The Leon's 2005 Photo Album

Click on the thumbnail pictures to see the full sized pictures

Updated: 2005.12.30

December

The family Christmas picture.

Our annual visit to the JC Penny photographer.

(126K)

Even Peanut enjoys a candy cane on Christmas morning.

He gets this one all to himself!

(110K)

Dinner with the family.

Actually this was closer to New Year's Eve.

(353K)

The annual Gingerbread House.

Always good eatin'!

(93K)

November

Thanksgiving dinner at The Leon house.

Actually, this was dessert - I forgot to take the picture before the feast.

(193K)

I'm not spoiled - I just know what I like.

Peanut is most happy when he is surrounded by several pillows and on top of several blankets.

(142K)

The Great Pumpkin finally came.

Or, it's just the giant fiberglass pumpkin down at our local pumpkin patch. Gee, before you know it, Jessica is going to be too old for this!

(227K)

Zachary was on the Green Sea Serpents this fall.

His team didn't end up with the best record in the league, but they played their hearts out, and there were several games where it just felt like they should have won, but luck was not on their side that day. More importantly, they learned a lot, and had a great time.

(420K)

October

Jessica's Woodshop projects

Jessica was in woodshop this year.

She made some really cool projects like this picture, a pen, a spinning top, a puzzle, a nameplate for her desk, etc... Her Dad was jealous because she got to use fun toys like a lathe and a scroll saw.

(187K)

Here is a close-up of the pen

(189K)

September

Zachary took up the trumpet this year.

He seems to be getting the hang of it pretty quickly.

(270K)

August

This was a busy month!!

Our family went to Mexico with the Niños Para Cristo group.

Our annual trip to Santa Cruz.

It just wouldn't be summer break without visiting our favorite Beach hang-out in Santa Cruz. We think this was our 7th year in a row staying here during the summer break relaxing by the pool, playing on the beach, riding the roller-coasters at The Boardwalk, etc...

(198K)

Cub Scout Family Camp

This was our first year attending, and we had a blast with our Den/Pack, cooking, playing, and of course, making smores over the campfire!

At camp, they had a Rifle (BB Gun) shooting range, which of course, was a huge hit.

(224K)
After that day, I worry much less about Jessica being in Middle School around all those crazy boys!

(173K)
Another fun event was the Rain Gutter Regatta. This is where the boys all make boats, and race them by blowing them down rain gutters full of water. Zachary's boat took first in the den, and 4th place overall.

(281)

It's harvest time.

This year we planted corn, tomatoes, and carrots. However, only the corn made it. It's a good thing we aren't depending on our farming abilities for survival! The corn was quite good though. :)

(251K)

Jessica gets the braces off

- or... an unpaid advertisement for Dr. Yamamoto, DDS

Braces On...

(173K)

Braces Off...

(191K)

Our 17th anniversary.

Nate & Diane celebrated their 17th anniversary in Capitola at the (cleverly named) Capitola Hotel. We had never been to Capitola, and thoroughly enjoyed relaxing on the beach, walking out on the boardwalk (pictured here), visiting the small-town shops, and of course, trying new restaurants. If you ever get down that way, you have to check out the Shadowbrook Inn!

(181K)

The kids before their 1st day of school.

Zachary is gaining fast on Jessica's height!

(142K)

Even Peanut was busy - when his friend, Baker turned four, we all got to go to the birthday party!

Have you ever seen so many dogs of the same breed in one place?!

July

Happy Independence Day!

We celebrated the 4th of July with a parade, games, BBQ, and pool party with our neighbors.

(324K)

Camping at Lake Tahoe

We went to Sugar Pine Point State Park (aka Ed Z'berg) with about 25 other families from our church, and had a blast. The kids always had somebody to play with, and of course, there were plenty of activities such as hanging out at the beach, boating, fishing, hiking, biking, etc... We even saw a bear run through our campground!

Here we are hanging out on a log in our campsite.

We weren't able to get it into the fire pit. ;-)

(378K)

Zachary caught a beautiful rainbow trout.

We cooked it over our campfire, and it was delicious! It was about 21" (really big for a trout!) and was more than enough for our family, so we were able to share the left-overs with two other families.

(191K)

The kids did some Tubing on Lake Tahoe.

This was the first time the kids have been to Lake Tahoe, let alone get pulled by a boat. They had a blast!

(295K)

Diane hits the wake.

Diane grew up water-skiing, so this was just like home for her. The water was quite cold, even with a wetsuit. (notice the snow in the background!)

(345K)

Nate gives it a try.

Nate grew up snow skiing, so this is as close as he got to skiing on the water that day!

(163K)

Zachary's 9th birthday party. (hamming it up for the camera as usual :-)

We went to the local hobby store where the guys each got a slot car to work on, and then we raced them. Zachary and his Dad still go back to the store to race their cars.

(231K)

June

Zachary advanced to Webelos this year.

We still have a great time with the Cub Scouts going on bike rides, hiking, working on fun projects, and visiting interesting places. This year Nate is co-leading the Den with another one of the Dads, so it is a bit more work.

(247K)

Jessica received the Timothy Award.

She has been going to Awana for six years. To earn the Timothy Award, she had to memorize almost 400 verses, attend club 120 times and complete 16 activities on missions, patriotism, health and service.

(150K)

Zachary's 3rd Grade class.

