tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87607520774610796712024-02-19T00:35:49.729-08:00Stars, Stripes & Maple LeavesChris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06027190840805829092noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760752077461079671.post-33003207010344762192013-05-14T11:06:00.000-07:002013-05-14T11:06:43.888-07:00Family Photo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA7LKrFYTWOtoNRltcURFHrv5A_5OMwdVHzPVuO4KEitV-lcNeygYQsyWtBuOKslf8qrlTKI7TAD3vmIF9xTwNU6tpU8pbsoZu6EBNO8U9a8jTAJ2_d7oe3Ao-_5bBLLOtEM-AcVpmVN9m/s1600/2012-09-28+17.06.27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA7LKrFYTWOtoNRltcURFHrv5A_5OMwdVHzPVuO4KEitV-lcNeygYQsyWtBuOKslf8qrlTKI7TAD3vmIF9xTwNU6tpU8pbsoZu6EBNO8U9a8jTAJ2_d7oe3Ao-_5bBLLOtEM-AcVpmVN9m/s1600/2012-09-28+17.06.27.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
OK - Felt badly about not posting for over two years and then adding in more marathon split times. So, here's an updated family picture to lead the blog.<br />
<br />
We took this in September 2012 at Heather Farms in Walnut Creek.Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06027190840805829092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760752077461079671.post-349257596739669992012-10-06T10:52:00.000-07:002013-05-14T10:53:03.352-07:00St. George Marathon 2012Splits for the day:<div>
Mile 1 - 7:35</div>
<div>
Mile 2 - 7:37</div>
<div>
Mile 3 - 7:08</div>
<div>
Mile 4 - 6:58</div>
<div>
Mile 5 - 7:03</div>
<div>
Mile 6 - 6:55</div>
<div>
Mile 7 - 6:56</div>
<div>
Mile 8 - 8:06</div>
<div>
Mile 9 - 7:37</div>
<div>
Mile 10 - 7:33</div>
<div>
Mile 11 - 7:47</div>
<div>
Mile 12 - 7:28</div>
<div>
Mile 13 - 7:07</div>
<div>
Mile 14 - 7:18</div>
<div>
Mile 15 - 6:45</div>
<div>
Mile 16 - 6:42</div>
<div>
Mile 17 - 6:56</div>
<div>
Mile 18 - 7:12</div>
<div>
Mile 19 - 7:39</div>
<div>
Mile 20 - 7:12</div>
<div>
Mile 21 - 6:56</div>
<div>
Mile 22 - 7:26</div>
<div>
Mile 23 - 7:10</div>
<div>
Mile 24 - 7:14</div>
<div>
Mile 25 - 7:26</div>
<div>
Mile 26 - 7:28</div>
<div>
Final 0.2 - 6:58</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Overall 3:10:36 - 7:17 pace</div>
Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06027190840805829092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760752077461079671.post-5103588054980990752010-10-03T20:47:00.000-07:002010-10-03T21:44:34.719-07:00Saint George Marathon<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmL2BTtI6QGK4F5ko-n5Q4M249MgiBy3-PJ8wFCQkf0-meVwNpmJlhIBLfD1eWMGOdXmqv-PQEvUUR6p5t_7AlRlJnyYtj4HFgP7Jlbn73zh38saRh_Ui6TfwAFH3HHFnGuBSA341d8m7s/s1600/025.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 212px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmL2BTtI6QGK4F5ko-n5Q4M249MgiBy3-PJ8wFCQkf0-meVwNpmJlhIBLfD1eWMGOdXmqv-PQEvUUR6p5t_7AlRlJnyYtj4HFgP7Jlbn73zh38saRh_Ui6TfwAFH3HHFnGuBSA341d8m7s/s320/025.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524046000952108306" /></a><br /><br />I ran my 6th marathon this weekend - 3rd in St. George. It's been my goal the past two years to run fast enough to qualify for the Boston marathon and I finally did. It was warmer than ideal and a lot of people there seemed to really struggle with the heat but I was able to make my time goal and finish in 3:14:51. The St. George course has nearly all of the harder/uphill miles in the first half so I ran somewhat conservatively until about mile 20. This was the first time in a marathon that I felt I had plenty of legs left at the end and was able to make up several minutes over the final 10k. I finished 343rd of the 5700 that finished the race.<br /><br />My splits:<br />Mile 1 - 7:26<br />Mile 2 - 7:35<br />Mile 3 - 7:20<br />Mile 4 - 7:08<br />Mile 5 - 7:21<br />Mile 6 - 7:04<br />Mile 7 - 7:09<br />Mile 8 - 8:24<br />Mile 9 - 7:58<br />Mile 10 - 7:55<br />Mile 11 - 8:11<br />Mile 12 - 7:39<br />Mile 13 - 7:19<br />Mile 14 - 7:25<br />Mile 15 - 7:07<br />Mile 16 - 7:06<br />Mile 17 - 7:15<br />Mile 18 - 7:44<br />Mile 19 - 7:41<br />Mile 20 - 7:34<br />Mile 21 - 6:58<br />Mile 22 - 7:24<br />Mile 23 - 7:15<br />Mile 24 - 6:59<br />Mile 25 - 7:16<br />Mile 26 - 7:08<br />Final 0.2 miles - 6:05 pace<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7eWycSVgjoEaYpmG5DOyXjGtx9VD14RfqjxNSe8CkR9SZQbhXgc9za-6nEqfOKNKhBCRoTwJVPBkaRzepOWeAL-GyRBrVUjRml-jzS8abIpulqVPZPr2BEj7jFdbjOxY26sRo4b2rs_-E/s1600/IMG_2905.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7eWycSVgjoEaYpmG5DOyXjGtx9VD14RfqjxNSe8CkR9SZQbhXgc9za-6nEqfOKNKhBCRoTwJVPBkaRzepOWeAL-GyRBrVUjRml-jzS8abIpulqVPZPr2BEj7jFdbjOxY26sRo4b2rs_-E/s320/IMG_2905.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524044734871135282" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4oSDPd0-AD_kRICuIPsWUvLk4QnuSn5bXaGFFAPF2D43sjzCS4FKwJN6ZC07ufzWIBAca1TXBJhJw2gOJ-7Eu3CWWW-sksfnMn1MIXudifWZnMjRMFjCOuGJUIuFmdEPSQXt7E8Yw0FuD/s1600/024.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4oSDPd0-AD_kRICuIPsWUvLk4QnuSn5bXaGFFAPF2D43sjzCS4FKwJN6ZC07ufzWIBAca1TXBJhJw2gOJ-7Eu3CWWW-sksfnMn1MIXudifWZnMjRMFjCOuGJUIuFmdEPSQXt7E8Yw0FuD/s320/024.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524045374072943682" /></a><br /><br />Pam with friends Julie and Amy that we met up with in St. George.<br /><br />Thanks to all who made it a great weekend.Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06027190840805829092noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760752077461079671.post-11307606350579452692010-09-19T12:00:00.000-07:002010-10-03T17:48:48.068-07:00Cute Kate<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAhyphenhyphenCRvsuduY79VpeSnXsUqL5yj-LeXyVxTyn2mKE8_0YanV6V027lIeikFNhvcjBM_bqzonTwRnyWkIQBW50BrAdw1pvw8DdM80KDMGazEgHazmemaSXxC11I5v4iu_topRoBHr2_hoWF/s1600/242.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAhyphenhyphenCRvsuduY79VpeSnXsUqL5yj-LeXyVxTyn2mKE8_0YanV6V027lIeikFNhvcjBM_bqzonTwRnyWkIQBW50BrAdw1pvw8DdM80KDMGazEgHazmemaSXxC11I5v4iu_topRoBHr2_hoWF/s320/242.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523986178161143954" /></a><br /><br />Kate keeps getting cuter and cuter - not that I'm biased. <br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHS8uhVPf8X4DRkvJaDBm34wJ4TAvb6TbKqPB_6-ItagVM0ZpdnHJiSibTYyYdsrUZxXeJ_pTUDTtMsTkmxYbJN53ZWH1eiMY-yKbt95hnfDI7Nj_lyUqVkDsJaX30NBq5fjl7KZTgyO8Y/s1600/070.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 229px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHS8uhVPf8X4DRkvJaDBm34wJ4TAvb6TbKqPB_6-ItagVM0ZpdnHJiSibTYyYdsrUZxXeJ_pTUDTtMsTkmxYbJN53ZWH1eiMY-yKbt95hnfDI7Nj_lyUqVkDsJaX30NBq5fjl7KZTgyO8Y/s320/070.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523985797502946658" /></a>Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06027190840805829092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760752077461079671.post-75660073651807643932010-08-22T12:00:00.001-07:002010-10-03T20:41:46.657-07:00Backpacking with Blake<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIDpN3phnsGs8gqzqf4OHUI7Up8VArP-LrsX-Cn16i9RMo78Ua9Lf5vkFiNTDQNnLK7lPl0Sy58Th8EBBxM4f5izhsbfzwP3R4VpMzu4xomS_I7UGa28pMCbuPgspFTqWVNUP2HAOLweYQ/s1600/Inyo+Backpacking+2010+034.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524023706837091634" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIDpN3phnsGs8gqzqf4OHUI7Up8VArP-LrsX-Cn16i9RMo78Ua9Lf5vkFiNTDQNnLK7lPl0Sy58Th8EBBxM4f5izhsbfzwP3R4VpMzu4xomS_I7UGa28pMCbuPgspFTqWVNUP2HAOLweYQ/s320/Inyo+Backpacking+2010+034.JPG" /></a><br /><br />Blake and I tried something new and exciting and went on a backpacking trip to the Inyo National Forest. My uncle Larry organized the trip with the goal of fishing for Golden Trout in the high Sierras.<br /><br />Blake and I drove through Yosemite and down past Bishop with Allen, Michael, and JD to the trailhead. We slept at, and started hiking the next morning, at about 10,000 ft. The altitude was fairly unforgiving for several in the group.<br /><br />The first day we went about 5 miles in the heat and sun up to close to 11,000 ft. It was a tough day for everyone and we arrived at the lakes pretty well spent. After some late lunch, Blake had recovered enough that we climbed a smaller peak surrounding the lakes we were camping out and I took this next photo of him. Mount Langley is above his head in background.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy44nkILIAUdHKTmS77ehO37rkRMIQaDDVe2xgDX4EUcSLk4iqtHdLSH9Hmv77fXURVrx4GaSg35DvOIth16i27lR6ayd_oF6UxjpDKNiGm_d6jK3fZsnPSlOhTyXTWDwkBAMrKlI60KQm/s1600/Inyo+Backpacking+2010+010.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524011337901614594" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy44nkILIAUdHKTmS77ehO37rkRMIQaDDVe2xgDX4EUcSLk4iqtHdLSH9Hmv77fXURVrx4GaSg35DvOIth16i27lR6ayd_oF6UxjpDKNiGm_d6jK3fZsnPSlOhTyXTWDwkBAMrKlI60KQm/s320/Inyo+Backpacking+2010+010.JPG" /></a><br /><br />The next day we woke up to frost and several in the group were still feeling the effects of the altitude and thought there would be no way they'd be able to traverse the 12,000 ft pass to the next campsite. We put our heads together and scrapped the loop plan for the trip and decided to stay where we were for the day.