The Shoes

Sweet is the Work - February 6, 2012

2012-02-06T16:19:00.000-08:00

Dear loving family,

First off I love you all so much. I am sorry for the past couple weeks of letters they have been super rushed. And so is todays as we had a zone p-day activity and got back late. I will work to write as much as I can. Anyways, the Stepehnville area is doing great. I have been working on reading in Doctrine and Covenants it is so great. I have read it before but I am really working on studying it which I have found is much different than reading. Elder Ericson is doing a great job as my trainer. He really knows when to be serious and really helps to keep the spirit with us always. We met with some investigators Casey and Tkaye, his wife, this week and read in 3rd nephi 11 and asked them if the lord would itroduce them as my beloved. They both said "not yet" and they are working so hard to change towards that point. The spirit was so strong there and Tkaye was tearing up at the end. We ended the lesson early and bolted out leaving them in that great spritual situation so they will realize that we are Christ's representatives. It was so great. Zach was confirmed in church yeasterday and also bore his testimony. It was so amazing. It was my first confirmation and his testimony sounded as if he had grown up in the church. Zach has already inspired so many people's lives by getting baptized and it is so great to see that from me working to help teach Zach, it is alreading spreading. The chuch is growing so fast and I can really see why. I helped to get someone to the point of baptism and now he is helping get less actives to church, and now his friends will be taught. It is so amazing. I love my mission so much and know that by being a servant of the lord I can potentially affect thousands but it is really just the Lord working through me. There are challenges. We fit so much in a day that it gets stressful, even on preperation day. I know with the strength on the Lord I can do it and I have been set apart to be able to do it also. I know I would not be able to do it without the support of our Heavenly Father, friends, scriptures, and especially my family and all the prayers I know they say for me.

I love all of you,

Elder shoemaker

PS I can use more garments if you have not sent any yet. Size 30 bottoms. Though I am not gaining weight I have actually gained muscle. I can see my six pack! haha working out everyday works. And could you send me raquetball rules.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-29T11:57:00.001-08:00

Christmas Eve Dinner

We had a wonderful holiday gathering at our Richland home for Christmas. We were blessed to have Spencer and Chelsey in town for a week from Cheney. Paul had to work Christmas day so we had our Christmas festivities on Christmas Eve. We had a wonderful Christmas dinner with marinated pork roast, baked potatoes, rolls, gravy, Denise's special cornbread stuffing, jello dessert and sparkling cider.

Yummy Dinner

Spencer & Chelsey and a Great Gift

We then spent a couple hours opening the wonderful gifts from each other and family. The gifts were very well thought out and appreciated so much. It was a fun time to show how we care for one another. It seems the best part of gifts is seeing the joy on someone's face when they open a present you have given.

Justin was especially excited to get a 35mm camera setup from Grandma Lin. He is planning on taking a photography class at school.
We also took the chance to go see the new Sherlock Holmes movie together and played some games too. We weren't sure if we'd get a phone call from Nathaniel at the MTC but he did send a nice Christmas E-mail that was wonderful to get (see http://eldershoemaker.blogspot.com). A joyous Christmas celebration at our home. Merry Christmas to everyone! Love, the Shoemakers!

Camera!!!

Cruisin

2011-12-09T16:47:00.000-08:00

Flying Over Mount Rainier

We just returned from a spectacular trip to Mexico on a cruise ship. It was a blast. Nathaniel, Justin, Denise and I left just after Thanksgiving and flew down to LAX. We had some great views of mountains as we flew to Seattle then went to Long Beach for 2 nights.

Mount Adams

Mount Hood, Oregon

Flying Into Los Angeles

The View From Our Hotel Room to Long Beach Harbor

Justin and Nate in the Pacific Ocean at Seal Beach and "Ray Bay!"

Dad and Justin Playing in the Waves

Our hotel was right in the downtown area by the waterfront, we spent some time exploring Friday night. Saturday, we hopped on the transit bus and headed for Seal Beach at the recommendation of our hotel clerks. They forgot to mention that Seal Beach and in particular the north end where we decided to play has the largest concentration of sting rays in the nation! Hence, the name; Ray Bay! Unfortunately, Justin and dad found this out the hard way with stingray stings. The stingrays have a sharp, serrated point on the tips of their tails and swat when they feel threatened. I got sliced right on the bottom of my foot and Justin got nailed on the top. It was quite bloody and very painful as the tails have a poison which gets into the tissue. We enlisted the help of a lifeguard who gave us the lowdown on the massive stingray population and the hundreds of wounds they treat every year. He also provided us with the prescribed treatment: foot soaks in water as hot as can be tolerated.

Justin's Stingray Wound

Stingray Stinger

We nursed our wounds over the next week, the pain subsided after several hours but the wound on the bottom of my foot is still tender. Saturday evening, we took the opportunity to take the short walk to the Aquarium of the Pacific, a fantastic display of sea life with vibrant colors and unique aquatic life and the opportunity to touch sharks, stingrays (with the stinger trimmed), jellyfish and more. The aquarium was quite a sight!


Sunset/Moonrise Over Long Beach

Ready to Board Our Ship with the Historic Queen Mary in the Background

Sunday, we got up early with great anticipation. We knew we would be getting on the ship soon. Denise was a bit nervous worrying about all the logistics but it went smoothly.
We went to the deck to watch as we departed at sunset, it was beautiful and we were excited to be on our way.

Long Beach Shipping Port

After two nights at sea, eating, relaxing, eating some more, enjoying entertainment, eating some more, relaxing, eating some more, we pulled around the southernmost tip of Baja California and into the Sea of Cortez and Cabo San Lucas. The ship anchored in the bay and smaller boats took us to the port where we had to walk through the gauntlet of people selling their trinkets, fishing trips, water taxis and more.

Land's End, the Southern Tip of Baja California at Los Cabos

Our Carnival Splendor Pulling into the Cabo San Lucas Bay

Nate Checking Out the View of Los Cabos

One of Our Greeters as We Arrived in Mexico

We knew we wanted to go see the famous arch at Land's End and maybe even spend some time on a beach. We got to do both. After bartering with a couple of different water taxi services, we met Lozaro and Angelica, a husband and wife team who cater to tourists like us. We felt we got a great deal on a tour to the arch and more so we climbed on the glass-bottomed boat and headed out.

Pelicans Were All Over

On Our Boat Tour

Sea Lion in the Bay

Our Ship Anchored in the Bay

Fish Through the Glass-Bottomed Boat

Los Arcos (the Arch)

La Familia

Sea Lion Colony

Pablo was our tour guide on the boat. He took us to see the arch among the rock features at "Land's End" this is the very southernmost tip of Baja California if you look at a map. There is also a group of sea lions that hang out here. Also in this area is Lover's Beach. It is unique because one side of the beach is on the Sea of Cortez, if you walk about a hundred yards through the rock formations, you are on another beach on the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific waves are large, pounding and dangerous. People are warned not to swim there but we had a good time playing in the waves of the Sea of Cortez.

Playing at Lover's Beach, Our Ship in the Background

Lover's Beach

On our Way out of Cabo San Lucas Bay

Land's End

One fun part of the on-board activities was the family friendly comedy shows. Here, Justin poses with Jorge, our cruise director and Sean, one of the professional comedians who enterained us.

On Board our Apex Boat to the Extreme Canopy Adventure in the Jungle of Mexico

Wednesday, we docked in Puerto Vallarta, we boarded an Apex boat for a ride to our "Extreme Canopy Adventure". We were excited about the prospects of zip-lines, repelling and more.

We arrived at a small, beautiful bay with a gorgeous beach to climb aboard old-yellow, military style 4WD people haulers to ascend into the Sierra Madre jungle. The small village where we embarked from had mainly humble dirt roads but the main road up the hill was a steep, cobblestone drive that was under construction by hand!

One of the Yellow People Haulers

The small village we set off from

We got to the Adventure headquarters and got suited up in our harnesses. After a briefing, we got matched up with our burros and we climbed up to higher elevations on a rough trail. Some donkeys were more cooperative than others. Justin's would not go or listen to his commands!

At the top of the hills, we dismounted and got ready for our first zip-line run. More than a hundred feet long and two hundred feet over the trees, it looked exciting and it was! Even Denise enjoyed the zip lines.

We sped down several zip-lines then got to repel down a waterfall, that was awesome!

Our Adventure Group

We also got to do a "Mission Impossible" type repel straight down from a platform 60 feet in the air. We then had the option of getting dunked!

Last Zip-Line, a Side-by-Side Race!

The final zip-line was a side-by-side racing adventure.

Map of the Extreme Canopy Adventure

On our boat ride back to Puerto Vallarta, we took the scenic route past some large rock features. This rock island was home to hundreds of pelicans perched in trees. We also saw some blue-footed booby birds and other colorful birds along the way. We spotted several passages through the rock islands and our Apex boat driver got us up close for a good view.

Back on land at Puerto Vallarta, we visited some of the vendors. Nate dickered with one merchant for a Mexican hoody and was happy with the $10 price he negotiated. The picture below shows a trained seal who would strike different poses with tourists for "just $10!".

Dusk at Puerto Vallarta from our ship

Dinners were very enjoyable. We had wonderful service and very good food. A good selection and plenty of it. The dining experience was quite classy and it was all included in the cruise. We also had the option of buffet style dining which we utilized for various lunches and breakfasts.

Part of the dinner each night was a performance by the servers. They would do various dances while standing on top of the serving tables.

You can't get enough of the beautiful sunrises and sunsets and there were plenty of them. This is looking off the back of the ship at a sunset over the Pacific.

The main lobby was amazing. It was 8 stories high with 3 glass elevators. Karaoke entertainers (who were really quite good) sang throughout the day.

We saw a couple of whales while we were back in Cabo San Lucas on Thursday. This big one was only about 30 feet away from our snorkeling tour boat.

