Kasploring Day posted by Anonymous @ 8:40 PM

Hi everyone! Angie here. This is my first official entry into the blog. Well, Tuesday was "kasploring" day, which is Parker's way of saying exploring. We were pretty wiped from our big day in Seattle so we decided to do some driving around Whidbey Island. We went back over Deception Pass onto Whidbey and soon saw a sign for Cornet Bay. Cornet Bay probably doesn't ring any bells to many people but for me it brings back tragic memories of Mary. Yeah, Mary, my mean, nostril flaring, red-head, teenage boot camp instructor, I mean 5th grade school camp counselor. I thought I'd make a voyage back to the bay where I developed a phobia of all things related to youth camps. What we found there was nothing to bring back nasty memories, but a lovely spot to pull off the road, sit on a bench and look at the water. This was one of those places where you felt you might very well be the only one on the planet. OK except for the hundreds of cars we saw at a distance crossing the bridge at Deception Pass. We watched a Bald Eagle catch his lunch and he flew very nearly over our heads and perched on a nearby tree. We were so excited to be that close to something so beautiful and powerful.
Then we journeyed on and saw several military airplanes. The same ones we had been hearing and sometimes seeing at the campground. We decided to try to find where they were coming from and ended up at the Naval Air Base. We pulled over to watch the planes....what kind you ask? I have no clue. Maybe a P3 Orion, or a C3PO or something. Well we might have taken a picture but the most friendly military police stopped by to greet us and ask that we not take any pictures. We journeyed on until we came to Ebey State Park. I remember the name well because it reminds me of eBay. This park was a very pleasant surprise. We found there a gorgeous beach with awesome waves. We're talking ocean type waves, not wussy little ones. Brian and I sat on a driftwood log while the kids played with the waves. It had been a long time since I had heard the sound of those powerful waves; I could have sat there all day. Ahhhhhh. There were only a few people there too, which made it all the more enjoyable. We also saw a surfer in the water. As we were walking back I realized I didn't have my glasses. I had taken them off to enjoy the view with my own eyeballs, and they somehow fell somewhere. We all looked for quite a while to no avail. The kids picked up sea shells and feathers to help pay for my new glasses. :)

We went to another section of the state park where there was a gun battery made for WWII. Brian and the kids went underground to the lookout point, and through the tunnels. This other section of the park was really high up and the view was amazing. The wind that comes towards the cliffs make a nice up draft for para-gliders. These guys have little seats attached to their parachute and catch the wind right off the ground and fly around. We got to see these guys in action. Looked really cool...would I ever do it? Uh.....no.

Then we went onwards towards our final destination, the long awaited ferry boat ride. We told the kids that we were going to take a ferry ride, but that we were going exploring first. Well every other minute, Parker asked, "Is this the way to the ferry?" Or, "Are we going to the ferry yet?" So FINALLY we could tell him that it was ferry time, but we had quite a drive. Whidbey Island is skinny and very long. It's the second largest island in the continental US. Anywho, we behind the slowest person in the world (10- 15 under the speed limit) on a two lane road, which of course put Brian in a fantastic mood! I kept trying to distract him or tell him it would be OK. But we stayed behind this car, and stayed behind the car, and stayed behind the car with no hopes of passing. And pretty soon I found myself saying, "Man this person is driving me crazy!" So I suggested to Brian to pass her on the right in the ferry lane. He was like, "Are you sure?" Yeah!!!! We made that ferry with 45 seconds to spare. Phew! The ferry ride was very short, but still fun. Ally wanted to stay outside the whole time and Parker wanted to kasplore every nook and cranny of the ferry, which meant sitting in every type of seat he could find. Being on a ferry is so relaxing! I'm always struck by how smooth they are! Well, the ride came to a quick halt and we arrived in Mukilteo. Parker was quite distraught that the ferry ride was so short, and I can't blame him. Poor guy, waited all day and POOF, done!! On the way back to camp Ally made up a lovely song called Mukiltatio. It went something like this..."Mukil....ta...teo" She repeated this approximately 589 times before Brian said something like, "Ahhhhh!! Ally can you please sing something different?" Translated into tired 7 year-old language. "Daddy doesn't like my voice!!! Whaaaaaaahhhh! I'm never going to sing again." So Parker was put out about the short ferry ride and Ally thought her singing career was over then suddenly silence.....sweet.... lovely ......silence. The little rugrats fell asleep and turned back into angels when they woke up! What a great day!!!!

