Holidays

I don't have many pictures of Christmas, but I do have some photos to share of some of our annual traditions. Here we are baking and decorating sugar cookies (in the spirit of the holidays, we decorate them all including the deformed ones such as one-legged deer or a snowman with a tumor...I should've taken some photos of those ones).




My family also hosts an annual Christmas party. As you can see, we recruited a young but no less rocking band for the party.



The holidays have been fun and relaxing. My siblings and I have created a new band for Rock Band 2 called The Pixiefaced Warbears (our emblem is a koala bear). We are taking America and Europe by storm. Other than that, not too much to report.

My writing group has created a small press/publishing company called Moxie Paper Press, and we had our first event called Monster Holiday, which consisted of the five of us reading an excerpt from our short stories with live music in the background and two bands also played. It was a really fun time, and we sold all of our handmade books that we made for the event (only 40, but still). So that was exciting and fun. Here's a photo of the books.



Happy New Year everyone!

A very coy boy

For anyone that hasn't seen or received this yet, here's a fun game you can play. Throw the shoes at Bush! The unofficial record so far is 10 but I'm sure we'll beat that.
Patrick
http://www.aksalser.com/game.htm

A Melvindale Christmas

Merry Christmas to all from the Samuel family! We all got together at Randy's sister's house on Christmas eve. A noisy time was had by all. The noise continued on today as the boys received a karaoke machine from Santa. I am being serenaded as I type this right now. They also got an electric guitar and a new larger drum set, so I am not sure why earplugs were not in my stocking! Hope everyone is having as much fun as we are.

Follow George's Lead

Okay, now the rest of y'all have to follow George's lead (you too Carol) and share some holiday pics w/ the rest of us. Loved the tour of the living room in louisville!!!
Patrick

Diane's Christmas Tree

Wishing Everyone A Merry Christmas

and A Happy New Year.

HOLIDAY SPIRITS

Going to see SANTA ( 9 weeks)

This is at The Henry Ford Museum.

This at The LeFranc's in Kentucky.

Exercising with Brian

Merry Christmas to Y'all

from Diane and George

Happy Holidays!

Hope everyone has a great holiday season. Looking forward to seeing the Perez family very soon. So, I'm completing my homework assignment early...there's a first time for everything. Hope everyone contributes some posting &/or pictures so we can kind of share the holidays together.
Love, Patrick

Thanksgiving

Loved the card Linds! I am so thankful to all of you for the support & love I have received and to a fresh start which could not be going any better! As I've said, I feel the best I've felt in a loooooooooooong time. All of you helped in my move & transition to loving life again and a special thanks to Carol for adapting to a change in her environment...although I, of course, still allow the Monkisms. :-) It's been great for both of us (I hope Carol agrees) but basically I've gone from dreading each new day to can't wait to start each day and have a newfound appreciation for all the things (big & small) in this roller-coaster ride that we call life. Good, bad, mediocre...doesn't matter, I'll deal with whatever it is. I truly feel blessed for the family that we have and I hope all of you know that I am here for you just as you were there for me. So, THANK YOU...I love you all!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all have a wonderful, food-filled Thanksgiving! I am thankful for such a large, loving family! I am also thankful that I'm (currently) no longer a vegetarian.

Timeout for Patrick

Katie's idea is that's where Carol can put me if I need a timeout! But I'll fool them...I'll put a dartboard up on the side of the neighbor's house & I can stay there for hours!!!

Great Time At The Jackson Browne Concert!

Patrick, Lanny and I had a fun at the concert. We were glad that Lanny seemed to enjoy the evening, too! Here are a couple photos from that night.

Patrick's Monkisms

It's going great w/ Carol & I living together but I'm starting to fear that she's wearing off on me! See picture w/ me arranging the cans of vegetables!

Every now and then we need a break from each other... here's a picture after we've been together for too long!