Snorkeling at Chileno Bay

We took a short boat ride from Cabo San Lucas and snorkeled with some beautiful tropical fish in Chileno Bay, Santa Maria Bay and at Pelican Rock. This was a dream come true for me as I've always wanted to swim with the fish. See the video below for some cool underwater footage.

Santa Maria Bay

Paul jumping off Pelican Rock

Paul and Denise at Pelican Rock

Sunset over Cabo, Heading back to the U.S.

Los Arcos at Land's End (one of my favorite pictures)

Looking back on Cabo as we sail out of the bay

My Beautiful Sweethart

The Main Pool Area

The Main Pool Area from the other side

Paul Playing in a Ping-Pong Tournament

Enjoying a Comedy Show

Miniature Golf on the top deck

Our "Stateroom" Small but Adequate

One thing I noticed about the cruise ship employees was they were from all over the world, very few from the U.S. I think it is because the pay is not very good by U.S. standards but it is quite good compared to other parts of the world. There were many people from the Philippines, India, Indonesia and dozens more countries helping us on our journey. Most of them were very friendly and cordial and greeted us wherever we went. This young man above really impressed me. His name is Vikas. He is from near Delhi, India. He works to help support his sisters and mom and dad back home. He wants to return to college to continue studying hotel management. Vikas worked the pizza shop on the ship and he had the greatest smile and worked very hard. He worked on the ship for 9 months at a time making $800 a month. He was happy for this opportunity as he could only make $200 a month at home. I told him what a joy it was to see his hard work and smile and he said that made him happy to hear a genuine compliment. If I had a job for him and many others I met on the ship, I would be happy to have their work ethic as part of my business.

Early Sunday morning we pulled back into the Long Beach port, just in time for the sunrise. We gathered our stuff and got ready to disembark. On the way off the ship, the workers were already loading up tons of food and supplies for the departure of the ship later that day for the next 3000 cruise ship customers.

We took the public transportation train and bus back to LAX where we waited for our flight. As we sat there, a guy sat down 3 seats from us and Justin got excited and whispered, "hey, that's the guy from Godzilla!" Turns out he was right. He's also a well known voice from the Simpsons, bit actor from Friends and Mad About You (he was married to Helen Hunt), played in Night at the Museum; Smithsonian and more. Justin got up some courage and asked Hank Azaria for an autograph and picture, to which Hank replied "Want me to do your homework too?" He was a nice guy and it was kind of cool to see a Hollywood guy in LAX as he was flying off to New York City.

It was such a wonderful adventure and awesome family vacation. We enjoyed cruising and we're already talking about going again!

New Boat

2011-08-02T07:16:00.000-07:00

I would guess it was about 1980 or so. The local Rosauer's grocery store had a big, orange/red Coleman canoe on display parked on top of cases of 7up. They were giving the canoe away and I was determined to win it! I stuffed the box with my entries and got a phone call a few days later that I was the lucky winner. We've used the canoe occasionally over the years. It got me a picture in the Sunnyside Daily News as I rowed in the canal by our house with my springer spaniel Alexandria along. It followed us from home to home in the back of many U-haul trucks. Spencer took it on a journey across Bumping Lake. We took it out as a family several years ago and Nate and Justin got to use it last year on a 50-mile canoe trip down the Columbia River. But, alas, it mostly just hung on the back of our garage, collecting leaves and dirt. It was rarely used.

Nate had been wanting a kayak for quite a while. He saw a listing on Craig's List for a kayak owner who wanted to trade for a canoe. Well, we struck a deal, the kayak was never used, new in the box. Nate had cleaned and polished the canoe, both parties felt good about the deal. Nate wanted to take it out for a ride but the water has been too fast with the overabundant snowpack in the mountains (did someone say global warming?).

Finally, we recently got to take the new kayak out in the still waters at the Richland Wye area where the Yakima River joins the Columbia. Nate got the first chance to row and he was all smiles. Justin also got a chance and he stayed out longer than Nate!

Finally, dad had a chance to paddle around, it is a fun new acquisition and we can hang it easily from the rafters inside the garage. Hopefully it will get a little more use than the canoe.

Spur of the Moment House Project

2011-06-26T19:37:00.000-07:00

So, we moved into our house about 10 years ago. As we looked around the house, we notice there was no insulation between the crawl space on the north end of our house and the upstairs (which is the master bedroom). We resolved that we would put in insulation in the next few months.

Ten years later, we finally got the job done. We had a few packs of leftover shingles from our roofing job and I wanted to store them in this crawl space (it's actually about 5 feet high when you first go in the access door, then it tapers down to about 3 feet). I thought about just setting the shingles on a raised piece of plywood and calling it good.

Justin Stapling

Well, I got a wild hair and told Denise I'm going to Home Depot to get some insulation. The crawl space had a bunch of garbage and cardboard and it stunk of moisture and moldy smells.

Paul Stuffing the Insulation

While I stuffed the insulation up between the joists, Justin and Nate took turns gathering scattered rocks, cleaning up some of the garbage and stapling the insulation in place.

Nate Stapling

I was impressed with the boys because Justin had just returned from an overnight 18 mile hike (getting ready for the 50-miler we're all going on in a few weeks). Nate had been busy with his lawn mowing business during the day.

But, they pitched in with minimal complaining and did a great job!

About 3 hours later, we spread out plastic sheeting to cover all the dirt and distributed rocks to hold it down. We put the shingles away and called it good then went for a refreshing swim!

Arborvitae Gone!

2011-06-25T22:07:00.000-07:00

We HAD a 20-foot tall bush on the northwest corner of our house that was getting a bit large and unruly. Denise wanted it trimmed and I convinced her that just taking it out was the best option.

I convinced Denise to take it out and we went to work. The location of the overgrown monster was convenient. It was right next to our driveway. I borrowed a flatbed trailer and rented a chainsaw and started cutting away.

The rental company warned us about the nasty wood we would be cutting through that is part of the arborvitae but the chainsaw worked great! We had the beast down within 10 minutes and with a little push from Denise, it fell right on the trailer (see the video).

Untitled from Paul Shoemaker on Vimeo.

We then tackled the stump. We dug out quite a bit of dirt and exposed the major roots. We cut them off with the chainsaw and then hooked the tow strap to the truck and a few tugs later it was out of the ground! The boys and I made a run to the dump and all we had left was a nice hole in the ground.

We may put a column water feature up or plant another tree or bush. We'll just have to see what strikes our fancy. Next project, paint the house!

Projects Around the House

2011-06-25T11:33:00.000-07:00

The rain has finally let up in the Tri-Cities and the sun is shining (most of the time). That means its time for projects around the house! When the rain started, we noticed our first ever leaky roof problem. We decided we put off the inevitable for too long so we bit the bullet and put a new roof on!

An experienced friend and his helper guided and helped us along the way. The shingles arrived on a large truck. The truck-mounted conveyer shuttled the shingle packs up to the roof where another worker distributed them across the roof.

We had a couple air compressors and roofing nail guns. We laid out the shingles and fastened them down, working from the bottom up.

Nate, Justin and I had fun running the nail guns. We all pitched in to get the job done. We were a little sore from walking sideways the whole time but it all turned out pretty well!

It took about a day and a half. Within two days the heaviest rainfall we've ever experienced in the Tri-Cities deluged our home. It was the ultimate test and the new roof passed with flying colors, not a drop inside!

Nate's Graduation 2011

2011-06-06T15:18:00.000-07:00

Friday night was quite an event as we celebrated the graduation of Nathaniel from Richland High School. The graduation ceremony was at the Toyota Center. That was the only place in town that would hold the 500 graduates plus the thousands of other family, friends and supporters.

Here's a brief video of Nathaniel.

The ceremony was okay though it was a little dry and boring at times (what graduations aren't?)

But Nathaniel seemed to be enjoying his time as he waited for his name to be called. Nate graduated as a member of the National Honor Society. He is also hoping to have his associates degree from Columbia Basin College in the next few weeks. After the graduation ceremony, we gathered outside for some pictures with family and friends.

Treasure Hunt on Badger Mountain

2011-06-06T12:58:00.000-07:00

We had a great time the other night for FHE on Badger Mountain. Even with the light drizzle, we enjoyed renewing old friendships with Lamar and Kristen Linde and their family.

We hiked to the top of Badger Mountain and went on an orienteering course I had laid out earlier in the day. Everyone seemed to have a good time working the compass, especially when we dug up the bag of treats at the end!

Go Bombers!

2011-06-06T12:51:00.000-07:00

Justin was getting a little wacky the other evening. He is in the support his high school team mode. So, he dressed up in his Richland Bomber attire and put on a show for us. He isn't really leaping that high in the picture below, its an optical illusion!

Easter

2011-06-06T12:41:00.000-07:00

In celebration of the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ, Nate and Justin (and mom and dad) colored eggs and Mindy hid them for the traditional easter egg hunt. Its cool how the teenaged young men still have fun with this holiday tradition! (they like the goody filled easter baskets too!)

Portland, Oregon Family Outing

2011-06-06T12:23:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long delay between blog postings. I'll try to get several updated entries posted. This is from the weekend of April 9, 2011.

We had tickets to see a Dave Ramsey show in Portland so we decided to make a family weekend of the outing. We got there and checked into our hotel in a suburb of Portland to the east that is close to the light rail system. Then, we headed to the Pittock Mansion on a hill overlooking the city.

The century old mansion, built by a newspaper magnate is an architectural masterpiece. Appointed with period furniture, it was a neat tour. Justin got to play the antique grand piano. The view from the 1000' high hill was spectacular so we took a few pictures.

The next day it was time to go see the Dave Ramsey event. Ramsey is a nationally famous radio host who focuses on "Financial Peace". I've listened to him for years and was excited when I heard he'd be coming out west as he is based near Nashville. We got to meet Dave and get this picture and enjoyed a great show.

It just so happened there was a bicycle show at the convention center the same weekend as Dave Ramsey, what a break! We had a great time seeing the bikes, bicyclists and accessories. The picture above shows Ryan Leech, he is a professional mountain biker and the things he can do on a bicycle are amazing, you can watch this video if you'd like to see his show.

