12/4/12 - Pre-Christmas

- on the Monday before Thanksgiving, Diane had her 3rd chemo infusion.  Right as Diane was about to have her port tapped, Preston rushed to the other end of town to attend a funeral service for a 17 year racquetball partner who died the week before.  Bobby had struggled with Parkinson's for about 10 years before finally succumbing to a stroke last month.

- On Thanksgiving Day the family went skiing.  The conditions were NOWHERE near as good as 2 seasons ago, but we got in a total of 4 runs on greens, blues, and blacks before heading back to the house and frying a turkey.

- The kids opened their annual Thanksgiving ornament/gift from Grandma Cathy.  They spent a lot of time over the long weekend playing with the town that's now evolved.

- playing with her food

- Our Thanksgiving feast was delayed until Saturday.  The more I think about it, the better this works.  We ski on Thanksgiving Day when the crowds are low, and then cook on Friday or Saturday when the crowds peak.  It's a lot like skiing on Christmas Day, New Years Day, or Superbowl Sunday.

- The next week Andi had her first eye exam

- And she now needs glasses.  This is one of MANY frames that she tried on.

- This past weekend Rigel participated with his Den in a Salvation Army bell ringing service project.

- After shopping for new clothes for the kids (because they insist on outgrowing everything) we dropped by a real estate agent's office with some friends to get a family photo with Santa.  Unfortunately, Andi wasn't feeling too hot AND hasn't warmed up to Santa yet.  Diane TRIED to get her to look at the camera, but even when we thought we'd trick her and get a shot of her face as she ran away (once we said she could leave), she outsmarted us all by putting her head down and backing away from Santa so her back was at the camera.

- So the next day Preston took Andi the the pediatric after hours clinic and she was diagnosed as having the beginnings of either bronchitis or pneumonia.  Since she was coughing, I had her wear a mask in the waiting room.

11/18/12 - Pre Thanksgiving

- Since the kids don't eat candy as fast as they get it, we did some post-Halloween sorting

- the kids were only allowed to keep part of the last 2 year's candy

- last weekend we let the kids talk us into going to a pottery-painting place.  Here they're trying to pick colors to paint their pieces.

- furiously painting

- Diane and Preston split a platter (Diane did the right side)

- Rigel's painted dragon, waiting to be fired

- Andi's owl

- For Veteran's Day, Rigel honored his great grandfather Phillip Goss

- Last night, Rigel and Andi went to their first Rock concert: Trans-Siberian Orchestra

- it was a great show.  We were right at eye level with the performers about 15 rows away.  From this location the show had great "depth" with lights and other effects being out in and above the audience, plus many layers of lights, performers, fire, and such across the stage.  The pictures don't do it justice.

11/4/12 - Fall Update

- Rigel and Preston went up to Breck in July for a hike and a viewing of the last Harry Potter movie

- while there somebody stole a tow truck and parked it at the house at about 0730 on Sunday morning.  We didn't hear it, but saw it about an hour later and called the Sheriff's office.  They sent out a deputy who dusted for fingerprints.  Since the keys weren't left with the truck, the company had to come tow their own truck away.

- Rigel & Preston had a BBQ in the backyard before we left for home.  Note the trees in the background on the National Forest land.  Within 2 months all of these trees would be gone (see below).

- a week later the Forest Service's contractor started working on cutting down the trees.  Brother-in-Law Greg came out in mid-August to check out a real estate investment and help install a surveillance system (which was purchased from Costco shortly after the tow truck incident).  This is the harvester that cuts down the trees.  When they're really going at it, this thing can take down trees at a sustained rate of 2 per minute.

- these are the teeth.  The disk spins rapidly and this is just rammed through the tree.  The bottom of the tree is then left sitting on the fixed plate that's above the cutting teeth and a pair of hydraulic arms grasp the tree before it falls.  Then the machine can lift up the tree and deposit it in a pile nearby.  Very impressive, but the machines looked worse for the wear.  In mid-October this machine wound up catching fire and burning up after the operator got out safely.