More work for Carol

With all the additions Carol will need to make to the Trapnell family directory, she better get started soon. Zachary Richard LeFranc joined the family on Oct. 11 at 8:40pm. He weighed 6 pounds 2 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. Amanda started feeling contractions a little bit after 4pm, so I guess the 4 hour labor isn't TOO bad. (Of course, since I'm a guy, my opinion doesn't really count.) :-)

Both Amanda and Zachary are doing great. It took him 2 or 3 days to get the hang of it, but now he is latching on and feeding pretty quickly, so that is a good thing. I give my wife all the credit in the world for having the patience she has shown with that whole process - I was heading out to purchase bottles of formula after a few hours of frustration, but she stayed very calm and worked with him and now everything is going great!

My mom and dad came up on Sunday morning and got to spend a few days with us before heading back to Kentucky, so Zachary was able to see his grandparents for a couple of days. I'm sure that either George or Diane will be adding another post soon, with more pictures.

Hope everyone is doing well, and hope to see everyone soon!

- Brian (and Amanda & Zachary)

These are the Monkisms of our Lives

Since Carol doesn't mind me kidding her about her "Monkisms" here are some examples & a few of my fau paus...evidently, some guy keeps coming in to our kitchen & moving the foot pedal trash can back a few inches at a time but we haven't caught him yet. My paper dixie cups didn't match the bathroom decor so we've hidden them in the cabinet below. So far I put dirty dishes in with the clean ones and trying to be helpful one morning, unloaded & put away a full load of dirty dishes. So, our next purchase is going to be a Clean/Dirty sign so I don't screw up again! I've only broken one dish so far so that's not too bad for me. Carol had showered & when she came out, I had broken the dish & unloaded the dirty dishes so she asked if next time, would I please just stay in my chair till she got out? :-) I've only had to return 2 or 3 items that I bought the wrong kind so I'm learning. But, you don't know what pressure is until you've had to pick out apples for Carol...I could have eaten one or two by the time I found 4 that had no bruises or marks whatsoever. As I was putting away the Derby glasses, I started to panic..thinking not only do they have to face the same way but I'll bet she arranges them by year. As I'm doing my sodoku puzzles & talking numbers to myself, Carol said "just let me know if I'm supposed to answer". I am getting up early every morning (around 6:30) & going to bed much earlier than I used to...so Carol says, at least Mom could stay up & she was in her eighties!
But in all seriousness, we are getting along great I love it out here & as you can tell we can kid each other about both of our idiosyncracies. Hope all is well with all & love you.
Patrick & Carol

Busy, busy, busy

Well I've been keeping busy lately, if you couldn't tell from the title of this post. I recently took a trip to L.A. to visit friends. I hadn't been back in awhile, so it was really good to catch up with people and hang out in the city. I went to the beach twice, which is probably about 1/4 the amount I went the entire time I was living there. The weather was great and I packed a lot in the days I was there. Here's a photo from the beach (I'm second from the left, and yes, the water was quite cold, but I braved it).

From L.A. in August

If anyone is interested in seeing more photos from the trip, you can click here or on the "L.A. in August" link above.

I got back to Omaha from that trip at midnight and left the following morning for Minneapolis to help my sisters move into their apartment at the University of Minnesota. It was a quick trip that involved a lot of unpacking and trips to IKEA, Target, Trader Joe's, etc. I guess that was just practice for my big move-in that has already started.

We then drove from Minneapolis to Hancock, Wisconsin for a relaxing few days at the cottage. It was also the first time I was able to witness the Labor Day parade. Parades in Hancock are one of my favorite things, and this one did not disappoint (despite its close resemblance to the 4th of July parade). The main difference (and main attraction of the overall parade) was the float with free potatoes and carrots, which parks on the street after the parade and provokes total mayhem. You would think we were back in the Great Depression days. I felt like I was in a scene from The Grapes of Wrath. I did, however, manage to grab a few carrots and potatoes. Here's a photo from the chaotic scene:

From Hancock Labor Day

And if you are so intrigued by that photo that you can't wait to see the rest of the parade excitement (believe me, that was the most exciting part - although there was a crane with a man throwing bouncy balls off of it, but you don't quite get the effect from a picture), then you can click on that link above for more photos in an album.