<br /><br />Since we had a open day a few decided it would be great fun to summit nearby Mount Langley. Langley peaks at 14,042 feet and is just south of Mount Whitney, which at 14,500 ft is the tallest in the lower 48 states. We had a long climb up - none of it technical - and eventually summited late in the afternoon. Blake was dragging for portions of it but definitely got a bump from the single GU I had brought as we approached the final ascent. On the way back down he commented that he had, "really built some character" that day by making it all the way to the top. For me, it was the highlight of the trip, and really, the summer.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe5B0JFLNT9VyU0M2hmFHOMNN63ctgB578p1QxYCtKrpqzKhpR__fL1XXrFal1YyLpiUP0nqsA9FxfCyhfx_Ry4276fNS5h_kQqAy2wT4uOIw8UrTnV0ZihGKyBsJ0TPeOQndcMSHd4qhJ/s1600/Inyo+Backpacking+2010+028.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524018047334543010" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe5B0JFLNT9VyU0M2hmFHOMNN63ctgB578p1QxYCtKrpqzKhpR__fL1XXrFal1YyLpiUP0nqsA9FxfCyhfx_Ry4276fNS5h_kQqAy2wT4uOIw8UrTnV0ZihGKyBsJ0TPeOQndcMSHd4qhJ/s320/Inyo+Backpacking+2010+028.JPG" /></a><br /><br />On the summit with Mt. Whitney in the background<br /><div align="center"><br /><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkZhEotWfPjATGPRAMJ4_42vQTCD_FAv8c76RamA3DLa-e-9wvOAIWBaT-8NtWh9lqkxaxWEDHaczhsMcy_H05R0ljzzMw8dv7K4pNn4eLNuSVj7urZJsvW1KkjyAXOkl834lyHxA1VeSN/s1600/Inyo+Backpacking+2010+027.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524019726319040674" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkZhEotWfPjATGPRAMJ4_42vQTCD_FAv8c76RamA3DLa-e-9wvOAIWBaT-8NtWh9lqkxaxWEDHaczhsMcy_H05R0ljzzMw8dv7K4pNn4eLNuSVj7urZJsvW1KkjyAXOkl834lyHxA1VeSN/s320/Inyo+Backpacking+2010+027.JPG" /> <p align="left"></a><br />Our summit group - Me, Blake, JD, Jon, Rob, and Abbie<br /><br />We finished the next two days with a bit of hiking and fishing. Blake enjoyed reading in camp, looking at stars and exploring. In all, it was a great trip and something that I'm very happy that Blake and I could do together. </p>Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06027190840805829092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760752077461079671.post-70721734897649076662010-08-22T12:00:00.000-07:002010-10-03T17:00:46.188-07:00Summer Family Fun<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvbEnQ-jKYJ6zXm6JOfB1mjP20jrPmdobBWtZIjw1AUmHMfhRD7_Gmv8nBPQDKWmHg8PvwGHxnJ_JDx61G8DVOZtcQEsuHBQURW2tMnmn8WBVE0oiw02SPXJfBs-bL3fcvXk7ZXtQG1ii/s1600/Hot+air+balloon+ride.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvbEnQ-jKYJ6zXm6JOfB1mjP20jrPmdobBWtZIjw1AUmHMfhRD7_Gmv8nBPQDKWmHg8PvwGHxnJ_JDx61G8DVOZtcQEsuHBQURW2tMnmn8WBVE0oiw02SPXJfBs-bL3fcvXk7ZXtQG1ii/s320/Hot+air+balloon+ride.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523973076485833266" /></a><br />We enjoyed a fun end of the summer with several more family get-togethers. My mom celebrated her 60th birthday and all the kids surprised her by sneaking into town and we met her and my dad for an early morning hot air balloon ride. She was completely caught off guard and we enjoyed a fun day and also had a new family picture taken. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgumrjhlrg1iNFcY4bL4cEsGySluxNHXF7QnypS84uoCIXoCzKkXFR7yNjtxiyCWivJgt-5_TjaJk4qHt7PP5730B0sstblUpmIeNwZK_J28K-g94_80vxg1Vd85QVejhbCqkZ1oEPOh3TA/s1600/044.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgumrjhlrg1iNFcY4bL4cEsGySluxNHXF7QnypS84uoCIXoCzKkXFR7yNjtxiyCWivJgt-5_TjaJk4qHt7PP5730B0sstblUpmIeNwZK_J28K-g94_80vxg1Vd85QVejhbCqkZ1oEPOh3TA/s320/044.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523971481720549794" /></a><br /><br />The first week of August we went to the Oregon coast with Pam's family. Our kids love the beach and ocean and they spent lots of time collecting shells and building castles. The cousin and family time was super. Also while in Oregon Pam met up with my grandparents and Severson cousins<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit8pfaWMNwtO8MiEN_kvK4lCS0UgMJml05Kj1AiTENuEqX9zKBXfHx24Na7rtuSSPJvzfJ6Xggu5o1W_saK_BoUxnt_ClfZeSyZtM79j5skJ9MgSbo23cP5OGdaetGtXo604ys_nT9Wnfo/s1600/226.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit8pfaWMNwtO8MiEN_kvK4lCS0UgMJml05Kj1AiTENuEqX9zKBXfHx24Na7rtuSSPJvzfJ6Xggu5o1W_saK_BoUxnt_ClfZeSyZtM79j5skJ9MgSbo23cP5OGdaetGtXo604ys_nT9Wnfo/s320/226.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523971827768798674" /></a>Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06027190840805829092noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760752077461079671.post-34260858645658400442010-07-04T15:23:00.000-07:002010-07-04T15:44:33.064-07:00Family reunion time<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvawe_dJ6rAkb8n17NQgREvGsEJJl1-QdYeMUMq3OsEb8SoLIDapUWbCGyHiaEGuNmUok98s_qW_fGpVskNzSCjhqfUYl-e3krUZ4YIp1xQJmL7ke3iUep0DCjHK1_oA6qdku41-N1oR2A/s1600/003.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490183348987800834" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvawe_dJ6rAkb8n17NQgREvGsEJJl1-QdYeMUMq3OsEb8SoLIDapUWbCGyHiaEGuNmUok98s_qW_fGpVskNzSCjhqfUYl-e3krUZ4YIp1xQJmL7ke3iUep0DCjHK1_oA6qdku41-N1oR2A/s320/003.JPG" /></a><br /><br />We just enjoyed our bi-annual family reunion near Mount Hood in Oregon. The theme was generations and all four present had the spotlight on them. The weather was cool but nice. A few less people were able to make it this year but was fun even so. A few highlights were zip line, soccer, and game show night. Charlotte put together a compilation video which was also super and a great walk through the years since Grandma and Grandpa were kids. Of course, the best part is chatting and catching up with everyone.<br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHKnXT6sRRQ0Wm_pBi2pW-HPZXr4zxup-d44OQ0GsuSOm7XxWej_Dp0_pBRU90Mc-pjgisln83DppifqQeulU8ImEhGTa8ayAviYSMNYPTKwj1A3aDmHGlXHkzExVy8v0-A01oQYNI3foe/s1600/Severson+Reunion+2010+020.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490183819570664850" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHKnXT6sRRQ0Wm_pBi2pW-HPZXr4zxup-d44OQ0GsuSOm7XxWej_Dp0_pBRU90Mc-pjgisln83DppifqQeulU8ImEhGTa8ayAviYSMNYPTKwj1A3aDmHGlXHkzExVy8v0-A01oQYNI3foe/s320/Severson+Reunion+2010+020.JPG" /></a><br />Kate with cousins Grace and Brooke</div><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMX0nEwUQQrND7F_elCZPl3r5sA_a34peY3nBHSHSq5OfujKhloKCAXbY_DqtO7wsZ23g7mlaawYvCEQDtb5NR7fub6BYdidf8RATYnYJuhdmjAg9z71uSX-QEb_1APFr5ZT5kovWZeLee/s1600/018.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490183506618252562" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMX0nEwUQQrND7F_elCZPl3r5sA_a34peY3nBHSHSq5OfujKhloKCAXbY_DqtO7wsZ23g7mlaawYvCEQDtb5NR7fub6BYdidf8RATYnYJuhdmjAg9z71uSX-QEb_1APFr5ZT5kovWZeLee/s320/018.JPG" /></a><br />Our happy baby Kate<br /><br />The week before our reunion was Blake's first scout camp. No photos of him there but here he is trying out his pack before leaving. He had a great camp and reported enjoying the merit badges and getting to know some of the older boys. </div><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmCYvbuTjYK-4dxEPgaip6fjhE1ImL8IMmw7-5PXf8cF6ewi_mWtEdR-4GfHvSjMYsVnc95x00DlMt6FM0ZIXKM8CoUP9zN_6YREOUvK0l8_bOic5W3v5nL4Ls3Jxfwbz_2HL5WFAbojZG/s1600/001.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490184003165174146" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmCYvbuTjYK-4dxEPgaip6fjhE1ImL8IMmw7-5PXf8cF6ewi_mWtEdR-4GfHvSjMYsVnc95x00DlMt6FM0ZIXKM8CoUP9zN_6YREOUvK0l8_bOic5W3v5nL4Ls3Jxfwbz_2HL5WFAbojZG/s320/001.JPG" /></a>Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06027190840805829092noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760752077461079671.post-46264578779424121722010-06-22T16:10:00.001-07:002010-06-22T17:43:10.975-07:00Happy Father's Day Daddy<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7iTbjSU-CJyPj9-kDpA3g8RFvvWV-ZyEKQCeSTvmal_uN5TABaio2Lmfwnk2SahWkZdZa9zAVXk6PLQ3ZdtzwkVDJu5OqH_IBSykqMvsQyc7VeaSH4zcuLzzlSSJ-dC0O_dvZH4vm1yg/s1600/057.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7iTbjSU-CJyPj9-kDpA3g8RFvvWV-ZyEKQCeSTvmal_uN5TABaio2Lmfwnk2SahWkZdZa9zAVXk6PLQ3ZdtzwkVDJu5OqH_IBSykqMvsQyc7VeaSH4zcuLzzlSSJ-dC0O_dvZH4vm1yg/s320/057.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485746375767788674" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Yxz4UdBIU4KRL7kvbqheaeqw8t3Kb1rd6N55ruzFEZ0m_rmXcUuZ2ib5VN4CVNVHefkyzF2lu_qri9fIkzjPxx1yXfxs-WxT3wTrgp3dvayvag0U64ZM0QH3mOqg4t1xQ0s8nE4UZ6w/s1600/058.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Yxz4UdBIU4KRL7kvbqheaeqw8t3Kb1rd6N55ruzFEZ0m_rmXcUuZ2ib5VN4CVNVHefkyzF2lu_qri9fIkzjPxx1yXfxs-WxT3wTrgp3dvayvag0U64ZM0QH3mOqg4t1xQ0s8nE4UZ6w/s320/058.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485746235765290850" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgfFPyzJqdhagisXaemXeBXz96ILW9FZzV_7rNhaSP7Cnw9r4jYHoJdsmoigjtjL6uCTJyDQvgJ-D2rkEVPFBUcpq-rUWtHhGF1IoCz3qP8mZn6CdzbtEp8Kb3gihwW8Ps8xlJau2nFcM/s1600/062.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgfFPyzJqdhagisXaemXeBXz96ILW9FZzV_7rNhaSP7Cnw9r4jYHoJdsmoigjtjL6uCTJyDQvgJ-D2rkEVPFBUcpq-rUWtHhGF1IoCz3qP8mZn6CdzbtEp8Kb3gihwW8Ps8xlJau2nFcM/s320/062.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485740778173964962" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9n8dj8szwiDaHFcdwu96l32EZJmfiEGA-rEvS9L8MjfhPPi2Nc_Mp4PBw6X-5ctYuIrljMe8bi2bRKzkYrluGlikaiFcerDEVGkyJ3BmwrP4NCpjowidQjw2wIGwGmoQ8B3SWM2x0Fzc/s1600/126.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9n8dj8szwiDaHFcdwu96l32EZJmfiEGA-rEvS9L8MjfhPPi2Nc_Mp4PBw6X-5ctYuIrljMe8bi2bRKzkYrluGlikaiFcerDEVGkyJ3BmwrP4NCpjowidQjw2wIGwGmoQ8B3SWM2x0Fzc/s320/126.