We had a wonderful time going on our annual family Christmas tree harvest in the Blue Mountains!We were able to arrange for everyone to get Saturday off so we drove to Grandma and Grandpas Friday night and all slept in the living room. We woke up to snow falling! That was exciting for everyone. We started driving up the mountain and the snow kept getting deeper and deeper. Before long, we were making new tracks through more than 2 feet of fresh powder. Even though we had 4WD going in the Toyota, it was still a bit scary and Denise was just a little bit nervous. So we got to a turn around point and went back a little ways to a parking spot and got on our winter gear. We hiked up a trail a ways and took advantage of the grade to stop and sled a few times. We kept our eyes out for a good tree but the area we were hiking through looked like it had a fairly recent forest fire so there weren't a lot of family size trees around. We finally spotted one up on a steep mountainside and Spencer, Nate and Paul climbed up to it while Denise and Justin waited on the trail below. We cut down our prize and then spent some time bombing Denise and Justin with snowballs from above!!! It was fun. We then got back on the trail and headed back to the truck. We were trying to find a second tree for a family in our ward that didn't have one but there were none to be found. As we headed back on the trail, we were relieved to hear the snow plows finally out clearing the road. The only question was whether they would plow us into our parking spot! We got our tree loaded and decided to head further up the road to our traditional parking and sledding spot. We got there and the powder along the road was 3 to 4 feet of fluffy stuff! Paul promptly backed into a ditch trying to park and got stuck. Fortunately, the snow grader had a tow strap that he had already used a couple of times that day and came to our rescue. We spent a couple more hours playing in the snow, diving into the powder and getting cold. We had a good lunch with hot chocolate. Spencer and Paul headed off into the woods to find the second tree and came back with a nice one. It was a good trip! Our family really enjoys these outings as there isn't usually that much snow at home. Hope you enjoy the video and photo!
Okay, I'll admit it, I love to ride my bicycles. Mostly its my road bike in the early morning for exercise. This is my hobby (along with swimming). But I also enjoy time on the mountain bike and today was a fun ride. It wasn't a long ride but I got the heart pumping hard and had a great view from the top of Badger Mountain. I started on the west end of the mountain at the parking area (left end of orange line on picture). Then I sweated and grunted my way up to the top. The bottom of the orange loop is my trip up, the top is the trip down (until they merge where I went up and down on the same trail) In the picture, you can see a couple buildings where antennas are perched on the summit. Before I came back down, I strapped on the Flip Video camera. You can watch the video if you'd like. Sorry, it's a little shaky with some glare as I headed into the sun at points. It was a good ride, about 35 minutes total time.
My opinion is that it is amazing to see the bold-faced lack of tolerance. It comes from opponents of the traditional family who were recently sent a clear message from the people of California who would not compromise their values. My compliments and prayers are with those Yes on 8 supporters who would not step down despite vandalism, assault and violence imposed on them by No on 8 radicals who claim the world is not tolerant of their choice of lifestyle. Click here for more, if you're interested.
Me and the two older boys had a great late season backpacking trip into the Blue Mountains last weekend. We saw an opportunity when we were all available so we took advantage and got away in the afternoon on Friday. We parked at Teepee Trailhead (along with several hunters vehicles) about 40 miles south of Dayton and set out. We got to camp in about an hour. The trail was a bit muddy and we ran across some patches of snow. We stopped about a quarter mile before our campsite at a spring to fill our water bottles. The trough the spring fed into was frozen over so we had to break some ice to get to the water before we pumped it through our filter. It was dark by the time we got there but we each had our headlights. We had some great foil dinners so we got a roaring fire going first then we pitched our tents. The clear night sky made for some awesome star gazing. We got our foil dinners on the coals and they cooked up nice. We enjoyed them around a nice campfire. Then we hit the hay. Our tents held up but the rustling wind made for a noisy sleep. It was a bit cold at night but we all stayed warm. We got up Saturday morning and the boys saw the amazing view from our campsite to the spacious valleys below. We were hungry so we cooked our bacon and eggs. Then we took a little walk to the fire lookout that has views of Oregon, Washington and even into Idaho on clear days. The lookout was boarded up for the winter. We went back to camp and just relaxed and napped and just messed around. We heated up our freeze-dried lunches then packed up and headed for home. Going down was significantly quicker than the trip up. We stopped in Dayton so see grandpa and grandma's house then it was back to the Tri-Cities. A wonderful trip!
