Updates from Dogtown

Elon is 1 year old

2010-06-06T22:05:00.000-07:00

Elon in his new ride from Grandpa Oppie!

Below are some the 1 year old photos we had taken of Elon and us.
Our friend Julie (http://www.jewelprintsphotography.com) took them for us. Thanks Julie!

Oh the craziness has begun!

2010-02-18T21:49:00.000-08:00

This last month has been one of many changes. Elon is getting mobile fast and our house is not ready! Below are some pictures and video of what he has been up too!

Aaron, Elon, Laura and Blake singing and bouncing at Baby Bounce class at our local library. We walk a couple times a week with Laura and Blake.

Here is the finale to our baby bounce time. It is pretty cute to see all the babies together.

Elon loves Tippi and Lil. Sorry animals you are in for it now!

Elon is getting into eating solid food and that has been a very messy situation. But as you can see he likes it and wants to feed himself. I do a lot of laundry these days.

Look at this cool cat and his Auntie Sherry. XC skiing is fun!!!

Elon and his cousins at the Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood.

This is my favorite crawling video. Naked boy! Now he is going even faster.

I have also started a new blog called "Cooking with Keegan".
http://cookingwithkeegan.blogspot.com
This is my attempt to keep trying new things in the kitchen and maybe promote by business a little. Check it out and tell me what you think. So far I have only posted one recipe.

New Year, New photos of Little E!

2010-01-11T19:54:00.001-08:00

Our first swim lesson!

Happy Guy!

Let the wild rumpus begin!

How does this toy work?

Dad, I can do it?

How Time Flies!!!

2009-11-18T01:10:00.001-08:00

Since I last posted we have done some great trip and seen some wonderful people. Elon is growing like a weed and is now 6.5 months old. I can not believe it! This summer we spent time in the San Juans, Tacoma, Ashland, and finished the summer off with a long road trip to South and North Dakota. We also attended our friends fabulous wedding in Seattle in which Elon closed down the party. "Go little man!" This fall we have hiked, biked and attempted our first ski with little E. He has been a joy to watch as he discovers the world around him. Below are links to some pictures of our adventures. Hopefully I will not wait this long again but it is hard to say.

Trip to Ashland, OR for my cousin Thomas's wedding
http://picasaweb.google.com/AKdogtown/AshlandOR#

Trip to South Dakota to see Grandma Dorothy and many of the Jones. http://picasaweb.google.com/AKdogtown/SouthDakota2009#

Elon got to meet his new cousin Nolan in Flgstaff in October. Paul's pictures are better but you stuck with mine!

http://picasaweb.google.com/AKdogtown/FlagstaffMeetingNolan#

This was the first hike we took Elon on in the back pack. He loved it.
http://picasaweb.google.com/AKdogtown/HikeUmptamum#

Hiking in the Teanaway and crossing the Wilderness boundary
http://picasaweb.google.com/AKdogtown/BeanCreekWithElon#

I better get this finished so recently we have also gone skiing and done a lot of bouncing and biking. For lots photos check out, http://picasaweb.google.com/AKdogtown
Thanks for being interested in our adventures. Hope you are all well!

Little E's 1st 4th of July

2009-07-07T00:19:00.000-07:00

This year we spent the 4th at our friends place on Ames Lake near Redmond, WA. It was a great time. Elon got to meet all his new Powderpig friends and see some great fireworks. It was a hot one so being on the lake was great. Elon took a little dip in the lake not full body yet but very soon. That night we camped out in the back of the Toyota. It was very cozy! The party continued the next day too. Can not wait to do it all over again next year. Yikes! Elon will be walking next year I will have trouble on my hands.

Hanging in his stroller

Alex and Quinn

Taking a dip with Auntie Kirstan

Hanging with Mom

Want to donate to a good cause?

2009-07-06T23:47:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,
Once again I am participating in the MS150 bike ride in September. My goal for this year is 100 miles as I am just getting back into shape after having Elon. Aaron rode with me and my parents last year. This year he will come to the ride but not ride. He will be Elon's chauffeur so I can continue to breast feed and still ride. My brother, Nick will also be joining the fun so it should be great. If you would like to donate please go to the links below.

