Tallahassee, Florida 12-17-08

It's baby time! When the older sisters and brother of the newborn have been at the hospital waiting for the birth for over 7 hours, they tend to get a little crazy! Auburn, Neil and Melina are cutting up to pass the time until their new sister arrives.

Neil finally gets to meet his new sister, Savannah Lee, while mom Lori introduces them. Savannah was born at 10:04 pm, weighed in at 7.5 pounds and was 19.8 inches long....and healthy.

Lynda Lou has her lap full of grandchildren who all want a piece of their new little sister. Hope she gets this much attention after she gets home!

The entire family poses after a long day at the hospital. Rick and Lori look very relieved.

Grandma Lynda gets some quality time with her new granddaughter.

Tallahassee, Florida 12-06-08

It's Saturday night in Tallahassee and time for the Winter Festival, where the city turns on the Christmas lights downtown. It all begins with the Jingle Bell Run and Lynda is going to participate in the race.

It's another Bergstrom family run. This time a 3K with Rick and Auburn running together and Lynda and Melina running together. I didn't participate in this one due to being placed on injured reserve.










After the run, there was a parade. This float was sponsored by the Tallahassee Speed Skating Team, which Little Mike participates on. He was on the float and Big Mike was walking next to it...only problem was, they were on the other side and didn't get in the picture.

Tallahassee, Florida 11-27-08

Most families spend Thanksgiving morning sleeping in, reading the "Black Friday" ads in the newspapers, and stuffing a turkey. But...not the Bergstrom family...we go for an early morning run at the Tallahassee Turkey Trot. Here, Rick, Lynda, Melina, Auburn and I get ready for a road race.

Auburn and Melina with their friend Annabelle prior to the start of the 1 mile fun run.

Lynda and Melina were running the 1 mile together.

Lori and Neil made a very supportive rooting section.

Auburn and Annabelle are at the front when the race begins.

Auburn finished in just a little over 10 minutes.

Annabelle was a couple of minutes behind her.

Lynda and Melina came in a little under 14 minutes and were able to finish together.

Here are the proud participants in the fun run with their well deserved ribbons.







It looks like Neil just can't take all the excitement that comes along with race day. Could it be that come December, Savannah Lee (our next grandchild) will be a runner, also?












Dad and son getting ready to run the 5K.
















There were about 3,000 runners in our race, some running a 5K, some a 10K, and for the brave, a 15K.






You've gotta look really hard, but believe it or not, Rick, his friend Deva, and I are in the middle of this mess.

Deva finished first out of the three of us.

Rick came in next.












Here Rick and Deva are celebrating their finish and I'm still running!















The "old man" stops his watch as he crosses the finish line.









Dad and son survived another run together. We used to run road races together when Rick was 11 and 12 years old. I never thought we would be continuing this tradition this much later in life.










It's so rewarding to see another generation of Bergstroms getting into the habit of running, not just for their health, but for the fun of a wholesome family activity.

Amelia Island, Florida 11-24-08

After the Vikings game in Jacksonville, Lynda and I left for a short trip to Amelia Island. We ate dinner in a quaint restaurant down by the harbor and walked around checking out the boats at the docks afterward.

We actually stayed in Fernandina Beach, which was one of the first east-coast towns to embrace shrimp fishing.









We shopped a lot of novelty stores downtown, most of which were designed with a sailing motif. Pirates have a distinguished legacy here.

Can you tell which one is the REAL dummy?

















After checking out the downtown shopping, we headed to the beach where I found a shark's tooth among all the seashells.

We visited a state park, which included an old lighthouse that is operated by the Coast Guard.















This is the same lighthouse from across a marsh inside the park.

I took this picture of the seashore from inside the park, also.

The park contains a civil war fort, Fort Clinch, which was occupied by Union soldiers in 1864.

The fort is constructed completely of brick and has some really cool arches and walkways.

There are several large guns on rotating tracks that surround the upper wall of the fort. Good fortune for Lynda, they no longer work.

A fishing trawler makes its way past the fort through the inlet.

I don't think this Union soldier got the news yet...THE WAR IS OVER!

The fort parade grounds with a union flag from 1864.

Jacksonville, Florida 11-23-08

When the Minnesota Vikings come to Florida (Jacksonville, in this instance), it's time for true Tallahassee Vikings to go support their team. All four are native Minnesotans and police officers with the Tallahassee Police Department. From left, Investigator Laura Gereg, Lieutenant Jim Martinez, me (Lieutenant Ken Bergstrom) and Officer Jamie Martinez at our tailgating party.

The Vikings are warming up prior to the start of the game.

Our crew eagerly awaits the kick-off.

I hate to tell the Jacksonville fans this, but the Jacksonville Jaguar does not scare a true Viking!

We are anticipating the start of an NFL game with our favorite team.

The pre-game national anthem...........

accompanied by a fly-over from the Jacksonville Naval Air Station.

The Vikings picked up a fumble on the opening kickoff and returned it for a touchdown. The first play from scrimmage after the next kickoff resulted in a fumble that the Vikes also recovered. They scored three plays later on this hand off to Adrian Peterson.

That made the score 14 - 0 only 1 minute and 40 seconds into the game.

Even in Florida, Vikings MUST dress for the cold weather.













When all is said and done, Vikings 30 and Jaguars 12 is a great way to spend an afternoon with good friends, watching your favorite team play.