Here's a photo (sorry its a little blurry) of our family pumpkin carving efforts. Your mission (should you choose to accept it), is to identify who carved which jack-o-lantern. Send me your guesses!
Nate and Spencer had the opportunity to visit with Jarod Shelby tonight for a mutual activity. Shelby has a manufacturing facility in West Richland and manufactures the SSC Ultimate Aero. They got a close-up look at the car and a close-up tour. Shelby even got the attention of Jay Leno. Here's a look at Jay's video of the car, pretty amazing and the boys were all abuzz when they got home.
Well, the river was calling this morning. I missed a day of exercise this week so I wanted to get out and raise the heart rate to release some endorphins. Its sure nice to have Saturdays available for activities and other things. I called my swimming buddy Scott and he was raring to go! He had almost written the swimming season off, he was hesitant to call me but was ecstatic to hear my phone call with a swimming invitation. So, we loaded up the inner tubes and drove the 3 blocks to the river. We had several double takes as people saw us in swim suits with our floaties. A couple people asked if we were crazy, did we know it was October!? We got in and the current was swift with some extra debris on the surface. As I watched the shoreline to gauge our upstream progress, it didn't look like we were moving at all. We've had good workouts before without going upstream at all and I thought this would be one of those days. So, I just buckled down and swam and soon realized some progress. I was surprised when we actually made it up to the first dock. Then, we turned around and headed back. Time in the water was about half an hour. River water temperature 54.4 degrees. You can actually check the real time water temp by clicking here then clicking on "Leslie Groves" dot on map.
Nate had a great run Saturday. He set a Personal Record (PR) on the 3.1 mile course at the Richland Invite. It was a blustery, cool day. Teams came from as far away as Everett, Pullman and Baker City. Nate is on the left of the starting group and hopefully you can pick him out in the other shots on the video. He's #1028.
On our recent family trip this past summer, we had the pleasure of seeing the water show at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. This particular show was awesome to see and made me feel quite patriotic. I hope you can enjoy it too.
The boys have been fine-tuning their Rip Stick technique and wanted to do a little show for everyone. Grandma and grandpa got the Rip Stick for Justin's birthday he has almost worn the wheels off it! The boys wanted to make sure Landon got to see this!
Here's the tough guy picture from Justin's 7th grade football team. The coach threatened anyone who smiled with 7 laps around the practice field (just kidding). There's also a happier picture and a couple of school photos. Nate as a Junior at Richland High and Justin as a 7th grader at Carmichael Middle School.