Aquarium, Pike Place, and Seattle Center posted by Brian @ 5:07 PM

Day four, we took a trip to the Seattle Aquarium, Pike Place, and the Space Needle. It so fun to see the kids in awe and wonder at all the cool fish and things. Here we are in an underwater dome with hundreds of different kinds of fish swimming all around. There were even a few sharks swimming around. The kids got to see a couple scuba divers swimming around and cleaning the windows. In this underwater dome there were lots of windows and the whole thing was under water so we got to see fish swimming over our heads! Really cool. Here the kids got a chance to be jellyfish. Over a bit behind them (out of sight) there is a giant tire-shaped tank with jellyfish going around and around. You could walk through them. They had different color lights shining through the tank that made the white/clear jellyfish glow. It was pretty impressive. Here the kids got to try on scuba gear. After the Aquarium we went to Pike Place and got Mom some salmon and flavored honey as a thank you gift. Again, THANKS SO MUCH! We didn't get to see them throwing fish anywhere though. ;)

After Pike Place we drove over to Seattle Center. There are so many wild and weird buildings around there. All curvy and colorful. I'm sure there are pictures on the website. We were running out of space on our compact flash card so we had to be a bit selective on our picture taking.
Here is the view from directly below the Space Needle. We were looking and looking for the Weedle on the Needle but we never saw him. After we paid for our tickets I reflected on how light my wallet felt. $40 to ride an elevator! Wow!
This picture will take a bit of explaining. Parker was getting a bit tired at this point and didn't want to come stand with us to get our picture taken. As you can see we decided to take the picture anyway. We thought we'd get a pretty good laugh about it. HAHAHAHA. After our trip up the Needle we hit McDonald's for dinner and went home and crashed. Tomorrow - Kasploring!

Huckleberry picking posted by Carol @ 7:31 PM

Today was the first day without a toddler in the cabin, so it was the first day that Nancy and I could go Huckleberry picking. We didn't start as early as hoped because Jim and Nancy were busy chasing a Mosquito until 1 am, so they slept in a bit. The picking was excellent. We wore ourselves out by 1 pm and came 4-wheelin' home with our treasure.

Kathy Henrickson has also been up in Donnely staying the nights while she is "styling" the Rustica store for it's Grand Opening tomorrow. After a shower, I went down to the store and helped put pine garland in the windows with cup hooks, and helped Kathy out....just a little bit. Mainly, I kidnapped her and took her to Charley's Garden..a quick trip....and then dropped her back at the store for some finish up work. She had been to the garden on her honeymoon 33 years ago.

I had better cut this blog short and get up and move. Bending over huckleberry bushes for several hours can cause serious back muscle strain.

Deception Pass State Park posted by Brian @ 2:36 PM

So on Sunday we and Angie's family took a little trip to Deception Pass. Here are a few pictures of us on the bigger bridge. The view is absolutely incredible! We saw many REALLY nice boats go under the bridge. Kinda made me want a yacht. Renting is probably better anyhow.




We then went and had a picnic lunch at the state park. It was fun and Parker and Ally both went and made a new friend with the daughter of some people who were having a picnic next to us. Parker just walked over to her and started playing. Kids are so cool that way.

Next we went down to the lake and there is a strip of land about 100 feet wide in between the freshwater lake and the Puget Sound. The kids got to swim in the lake for about an hour or so and Angie and I got to see all sorts of interesting people. Everything from what looked like back country hicks wearing cutoffs to foreigners speaking all sorts of languages (and wearing speedos) to pretty much anything else you can imagine. That's the thing with the Seattle area. There are so many people that live around there that you really get to see a broad spectrum of people in a small space. Lots of diverse-city. (good song BTW)


After the swimming we went and dipped our feet in the ocean and then went back to the trailer. Our evenings usually consisted of making dinner and then crashing and reading books. We brought the kid's books from the library. They're doing some sort of program where if they read every day for two weeks they get cool coupons and gifts from the library. Every set of two weeks they do they get better and better gifts. They're on their third and final set!

Tomorrow's trip: Aquarium, Pike Place, and Space Needle!

A Day at the Zoo posted by Brian @ 7:47 PM

To start with I'd like to mention that we are forever grateful for Mom watching Audrey. We had infinitely more fun than we would have if Audrey had been with us. We love the little girl but she has to take naps and the sleeping arrangement just wouldn't have worked if she was there.

Second, I'm planning on updating this blog with one story of our vacation per day so as to not overwhelm everyone with one large story.


