Expedition 5280

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Funny Faces

Really, Biscuit was just yawning at the moment.

Yikes!

A month before Christmas, we found a way so head back to Cali for quick Christmas visit. This was Steve's first visit back since our move in mid July and his parents (esp. mom) were glad to see him in the flesh. Here are some highlights from our brief trip.

We shared Christmas morning with Steve's family

Steve's pops and Molly (a.k.a. Mullet)

June bride Erin and her fiance (our future brother-in-law) Caleb. Thus, our next trip to Cali will be in June of '08

Steve's mom (Pam) and Caleb cleaning up morning dishes. Steve was glad to have his mom's breakfast while visiting Cali.

We then headed out to my parents house. Fortunately, our parents live in adjacent towns (Modesto and Ripon) so it's easy to go to and fro.

Awesome niece Olivia just cut her tresses and is excited to get into some Christmas loot! The girls receive three gifts from both sets of grandparents as Christ received three gifts from the wise men.

Adorable and spirited niece Windsor with a happy face.

Couldn't help but snatch this shot- she jumped up immediately after the camera clicked with a smile and wanted to see the pic.

Sis-in-law Cat -a.k.a. world's #1 best stay at home mom. The girls are wonderful and fun to be around thanks to Cat's t.l.c. and prayer. Keep up the terrific work!!!!

Grammy with the girls

Papa and Windsor

Bee and Cat chillin'

Windsor's tricycle was replaced by a bicycle with training wheels. The look on her face when Papa brought it into the house as priceless- the best look of surprise I've seen in a long time!

Windsor and 'liv rode the new bike for quite some time. At one point, Windsor invited 'liv to ride her new bike. As if sharing a moment on her new bike wasn't enough, they slapped air fives! I hope our kids will have such hearts.

Pam had given the girls disposable digital cameras and ready made scrapbooks. They enjoyed taking pics. 'Liv documented Windsor's first moments outside on her new bike.

Future artist and leader of America

Great to see my parents!

The beauty of lounging on Christmas Day!

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Breakfast of Champions

Each day dad awakes and prepares a gourmet breakfast fit for the finest athlete. Two fried eggs, sausage and for the health conscientious, this meal is accompanied by oatmeal.

Master Chef John preparing B.O.C.

While dad prevails at his breakfast, mom dominates the English language in the morning crossword puzzle.

It was a treat to wake up and hang out in the mornings. No wonder I'm a morning person! (Though it was mom who usually prepared breakfast a scoring breakfast while growing up.)

Warning, without a dose of caffine, my battery is fully chared upon awaking.

Speaking of healthful eating, Buddy recently devoured our prized See's Candy while we were out. Here is what I walked in on (notice the look of guilt on his face).

Fortunately, he left behind enough of the chocolate wrappers for me to figure he ate 3 oz. of solid milk chocolate as well as 5 lollipops. Vet said he'd be okay because he's such a large dog.

Laced Airports

Awaiting a flight, yes you're waiting, but each second is potential packed. Whether it's people who should have looked in a mirror before they left the hotel, the warmth in a family or couple embracing, or the wonder of the possibilities for adventures at each terminal, the airport is an emotionally charged scene. People coming and going each aware only of their immediate purpose of successfully coming or going.

While admiring the "leary voyager", the "bussinessman", the "gabber" making a public announcement while talking at the phone, and the hopeful "model" it facinates me to watch how these characters absorb and interact with their surroundings, but mostly move about like a black hole. It's no wonder air support staff can be a little disgruntle at times- they're being treated like an actors personal assistant. (Strange how things change once the crowd boards the plane. Suddenly, the person beside you wishes to chat- which naturally I can't refuse.)

I hope we're a fun contribution to the people watching of others. Below are pics of some of our interactions with our surroundings.

Bearded Suckas'

Cam, Andy and Steve the bearded bros.

A Recent Rare Phenomenon

Last night we were at a local coffee shop with some friends. While sitting by the widow, we noticed that it had unexpectedly begun snowing. A few minutes later we all looked up to notice bright flashes, similar to that from a camera flash reflecting in the window. Since you never see lightning (or hear thunder) during a snow storm we all looked around for the abnoxiously bright flash from someones camera. It was nowhere to be found. Next thing we hear the boom of thunder and immediately car alarms start sounding. At this point we all look outside to see what looks like hail....but its not. It is simply pea sized snowballs that are falling like rocks from the sky. Needless to say, this was the first time any of us had experienced anything like this. The snowballs were not hard but soft...just like snow. The lightning and thunder continued for a while longer, as most everyone who was in the coffee shop either was glued to the windows or went outside for closer inspection. Bethany, who was sitting with our group, said that she had heard something like this happening before and said it was called a "thundersnow storm". Well, it is a true and rare event that is even more rare in a "land locked" state like Colorado. Here is the local newspaper headline from the Rocky Mountain News: "We were enjoying the lights, sights and sounds of a thundersnow that rolled through downtown around 9:30 p.m. And, we didn't make up that word thundersnow, either. It's a real, but rare phenomenon (and very rare in landlocked Colorado), according to a quickie Google search. In the simplest of terms, cold air meets warm air. As those two air masses interact, it causes friction, or a convection (up- and-down movement of air), which if violent enough, can cause lightning and thunder".

If you are still interested, check out the Wikipedia article for it : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thundersnow