We've talked about doing it. We've thought about doing it. We decided to do it and now we've done it! My friend Scott and I swim a couple times a week in the Columbia River between the docks in Howard Amon Park in Richland. We've been doing it for 3 years or so (during the warmer months). We've also heard about the "Columbia Crossing" event in early September each year. I think we've both had thoughts that it would be a good challenge to try it with the "because its there" reasoning. A few weeks ago, the official Columbia Crossing was on September 5. That morning, Scott and I were swimming and I mentioned that the Columbia Crossing was that day. He talked about how he wanted to do that and was sorry he missed it, I felt the same way so we formulated a plan to do our own crossing a few weeks down the road. We picked a date and decided we needed someone with a boat to escort us. Some other friends of ours, Kevin and Lou agreed to paddle beside us in their two-man kayaks. We picked Saturday, September 20. I thought that would be a kind of momentous date since it was the day after I turned 45. We kept swimming in preparation and got ourselves psyched up. I got myself some new swim goggles, a swim cap and even a new tube (we always swim in the river towing a tube behind us, just in case there are problems).Well, Saturday morning came and Denise announced it was pouring rain as she went outside for the paper route. I just hoped the others involved in the swim would still be game. As I ate my breakfast, the other participants showed up, ready to go! We headed for the landing spot and dropped off vehicles then to Chiawana park for launch. We remembered that there was a professional bass fishing tournament going on that morning. We were going to be in the water at 6:30 a.m. but that was the start of the tourney when all the boats race up or down the river to their favorite fishing spot to try and catch the big ones. So, we delayed our launch a little and by 6:45 the last boat went by and we were off! I prefer a breast stroke while Scott sticks mainly to the crawl. The water temperature was about 60 degrees but we quickly got our hearts pumping to build up our own heat. I wasn't sure how long it would take us to cross but the Columbia Crossing participants took anywhere from 29 minutes to an hour. I took the GPS and transferred our course to Google Earth for the satellite picture you see here. We each pulled our tubes (mine also had 3 flashing LED halloween pumpkins for added visability thanks to my wonderful wife!). It was kind of amazing how the weather cooperated. When we started out, we had showers and a head wind from the south with tiny rollers, I swallowed plenty of water but soon, the rain let up and the water smoothed. As we swam from the park toward the middle, we could see the bottom of the river about 12 feet down. About half way across, you can see we go upstream of an island. The underwater extension of the island is quite shallow and we had seaweed brushing across our bellies as we tried to swim right on the surface to avoid getting tangled. After we passed the island, the river got much deeper and we couldn't see the bottom. We ended up getting across in 35 minutes covering the same course as the Columbia Crossing so we felt pretty good about how we did! Denise and Justin were there to greet us and take pictures (Justin found a monster crawdad to play with). A successful day!
Spencer has worked hard over the past year to earn some extra money to fix up his car. Most of his money working at McDonald's he is setting aside for mission expenses. He decided to take initiative and earn a reputation as a hard worker who would like any extra jobs that might be available to gather some extra money. About 5 months ago, he located this Toyota Celica in Walla Walla. We took a little trip and picked it up. Since then, he's dug out window wells, delivered advertising fliers, dug out basements, done security work, whatever's available and his latest addition to the car is some new rims and tires. We've had requests from some of you to see the car so here are some pictures.
We had some free time Labor Day afternoon so we packed up some sub sandwiches and cookies (family home evening treats) and headed for Hover Park (about 14 miles east of Kennewick, near Wallula Gap, overlooking the Columbia River). We had two cycles in the truck. One was "Betsy" (the old XT350 Paul rides to work regularly). The other was "Beavis" (a 1996 XT225 we just got running after a total engine rebuild and stripped down to the frame, thank our mechanic at Yamaha Country for the name). We had a great time as Denise enjoyed the 225, she had never ridden a bike with a clutch before and she's planning on more riding. Nate got brave and rode for the first time since he wrapped himself around a swing-set and ended up in the ER 4 or 5 years ago. He did great learning the clutch. Spencer seemed to like the power of dad's 350 more (after he got a dose of it on Uncle Matt's bike). Dad gave Justin a ride up on the hill. It was fun with lots of dust, the motorcycles held up okay and we jumped in the neighbor's pool when we got home to get rinsed off!
Wednesday was the first day of school for Justin, Nate and Denise! Here's our traditional picture of the boys on the first day. Spencer gets a few more weeks before he reports for classes and Columbia Basin College. Nate is now a sophomore at Richland High School and Justin is a 7th grader at Carmichael Middle School. Denise is working at Lewis and Clark Elementary a block from home with behaviorally challenged kids. She's been doing that for several years now and is off to a good start of the new school year. Paul will be back to nursing school on September 22!