Nate and I did a sprint race on these stationary bicycles.

We also had a chance to test ride some unique bikes.

After the bike show, we headed for the Saturday market in downtown Portland. We had fun browsing the vendor booths with lots of arts and crafts. One booth caught out attention as we each got to try out our "through the head" items.

The weather was a little gray but the rain held off, it was a great view along the Willamette River complete with street vendors like this silver painted guy juggling glass balls.

On the way home, we stopped at Multnomah Falls in the Columbia River Gorge. I had been here numerous times but had never hiked to the top to look down so we made the hike with a great view from the top! It was an enjoyable weekend!

The 5 S's

2011-02-06T18:22:00.000-08:00

Okay, what are the 5 S's? Shoemakers Ski and Snowboard Spout Springs! A great day on the mountain!

Yeah, the snow was icy and hard but it was still a bunch of fun! Justin, Nate and Paul headed to Spout Springs in Northeast Oregon early in the morning on Saturday. We got there behind a school bus so I was concerned it might be a little crowded. We got to the lodge rental area, Nate and Paul got skis and Justin got a snowboard. The timing worked out great as we rode down to the lift and were among the first ones riding up. This was the second time for both Justin and Nate and they picked right up where they left off last time and did great! After a few runs, we went on the bigger lift. We didn't realize we'd be heading down a very steep black diamond run as the other runs were closed. We slid down and went back to the big lift where we got directions to the "Pendleton" run. On our second time down that run, Paul decided he wanted a visit to the first-aid shack and did a face-plant into the icy snow.

Paul at the First-aid shack

After a little cleanup, we were back on the slopes. We put in many runs and the "crowds" we worried about never materialized. The temperature stayed below freezing so the "groomed" snow didn't get slushy. After noon, we got our lunch box and ate in the lodge then headed back to the hill. The clouds moved quickly across the sky throughout the afternoon but there was no precipitation. The boys continued to fine-tune their skills as we faced the challenge of hard, icy slopes. Justin was hoping to land a 360 off a small jump but, after multiple attempts, that will have to wait until next time. We ended up logging over 30 miles, you can see some of our tracks on the GPS Google Earth image. We got to the end of the day and the ski patrol had to shoo us off the hill! We got home safe, tired and a little bit sore! Hope you enjoy the video.

Nate Skis Bluewood with Grandma and Dad

2010-12-30T21:28:00.000-08:00

Today was Nate's chance to go skiing for the first time with Grandma Lin and dad at the Bluewood ski area near Dayton. Nathaniel was excited for the opportunity to hit the slopes. We arrived at Bluewood to a chilly day, the temperature hovering around 10 degrees. We got all geared up and bundled ourselves in layers and headed for the platter pull on the bunny hill. Nate did great without much instruction. Then it was time for a lesson to help him be successful. Grandma arrived and went down a few runs with dad then we watched as Nate finished up his lesson. We put in a few more runs then went to the lodge to warm up and eat our lunch. After lunch, we put in as many more runs as possible before closing time. Nate kept progressing each run. Although it was a cold day with some scattered snow showers, it was a great day. The mountain was pretty crowded with winter break traffic but the lift lines were short. Along the edges of all the runs was 3 or more feet of awesome, fluffy powder so we had a ball blasting the powder and by the end of the day we were hitting a few jumps too! We'll sleep well tonight! A great day!

Snowman (Snow family)

2010-12-30T21:14:00.000-08:00

Nate and Justin love snow. Dad's pretty fond of it too. So recent snowfall allowed us to work together to build a snowman. Then the idea kind of snowballed (sorry, bad pun!). We ended up with a snow family! It gathered quite a lot of attention from passers by. Some even stopped to take pictures. Alas, the above freezing temperatures have made this snow family a thing of the past (once there was a snowman...). But we have these pictures to remember them by.

Nate's Eagle Project.

2010-11-21T18:37:00.000-08:00

Project Video

Nate is working toward getting his Eagle Scout award and he's almost there!

His Eagle Scout Project is now complete and he's a little closer to acheiving Scouting's highest rank. His project was to replace some rotten bollards (posts) at Howard Amon Park near our home in Richland. The old bollards were made of railroad ties and were looking pretty sad. Nate worked with the City of Richland to get this all organized. He scheduled the project for November 20th. The city asked him to solicit donations for the project. He contacted a local PVC pipe company and arranged to have ALL of the pipe donated, we just had to pick it up and cut it.

Denise and Nate developed an assembly line and made pretty quick work of cutting the 6 inch, class 200, 20 foot pipes into 36, 5 foot pipes, ready for installation.

It started off a chilly 41 degrees so we made sure we had donuts and hot chocolate for the workers. The first order of business was to give instructions to the 35 volunteers who kindly showed up at 9 a.m.

The volunteers from the ward, seminary, school and family moved all of the old posts out of the way.

The new poles were marked at the 2 foot point and sunk in the ground. Some holes had to be dug out more, some had to be filled in. Then, the volunteers put bags of cement and some water and mixed it in the hole. Sharp eyes trued up the poles so they weren't tipping different directions.

Then, there was gravel to fill each pole. Dirt and more gravel finished off the pole and voila!

You've got yourself an Eagle Scout Project! The weather was too cool for painting but they'll be capped and painted at a future date.

Halloween Quiz! (An annual tradition)

2010-10-25T21:09:00.000-07:00

WAIT!

It's time for the annual halloween family jack 'o lantern quiz! Don't scroll down yet!

Don't Scroll down until you guess who carved which jack 'o lantern
Match these names to the proper creation: Justin, Mindy, Nate, Denise, Paul. Now, you can scroll down for the answers!

Happy Halloween!

Priest Lake Paradise

2010-08-05T12:39:00.000-07:00

Our family just finished a wonderful week enjoying the magic of Priest Lake in northern Idaho. The water was clear, warm and refreshing! We pulled our tent-trailer up and stayed at Luby Bay Campground. Spots are hard to get at the campground. We had reservations at two separate sites because there were no full week sites open. The morning we got there, I figured we'd try to get a first-come, first-serve spot so we didn't have to move mid-week. As we pulled in, a guy told us he just pulled out of #17 so we hustled over and staked our claim and got to stay in the same place all week long!

The best thing about Priest Lake is the water. We got plenty of play time in as it was just a short walk from our camp site to the beach. We also had the good fortune of a friend who loaned us 2 Waverunners and 2 kayaks for the week. We'll need to sell one of the kids to pay the gas bill but they were sure fun! We enjoyed going out to a couple of beaches on islands in the lake as day bases for our fun activities. We could relax and sun on the beach, play on the Waverunners, swim, kayak, snorkel, chase fish (we saw plenty), see critters (chipmunks, frogs, etc.),

We also had fun throwing Frisbees and jumping off a warning light pier! There's something about Priest Lake, it is so beautiful and relaxing and refreshing.

The moonlight swims were invigorating before bed.

One morning, Nate and I got up to watch the sunrise on the kayaks.

Denise and I celebrated our 26th anniversary with dinner at Hill's.

It was just an overall wonderful time spent with family. Each night, we had a rousing game of Wizard and we even managed a few hours helping on some remodeling at a friend's cabin! We wandered our way home with a stop at the formal gardens at Manito Park in Spokane.

Video

The video captures most of these things, sorry for the redundant narration and some shaky shots but hopefully you'll get the idea!

Scout Camp

2010-07-01T19:59:00.001-07:00

Well, I guess its the season for outdoor adventures and boy, howdy, did we have a doozy last week! Nate, Justin and I headed for the old classic Camp Fife early Monday morning with a total of 16 scouters! We were headed for an LDS Aaronic Priesthood Encampment. The fun started just a few miles up the road when one of Justin's friends lost his breakfast all over one of the vans (and on some of the other scouts, like Justin!). We got that cleaned up and got back on the road. I could only stay until Tuesday morning because I had to work Tuesday night. We got to camp in good time. We were worried about getting unloaded because they were cramming 1300 + scouts in a camp made to hold only 300! They did a pretty good job with setting everything up.

Nate, Austin (another priest in our ward), and I got through the tour and orientation then we strapped on our backpacks for what was supposed to be a 8.5-9.5 mile hike for an overnight priest adventure. It was a nice hike that was fairly steep to begin with as he headed out from Halfway Flats Campground. I was a little worried about the youth who were, in many cases without direct adult supervision, just working their way up the trail. Nate, Austin and I kept within eyesight of each other. We trudged up the trail with some beautiful vistas along the way. We were making good time (we thought) but then the trail seemed to be a little long.

We were getting ready to cross a rock slide area when we stopped and pulled out the GPS. It already showed 12.5 miles! We were told we'd come to a road that had a sign to follow down to a meadow but we couldn't find anything. We came across other hikers including President Libbert from the Pasco Stake and we decided to head on the same trail as it climbed fairly steeply and thought we might find some cell phone service (don't know what good that would have done!). Well, we got to the top of the rock slide and heard a yell. They had found the sign! Another mile down the road and we found the camp. We figure we covered at least 14 miles. There were roads into the site so they trucked in our food and porta potties. At least we got there in daylight as there were still about 100 priests and their leaders still unaccounted for as darkness fell. We had a good dinner, then had the awesome opportunity to hear from Bishop McPheters, also known as the Agent Bishop. At 67, he was one of the oldest to hike in with a pack on his back. He had some wonderful, spiritual and exciting stories of being a 4-time bishop and F.B.I. agent. Afterwards, in the dark, we pow-wowed to figure out what to do about the missing scouts and leaders. Some other stake leaders had gone out looking but it was difficult to make contact. Finally, we agreed it would be better to wait out those searchers instead of getting others lost.

We all offered to help if needed and headed for our tents.

Needless to say we slept well that night. From the ruckus, one group of scouts got into camp around midnight, and the rest about 2 a.m! We got up the next morning and got our tents, bags and stuff packed up. I got some grub and hit the trail to try and get home for a little sleep. The priests stuck around for some miscellaneous fun like hatchet throwing and some balancing games.