Our first day trip took us to the Woodland Park Zoo. We were able to see nearly all the animals they had. The only ones we missed were the wolves, and the male gorilla. Oh and a few other smaller animals like the lemurs and such. If you know Parker you can more or less imagine what our day was like. It was basically filled from end to end with, "Wow! Look at THAT!!!!" and "HEY! Look over THERE!!!" and "COOOOL!!!!!"

Basically it was a ton of fun. The kids had a wonderful time and we got to see lots of cool animals.

Some highlights:
- Seeing a bald eagle up close. They are just HUGE! and it even gave us a pose.


- Watching two brown (grizzly) bears fishing in their own personal pool. They eventually caught a fish and proceeded to tear it to shreds.


- Watching the male lion sauntering around his domain.
- The giraffe doing laps around his pen.
- All those creepy bats.
- Hearing Parker go crazy looking at all the snakes.
- Sitting and resting while the kids spent an hour or more in the Zoomasium.

It was actually a pretty fun way to spend our anniversary. That's right, Angie and I have been married 11 years! WOW! We're planning on doing some sort of special trip or something to actually celebrate our anniversary alone. Not sure when, but sometime this year.

What is the symbol for the 11 year anniversary anyway? Gummy bears? :)

Stay tuned for tomorrow's story about Deception Pass!

A Wild and Stormy Night posted by Carol @ 2:02 PM

The days are getting into a routine by now, but, wow, what a night we had last night. Papa was gone....away on a business trip to California, I had opened the cabin to hopefully let in the cool night air, when about 5am a clap of thunder so loud it nearly shook the house, sounded. I was instantly awake. Hopeing I would not hear screaming over the baby monitor, I waited. Nope. All was well. A little later admidst more lighting and more distant thunder, I heard what I thought was footsteps. Think again.....it was huge drops of rain...it poured. I checked the open windows, but there was no wind, so no rain was getting inside. I left the windows open. Still later, a really. strong wind blew across my bed. Oh, oh! Audrey's room had two windows open with the curtains drawn. I thought I had better close those and hope she wouldn't wake up. Fat chance. She was sitting up as still as a mouse. After closing the windows, I rocked her until she went back to sleep. This was about 6 am.

I went back to sleep too. I did hear a funny noise that must have awakened me. I looked at the clock to see what time it was. Blank! Nothing! Nodda! Oh, oh....the power is out. I instantly wondered how I was going to warm Audrey's milk and fix us all breakfast. By my watch, I could tell it was 8 am, but now I had no baby moniter to hear a waking baby. I put on my robe, went upstairs, opened her door a crack and could see that she was not yet stirring. My mind was racing, but, I layed down on the upstairs couch. About 8:30 with still no one stirring, I heard a wonderful sound. The refrigerator motor. Yeh! Wonderful Marvelous Electricity. All is well.

I later found out from Jim, that the whole valley had lost power. They were quick to get it back on. I am grateful. Drama, Drama, Drama!

The Life of Audrey posted by Carol @ 11:18 PM

Well, if I can still count, we are past the half-way mark of our stint as foster parents for Mae-Mae. We are actually doing pretty well, if you don't count how many times I have been suckered into picked her up. (I am such a sucker for those reached up arms) I am really not too worried, because nothing hurts, and I think it would if I were doing damage. With the presence of a lot of new people around (see next paragraph), she can get pretty clingy, and with no Mommie near by, I am second best and will do in a pinch.

Today, we actually made it to church with our pot-luck fruit salad, for the after-church dinner. Audrey did fine until about 2:15 when we threw in the towel and were the first to leave. She instantly fell asleep in the car for the half hour trip home, and then slept until close to 5pm. I got to thinking that it probably went better having a way to get food into her before our trip home, because she might have gone to sleep hungry.....then her nap wouldn't have gone so well. Thankfully, she feels right at home in her crib, and even plays quietly after she wakes up...

Air-conditioning is a real blessing with the 90+ temperatures every day. I heard it hit 100 degrees in McCall yesterday. Wow! Unreal! I, along with a lot of other people, could do for a change in the weather.

Gentle Routine posted by Bec @ 7:32 PM

Okay, so maybe it is not gentle and hopefully won't be a routine.

Byron's life has been full of farming lately. He is either combining (is that how you spell it?), driving the non-air conditioned truck (in 100+ degree weather) to the seed company or irrigating. Combine that with a migraine every 5 hours and he is possibly sleeping the migraine away during his down time (with the aid of Excedrin Migraine). He has taken moments out of his day to play in the church men's league softball tournament. They have won their first two games so far and the next one is one Tuesday evening. If you think of it, please add him to your prayers.