And now to the present: fall classes have started up again and I've got what seems to be a good group of enthusiastic students. I've also started moving into my house. It's a slower process than I would like, but it's going good so far. I'm still mostly in the cleaning, sanding, painting, removing carpet phase. But the living room actually started to look like a living room today, so that was very exciting. I'll post some pictures when I get further along.

Hope everyone is doing well!

House Pics

Hey, where's my coffee?

Allie training for the biathlon (Biking & Roller skating)

Before & After Computer setup

Before & After computer set-up

The reason I had a "kiddie table" as a temporary setup was the assembly of my computer cart was progressing smoothly & Carol even said Dad would be proud until the final piece, the keyboard shelf which was not rolling properly so as I stepped to get better leverage, the piece I stepped on was not flat on the ground as it looked but slightly off the ground. As the screws broke thru & pieces chipped off, a few words came out that again, Dad would have been proud. Target replaced it no problem & the 2nd attempt went smooth as silk. So, now I can actually get my knees under the table & sit straight forward instead of sidesaddle.

Patrick

Hello Arizona

Well, as I'm sure most of you know but also for those who don't, I am now an Arizonian! So far, Carol & I are adjusting wonderfully as we learn or get use to each other's idiosyncracies or Monkisms. I like to cook breakfast & some dinners & Carol likes to clean up so that part should work out great! I got to play Wii at Fred & Patricia's which was a lot of fun even though I came in last at bowling including Allie beating me. My favorite so far was the golf but all the games are fun. I've definitely been eating well as Patricia cooked ribs on the grill, burgers & bratwurst the next day & then Carol cooked steaks on the grill and I cooked a pork loin the following night. As I'm planning to be more active out here, I better start soon before I weigh 200 lbs. :-)
I will give regular updates but definitely so far, so good!

Love, Patrick

New house

Well, I am officially a homeowner as of today (at least verbally, I still have some papers to sign). I'm really excited. It was only recently decided that I would look for a house to own rather than to rent, but it made sense with the real estate market and how much more affordable places are here in Omaha (especially compared to L.A.!). I got the house that was my definite favorite, so I'm very happy and still quite shocked. I like the city a lot and plan to be here for at least a few years since there's a lot going on here at the moment and then who knows...I never expected to buy a house in Omaha, Nebraska so I won't try to predict the future.

The house is within walking distance of the downtown of a neighborhood in Omaha called Benson which is an older, small town area but is starting to be revitalized. Benson has some places that I already visit a lot, like two music venues, a bake shop, coffee shop, pizza place and art gallery/boutique stationary shop Pulp. And it's a short drive to downtown.

Anyway, here are a few photos from the house.

Anyone and everyone is welcome to come visit!

Dawn and Heather update (and the Tigers)

Update from the heatwave! We did another camping trip with the puppies to Christopher Creek (I know, it amazes me too). This time with friends and their dog. Our campsite was right on the creek and backed up to the forest. Apparently the bears wander down from the forest during the night - or at least that's what our neighbor said. Heather (and I) didn't think I would last very long after this statement. Our friends convinced me that the lady was crazy. But just in case, they hung up a "bear bell" on a clothesline in case the bear wandered through our campsite. Whew!

Unfortunately, we did not take pictures this trip. You all would have loved the pictures if we had taken any. We found out that Chauncey actually is capable of swimming. And at times will go in the water on his own (without being thrown in)! This discovery was made in the canyon/gorge a few miles down the creek from our campsite.

The dogs loved going down the water slides to each of the pools below. The hard part was getting them (and us) back up to each next level on the way back. Thank goodness we had harnesses for them!

