Photos for Christmas 2008

The little guy looks pretty grown-up here with his big sis.

He very much likes to decorate the tree!

Thanksgiving 2008, etc.

L and the kids went to some friends' to see baby bunnies.

Grandpa and Grandma Z came with Jordan for Thanksgiving.  Lots of food and fun!

W and his Grandma Z with the hemisphere.

The whole crowd and a nice wacky face from W.

Big bday number 4.  It was a Little Mermaid theme and we made a mermaid cake.  It was rather large and there was no way we could eat it all!

A Joyful Little Dude

As long as you pick him up, he's a pleasure.  ;-)

He can open his mouth reeeaaaallllllyyyy wide to eat!

Awwwwww . . .  She loves her little bro!

Ready to chow!

Halloween 2008

Our little pumpkin!

 . . . and our little Princess!

So we had some cinnamon rolls and some leftover frosting from the Halloween gingerbread house.  A good thing to eat before going to the dentist . . . I'd laugh, actually.

In fact, I had to give it a try!  Now if THAT isn't a scary smile . . .

Our scary Halloween house my severed-headed ladies.

For you Google Earth fans . . .

Here's a GPS-based track of the ride. It's a kml file you can open in Google Earth. And, Mt. St. Helens is impressively hi-resolution, which makes it all extra neat to see. You can get the file by clicking HERE.

More Mt. St. Helens Ride Photos . . .

It just blows me away (no pun intended :-) to envision how high the mudflow (and some blast maybe?) must have been right here to break trees this high up on the ridge. It's also weird to see the mix of dead/damaged/living trees so close together.


By here, you're pretty much at the top of Ape Canyon. Also, my legs were wrecked and I was running short on time. So, I just followed the trail up around the corner and called it good.


This is the top of Ape Canyon. It goes clear down to Smith Creek and I have no idea if you can get into it. Alan, Justin and I were pretty disappointed the first time we laid eyes on it back in the day.


It's cool to see some amount of regrowth and also how the knoll shielded some of the trees from the blast and mud/ice/rocks.


The trail really was the epic great descent I'd imagined. So, I didn't stop much on the way down to take photos. And, as the changing leaves tell you, I doubt I had much more time this year before it would've only been accessible with skis and snowmobiles.

What do you 4AM love?

It seems to me that everyone has something they love doing enough to wake up at 4 AM. For a lot of people, fishing/hunting fits the bill. If stores open that early (like the day after Thanksgiving or something), shopping could be it for others. For me, mountain biking is one of those things. OK, and I've gotten up that early to road bike too.
About 7 or 8 years ago, I led a somewhat ill-fated circuit of about 25 miles on the Southeast side of Mt. St. Helens. We began by ascending to Ape Canyon, crossed the Plains of Abraham, passed by Windy Ridge, descended the trail to Smith Creek, followed (and repeatedly crossed) the creek, and ascended the Lava Canyon road to the car (except Mike, who eventually realized he'd taken a wrong turn in his effort to go ahead and get the car . . .). It was really really brutal and only sort of fun.
But I discovered one cool thing. As we ascended the 5 miles of singletrack trail to Ape Canyon, I told myself that it would be very cool to descend that route someday. And, with summer waning, I decided this was the year to satisfy that dream.
So it was, then, that I arose at 4 AM, started driving around 4:30, and started riding around 7 AM.


I'd done enough homework to know Road 83 had been washed out. As you can see, it's actually pretty close to being fixed. But they still won't let you drive on it. We non-construction people had to park our cars 5 miles from the Ape Canyon trailhead. So, the first 5 miles of my "mountain bike ride" didn't really require one.



The mountain, the man, and the machine.


Mt. St. Helens looks good by the dawn's early light! This is looking up a mudflow path ("Lahar") from the 1980 eruption.


It's cool to see this and visualize the path of destruction.


One thing I LOVE about the trail is all the HUGE old trees (they obviously didn't get swept away in the mudflows in 1980). And, they make for handy bike stands!

Savoring the Last Shreds of Summer

I ducked out early on a Wednesday recently so we could pick W up from school and head south to Oswald West State Park. It's one of my favorite hikes. You go down from 101, past Short Sands beach, and out to the end of Cape Falcon. It's 2 1/2 miles each way, and probably the farthest E or W (or AC sort of . . .) have hiked.


Who loves hiking?!


Looks like I'm pulling his ears out. Really, it was just windy and that hat kept flying off.


We're a happy cozy family . . . and we're holding the kids to keep them from running off down that cliff. :-) E recruited some kind people out at the end of Cape Falcon for the picture.