This is a blog entry on our Summer '08 family vacation. There's a video you can watch that shows many of the things talked about in this entry and I'll try to scatter several pictures too.We started out Sunday evening on board Allegiant Air to Las Vegas. The boys had never flown on a big plane so it was quite an adventure. Some of the boys are prone to getting airsick so we gave them some Dramamine before hand and there were no problems. We landed in Lost Wages and took the shuttle bus to Circus Circus. We had two rooms across the hall from each other. We got to our rooms and relaxed for our next day activities. The next day, we had the buffet breakfast (quite a spread). Then we went to the arcade and played some air hockey and video games and a few carnival games. We then headed out on our adventure on the "Duece". Its a double-decker bus that goes up and down the strip. We got off near New York, New York then walked across the street to the Excaliber (Justin's favorite mythical stop). We hung around and had one carny try to guess my age. He was off (but I won't tell you which way), so Justin got a viking helmet with the horns. We managed to get some head massages and wandered over to the Luxor. We rode up the Inclinator and looked out over the huge lobby. Then, we hopped the tram back to Excaliber and crossed the strip to walk along by the MGM and some other gaudy sights. Needless to say, the old tourism efforts at a "family friendly" atmosphere are pretty much gone. I've been to Vegas several times but hadn't been there for a couple of years. The amount of skin and sin portrayed everywhere from billboards to huge video screens has multiplied. It was exciting for everyone to get to visit Las Vegas but its probably not the most memorable part of our trip. That evening, we went to Bellagio and saw the dancing water fountain music show. That was pretty neat. We also worked our way downtown to see the Freemont Street Experience overhead video screen canopy that stretched for 3 city blocks. we waited for the show and watched a spray can artist create a beautiful painting with a couple dozen cans of spray paint. Then, the show came on and we quickly exited the downtown area. When I saw it a few years ago, it was a nice, cartoony type video presentation. Now, it's half-dressed women bouncing all over. I don't mean to complain, we had a wonderful time in vegas. Back at the hotel we saw some great circus acts; trapeze artists, jugglers and clowns. An artist did a charcoal drawing of Denise that is beautiful. We took a brief swim break at the hotel. Fortunately, the weather was a little overcast so it wasn't too hot in Vegas. Another fun sideline is the olympics started during our vacation. It was fun to watch and cheer for the athletes. Tuesday morning, we took the Duece down the strip to the Venetian to pick up our Chevy Impala rental car. We left Vegas and one word kept coming to mind: Opulence. We then headed out to Utah. We made a quick stop in St. George for lunch and a picture of the temple then it was on to Zion National Park. We were going to hike but we decided to just drive through the south side of the park. We saw the awesome sandstone cliffs in a myriad of colors reaching for the sky. We worked our way to Cedar City for our night's stay through a rain storm. A double rainbow greeted us as the rain let up. Wednesday, we headed out early. We got to Zion's and boarded the shuttle. We rode to the end of the line and headed for Zion Narrows. An awesome canyon cut by the Virgin River. Even more fun is hiking up the river in the river bed as the canyon walls get closer and closer and seem to climb higher and higher. When everyone was about ready to turn back, Spencer and I headed up river. We found a fork which kept getting narrower. It was awesome just running up the shallow river. We had to get pretty wet. We got past a waterfall and finally to another spot that was impassable. Our time was up so we had to head back anyway but it was an amazing journey. We then boarded the shuttle bus and headed for the Emerald Pools hike. We got all the way to the upper pool with an amazing sheer red rock face that seemed to rise forever. On our way back down, we were met with a welcomed downpour that helped cool us off. Everyone got their exercise on this day. It was time to head for the hotel. We made it to Nephi that night. The next day, we slept in a little then headed North. We drove around Provo and BYU and past the MTC (mentioning we could be back soon if Spencer goes to that MTC on his mission). We headed for Timpanogas Cave National monument. We had to wait a little for our tour to begin so we ate our Subway sandwiches then headed up the trail. It was about an hour uphill to the cave entrance. A warm, sweaty hike but the cave was about 40 degrees so we cooled off quickly once inside. It was awesome seeing the stalactites and stalagmites (the ranger confirmed Nate and my assertion that a stalactite hangs down from the ceiling!). We got through and hiked back down under a light drizzle. We stopped in at Cabelas to see the the outdoor stuff then headed for our hotel in Lehi. The next day we were off for Salt Lake City. We pit stopped at Bingham Copper Mine to see the largest man-made excavation in the world! Then, on to Salt Lake. Paul and Denise went to the temple while the boys looked around the mall. Friday night, we arrived at my brother's house around 9 in Logan. It was great to see their family. We hung out in the tree house, roller bladed, skated, played guitar hero, watched olympics, floated the canal, went pistol shooting, rode motorcycles, swam and had a wonderful time all day Saturday too. Sunday morning, we headed to church with the Logan Shoes then it was off toward home. We got to Boise and stayed in a hotel there. Monday, we headed for Roaring Springs water park, one of our favorite family activities. We left there around 4 and hit our favorite Sizzler restaurant in Nampa before heading home. What a wonderful time we had, thanks to our whole family!