It was a wonderful hike out as the sky was clear and the previously cloud obscured Mount Rainier was in full view when I crested a ridge on the way out. It was a nice hike as I didn't see anyone except for 2 horsemen. I warned them about he 200+ scouts they would likely soon encounter! I enjoyed the beauty of the Cascades and ran across some sort of grouse protecting her chick.

I got back to the car and then drove to Camp Fife to see if the scout who was sick needed a ride home. Turns out he was gone already but I did see a bunch of backpacks and several priests who I recognized from the hike. I wondered what was going on! Turns out the leaders gave people the option of getting driven back to camp or hiking out without their backpacks. I guess I was one of the lucky ones to get the whole 28-mile experience with a full pack on my back! I've heard of marathoners getting black and blue toes and now, I know how they feel as both my middle toes got hammered in the hike.

Nate and Austin had a good time hiking back out. Nate had a good time the rest of the week at scout camp. He got to repel down a 100 foot cliff and go scuba diving, among other fun things. Justin, unfortunately, fell victim to the sickness that also hit 3 or 4 other scouts in our troop and he came home early but carved a really cool hiking staff.

V-Star Silverado Project Bike Comes Alive

2010-06-26T15:42:00.000-07:00

Its been almost two years in the making but the Yamaha XVS650ATR that has been sitting in the back of our garage has come alive! The main holdup was the engine. I got this bike with a blown engine from a guy who didn't want to pay the big repair bill. We saved up some money and had the time to finally find a good, used engine on eBay with only 10,000 miles. We did have Todd, at Yamaha Country go through the carburetors. We came to find out that was the easy part! There were several long hours and late nights figuring out where all the parts went. We cleaned up the bike from the frame up. Then, the whole family got in on the project. Shoehorning the replacement engine into the frame was quite a challenge. We used a rope from the rafters of the garage as a hoist. Denise, Paul and the sons all pried and slid and lifted and grunted and, after almost an hour we slid the engine onto the driveline and into the frame! We got all the wires and hoses and lines hooked up where we thought they should be. Then, to our neighbors chagrin, we wanted to try and fire it up at 10 p.m. without the exhaust just to see if it would run. Well, it fired up and we all said yippee! Then, we got the exhaust on the next day and did some finishing touches. We fired it up and took some rides around the neighborhood. Then, I took it into Todd to get some fine tuning. We had that done and now it runs like a top! It is a V-Star 650 Silverado and it came with the windshield, saddlebags, studded seats and bags and the backrest.

Rattlesnake Hike Lives up to it's Name

2010-05-07T09:01:00.000-07:00

Spencer and I decided to get a morning hike in yesterday. We headed up to the Rattlesnake Mountain area since he hadn't been there before. We started up a different trail which took us up a ravine. We wanted to get up on the hill so we ended up going cross country as the trail wasn't heading up the hill. On our way up, we came across the area's namesake, a Rattler. I just happened to look down as I was about to step on the snake and said whoa! and stepped aside. It didn't rattle to give us warning but appeared to be a little slow as it was a cool morning and seemed to be sunning itself to get a little warmed up. It did end up rattling a bit at us. We estimated it to be about a meter long.

We decided not to stick around but got this nice picture and continued up the hill.

Then, Spencer let out a whoa! and another snake was stretched out in front of him. This one appeared to be a bull or garter snake.

We got this picture and then headed up the hill.

We got to the top and looked over at Mount Adams and took in the vista. We took in the view of the Hanford site, Benton City, Prosser, the Horse Heaven Hills, the Tri-Cities, the rivers and more. There were plenty of wildflowers out too!

Up on top, we came across another critter, this small lizard.

It was kind of spiny and puffed up to try and look big but we held it and it seemed calm and non-threatening. A good hike of about 6.5 miles, a beautiful day!

New Badger Mountain Trail

2010-04-22T14:31:00.000-07:00

We took advantage of a nice evening the other day to take a family hike up Badger Mountain. News in the paper that morning said there was a newly opened trail and I hoped we'd come across it. We got on what I call the "Family Trail" at the park at the top of Shockley Road in Richland and started hiking. At the top of the first ridge was the sign directing us to the new trail! We headed off to the east and found a nice change of scenery as we followed the trail through the beautiful sagebrush. Of course, there were plenty of wildflowers. We followed the trail to the radio towers at the top of Badger Mountain and then we came back down the "Family Trail" making a loop of about 3.75 miles by my GPS. Here's an overlay of the GPS route on a Google Earth image. If you've never hiked up Badger Mountain, we encourage you to enjoy one of the wonderful things we have to enjoy here in the Tri-Cities. Just for your orientation, the image above is looking towards the southwest.

Spring Break Jaunt

2010-04-22T12:19:00.000-07:00

We were fortunate a few of my days off corresponded with the boys spring break so we took the chance to get away to play.
We started in Kellogg, Idaho at the Silver Mountain Resort. Its the same place we went last year, we enjoyed it so we went back. We stayed in a nice condo and played the first afternoon at the Silver Rapids indoor water park. It was a lot of fun. It isn't that big (compared to Silverwood or Roaring Springs) but you may have guessed I love to play in the water so it was still a blast.
We had fun squirting other unsuspecting people on the kiddie play structure (probably our favorite thing to do, even if the lifeguards give us a few stares!). We also had fun on the family tube ride, basketball area, lazy river and so on. Justin and I had a good time on the Flowrider. The Flowrider is an artificial wave machine you can board or surf on. The first video has a few seconds of us each on the water.

Silver Rapids Flowrider

The next night, we headed for Spokane. We found a decent hotel and just kind of relaxed. We enjoyed a dinner out at Chili's and we got a little bit of a scare as we weren't sure where the car was parked when we got done (I was wondering if it was stolen!). Turns out, we were just a block off on our calculations (I should have had my GPS).

The next day, we explored Spokane. Though we lived here for about a year when we were first married (we liked living in Spokane), we didn't enjoy all the activities available. We had a good time at the IMAX theater watching Hubble. A fascinating movie with amazing pictures (even though it was only 2D). We wandered around Riverfront Park a little and took a spin on the carousel. We actually got snowed on and hailed on for a few minutes but it didn't dampen our spirits.

We also went to Manito Park, just a block from where we lived. Denise had us turn up one road and we found the beautiful Gaiser Conservatory. Watch this video and it starts out with the green house which has color galore. Vibrant reds, purples, yellows. There's a neat, small tree called a "bottle brush" tree that actually has red blooms that look like bottle brushes. There was a living, plant, Easter Bunny (for the season). Then, watch for the cactus green house with prickly plants from all over the world!

Gaiser Conservatory

On our journey home, we wandered through the Channeled Scablands of eastern Washington. In the middle of nowhere, we stopped off at Palouse Falls. A beautiful waterfall that was running strong with the spring runoff. We wanted to take a hike so we ventured up river and got above the big falls.

Upper Palouse Falls

There we found some more falls and hiked out to the point above the big falls. We hope you enjoy our pictures and videos just as we enjoyed our spring break trip!

Palouse Falls

Badger Mountain Springtime Flowers!

2010-04-21T16:59:00.000-07:00

Well, the desert is really blooming and I coaxed the family up the steep trail to look at the beautiful colors before the summer dries up Badger Mountain. It was a little windy (see the grass picture) but we had a great hike. I'm not sure of all the names of these flowers but I hope you enjoy them. The trail is from the Country Ridge area of Richland. It's a steep trail, that's why I like it. It gives me a good workout. Normal time to the top is 18 minutes or so. I hope to improve my times throughout the year. Enjoy the flower pictures and I included a Google Earth overlay of my GPS route. If you know the area, you'll see how outdated the image is as there are several homes now in the trailhead area.

Magnolia Picture

2010-03-23T18:53:00.001-07:00

The Magnolia is flowering and that can mean only one thing, it's time for the annual family picture! We are missing one important family member but we know Spencer is in the right place serving in Mexico! From left to right: Mindy (with rescued cat Riley), Paul, Justin, Denise, Nate. Enjoy! All our love to you!

New Mountain Bike Ride

2010-03-23T18:46:00.000-07:00

I decided to check out a new mountain bike riding area I've heard of over the years. It's out by the State Patrol office near I-82 (you can see the office on the middle left edge of the Google Earth image). It was a neat riding area with lots of single-track trails. The main ascending trail has lots of jumps and stunt areas (I stayed clear of those and another hospital trip!) Then, you are on the top side in the bottom of the picture and you can go down any of several trails. It's a nice, semi-gradual ride to the top then you can blast back down any of the down runs. I also rode up a neighboring hill then back down, a nice run through the desert sagebrush!

Rattlesnake Composite

2010-03-23T18:42:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple of new perspectives on the Rattlesnake hikes we've taken. I took Nate and Justin with me the other day and we hiked about 8 miles. You can see my first two hikes and the lengthier one with the boys all on the same map for comparison. We may go out and spend the night out there later this week so look for more posts! See Ya!

Rattlesnake Revisited

2010-03-11T08:11:00.000-08:00

Two days later, I was back on the Rattlesnake Natural Preserve. I wanted to explore the area more. I went to the top of the hill for a great view over the other side to Benton City, the Horse Heaven Hills, Mount Adams and the Lower Yakima Valley. On my way back down, I ventured over to the gulley and hiked it back with beautiful rock formations. I flushed out several sage birds along the way. I so enjoy the chance to see all the beauty that is here in the desert. It is nice to just be able to walk and watch and get exercise. You can see my path from the trailhead on the map picture. I also wanted to share some of the pictures I took. I hope you enjoy them and get a little taste of this beautiful area. Paul.

New Hike on Rattlesnake

2010-03-08T13:00:00.000-08:00

I decided to take a new hike today at the Rattlesnake Mountain Recreational Preserve. I set out from the trailhead on the highway just outside of Benton City, about 15 miles from home. It was a nice, quiet hike, only saw one other person (with his dogs). I hiked in about 3 miles to some burned out trees that would make a nice camp site for a scout outing. There was a Rattlesnake Mountain foothill to the south that would be nice to hike up on a day when I had more time. Some interesting looking rocky canyons to explore, beautiful desert wildflowers are starting to bloom. I even came across a geological survey marker. Definitely a place for future visits with an overnight pack on my back.