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485740087390888738" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />At the end of the day when you're tired and through, <br />At the end of the day when you're down and you're blue,<br />At the end of the day when you've finished all you do,<br />We're there for you, at the end of the day.<br />Happy Father's Day Daddy! Love us.pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101911759165534674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760752077461079671.post-78133358133652632992010-06-13T19:28:00.000-07:002010-06-13T21:26:29.244-07:00Swim Team season start<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6I3YljuAnAFUMuSOqsRyUIuNXqS2ob6qEI0mcmPgJznZO6cSsqMRHJRul6H6mDLkISnYydnLZiz47cXamKk1f385zag2uOWLuwC69CzgjlFbCr7XXApsHPqKXDwbPgGitTMuNIAbaaJe0/s1600/030.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482454310275484210" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6I3YljuAnAFUMuSOqsRyUIuNXqS2ob6qEI0mcmPgJznZO6cSsqMRHJRul6H6mDLkISnYydnLZiz47cXamKk1f385zag2uOWLuwC69CzgjlFbCr7XXApsHPqKXDwbPgGitTMuNIAbaaJe0/s320/030.JPG" /></a><br /><div>It's summer now and swim team is now underway. We had our first swim meet yesterday and I snapped a few photos and video. Of note - this was Josh's first competitive meet and he has made a lot of progress in his confidence in the water. Abby and Meg are in the 9-10 year old division now so swim 50 yards (or meters) with a turn in the middle. It takes a lot more endurance for them and they're trying to get down their flip turns. Abby also swam butterfly yesterday for the first time. She'd never raced it the last two years in the 25 distance and was <em>very</em> concerned going in. There were some tears but she put her cap and goggles back on for it and our theme after she finished was "I can do hard things." </div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLUwTGPxlyCSrL_YucWjyiI9QXTMrRu2NsA0fwWamGl8OF7yE-I7iBJpFV23dViUA_I-EoJnQqunhs3t2kvt4bdgnaV21blmrFAL2pVoGyG4OGCRmMb5pcXmv_Dds2G5QDhhHbcE22KUi1/s1600/027.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482453809962664482" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLUwTGPxlyCSrL_YucWjyiI9QXTMrRu2NsA0fwWamGl8OF7yE-I7iBJpFV23dViUA_I-EoJnQqunhs3t2kvt4bdgnaV21blmrFAL2pVoGyG4OGCRmMb5pcXmv_Dds2G5QDhhHbcE22KUi1/s320/027.JPG" /></a><br />Josh Backstroke<br /></div><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRCDGf2A5HJMH_1wSG4kf4VHym3AydOwJWCjEFIgionSnzTJFmVmfJbmerSoPdPjS5vMrpl61WoaVt5yEkmaLEd2b_FQ42-OJcirUOnG5OeN7HqHn0RVlg82838OdKkY8SYWNjveSNpar9/s1600/019.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482454038062047458" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRCDGf2A5HJMH_1wSG4kf4VHym3AydOwJWCjEFIgionSnzTJFmVmfJbmerSoPdPjS5vMrpl61WoaVt5yEkmaLEd2b_FQ42-OJcirUOnG5OeN7HqHn0RVlg82838OdKkY8SYWNjveSNpar9/s320/019.JPG" /></a> Abby<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicy8Ui_tv3ePnA9AedcwSbfTcMTubyPJPXKLAz5XtdQBZai_UHoHpWHJULfIaNAyBa_46WmKbUwATdNXdEjBrqViRbamEnr4NlA1EZAZDBUCw3KFHRnBdiScGAy_x67tyHSw3Pk0IlX6ji/s1600/028.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482454145566150050" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicy8Ui_tv3ePnA9AedcwSbfTcMTubyPJPXKLAz5XtdQBZai_UHoHpWHJULfIaNAyBa_46WmKbUwATdNXdEjBrqViRbamEnr4NlA1EZAZDBUCw3KFHRnBdiScGAy_x67tyHSw3Pk0IlX6ji/s320/028.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /></div><p align="center">Megan</p><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyRhyPPFcMdrBMbwHdhhRbrAFGaiuMy51eG3x-dOqWJsuySBqO4Qhqzd5Urd8lSNSruBNznFDlH6-eyUCFecA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><div align="left">Megan</div><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyF311Y0txvVW9sFEBqa_hu-e9BYMhb1P86uaoNDV10UMISEGnG26OtDBCgdzGdoWhh7g2HrajIfix9_lPLdA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br />Abby<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMOsr10TRBQ<br /><br />JoshChris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06027190840805829092noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760752077461079671.post-37974957197721725552010-06-01T21:27:00.000-07:002010-07-04T15:45:12.343-07:00Burney Falls<div align="center">My family has been going to <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Burney</span> for vacationing for over 50 years. Recently, we've been going over the Memorial Day weekend for some great fun with family. We arrived late day on Saturday and mostly set up camp and enjoyed some conversation and let the cousins play. Sunday was church in the meadow, a bit of exploring and a visit to the fish hatchery. We left Monday after a trip to the falls and some ice cream treats at the general store. It was a short, but very fun, adventure.<br /><br /><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJrn7TUvdT8-GXU2be7-CWwf3HmrIHowZy79DQXGv6IdSbK9ojLKeQJIo8hv9QEUGJUmu6XKiPxypoGfxmL7so2Jv1WyIVeooOEOWSkcHsbN8P2v_ObhGCyFfDUhXUTvB6CTmopHS3aVta/s1600/020.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482485148455519122" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJrn7TUvdT8-GXU2be7-CWwf3HmrIHowZy79DQXGv6IdSbK9ojLKeQJIo8hv9QEUGJUmu6XKiPxypoGfxmL7so2Jv1WyIVeooOEOWSkcHsbN8P2v_ObhGCyFfDUhXUTvB6CTmopHS3aVta/s320/020.JPG" /> <p align="center"></a><br />Kate with her Great-Grandma Frances<br /></p><p align="center"></p><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYdt0SBZJFQ4rcYo7T02UXF98N_a_Zv6lqemSFnmYEpOlteDLe5VBCSAfffEXVgS41xIta6J_2m2bcZpXJPvrNuLtjZLmBobMB4odPxlzKz5MwaQ5p4YHULHybcfGPlPdqEcyx42X9YJ86/s1600/070.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482484916413689618" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYdt0SBZJFQ4rcYo7T02UXF98N_a_Zv6lqemSFnmYEpOlteDLe5VBCSAfffEXVgS41xIta6J_2m2bcZpXJPvrNuLtjZLmBobMB4odPxlzKz5MwaQ5p4YHULHybcfGPlPdqEcyx42X9YJ86/s320/070.JPG" /></a><br />We found a salamander and Josh and Blake enjoyed holding it<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI3HTBkQocEdsq-CoS-oYehoPKQpa2CCHIAzs1B3vxaZ-yygp_1WT3LpJzoVycwOz5SVx-HbFKO6dwpcIbRrnZPWR9uhyphenhyphenUSt7nx8IPKT3PSjmJNuIZ3BTjrT0NYxTRMPVkEpoLW0IQzkiQ/s1600/061.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482484730996568514" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI3HTBkQocEdsq-CoS-oYehoPKQpa2CCHIAzs1B3vxaZ-yygp_1WT3LpJzoVycwOz5SVx-HbFKO6dwpcIbRrnZPWR9uhyphenhyphenUSt7nx8IPKT3PSjmJNuIZ3BTjrT0NYxTRMPVkEpoLW0IQzkiQ/s320/061.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvouvC0b9jWCO2STgDKl2CJaTNx_u2Zla2lTNGenexlGqSHkcli9Xfr5dblo-8OFzAW6N1XO_5FUx2He4H6JAOxrI5q2rcjHJS1YzXLwunr_gFW9oezlo4sCBEfQAbq0C2ActKgJ03AhGb/s1600/022.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482485265752950338" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvouvC0b9jWCO2STgDKl2CJaTNx_u2Zla2lTNGenexlGqSHkcli9Xfr5dblo-8OFzAW6N1XO_5FUx2He4H6JAOxrI5q2rcjHJS1YzXLwunr_gFW9oezlo4sCBEfQAbq0C2ActKgJ03AhGb/s320/022.JPG" /></a><br />Blake with cousins Michael and Levi </div>Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06027190840805829092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760752077461079671.post-86216785099176435852010-05-15T11:27:00.001-07:002010-05-15T11:39:53.681-07:00Blake as Michael in Peter Pan<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVfNStUZCs_8aV3D17jbjUCA-lSOiECC-Wgbyvqjn1EE9NkO1Nm1FQLD1OwiSvos4wR2VWoPY8yIgH5L2XYGH6gZlasfaS202Ru2pvUFM4tAuvmIbZvBO7Uj7uGq0V1DOhJXDW7sH69X0/s1600/IMG_2793.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVfNStUZCs_8aV3D17jbjUCA-lSOiECC-Wgbyvqjn1EE9NkO1Nm1FQLD1OwiSvos4wR2VWoPY8yIgH5L2XYGH6gZlasfaS202Ru2pvUFM4tAuvmIbZvBO7Uj7uGq0V1DOhJXDW7sH69X0/s320/IMG_2793.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471568224620512290" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgn27Ej0YUPwkMzyvjaw_yLxlBXQCbX-5cQQ8bTXQNXHA5QwJbGxorgRq8S4Yo98kvQodmE66X_hnnayF3TGMxIqRkDNxGEJ0f6_4Sj4vWXEaqsdkMaxgKIpuIfAbyLCIjmErt1185CqM/s1600/IMG_1699.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgn27Ej0YUPwkMzyvjaw_yLxlBXQCbX-5cQQ8bTXQNXHA5QwJbGxorgRq8S4Yo98kvQodmE66X_hnnayF3TGMxIqRkDNxGEJ0f6_4Sj4vWXEaqsdkMaxgKIpuIfAbyLCIjmErt1185CqM/s320/IMG_1699.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471568111307306290" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-t2eDo8NTcjvIQZV_Kky-vJIoq-wpXkIh1G2ESyIPa7H1JiX6IUTeGZsp9O4qX71YQXi5w39EiZrfYycMoXraAFn5I1gWlnhai5ki8oDJ07ii1g9rkW-wvlv0iKHBme_LlW9XXThEgiQ/s1600/IMG_2459.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-t2eDo8NTcjvIQZV_Kky-vJIoq-wpXkIh1G2ESyIPa7H1JiX6IUTeGZsp9O4qX71YQXi5w39EiZrfYycMoXraAFn5I1gWlnhai5ki8oDJ07ii1g9rkW-wvlv0iKHBme_LlW9XXThEgiQ/s320/IMG_2459.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471567999787115426" /></a><br /><br />So, I don't care to brag-I just don't have the time. But we really had fun watching Glorietta Elementary School's latest dramtic production of Peter Pan. Blake was cast as Michael Darling with cousin Talyn Severson cast as John. Everyone in Blake's cast was fantastic, and the pianist even did a super job!