We didn't take pics, but I have a link that shows some pretty good pictures of this area:
http://hikearizona.com/phoZOOM.php?ZIP=68194

Since the creek was next to our campsite, we made great use of the "bathing" opportunities - or at least some soap and shampoo. Enough until I could get home & take a really long shower after our 4 day trip. Still amazes me that I am now a camper. Brian doesn't believe it each time I tell him.

Hopefully we will fit in one more camping trip this summer. And I will plan on taking a fully charged camera (good intentions always). In the meanwhile, we will deal with the heat by staying in & watching the Tigers tumble back in the standings. Poor Heather....

As you all know, I will watch the Tigers games since they are always on at our house (who told Heather about the MLB package?). However, I refuse to participate in the yelling about why every Tigers closer is incompetent! Someone in our household makes a practice of this. I cannot wait until Pat gets out here so he can get in on the current one-sided discussion. I have had to hear about Todd Jones for months and now apparently there are others joining him.
Pat, please hurry - I need a reliever.

Until the next adventure, I hope all is well with everyone!
Love, Dawn (and Heather)

Hello from Chicago!

Hi Everyone,

I love reading all of your posts when I get a chance a few times a week, but I have become not so great about updating all of you on my life! So, as most of you know I moved to Chicago in June (and have even seen my new apartment, thanks Aunt Carol!). I had some time to explore the city and get "settled" and learn my way around. I'm still not 100% confident and sometimes wish I have a compass, but I am loving living here! As of this week, I am working in downtown in network TV ad sales for Cox Communications. My company's job is to be the sales representative and sell ad space to agencies for certain stations in several major markets. Needless to say, my first week was an adventure! If any of you have read or seen The Devil Wears Prada, my trainer is a little like the character based of the editor of Vogue. However, I survived my first week and many people congratulated me for surviving it! Yesterday on my way out, I found out that I had officially lasted longer than the previous three assistants, who left crying on the Wednesday or Thursday of their first weeks. So, I figure it can only get better from here!

That's about it for me, I am working on trying to get pictures of my new apartment/life here, but my USB cord isn't working properly so it may take a little while.

Love and miss you all!

Katie

More Summer Fun

Well, we may not own a boat, but that doesn't stop our water fun! We went the last couple of weekends out to Randy's brother's house. He lives on Lake Sherwood in Wixom, with a dock and small beach of his own. Randy took the raft, but it was the boys who decided to try it out first. After they both drifted out a ways and Randy had to retrieve them I finally came up with the idea of tethering it to the dock. That worked out better as they hadn't quite gotten the idea of how to row.

We also enjoy heading out to Greenfield Village several times during the summer. It was too hot to stay for the old-time baseball game last Saturday, but we did get Ramon Santiago's autograph. He plays for the Tigers, though not in an everyday role. The boys were excited and now ask if he is playing every time the Tigers are on. He looks shorter in person than he appears when you see him playing.

We had a quick visit from Randy's son Ryan two weeks ago. He just came by to let us know his girlfriend was expecting a baby in March. They both still live at home with their mothers, so they were not exactly planning on or preparing for this and it came as a bit of a surprise. There may be a silver lining to this, though, as we have already heard from or seen Ryan three times within two weeks. That is the number of times we usually see him in a year! Hopefully he will keep in touch more often.

Well, I am taking the boys over to their Grandma Samuel's house for a visit, so I better go get ready. Also, I have to make a stop at Target. The new Third Day CD just came out Tuesday and I NEED it!!!

Love, Deb

Boring Stuff and a Bridge

Hiya Folks,

I log on to the Grapevine most every day over lunch at work just to see what you all are doing and figured I'd better post something to let you know we're still here. So Deb and I were chatting and we commiserated about not always having exciting things to post. Some days are exciting, but let's face it, the day to day is pretty dull. So let's see... Larry and I bought a new mattress. Okay, actually that is exciting because the cheapo thing we bought 15 years ago (yes, it's been 15 years since the gala event you all attended in Phoenix) needed to go! We found out our dog Zach has hay fever and now has a daily medicine routine that rivals that of a sickly octogenarian. We finished stripping wallpaper in the boy's room and have started to paint (the boys felt they were getting to old for teddy bears playing sports). yawn Are you still with me?