Skiing Bluewood

2010-03-08T12:01:00.000-08:00

Well, it was a beautiful day Saturday for a ski trip to Bluewood, just half an hour up the road from Grandma Lin's house. Justin and I got there bright and early and got our lift tickets and Justin's snowboard lesson set up. Grandma showed up too and we hit the slopes. We rode up the platter pull a few times to get Justin a feel for the board. His first run, he wasn't sure how to stop so it was Banzai down the hill with a hard tumble as the slowing down method. Once he recovered from getting his wind knocked out, he was ready to go back up. I gave him a few pointers (the old snowboard pro I am!) and he remembered to keep his leading edge up and did great from then on. Then Justin went to his lesson and Grandma Lin and I got in a few runs on the Skyline lift (the green runs) and the Triple Nickel. Its the first time I'd been to Bluewood and it was really enjoyable. Sunshine all day! After Justin's lesson his instructor said he was "carving and shredding" already (and she doesn't give out those complements that easily). We all went up and down several times, Justin kept improving on every run. I took one tumble and banged my head but all was okay. We took a quick break for lunch and it was back on the slopes. Grandma headed home mid-afternoon and Justin and I put in multiple additional runs up Skyline and Triple Nickel. The snow was melting and it got a little slushy but still a lot of fun. You can check out the video and pictures. Thanks to everyone for a great day!

Justin's First Wrestling Match

2010-01-22T16:48:00.000-08:00

Justin had his first wrestling match ever yesterday at Desert Hills Middle School in Kennewick. He is wrestling at 127 lbs. He has been learning some moves in practice and used some of them in his match. He did really well. Here's video of the match. Uncle Matt, any pointers?

Back to Badger

2010-01-06T21:29:00.000-08:00

It's been a month or two since I've hiked up my favorite local hill. This morning seemed as good a time as ever. When I hatched the idea, I realized I might even get to enjoy the sunrise. I hustled to the trailhead and headed up, I was not disappointed. It is amazing the beauty of the shades of brown on the desert hill with dried up grasses and sagebrush. As I hiked up, I kept glancing at the sky to the East as it started to glow.
My heart was beating strong in my chest. The cold wind nipped at my exposed nose. I knew every turn as I'd been on this hill a hundred times before. But it was still an exhilarating adventure. I knew I'd pay for it for the next few days with stiff, sore legs that were out of hiking practice. But I set a goal to be on top at least twice a week this year. I only saw two other sets of footprints and one was actually pawprints from man's best friend. No one was in sight this morning and this trail isn't too busy this time of year. As I kept inching higher, the sky grew brighter. A look at my watch showed I was on my normal pace to the top of 19 minutes. As I reached the top, the sun shone bright in my face. I walked around a little on top, then headed back down. I snapped these pictures on the way down and remembered and felt the familiar gratitude for the beauty we are blessed with, even in the desert. Hopefully, within a few weeks, my legs will be used to this and I'll tackle the hardest trail. The late Sir Edmund Hillary would probably scoff at my "adventure" but it's something to me and I'll keep enjoying Badger Mountain.

Polar Bear Plunge, 2010

2010-01-01T15:54:00.000-08:00

Well, everyone is alright and safe. We had a great, quick swim in the Columbia River today to mark the New Year holiday. It's an annual tradition. This year, we had about 24 swimmers (probably more people cheering us on along the bank!)

The Weather

Though we're only in the water about 12 seconds, the fingers, toes and ears got pretty chilly! The water temperature was about 36 degrees, air temperature about 34. We were blessed to have the sunshine come out for the event.

The Course

We swam from the Lee Blvd. dock to shore in the Columbia River. Nate, Justin and I all did the swim. Denise was cheering and video recording the event. It was a fun event and we look forward to more enjoyment of our beautiful Columbia River (especially when the water and air warm up a bit!)

Watch The Video

Christmas, 2009

2010-01-01T15:49:00.000-08:00

Our genuine and sincere thanks to all who shared our home this Christmas. We truly appreciate the good times we had and want you all to know how much we love you!

Trip to the Zoo

2010-01-01T14:48:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, before Thanksgiving, Nate, Justin and I took a quick trip to see the animals at the Woodland Park Zoo. We went over Friday night and stayed in an older hotel near Seattle Center. We got up the next morning at went to the world's largest REI store. We found a few goodies and drooled over the outdoor selection. It was pretty busy because of a big sale they have going on. They even have a neat climbing pinnacle in the store, billed as the tallest free-standing climbing wall in the world. It was by reservation only so we promised a return trip! Then, we made our way through town to the zoo. It was a neat adventure as we didn't even know it was turkey feed day! Many of the animals (like the leopard and komodo dragon) got to eat their own turkey feast.
We also saw tigers, bears, bugs, giraffes, etc, etc.

The Penguin exhibit was pretty cool, they were getting fed when we were there (no turkeys though)

It finally got dark and kind of deserted so we decided to get going, I think we were some of the last people to leave. We also had the chance to stop by and visit Amy and Mindy (thanks for letting us drop in, it was great to see you).

Christmas Tree and the Princess and the Pea

2010-01-01T14:08:00.000-08:00

We had a great time combining our annual family traditional Christmas tree trek with a play at the Dayton theater with family. We drove up to the Bluewood area in the morning and got parked then hiked up the hill (way up!) We got to the top to find sunshine and ice crusted snow that was great for cutting out snow blocks as Justin and Nate built forts. The view from the mountain was beautiful as we looked down over the Bluewood Ski area.
Denise and I hiked up further and over the top to find a wonderful tree, the trouble was the drifted snow was so deep, Nate and I had drag the tree back up the hill, tugging at it, heave-ho style a foot at a time 'til we reached the top!
It was a wonderful adventure, especially as the tree dragged us back down the hill to the car! Then, we drove back into Dayton to meet Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Liz and Uncle Dan for the community theater production of "Once Upon a Mattress" A humorous rendition of the fairy tale The Princess and the Pea.

It was a neat, intimate venue with good local talent. We finished up with a great dinner at Grandpa and Grandpa's house. It was a great day and we got home exhausted!

Denise with one of the characters

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the wonderful time!

Justin Runs with Sarah Palin, Nate Runs with Santa

2010-01-01T13:20:00.001-08:00

Justin and Nate had some fun runs a few weeks ago. Sorry its been awhile since we've updated the blog. A good activity for a quiet New Year's Day (Happy New Year!). Justin ran a 5K on the morning of November 25th (Thanksgiving Day). We had a little surprise in the Tri-Cities as former Vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin decided to come to Richland to spend Thanksgiving with her sister's family. She signed "Going Rogue" at a local bookstore and thousands turned out for that. Justin and Denise went to the run in Columbia Park along the river. You can see Justin in the red shirt as he gets started. He had a fun run finishing the 5K in 21:49! A few weeks later, Nate wanted to run in the Jingle Bell Run sponsored by the hospital where I work. It was another 5K that covered the same course I ran for the triathlon in the summer only it was much cooler! Nate won a prize for having the fastest time in the 17 and younger males. He had a good run and a good time too! Here's a video of both events. We hope you enjoy it! Love, Paul

Happy Halloween Quiz!

2009-10-29T21:23:00.000-07:00

Are you ready?

It's time for the annual Shoemaker family Jack-O-Lantern contest. Yes, we're sad there are only 4 pumpkins to choose from, that should improve your odds of matching the right one to the right family member.

Don't Scroll Down Yet!

How'd Ya Do?!!!

Justin Runs Too!

2009-10-06T11:01:00.000-07:00

You probably all knew Nate loves to run. Well, Justin is following in his footsteps as a member of the 8th grade cross-country team at Carmichael Middle School. Justin has made some great strides improving his finishes each meet he runs.

The last meet was at Horse Heaven Middle School in Kennewick. Justin finished in 14:59, beating his previous best time by almost a minute. Here's a quick video of Justin at the finish lines and a couple of pictures.

Stake Standards Night

2009-10-06T10:42:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, we helped with a youth event in our stake. It was a stake standards night modeled after the T.V. show, American Idol. Complete with our own "Ryan Seacrest", Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell. It was a lot of fun as youth acted out good and bad choices based on principles outlined in the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet (see more about the "For the Strength of Youth" pamphlet here). Nate was on the committee that helped organize the show. He volunteered dad to help with some "commercials" that played during breaks in the evening's performances.

The first video was a promotion that played at mutual in the wards in the weeks before the event and the other videos are the "commercials". The youth came up with some fun ideas, hope you enjoy!

What's in Your Wallet?

Dirty Mouth?

Can You Hear Me Now?

McMutual

McMissionary

Nate's Homecoming

2009-10-05T11:35:00.000-07:00

Nate's First Date!

Nate had a great time at homecoming on his first date! He went with Mindy Strong and 3 other couples. Here's a bit of Nate's account of the night:

So, we started at Conner Robertson's house and went to pick up our dates. We took several pictures at each house and then went to Zach's house for dinner. We had salad and lasagna and had to say crazy catch phrases during the meal that triggered other people to say or do crazy things. It was quite embarrassing but funny. I had to say to my date "would you like some more bread" everytime someone else said "I love this meal". My date's catch phrase was "I love this meal" which was triggered by other people's phrases! and so on. It was fun! Then, we left for the dance and waited in line FOREVER to get pictures. Then we went into the dance room, or whatever you call it, and "danced the night away" (another catch phrase from dinner). We had a fun time, but there weren't enough slow songs and the music was way too loud! We couldn't even hear what each other was saying. So, we went to the parking lot at Columbia Point and danced to slow songs on the car radio for a while. Then, we came to our house and had desert (mom's famous pretzel jello, a big hit!)

and played games until we dropped! Then, dad took me and my date home and the others took their dates home. I think we all had a fantastic time, even me on my first date! Don't ask about the homecoming football game (a wipeout).