Thought you might enjoy this picture taken just before stake priesthood meeting last Sunday when the 4 of us got to sing and Spencer was presented for sustaining.
Well, I think mom and dad are settling in to their new digs in Dayton. After three trips with a loaded trailer we borrowed from a friend and two Toyota trucks full of boxes, the old house on Cherry Hill is rather empty. Our last trip was Monday and we had a nice welcoming committee in Dayton to help unload. We had a good time helping organize a few things and getting the bed set up so there was a place for mom and dad to sleep. There's also a nice article in the Sunnyside paper about dad's semi-retirement.
These are words from a talk given last Sunday in sacrament meeting by Spencer. He and Nate had the wonderful spiritual experience of hiking 21 miles across rugged land south of town on the church farm. There were about 300 youth aged 14-18. They were separated into 3 companies. Each "family" was made up of a Ma and Pa and 6-8 youngens. Each family pulled their own handkarts loaded with supplies for the trip, weighing in around 300 pounds.
Day 1 was up a steep hill that was much more difficult than the people who planned the Trek even expected. Adult "Maws and Paws" were worn to their limits (not to mention the youth). Finally, they all made it up the big hill with inspirational stories of young men running back down the hill to help others make the climb. A wonderful experience for our boys and most of those who participated as they got a small glimpse of what our pioneer progeny went through to make it to Zion:
"Well, I guess it’s my turn to give you my report on TREK. For me, this is the second TREK I’ve had the opportunity of going on. Four years ago, I went to Ensign Ranch for TREK 2004. It was a good experience, even though I was a youngster among all the older youth. I haven’t grown too much since then, but being older made this Trek a little more meaningful for me. To be honest, I enjoyed this Trek more than the previous one. It was much harder, and gave a better taste of what the pioneers actually went through. At Ensign… there was plenty of shade and nice, gradual, hard roads. This year was the direct opposite, with absolutely no shade, except for the occasional shadow of our handcarts and we were trekking in sand, sagebrush and rock. But, I would much rather have it this way. It helped us know our own strength, and the strength of our families. In my family, I was the oldest… which is again an opposite of my previous Trek family. With that age, it made me feel responsible for my younger brothers and sisters. I just felt that if any were struggling, I should be the one to help them and make sure they were alright. I’m positive this is very similar to the real pioneers as they crossed the plains. The older brother in some families had to take responsibility if the parents passed away or were sick. I know that must have been hard to have that weight on top of the hardship of getting to Zion. In this Trek, the parents were instructed not to help with the pushing of the carts, adding to the difficulty that families had to face. But, unlike the pioneers, if things got too hard our parents would help out. I obtained such a strong testimony of family, and the importance of helping, loving, and supporting each member. Another aspect of the Trek that really showed how the pioneers had to live, was the food available to them. Throughout the week, we cooked and ate our share of corn cakes and beef jerky. The truth is, I was still hungry most days because of the amount of food I was used to back home. Then, one morning, we were gathered together before we set of for that day’s journey. One of the Trek leaders told us a story about times on the Trek where the pioneers only had a little sack of flour to use for their whole day’s rations. What they had to eat, was a doughy paste that was made from kneading water into the dough. As an example, the leader handed each of us a sack to try it out for ourselves. I tried it myself, and for the rest of the day my stomach was angry at me for doing it. More stories were told to us along the Trek, each giving us another chance to live like the pioneers. One of the days we were challenged to go a mile without shoes. My whole family decided to do the challenge, but there were a few who decided to take the challenge a little