. Our dog Tess developed inoperable cancer and we had to put her to sleep tonight. (actually, I am writing this on the 19th, I was too sad to post it that day). She was the best dog we've ever had. Due to Covid restrictions, we had someone from Hearts and Halos come to our…
Read more 🏷 pets

Welcome to a year that hopefully won't suck

Happy 2021 everyone, and goodbye 2020 (thank goodness)

Tinker time again

I've discovered that this pandemic has given me lots of time to "tinker". Some people like to do puzzles, some like to read, some like to watch tv. I like to build things, either out of wood in my wood shop, or using electronics and microcontrollers. This time it's the latter. I wanted to take pic…
Read more 🏷 Ed

I Love You

I want to wish my beautiful wife of 34 years a very happy anniversary. Jan, you are my heart and my life. I love you forever
Read more 🏷 Ed Jan

I love this T-shirt

A friend sent me a picture of T-shirt sayings. This is my favorite.

Cowdog

This is our rootin’ tootin’ cowdog Tucker. He loves to herd cattle in the back yard and come dinner time, he likes to rustle up some grub.
Read more 🏷 Pets

Happy Independence Day

Hope all of you are happy healthy and staying safe. I look forward to the day we can all be together again.

Dogs at play

Here is a video of our dogs at play while I relax (somewhat). Your browser does not support the video tag. And in slo mo... Your browser does not support the video tag.

Mom’s day gifts

We tried to do the best we could for Jan on Mother’s Day. Sam made a weight holder out of plywood and dowels. She did a really good job. I bought her a pilates reformer. She has been spending a lot of time working out, and with the gyms closed she has to do it via Zoom with her trainer. In addition …
Read more 🏷 Jan

Day 53 of Stay-At-Home

Well Happy Cinco de Mayo !!! It would be a lot happier if we wouldn't have to deal with this pandemic. I shouldn't complain. I am retired, and don't need to go to work to feed my family. I really feel bad for those that can't work and are having a hard time making ends meet. I keep praying every d…

Happy Easter

I pray that all of you are safe, healthy, and full of love on this Easter. May the Lord watch over all of us. ✝

Corona tree

This branch from a coronavirus tree fell from the sky and landed next to our pond. I know there’s no such thing but the little nodules on it sure looks like a coronavirus

Corona virus has us staying home

Thank God, all of us are currently healthy. We are staying in our home in order to stay that way. It is really hard, especially since all of our loved ones are not in one place. Jan, Sam and I are hunkered down in our home and Sara and Brandon are in their home. Our only way of spending time togethe…
Read more 🏷 Family

Keeping busy

I’ve been interested in getting into woodworking lately. I find pleasure in making things and this seemed like something that could keep me busy in my retirement. At least in those days between our travel adventures. I figured the first thing I should make is a workbench. It took longer than I ant…
Read more 🏷 Ed

Playing in my workshop

Just putting' on my shop apron and grabbing my router and having a good ole time building my own workbench.
Read more 🏷 Ed

Happy New Year

Hope all of you are having a very happy new year's eve. And wishing you a happy and healthy 2020!!!

Fun at Christmas Dinner with the Julianna's

We had fun with the Julianna's after Christmas dinner. We had a Reddi Wip launching contest. Your browser does not support the video tag.
Read more 🏷 Family

Merry Christmas

We hope all of you are having a very Merry Christmas today and spending quality time with everyone you love
Read more 🏷 Family

Heading toward Christmas

Well it's that time of year again. This year I am going to shake off all the holiday stress and embrace all that is Christmas. I might even catch a Hallmark movie or two just to make sure (but not on the night I go to see Star Wars!)

Wet day after

We had a very rainy Thanksgiving this year. The Sun came out the next morning and heated up our fence which was soaked the night before. It created a very steamy look. Your browser does not support the video tag.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope all of you are having a great Thanksgiving this year. Unfortunately Jan and I came down with a bad cough and have been really sick. We had to postpone Thanksgiving until Sunday since it's going to be at our house. By then we should be all good again and ready to whip up a nice Thanksgiving di…

Daddy - Daughter Angel's Game

Sam had gotten some free tickets to the Angel's game from her work. Sam, Sara and I went to the game and had a really great time. Unfortunately Jan had to stay home because of her recent foot surgery. She said she didn't mind but I still wish she could have come too. I really did enjoy my daddy - d…
Read more 🏷 family

OC Fair 2019

We did our annual visit to the Orange County Fair. I was expecting it to be really hot but the weather was quite nice. We looked at the farm animals, I took a picture of a pig's butt (just something I do) and we ate greasy fried food. And of course there is the traditional pig races. Your browse…

