Hard core disc golfing...

One of our newest recreational adventures has been to take up playing disc golf. Being on vacation was no exception! Jim packed some of the discs so we could check out the local courses. We played one day down in Reno where the only obstacles were sage brush but there were huge elevation changes on the holes. It's quite fun to huck a disc off the top of a big hill out into the open sky and see how far it will fly. One afternoon we decided to check out the course in Truckee near the ski resort. It was quite snowy but added a new dimension to the game. Unfortunately we were unable to locate a few of the holes due to the snow. We still had a great time playing and didn't lose a single disc!

For my Dad and brothers...

None of this heavy Spokane or Oregon snow for us to ski in.....

...and that wasn't even the day it was almost waist deep!

POWDER DAY!

(shot from end of day with Lake Tahoe in background)

As we've been reading the snow reports for Squaw Valley the last week or so it was not much to look forward to especially considering it got real warm last week which translates to icy conditions on the slopes. However this morning when we woke up for our first day of skiing, we were ecstatic to find 18 inches of fresh powder on the ground with a few more inches that accumulated throughout the morning. It made for an awesome day of steep and deep skiing with an abundance of face shots. It was heaven for us ski junkies! My resolve to take it easy and stay on the blue groomers quickly went out the window (though there weren't many groomers with all the new snow and then they are more dangerous as that's where all the beginners are congregated). On one of our lift rides the chair stopped for a minute and right at that time we watched this guy do a back flip off the 50 foot cliff that was directly in front of us. It was quite amazing to witness, better than many of the tricks you see on the Warren Miller films. My quads are dead from skiing through the knee to thigh deep powder all day. Good thing we have some other obligations tomorrow so we can take a day to rest!

Goodbye, dear Altima...

We got rear ended a few weeks back causing some damage to the left rear corner of the Altima. We had taken the car into the body shop this week for the repair work to be done. They had initially estimated the repairs to be fairly minimal but upon removing the damaged bumper they found more damage to multiple body panels pushing the repair cost above the value of the vehicle so the insurance totaled it. It was somewhat sad to be losing our beloved Altima that has carried us on trips from the southern US border across the northern border, from west coast to east coast and many adventures in between over the last few years. Many good memories were made with that car carrying us on our way. We had planned to get rid of the green beater when we purchased a bigger vehicle in the next few months but we'll have to hold onto it. I guess it's time to get a little more serious about buying that new car! Goodbye, dear Altima!

Snow Day?

We pull up to drop Whitney off at preschool this afternoon and I notice there aren't a lot of cars in the parking lot. It wasn't a scheduled day off so we head on in and meet a teacher as we get to the doors who tells us that school is cancelled for a "snow day". I'm totally blown away given the fact that I haven't seen a single white flurry today and the roads are totally dry. I guess the one of many weather computer models that showed we might get 1-3" of snow today was enough to scare the district into cancelling school. However Whitney is now ready for all the rain we do get here, thanks to her Nana-san and Papa-san. This is the first time she's had rain boots and she is so excited.

Christmas vacation...

We enjoyed a wonderful two weeks spent with the Dahle family down in Fort Worth, Texas. Four of Jim's five siblings and their families were able to come this year. The girls had a blast playing with their cousins even if it was a love-hate relationship at times. Maren learned the word "mine" from the other two 2 year olds. Whitney asked when we were going to move to a bigger house so we could have a trampoline and swing set like her cousins. She spent many hours outside playing with her big cousins so it was a huge loss coming home.

Maren was officially the vector this year. She was healthy when we got there but started coming down with symptoms the middle of our first night there and eventually shared her cold and conjunctivitis with just about everyone else. Whitney picked up some kind of stomach bug the last few days which included losing the contents of her stomach on the (luckily) tile floor on our trip to Cabela's to see the fish and stuffed animals. Luckily we had no incidences on the flight home that evening unlike the mom three rows behind us whose daughter puked all over herself and the seat before even leaving the gate and they ended up leaving the plane before we took off.

We enjoyed the time spent reconnecting with family and exploring the local area. We lucked out and had a beautiful warm afternoon our 2nd day there so they pulled the boat out and we headed to the nearby lake. It was amazing to see such smooth water in the middle of the afternoon. The outside temps were in the mid 70's but the water was in the 50's which is probably why there was only a handful of fishermen on the lake. We all had a blast taking our turns wakeboarding and the kids enjoyed the boat ride.

The next day we headed over to Grapevine to ride the historic railroad that is transformed into the North Pole Express for the holidays. They do a nice production that the kids seemed to really enjoy.

The following day was Sunday which we spent at church and then had a combined birthday party for the four family members with December birthdays. The next afternoon we visited the Fort Worth Stockyards where they herd the longhorn cattle down the middle of the road. It was interesting to see the longhorn cattle up close and we enjoyed watching Jim and the other guys take their turns on the mechanical bull.

Tuesday was spent visiting the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and learning more about the production of our currency. We enjoyed acting out the nativity on Christmas Eve. The cast is growing each year but Grammy did a great job with the costumes for everyone.

We enjoyed a relatively quiet Christmas day. The girls actually slept fairly late and Whitney needed a little reminder about what day it was and then she hopped right up and was headed downstairs. She was excited to get a new climbing harness among other things. Maren has been enjoying her new Baby Signing Time DVD's and other gifts. Maren is sporting the cool hat that Aunt Cindy made her.


We made a trip to Gainesville, TX one day to visit the zoo and meet the adopted grandparents of the family that live in Oklahoma.

The highlight of the trip was being able to be there for the oldest cousins baptism and the baby blessings of the two youngest cousins born in October.


One of our last adventures included visiting the National Cowgirl Museum and the temporary Museum of Science and History kids exhibits located there. The kids loved the hands-on exhibits that they had and we also enjoyed an IMAX movie.


We enjoyed visits with some friends from college and Jim's residency. There was also an almost daily outing to play disc golf at the various courses nearby. Thanks to the Bakers for hosting the entire family over the holiday!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

I'm a month late in posting this but we wanted to remember Maren's birthday. We flew out on our trip to Texas on Maren's birthday so we celebrated at home with cupcakes and a couple of gifts a few days before leaving. She also had a second party with her cousins in Texas as there are two others with December birthdays. Here is her with her favorite new toy:

Happy Birthday little bug! We can't believe it has been two years since you joined our family. We are grateful for the joy you bring to our home and even your mischevious antics.
We love you!