Actually this past weekend we took a family boating trip up to Lake Clementine in Auburn, CA. [Dad, do you have your map?] Our regular haunt, Folsom Lake, is so low this year it currently has a 5mph speed limit over the ENTIRE lake. Since it's hard to catch too much air off the wake at 5mph we headed north. There was a two mile stretch of road to get down to the lake that would have been quite treacherous if we'd had to pass another vehicle towing a boat going the opposite direction. It was pretty much a fairly steep, one-lane road that twisted and turned down to the lake. I guess if you meet someone you just stare each other down until one of you decide to prove your trailering skills and back up until you get to a wider section of the roadway. I'm sure Larry appreciated my driving skills (I was in the passenger seat not the back seat so that's okay right?). So to get to Lake Clementine we crossed the Foresthill Bridge. It's a crazy-high bridge that was built with plans to flood the valley below. When the "Auburn Dam" was never completed it left a 730 foot high bridge over the river. We walked out to the center and Larry took this picture of the boys. Larry missed my safety briefing and so took this picture standing on the opposite rail (just like the one the boys are leaning against). Okay, maybe he wasn't in danger of going over the edge, but the highway was just over the rail on the other side. But we're all safe and he got a great picture. Some of you may recognize the bridge from the Vin Diesel movie XXX (Triple X). Even in the picture with the boys it's hard to get a perspective of how truly high up you are until you see the stunt man in the movie base jump from a Corvette driven over the edge. Haven't seen the movie? Watch the scene here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTUawc64NmA

We were content to look and did not try our base jumping skills on this day. So now the weekend is over and it's back to the daily drudgery. sigh Hope you all are well, and keep posting so I have something to read over lunch!

Love, Paula and Co.

Hancock

Lindsay,
Looks like you all had a great time! If anyone wants to see the rest of her pictures, they are on her blog (http://lindsaytrapnell.blogspot.com/), some real good ones of the various family members. Glad to hear Rufus had a good time as well.

Back from Wisconsin

I recently returned from a trip to Hancock, Wisconsin. It's been great to catch up on the family blog, it's exciting to see so many new entries!

As a lot of you may know (and some of you have visited), my grandparents on my mom's side have a cottage in this small town in Wisconsin, that I've been going to for my whole life. This year we had kind of a mini-reunion there with my grandparents, my family, and my two aunts and a few cousins. I had a really fun and relaxing time.

We of course had to attend the annual Hancock 4th of July parade, which seems to be expanding - they even had a high school marching band this year (there were only about 20 and they didn't have uniforms, but they still sounded good)! There was also a car show in the single gas station parking lot in the town, and so if you had an old car or a truck or some defining feature you could also drive your car (or sometimes tractor) through the parade.




That night there is also a street dance, held on the street (surprise!) and in the fire house. They had the same band since last year, but I must say that they played more of a variety of music this year. Last year they played 85% Johnny Cash covers. Kyle and I also gambled on a wooden wheel with numbers, where you can put a quarter or up to a dollar on numbers (or the cherry or star). We lost about $5 but it kept us going for awhile.

Other activities while up at the lake were: tubing, jet-skiing, lounging, playing Wii, reading, boat rides, a LONG canoe trip on the Crystal River in fiberglass boats from the 1950s, picking asparagus (see below -- one of my favorite activities -- it's like a scavenger hunt but you get to eat the prizes in soup), picking strawberries, bowling, eating, playing mini-golf (in the front yard on our homemade course), going to garage sales, going to antique stores, playing Rock Band, working on a puzzle, watching Season 1 of Lost, and talking walks.



