Happy 19th Birthday, Evan

What better way to spend your 19th birthday than at Disneyland with your nieces and nephews! That is what Evan wanted to do, 3 weeks before going to Buenos Aires on his mission. Gavin and Elise went on the carousel with Uncle and liked the slower pace of the ride.
We got to see Hillary Miller doing her job for Disney. She is doing an externship with them for her degree at BYU. . .Disney is lucky to have a talented and dedicated person like her working with them.
Disneyland was decorated for Halloween in creative Disney style.
Here is the group,waiting to go on the ride at Splash Mountain. Ster's sister, Ashley, and her two children, Brooklyn and Liam, came to Disneyland with us. Ellie and Ethan enjoyed going on the Winnie the Pooh ride, but Ellie really liked the Matterhorn the best.
At the end of the evening, Disneyland had fireworks and a spooky Halloween program that was pretty spectacular. Gavin had just about had it and relaxed on Uncle's shoulders during the fireworks.

Fun (and some Home Depot "work") at Morro Bay

We went to Home Depot for some supplies and Gavin and Ellie got to do a kids project.
We took a walk to the Elfin Forest - it was a gorgeous day.

Ellie and Gavin enjoyed lunch out on the deck.

Uncle Evan played with the kids out on the beach. Ellie loved doing the "jump" picture.

Buy me some m'lade and Cracker Jack. . .

We all went to the Dodger Game the other night to watch the Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks, 4 - 2. Ed, Thera, John, Stephanie, and Nicholas came out for a dinner of Dodger dogs at our house, with Grammie and Grampie. And then we took off for the game. Gavin turned out to be quite a Dodger fan - or at least a fan of the food at the Dodger games. He is pictured above with his favorite - frozen lemonade (or as he calls it, m'lade).
We had great seats and came close to almost catching a ball.
Gavin and Aunt Thera found a #1 fan finger mit - Gavin really loved his first major league game.

Monticello, Williamsburg, North Carolina and Coast Guard

We visited Jefferson's home, Monticello. It always amazes me that Jefferson accomplished so much in his life. What a different country we would have if it hadn't been for this great man. Naturally, Allison and Evan had to do a "jump picture".
Next it was onto Williamsburg, where Evan and I got "stuck" in the stocks.
North Carolina was # 34 for Allison and #48 for Evan. Who will win the "states race?" We went to see Kitty Hawk and the Outer Banks. What a great place to vacation.
We all joined Jeannie for dinner aboard the CGC Harriet Lane. Then she took us on a tour of the vessel. What a great trip to the East Coast!

Two Mountains, Three Summits

Living in Colorado without having been to the summit of a 14er (a peak of at least 14,000 feet) may be akin to living in California and never having been to the beach. Seeing as how I am a native of Colorado, I decided it was time to join the club as one who has conquered a 14er. After a dinner at Beau Jo's pizza in Idaho Springs, a restless night of sleep in the Leadville Hostel and a quick drive to Vicksburg, five friends and I set out on a quest to summit Mt. Belford and Mt. Oxford.

Getting to the top of Mt. Belford would require a climb of 4,600 feet in just under 4 miles. When I learned of this on the trail, sudden flashbacks of the Ragnar stretch of the Wasatch Back Relay Race flooded into my mind.

Once to the top, we all knew it was time to press on, for if we stopped, Mt. Oxford would allude us on this Saturday morning. Onward we went to descend Mt. Belford, only to have to ascend Mt. Oxford. The view was spectacular from up above and I felt as though I had accomplished something great. One of my buddies quickly brought me back to reality by pointing out that we still had another 14er to summit.

Half of the hike was done, but we still had another climb in front of us - it was time to head back up to Mt. Belford (picture below is shot of Mt. Belford from the saddle between the two peaks).

After reaching Mt. Belford for the second time, I sprawled out on the rocks and took a nap while waiting for the rest of our party to arrive. I was so tired that it felt as though I was sleeping on a pillow top mattress. We celebrated the fact that it was all downhill from that point and decided to have one last photo shoot.

Descending proved to be just as difficult as ascending. Although gravity was now on my side, each step forward was a strategic move ensuring that I didn't gather too much speed. We fought through rain and even a few snow flurries. Additionally, I don't think that my choice in footwear helped my cause. Pride got the best of me and I decided that I had to finish the whole hike in Chacos.

Will I hike these two 14ers again? NO! Will I hike other 14ers again? YES! The only question that remains is which of the 52 that remain will be the next to be slain?