Pretty sure that's Neahkahnie Mountain.

I love Bowpicker Fish and Chips . . .

. . . but it kind of freaks me out when they throw in a human heart!

New Kid Photos!

Note that I mean the photos are new, not that these are photos of the "New Kids" (on the Block). (Sorry if I got you excited, Chrissy.)

Yay!  Bubble beard the pirate!

Still has less hair than his old man.

Help Warrenton Trails!

I just filled out a survey to help Warrenton get grant money to pave 2 new miles of a waterfront trail. It will be absolutely beautiful and help shorten my bike commute to work. It'll make it safer too. So if you don't want me to die cycling to work, please fill it out. :-) The email I got from Warrenton Trails says:

The Airport Dike - Multiuse Path Transportation Enhancement Grant Proposal is open for Public Comment! The more positive public comment we get on this project the better our chances of winning the grant money - so get online and fill out the survey today! Please encourage your friends and family to fill out the survey as well - your comments will make a huge difference in this competitive grant process! The public comment period is only open until September 15!

Here's a link straight to the survey:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=OhAnaQVGfedm9vEx8TTomQ_3d_3d

It took me, like, 3 minutes. Please help!

Money Matters . . .

Just posted a comment on my friend Sans Auto's blog after reading his post "The All Mighty Dollar".
I just read a book that talks a lot about living simply and saving money. The authors are very much not into the stock market, and instead favor fixed-rate investments (CDs, quality bonds, etc.) and frugality. It makes for a potentially lower return over time, but also a lot less stress and worry. They don't say "never buy anything", but they do say "only buy things that really add meaning to your life".
I think that one of the most awesome feelings I could have in this life would be to save enough (and simplify enough) that I no longer HAVE TO work. It would feel like when you were a kid and summer break was just starting. With cars/house/student loan paid off and enough money saved to get by on the interest, a person can work as much or as little as they feel like. Just as important, a person would be less-compelled to compromise their principles for that "all mighty" dollar.
I watched a couple things lately that really motivated me to get as financially secure as possible. On the National Geographic Channel they were interviewing a poor lady (one of many) in India who sold one of her kidneys on the black market (to be subsequently placed in the child of a wealthy foreigner) for about $700. She had been told she'd receive $3500, of course, but that didn't happen. That same night, we also finished watching a documentary called "Deep Water". It's about a British man who entered a sailing competition to circle the globe without ever stopping in port. He had very little experience but acted like he did, spent a LOT of time by himself out there in the ocean, faked his progress over the radio, basically went crazy (partly driven by having to own up to his dishonesty on returning to port), and committed suicide. He needed the money too.
So all I can say is, be smart about what you buy, get out of debt, and make your money serve you (and not the other way around).

Bike Train!

Thanks to Dave, whose kids have outgrown the Gary Fisher Freeloader Trailer Bike, we were able to realize my dream of the "Bike Train"!  W and E really enjoy it, and both of them like being the biker.

Fun on five wheels!  We recently pedaled it on over to the new stretch of the Warrenton trail from Tansy Point to the Baptist Church.  It's super smooth and paved now, and I'm going to use it on my way to work from now on.  It'll be SO nice to get away from traffic, gravel, chunky pavement, etc.

Utah Trip: Heading Home

We stopped at Shoshone Falls near Twin Falls on the way home. It was a really long day of driving but definitely worth the stop!


They have effective guardrails with beautiful views.


Our little dude got VERY tired of his carseat!


The scene over my shoulder between Baker City and LaGrande. We were REALLY tired!


Mount Emily, near LaGrande. Also, the back of a semi. Everything was surprisingly green out that way. I think I'll move to North Powder. :-)

Utah Trip: Friends and Fun

We paid a visit to my old friend Ernie (who hasn't aged a day!), one of my college roommates. He lives in Lindon, UT, programs computers, and has goats, chickens, and kids.


And here's Jeremy. He's the guy the bank pays to do repo stuff on houses so, as you might imagine, he's pretty busy these days. I hadn't seen him since my church mission about 12 years ago. We worked together in Arizona, and it was great to catch up. He's doing well and is married and has a son and lots of RC cars (his favorite hobby).


We took the kids to Thanksgiving Point, where W, Lindsay, E, and Will got to ride a (fake) cow!


Let's hope this is as close as we ever get to owning a horse. :-)


We enjoyed a fine traditional Provo meal at Los Hermanos. W and E ate a LOT of chips and salsa and the service was excellent!