I also picked up my dog, Rufus, in Beloit and he had a great time at the cottage. For a city dog, he really found his country/wilderness side. Here he is on his first ever boat ride.



And here is a group photo at the bowling alley with our Pinecrest reunion shirts. I drew and designed the shirts. Since it's pretty far away to actually see the design, I'll add the design below.





I hope you're all enjoying the summer!

Baseball Ups and Downs

Well, so much for Jake's season. His team lost both games and are done for the year. Jake did at least get two hits today and made a couple of nice plays at first base.
The Tigers, however, did win today, which puts them back at .500 for the season. Verlander looked excellent! Hopefully the rest of the season after the All-Star break will be a much-needed improvement over the first half.

Love to all,
Deb

Nice contributions!

Thanks to Paula & Larry, Dawn & Heather,Angela, Deb, Amanda and Diane & George for their recent posts. I'm sure we'd all agree that we miss each other and it's nice to feel like we're a little more in tune with what's going on with everyone. The pictures are great & help us feel like we're a little closer to each other. For example, Jal is now a boat driver, Dawn is now a camper and Brian & Patrick are now bocci ball players. :-)
With our new additions coming, we may not be able to hold them in our arms but seeing pictures would be great! Let's keep it up so as Diane & George told me, I can stay off your backs now. Evidently, Lindsay is the good cop & I'm the bad cop so let's all keep in touch to prevent further scoldings! :-)
Hope all the soon-to-be-mothers are doing well. Amanda looks great, but I'm not going back over there until her belly is as big as mine, so remember girl, you're eating for two. Or, as Brian said, I could just wear looser fitting shirts.
I missed my calling as a film critic, as I've been watching lots of movies lately (3 I borrowed from Amanda) & my couple a month from NetFlix...The Usual Suspects (one of my top ten) was on TV the other night. A suggestion for anyone that wants a great movie that will make you laugh, make you cry & is very touching w/ excellent acting is I Am Sam w/ Sean Penn and Dakota Fanning and an all-Beatles soundtrack. I have also read 4 books in the last two weeks, a couple of mysteries & an interesting autobiography by George Tenet, the former head of the CIA...Paula, I bet you'd like it.
Lindsay has been at the cottage in Wis so I'll let her tell us how it was but they are having a great time. She stays so busy, I know it's nice when her toughest decision of the day is whether to go jet-skiing or tubing. I was disappointed to hear that Hancock went from a one stoplight town to a stop sign. What is happening to our big cities?
Anyway, hope you all are doing well & love you all!
Patrick

Smokin' Hot Summer

Hello from Northern Cali! Thanks for all the posts family. I feel warm and fuzzy and so much closer to you all already. It is fun to read about all the goings-on and see all the pictures.

Mid-summer in Sacramento and it's hot and it's smoky. Wildfires throughout the state have had our valley hazy with smoke for weeks. Today was especially bad - much like being in a think fog only worse for your health. The result is the children have to stay inside all day. The boys field trip tomorrow to the wildlife preserve was canceled and replaced with a trip to the Sky High Trampoline Center (I don't think the boys mind this smoke stuff all that much). We decided to try to escape the city and head to Lake Tahoe last weekend - still smoky up there and the lake was choppy and cold, but we still had a great time.

Speaking of the lake, our tween Jal is now a legal boat driver. He and Larry took a class at the Sac State Aquatic Center and Jal passed the boating and waterways test. We celebrated by giving him his own key and floating keychain and taking him to the lake to drive us around.



Quillan used the opportunity at the lake to show off his wakeboarding skills. He's quite a ham and enjoyed letting go of the handle to wave at all of us. Tawny is a little fish. She loves to jump into the lake. She really surprised us this summer, since she hadn't been in a pool since last year at Nana and Papa's house, by fearlessly jumping into our friends pool as soon as we had her swim gear on. And on the subject of gear, the picture of her was taken as we were taking off her cover up. The life jacket went right back on!

