One More Rose Parade Picture...

Just got this today from a friend of Nonnie's, so here at last is a good shot of Mugger and Bug's Papa as Joseph on the Lutheran Hour float in this year's Rose Parade:

New Year's Day 2008: Papa as "Joseph"

Had you asked us in November, we never could have told you that this was how we'd be starting 2008:That's Papa on the Lutheran Hour Rose Parade float as Joseph, waving to the opposite side of the street. I got to sit in the bleachers (3rd row!) but had to leave the hotel just after 4 am to do so, so Mugger and Bug got to spend New Years with Gramps and Nonnie this year. They didn't get to tour the float barn before the parade, so here's the part of the back of the float that Papa got to help decorate! (Mugger wanted the pic for posterity.)

Mugger the Fisherman

One of Mugger's summer highlights would have to be fishing. In Montana, Grampa gave him his very own pole and took him fishing. He managed to catch his first rainbow trout.
While camping (right after the infamous Road Trip!) at Green Valley Lake (perhaps no more, thanks to the October fires), Mugger caught 2 more rainbow trout. Or, as he put it, "I caught 2, but Papa only caught 1." Hey, that was 3 more than anyone else around them caught, so he must have some good fishing genes somewhere...

Papa! Papa!

Mugger and Bug are as crazy about their Papa as two kiddos could be. I don't know whether to call him a hero or a saint, especially since he took the kiddos on a road trip to Montana this summer while I ran away to Europe with Mom. Can you tell he has fun with the kiddos?
I happen to think he looked a bit more relaxed when he and I had our getaway weekend on the Central Coast. Kudos to the Kaleidoscope Inn in Nipomo for this tip for a beautiful walk...