Happy Anniversary

So happy to celebrate our 33rd anniversary with my beautiful bride. We had dinner at Admiral Risty's in PV. It is an iconic restaurant with really good food which, unfortunately, is closing its doors on August 17th. We had a wonderful dinner and reminisced on all the good times we've had throughout …
Read more 🏷 Ed; Jan

Smart Sprinkler

We have been having trouble with our landscaping not getting properly watered. We had a 15 year old sprinkler controller, and I was afraid it would quit working while we are gone on vacation. I justified that it would be cheaper to buy a new smart sprinkler controller than to replace all of our new …
Read more 🏷 Ed

Ovens and drawers

I took over some of the cooking in the kitchen while Jan was down with her foot surgery. I had always hated the fact that our oven would not heat to the set temperature and it was impossible to read the temperature on the display because it had gotten so dim. I always had to turn out all the lights …
Read more 🏷 Ed

Out with the old ...

Another page turns in auto ownership. I have sold my Honda Ridgeline and bought a Ford F-150. The Ridgeline served me well, and I did love a lot of its storage features (that awesome trunk under the bed), but it was time for an upgrade. I liked the looks of my Ridgeline, but Jan's old boss Larry sai…
Read more 🏷 Ed

Setting up camp

We are setting up camp after arriving at Joshua Tree. We stayed at Sheep Pass campground. I had a hotel in town which was ok but I wish I had camped out with the rest of the group. I didn't really know anyone, so it was a little awkward at first, but they were all friendly. Another guy was shooting …
Read more 🏷 photography; Ed

I'm tinkering again

I've been tinkering again. I am preparing for a weekend photo shoot in Joshua Tree at the beginning of May. I've signed up for a class through Creative Photo Academy which is associated (and located next to) Paul's photo - a local photo shop. We will be learning astrophotography in one of the best …
Read more 🏷 Ed

Finally a break in the rain

Today is a warm sunny day in So Cal. It sounds strange but this has been rare of late. We have had a very rainy winter this year, and it probably isn't over yet. This is what it looked like last week.

Proud of our Sami girl

Sami was initiated into the National Honor Society Tau Sigma at LMU today. We are so very proud of our little girl. It is so exciting to see her live her dreams.
Read more 🏷 Sam

Happy St. Paddy’s Day

Hope you all are having a fun and safe St. Patrick's Day. We enjoyed some Irish stew and Guiness oatmeal bread all made by me! I had no idea I could cook. I think I will surrender the kitchen when Jan is back on her feet though - cooking is too much work.

Pi day

Well, I made my first pie on pi day. I made a blueberry pie from a recipe I found (probably should have made a Raspberry pi, but then I would have had to have it do something). It turned out a little tart, but everyone said they liked it. A small spot of sugar on top should do the trick I think.
Read more 🏷 Ed

Rain day

Another rainy day. I opened the window so they could look out at the rain.
Read more 🏷 pets

Our little girl is grown up!!!

Our little Sami girl turned 21 today. Where the heck did all the time go. It seems like just yesterday that she was four years old and pretending to be a teacher. Now she's twenty one and still wants to be a teacher. I guess I should have expected that. We plan on taking her to Las Vegas next weeke…
Read more 🏷 Sam

Our Smart Little Girl

Our smart little girl Sami made dean's list at LMU with straight A's on her first semester there. We couldn't be more proud of her!
Read more 🏷 Sam

SpaceX launch

We went to the beach tonight to watch the SpaceX launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base. It was really cool and the first stage actually landed back at a spot near the launching pad. This is a shot Jan took with her iPhone after first stage separation.
Read more 🏷 space

Disneyland times two

We went to Disneyland this weekend. We spent two days - the first day we went to the Disneyland resort and the second day we went to California adventure. We spent the night at a local Holiday Inn so that we can get an early start the next day. It was a little crowded as usual, but we still managed …
Read more 🏷 family

I got my Apple Watch

Well I finally got an Apple Watch. I know what you're thinking. Why would a Apple fanboy like me wait so long to get the watch? Well I wasn't able to wear it at work and it didn't make sense to buy one and leave it in my car all day. Now I am retired, and I have no such restrictions. I didn't do t…
Read more 🏷 technology

Learning to Improvise

I decided to replace the tiny old range hood we had over the stove. I got the biggest one I could find that still fit in the space over the stove. My main problem was that the cooking area is all brick enclosed and there is no access from the top or the sides and I had to install it by going strai…
Read more 🏷 technology

Water lily

I took this picture of our water lily flowering today isn’t it gorgeous?
Read more 🏷 photography