My days have been filled with training. I do frequent the softball field and watch too much television. I did catch up on some sleep this weekend and I plan on going to bed early to stay ahead of the game this week. The foothills were tough, but good. I am actually sore in the oblique abdominal area and the calves. I think that I will try running the stairs at Nampa High School's stadium to mimic the hills.

There isn't too much excitment going on here. Just wanted to give a little update on the norm.

Huckleberries posted by Carol @ 10:50 AM

Well, today is "prep day" for a week of trying to keep up with a running toddler. I have been working up to it by walking Barker Loop....the whole thing....for two days straight. I walked partial loops last week. I can't explain how much better and more energetic I feel. Tomorrow will be three weeks since surgery. However, still no heavy lifting for three more weeks.

I also need to plan some meals and go to McCall for groceries. I will be feeding two more mouths.

I took my first 4-wheeler ride back into the woods yesterday evening. I just had to check on the state of the huckleberries. Wow...some are already on, and there seem to be quite a few. They are still a little sour, so hopefully this hot weather won't bring them all on before I get a chance to pick. The down side is: the ride wasn't too comfortable. I may have to get my donut out when I want to ride.

Promised pictures posted by Carol @ 3:57 PM

Here are just a few of the pictures taken at Charlie's Garden in McCAll.

That is Howard/Dad/Papa waving from the rock

They don't begin to do justice to the beauty and just being there.
This will be the new "must visit" for any of our guest from now on. cj

Reference Desk, please? posted by Bec @ 11:03 PM

I am a proud aunt. I went to the Nampa Public Library to return some items and check out the things they had on hold for me. On my way out I happened to follow Angie, Ally and Parker. That was a good surprise. They were picking up their prizes from the Summer Reading Program. They got tickets to the Snake River Stampede, Boise Hawks, and free meals from Sizzler and IHOP. How cool is that? Yet another reason why I love the library. Way to go kiddos!

Egghead Home Theater Configuration Tool posted by Brian @ 2:45 PM

Well I've been working on this all morning and most of yesterday and I finally have a simple working version. YAY! I think it's actually pretty cool, and the way I made it should make it easy to add many more models of speakers and eventually screen/TVs. Maybe in the future I might be able to
allow the user to change the dimensions of the room too! How crazy would that be? In theory, they could recreate their existing room with my tool. Oh how fun.

Anyhow, go check it out and see if you can break anything. Or just have fun.

Right now I only have modeled up two series of speakers. But you can mix and match all you want. The 8200 series subwoofer is included in the main front speakers so there isn't a separate one.

I'm not feeble posted by Carol @ 9:10 PM

As a followup to Brian's blog, I thought a little explanation was needed. Not everyone knows that I had surgery two weeks ago today. Since Audrey weighs in at more than 15 pounds, and that is the limit to my allotted amount to lift for 4 to 6 weeks after surgery, I need help. That's not to say that Audrey won't keep me and a mother's helper both on our toes. How can a 16 month old wield so much power? Hmmmmm!

By the way, I am feeling fine....walked the upper part of Barker loop for the third day in a row this morning. The problem is, I feel so good, I keep having to remind myself that I still need to take it easy.

All the cabin updating is in process. The entry slate is sealed and the exterior slate is set on the concrete slab. Tomorrow the demolition of the countertops is scheduled to happen in prep for granite countertops. As soon as they are removed, we will head south for my Dr. Appointment and catch up on mail and whatever else needs done.

Oh, yes, and Dad/Howard has a new obsession. It's called "Stop the rampant milk weed infestation". They are threatening to take over the hillside, so he has spent one and a half days trying to eradicate them. This may top the mole obsession. Who knows? He was able to pull himself away this afternoon to start cutting railroad ties to build the retaining wall around the tree islands. It is starting to look really cool. I am looking forward to adding some plants to the space too.

Will someone take our daughter? posted by Brian @ 7:59 PM

Not forever, just for a week or so. Actually, Angie is busy calling people right now trying to find someone to help Mom out with watching Audrey while we head to Seattle for a camping trip. I think Jessica Bartlow can help for 4 days or so, but then volleyball camp starts for her. So we're trying to find someone to take over when she's gone.