Thanks!

Keegan's Site (click here)

Karen Fengler Nichols's Site (click here)

Joseph Nichols's Site (click here)

Nick's (aka Joe Nichols) Site (click here)

Weeks 8 thru 10

2009-07-06T23:37:00.000-07:00

Look how cute I was on Father's Day!

Me and Mom playing around!

Me and cousin Alex!

Me and cousin Peter!

The whole goofy gang!

6 Years Today, 6 Weeks Tomorrow

2009-06-07T19:22:00.000-07:00

Today is our 6 year wedding anniversary. I can not believe that it has been that long since our very fun wedding day. We have now been together for a decade also. How time flies!

Tomorrow will be 6 weeks with Elon. Also time is already flying by with the little man.

I can not wait to see where the next 10 years takes us. It will be a fun adventure!

5 Weeks with Elon

2009-06-03T14:20:00.000-07:00

Even though it was a couple weeks early, we were very excited to meet Elon Harris Opp on April 27th, 2009. After planning on having a May baby I was quite surprized to find out I maybe having an April baby. The week before his birth we still needed to move back into our house, our parents were in Nicaragua, and I had pregnancy pictures scheduled for Sunday. We got everything finished just in time with the wonderful help of many people, esecially my friend Sherry. I have to give her a special thanks becasue she stayed with me most of the week, help me move things, dealt with my crazy brain, cleaned, organized and generally did what ever I asked. Thanks Sherry!

On Sunday the 26th, we had a house full of people which was fun. That is when it was pointed out that I was leaking amniotic fluid. So we called my midwife in late afternoon and where on our way to the hospital. We got to the hospital they broke my water and labor commenced. Labor was quick and I was ready to push by 10:30PM. That is where the fun started. After 3 hours of pushing (at the end of a really long and tiring week) I was exhausted and Elon was not coming out. Elon had decided that he like his watery world and was not coming down the birth canal. That is when I was given an epidural which was not really helping. Sometime in the wee hours of the morning it was decided to bring in our my midwife's OB and had to consider a C-section. We tried some other techniques to get him to come down but no luck. So around 5AM I was off to the OR for a C-section. It was scary because I had planned on having a natural birth and here I was about to have a c-section. The goods news was that at 6:02AM I delivered a beautiful baby boy who was 8lbs. 6oz. and 20 inches long. During the whole labor ordeal he was like a rock and never showed any signs of stress. Thanks goodness!

It took us 3 days to decided on his name but when we did it fit. Elon is hebrew for "oak" or "tree". We loved it because we love the outdoors and during the hard labor he was like a solid, strong tree. His full name is Elon (E-lawn) Harris Opp. Harris was my father's middle name. Another cool thing is that he was born on my Grandpa Kenny's birthday.

The first 5 weeks have flown by. Elon is a pretty happy baby who is gaining weight rapidly. It has been fun to watch him change. In the last week he has started to hold onto things (especially me). His smiles are becoming more associated with us and less associated with farting. It is amazing to think I can spend hours just staring at him. Aaron and I are still in disbelief that we are parents to such a wonderful little boy.

Last weekend we took Elon on his first camping trip to Chinook Pass with our friends, Sherry and Bram. Elon liked being outside and near the river. He slept just as well camping as he does at home. Good thing since camping is going to be a constant in his life.

There are lots of pictures fro these last few weeks. I have uploaded all of them since I do not have time to sort through them. If you would like to see them go to this link. http://picasaweb.google.com/AKdogtown

For those who have called, emailed, or facebooked, I need to apologize for not getting back to you. I have been bad about communicating. Hopefully I will get better after next week once classes are over.

I hop to post more picture and happening in our lives soon so you can see how Elon is growing.
Thanks to everyone for their good wishes and gifts.

Flood and Baby Update

2009-04-13T10:26:00.001-07:00

Aaron flooring in the babies room

It has been a long time since I last wrote but I thought I would finally throw down a quick note. As many of your know we flooded in January and it has been a long road back. Because of the hard work and generosity of many family and friends things are almost ready for us to move back in the house. It has been an adventure.