Automation is sublime

I had created a php script to batch upload photos. I use it to upload vacation pics after I have had a chance to ?Bart? them. The script looks at files in a directory called ?load? where I have moved them using ftp and saves them to the images database with the path pointing to my images directory.…

Sara Villalpando

Well I finally changed my daughter's last name in my contacts. Man that was really hard!
Read more 🏷 Sara

H2O Taxis

I love these little water taxis here in Victoria BC. We rode one to Fisherman's Wharf and it was fun. I want to get a job piloting one of these all day
Read more 🏷 travel

Crossing the bridge

We are in Vancouver on vacation. Our house sitter is guarding the dogs (I'm sure they aren't guarding her). We went to Capilano Suspension Bridge today. It was lots of fun. Jan got stung by a bee and it really hurt for a long time. She managed to enjoy the hike anyway. I plan to add more details to…
Read more 🏷 family

My web server

I mentioned my web server before but I have never posted a picture of it. The little white box is the web server. It is a raspberry pi and the black and blue box is a solid-state drive out of a laptop. Originally I just used a thumb drive but it wasn't very fast so I decided to go with a solid-stat…
Read more 🏷 technology

Eberle Winery

We did a tour of the Eberle Winery today. They store their wine barrels in tunnels underneath the winery to keep them cool. It's a really good winery and tasting's are free and the wine taste really good
Read more 🏷 travel

The Wedding

Sara & Brandon's wedding was amazing!!! More to come on a special page soon.
Read more 🏷 Sara;Brandon

Sara & Brandon

Sara and Brandon were married on July 14th, and the wedding turned out fantastic. It was an amazing wedding and the bride looked amazingly beautiful, but I am kind of biased I have to admit. The wedding was held in a venue called Verandas in Manhattan Beach. It used to be a restaurant long …
Read more 🏷 Sara;Brandon

The Wedding is in two days !!!

Your browser does not support the video tag. Jan is all excited!!!
Read more 🏷 Jan;Sara

Countdown to wedding

I can't believe my little girl is getting married this Saturday. Everything seems to be going by so fast. Well stay tuned, I'll post again after the ceremony.

Retired

Well Jan and I are finally retired. Jan retired on June 29th and I retired on July 6th. For Jan they held a nice pizza party at the Topsoil yard with all the workers and customers in attendance. It was a really nice affair and Ron Murakami took pictures. After I retired on July 6 we all went to Ba…
Read more 🏷 Ed;Jan

Happy 4th!!!

I hope everyone has a very safe and happy Fourth of July
Read more 🏷 fun

Retirement luncheon

The gang at work just gave me a retirement luncheon at the local burger joint called Hopdoddy's. We had lots of fun telling stories and complaining about work. I told them that I would be thinking about them while I'm sitting on a beach sipping my mai tai. I've only been there a year but they seem…
Read more 🏷 Ed

Scarface

We went to another one of Denny's barbershop shows last night. This one was called ?Scarface? and was put on in a warehouse where an artist lives. They converted it to a speakeasy from the 20s. The photo below is of one of the barbershop guys who is dressed up to look like the man from monopoly. Boy…
Read more 🏷 fun

Sugarland

We went to the Sugarland concert last night at the Honda Center in Anaheim. The concert was really good. It's been along time since we've seen Sugarland, they haven't been touring in a long time.
Read more 🏷 fun

Lompoc Wine Festival

Jan and I joined Larry and Chris Murakami at the wine festival for the weekend. They stayed at flying flags in their motor home and we stayed at Pea Soup Anderson's hotel. We had a fantastic time cooking out at their motorhome and couldn't believe how much that place is changed. Lots of new cabins…
Read more 🏷 travel

My cat took down our website

Our new cat Tori loves to play with wires. I do believe that will be her undoing one day, but without me knowing, she unplugged the ssd drive that was connected to my Raspberry pi web server. I don't know how long the site was down, but I'm going to have to "cat-proof" my system.

Tori’s Tower of Terror

Our new kitten Tori likes her new kitty tower. As you can see, we had to get a tall one for a reason. Our dog Tess likes to climb!
Read more 🏷 pets

I’ve made fire !!!

I wanted to move my website from my home Macintosh to a web server on a raspberry pi. And I actually did that. I got my raspberry pi and I installed Apache and PHP and MySQL and got it up and running. You are viewing this from my Web server being run by my $35 raspberry pi. I have now made fire !!!

Watching the Super Blue Blood moon with Sara and Brandon

This morning I got up real early and Sara and Brandon and I went to Hilltop Park in Signal Hill to look at the Super Blue Blood moon. I took the picture below with my iPhone, but I also took some pretty good pictures with my DSLR - I just haven't processed them yet.
Read more 🏷 Sara;Brandon;photography

Our Baby is Engaged!!!