further. Myself, as well as a few others from my company, decided to go the rest of the day without shoes. It was probably the most challenging and influential thing I’ve ever done. As I was washing my feet at the end of the day, I pondered the pioneers and how my battered feet weren’t at all comparable to those of the pioneers’. When we finally reached the shady and grassy ZION, we were greeted with watermelon, oranges and the smiles of those waiting for us. As I looked among the different companies, the look of accomplishment and happiness was on everyone’s face. High fives to each of our family members was the sign that we did it, and we did it together with everyone’s help. Our baby was in mint condition… maybe in even better condition than when we got it thanks to the care given by mainly the women in our family, and our trusty handcart pulled through unlike some other families. Reflecting back on the week, there was so much that gave me strength and improved my testimony. Every night, my two brothers and I read scriptures together and said our personal prayers, before falling asleep to talk about girls and jokes. I had the opportunity to meet new people, which laughed with me when things were fun and pushed with me when things were hard. I’m thankful that I had this opportunity to live a few days like the pioneers, and prove to me yet again the strength and faith our forefathers had."
It is with great pleasure that we announce the graduation of Spencer! He walked to Pomp and Circumstance with the Richland High School Class of 2008 on Friday, June 6. Spencer was all smiles and it was a nice ceremony. The event was held at the Toyota Center with a large crowd to cheer on about 400 graduates. Thanks to all who expressed their congratulations and support. Spencer then spent time afterwards for pictures with friends and then it was on to the all night party. He got home safe and sound just after 4 a.m. We're extremely pleased with this fine young man and appreciate everyone's support. Congratulations Spencer!!!!! The fun didn't stop there though. It was a fun time Saturday evening as several friends, neighbors and family members gathered in the backyard for an open house to celebrate the graduate. You'll see a picture here of him with his cake.To round out our weekend of excitement, Spencer was honored as a seminary graduate on Sunday evening!
How did this all happen so fast!? Time is so fleeting and it is valuable, escpecially when you find that when its gone, you can't get it back. I think its starting to sink in the value of every minute and the way you spend it. We are so blessed and grateful.
Spencer decided he wanted to get ready for graduation with a bang! So he was playing some hoops when he went up for a rebound and friend Jeff came down with an elbow to the schnoz! Broken nose according to Dr. Severence at the E.R. (remember him, Mom?) Well, the E.N.T. says its not too badly broken to require surgery so we're planning on waiting for now. Meanwhile, Spencer has a couple of shiners to show for it. Fortunately, the senior pictures were taken before hand!
Maybe you've heard about or seen this story in the news. It's an inspirational tale from the Great Northwest that took place just up the road from us. Enjoy and have the Kleenex handy!
Our ward had a youth snow outing a few weeks ago. A good friend shot these great action pictures so we thought we'd share. The sequence is of Spencer and friend Korwin going off a jump (BIG AIR!). Nate was also at this outing but he was digging his snow cave for the next weekend's Klondike Derby (see previous posting).
We took advantage of the day. Everyone was home about the same time in decent clothes after General Conference, the weather was pretty nice and some flowers are in bloom. Hope you enjoy our latest family pictures!
Nate loves to run, especially distances. He decided to do track this year as a freshman and today was his first meet. He ran a personal best time in the 1600 Meters of 5:19! His goal was to run under 5:20 by the end of the season. Now he set a new goal. This video shows his kick at the end of the fourth lap.
Justin decided he wanted to do a solo for 6th grade choir. Here he sings: "I've wanted to visit Tombstone, or Atchafalayah Bay. It's part of my plan to see Princess Anne or King of Prussia, PA." Its a song about funny sounding names of places around the country.
