Addicted...

Yep, I'm hooked on 24. I'm at the end of the third season trying to catch up thanks to Netflix.

What else can I say... Jack is THE man!

Agree.... Disagree?

Sweet!

So I'm sorry I haven't posted pictures of the house yet... our momentum has slowed a little bit and we still have to finish the kitchen (big task), but when it is done I promise to post some.

Well, the new Mac is pretty SWEET!! Along with having the ipods too, of course. I'm posting from it right now, as a matter of fact. I've been downloading all of our CD music library onto it this last week... man, that takes along time!

Here is a photo of the LeBrun fam on the first night we had the iMac using the cool iChat camera that is built into the screen

Hannah loves it when Daddy takes pictures with her.

I'm Back and I've Crossed Over...

...no I'm not gay or Communist or even a Democrat (ouch!), I've crossed over to Way of the Macintosh. Yep, that's right I'm going to be the proud (hopefully) owner of an iMac. I went ahead and made the plunge last week along with buying two ipods (one for Rachel and one for me). It just seemed better for us to get the iMac over the MacBook even though the MacBooks look way cool!
We have been doing a total interior home remodel or makeover (pics to come later) and have been needing to update and get a new computer for awhile so we did. We must be the last people on earth to get an ipod... better late then never, right!?

So, yes I'm back in the blogging world and hopefully I'll post more than I did in the spring so that Jasen isn't the only one anymore.

Peace.

On A Break...

...so this here has been one of the most hectic of my whole life, hence the no new posts.

Summer is upon us and camp is a week and a half away. I hired my last staff member yesterday. And I'm tired. Mentally and physically.


So as not to dissappoint you even further, not that anybody reads this anymore anyway... I'm taking an official break from my blog until fall.

I may occasionally post, we'll see.

Windows of Paradise...

So I promised some pictures from our trip to Maui... so here they are.
Okay so this isn't Hawaii...

This was how our house looked the day before we left for Maui.

...and here is the green lush island of Maui. Notice there is no snow in this picture! Thank God!

Rachel, Cameo, Micah and I in all of our 'whiteness' early in the week.

This was a cool church made out of lava rock in 1832 that they still have services in every Sunday.

This is a neat flower shot with a wedding chapel in the background right on the beach.

The inside peak of the wedding chapel with sunlight flooding through. I liked the symmetry of the wood in this picture.

A waterfall pouring out of the lush rainforest that the road to Hana goes through.... it was a very beautiful drive.

My brother Micah wading in a serene pool along the road to Hana.

Micah swimming in the serene pool. Notice the old bridge of the narrow road above.

Rachel, Hannah and I in front of a beautiful waterfall on the road to Hana. Leah was asleep in the car.

This picture is one of my favorites of Hannah's hand and foot on the black sand beach in Hana. Hannah and Hana. Funny!

I love the contrast in this shot. This little plant was only about two inches tall, right on the beach.

Picture taken at sand level on the black sand beach at Hana looking toward the rain forest.

Another beautiful waterfall.

Us hiking through the lava flow to a great snorkeling spot known only as 'Fishbowl'.

Again, the contrasts in colors were amazing... too bad my camera couldn't fully capture the vividness.

Paradise...

... I just got back from Maui early this morning, and man, was it beautiful!! I took alot of pictures so I'll post some on here soon.
The whole family went including my parents and my girls loved it! Leah is darker than all of us and she had the strongest sunblock on... she looks like a little local hawaiin.
We were gone for ten days and the weather was awesome... shorts and flipflops the whole time.

It was alittle bit of a 'mind trip' because yesterday morning before we left I was walking in the ocean (which was about 80 degrees) and in less than 10 hours I pull up to my front yard covered in 2 feet of snow!
Anyway, I'm going to Glamis with my buddy Dave to do some 'end of the season' dune riding with the guys this weekend and then spending Easter with my girls and his fam at their house.

Got to get my last 'fix of fun and relaxation' before it gets chaotic in May in preparation for summer.

Absence Make The Heart Grow Fonder...

...I'm sorry that I've been gone for so long,... it isn't because I haven't been interested in putting my thoughts and experiences to the keyboard, it is trying to find the minutes in the day to do it.