Our baby girl Sara just got engaged!!!! Her fiancé, Brandon, proposed at Crystal Cove this afternoon. We met them for dinner at George's Mediterranean in Long Beach to celebrate. We are so happy for her and so proud to have Brandon as a son-in-law
Read more 🏷 Sara;Brandon

Merry Christmas

We want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and we hope you and yours are safe, blessed and happy this holiday season.

Cool toys

I just found a cool toy at Bed Bath & Beyond (the store does have some cool stuff). What I found was an attachment for your sink faucet that lights up using three colored LEDs. The cool thing about it is that it requires NO BATTERIES !!! It has a miniature hydroelectric generator inside the housing…

Knee trouble

I took Jan to the Torrance Orthopedic and Sports Medice group this morning. I got my thumb joint worked on there a month ago. She may have a torn meniscus and a inflamed bursa. She got a X-ray and a cortisone shot in her knee (lots of pain!). She is scheduled to get a MRI on Monday. We are going to…
Read more 🏷 Jan

Jan's Birthday!!!

Today is Jan's birthday, but her age is classified and you don't have clearance. We both had to work today, and her friends from work (and Sara) took her to Martha's in Hermosa Beach for lunch. She had a great time and got a few nice gifts to boot. We had dinner at Stacked restaurant and waited fo…
Read more 🏷 Jan

Sam made me breakfast!!

I woke up this morning to find my daughter Sam cooking in the kitchen. She made me banana macadamia nut pancakes FROM SCRATCH for my birthday!!!! I love that kid.
Read more 🏷 Ed;Sam

Never forget

As long as I am alive, I will never forget. God bless our country and keep us free.

Solar Eclipse Day!!!

Today was the solar eclipse. I had purchased a set of five pairs of special glasses from B&H photo so everyone in the family could watch. Everyone also shared with their coworkers since the eclipse occurred at 10:21am on a Monday. Below is a picture captured by Sam, and a screenshot of our solar pan…
Read more 🏷 space;photography

OC Fair butterflies

Here we are in the butterfly tent at the OC Fair.

Our condo in Maui

While the dog sitters are staying at our house and keeping the doggies at bay, we are enjoying Maui in our condo we are renting

Happy July 4th

I want to wish everyone a very happy fourth of July. We live in a wonderful country made up of the strongest most caring people. I feel honored and proud to celebrate our heritage

New iMac

I just got a brand-new 27 inch retina iMac. The old 2007 iMac finally bit the dust. It lasted a good long time and served me well. The new shiny is very fast and very cool looking and I am very happy

Remember the fallen

Remember today those that made the ultimate sacrifice so that we could live free

Working at Raytheon

Well, I have started my first week at Raytheon. It was nice having a two month break from work. It kind of simulated what retirement would be like. I used to worry that I wouldn't be able to handle retirement, but it is not has hard as it looks.

Sam's home

Well we finally made it home with Sam and all of her belongings. She is here to stay and she is done with ASU. And she made it back in time for Sara's 25th birthday 

My brindled dog

Tucker has such a beautiful brindled fur coat.
Read more 🏷 pets

Butterfly Breakfast

It looks like the butterflies will have a good breakfast today. The milkweed is looking very tasty.

Wine tasting

We visited The Avensole winery in Temecula and had a winetasting there as well. This place was absolutely beautiful. Jan and I shared a winetasting between us which involves six different tastes of wine. A taste is about an ounce of wine. We ended up buying a bottle of their red that goes well…

Temecula

Jan and I had a wonderful three day weekend away in Temecula. We went to Lake Skinner which was ok but not a must see. We did have a relaxing few minutes under a shade tree next to the lake. Jan read while I took pictures. I saw an interesting tree nearby. This tree was not happy
Read more 🏷 travel;photography

Last Day at Boeing

Well, this is it. My last day of work at Boeing. I have been with Boeing / Hughes for almost 39 years. I find it very hard to believe that it is done. I still plan to work a little longer at Raytheon after taking a few days to practice retirement

Holidays are over

Well, the holidays are over. They go by so quick. We take Sam to the airport today to go back to Tempe for her spring semester at ASU. It sure was nice having her home over the break. Sara and Ed spent the last week sick in bed with a horrible virus - not a great way to start the new year. We hop…

Rose Parade 2017

We got seats for the Rose Parade this year from a friend. This was our first time in person, and it was amazing.