Other than our fun outings and time spent with friends it's just the usual routine around here. Busy, busy. We need to catch the moments we can to just relax. Speaking of which..."So You Think You Can Dance" is on and Larry and I have to discuss who to vote for (we don't actually vote, but our opinions matter a lot to us). Talk to y'all again soon!

Love, Paula and Co.

Finals are almost over!

Well, The most exciting adventures I have had lately is working at the Behavioral Health unit, or the Mental Health unit, at the hospital here, for school. I figured out the theme of my existence there when talking to patients: don't look scared and don't look shocked (I repeated it over and over in my head). One guy talking about trying to kill two guys and he was actually excited, telling me about how they screamed. Scary! Then a lady who, on interview, admitted she hears voices and they tell her to do bad things. My next question was, when do you hear them. She tilted her head and paused and responded, I am hearing them right now. (In my head I was thinking, please don't let them be telling you to kill me, and, maybe I could run really fast) but I responded with, and what are these voices telling you? They were telling her exactly how to kill herself, so I moved from being terrified, to being sad.
Now with the classroom! I still have one final left but I'm already at an 89% so I'll be good. I have an A in my other class but my Advanced Med-surg is the most exciting news. That class is so hard. The tests, even our clinical instructor at the hospital could not answer the questions, and if you get a 75% which is the minimum to pass, you are thrilled. In fact, if you get a 60% you are pretty excited. Everybody needed to do well on the final to pass the class. And the next day, after a final from another class, we all waited in a room for our number to come up, to go to his office and see if we had passed. 5 people did not pass and have to repeat the semester, which is really sad because we have all become so close. We usually lose one or two but five is a lot. I however, passed with a B and really, for this class, I would have been elated if I passed with a 75%, so when he said, "B" I was happy enough that I forgot to even ask him what I got on the final, so I don't even know my exact grade. I'll ask next time I see him just out of curiosity.

Okay, last thing. I am so excited about having 2 sisters pregnant at the same time! I know Cheryl already posted the name, and Ashley's baby will be Sophia Giselle (not sure how they are spelling them but I think I have it right). So I will have 7 nieces and nephews. Crazy! But very cool.
Love you guys, Ang.

Camping in Christopher Creek

FINALLY, we are joining in the Sarasota Grapevine!





I thought we should start with pictures of our latest adventure.

Of course, it's always about the doggies. Most of you have met Maggie and Chauncey so you have a little idea of their personalities. Maggie is the adventurer and Chauncey plays it safe as you will be able to tell from the pictures.


We just got back from camping in Christopher Creek (yes, I now am a "camper") where the temps are about 30 degrees cooler than Phoenix. If you have experienced the 110's then you realize the "need" to get away.

Christopher Creek is located just east of Payson so it's less than a 2 hour drive from Phoenix. The campground has a creek that runs right through it. The creek has a few deeper spots, swimming holes, which Maggie believes were made just for her - oh, life as a dog...



We hiked for a long time each day in order to wear out the dogs. First day around Woods Canyon Lake. Second day along Horton Creek. Third day up a very steep hill next to the campground, but when we couldn't figure out where the trail went we came back down to the creek.

Since this was the 3rd day of camping (without showers), Heather decided to rinse her hair. Unfortunately, Maggie's bath was less effective because she got out of the water and rolled in the first dirt pile she could find. Nothing like the smell of wet dogs!

Unfortunately, we are now back in Phoenix and are hibernating in the comfort of our home. The doggies have been sleeping since we arrived home. We aren't sure if they are still tired from the hikes, or if they just don't want to deal with the extreme heat. Back to life in the 110's. Oh well, better than having to deal with snow...



Hope everyone is doing wonderful and having adventures of their own.
Till our next adventure...
Dawn and Heather (and Maggie and Chauncey)