(a plug for Ralph) I don't think I've ever seen Mr. Ron Pickett so happy. Our Peter Pan, played by Lauren Bond was outstanding. I was behind the scenes changing scenary between acts, and then depositing all the money at the end. We just had such a great time, I think we'll encourage Abby and Megan so we can do it all again next year!pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101911759165534674noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760752077461079671.post-72540289434531086332010-04-24T16:51:00.000-07:002010-05-09T17:35:50.367-07:00Moraga Triathon<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguiAou54kk3j1s1JXQ9E62tsMWLf91S-YEIwXHwT0OdYBfO7Fjx2dF_4VQw1PQXNzWa4F0jD-UUGOmy41pLvBfOgnRvIHhyytn-YRVHAN4u8pn75Ft6cYAlZ3tUtBpGcyGIlahEiyXh2EZ/s1600/003.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469432038813523202" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguiAou54kk3j1s1JXQ9E62tsMWLf91S-YEIwXHwT0OdYBfO7Fjx2dF_4VQw1PQXNzWa4F0jD-UUGOmy41pLvBfOgnRvIHhyytn-YRVHAN4u8pn75Ft6cYAlZ3tUtBpGcyGIlahEiyXh2EZ/s320/003.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div>After doing a fair amount of running and races the past 3 years, I decided to give the local triathlon a go. I'm not too sure what I was expecting but I really had a good time. I've never been a strong swimmer - or every enjoyed swimming but that's started to change since last summer. I was doing some fairly regular (once a week or so) swimming and it was, if not good, at least tolerable. I finally got a bike this past September so have started to do a bit of riding as well. After running a marathon in mid November, though, I've been in full "off-season" mode as far a serious exercise. So going in, I wasn't too confident in my fitness level. </div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH5gDJCQAoGuhhzU6AcRiYH87-nGz-qqQtLctQIiLonI8NJP2Wf2idrOOWKD5wFQxykvyNltKfygisY1CMVc7rfnKUJt-t-DJM47XwlVodfk_VDp7lTvzhpYcAhU5oD9QQEKY-g59ML2Fo/s1600/006.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469431815630183666" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH5gDJCQAoGuhhzU6AcRiYH87-nGz-qqQtLctQIiLonI8NJP2Wf2idrOOWKD5wFQxykvyNltKfygisY1CMVc7rfnKUJt-t-DJM47XwlVodfk_VDp7lTvzhpYcAhU5oD9QQEKY-g59ML2Fo/s320/006.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div>In the end, I did better than I thought I would. The swim was slow and steady. The bike proved that I need to ride more since my legs were burning on every hill and in the higher gears. The run was good and I passed a gob of people but my legs felt like jello after biking. </div><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ODK7QTF3UNutH-SaI5H5qzeMMu_kOsDUmmf5MoNl77JQ7SON9lQZq9aCQkDCJ_-VYsAnHvTqYDzS1LB8hg9emmNGRTlbChk9p3gfh7VkIrSnYnIdJOJAX2bM37_urwG9kymMoYXfmyM5/s1600/037.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469431571248189362" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ODK7QTF3UNutH-SaI5H5qzeMMu_kOsDUmmf5MoNl77JQ7SON9lQZq9aCQkDCJ_-VYsAnHvTqYDzS1LB8hg9emmNGRTlbChk9p3gfh7VkIrSnYnIdJOJAX2bM37_urwG9kymMoYXfmyM5/s320/037.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div>I think I'll keep doing this local tri but not sure I'll ever venture out to other or longer ones. We'll see. I do enjoy mixing in a bit of variety into my running though. </div></div></div><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfwuuxX9_9zwrkNe46PxqfDicy-pFECPnuSR-CjRhWlJIR6gpk3Nq5hedqtnTFRNYBek0yyTv0XW3uWYNrEA74Z6IbonIDuyjmdPWh-cy-Mj6jEwi4u5LB4lK9dVm3Xi7B_nXFIthJ8Hak/s1600/039.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469431322293023266" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfwuuxX9_9zwrkNe46PxqfDicy-pFECPnuSR-CjRhWlJIR6gpk3Nq5hedqtnTFRNYBek0yyTv0XW3uWYNrEA74Z6IbonIDuyjmdPWh-cy-Mj6jEwi4u5LB4lK9dVm3Xi7B_nXFIthJ8Hak/s320/039.JPG" /></a>Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06027190840805829092noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760752077461079671.post-1259835802689070922010-04-11T15:15:00.001-07:002010-04-11T23:13:11.337-07:00Spring Break-Can't Wait for School<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKJ52w_4TQ2sOd37DMY4yoMGFKky_F7fKb9iFiZh4bjeTEPIxYSZKNCF3wC-wRnj1ojf9ynV-hx6lkpX1m7pX0uasXyay55Mw9ISMrFDQgznjzBvbmOlHcGP-QKWGlTKLUF91dyNMObs8/s1600/004.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459008013013037954" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKJ52w_4TQ2sOd37DMY4yoMGFKky_F7fKb9iFiZh4bjeTEPIxYSZKNCF3wC-wRnj1ojf9ynV-hx6lkpX1m7pX0uasXyay55Mw9ISMrFDQgznjzBvbmOlHcGP-QKWGlTKLUF91dyNMObs8/s320/004.JPG" /></a><br /><br />I can honestly say this wasn't my favorite Easter/Spring Break. This was Kate's first Easter, and hopefully she won't recall what really happened. Our General Conference weekend was mixed with the baseball draft and a rainy-day Easter egg hunt. Blake was so disinfranchised with the egg hunt that he found eggs then gave them away to on-lookers. This photo is of our kids plus cousins in Grandma and Grandpa's sun room.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhQvLIZDaozdq8bZpHXH-2OsoBXzc5Oebx0xGTSx_zqDuLBPMeWyaaruwdaQNb27zXVYTFV1fz2orqunaT0o2uIRWmphn3sBLiSXTlywTEr3qY_eoW6BZFdCKUA90C26HF1kazNFFCFRA/s1600/026.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459008608088159122" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhQvLIZDaozdq8bZpHXH-2OsoBXzc5Oebx0xGTSx_zqDuLBPMeWyaaruwdaQNb27zXVYTFV1fz2orqunaT0o2uIRWmphn3sBLiSXTlywTEr3qY_eoW6BZFdCKUA90C26HF1kazNFFCFRA/s320/026.JPG" /></a><br /><br />The cousins left, and we spent the next two days cleaning and organizing the house. Chris worked the entire Spring Break overnight, which left me calling insane asylums looking for vacancy.<br /><br />Friday the younger four kids and I went to the Jelly Belly Factory. I would have enjoyed the trip if I hadn't had to hold a hungry baby for an hour in line. Saturday we went to the San Francisco Zoo, which was beautiful. Chris asked me how the Tiger cages were looking as this is where a Tiger escaped and killed a teenage boy a couple years back. The cages were looking fairly sturdy, and the Tigers were looking pretty docile. I guess this was the point of the week I enjoyed the most.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9PlQKaMk0GznQzF9L5e8bcsTDvld39MkGT7DiW3PCyPE6TYYRej2k-TftY8R4YkQ0CsxJzgWaKrDHUgbiPfnPtj8l5M-a3RHIeH9mCF-m7zthKI3z-JsTOqK0PFWJQ8iS4zvJo6kevr4/s1600/044.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459058242864032290" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9PlQKaMk0GznQzF9L5e8bcsTDvld39MkGT7DiW3PCyPE6TYYRej2k-TftY8R4YkQ0CsxJzgWaKrDHUgbiPfnPtj8l5M-a3RHIeH9mCF-m7zthKI3z-JsTOqK0PFWJQ8iS4zvJo6kevr4/s320/044.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtrrfeLwtgfb85l5f2JBSRv6Di8UN-UCLqJ4kQJy0lwRCmkArJbVffwMSslVgc_sv1W_WGLfHJQbuPFFj8NBjq7yLxdyxho6WJPSUozrF2gtYDwHl5kpGAbFCqp232nguc3NzuPBSWHgI/s1600/IMG_1795.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtrrfeLwtgfb85l5f2JBSRv6Di8UN-UCLqJ4kQJy0lwRCmkArJbVffwMSslVgc_sv1W_WGLfHJQbuPFFj8NBjq7yLxdyxho6WJPSUozrF2gtYDwHl5kpGAbFCqp232nguc3NzuPBSWHgI/s320/IMG_1795.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459129857041760274" /></a>pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101911759165534674noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760752077461079671.post-77803015661790173112010-02-15T16:37:00.000-08:002010-02-15T16:46:49.061-08:00Kids and Kate<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrs95e8SYJNMnwbj2xS0JTmpN3pnfEBscoojfu4P7ENqJxImjZhhfPiFypFdIRH1dro4CwRpRCWje2V03vLTgmubQ1CixDLdpDsghmaoqtUZ8h9aBMDbC8aTNM7AQHhJORzwg1w4pBoy8/s1600-h/076.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrs95e8SYJNMnwbj2xS0JTmpN3pnfEBscoojfu4P7ENqJxImjZhhfPiFypFdIRH1dro4CwRpRCWje2V03vLTgmubQ1CixDLdpDsghmaoqtUZ8h9aBMDbC8aTNM7AQHhJORzwg1w4pBoy8/s320/076.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438636338697212994" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieCLJ-T8KLmRRHJxkljaN9gyff8BHNPpdjKmVYtRXidLYN8jNGDIHWQHWfDE2P8TX9RdXg_sGMj8ypwb5cCY2PfzOqLJJVc3B3N9HdB-JqdkEL5dxRfbjz5zegTwMigi-6Jsp85Ld26HM/s1600-h/083.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieCLJ-T8KLmRRHJxkljaN9gyff8BHNPpdjKmVYtRXidLYN8jNGDIHWQHWfDE2P8TX9RdXg_sGMj8ypwb5cCY2PfzOqLJJVc3B3N9HdB-JqdkEL5dxRfbjz5zegTwMigi-6Jsp85Ld26HM/s320/083.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438636172852980722" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi936A1oCiHK2VbEbXhkEnIxcal6d3jN2Xdeb0urM2Bt7NIUh83rOK8YSit2hmWzcUg2aRnXYjKqDQGaBbTCSicS5ere-LGiWLnk3BuDVeJyqTA6HCjcXlQC6M-8em4tz-C6OcVjOkFJ6g/s1600-h/068.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi936A1oCiHK2VbEbXhkEnIxcal6d3jN2Xdeb0urM2Bt7NIUh83rOK8YSit2hmWzcUg2aRnXYjKqDQGaBbTCSicS5ere-LGiWLnk3BuDVeJyqTA6HCjcXlQC6M-8em4tz-C6OcVjOkFJ6g/s320/068.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438635221342904610" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV8ors45_lk_lj0ZacH9-M7-XAbVKq5ZwMQGrtgwuM81pBT41zSErtcN5aNThyphenhyphenShbKUOOql2g3dyZAT3YKsT2H10WOrw-J8v_s2BWcn8YRtu9q-Arpdkrd8VFv2Nd8_FewGj1XNAsApHY/s1600-h/105.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV8ors45_lk_lj0ZacH9-M7-XAbVKq5ZwMQGrtgwuM81pBT41zSErtcN5aNThyphenhyphenShbKUOOql2g3dyZAT3YKsT2H10WOrw-J8v_s2BWcn8YRtu9q-Arpdkrd8VFv2Nd8_FewGj1XNAsApHY/s320/105.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438634877454057426" /></a><br />Well, only at certain points in your life you get to have your photo taken with all your siblings. Your wedding, graduation, and infancy if you're lucky. So who is lucky? We'll let you decide.pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101911759165534674noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760752077461079671.post-15209259787590352462010-02-10T18:54:00.001-08:002010-02-10T19:03:55.438-08:00Kate the Great<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj60WDtz5hyVHIIWiDEUEL5k_bwfCc2dcGgb5yeLjSM26vfLYOELfyuj3qQ-boHjP1zLNEe-pxONE3WNmXz4fax-PIfB8kmVs5_iScEJphSCfs2KTbBltAQ0i9RcmUokiYyprTTF835Adg/s1600-h/IMG_1334.