What a year 2010 has been for us! Life changing is pretty much the best way to describe the events that made up our year.

We started doing these ‘newsletters’ in 2008 as a way of getting out a list of the past year’s happenings out to all of our family and friends. This year’s newsletter is dedicated to two special Bernharts: First, my father, who passed away on May 12th. We all miss him very much. Second, Melanie… who has been a pillar of strength for our family since the day she was diagnosed with breast cancer. I would not be the person I am without having both of them in my life.

OK, now let’s get to some of the fun stuff from 2010! Read the rest of this entry »

This past Sunday, September 26, we walked the Susan G. Komen Race For The Cure in Newport Beach. In the weeks leading up to the race, we were prepared with a wheelchair for Melanie, in case she needed to use it. This was because her 3rd chemo round was on the Friday before the race, and after her 2nd chemo round she was physically drained and nauseated for the week afterward. Before this round, however, she had gotten a stronger anti-nausea prescription from the oncologist. This new drug worked great, and she has been feeling much better than the last time.

Melanie walked the whole 3.1 mile course without any trouble. When we were done, the line for the bus back to the off-site parking was so long that she, along Lauren and I, walked back to the car… Read the rest of this entry »

Really? It’s been 10 years since we started doing the family photo booth at the fair thing? It really is crazy to think that it’s been that long… time definitely does fly.

When Melanie and I first started dating, we went to the Orange County Fair to waste our money on un-winnable games, Read the rest of this entry »

In 1971, my mother decided it would be fun to pick up and move the whole family to Australia. In March of that year she had heard some friends talking about the Australian consulate and some sort of program to bring workers to that country. By June, we were packed and heading to the airport. I was just barely 11 months old, so I do not recall any of this.

In 1973, we befriended some neighbors of ours, the Graveson family. Parents David and Anne had 3 kids…Two girls, Anita and Karin, who were close in age to my sister Stephanie, and brother Derek; and one boy, Erik, who was very close to my age. We spent lots of time hanging out together at the beach and having lots of fun. Both dads were very fun, and made sure that all of us kids were always entertained. Read the rest of this entry »

I think we need to take more family photos… especially at the beach!