- another machine that was working the land behind us was this one.  There are 2 sets of pinchers with sharp edges that can strip all the limbs off the tree when it's moved back and forth by the drums.  There's also a chain saw hidden in the casing on the right side that cuts the trunks to length.

- Delimbing, in action

- Later in August Preston had a local company come out and resurface the driveway.

- it looks great

- Jack and Cathy came for their annual visit towards the end of August.  The day after the Republican convention, Jack and Preston were watching Clint Eastwood's performance when we noted a guest outside.

- Then for the labor day weekend we went up to Breck and toured what they had cleared so far.  The new fire break is wonderful and the views are now stellar.

- While we were there we went to the annual Summit Foundation Rubber Duck race.  It sprinkled intermittently.

- The kids waded out to the middle of the Blue River before the race started

- and then came the ducks

- The next day Rigel and Preston volunteered to sort and catalog the ducks in preparation for next year.

- Relaxin' at the cabin

- The weekend after Labor Day, Preston's Dad came up and we did a few things around the cabin.  We also went to find the Tiger Dredge.

- And while we were there, we saw a beaver in the pond (lower right).

- Rigel and Jack's birthday celebration

- In mid-September Preston did his second weekend of Scouting's Wood Badge course, backpacking at Camp Alexander.  Preston is in the Bobwhite Patrol and when we decorated the Service Shovel, we did a stellar job.

- "backpacking" at Camp A

- the second-to-last weekend of September the family went camping at the Cove Campground in Elevenmile Canyon.  It was a beautiful spot, with only 4 campsites.  It would be great for a small group or family reunion.  The caretaker said that there aren't any bugs here, but that once you get up to 10-12k feet you do get some mosquitos.  The only thing you really have here is the occasional bear or mountain lion.

- Andi and Laena

- At the Elevenmile Reservoir overlook

- sounds about right

- We've made a few trips to the Hu Hot (japanese grill).  On kids night they have a guy there making balloon creations.  These aliens are what the kids wanted this time around.  The guy was pretty good and also juggles fire and does stilts, so we hired him for Rigel's birthday party in October.

- The last weekend of September we went up to Mueller State park again (3rd year) with Preston's co-workers.  It was just about perfect.

- The campground has nice spots and is all paved so there's no dust.  It's also great for the kids to ride their bikes.

- Preston & Tom

- In October we had Rigel's birthday party with Ben the Balloon guy providing entertainment.

- Andi and Laena

- Cake

- and a goofy picture afterwards

- Preston told the kids that they could shave his head.  So this is before

- During

- During

- And after.  The face in the mirror still looks like a stranger.

- The kids had their annual dental checkups in October.

- Then, after the first snows, we went up to Breck for another weekend and the kids asked if they could use the Halloween cookie cutters.  We turned them loose to decorate and this is what we found when we turned around.  The sugar was 1/4 to 1/2" thick on some of the cookies.

- some of the view now that the trees are all gone

- from the front

- On the way back we were delayed outside of Florissant by a herd of elk trying to cross the highway.  This is about a third of the herd and they had a HARD time getting up the hill and over the fence at the top.

- In October Rigel has 2 four-day weekends, so for one of the weekends Preston took the kids down to the zoo for a behind-the-scenes tour of the Giraffe House.

- It turns out that there's a basement level where almost EVERYTHING from the African Rift Valley is stored at night

- The kids LOVE the budgee buddies still

- Another view without the trees.  A neighbor commented that we went from living in the forest to living in the mountains.  VERY true.

- Boo at the Zoo

- Darth Grouch

- Rigel had asked Ben to make him a Harry Potter balloon at his party but there wasn't enough time and he had never done one.  He offered to take a crack at it the next time we were going to the Hu Hot and followed through admirably.

- Diane went out to California at the end of October for the Annual Mom's Away weekend.  This time it was at Tahoe.