Other than that, life is pretty normal at the moment. The kids swim every day. They go to swimming lessons then come home and swim for most of the rest of the day in our pool. It's in the 90s every day lately so swimming is actually a really good idea. Angie and I joined them after dinner yesterday. I think that pool was one of the better investments I've made into our leisure time.

We're watching our neighbor's dog for the rest of the week. She really is the sweetest dog I think I've ever known. She's a little toy poodle. Black. Her name is Jasmine or Jazzy. Jeanette has her groomed at least one a week so she doesn't even smell like dog. And the best part is she really never barks. Maybe a quick bark when she needs to be let out, but that's it. She doesn't much care for Audrey though. Maybe it's because Audrey keeps trying to grab her nose.

Myself, I'm just trying to stay busy. With this business so far it's feast or famine. I have a job tomorrow that should actually take quite a while, but all this week I've just been trying to come up with ways to get more business. I've updated Egghead's website so take a look and give me some feedback. Really it's just a temporary placeholder and I have some really cool ideas on what I'd like to see. The questions is whether or not Deb and I can pull them off. Here's hoping.

Angie's new thing is the schedule I helped her create to organize her life. Bec does this kinda thing naturally, but Angie is too abstract to naturally schedule her life. With three children it has become a necessity. Things like remembering to move clothes from washer to dryer two to three times a day become easier when there is a little reminder on the schedule page. It makes life a little easier when you're not constantly worried that something is slipping through the cracks.

One of these days I'll have Angie write an update for this here blog contraption. I think she'll do good.

I'm also considering creating a blog for a new Sunday school class that we are trying to start up at First Church. I think a blog would be a perfect way to keep everyone up-to-date on everything.

Oh, and finally, Home Star Runner is back at it again. There's a new toon and SB email up. Woohoo!

"I drove my balogna sandwich truck down to the beach!"
"Alright, I'll let it slide this time, but June sleepers will not be tolerated from this day henceforth!"

"... and please give me back my sight."
"... and all for under 50 bucks!"

Update update, we have someone to watch our wonderful, but very high maintenance, daughter. And there was much celebration and rejoicing!

So long for now.

Settlers, red ants and railroad ties posted by Carol @ 9:33 AM

Well, Sunday found me going to church with Jim and Nancy while Dad stayed at home with the possibility of Allen and Jeanine Fitzgerald coming up. They decided not to come, so Dad continued to tweak the drip system. He found it hard to believe that something had chewed through one of the 1/4 in tubing. It was in the area of the red ant hill, so our only thought is that those monsters bit through it. Parker and Ally will be glad to hear that Papa threw down a nice amount of Diazanine and that the ants are no more......ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

We had a nice relaxing afternoon and then went to Jim and Nancy's to play Settlers of Catan. Can you believe it. Playing Settlers without Brian. We all muddled through the rules somehow. At one point I went to the bathroom and when I came back, Dad had played two soldier cards in one turn. Hmm! I threw in the red flag. But it was inevitable...I had lost the largest army advantage and my lead. Jim and Nancy love the game, so I am ordering one today. Brian is probably already going through withdrawal pangs until we return his this coming Thursday.

Oh, by the way, I left my camera download cord at home, so there is no way to publish the Charlie's Garden pictures until we go home on the 13th. So......have to wait.

Several days ago, Dad and Jim bought about 16 railroad ties. Jim has already installed three of his to help in the rain run-off at the upper parking area. They have also planted some of the plants we bought on Friday. I got my clippers and trimmed the lower branches off the natural fir tree near their house. They look so much nicer that way, almost like they were there on purpose. My goal is to trim up all the trees on the path between our two houses. There are quite a few, but I have lots of time.

We are going to follow through on Byron's suggestion of stacking 1/3 pieces of ties around out two tree islands. I really shouldn't say we, as I can't lift anything over 15 pounds for several more weeks. Those ties are a BIT more than that. I am really feeling pretty good. I plan on doing a partial Barker circle walk as soon as I finish writing. Hopefully I can avoid the heavy equipotent that is working on the road. I have been walking back and forth from Jim and Nancy's since the third day after surgery. This is quite a bit more walking, but I think I had better get back on road. Hee Hee!

We did it, we did it, we did it, yah, lo hicimos! posted by Bec @ 4:50 PM

Okay, my turn to post... I have officially started my own personal blog, go ahead and check it out. It is linked here, right? Maybe I will have to add that.

Debbie- I was going to email you. Before I left for McCall, I picked you a nice bag of cherries, but it turned out that they all had worms. Sad. So, that is why I can't send you any. Sorry!