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj60WDtz5hyVHIIWiDEUEL5k_bwfCc2dcGgb5yeLjSM26vfLYOELfyuj3qQ-boHjP1zLNEe-pxONE3WNmXz4fax-PIfB8kmVs5_iScEJphSCfs2KTbBltAQ0i9RcmUokiYyprTTF835Adg/s320/IMG_1334.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436815957714542178" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV5hUALifVqf7kaQqojN7ZVdpD1Ct6_R2A9Vhjh4QIQw2cwe51WpVYFtTPPcNhqsvVYcJB_5rmDDO6DGK9f5rjRm1tIjYG9zIUFbSl1ICCXSdx4ohOS0HLdVyJfbovqCb0xpfoMMeJQ2g/s1600-h/IMG_1352.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV5hUALifVqf7kaQqojN7ZVdpD1Ct6_R2A9Vhjh4QIQw2cwe51WpVYFtTPPcNhqsvVYcJB_5rmDDO6DGK9f5rjRm1tIjYG9zIUFbSl1ICCXSdx4ohOS0HLdVyJfbovqCb0xpfoMMeJQ2g/s320/IMG_1352.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436815607832936274" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHv_KrH18ilKlEmzgyEar4NF5tprd-_q3he6gYGPNU3TCzA8Th3Xc-d0Ig9Xb1tckoMkAMxGUNjAZvbLSGdLL_oHbzkOzk_xazwUbAq1G1P7cXm4sH1rMSjtvRlPBOkAnf9MAeMtItU98/s1600-h/IMG_1358.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHv_KrH18ilKlEmzgyEar4NF5tprd-_q3he6gYGPNU3TCzA8Th3Xc-d0Ig9Xb1tckoMkAMxGUNjAZvbLSGdLL_oHbzkOzk_xazwUbAq1G1P7cXm4sH1rMSjtvRlPBOkAnf9MAeMtItU98/s320/IMG_1358.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436814074460477522" /></a><br />So, This is Kate at three months old. I haven't taken a lot of photos of her because I think this is when babies look a little funny. But, I tried to catch her in her element-the exersaucer. Work it baby, work it. Her head is finally pretty stable despite her disdain of tummy time. But show me a baby today who sleeps on their back and enjoyed manditory tummy time. They are all just functions of the system!pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101911759165534674noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760752077461079671.post-58713009622276261362009-12-07T14:38:00.000-08:002009-12-07T17:01:08.151-08:00Winter in Orinda<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL0z_9PW2_vY1Oc4TR5r91us9KcoCnxcdZrw5mUf_-I6VFWt4bKRZEMTRr6W1CEkEKRhJAv5l4DWZJ0nKsMPJhA22mVkdPMrUFdRxqhEp5D_6hsvrItwIGQ2tiAjZ2z6NaUdyoueZMw-MD/s1600-h/IMG_0457.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412632893943309170" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL0z_9PW2_vY1Oc4TR5r91us9KcoCnxcdZrw5mUf_-I6VFWt4bKRZEMTRr6W1CEkEKRhJAv5l4DWZJ0nKsMPJhA22mVkdPMrUFdRxqhEp5D_6hsvrItwIGQ2tiAjZ2z6NaUdyoueZMw-MD/s320/IMG_0457.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div>I never imagined having a snowball fight in the backyard, but that's what happened this morning. Every couple years we'll get a dusting on the surrounding hills. I remember it snowing once as a kid but I'm not even sure that was snowball worthy. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Blake and I took a bit of pre-snow time on Saturday morning running in the local Bah Humbug 5k. We both ran personal bests: me at 19:10 and Blake about 35 minutes. I had a great photo finish sprint to the finish with a high school kid, outpaced the 60+ guy in the last 1/2 mile, and ended up 2nd in my age group. Blake had a fun time and is pleased to have a new t-shirt to add to his school rotation. He continues with his sprint, walk, sprint approach but I think that just means I need to get out with him on a few slow paced training runs. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7xtCMAi4eWOPwHkgC_HZM9F6IKsH1RIrNAauzXAzH41v4mwf58m_9COBXAvGMyWvv5dliSF-rF9S49l8f-OtOYpeFXQTwTAwWy-82DpPIXckl_IYpSsiUYn7oex7VDFKHXrdyu17mZBGO/s1600-h/IMG_0450.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412658090074289762" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7xtCMAi4eWOPwHkgC_HZM9F6IKsH1RIrNAauzXAzH41v4mwf58m_9COBXAvGMyWvv5dliSF-rF9S49l8f-OtOYpeFXQTwTAwWy-82DpPIXckl_IYpSsiUYn7oex7VDFKHXrdyu17mZBGO/s320/IMG_0450.JPG" /></a>Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06027190840805829092noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760752077461079671.post-36917480419374292742009-11-18T19:20:00.001-08:002009-11-18T19:52:15.401-08:00Racing Weekend<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglsKI9v2-OEChfPU5W-SXZKSGRv8o1EvnZMtEBKG7jWe-9YsL4givDKZ0Q15Gk0xyvXAiT7DFy3ehg7_8SnE2i2K_-zGO-rm8eIs9uCwvHdQooaL7PCw121x6XcTC_BnqCQVqAppSwKx4Q/s1600/IMG_0403.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405656497400162898" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglsKI9v2-OEChfPU5W-SXZKSGRv8o1EvnZMtEBKG7jWe-9YsL4givDKZ0Q15Gk0xyvXAiT7DFy3ehg7_8SnE2i2K_-zGO-rm8eIs9uCwvHdQooaL7PCw121x6XcTC_BnqCQVqAppSwKx4Q/s320/IMG_0403.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div>After Pam's big week, the rest of the family, sans Josh, got in some exercise as well this weekend. With a little encouragement from grandma - who organized the first time NorCal Kids Triathlon- Blake, Abby and Megan participated in their first triathlon. Megan swam while Abby biked as part of a team with their friend Emma. Blake, although hesitant at first, had a great time doing all three events. Pam was there in great 5 day post-partum form to help assist. The kids all enjoyed themselves and it was definitely a big success. </div><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxTpwq09OhLyuUNTotwV2OwD_sMKUR8Dlm8n0BXpQuMxR0SpV-Tsy6F_keG7frhI-eLOE1xXgxEqWLt8TZWQq7GSLLxAsNEEEuqWbgw5RS94RS1vlwK3_FYphSsLmdEqa2Qn7IOhO9IpPv/s1600/IMG_0392.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 258px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405655896886333122" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxTpwq09OhLyuUNTotwV2OwD_sMKUR8Dlm8n0BXpQuMxR0SpV-Tsy6F_keG7frhI-eLOE1xXgxEqWLt8TZWQq7GSLLxAsNEEEuqWbgw5RS94RS1vlwK3_FYphSsLmdEqa2Qn7IOhO9IpPv/s320/IMG_0392.JPG" /></a><br />Really steep hill<br /></div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixbNmoUn1yfXKiSTzj1INvGDE-fYrKsMgOWkZaH3ISjGSV7fFFAea3yxMl34fQKnt3be37ZgNY4fBDgSlxZzthuFzYVXeX6mLx3Urh2v3PxFZL4Lmd-UZiffb_2noa6qge1Rt5yZydSlX6/s1600/IMG_0400.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405656267023164898" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixbNmoUn1yfXKiSTzj1INvGDE-fYrKsMgOWkZaH3ISjGSV7fFFAea3yxMl34fQKnt3be37ZgNY4fBDgSlxZzthuFzYVXeX6mLx3Urh2v3PxFZL4Lmd-UZiffb_2noa6qge1Rt5yZydSlX6/s320/IMG_0400.JPG" /></a><br />Abby headed for for the finish<br /><br /><div align="left">I missed the event while up in Folsom running a marathon along the American river. Pam had encouraged me to get one more marathon in this year - hoping to earn us a trip to Boston in the Spring. While a Boston qualifying time was not quite there (missed by 3 minutes), I had a great race posting a new personal best of 3 hours and 18 minutes and finishing 8th overall. I was lucky enough to have a friend meet me and run me in the last 6 miles and, finally, keeping up a steady pace with my slowest mile only about 35 seconds slower than my fastest. It was a max effort kind of day so if that's the fastest marathon I ever run, I'm pleased. </div></div>Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06027190840805829092noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760752077461079671.post-64435901613286708842009-11-11T22:25:00.000-08:002009-11-11T22:56:46.135-08:00Kiss me, KateWe were thrilled to welcome Katherine Paige into our family on the 9th. She arrived without incident and weighed in at 6 lbs 14 oz and was 19 1/2 inches. After having very eventful deliveries with the other four kids, it was refreshing to avoid such nasties as forceps, chest compressions, ICU stays, etc. We feel very blessed that Kate has arrived healthy and in perfect form. The kids are loving her up and taking turns holding her. Two days ago while Kate was at the hospital, Megan was busy nesting here at the house. She set up the pack and play crib with full bedding as well as the car seat all on her own.<br /><p><br /></p><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieASEYDvt1mhD7GF8_LgUJfnO1roAOUkQ0l8YDeOG617jG8fa51uS0cxjxwmLDMaBIxHxPm42Gd_9OfKG8EhhjF6rEtfKBTQhL0lNrR1tNgwmjHOb939jtoooi1CclAtDXNwpWZ24kaJpq/s1600-h/IMG_0379.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403103259132819954" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieASEYDvt1mhD7GF8_LgUJfnO1roAOUkQ0l8YDeOG617jG8fa51uS0cxjxwmLDMaBIxHxPm42Gd_9OfKG8EhhjF6rEtfKBTQhL0lNrR1tNgwmjHOb939jtoooi1CclAtDXNwpWZ24kaJpq/s320/IMG_0379.JPG" /></a><br />Caught her with the eyes opened<br /><br /><br /></p><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhptLpYx6NLvdxc1OWxMhpSr1OImhNSlg-RNx8ttY2WfHwN0CY8WBVhAd3ug6cSu2XdYqHIki-lfwnAI1Ytj_ueCE0BLoOFpHg_B2wPEEPlb5NK71P9ks5CsmaL7On3Q4oCboXB-eXUMYC6/s1600-h/IMG_0374.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403103168284536962" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhptLpYx6NLvdxc1OWxMhpSr1OImhNSlg-RNx8ttY2WfHwN0CY8WBVhAd3ug6cSu2XdYqHIki-lfwnAI1Ytj_ueCE0BLoOFpHg_B2wPEEPlb5NK71P9ks5CsmaL7On3Q4oCboXB-eXUMYC6/s320/IMG_0374.JPG" /></a><br /><br />Ready to travel</div><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKOeeNeVAzIjcGvoE4R894NCHoyYOz2T-IZ5fToi0r9eFnqqK0zydcHSwR-RsMpVKWFi4ZSiUNV7ySQA4X7E-orcXn86KstTTR-u0VbRoBCd4W9HLNSHof60GzfaoDG4iyO8b3OvmOIzka/s1600-h/IMG_0372.