- Meanwhile, Preston took the kids to Spooktacular at Camp Alexander

- These are the pumpkins that the kids "carved".  Which is to say that they picked or drew the patterns, leaving others (like daddy, who HATES the slimy innards of pumpkins) to empty and carve them.

- Andy got some face painting to go with her little mermaid costume

- Without hair, Preston has noted that it can be a bit chilly sometimes.

- The next day Preston and the kids had lunch with Preston's mom and then went out to play miniature golf.  Here we reminisce about the time that Aunt Erika bounced a wild shot off the elephant and then laughed so hard that she "almost" peed her pants.

- The day before Halloween, Preston arranged for the Wolf cubs of Pack 85 to do a service project at the Point of the Pines Assisted Living Center where Lorna now resides.  There was Trick or Treating followed by this singalong.

- Rigel's school class on Halloween itself.

- That night, trick or treating with a pair of Potters

- And princesses.

8/7/12 - The California Vacation postings are now complete.  See below...

7/26/12 - June & California Vacation

- Flowers in Breckenridge

- Andi & Laena at a Rigel T-ball game

- Cub Scouts learning at the June Family Campout

- Rigel and Andi love trying to fish (at the campout)

- Beautiful scenery

- Again

- Saturday night campout

- Rigel crossing over from Tiger Cub to Wolf

- Salute!

- JUST a bit relaxed

- Preston's mom is moving from Colorado Springs from Los Alamos; after a series of appointments, Erika & Preston met in La Veta, Colorado, while transporting mom back to Los Alamos.

- Rigel helping clean the dead moths out of the barn.  This year was one of the worst Miller Moth seasons that we can remember

- While we were cleaning, we shot some arrows.  Preston's doing so-so at 10 yards

- After Erika's visit in June a 3d deer target arrived in the mail, courtesy of Erika and Bill.  It's a PERFECT gift and something that Preston would never have bought for himself.

- Preston's grouping at 20 yards.  Not as tight, but still lethal if he could get this close

- Member Night at the Zoo: Andi enjoying the Budgee Buddies

- Andi showing off her feelers.

In June the family went from Colorado to California on our annual road trip.  We had a great time and the pix below document the journey.

- our route

- Andi in Breck before we leave

- many hours were spent snoozing

- for Rigel too

- When we left Breckenridge we headed towards Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon.  Along the way we decided that Mexican Hat, UT, would be a good place to stop for the night.  There's some beautiful scenery in Utah.

- Mexican Hat Rock

- When we arrived in the early evening it was about 105 degrees, but it's a dry heat.  (yeah, right)  After dinner we took a walk off the back edge of the parking lot.

- the morning view from the motel room.  The construction on the left is a pool cabana that's under construction.

- Coming into Monument Valley

- After driving through Monument Valley, we went to the Grand Canyon and had lunch at Desert View. 

- This is the Watchtower from which you get great views of the Grand Canyon

- like this one

- and this one

- Happy family

- Rigel didn't eat his chocolate covered ice cream fast enough

- the view from the top of the Bright Angel Trail.  We'll have to hike this some time.  After blasting off from the Grand Canyon we headed to Kingman, AZ, (on the old Route 66) for the night.

- The next day we zipped over to Anaheim and checked into the Disney Grand Californian at the Disneyland Resort.  We had a great room from which we could see into the California Adventure park.  We even had a view over to Disneyland itself and could see the nightly fireworks.

- Grizzly Mountain - this is a great "wet" ride and is perfect for an early afternoon ride on a hot day.  Be sure to try getting a Fast Pass for just after lunch.  We immediately headed for the pools, since we figured we wouldn't do much swimming once we started spending time in the parks.

- On Sunday we went into Disneyland an hour early and hit the Astro Orbiter before the lines got terrible.

- then we did the same thing on the Finding Nemo ride

- then it was over to Fantasyland for a bunch of the kiddie rides, like the Storybook boat ride.

- And the Dumbo ride

- Diane wasn't feeling too hot this morning, so Preston did the duties on the Mad Hatter's teacup ride.