2009-09-21T11:50:00.000-07:00

We made a nice trip to Silverwood our last adventure of the summer. We headed out on a Wednesday morning pulling the tent trailer bound for northern Idaho. We first headed for Pullman to stop at the hospital and see Grandpa Charlie at the hospital as he was there recovering from knee replacement surgery. We had a nice visit at the hospital and then headed toward Moscow and up Highway 95. Somewhere on the pass near Potlatch, I noticed the truck was working a bit harder than usual to pull the trailer up a hill, I glanced in the rear-view mirror to see blue smoke billowing out of the left trailer tire well! We pulled off to a logging road and quickly had a logging semi come barrelling by! Fortunately, we had a spare on the back of the trailer and it still had air in it. We got out the jack and started working. A nice logging maintenance guy (he called himself Elmo) stopped and offered to help, which we gladly accepted as he was a little dirtier than we were. I thought we were on NASCAR pit stop pace when we went to start the truck and it wouldn't cooperate. Vapor lock I thought in my novice mechanical mind "if we just wait awhile, it will start". Plenty of prayers were said by all. The battery seemed to be getting tired of cranking. Then, I walked over and asked Elmo if he would give us a jump. Voila! the T100 cranked back to life and we were on our way. We wandered our way to our campground and got all set up for a good nights sleep. We got up the next morning and went to play at Silverwood. We rode the rides. The video shows us on Panic Plunge. Denise, Nate and Justin braved the Super Round-up (you won't get me on that!) We also rode the hot new roller-coaster called Aftershock and many more rides. We enjoyed the magic show in the theater, then we headed for the waterpark in the afternoon. Of course, my favorite place was Polliwog Park kiddie area where I manned the sprayer hoses and soaked many unsuspecting people (I do have a devious side!).

After the waterpark area closed, we ventured back out to the rides. Nate and Justin rode Aftershock several more times (if you turn your head right, you can see them in the front seats in the picture below)

We finally called it quits when the park closed and we were plenty tired out.

We headed back for the trailer for a good night's sleep. We wandered our way home Saturday with plans to get back for the ward dutch oven potluck at Sacajawea Park. We were 10 minutes away when we all heard a loud explosion from behind us. The other tire on the trailer blew out (and our spare was already used)! We pulled off to a corn field along the road and unhitched the trailer. I knew we needed to find a tire and couldn't leave the trailer there or it might disappear. We left Nate and Denise with the trailer and Justin and I went on our search. We went into town, all the tire stores are closed an Saturday evening! I thought, truck stops are open 24-hours! I never knew how seedy truck stops are! Their tire stores are closed on Saturday night too! Then, I remembered a couple of trailer tire/wheel combos we had on the tire rack at Yamaha Country! I called Curt and went and checked, Wrong Size! Curt suggested I try Wal*Mart and we found one! Two hours later, we were back on the road, as we headed home, we were passed by a few ward members heading home from the potluck, oh well. Denise and Nate had a little scare while waiting. They were on the edge of a corn field with circle irrigation. The circle line came around and started heading for the trailer. They said some prayers and the line went by safely (the trailer got soaked) but all were okay. Just a few hiccups along the way but a great trip otherwise!

Surfing Moses Lake

2009-09-18T10:19:00.001-07:00

Maybe you never knew you could hang ten in Moses Lake! Yes, there are waves to be caught in this desert town. We decided to take some free time before summer was over to go play at the waterpark in Moses Lake. There's a large pool with diving boards, some small water slides, a few other water attractions, a lazy river to relax in and the Flowrider!

Flowrider!

Flowrider is an artificial surfing machine. Justin spent most of his day on the Flowrider, trying to learn to stand up on a board. Paul tried to stand but quickly found that would likely have to be saved for another life and he stuck with the body boarding. Nate wowed everyone with his diving skills. Denise cheered everyone on while taking pictures, video and relaxing. The boys liked it so much, they talked Denise into taking them again the next week!

Oregon Butte

2009-09-13T08:14:00.000-07:00

As if the Priest Lake summer trip wasn't enough, we decided to head for the mountains on a small backpacking trip when we got back. We headed out on August 3rd from the Teepee Trailhead in the Blue Mountains south of Dayton. We loaded our packs on our backs and started up the trail. We got to the primitive campsite within an hour and a half. (with a lesson learned by Justin to wear at least ankle socks, not foot socks so as to prevent blisters!) There is a spring just a quarter mile from the campsite for our water needs. There was another hiker at the trailhead so we tried to keep a steady pace to get to the campsite and stake our claim. We've been there twice before and it is a nice setup among the trees with a great view out our backdoor over the Blue Mountains.

Fire Lookout

Oregon Butte is the highest point in the Blues. At the top is a fire lookout that is staffed during the summer. We went to the lookout and met the lady who lives there for 3 months, alone, during fire season. I think it takes a different personality to live in that kind of situation. She was very nice to have us inside to see the firewatch equipment and the boys even helped with some meteorological measurements. The sunset from the lookout was beautiful. We also went on a day hike on Tuesday. We had tried to find another spring on a previous trip but were unsuccessful. We got better directions from the lookout lady. We headed out, through some thick brush that was fed by springs. We even found huckleberries along the trail (Nate spotted those). The boys favorite pasttime on the trip was rolling rocks down the hill. They would really gather a lot of speed! We hiked along the trail and got to an area where the skeleton of an elk camp was located.
On our way back from the day hike, we heard some loud rustling just down the hill from the trail. I figured the boys had just rolled another rock but, when I turned and looked, I saw a large bear high-tailing it away from us. It was a big, golden-brown colored bear. Nate saw it too but Justin and Cade had to take our word for it. We decided to take a bit tougher route on the way back to camp. It took us up this jagged, rocky ridgetop that put us back at the fire lookout. From there, it was about a half mile back to camp. We had a good time enjoying the great outdoors. On our drive out of the mountains, a large deer bounded across the road in front of us. It was about a 5 point with velvet antlers! Hope you enjoy the pictures and video!

Video

Untitled from Paul Shoemaker on Vimeo.

Priest Lake Summer Vacation

2009-09-09T16:46:00.001-07:00

Time for another late posting but better late than never! We enjoyed our summer family vacation at Priest Lake in northern Idaho. We had the wonderful opportunity to stay there from July 25-August 1. We stayed at a friend's cabin and had a glorious time.

On Priest RiverThe cabin is on Priest River, only about 100 feet from the outlet from Priest Lake so you can hardly tell the river is moving. It is more of a reservoir as it is backed up from a dam and there are several homes along the river. There is grass off the cabin porch and then, the water. It is really magical as you can walk right out into the water that is so clear and beautiful. We all spent hours each day in the water swimming with the fish with our swim goggles and snorkels. Nate and Justin really enjoyed the water too!

Huckleberries!
We took the opportunity for a family outing to the huckleberry patch as we heard it was a good year for picking! We found an abundant supply and spent an hour and ended up with about a gallon of the luscious fruit! We also had purple hands but the it was all worth it for the yummy treat. We enjoyed some as we picked, when we got back to the cabin and then we froze most of them. We're still enjoying them more than a month later in our morning cereal and in huckleberry milkshakes
!

Enjoying the Lake!The friend who owns the cabin was gracious enough to let us borrow her Waverunners too! We took them out to Four-Mile Island and dropped anchor for lunch on the beach. We had fun exploring the island a just swimming around. We also went to Papoose Island and ran into a large school of fish to swim with. It really is neat how clear the water is. You can see over 20 feet down! We also got to use a kayak to enjoy the water. One morning, I was paddling around, waiting for sunrise when I noticed a little critter in the kayak. I looked down and there was a mouse! He wandered around the kayak and finally jumped up on the forward seat and jumped into the water and swam ashore (more than 50 feet away!) I was surprised at how well he swam!

We also had fun on the lake thanks to some other friends. When we went to church on Sunday, we saw my boss from the hospital and his family come in to sacrament meeting. We came to find out they have a cabin in the same development as the place we were staying! He invited us to come out on their boat and do some wakeboarding. Well, the boys (including dad) were all over that idea. We caught up with them one day and had a blast on the board. We also did some knee boarding. Another neat experience was running into an old friend from the Sunnyside area at church. We were just getting done with sacrament meeting and I told Denise that Brother Bailey was sitting right in front of us. I spoke his name and there was no response. I was sure it was him so I went up to him and said hello again and introduced myself whereupon I was greeted with a big bear hug! We renewed acquaintances and had a nice visit.

Celebrating Twenty-Five Years!

What a wonderful place to celebrate and anniversary! Denise and I are blessed to have spent 25 years together. We went to dinner July 28 at Hill's Resort. I don't usually get to fancy with eating out but I think this was an occasion worth celebrating so I enjoyed a filet mignon wrapped in bacon and Denise had the stuffed top sirloin. We had a great table looking out on the lake and we sat there and made googley eyes at each other.

stormy weatherWe had a couple of thunderstorms that blew through during our week at the lake. One was at night and gave us a nice lightning show (see the video). The other was during the day and actually resulted in a tornado warning for our area! There was no tornado actually spotted but lots of downed trees including this one that came down on a cabin at Hill's resort. We saw it when we were at dinner.

The Great OutdoorsNo trip to Priest Lake would be complete without some more enjoyment of the great outdoors on the trails. I brought my bike and took several trips. One trail goes right along the bank of the lake for several miles north from the cabin. Another trail goes through lush forest areas and up on a mountain with wonderful views of the lake and surrounding forest.

Elder Shoemaker is in Mexico!