Right now I'm in the middle of our last winter camp (Hooray!!), so I'll do a longer post next week.

I miss everyone and I'll be glad when Spring will finally be here.

In His Presence...

... she is finally 'home'.




She is finally without pain.


She is finally at peace and no longer has stress.... or sorrow.... or loneliness or any other thing associated with this earth.


I think I'm finally relieved.


And maybe envious.


Aunt Rachel and Leah, March 2005

No Title

... so I don't post much anymore, and that bums me out a little bit.... as you read below there is things weighing on my mind personally, we are in the middle of winter camps (which are going great, but still no snow...weird), and the staff recruiting 'beast' (task) is on my back. In short, it is hard for me to gather 'energy' to post anymore, even though I know in the back of my mind it is a good mental release and I do enjoy it after I get the 'ball' rolling and start typing.

My aunt is still with us... she has 'good' days (if you want to call it that), and she definitely has bad days, but she is still here just waiting for God's perfect timing.


On a different note, I'm responding to Nikki's post about movie favorites. Now if you know me I have a cabinet full of my movie favorites, but I'll only list some as this list could be a long one. And these aren't in order.

1) The Lord of the Rings trilogy (it is all one big movie to me). Peter Jackson did an awesome job and if you watch any of the behind-the-scenes stuff you can tell that these people enjoy what they do and the people they work with.
2) Band of Brothers, best WWII movie/series ever!
3) Office Space nuff' said.
4) Braveheart still and always will be a classic fav. Watch this after your married and put yourself in his situation... it might make you feel even more passionate about this film.
5) Gladiator (same as above) and Russell Crowe rocks
6) Spinal Tap great mockumentary, still my favorite, and the commentary is just as good as the movie
7) The Godfather trilogy, what can I say, it's about the mafia and it's roots.... and it has Pacino in it.
8) Heat, great L.A. heist story that has you going for the bad guys and I like Michael Mann's films (Collateral, Last of the Mohicans, The Insider)
9) Traffic and most everything else that Soderbergh does (Ocean's Eleven, Erin Brokavich, The Limey, Out of Sight)
10) everything Ghost in the Shell, it's anime (japanimation), it's a little weird, but I like it and I think the animation from the first movie (1995) to the series on Japanese television right now, is amazing.

Well, that's just the tip of my colossal movie iceberg... maybe I'll do more lists in the future... like favorite directors or best cinematography or best animation or movie scores. The possibilities for categories is endless for me.

That is......

if you want to know.


Peace people!

'Aunt' Rachel...

...I've been dreading to post about my aunt, but knew that I would have to sooner or later.

Pretty much anyone who has been to Pondo the last several summers(with the exception of this last one) knows who my aunt is and know her as 'Aunt' Rachel, so as not to confuse her with my wife who is also a Rachel LeBrun. Last April, Aunt Rachel was having some health issues, but assumed they would probably go away, until she felt so bad that she had to be helicoptered to Loma Linda Medical Center. They found she had cancer in her uterus and had to do a total histerectomy to eliminate the cancer. They were pretty confident they got it all.

At the beginning of this month she was having problems again, went to the hospital, and hasn't left since.

She is inoperable and the cancer has spread throughout her whole abdomen and vital organs. She is... terminal, I guess, is the right medical word for it.

How long?

It could be months.... it could weeks... or it could even be days. No one knows or can predict the time, even approximately. They just know that she has a very aggressive form of cancer and her organs could start shutting down at anytime.

I can't really describe how I feel.... and right now I'm not going to try to. We are trying to get her effects and estate in order the way she wants it before she goes.

I have four aunts... but,




she is the only one that I ever loved and had a relationship with.



Please pray that it's quick and without pain.

Curse You, Jasen!...

...make me post when I don't want to... genius!

I've been 'tagged' by Jasen, by the way, for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about.

Let's see.... my five guilty pleasures:

1.) my recent guilty pleasure is my quad and riding Glamis
2.)movies, movies, movies and more movies ( I just can't find the time to watch them all)
3.)Metallica (call me old school if you want to, I've liked them for a long time)
4.)Of course, video games, I'm such a dork (Again , hard to find the time)
5.)This may sound dumb, but working with my hands, and what I mean by that is building and creating things (especially with wood). I guess if you know me, you know what I'm talking about.