Working on the house! (Do not worry I wear a respiratory when needed and sit down alot I am pretty much a slacker)

Baby is growing strong. I get kicked and beat up daily which I love except when I am tired. I have passed the 36 week mark now. At our ultrasound appointment on Friday they estimated the baby is about 6lbs. 14 oz. good sized little bugger. I have started to dilate (2cm) but could stay at that for weeks so no reason to get too excited. Really helps get things done knowing that my body is getting ready. The babies room is really green (picking color on the fly). It kind of looks like Kermit the frog lives there but should be fun to decorate.

There are more picture of our progress at the link below so check it out.
http://picasaweb.google.com/AKdogtown

Surf Camp, Todos Santos, Cabo Pulmo, and more!

2008-11-12T09:31:00.000-08:00

We spent 2 weeks at the Pescadero Surf Camp, www.pescaderosurf.com, just south of Todos Santos and we had a blast. Aaron learned to surf and I relaxed. The surf camp itself was great we had a huge palapa that kept the sun off of us but we still used our tent. There was a pool, showers, bathroom, and the internet all for $180 pesos/night, ~$15 US. It was nice not having to move consistently and we met some great people during our stay. If is funny a lot of them were from the Pacific Northwest, looks like we were all trying to get away to somewhere nice before the snow falls. For pictures of camp, click here.

The beaches in the area were awesome too. There was the Palm Beach that we would take Tippi to play in the wave and just walk for enjoyment. It is for sale if anyone has 30 million lying around. Pictures here! Then there was the Hidden Cove. The road to this was very bumpy but fun. We were told how to get here by a local and it was awesome. We went 3 times, once just the 2 of us for sunset on Halloween then with friends 2 other times to fish, snorkel and swim. Pictures here! We never caught anything good but did purchase a fish from a fisherman at the beach to the north as he pulled his boat off the water. Between our fish and the ones that Mark and Michelle caught we had a election night feast back at the surf camp. Pictures are in with the camp photos. The other beach we spent a lot of time at was Los Cerritos, this is were the popular surf break is. Aaron would get up early and go out surfing, most days I would sleep in but I did go out a few days to watch. We would also go out again in the evening. The last night we had a good group out and Aaron was able to at least get a couple of good rides in before sunset. Pictures here!

During our 2 weeks in Todos area we visit my professor Doc at his fabulous hotel. He has been building and refining Casa Bentley for sometime now and it is absolutely gorgeous. I wish it would have been with in our budget to stay there is time around but we definitely will in the future. If anyone is looking for a quiet, beautiful place to get away please look up Doc and Casa Bentley, www.casabentleybaja.com. I can not say enough about the place or the man for that matter. We visited him twice during our stay once just to chat and then he made a great dinner one Saturday night. Pictures here! We did visit Cabo San Lucas one morning and I did not like it. I went there 17 years ago and things have changed. The Todos Santos area is so much nicer than Cabo, not as loud and not as many people trying to get to buy this or that. Well I just recommend you check it out if you are looking for a beautiful place to relax.

A couple days ago we took off for the east cape and Cabo Pulmo. It is the home of the only coral reef in the Sea of Cortez and one of only three in the northern hemisphere. Cabo Pulmo in is located off of HWY 1 and down a pretty wash boarded 7 miles road. We arrived around 4PM and started looking for a place to stay. We wnded up at Nancy's. It is a resturant but she also has 2 casitas to rent. They are very basic but they were in our price range and included breakfast. Sleeping on a bed for the first time in 3 weeks was very nice. We also could hear the ocean from our plaxe. It was a little funky and she coud really do more with the place. The following morning we headed to the beach south of town in which we heard that you could swim to the reef for snorkling. What a cool place. It was so cool in fact we decided to camp there for the night. The snorkling was great but since there where so many people on the beach we had to go out seperatly. Then we found the money spot before sunset. It was a hike to get there but the geology was cool! We took a lot of pictures while we were there. After a nice night on the beach we packed up and headed to the money spot for a quick snorkle before the crowds showed up. This time we got to go together which was nice. Tippi hung by the gear and all was good. Pictures will be posted next time.