2009-08-11T09:06:00.001-07:00

He made it! Elder Shoemaker is now in Mexico on his mission. He was ready to get going and on to the field from the MTC. He was scheduled to leave July 6. He was delayed a little with visa processing. He got to travel on July 17. First to Dallas, then to Mexico City, then to Tampico, Mexico. He was planning on calling us in Mexico City during a layover but the calling card wouldn't work! Mom was getting a little nervous so she called church offices and then called the mission home in Tampico. She had to leave a message, the recording was in Spanish so she just waited for the beep. Sister Call called back a little later and confirmed Spencer got there okay. He was sleeping the night in the mission home and Denise asked to talk with him. We had a brief conversation as he was awoken from sleep and sounded tired.

Elder Shoemaker reports he is doing great and loving the people he is serving. He is teaching the gospel and has a companion from Mexico.
He says it is HOT there.
He is in the town of Gutierrez de Zamorra, Veracruz. He got to hold a live armadillo. He got to eat chicken feet with the locals. He had to wash his laundry by hand and said he never had so much fun doing laundry. He also has only cold showers but he says it is a relief when he's drenched in sweat. Elder Shoemaker is a great example to us with his diligence and service to the people in Mexico. His positive attitude is so wonderful and he says he is loving his time in Mexico. These are some of the pictures he sent.

Summer Camps

2009-08-10T20:31:00.000-07:00

Nate and Justin each had fun weeks at summer camps. Nate went to cross-country camp up at White Pass. Here are his remarks:

XC Camp

Cross County camp was awesome, I got about 46 miles in at camp! We were at White Pass ski Resort up in the mountains which made it a whole lot harder to run. We were split into groups with random kids at camp and had counselers for each group.

As groups we played camp games every night, and my group got first in Jenga Championships. We also had lectures twice a day that we learned lots of things that you can learn no where else. We still did lots of running, the hardest run for me was running up the black diamond trails on white pass to the top and back, but the view was worth it. Our longest run was called Yellowjacket it was a 7.5 mile loop uphill half the way. One night we had pool games and one thing we did was fit a person from camp in a swim cap! It really works. For awards are richland guys team got the outstanding team award. Anways I enjoyed camp alot and had lots of fun.

Camp Grizzly
Justin spent a week at Camp Grizzly for scout camp. Camp Grizzly is the same place Grandpa Charlie attended when he was a boy scout. Here are Justin's thoughts on scout camp.

We left at Monday morning about 6:00am and got there at about 10:30. After that we got to take our swim tests. That first days schedule was all mixed up so we went to the classes we wanted.
After a couple days I started to go mountain biking and had a blast. Two other friends did it with me. The first ride I went on was a couple miles up a dirt road then we turned around. On that ride i got in one wreck and someone else got a concussion.
The next day two friends and i went on an over night bike ride that was about 13 miles on the way up and the same amount back. On the way up about 7.5 of the 13 miles was up hill. i also got in a wreck on that bike ride. I was the third one up to the top behind the leader and someone many years older than me. Me and my two friends slept under a huge lookout tower. The merit badges that I got were canoeing, rowing and rifle shooting. I had a blast at all of these. In canoeing and rowing we got to flip our boats in the middle of the lake. Another merit badge i already had but did it again was wilderness survival. We got to build a shelter and sleep in it over night. Any ways thats all i have to say.

Fishing Success

2009-08-09T20:23:00.000-07:00

On July 13 and 14 we had a fun fishing outing near Dayton with grandma and grandpa. We stayed the night at a couple of nice cabins at the Last Resort up the Tucannon River Valley. Nate and Justin got to get up close and personal with a gigantic wind turbine that is on the highlands above the Tucannon.

The cabins were nice and clean with kitchenettes and amenities. We had a family dinner and then got in some good Zs. The next morning we headed for the Tucannon Lakes.

We ended up at Rainbow Lake.

We tried to figure out the best bait, fishing tackle setup.

Turns out good old worms were a good formula for getting some action. Nate was excited to be able to catch 4 fish, Justin caught 2, all trout.

There was enough action going on that it kept everyone interested for most of the day!

Nate and Justin ended up taking a quick dip in the water.

Denise was a stalwart fisherwoman and we finally had to pull her away from the bank without hooking the elusive big one. It was a lot of fun.

Thanks grandma and grandpa for a great time!

Triathlon

2009-08-09T19:27:00.000-07:00

Well, it took me a couple of years but I was able to realize a long-held goal of participating in a sporting event which pushes the body to be fairly fit. It was neat because it was held on Independence Day. I was able to complete the Righteous Richland Triathlon. This is not a full triathlon, rather a sprint triathlon. Nevertheless, it was a challenge and a lot of fun to participate with over two-hundred others. The course started at the park along the Columbia River where I frequently go to swim for exercise. You can see a course map here. We climbed in the water for a half-mile swim starting the course around 8 a.m. I hustled out of the water about 15 minutes later, up the bank to the bicycle staging area. I tried to dry a little as I went and got on my socks and shoes and shirt, gloves and helmet. Denise, Nate and Justin were there to cheer me on.

Will Halter, A friend from my ward was also there participating.

I also ran across an old acquaintance from Sunnyside, John Kilian. We hung out a little and reminisced a bit pre and post race.

Back to the story, I climbed on my bike wearing my Speedo and shirt and got going (yes, a Speedo. I NEVER thought I'd wear one but the experts said it was the way to go to make for a quick transition. Thus, avoiding chafing of a wet swimsuit. You'll see it looks like I'm wearing no bottoms but I do have the Speedo on.).

This "sprint" triathlon was unique in that the bicycle section was on mountain bikes. We traversed a 12 mile course, again over familiar territory on single and double track trails through the Chamna Natural Preserve. Chamna is a lush, beatiful area that is about 5 minutes from our house by bike. It is right along the Yakima River and is bordered on the north by Interstate 182. It seems kind of out of place when you think about this area right in the middle of town.

This is a satellite image of the Chamna area.

This section was marked out ahead of time and I pre-rode the course 4 times before race day. We got back to the staging area and switched to the 3 mile run. This was my weakest section as I hadn't run in years. Swimming and biking were pretty strong but I didn't even think I could run the whole course, especially because of plantar fasciitis in my right foot. I pushed on and, surprisingly, jogged 95% of the final leg. I crossed the finish line around 1:27:44. Most importantly, I FINISHED! and, I didn't have any next day soreness that I expected. Thanks to all those who provided support!

Priest Lake Summer Vacation

2009-08-09T13:04:00.001-07:00

Seattle Serendipity

2009-08-06T16:51:00.001-07:00

It just so happens Amy and Mindy wanted Nate to come visit for a few days in June. Coincidentally, I signed up for an NCLEX (nursing) board exam prep course the week of June 22-26 and voila, a plan was hatched!

We had the good fortune of staying at Mindy's pad which is only a 15 minute bike ride to the U District where my prep course was held. I had a great time riding my bike along the Burke-Gilman trail most of the way to the class. I rode the trail along the Ballard canal and part of Lake Union on the way. Lots of bikers and walkers but actually faster than the bus or driving a car. Nate had a great time with Amy and Mindy. He got to kayak on the lake, go to Pike's Place Market,

Visit to Theo's chocolate factory, bike ride to Fremont, Seattle Library, went to the movie "Up", whew! We all got to go to a Mariner's game (I don't think I've been to a game yet where they've won, I must jinx them!).

We also visited Ballard Locks and Golden Gardens beach. Amy was nice enough to take us to dinner to celebrate my graduation, good stuff! All in all, a great time and I even absorbed some information to help with my test. Thanks for the great time Amy and Mindy!

School's Out!

2009-08-06T10:34:00.001-07:00

Well, it has been a fun journey. 3 years of regular schooling working toward a nursing degree.

I can't go any further without thanking everyone who has helped me along the way. Not only with encouragement and other supportive resources but with prayer and wisdom which helped keep me going.

It all culminated in a graduation from CBC and a pinning ceremony for the nursing program. I graduated with several hundred other students with an associate's degree in nursing on Friday, June 19, 2009. We waited in the hot hallways under the coliseum for our time to march to our seats. With Pomp and Circumstance playing on the bagpipes, we were ushered in, two by two. We packed into the Toyota Center in Kennewick. I got to sit near many of my classmates. Some chose not to attend the general graduation. It was a nice ceremony. Speakers talked of making the best of the life ahead. Then, we all walked on stage to get our diploma cases.

Then, the next day was the pinning ceremony for the nursing program. It was in a packed auditorium at Kennewick High School. It probably meant more for me because these 50 or so people were the ones I spent the last few years with going through theory and clinical experiences. Denise, Mom, Nate, Justin and even Aunt Liz were there for pinning. Then, Liz treated us to a nice dinner afterwards. Now, its on to the big test to hopefully pass the NCLEX exam and become a Registered Nurse!

Camp Zarahemla

2009-08-06T06:28:00.000-07:00

In late May, we took our first family outing without Spencer along (sniffle). We miss him dearly but know he is in a wonderful place doing the Lord's work and enjoying his opportunity to serve others.

We traveled to Camp Zarahemla near White Pass. The week before, Paul, Nate & Justin went there for father & son's campout. We decided to pull our tent trailer up there and got a great spot along Clear Lake. We went canoeing on the lake and up the Tieton River that feeds into the lake. The water was still a bit cold but Paul and Nate took the plunge off the rope swing. Nate and Justin built a mud hut out of sticks, branches and mud. We also took a nice bike ride around the lake and stopped at the dam to see the water rushing by and, of course, throw some rocks (I believe that is something that is just bred into young men!) Denise also got a chance to see the lodge at Camp Zarahemla. She is hosting a women's retreat there in the fall and we got some video to show what the lodge is like.

Lodge Video

Elder Shoemaker

2009-08-05T21:33:00.000-07:00

So sorry for the delay! I am so behind but I am trying to catch up on the blog postings. Please check back regularly as I work to do more regular postings and catch up on the past couple of months! Life in the Shoemaker home has been busy the past couple of months as you watch these postings progress over the gap in time!