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403103045848008146" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKOeeNeVAzIjcGvoE4R894NCHoyYOz2T-IZ5fToi0r9eFnqqK0zydcHSwR-RsMpVKWFi4ZSiUNV7ySQA4X7E-orcXn86KstTTR-u0VbRoBCd4W9HLNSHof60GzfaoDG4iyO8b3OvmOIzka/s320/IMG_0372.JPG" /></a><br />The girls put in a lot of work this week but are looking great.</div><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRPGb6KHhScdKsCzfMzjALYZfkPYZAN_tnB4AZxwBiTO5nbilBtzkD04f10R90Sk7V_16sqHZ4UdjCT6wknCLRKrYer3VLcuvp9W9n4pmbAMBKuwOUvcehbZF7RKzixnVrFNf2_cLcIuMD/s1600-h/IMG_0367.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403102901987393474" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRPGb6KHhScdKsCzfMzjALYZfkPYZAN_tnB4AZxwBiTO5nbilBtzkD04f10R90Sk7V_16sqHZ4UdjCT6wknCLRKrYer3VLcuvp9W9n4pmbAMBKuwOUvcehbZF7RKzixnVrFNf2_cLcIuMD/s320/IMG_0367.JPG" /></a><br /><div align="center"><br />I love grasping reflex<br /><br /><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigOkLLrM_YPBC5o7eUMPzmT-kqiQJaPZcRhhqIcAH9RLEjy0JFrBLl_C9r2FPlIAHkp-iHwKcQMlANx6ElJ1j1LrdDpK9_-beRNCnkHJOJil25dJOKIpLDvZY4TZMUmBjzYwrMn-COgUhR/s1600-h/IMG_0362.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403102689736686194" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigOkLLrM_YPBC5o7eUMPzmT-kqiQJaPZcRhhqIcAH9RLEjy0JFrBLl_C9r2FPlIAHkp-iHwKcQMlANx6ElJ1j1LrdDpK9_-beRNCnkHJOJil25dJOKIpLDvZY4TZMUmBjzYwrMn-COgUhR/s320/IMG_0362.JPG" /></a><br /><div></div><p align="center">Faux smile<br /></p>Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06027190840805829092noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760752077461079671.post-13503451784868454862009-10-01T20:22:00.000-07:002009-10-01T20:33:57.381-07:00Long Time in ComingI enjoyed a great birthday this week. It was a day of spending a lot of money on myself followed by stuffing myself with a large sundae at Fenton's. After about 18 months of consideration, I finally made a bike purchase. Really, there were too many choices so I chose "none of the above" for the longest time. But, I'm really happy with the bike I ended up with and got a quick picture with some yummy ice cream as well.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVkeo7NAbs9tvSUfbCFAKDRIjuPGXhBTh5WJV5FfNhpfmyWyqFjZXr4xz6V7paX-svjUNNFS5DGB9za4do-PfveW8ZW-b220ASFfzz62iq0cQ5FLQiq3USUM2dxyPBvZKFNLPxBisoMrOD/s1600-h/IMG_0339.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387840112511339810" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVkeo7NAbs9tvSUfbCFAKDRIjuPGXhBTh5WJV5FfNhpfmyWyqFjZXr4xz6V7paX-svjUNNFS5DGB9za4do-PfveW8ZW-b220ASFfzz62iq0cQ5FLQiq3USUM2dxyPBvZKFNLPxBisoMrOD/s320/IMG_0339.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The other thing that's been long in coming is baby #5. Not that we knew baby #5 was on the docket until about 33 weeks ago, but it's still been a while since having an infant around these parts. Pam dutifully posed for a picture tonight.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr1LcotjKGopbr94IcOQDh3T6qUfH4sFqCknRtGuOdxUGRyWMPuxX3OMdDY5QKOBY_DZFgqkFhRBeW2lrJJoQdlJk-XN-RUAvHqLM3pRzbGpg8h1GB9gOjPhCYpQw727v3sNV9Hf8VhmZD/s1600-h/IMG_0341.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387840334039187218" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr1LcotjKGopbr94IcOQDh3T6qUfH4sFqCknRtGuOdxUGRyWMPuxX3OMdDY5QKOBY_DZFgqkFhRBeW2lrJJoQdlJk-XN-RUAvHqLM3pRzbGpg8h1GB9gOjPhCYpQw727v3sNV9Hf8VhmZD/s320/IMG_0341.JPG" border="0" /></a>Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06027190840805829092noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760752077461079671.post-68715946942352719682009-09-03T15:49:00.000-07:002009-09-03T16:31:32.289-07:00Summer Wrap UpIt's been a full and exciting summer. We've made trips to Canada, Oregon (twice), and Seattle. Now that the kids are back to school I have a few minutes to post some pictures.<br /><br /><br /><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjetxcNACJrx2T_IFZ_irI7AQ6C5dWYdtWrLWC2hNNE8bF5E-CbuMkI5yGbadwnmcfXu1pTBFs1hBOQeDy9QISXk00UrOkMcNxdzvx60KIv8tF2aFvaUYhtRUjjqqb8XDzoK7nirXJhwRAd/s1600-h/IMG_0178.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377379476152438434" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjetxcNACJrx2T_IFZ_irI7AQ6C5dWYdtWrLWC2hNNE8bF5E-CbuMkI5yGbadwnmcfXu1pTBFs1hBOQeDy9QISXk00UrOkMcNxdzvx60KIv8tF2aFvaUYhtRUjjqqb8XDzoK7nirXJhwRAd/s320/IMG_0178.JPG" border="0" /></a> Pam with her mom and sister Jackie up in Portland for her wedding reception. This was trip #1 to Portland. Short but sweet.<br /></p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUFbYrpSx4FODa8BGL5Kz3abl7-Ik_2vXvjXbjvgDFiqnMdiw7cd6TcthJQEzbKugDRu7feOGKKYfRPxqx1LvKvjQRahCEz_Qq1P6DGEkQ4MUVQl1EpmbCgtjt_xZpSYiA0h0GCprF_usQ/s1600-h/IMG_1691.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377379340670917538" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUFbYrpSx4FODa8BGL5Kz3abl7-Ik_2vXvjXbjvgDFiqnMdiw7cd6TcthJQEzbKugDRu7feOGKKYfRPxqx1LvKvjQRahCEz_Qq1P6DGEkQ4MUVQl1EpmbCgtjt_xZpSYiA0h0GCprF_usQ/s320/IMG_1691.JPG" border="0" /></a> Death in the family. Megan brought home "Tippy" from school at the end of the year. He, unfortunately, smelled rather strongly and was banished to outside dwelling. We had some very hot weather a few weeks later which he did not survive. Funeral services were held that night and he was interred under the Japanese Maple that we were planting. In lieu of flowers please send condolences to Megan.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNTEtg0X9BSWrX6guIVDmvvr971I_qS67qIN5nPWYxIIiXGXH5rSh0h7uw4YHDJQdVYMnf7W19fTGBmuCGKxavBdC3FOpytlZZZkovROoDwTVDup0HrwIFtbaIyUmZeviH8K3j2_o1n_Of/s1600-h/IMG_0213.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377379237792268962" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNTEtg0X9BSWrX6guIVDmvvr971I_qS67qIN5nPWYxIIiXGXH5rSh0h7uw4YHDJQdVYMnf7W19fTGBmuCGKxavBdC3FOpytlZZZkovROoDwTVDup0HrwIFtbaIyUmZeviH8K3j2_o1n_Of/s320/IMG_0213.JPG" border="0" /></a> Fun visit in mid July of Melissa and Laura. The kids loved their time with their cousins.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVm1pBIUpWxqQErdjV1FfoMncreVgSJmVGlVZEfQIQmprZV0TkkLj9ecgZZG2Zn19mO3X5jgIz6f7TE-oEMJiaWpJ2j7X9mZeclS4y9N22_sTjRYolkvmSFCPENVwfrzJJ3SOVHAZnyj8m/s1600-h/IMG_0240.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377379131371791714" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVm1pBIUpWxqQErdjV1FfoMncreVgSJmVGlVZEfQIQmprZV0TkkLj9ecgZZG2Zn19mO3X5jgIz6f7TE-oEMJiaWpJ2j7X9mZeclS4y9N22_sTjRYolkvmSFCPENVwfrzJJ3SOVHAZnyj8m/s320/IMG_0240.JPG" border="0" /></a> After visiting Brooke's baby blessing in Seattle we drove down to Oregon for visit #2. Dad dragged the family off the main highway to take in Mount Saint Helens. The before and after mountain is amazing as is the changed landscape over 25 years later.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzCcnvRgBJo3bDP4Kgh9O1XkIxnFb_xYvQmo2sq-evCbe01-3NhUd2nKJYeavZYLNgi0k6ANmNh2ZulyFo6jHqN_ZWiy6PmzqDKnn6S6nN4qjjWwyAcSXwgE4-RQ8UzD__Qj36lK1Ac3MF/s1600-h/IMG_0250.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377379018273486322" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzCcnvRgBJo3bDP4Kgh9O1XkIxnFb_xYvQmo2sq-evCbe01-3NhUd2nKJYeavZYLNgi0k6ANmNh2ZulyFo6jHqN_ZWiy6PmzqDKnn6S6nN4qjjWwyAcSXwgE4-RQ8UzD__Qj36lK1Ac3MF/s320/IMG_0250.JPG" border="0" /></a> Abby and Megan enjoying some beach time with cousin Grace. We had a super time spending the week there with Pam's family.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyven1j0vLQau5rNPukAa8ZRfT4p9PYLr5mf7IcvHclSrDjwBU48KFf_nf7qx4QsVm5XUDMHvb2CNJa_NmqwPcILCJCF6c7EL7hVRYrGfZfKZGKUWAQtCKmduJzxC28OxUU0-U5zkYXO4B/s1600-h/IMG_0254.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377378903221569330" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyven1j0vLQau5rNPukAa8ZRfT4p9PYLr5mf7IcvHclSrDjwBU48KFf_nf7qx4QsVm5XUDMHvb2CNJa_NmqwPcILCJCF6c7EL7hVRYrGfZfKZGKUWAQtCKmduJzxC28OxUU0-U5zkYXO4B/s320/IMG_0254.JPG" border="0" /></a> Pam and the kids.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirdVZ5l_3ODWHE5KTrDf3WheYoVwdzk5YSYIp3Udh7CpquHo1WAGsaPCyKCQewz4cM-14EQaID8yZl7DIlVHEnTCCWmxbIl4dLhcno2PRhOeKmkaXc0aKZViW3RRPlmAIj5mjLx1Ih_HjJ/s1600-h/IMG_0275.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377378788927691698" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirdVZ5l_3ODWHE5KTrDf3WheYoVwdzk5YSYIp3Udh7CpquHo1WAGsaPCyKCQewz4cM-14EQaID8yZl7DIlVHEnTCCWmxbIl4dLhcno2PRhOeKmkaXc0aKZViW3RRPlmAIj5mjLx1Ih_HjJ/s320/IMG_0275.JPG" border="0" /></a>Joshua putting on a big smile. Our kids love nothing more than digging in the sand.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTfE_nsvrhuJKY16_48S6FvmzwDiaPyKlyloSiBW1l0IaXwgANQxnUUlRC-JMhww69hb14ZugGado3VTFLxS55lf8DTu8WaXDKaW_tCoNFpdn1onPLfidVgW8qnBOHSMdBq_qN12EyACPn/s1600-h/IMG_0307.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377378629729180754" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTfE_nsvrhuJKY16_48S6FvmzwDiaPyKlyloSiBW1l0IaXwgANQxnUUlRC-JMhww69hb14ZugGado3VTFLxS55lf8DTu8WaXDKaW_tCoNFpdn1onPLfidVgW8qnBOHSMdBq_qN12EyACPn/s320/IMG_0307.JPG" border="0" /></a> The summer ended with a first time boating excursion with the family. Here I am trying a bit of wake boarding. Blake was able to get up but not stay up on the wake board.