Last night we were in Los Barriles, windsurfing mecca, and today we are in La Paz to catch the ferry. Life has been pretty good for us, hope your has too!

Baja Impressions

2008-10-28T16:14:00.001-07:00

Right after we crossed the border we started to notice all the different license plates. We have tallied quite list since we arrived.

For the US: Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, California, Texas, Colorado, Michigan, Alaska, Arizona, South Dakota, and Wyoming

For Canada:British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario

For Mexico: Baja California(north Baja), Baja California Sur (south Baja), Sinaloa, and others.

We have to say the worst drivers are not the Mexican drivers but the visiting ones. Actually Mexican drivers are very polite, albeit they drive very fast, and they let you know if there is something to be aware of ahead. It seems that people cross the border and feel that they can be assholes. Our #1 worst driver we have seen (sorry Jones and Opp families) was from South Dakota. He was just awful and rude.

The Baja has been a very surprising place to me. I thought I had an idea of what it would be like but it is so much more. The landscapes are incredible and the biodiversity is amazing. There are so many cactuses, flowers and succulents all living together. In some areas that are right against the ocean which to me I never thought cactuses would be near the ocean, amazing. The people we have met, especially the Mexicans, have been lovely. They are very helpful and understanding even though we are dumb gringos who know very little Spanish (again!).

3260 some miles down the road!

2008-10-28T15:25:00.000-07:00

OK, I know I said I would try and blog once a week and now here is it we have been gone 3 weeks and nothing. Well here we go! This is pretty long so feel free to just look at the pictures of pick and chose what you read. It is a lot of rambling. It is amazing that it has been 3 weeks already that we have been gone. Getting out the door was quite exciting as I was exhausted and it was cold out so trying to think warm weather was difficult.But we did it. So far our trip has been amazing. It took us 2 weeks to get to the Mexico/US border then we have been here just over a week.

Our 2 weeks in the States started out by taking us to Corvallis,OR to see Sallie and Adam. We will be seeing them again very soon on the Mainland of Mexico as we are going to stop and hang out at there field station where they live every winter. So we stayed one night had tuna burger, yumm! The next morning Aaron and Adam went for a wet mtn bike ride and Sallie and I met up with Am Simmons (we use to go to college together) for some breakfast. It was great getting to catch up with Amy. I really wish we lived closer together. Then Aaron and I headed for Sacramento and to my Aunt Sharon’s house. We got in late but had a nice chat that evening. The next morning Sharon, Aaron, Tippi and I went on a walk to the Folsom Reservoir which is looking pretty empty these days. About midday we headed out again for Tahoe City to see Jonathan. We ended up spending 3 days in Tahoe and got to see lots of people we have not seen in awhile it was really nice. We also did some hiking and try to bike but had equipment difficulties. For pictures click here

As the weekend came around it got cold and we woke up Saturday morning to snow on the ground. Wow, snow aren’t we going to Mexico! Saturday we headed with Jonathan and Erik to Bridgeport, CA for Glen’s annual Asada. He has Patagonian friends that cook up a fest of lamb on his property and fun is had by all. This year it was quite cold, in the teens that night, and all our water froze solid. The morning was beautiful, still cold, and Aaron cooked up and excellent breakfast. For pictures click here

Then we headed off to the Owens Valley for 3 days of camping on our own. We did do a mtn bike ride but I am a real wuss so we did not go as far as I think Aaron would have liked but he seemed happy enough the just get to ride. We also did some hot springing and hiking. For pictures click here

Then we headed into the heat, La Quinta, to see Ana and Allen. That was a great time. I miss my friend a lot and see her was so good for the soul. We did our finally shopping and again ate some awesome food and just enjoyed being there. Then Saturday morning we were off to the Border. The border crossing in Tijuana is a joke. It was more of a stop light with no questions asked but then very confusing after that. We missed the office for getting our tourist card and so started the great adventure to get our vehicle and tourists permits. Lets just say that with help from a few very nice Mexicans we finally found our way and got out of TJ as fast as we could. We head for Ensenada to get groceries and decided to stay in the La Bunda area just south of Ensenada. It was pretty interesting place. We were the only campers in the dirt parking area but there was a security guard so that was nice. The town boasts having the second largest blowhole in the world. It was pretty cool but we are not sure if it is the second largest. Of course I forgot the camera so not pictures of it. For pictures click here