Zachary had Ms. Tsukamoto for 3rd grade. She was tough on them, but nice. This picture was just after their performance of Charlotte's Web on the last day of school.

(265K)

Jessica's 12th birthday.

Jessica had a bunch of friends over for her birthday and then we all went to see Ice Princess.

(234K)

May

The Cub Scouts take over the USS Hornet

The official USS Hornet website.

Our Pack got to spend the night on the Hornet as part of their live-aboard program. It was a ton of fun, (for Zachary too ;-) and very educational

Our first view of the Hornet.

It is currently docked in Oakland, which was just about a 45 minute drive for us. We were a little nervous, since they were having financial difficulties and were threatening to shut down just before we went. But a private donor came through, and we were able to go aboard! We saw lots of cool aircraft in addition to seeing much of the ship. Our "tour guide" was a retired Navy guy who spent some time on an aircraft carrier, so he had lots of great insights for us.

(212K)

We got to sit in the cockpit of a Crusader (Vought F8U-1/F-8A) which was a single place, swept-wing, carrier-based day fighter equipped to carry AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles.

(169K)

Jessica and her Girl Scout troop visit DisneyLand.

This was the troops final year together, so they wanted to do something big. They raised almost all of the money themselves and went to DisneyLand for a long weekend.

(254K)

Mark & Beth's wedding.

Nate's sister (Mary Beth) were married in March so he flew to Michigan for the wedding. This picture is Nate's side of the family.

(191K)

Zachary sliding into 3rd.

Zachary was on the Cardinals this spring, and had a great time playing baseball. His nickname was "Zack The Smack" which he earned when he drove one well over the 1st baseman's head!

(222K)

April

Jessica playing the xylophone in the 6th grade music presentation.

She seems to have quite a bit of natural musical ability, but not enough free time to pursue it.

(141K)

The Leon Family goes to San Francisco

We realized the kids have lived in the San Francisco bay area for all of their lives, but haven't seen many of the sights in The City, so we took a long weekend mini-vacation there. We rode the cable cars (a lot!), ate dinner on Pier 39 and watched the sea-lions, had lunch at The Empress of China in China-town, ate hot-fudge sundaes at Ghirardelli Square, took the boat to Alcatraz, etc...

Checkin' out the sea lions on Pier 39.

Quite a few years ago now, the Sea Lions decided to make these docks their home, and chased away the owners of these very pricey slips. Now they are one of the many major tourist attractions in the area.

(174K)

Strolling down Lombard St.

a.k.a. "the crookedest street in the world". It just wouldn't be a visit to San Fran without stopping by this windy hill.

(180K)

Riding the cable cars is always fun.

We didn't use our car all weekend, so we got around by using the cable cars or walking. We even spent a few hours at The Cable Car Museum, which is also the central power-house that drives these old cars all over the city.

(241K)

We picked up a few local kids during our visit.

We had a fun time shopping in Chinatown on Grant St. We had lunch at The Empress of China, which is a fun experience, but the food is nothing like what it used to be. :-(

(311K)

The family visits Alcatraz Island.

It's a fun boat ride out to the Island, and then you take a self-guided tour around the cells. You are pretty much free to roam around wherever, and as long as you would like. It was a little bit cool and drizzly that day, so we spent most of the time indoors.

(177K)

and got in a bit of trouble during our visit. ;-)

Yup, sure enough, not a very pleasant place to hang out.

(179K)

Peanut gets nice and fluffy after his bath.

I think he kinda' likes his bath, but he likes to dry off in a nice sunny spot even better.

(114K)

March

I guess we forgot to dust off the camera this month!

February

Zachary was in a Winter Soccer League.

Zachary had a blast in this league. ("Kids Love Soccer") There were no practices - he just had to show up on Sat morning and play. They made the field smaller, so the coach could work with the kids more, and they learn as they play.

(271K)

At the Cub Scout Blue & Gold banquet.

Zachary's teacher (Ms. Tsukamoto) came to join the fun which was really nice.

(203K)

The Pinewood Derby District Race

Trophy for Design...	and for speed,	and all together
At the District Race, Zachary's car won a trophy for Design as The Most Aero-dynamic car. (150K)	And his car came in 3rd place for speed. In fact, it was a three way tie! There was also a 2-way-tie for 1st place, so there were six cars in the top three spots. (they had to order more trophies :-) This is especially amazing since the timing is computerized, totaled over three races, and precise down to the thousandth of a second. (180K)	Here is an updated, close-up picture of the cars after the District finals. (155K)

January

Zachary takes 1st place in the Pinewood Derby for the 2nd year in a row.

Zachary's car took first place last year with "The Rail" so he decided to do it again. This time it came out even better, and won by a solid 1/10th of a second! That may not sound like a lot, but most of the cars were within a few thousandths of each other, and some were even tied. And that was for the total time after four races.

(140K)

Here is a close-up picture of the cars after the Pack race.

Zachary did almost all of the work this year, including cutting the body on the band saw, using the drill press, sanding, polishing, painting, etc... He added in the Star Wars theme, which is why his 2nd car is the "Return of the Widow"

(190K)


At camp, they had a Rifle (BB Gun) shooting range, which of course, was a huge hit. (224K)	After that day, I worry much less about Jessica being in Middle School around all those crazy boys! (173K)	Another fun event was the Rain Gutter Regatta. This is where the boys all make boats, and race them by blowing them down rain gutters full of water. Zachary's boat took first in the den, and 4th place overall. (281)