Our biggest news is the mission of our oldest son, Spencer. Denise, Paul and Spencer headed for Provo, Utah and the M.T.C. on May 4. We spent the night in Twin Falls and saw the beautiful new temple there. Then, we got to spend the night of May 5 with Uncle Matt and Aunt Keri and their family. It was a wonder trip as we got up early on May 6 and said our goodbyes. We went to the M.T.C. and, before we knew it, we were unloading the luggage and getting whisked into the facility. Denise and Spencer (uh, Elder Shoemaker, I need to remember that!), got out and put his luggage in a big row. We took some pictures out front, then, Elder Shoemaker was escorted in one door and we went in another. Elder Shoemaker got his name take and mom got to put it on. I was blubbering intermittently. What an amazing experience to be a part of. We feel that it was a very sacred time to send Elder Shoemaker out on his mission so I will limit the details but he is doing great on his mission. We treasure the opportunities we get to read his e-mails and see his pictures from the field. We are mindful of all the prayers family and friends and loved ones have offered on Elder Shoemaker's behalf and we encourage you to keep him in your prayers for safety and success as he spreads the Lord's message!

Engineer

2009-04-20T07:29:00.000-07:00

Nate is taking a class he really enjoys. They do computerized design of engineering projects on a CAD program called Rhino. They also just finished destroying one of their projects. They built mini bridges out of balsa wood. They used various reinforcement techniques and designs. Then, to see how strong they were, they applied weight to the breaking point. Nate's did pretty well, holding more than 500 times its own weight. You can watch the test on this video.

Easter, He Lives.

2009-04-13T19:27:00.000-07:00

As we enjoy the sporadic spring days, one day brings more joy than others as we celebrate the fact that our Savior, Jesus Christ is risen! He lives and is our advocate with Our Father In Heaven. We had an enjoyable Easter Sabbath and this short video is an example of the reason we have such great love for our Savior.

We did end up participating in some of the traditional Easter traditions. We colored eggs together on Sunday afternoon, then hid them and searched for them on Monday (good day to get a deal on Easter candy too!) Here's a little video from our Easter Egg hunt:

Nate Runs!

2009-04-06T14:17:00.000-07:00

Nate likes to run and he's been having fun with spring sports, specifically track. He runs the mile and occasionally gets into a relay but here's a video of a couple of his races. Enjoy!!

Spring Yard Work

2009-04-05T16:03:00.000-07:00

Well, with good weather comes a family tradition; Mom gets to work for 12 hours a day doing her favorite thing: beautifying the yard. Denise went to a presentation Thursday night on "Square-Foot Gardening". It was put on by an expert from Utah and she loved it so much that the next morning, when I got home from graveyard clinicals in the Emergency Department, she was trying to cut a 2X8 with a pruning saw! I told her to wait while I got the circular saw out and she was off an running! The boys pitched in to get the pond cleaned out, we reorganized some 4X4's we scavenged a couple of years ago into a "patio" behind the garage and with some other various yard cleanup, we had our own "Spring Makeover!" Throw in our annual family picture in front of the flowering magnolia and I thought it would make a good blog posting!

Spring Break 2009

2009-04-05T15:27:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know, its been awhile since you've seen a new posting on this blog. My apologies but here are some new words and even a video! We spent a couple of spring break days as a family enjoying the Northwest. We started by staying at Silver Mountain (well known ski resort). We didn't ski but had a great time at the indoor water park. We then went and poked around Spokane for several hours, rode the gondola over Spokane Falls and saw where Denise and Paul used to live. We also got to see Denise's brother at his new job. It was a good family outing (Paul & Denise are even thinking of a 25th anniversary getaway to Silver Mountain this summer!)

The Boys Go Golfing

2009-03-09T13:01:00.000-07:00

It was a blustery day but we braved the weather and chased some little white balls around the Buckskin Golf Course on Saturday. Justin, Nate, Spencer and Paul played nine holes. Its been years since we've golfed and the interest has arisen lately so we went to the driving range a few days ago then decided to try our skills on a real course. Paul's claim to fame was he used the same ball the whole time. There were plenty of good shots and plenty of so-so shots. We all need some pointers but we had a great time and plan to go again soon. Here you'll see our score card and a short video of some of the boys tee shots.

Family gathering

2009-02-19T20:54:00.001-08:00

We had an enjoyable weekend in the Tri-Cities with much of our extended family visiting for a couple of days over the president's day holiday. Sisters visited from the Seattle area. We had a nice dinner out together Saturday evening with leftovers. Sunday, we enjoyed church then just hung out together, then we launched a hot-air balloon despite the high wind warnings (see video). We had a great french dip dinner Sunday afternoon. We didn't do a whole lot but mainly had some relaxing time together, playing some games, visiting and catching up a little. Mindy and Amy couldn't make it over for Christmas so this was a little make-up visit. Monday, we went out for a little shooting and motorcycle riding before everyone headed for home (see video). Thanks to all for a wonderful visit!

Called to Serve

2009-02-10T10:39:00.000-08:00

It is an exciting time as Spencer has received his mission call! He will be spending two years laboring among the good people in the Mexico, Tampico mission. Spencer is very excited as he gets to use the Spanish he's learned so far in school (4 years worth) and he'll get to further fine tune his Espanol. He's also grateful to be able to serve the Lord and spread the love of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Here's a short video of the opening of the envelope when he found out where he is going. He'll report to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah May 6th!

Hot Air Balloon Launch

2009-01-20T20:01:00.000-08:00

It's a cool night here in Richland so we decided to let a hot-air balloon fly. We launched around 6:30 and got about 15 minutes of flight time. The balloon flew high into the misty sky and finally fizzled out. A good flight and you can watch this brief video if you'd like. Thanks for the great balloon sacks, Matt!!

New Year's Day 2009

2009-01-03T00:03:00.000-08:00

We actually made the front page of the Tri-City Herald newspaper with our annual Polar-bear dip in the Columbia River! We got in the 35 degree water at about noon on new year's day. About 30 of us braved the cold. Nate and Paul went from our family. If you look at this link, you'll see Paul already underwater just above guy in blue shorts and Nate is on the dock in the black and white flower swim trunks. This is the brainchild of our former stake president. He does it every year with members of his family and friends. He was the oldest participant (he's seen in the picture diving in the blue shorts). The youngest were a boy and girl around 10 (the girl was crying when she got out but she made it!).

After the dip, I went out to the country and shot miscellaneous firearms with some friends, we had a good time. Then, I decided to take a late afternoon bike ride (wish I hadn't). I was on my way back home when I was riding across a cross walk. A truck turned in front of me and I slammed on my brakes, too late! I smashed into his left front fender bounced my head and right side of my body off his Ford Ranger Pickup and ended up on the ground. I laid there for a minute assessing my situation feeling different parts of my body for bumps, breaks or bruises. Feeling okay, I got right up as the truck driver approached to see how I was doing. I told him I was alright. I started to feel some pain in my ribs and on my right pinkie. Onlookers called for police and ambulance. The police showed up and the onlookers gawked. I told everyone I was okay. Police had us exchange names and they canceled the ambulance. The truck driver and I both apologized to each other. We exchanged information. He offered to give me a ride home. I checked my bike and the only obvious damage was bent handlebars. I rode it a few feet and it seemed to be okay so I decided to ride home. On my way I was assessing myself for anything serious that would need attention. As I moved my right pinkie, I realized it would bend just fine but I had to use my other hand to straighten it. I was afraid to take my glove off. I thought it might be dislocated. I was also feeling pain from the rib impact so I decided I would go to the ER when I got home just to be safe. Spencer drove me there and I also realized I had a bruised heel. After X-rays, no broken ribs, collapsed lungs or obvious internal injuries. The finger is kind of a weird case, though. It's called "Boutonniere's Finger". See this link for more details This apparently rare problem comes from a rupture of the the tendon that runs across the top of the finger so you can't straighten your finger. I have an appointment Tuesday to see the orthopaedic surgeon to see what he thinks. Meanwhile, a few bruises and scrapes are showing up and the pain medicine is doing a pretty good job of making life bearable. Happy New Year!

Christmas Tree Hunt, 2008

2008-12-19T17:51:00.000-08:00

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!

Badger Mountain Bike Ride

2008-12-04T15:01:00.000-08:00

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.

Proposition 8 Hypocrisy

2008-11-11T21:24:00.000-08:00

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.

Oregon Butte Backpacking

2008-10-31T20:25:00.000-07:00

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!

Name The Carver

2008-10-31T20:02:00.000-07:00

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!

"The Best Mutual Activity Ever"

2008-10-22T21:11:00.000-07:00

The World's Fastest Production Automobile

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.

Columbia River Swim

2008-10-18T11:36:00.001-07:00

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 Runs in Richland Invite Cross-Country Meet

2008-10-11T20:26:00.000-07:00

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.

God Bless the USA

2008-10-07T19:20:00.000-07:00

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.

Rip Stick Maniacs

2008-10-07T18:20:00.000-07:00

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!

NO SMILING ALLOWED

2008-09-23T19:09:00.000-07:00

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.

Crossing the Columbia

2008-09-21T19:49:00.000-07:00

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!

Freakin Sick!!!!

2008-09-18T08:30:00.001-07:00

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.

Cycle Riding at Hover

2008-09-02T21:23:00.000-07:00

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!

Back to School!

2008-09-01T21:46:00.001-07:00

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!

Our Vacation

2008-08-16T13:15:00.001-07:00

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!

Deacon, Teacher, Elder, High Priest

2008-08-03T00:52:00.000-07:00

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.

The Big Move

2008-07-23T22:30:00.000-07:00

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.

TREK 2008

2008-07-17T21:29:00.000-07:00

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."

Graduate!!!

2008-06-14T10:08:00.000-07:00

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.

Graduation Makeover

2008-05-21T07:19:00.001-07:00

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!

Sportsmanship

2008-05-02T08:02:00.000-07:00

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!

Flying Shoemaker

2008-04-27T08:49:00.000-07:00

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).

Spring Family Pics

2008-04-06T20:55:00.000-07:00

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 P-R in the Mile Run!

2008-04-04T20:34:00.000-07:00

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's Solo

2008-04-04T20:24:00.000-07:00

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.