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfge24kn3vG5lwhsuIC-lEA8GAe1Rmh8KSvAyb3eWsV1xDmBTMzXTPdsYOVNTLZHk8rKYF2lRqH8dEvZIWNj9BwotBzBr0uK_cO8hcJwjP3HbWeB4QDiUBrIrxFnhNjHELYzfA8mZEWhIg/s1600-h/IMG_0293.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377378535657428354" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfge24kn3vG5lwhsuIC-lEA8GAe1Rmh8KSvAyb3eWsV1xDmBTMzXTPdsYOVNTLZHk8rKYF2lRqH8dEvZIWNj9BwotBzBr0uK_cO8hcJwjP3HbWeB4QDiUBrIrxFnhNjHELYzfA8mZEWhIg/s320/IMG_0293.JPG" border="0" /></a> The kids really had fun the the pulled tubes. They got to try "Molly" here as well as the "Rock Star" which Blake flipped on several times. In all a great time out in the sun together as a family with the Carvers who let us come with.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDEWZiBrpqQ8244MY-f6bOfKuxOJBwys55kAm5d528_VYm7nkblx2kw9sezD5IlZnU5ga5zzxPP5m7_LLQ41ZEWvzEGQnWJYgXjkCgCc0u76457mdRRvU4tizud38yFUbMzzxuOzW2MJEb/s1600-h/IMG_0329.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377378381276906018" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDEWZiBrpqQ8244MY-f6bOfKuxOJBwys55kAm5d528_VYm7nkblx2kw9sezD5IlZnU5ga5zzxPP5m7_LLQ41ZEWvzEGQnWJYgXjkCgCc0u76457mdRRvU4tizud38yFUbMzzxuOzW2MJEb/s320/IMG_0329.JPG" border="0" /></a>Finally - back to school. Joshua has been SO excited for the start of kindergarten. After years of being the little guy, he's finally feeling like he's made it into big kid status. The only problem for him was that his first day was only one hour with mom and a few other kids as orientation day. He was trying to decide what to bring for lunch that first day and the older kids were giving him a hard time about it. "You don't need a lunch for one hour, Josh." Needless to say, he's now pleased that he's staying longer and bringing a lunch. He's even stayed afterwards for the 50 minutes until Abby and Megan finish since that's what some of the other kids do. Now, he's been asking when he gets to ride the school bus. He'll have to wait for a field trip for that. </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06027190840805829092noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760752077461079671.post-5687467458274239552009-08-16T19:54:00.000-07:002009-08-16T21:18:14.407-07:00Swim Team SummerWe had the kids do another year of swimming. They, mostly, loved it. Abby and Megan were on the 7-8 year old swim team with hour long workouts. Joshua did "Minis" with a couple of lessons a week while Blake 4 weeks of lessons not with the swim team. It's a big time commitment to do the swim team for Abby and Meg but they really have become very confident swimmers. They're not even close to the fastest around but the exercise and personal skill improvements have been tremendous.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD5IKWNvx-SEosk8nvQAi6ba4AmWr9eUgmXzlrM0NHE6D78YS8sWO53ExVq0Ql75n-LT57LE_cP0UrDv6f_qgsEAjakKzG8zxHGXDgqzFh0S1MTxYqQJy4cVrynvzzywOkxH0sZuc8N_NK/s1600-h/IMG_0205.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370763871256137650" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD5IKWNvx-SEosk8nvQAi6ba4AmWr9eUgmXzlrM0NHE6D78YS8sWO53ExVq0Ql75n-LT57LE_cP0UrDv6f_qgsEAjakKzG8zxHGXDgqzFh0S1MTxYqQJy4cVrynvzzywOkxH0sZuc8N_NK/s320/IMG_0205.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><br /><div align="center">Megan mid breath in breast</div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6izCUSmThyphenhyphent0whT2xIYV4V3czJh6HGojAdAgqysHLL6DD08nkpJDImi9ZrDQ760FOpCDaD-iZBzCyetQ3ctC6uOsAbXg9YmjANpPX5hL_9wees2GF2eCMyOrRN4GmBbWsg-DpiZHZWgys/s1600-h/IMG_0202.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370764000041140434" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6izCUSmThyphenhyphent0whT2xIYV4V3czJh6HGojAdAgqysHLL6DD08nkpJDImi9ZrDQ760FOpCDaD-iZBzCyetQ3ctC6uOsAbXg9YmjANpPX5hL_9wees2GF2eCMyOrRN4GmBbWsg-DpiZHZWgys/s320/IMG_0202.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><br /><div align="center">Abby ready up on the blocks</div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWj3-V48eZH-ThWxM0aVHLTpKebq5Lidju658GZHnqLtEVwfZ7nmCzACABMEEHAf71kN3gyjsCmkPMd4F8Sxwr1KeTwAcllEYpU22LagAWyO_Nsq6R0YEP89iU2VABsS2F4YcWmYa8hA6N/s1600-h/IMG_0226.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370769858032873906" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWj3-V48eZH-ThWxM0aVHLTpKebq5Lidju658GZHnqLtEVwfZ7nmCzACABMEEHAf71kN3gyjsCmkPMd4F8Sxwr1KeTwAcllEYpU22LagAWyO_Nsq6R0YEP89iU2VABsS2F4YcWmYa8hA6N/s320/IMG_0226.JPG" border="0" /></a> <div></div><br /><br /><div align="center">Josh swam in one meet at the end of the season. Here he's "diving" in on a medley relay team race.</div>Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06027190840805829092noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760752077461079671.post-65749374201729572312009-06-21T07:37:00.000-07:002009-06-21T16:54:19.457-07:00Jackie's Wedding-who are the real Canadians?June 4, 2009 our family hopped on Bart to the San Francisco Airport headed to Canada. The kids were really excited because they hadn't been to Canada since last August. Once we arrived, we got the grooviest vehicle-a Ford Flex. So we grabbed our rental wheels, and started for Cardston. I don't think the kids planned on 10 hours of travel, but we made it.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8wRrPxBcVSfaV-g6Wvl4-tEMZH_M3uUlMN6kxDV-I0neGBoscFsy-GQI1yuTTxfhyTaoGR5AH29iY07U2SvaZ81M_O2_0jpZ8El59OoS8FOaST_DauEr48vah-VmqfP-wKMc3SgP6llU/s1600-h/042.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349931219863719234" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8wRrPxBcVSfaV-g6Wvl4-tEMZH_M3uUlMN6kxDV-I0neGBoscFsy-GQI1yuTTxfhyTaoGR5AH29iY07U2SvaZ81M_O2_0jpZ8El59OoS8FOaST_DauEr48vah-VmqfP-wKMc3SgP6llU/s320/042.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><p>The next morning Chris and I attended the wedding of David Gipson to my sister Jackie Glenn. David and Jackie had all of their siblings, several friends, and extended family members in Cardston. We took a bunch of photos, then David and Jackie took off to Waterton to take more photos. I was a little worried about the weather, because we got rain and hail on the way back to Calgary. But Jackie said they had the perfect weather in the mountains. The reception back in Calgary was lovely. I think the kids enjoyed running around with their cousins. By the time we left, it was really raining.</p><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVk_rlqFZF4mDBBhQrT7NoNl0rsCUU4lkMC9Q1NgQVoJm0K5bp0c1QFodni8KlnYFSvQcd1xW5O5TYNDhw9YXgK3NQGU2LRMm-wSD0kvKJj4xYa2ZxqyA959AmV5pWvfbMvK3BzYpY1Nk/s1600-h/074.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349931765595976242" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVk_rlqFZF4mDBBhQrT7NoNl0rsCUU4lkMC9Q1NgQVoJm0K5bp0c1QFodni8KlnYFSvQcd1xW5O5TYNDhw9YXgK3NQGU2LRMm-wSD0kvKJj4xYa2ZxqyA959AmV5pWvfbMvK3BzYpY1Nk/s320/074.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><p>To our surprise, we awoke the next morning to three inches of snow. Wow! Snow on the sixth of June. I had to make sure the date stamp was set on the camera, so I could prove the date to myself. The kids were SOOOOO excited. I think Chris was pretty disgusted. We had planned to go to Banff so Chris could do a final high-altitude run, and we went despite the crazy weather.<br /></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVl-lZJ2pZwR7Gx08Ki6MZjh2F3zedn30Qp9ZMQKeZQyS044ypKFHuMz3j1OE5gOH1yMt5f01VUoGSvWc3AcR6lay6S-YLxhtOK9rsxgw4ZSxphcxKLH7iP-g4gTVND_ZYVkB044n40vA/s1600-h/138.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349932894839785922" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVl-lZJ2pZwR7Gx08Ki6MZjh2F3zedn30Qp9ZMQKeZQyS044ypKFHuMz3j1OE5gOH1yMt5f01VUoGSvWc3AcR6lay6S-YLxhtOK9rsxgw4ZSxphcxKLH7iP-g4gTVND_ZYVkB044n40vA/s320/138.JPG" border="0" /></a>pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101911759165534674noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760752077461079671.post-57896431017782473462009-01-04T17:54:00.000-08:002009-01-04T18:55:37.602-08:00CelebrationsWe've enjoyed some wonderful celebrations the last 6 weeks.<br /><br />We drove to Portland for Thanksgiving and to celebrate Gabriella Wood's baptism. I, actually, wasn't part of the "we" and flew up Thanksgiving morning after some late night work. The kids had the whole week off so we took advantage. 2008, among other things, will be the year that the Severson family finally learned to take travel in stride. Sure, a few "are we there yet's" and minor scuffles in cars and airplane this year, but as a whole we move pretty effectively. Big breakthrough.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD2Broz_6ZckiAovTVth9KN16kFazwlYaZteSFdJbMqgyaf-HwTQW0hlyf_oh0LNgY4tFOekwMr37y2oORaHPJ9nBNj_jjes8m7uhyphenhyphen1fKChG7sXYiU_QQYWEyvXGrrr_L9Huxg6MQCbv4j/s1600-h/Blake+Tractor.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 208px; height: 166px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD2Broz_6ZckiAovTVth9KN16kFazwlYaZteSFdJbMqgyaf-HwTQW0hlyf_oh0LNgY4tFOekwMr37y2oORaHPJ9nBNj_jjes8m7uhyphenhyphen1fKChG7sXYiU_QQYWEyvXGrrr_L9Huxg6MQCbv4j/s320/Blake+Tractor.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287633011706679106" border="0" /></a><br />While in Portland, we visited my grandparents and the kids all took turns riding on Great-Grandpa's tractor. Blake was super thrilled to have even taken the wheel.