One night here was good for us and we headed south some more to Catavina. It is a desert town that does not have much but the landscape is beautiful. The cactus and other plants were amazing. We saw some cave paintings and went on a great hike. The camp ground boasted hot shower but they were cold and not that clean but it was nice to rise off. The night there we listened to dogs and coyotes all night, not so restful for me. The saving grace was the amazing stars, the US has way to much light pollution. Here you can see everything and the shooting stars are everywhere. For pictures click here

Then next day we were onto Mulege and the Bahia Concepcion. Wow, I wish we would have brought kayaks. This place is amazing (I have been saying that a lot lately). A lot of place were closed since this is there “off season” so renting things was more difficult them we thought. The town was cool and simple we did not spend much time there except to eat at a little taquearia and use the internet. Our first night on the Bahia we stayed at the Playa Escondido and no one was there. All the palapas where falling down and the outhouses were on their sides. We found out the next day that the earlier hurricane had done the damage but it had not been fixed yet. We only stayed here one night because I did not feel comfortable and we were visited by coyotes during the night, not my favorite of creatures. For pictures click here

The following 2 nights we spent at the Playa El Requesion, which is a beautiful sand spit that connects the baja to a little island. Even at high tide you can walk to the islands although you get a little wet (it felt good!). It cost $60 pesos a night (or $5.50 US). Here we swam a lot and just tried to relax. Aaron went snorkeling to try and see about spear fishing but the fish were pretty small. There were a lot of them though. I mainly hung out and tried to stay cool and not feel sick. Feeling nauseated has been a big part of my trip so far. For pictures click here

Our plans took a little turn when we tried to head out onto the Penisular Concepcion and found that we would not have any paint left on the truck if we did this little adventure. From the western side of the bay the peninsula looks incredible but I think for now it should be accessed by boat. So instead we headed to Loreto early to check thing out there. We spent one night at the Loreto Shores RV Park (not my first choice now that we have stayed there). We did have some great seafood and almost got eaten alive by mosquitoes in the evening, yuk!!! They finally passed but the dogs and chicken did make sleeping a challenge. The following day we went into town and met a great book store owner that told us all about the area. After talking with him we decided to visit the San Javier Mission. This mission was started in 1720 by a Jesuit priest and finished 38 years later. The absolutely incredible part of this story is that the church is 22 miles inland of Loreto in a road that takes 1.5 hours to drive on a good day. After bumping up this dirt road that was recently taken out by the hurricane you turn into San Javier and the street are a prefect cobble stone and the church is beautiful. One section of road had been taken out so they closed it and ran a grader up the adjacent river bed and created a new road. This would never happen in the it was pretty amazing. Apparently every December 3^rd thousands of people pilgrimage to the site to celebrate at the church. This is a very sleepy little town (maybe 100 residents) so trying to imagine 1000’s of people there that would be cool to see. You got to see the pictures of the church and the road. We camped up near the town that night and got an early start the next morning to La Paz. For pictures click here

The only reason we stopped in La Paz was to check on the ferry for our trip to the mainland in mid-November. Aaron found us a nice little hotel near the water that allowed us to have Tippi and had AC (what a treat!). In the morning we took care of our errands and headed towards Todos Santos on the Pacific Ocean side of the baja. Todos Santos is a very cool little town. It has lots of character and great food (again!). Found a cool place to stay called the Pescadero Surf Camp just south of Todos. We have a huge palapa that we have set up out tent in and it comes with a pool, bathrooms, showers and some cool people that are staying here. We are close to the beach not on it but that is fine. Even though we are close the highway it is really quiet at night. Aaron rented a surf board yesterday and beat himself up last night and this morning but he is having fun. I may try it but it all depends on how I am feeling and I have started to feel better the last few days. I think getting to the end of my 1st trimester is going to be awesome! What I also know is that in Todos there are the best fruitcicles ever and I think I will be eat those everyday we are here. Pictures will be in next post!

