Family Tree Photo Project

Hope found this Family Tree project in "The Friend" magazine that she wanted to do. We found and printed the template from the online version of the magazine, and Hope happily wrote in the names of her parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. I took it a step further and did the project in Photoshop, with everyone's photo, then printed and laminated the result. It was a great project!

Aspen Grove in Utah and Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite

I'm finally getting around to posting these photos from our wonderful week in Aspen Grove, and from my 3 days of backpacking and hiking around Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite.

Ben to University of Oregon

Yesterday we dropped Ben off at the University of Oregon (in Eugene). I can't believe my son is now a college man!
He got off to an memorable start. There were two campus-wide power outages his first evening. Then, at 11 pm when he was ready to go to bed, he found that his dorm room key wouldn't work. A maintenance man showed up about 1 am with some lock lubricant that solved the problem. This morning Ben got up at 8 am to hit the gym - only to find out that they don't open until 10 am (but will be 8am once school starts next week). So he tried the track - but they were closed, too. Good luck, Ben!

Lassen Volcanic National Park

I'm a little slow publishing some of my summer adventures. This was my trip to Lassen Volcanic National Park. I hiked up Brokeoff Mountain and Lassen Peak, and enjoyed a 3-day, 2-night backpack trip to a series of lakes. Lassen is no Yellowstone or Yosemite, but is a nice place nonetheless, with some beautiful views of more mountain ridges than I've ever seen.

I've now visited all of the national parks in California (if you consider the Channel Islands visitor center as actually a part of that park)!

Hope's first backpacking trip - into Emigrant Wilderness

Hope and John went backpacking with the Schneiders and two of Kevin's friends into Emigrant Wilderness. It was Hope's first backpacking trip, and she had a wonderful time, as did the rest of us. The uphill sections were a bit of a challenge, but we learned that Stan's storytelling helped the miles fly by. We camped for two nights next to "Chewing Gum Lake," where we went swimming and exploring. The meadows of wildflowers were amazing. Here are a few of the photos. Enjoy!

Picnic on Angel Island

Today Hope, Becky and John rode the ferry from Tiburon to Angel Island, where we rode our bikes around the island and had a picnic. We enjoyed beautiful views of San Francisco and the Golden Gate bridge.

Ben Graduates from High School

Ben graduated from Menlo-Atherton High School today. Congratulations, Ben!

Ben's Golf

Ben wrapped up his high school golf career earlier this month.
At the California Central Coast Section (CCS) Regional tournament, Ben led his team to a second place finish with a 2-over-par 73. Ben's individual score was 4th of the 84 golfers that day. Ben's high school team finished the season with a 12-0 record in league play, and a 14-1 overall record. At the La Quinta High School Championships, the team finished 7th of the 35 teams who participated from throughout the western states.

Spring Break - hang'n with Shamu

For spring break this year, Ben headed to Indio (by Palm Springs) for a golf tournament with his high school team, while Becky, Hope and I went to visit Mickey, Shamu, and some great friends in southern California. As you can see, we had a great time!

Berry Creek Falls

It had been a while since I put on my backpack, so I packed up and headed to Big Basin State Park for a 12 mile, 2 day trip. The waterfalls were going fairly well, although they were not quite as strong as I had expected. I guess the key is to go soon after a big rainstorm, not a week or two later. Still, the trip was beautiful, and was a great "escape" from the daily job-hunting efforts.

Picnic at the Park

On Saturday, Hope and her daddy rode their bikes to the park for a picnic and some play time. Hope saw four of her friends there, and she enjoyed playing with a couple of them. The picture shows Hope on the "zip" line.

A few days of R&R in St. George

At the end of December we headed to St. George. Ben golfed, while the rest of us visited Zion's, Snow Canyon, and some of the local parks in St. George.

Quilters' Retreat

My mother's 9th annual quilting retreat.