Christmas 2016

We had a good Christmas this year. Cousin Bobby came over with masks and head decorations for us to take our picture

Thanksgiving in Arizona

We drove to Tempe to see Sam for Thanksgiving. Here we are at CrackerBarrel waiting for a table (1hr wait). Hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving! We have a lot to be thankful for.

Super moon

I got up early today to photograph the super moon over looking the lighthouse. I also took some time-lapse photos of a bike with flashing rear lights. This is fun, but I need a lot more practice

Lazy Sunday

Sam is out for fall break and all of us are having a relaxing time in the back yard. Tess is chasing butterflies and Tucker is resting on the couch

Lunch with Sara

Sara and I went to much for my birthday. We went to the Cheesecake Factory in Redondo Beach. I had a really good time and she paid - which felt kind of weird. I'm the dad, I'm suppose to pay. Sara is very thoughtful that way, and I really enjoy going to lunch with her. I want to start doing it more…

Resting at the park

Jan and I found a nice park near a lake where we are sitting and resting while we're waiting for Sara and Sam to finish getting their nails done

ASU vs Cal

At the Family weekend football game. The ASU Sun Devils won over California Bears 51 to 41. It was a thrilling game all the way to the end.

The Two of Us

I found this picture of Jan and I when I was looking for something to put in a family photo frame for our living room. This photo was taken of us in our back yard just before going to the Luke Bryan concert at the Hollywood Bowl. This was a sad time for us. We had just lost Jan's brother Jim the wee…

Labor Day visit with Sam

We had a wonderful time visiting Sam over the long weekend. We will be heading back again on the 23rd for family weekend.

Moving Sam to ASU

Well we are moving Sam to ASU to start her college education!
Read more 🏷 Sam

Sam's teeth

Sam had all four wisdom teeth pulled yesterday. She has been on the couch all day. Her jaw is still pretty sore.

Forging the river

This is Jan forging a river on horseback in Montana. I don't know about you, but I am impressed!!!

Schwabacher Landing and Mormon Barn

Sara and I got up real early to get some sunrise photos. The one of Schwabacher Landing was taken with my iPhone. The one of the barn with my Canon 60D. It is so beautiful here.

Rodeo Time!

Heading out to the stampede rodeo in Cody Wyoming

Father's Day

I have been having a wonderful Father's Day so far. We went to Schooner or Later for breakfast (2hr wait!!!) we then came home and I opened my gifts (lots of great clothes for our upcoming trip to Montana). And later we plan to go to the movies and dinner.

Tracy's wedding

We had a really good time at Jan's boss' daughter's wedding in Solvang this last weekend. We finished off our stay with a tour and wine tasting at Firestone Vineyards. The landscapes are very pretty there. I captured this with my iPhone.

Sam's prom

Sam had a wonderful time at her senior prom. She looks so pretty - I'm sure she was the prettiest girl there, but I'm her dad and I'm a little biased. (one could say Too biased)
Read more 🏷 Sam

Back in LA

We are back from our college roundup in Arizona. So far it's looking like Arizona State might be the winner with Sam. I think it is too cold for her in Flagstaff. &#x2603

Adam and Tucker

We are having Adam stay at the house and watch the dogs while we go to Arizona to look at colleges for Sam. We are looking at both Arizona State in Phoenix and Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. One choice is really really hot and the other choice is really really cold
Read more 🏷 Sam;pets

German dining at Alpine Village

We are at the Steinhaus restaurant in Alpine Village. I'm having bratwurst - yum! We went to the village market and bought a bunch of German food for Sam to do a report on Germany at school.

Happy Easter!!

I hope everyone is having a very happy Easter. I hope you are spending your day with loved ones and enjoying a good meal and good times. &#x1f430

Finished stage 1

I finally finished the CRUD pages (Create, Read, Update, Delete). Now I can more easily update the blog.

We be database driven!

Well, I have gotten the blog page to be driven by a mysql database. I'm still inputing the posts using the db admin tool until I can create a proper post page. This is fun - I must be a nerd.
Read more 🏷 technology

Programming

I've been listening to a podcast by Allison Sheridan and Bart Busschots which is called "Programming By Stealth (PBS)". So far it has been teaching CSS and I have learned quite a bit. On my own I have taught myself PHP web programming. I have since revamped my website (where you are now) using PHP a…

My Photography

I am considering documenting my progress toward getting better at photography. I'm trying to do it in an organized way by focusing on specific areas of photography, one at a time. It's a little nerdy but I created a mind map identifying the various areas of photography that I would like to impro…
Read more 🏷 photography

First Contact

This is going to be a compilation of my meanderings. As well as the meanderings of the rest of my family.