Flying around Mt. St. Helens

2008-10-17T14:25:00.000-07:00

On my last day in the field for UNAVCO we were working on Mt. St. Helens. It was a beautiful day and the flying was great. Jeff, our pilot, and I replaced some solar panels on a site on the south side of mtn while Ken finished a site on the north side. Then we moved to a third site to replace the equipment enclosure. It was pretty coll to see the old one fly off the mtn and the new one come in. After our work was done we took a small tour of the crater and other other sites. It is pretty incredible to see the new dome that has formed over the last several years. The volcanic landscape is pretty amazing. If you are ever looking for a cool place to visit go check out the obervatory.

Picture located here, http://picasaweb.google.com/AKdogtown/MtStHelens#

We did it!

2008-10-17T13:57:00.000-07:00

Hi All,
Aaron and I had a great time with the MS150. We did not complete the entire 150 miles but did do 132 miles. We did 83 miles the first day and 49 miles the second day. Aaron probably could have done it all but he hung with me, the slow poke. The weather was perfect, not to hot but a little cold the second day, no complaining though. Also it was great to spend the weekend with my parents.

This was a great ride with lots of interesting people beautiful scenery and of course was for a great cause. Aaron was able to raise $450 and I was able to raise $470. We are pretty proud of our effort. If anyone is still interested in donating the last day to do it online is October 21st, so there is still time. To all of you who did sponsor us thank you, thank you, thank you! We appreciate it very much. Here are some pictures of from the ride, http://picasaweb.google.com/AKdogtown/MS150#

Remember we would love to have more people join us next year, think about it!

Support Us!

2008-07-18T10:57:00.000-07:00

Hi All,
As many of you know Aaron and I are participating in the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Group Health Bike MS Ride (AKA MS150). Which is a 150 mile bike ride over 2 days in September. This is an event that my parents have been involved with for the last couple of years and have had a lot of fun.

The reasons we are participating in the MS150 Ride is because we want to do something for the people who have been diagnosed - and because we want to do everything to prevent more people from learning what it means to live with this disease. Today, there is no cure for multiple sclerosis, and with diagnosis occurring most frequently between the ages of 20 and 50, many individuals face a lifetime filled with unpredictability. People living in the northwest are at higher risk and women have a higher risk. So I (Keegan) ride for a selfish reason. I fall within all the prime categories for having MS. So I ride for those who are fighting now and for those who may fight in the future.

If you would like to sponsor us in our effort please feel free to do by going to our pledge pages at:

Keegan's Pledge page
Aaron's Pledge Page

Also thanks to everyone who has pledged to us so far!

PS-If anyone would like to join the ride, please feel free. You can either contact us or go to the MS150 Ride page directly: http://bikewas.nationalmssociety.org/site/PageServer?pagename=BIKE_WAS_homepage

Partying!

2008-07-13T13:02:00.000-07:00

This year I got to celebrate the Fourth of July twice. On the evening of the 3rd I headed to Lake Tapps to see by friend Jen and her hubby Todd. They hosted a great get together of friends and family minus young children (this was the adults acting like children party). There were many loud booms during the evening and tasty margaritas made by Don. I got a treat which was seeing my cousin Dani and Chandler which is always a fun. Thanks Jen for a great night!

On the 4th, I headed to Ames lake for another party at Kelly and Jill's place. Again a great time. We swam, drank, talked, ate, and watch some incredible fireworks. This was a group new and old Powderpigs and other friends. There was alot going on but was very comfortable and made for a good time. Kelly roasted a whole pig and it was tasty! Thanks Kelly and Jill for a great time.

More pictures here! http://picasaweb.google.com/AKdogtown/FourthOfJuly

Aaron's Gone, Keegan's Playing

2008-07-13T12:55:00.001-07:00

Well Aaron is out fishing once again and I miss him very much. The weekend he left I headed to Portland to see my sister and the kids. We had a good time. We went out in the boat, started building Alex and Peter's new fort, and then did a great bike ride. I took picture on our bike ride. We went 14 miles. Peter was in the trail-a-bike behind Kirstan, Alex rode her bike, and I had Tippi in the trailer behind my bike. I am pretty sure was fun was had by all.