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbZ-tf-XOU0sLciZYBLgaF-0syeDRQKKSRn49hK6rVYwzTp9La4CqHgKUa87i6B9yS0RRrKsuPehk2di3vK_M91jEzjAR3WNz7k_Tr6TvEqZ6Sy2zpn6DFqWVKhyDOHXg199_bhik9O3nY/s1600-h/IMG_1213_edited-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbZ-tf-XOU0sLciZYBLgaF-0syeDRQKKSRn49hK6rVYwzTp9La4CqHgKUa87i6B9yS0RRrKsuPehk2di3vK_M91jEzjAR3WNz7k_Tr6TvEqZ6Sy2zpn6DFqWVKhyDOHXg199_bhik9O3nY/s320/IMG_1213_edited-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287634938410631666" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"Mary" Megan<br /></div><br />We've enjoyed a magical Christmas season. I was fortunate to have a very favorable work schedule and, for the first time ever, was able to make every Holiday gathering as well as Christmas eve and morning. The kids love their new Wii and do a great job of playing it all together but, I think, they also appreciated Christmas for Christ and time spent with family more than ever.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE1zhQFja6Nj_gmxxumM0QBT8d-SaP7yS0TleKyTXIDUg5nqwVa47qh6QPDevAiBbIzUST87BwK0I8ESgNORJuz3kGThwRUgAOlskrBzKUQTGoiD7MhQaqz6CG8N0GrdojbUY-x5wnQN9N/s1600-h/IMG_1195.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE1zhQFja6Nj_gmxxumM0QBT8d-SaP7yS0TleKyTXIDUg5nqwVa47qh6QPDevAiBbIzUST87BwK0I8ESgNORJuz3kGThwRUgAOlskrBzKUQTGoiD7MhQaqz6CG8N0GrdojbUY-x5wnQN9N/s320/IMG_1195.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287637268647884322" border="0" /></a><br />On the 28th, Blake celebrated his 10th birthday. It's hard to believe it's been 10 years since Pam and I gathered up our things for a trip to the hospital. Most of a day later, Blake arrived and has been a source of joy since.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGBDA43xKIwyMuywJmSu2WOQ9F6WUj7UkzIH_buVR3xm1nW3sPWkQ2z7fsIB7dj4bd-l0u6jGFK-X9WvFPcey3hhDiI9VRPv-JKFPf9HaJr1oVIxn0JtAvrCSkdO8i7UGgFZKPYyXWhNqd/s1600-h/IMG_1217.jpg"><br /></a>Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06027190840805829092noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760752077461079671.post-13313085297819316702008-12-30T18:56:00.000-08:002009-01-04T19:52:49.339-08:00Sledding Fun<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBLZj5AJk3V7uuxDQEqPEE3pjzkhJC4PO9y7Hs808uMff9_Vh8rcx1dsKK7ebS0_8sXynIMMYv3JUs4fh2t41stWhyphenhyphenQWbxnkTTNxK62NlpsesiFMqVWF9RPjPzhbW9DQFDypDRdV6hjt6i/s1600-h/IMG_1227.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBLZj5AJk3V7uuxDQEqPEE3pjzkhJC4PO9y7Hs808uMff9_Vh8rcx1dsKK7ebS0_8sXynIMMYv3JUs4fh2t41stWhyphenhyphenQWbxnkTTNxK62NlpsesiFMqVWF9RPjPzhbW9DQFDypDRdV6hjt6i/s320/IMG_1227.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287648675870699842" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Pam and I have questioned if this would be the year we take all of the kids skiing. Instead, we took a one day trip up sledding. Pam's sister, Jackie, was a good sport and went up with us. I wasn't exactly sure where to sled but thought we'd strike out up Highway 50. About 15 minutes outside of Placerville, we came upon a gas station with about 200 sledders on the hillside and we joined the revelry.<br /><br />The only incident (and <span style="font-style: italic;">every</span> sledding trip has at least one) was Blake getting struck by a "human missle" from behind while retrieving his sled. Thankfully, no injuries.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaCXlr_KUO4Sjz8GYaE_KiXFWlNyJCADPTW_1wIpRATVgLvppBWor3H6fTSS-kBBKO4sc2hHrx6iztkKzyRON7_8cMCcXd7Y9LbIob3cXPHF_gcacD8_9uTIFHgDRQe2-J5yJn6NjPJSOM/s1600-h/IMG_1232_edited-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 305px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaCXlr_KUO4Sjz8GYaE_KiXFWlNyJCADPTW_1wIpRATVgLvppBWor3H6fTSS-kBBKO4sc2hHrx6iztkKzyRON7_8cMCcXd7Y9LbIob3cXPHF_gcacD8_9uTIFHgDRQe2-J5yJn6NjPJSOM/s320/IMG_1232_edited-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287649837636423346" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Joshua refused his coat<br /></div><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeH14jXkldQdPSCerEj8mtTCzYuvDBJVLkA97q_syR6UBCGIEYIsXI0slUTgfwIU2jkLyhM7VnYeGGWLuuDjTF0l6zPl7oO6arPFgIg4fnBvatA_LTmpQFhSSGpH8-msAVH88_9DVAZqLP/s1600-h/IMG_1230.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeH14jXkldQdPSCerEj8mtTCzYuvDBJVLkA97q_syR6UBCGIEYIsXI0slUTgfwIU2jkLyhM7VnYeGGWLuuDjTF0l6zPl7oO6arPFgIg4fnBvatA_LTmpQFhSSGpH8-msAVH88_9DVAZqLP/s320/IMG_1230.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287649194404081042" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Angel Meg<br /></div><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirftqlE-o1vfwKItZq7HNF4fi4Ylc9ffZOX_4Dmh9QnyCAsBOIEs5blQTyKtpXy1gf6Znjg-nq1vuh2jQZIrvEsmASW12TwW2Hl1mHg6Ay9lszyw_MNQcZDR5eG8Mhoiaql8QkMncBiruK/s1600-h/IMG_1224.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirftqlE-o1vfwKItZq7HNF4fi4Ylc9ffZOX_4Dmh9QnyCAsBOIEs5blQTyKtpXy1gf6Znjg-nq1vuh2jQZIrvEsmASW12TwW2Hl1mHg6Ay9lszyw_MNQcZDR5eG8Mhoiaql8QkMncBiruK/s320/IMG_1224.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287648486112736610" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUlaG33NWGE1adR26sk8gQhOPgDML1_KLqJPBOxuBbQiwhiQ0BCyLEmjy-YKdp7AyCgs0bcS0C24CQHqdUdtoxnjNu0NjjYdG5XxUVK67FWhHMHsZ_1g58NTJJKXk2OZOBTQkbbzXdNk1L/s1600-h/IMG_1223_edited-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 278px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUlaG33NWGE1adR26sk8gQhOPgDML1_KLqJPBOxuBbQiwhiQ0BCyLEmjy-YKdp7AyCgs0bcS0C24CQHqdUdtoxnjNu0NjjYdG5XxUVK67FWhHMHsZ_1g58NTJJKXk2OZOBTQkbbzXdNk1L/s320/IMG_1223_edited-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287648217514975202" border="0" /></a>Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06027190840805829092noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760752077461079671.post-21838143690832390022008-11-16T22:00:00.000-08:002008-11-17T01:04:55.847-08:00All that Glitters is not GoldThe kids had Veteran's Day off of school this week so we took a long anticipated trip up to "Gold country" east of Sacramento in the little town of Coloma.<br /><br />A bit of history: We learned about a few members of the Mormon Battalion working their way back to Utah who had stopped to help build Sutter's Mill late in 1847. While digging to divert part of the river in order to power the water wheel, James Marshall, the foreman, found a pea sized piece of gold. On January 24th, 1848, two of the Mormons recorded the date and finding in their journals. Word spread quickly, for the times, and soon the "Gold Rush" was on.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWMwvyNGUOHTnr1uA9NDFlxXLLPm5QBTrGtrV8CsZjKSTngRK1c1QB50TxQV9XfJ3nHaOegfoRPCcElbNSc7kc-j1J_sJXUx9tJHNA3U81f8Gyjaln37tYbAeJ9Nlq1jS2AdMKNDma2lUx/s1600-h/IMG_1149.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWMwvyNGUOHTnr1uA9NDFlxXLLPm5QBTrGtrV8CsZjKSTngRK1c1QB50TxQV9XfJ3nHaOegfoRPCcElbNSc7kc-j1J_sJXUx9tJHNA3U81f8Gyjaln37tYbAeJ9Nlq1jS2AdMKNDma2lUx/s320/IMG_1149.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269540428136229922" border="0" /></a><br />We made quick stops in the museum and blacksmith shop before heading down to pan for gold and strike it rich on the banks of the American river. We had, unfortunately, forgotten our pans but were able to dig through the silt bottom for treasure. Abby was convinced we'd be filling our pockets with gold in no time and was quickly disappointed. The adventure was salvaged when Pam and I started helping, though. We found pyrite (not that the kids cared - it glittered) and some gold as well. Our total haul was a bit less than what you'd collect from running your fingernail along the edge of your Bible but that's just details. The point to all involved was that we came for gold and we found some.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhebWJWqYWjxTzpzFe6IAfaUSyB60k1Kbvb1fOv9_CjgjR0_JC_Xr63_pb7llaXU5Vq29h4Avr_S1zcFZvC_MSvyl_HKDhwgkQWRenVYCTgG3vvMqKqTwp6V6bFDCovUg1cpiV6CBht9UYU/s1600-h/IMG_1161.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhebWJWqYWjxTzpzFe6IAfaUSyB60k1Kbvb1fOv9_CjgjR0_JC_Xr63_pb7llaXU5Vq29h4Avr_S1zcFZvC_MSvyl_HKDhwgkQWRenVYCTgG3vvMqKqTwp6V6bFDCovUg1cpiV6CBht9UYU/s320/IMG_1161.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269540651946164418" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Our last bit of fun for the day was spotting a bunch of geese in a field. I suggested to the kids we sneak up on them and give them a scare - which we proceeded to do. The geese weren't too skittish, though. Locals walking by laughed and told Pam (who was uninvolved in the mischief) that they'd been chased before. The geese mostly ran from us until they, reluctantly, took flight. The point - like the rest of the day - was the adventure, not the magnitude of success.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoatMzcTiqFH5Ia2QHVBCnPs_aNugGwmbZTLLE4gt3wqPocWCCCAWAWvPktUH04qGxu0Xh4UugXtcvAZTB43j1q4iStfxJ6QD3jBdjghp7zuIq-V-nv39f7JWLV8H1EzbgQuxPxWTuULIt/s1600-h/IMG_1166_edited-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 166px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoatMzcTiqFH5Ia2QHVBCnPs_aNugGwmbZTLLE4gt3wqPocWCCCAWAWvPktUH04qGxu0Xh4UugXtcvAZTB43j1q4iStfxJ6QD3jBdjghp7zuIq-V-nv39f7JWLV8H1EzbgQuxPxWTuULIt/s320/IMG_1166_edited-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269540757750050226" border="0" /></a>Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06027190840805829092noreply@blogger.com4