Okay, by popular demand, here's a delayed report on Nate's recent Klondike Derby adventure. On February 29 and March 1, Nate and five other scouts traveled to Andes Prarie in the Blue Mountains (just past Spout Springs, see skiing post). They went the week before and dug a snow cave to sleep in. They got there Friday night in the dark and our snow cave had been blocked off by a snow plow. So, they dug out the entrance. Later that night, the group was trying to put a tarp up when a blizzard began! 50 MPH winds and heavy snow picked the tarp up and made it impossible to set up. Nate and Patrick were the only ones in a snow cave and the only ones who stayed warm (they woke up sweating!) The blizzard was still going on at wake-up time and it continued all day. Even one of the leaders (who has been on a lot of outings) said it was the toughest campout he's ever been on. But, with a little encouragement from Nate, the younger boys (who just wanted to pack up and go home, Logan said: "I thought I was going to die".) went ahead with the activities. They were able to finish all of the events (a feat they haven't been able to do for 5 years). The deacons also got first place in the sledge race (Nate outfitted the old sledge with new skis for the outing). They ended up being the last ones to leave (as usual) but they had a great time and got home safe.
Okay, maybe you've seen this before or maybe you've heard the legend that it takes 7 years to digest gum. Click here for more on: Don't you dare swallow that gum!!!
Now, even better videos here!It was a rather eventful paper route this morning in the Mid-Columbia. And we're not talking some run-in with a skunk or some found crushed cell phone, or some dog looking for a little tibia chew for breakfast! Denise and Nate were near the end of their routes this morning when they saw a flash in the sky! "I pulled up this house on my bike, as I'm walking up to the porch and all of a sudden in the middle of the sky this firework looking thing looked like if fell from the sky. It looked like a fireball from Super Mario with a flame trailing behind it." Turns out the "fireball" was seen from Missoula to B.C. to Portland! Scientists think it probably came down within 30 miles of our home. It was either a meteor (meaning it got all burned up before it hit the ground) or a meteorite (which actually hit the ground somewhere). Denise said the bright flash at the end of the flight was followed by a big boom a few minutes later! A little early morning excitement that ended up being the topic of conversation for most people looking to make a little chit-chat today!
Check out the Trunk Monkey! This amazing new product is available at a Portland, OR area dealership. One of my instructors showed us this neato device in class. Since I don't like it when people forward me a bunch of stuff, I figured I'd let you check it out on our blog if you'd like! Have a great day!
He decided to use the subject of trampolines for a speech class at school. He did research on the inventor (George Nissen, see picture Man and Kangaroo).
He also told about the trampoline's many uses over the years. Then, he enlisted family help in producing this video showing some of his tricks. Enjoy!
Okay, it's probably not a blizzard by some people's standards but here in our neck of the woods, it's a welcome snowstorm! The kids are loving it. We've had about 6 inches so far and it's still coming down. It started last night with an ice storm. I was out delivering pizzas and going very, very slow. It was like a skating rink on the roads. Today, we woke up to the snow! Nate rode his bike on his paper route (I only fell 3 times dad!). Denise drove the truck. Church was canceled. We spent the day relaxing and shoveling and enjoying our time. A six-foot mound in our driveway turned into a snow cave. Nate's threatening to sleep in there tonight (he has Klondike Derby in a few weeks). Snowfall like this doesn't come very often in our area. The last storm like this was 4 years ago. It's fun as long as we don't have to go anywhere because then we have to dodge the people who have no business being on the road and should be home in their Barcalounger.
I'm a father of 3 with an amazing wife. I have two super sisters and one awesome brother. I love family time, especially when we're enjoying the great outdoors camping, backpacking or hiking. I love riding my bicycles (road or mountain). I love swimming the Columbia River. I love hiking around the Tri-Cities. I started this blog to help people discover some of the beauty that is right outside our doors here in the Columbia Basin. I hope you will take advantage of these posts by either by enjoying the content, video, pictures and maps or going out and exploring these areas on your own. Please give me feedback as I am always looking for new adventures and I am imperfect so I will make mistakes and welcome corrections. Please browse around, take advantage of my advertisers if they can benefit you and enjoy!