We also had oodles of apricots on our new little tree, but when we got back from McCall they had all rotted. Sad again. I need to go pick strawberries, raspberries, zucchini, and whatever else is ready to be picked in our garden.

A Fun-Fun Day (Parkerism) posted by Carol @ 6:01 PM

This is a good follow-up to Brian's message. We moved back home around 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Because the Secord family filled up all the beds and floors, we hung out with Jim and Nancy Brown. It is so nice to finally have them back in the area.
I wanted to tell you all about our fun day yesterday. Nancy and I decided we all needed a fun day. The guys had been working so hard with landscape cleanup etc. There was an article in the Boise Paper about some places to go around McCall for nice outings that gave us the idea. There was also a "good looking" garage sale in McCall, so we packed a picnic lunch and took off about 9:30 am. The garage sale was so-so. But the guy had been a typesetter and had several trays for sale for $10 a piece. We bought 4.

Next, we started looking for Charlie's garden. [Charlie's garden is a private garden started in the 1940's by guess who: Charlie. He has long since died and his son and family have taken over. It is free and probably mostly know about locally.] It was supposed to be about 3.6 miles up Warren Wagon Road, but there was no sign. We drove the area about 3 times and almost went on, but Nancy suggested we pull into one of the lanes and see if we could find someone to ask directions. It took a lot of doing, but we finally found it. It was so peaceful and inspiring. Both Nancy and I took pictures. As soon as I download them I will hopefully add some pictures to this blog.

After the garden, we went back to the park along the south side of the lake and had our picnic lunch. It was a nice not-too-hot day. After lunch we went to Paul's market for more juice and then took off around Payette lake. We spotted another garage sale where I found a bulletin board for $2.00. The road had been smoothed out, so the trip seemed shorter than I remembered. Jim and Nancy had never been all the way around. When we got back to McCall, we stopped at the forest service for maps, then to Ice Cream Ally for you-know-what. On our way out of town we stopped at the Teufel Nursery. I have wanted to stop many times before,but hadn't It is a wonderful nursery, good prices and amazing variety. We both bought plants. Right now Jim and Nancy are busy planting theirs.
When we got home, Nancy made a wonderful Taco Salad and later we played a card game until 11pm. I lost terribly. So sad.

The whole day was like a real mini vacation. We hope to do it again soon. We have never been to Warm lake, so that might be the next adventure. And of course there will surely be Huckleberry picking in several weeks.

July 4th Cabin Trip posted by Brian @ 4:37 PM

Well, I think I'll start off the meat portion of this blog with a bit about the trip we all just got back from. Well Mom and Dad are still there, but my family just got back. I came back to Nampa a bit early because I had to work Thursday & Friday morning.

Anyhow, it was a fun trip. The time I was up there was pretty uneventful. We hung out with the Salisburys two of the days. We went swimming at their community pool and then on the 4th we went over to their place and had our own little fireworks show. Earlier in the day we all took turns going on little trips on the 4-wheelers.

The big incident happened while I was on the way home. Angie's cousin Chris went out 4-wheeling with Dan and he got in an accident! Not exactly sure how it happened but the basics are that he hit a rut and rolled over sideways-ish. He got lots of road-rash and he broke his fibula. The tire also blew and the wheel dented. He had to ride back on the back of the Honda with Dan and they had to drive slowly. Add the fact that Dan took a wrong turn somewhere and it took them both a long time to get back to the road. Dan did have his cell phone so he called and told everyone what happened and Angie and Alicia met them at the end of the trail and took Chris to the hospital. Dan took Dad back and they put the spare wheel on the Scrambler and were able to ride it back. Dan also spent a fair amount of the rest of the trip getting everything put back to normal. He ordered a new tire and wheel and cleaned the 4-wheelers up real good.

In othe news, we are gonna be an aunt and uncle! Apparently our children were not enough of a warning for Dan and Alicia and they decided to try parenthood for themselves.

Well that pretty much sums up the past couple weeks in a nutshell. Stay tuned for more breaking news.

Up and Running posted by Brian @ 4:15 PM

Just because Debbie is such a trendsetter and infected us all with this disease called blogging, I went ahead and created a Bartlow Family Blog that we can all use to keep everyone else updated on our lives.

This brings up an interesting question. Who should this blog be for? Meaning who has access to post here? Immediate family? Extended? Super-extended? Go ahead and post comments & responses.

Fun! Fun! Fun!