More photos here! http://picasaweb.google.com/AKdogtown/FunInPDX

And I get paid for this!!!

2008-06-11T12:58:00.000-07:00

On May 30th, Ken and I skied into one of our GPS sites on the south side of Mt. St. Helens. It was not communicating anymore so we wanted to see what was wrong. In a normal year we would have been able to drive to the site but not this year. It was a 3 mile ski one-way to the site. It was a beautiful day, not to hot but not to cold. Ken was on his cross country skis and I was on my BC skis. This was Ken's first time skiing downhill ever and he rocked it. I think he will master it with a little more practice. Below are some pictures from that day.

My favorite skis (Jerry Garcia Memorial skis) with the GPS antenna and the mountain.

Ken working on the site which looks like the snowmobiles ran over a few times.

Ken skiing out just before we got back to the truck.

I love spring skiing in June!

2008-06-11T12:40:00.000-07:00

Aaron and I headed out June 1st to meet with some friends to ski Mt. Stuart. Lisa and Victor skied to Long Pass the day before and camped out. We got up at 3AM to ski in and meet them the next morning. The snow was pretty thin at the trail head and we had to hike a little ways before we could put on our skis. We got up to Lisa and Victor around 6:45AM and they were still hunkered down in their tent. As they were packing up we finally got a glimpse of the mountain and a lot of the low elevation snow had melted. This means that if we decided to ski it we were going to be walking in our ski boots before we got to the snow. We finally decided to go adventure in an area that we knew still had snow. It ended up being a great day with incredible corn snow skiing. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if the cloud layer would have been a little higher so that we could have seen Lake Ann from our high point but beggars can't be chooser. Here are some photos taken by Victor of our fun.

Me dropping in from Longs Pass

Super Dog-Tippi

Lisa, Aaron, and Me skinning up!

Victor, Lisa, and Aaron on top but who would have known with all that fog!

Aaron ripping up the corn.

Hog Loppet 2008

2008-02-25T10:45:00.000-08:00

Saturday was the Hog Loppet! For those not familiar with this event it is 19.9 miles of cross country skiing at it best. We skied from the top of Mission Ridge Ski Area to Blewett Pass. The first 2.4 miles we call the "rodeo" since you are off groomed road and there are a couple good downhill sections, lots of crashes, and many people to negotiate. Then there is a few miles of good ups and downs but near the end there is a long (and on my skis fast) downhill to the finish.

This year our group consisted of Chris, Katie, Bram, Sherry, Hilary, Aaron and Me. For most of us this was our second year and the weather was gorgeous, thank you weather gods. I think we all agree that to do this event you need good boots, a little beer, and a health sense of humor.

After the ski we all headed to Chris and Katie for a great dinner and then we were all ready for a sleep. Thanks to everyone in the group it was a blast and I can not wait until next year.

To see pictures of the fun click here!

Alaska Fishing Pictures!

2008-02-08T15:10:00.000-08:00

One of Aaron's crewmen was a professional photographer this year and he took some great pictures. On the link below there are few of the ones I liked the best.

Bristol Bay Pictures

Aaron is a popular guy!

2008-02-08T09:30:00.000-08:00

As many of you know it has been snowing very hard here in the PNW and Aaron has been hard at work. He has also had some time on the TV news because of this. He never says anything but you can see him hard at work in the background or driving the snowcat. Kind of fun to get to see him working. I may have seen him more on TV lately then in real life. Take care!

Q13 Video from Feb. 5, 2008

King 5 video Feb. 3, 2008
King 5 Exclusive video Feb. 4, 2008

KOMO Aaron and Tippi video Jan. 30, 2008

Yike! What happened to the last quarter of 2007

2008-01-28T18:16:00.000-08:00

Well I need to apologize, some how the end of 2007 passed and I did not keep up with our blog. So here is a recap and some pictures too!