Hurricanes, "Hullas" and Hoses

Helen, Evan and I went to see Jeannie in Norfolk and we were fortunate enough to go out on the Coast Guard Cutter, Forward. We went for a cruise in Chesapeake Bay where the Coast Guard did a rescue with one of their Jayhawk helicopters. Very impressive hullah!
Evan decided to try the fire hose off the back deck. The pressure from the hose was so great that it took two of them to handle it.
The four of us had a great day on board the ship. We ran into a little bit of rain that was part of Hurricane Danny, that never fully materialized.
As we pulled into the dock in Portsmouth, they docked the boat right behind Jeannie's cutter, Harriet Lane. It was a great experience and one that we won't soon forget.

Congratulations- We Did It!!!!!

This past weekend, Alana graduated from BYU with a Bachelors degree in Geography. Many of us made the trek to Provo for her big day, including our friend from the Czech Republic, Marketa. Both sets of Alana's grandparents were there along with her Aunt Helen, two brothers and her sister. As President of the Honors Program at BYU, Alana was one of the commencement speakers, as shown above.

Our family is pictured above directly following the graduation at the Marriott Center.
Marketa helped Alana to put on her cap and gown.
We decided that no graduation was complete without floating down the Provo River.
On our way back home, we decided to stop at In and Out Burger in St. George. What a pleasant surprise to run into Roxy and Larry on their way back from their honeymoon in California! Now it's official - we were part of their honeymoon.

Hiking in the Sierras

Last week, Dan and Helen took a day hike to Horsetail Falls which is in the Desolation Wilderness. The area is just off of Highway 50, west of Lake Tahoe. The weather was perfect for hiking and there is still plenty of water raging down the granite face of the mountain.
Although the trail was a little difficult to follow in some places, scrambling across boulders, it was still a great 2.5 mile hike. Anyone coming to visit will certainly have to hike this one with us.

Camping in the Eastern Sierra

We decided it was time to go camping again. So we packed up the cars and headed up to a campground in the Eastern Sierra, near Bishop. Some of us are pictured here at Lake Sabrina.
Gavin and Brielle loved the rocks, dirt, tents, and being able to be outside all the time. They particularly liked chasing the lizards. But nothing was better than sitting in their own camp chairs, drinking a cool lemonade. At night the temperatures dipped into the 50's which made it nice for sleeping in the warm sleeping bags.
Another treat that the kids liked was riding in the back of the pickup around the campsite with Uncle Evan.
Some of us went to Bodie, the old, abandoned ghost town north of Bishop. Many of the buildings are just the way they were 150 years ago when Bodie was a booming gold town with over 10,000 residents.

Summer Fun

Southern California can be hot during the summer but what better way to cool off than to spend a lot of time at the beach. Gavin and Brielle loved going to the beach for the first time. They played in the sand and chased the waves up and down the beach. Clearly, we will be spending a lot of days cooling off on the coast.
We also went on the Sanitation Districts Boat Trip tour off of Palos Verde Penninsula to check the water quality. We saw a blue whale in the channel that appeared to be intrigued with our boat and he pretty much followed us for a few miles. It was amazing to see an animal that was huge - between 80 and 100 feet long.
We also saw a bunch of dolphins on the boat tour. They played near the boat and rode the bow waves, entertaining all of us.
We also rode our bikes to Santa Fe Dam and had a picnic on the shores of the lake. Brielle and Gavin liked playing on the playground at the park. There is lots to do when you want to spend time outside during the summer.

And Evan is serving his mission in the . . .

Argentina Buenos Aires North Mission. On Thursday of this past week, Evan received his mission call. He is shown above reading the letter that he received from the First Presidency. He is pretty excited to start his mission on October 14th. He will be in the Provo MTC. His mission not only includes parts in the northern Buenos Aires area but also all of Tierra del Fuego in the very southern part of Argentina (check out the website http://www.mission.net/argentina/buenos-aires/north/ for a map of the area.)

Happy Birthday, Alana and Grammie

For Mom's and Alana's birthday, we all went to Disneyland. Mom got her first annual pass to Disneyland, so we can go with Brielle and Gavin anytime now. Pictured above is Alana, Grammie and Grampie having lunch at the French Market in Disneyland.
Brielle, Gavin and Grammie had just gone on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in the above picture. The two little kids sure enjoyed that ride.
We all had our picture taken on Main Street in Disneyland.
For dinner after Disneyland, we all went to Clearman''s Galley, better known as The Boat, for a great dinner (hamburgers, onion rings, red cabbage, cheese bread, and bleu cheese dressing). This place is an institution and the food is so good. . .no wonder it was so crowded that night.
Alana had a rather unconventional birthday cake, lemon surprise, but both Gavin and Brielle helped to blow out the candles for her.

Why the Finlay's. . . .

. . .pool hose has holes in it and. . .
. . .the spa has brown fur in it and . . .
. . .their peach tree has no peaches on it. Our resident bears on the Mesa have been visiting on a fairly frequent basis over the last week. It has been hot and they have cooled down quite a bit in the pool.