There are more, I'm sure, but being 'tagged' you list five... so now I TAG.....



......Wess Howell!!

Come on Wess, give up the goods and spill the beans! You've been....


TAGGED!!

Man, does time fly by?!

...It seems lately that with every post I'm apologizing for not posting anything.... I know, I know, I'm lame.
Did every one have a good holiday season? Did anybody get something they really wanted? Did anybody get something they really didn't want?

Hannah and Leah got a TON of toys... I think Toys'R'Us is now located in Running Springs at Pondo in the LeBrun house. We had a great day.
I got Rachel all new bed stuff(comforter, sheets, new down pillows from IKEA, of course) and also all new Bathroom stuff(towels, shower curtain, rod and rings, all new fixtures from Bed, Bath, & Beyond) all in this cool subtle brown asian motif, which is what our bedroom will eventually 'themed'. We have been needing this type of stuff for a long time.

As for me, well, ... sit back and I'll tell you all about it.

To begin with, I didn't tell Rachel that I wanted anything, so I was curious about what she was going to get me. Now a week before Rachel and I had done some major clothes shopping for ourselves ( which also was a long time needed) so I figured her getting me clothes was probably out... which is good (secret: I don't particularly like getting clothes as gifts).
She tells me about a week before Christmas that I can't check the p.o. box because one of my gifts is coming in the mail and she doesn't want me to 'see' it. Now the little kid in me starts to come out and now I'm REALLY curious to now what it is.
Could it be an ipod?.. an XBOX 360?.. another movie collectible? I'm stumped.
Christmas day comes and there is two good sized boxes under the tree. Their shapes tell me nothing.

I open them up!....

and...

It is a Starbucks Barista stainless 8 cup thermal coffee maker and a Starbucks Barista coffee burr grinder. These are nice and if any of you know they aren't that cheap. Sweet! I'm an avid coffee lover so these are great gifts.
Then I think to myself, wait a minute, you don't order these by mail, you buy these at the store! My wife informs me that my 'other' gift did not come (p.o. box) for Christmas so I would get it next week. That's okay, I can wait.... I think.
Next week rolls around, and I starting to get anxious... maybe a little too anxious.
Rachel had to work on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and then we were going to Glamis with our best friends the Garcias to the New Year weekend riding quads (which became a newfound love) and eating dirt. So Wednesday was the only day I would be able to get that package, because Rachel had the car the other days while at work (alot of unnecessary details, I know).
Well she didn't make it to the post office that day! I try to egg her on to tell me what it is so I'm not in suspense for another week... she doesn't budge.

So Thursday night we pack up and head to LaQuinta to meet up with our friends at their house. We pull up and get out of the car, walk up the driveway and as we do so the garage door opens.
As it open it reveals a brand new Polaris Predator 500 L.E. with a red bow on it and a handwritten message saying:"Merry Christmas Aaron, From Your Family"!!!

I look at everyone in stunned disbelief and they are all grinng at me. I was had! By my wife! I started thinking back and began to realize all the 'lies' she had been telling me to pull this off. She didn't tell anybody she was doing it either! Not my parents! Not the Skippers! Not even Davina! That was pure genius!
She is the master. I told you I was married to a ninja.

I not sure I can ever top that!
Anyway there is even more to the story, but I won't bore you any further.... If you made it this far, Congratulations here is the picture of our hoildays.

See ya.

Yep that's me and my new'baby

My love (I'm talking about my wife)

Dave, Aubrey and Daniel (our godson)

Rachel and Aubrey looking better than Dave and I. *Notice the dust in the air showing up in the camera flash* Makes for alot of dirty boogers! :D

Dave and I trying to look intimidating.

Hannah and her best bud, Victoria, doing a tandem test drive.

Hannah trying on Daddy's quad for size.

Our lovely expensive tree!

Rachel, Leah and 'Unibomber' Aunt Davina on Christmas morning

Leah with 'Uncle' Dan and 'Aunt' Becky on Christmas night.

Hannah and her new dollhouse mansion