OCTOBER

In the beginning of October, Aaron and I went to the Dominican Republic to visit my Great Aunt Petrona and to see a beautiful country. My Mom also went with us for the first half of the trip. Late at night we landed in Santo Domingo and the first thing we saw was my Aunt's open arms. We drove in to the city and got our first expereince with DR driving. Basically not rules except "he who is the most aggressive wins". Thankfully my Aunt's son, Oscar drove the trip and quite well I might add.

The next morning we began to see what a beautiful place she lives in and how humid it is. We visited during the rainy season (also hurricane season) so hot and humid where the norm. THe food is fabulous and the fruit, crazy good. We visited the colonial city which was built by Christopher Columbus and governered by his son Diego. In the Colonial City is the oldest church in the new world. This church has been through everything including being the base for pirates at one time. It is stunning.

We also shopped for coffee, fun gifts, and Lari mar (great local stone). We spent a day at Boca Chica a beach just outside of the city and tour some of the facility that MLB teams have built for their farm teams in the DR. Fun fact, 76 major league baseball players are Dominican, wow.

One day we headed to the village where my Aunt's husband Nini was raised. Nini has a large family and many still live in the village. Some of his family made us lunch which was incredible. We try our best to communicate and very much enjoyed our time there. Once again we visited the local beach and swam even though it was raining. Humid weather is cool that way. That night we got to enjoy an incredible thunderstorm. I believe it rivaled those in the mid west.

If you stay at an all-exclusive resort you may not know what the DR is really like. It is definitely a 3rd world country trying to improve. Power and water are not given at all times in homes. Even when the home is very nice. People live off very little but love family and take care of one another. We were treated very well and many wanted to speak with us. Santo Domingo does not have as much tourism so we got to see how people really live.

After a week with my aunt Aaron and I bid them farwell and started on our own little adventure to the north side of the island. THe north side of the island has a lot of tourism so it is gear toward the western traveler and there are many expats. We stayed in a little town called Sosua. There were some beautiful beaches and great snorkling. We spent most of our time laying around and eating but did go on two guided trips. We went snorkling and got some great picture and then did some canyoning. Canyoning is walking, swimming and climbing up a stream gorge to then turn around and hike, jump, slide and swim back down. It was great fun. There is a video on my last blog entry that shows the trip. The hotel we stayed in was very laid back and simple. We were right on the beach and only paid $38/night. Pretty sweet. After 6 days it was time to return to the US. Below are links to photos of our trip. Enjoy!

General Photos Dominican Republic photos
Snorkling Photos-coming soon!

When we arrived back in the US we went to a wedding in Florida for Aaron's family friends, Bob and Jen Ross. The day before the wedding Duane, Peggy, Alexis, Wade, Aaron and I went to EPCOT Center. It was the International Beer and Wine festival, so we drank our way through the center. The wedding was beautiful and it was great to meet some many of Aaron's family friends from his childhood. I do not have many pics from the wedding but do from EPCOT so the link is below.

Pictures-EPCOT!

NOVEMBER

Right after Thanksgiving we did some skiing in the Teanaway (were I use to work at the horse camp). The skiing was awesome and a great start to the season. The first day was Aaron, Pete, Bram and Sarah. Then the next was Aaron, Sarah, and Me. If you want a peak into our trips check these links.

November 30, 2007 Bean Basin Photos here
December 1, 2007 Bean Basin Photos here

DECEMBER

This year I got to be with Aaron on Christmas since it was not snowing. We spent Christmas on the westside of the mountain with our parents. Christmas Eve we went skiing with my sister and her husband and then had a great dinner with my family. We opened presents with my niece and nephew on Christmas morning then headed to Tacoma to be with the Opp's. It was a great couple of days. Below are some more pictures.

Christmas 2007 Photos here

On New Years eve we skied with our friend, Jonathon in the Icicle near Leavenworth. The avalanche danger was high so we stayed low and in the trees and got some amazing turns. After skiing we head to our friends John and Adrienne's house north of Leavenworth in Plain, WA. It was the prefect way to spent New year. Incredible atmosphere and good people made for a great night.

Icicle Ski Photos here

27 Waterfalls, Rio Damajagua, Dominican Republic

2007-10-16T07:49:00.001-07:00

This is an ad for a trip we did the day before we left the DR but did not have our camera. It was alot of fun.