- The kids with Arial

- The kids with Snow White and the evil Queen.  The gal playing the queen REALLY had her part down.  The guy before us asked her which princess she was supposed to be and she extended a long finger, pointing up to her crown, and said "Queen."  Then she looked over at me and rolled her eyes as if to say "friggin peasant."  She also had the eye roll down pat.

- With Aurora (Sleeping Beauty)

- Going,

- going,

- GONE.  Andi slept through the fireworks, including great flying appearances by Tinkerbell and Dumbo (actual people on wires between the Matterhorn and Sleeping Beauty's Castle).

- Then on Monday we went to the California Adventure park.  They have a new Cars Land and one of the first things we saw was Lightning McQueen rolling down the road.

- Andi got dressed up on this day because we were going to Arial's Grotto for lunch to meet a bunch of the princesses again.

- this pic and the last one are two of my favorites from Disneyland

- During the dessert course, Andi discovered that a blue cupcake can be used to apply lipstick.  It went downhill from here...

Shortly afterwards Rigel needed to go into the bathroom.  He had a touch of the squirts and didn't make it to the toilet, though he didn't soil his underwear or pants somehow.  Aside from stepping in the resulting horror show, he made it out cleanly.  Preston attempted to clean, but after 5 minutes of smearing the mess around with toilet paper he called for reinforcements.

- Andi did NOT like the Tower of Terror

- Check out Diane's pants.  Then note that the only dry spot on Andi is her armpit.  She got DRENCHED when a we hit a wave in such a way that it blasted through the door that she was next to.

- ok, ok.  Andi DID also have a small dry spot on her back...

- Waiting for the World of Color.  A pretty good show.

- On Monday night we moved over to the Fairfield Inn (across the street; maybe a 10 minute walk) and joined Albert and Hannah.  Here's Tuesday's "lost kid" picture.

- Having lunch while the Mark Twain steams by

- now over on Tom Sawyer Island

- "Yarrr"

- A tired little girl, without a nap, waiting for a showing at the Tiki Room

- Wednesday at Cars Land.  We STILL hadn't done the new Radiator Springs Racers ride because the line was just too long, at 2+ hours

- Waylaying Mr Incredible in the street

- when it got hot, we took the kids over to Princess Dot's splash area in A Bug's Land.  The kids were only slightly wetter than after our ride on the Grizzly Rapids.  Here Andi is waiting for a water stream to come out of the ground.

- which it eventually did

- Flik's Flyers

- Mater-shaped sourdough loaf.  We ripped through one of these and a regular loaf pretty quickly.  It's a tasty snack while standing in line.

- Sunset in Cars Land.  They have a lighting ceremony (that Preston kept missing) but all the neon lights are pretty cool at night.  Especially at Flo's V8 Cafe.

- See?

- our last day in the parks.  Diane waited in line for a Cars Fast Pass while the rest of us just waited in line.  It seemed that an inordinate number of rides kept breaking once Albert arrived.  Even the Radiator Springs Racers (which just opened 2 weeks before we were there) was down for about a half hour right as we arrived.  We unexpectedly wound up waiting about 3 hours.  Then when Diane's fast pass time came up we were able to get on within 5 or 10 minutes.

- Still early in the line

- looking impressive?

- Still waiting

- And FINALLY....

- After finally doing the Cars ride (which was pretty cool) we went back to Disneyland for the middle part of the day.  Here's Main Street, seen from the train station.

- There's JUST a few water fountains used in the World of Color show...

- Everybody was pooped, but Rigel & Preston stayed to close the park on the last night while everyone else went back to check out the motel pool.

- I'm not quite sure where this pose came from

- the kids checked out the chickens at Aunt Susan's

- everyone's hooked on electronics

- And then came lunch

- Andi and Cousin Sarah

- Opening birthday presents

- the audience

-Barb, Diane, and Carol

- Andi & Max

- Preston & Greg compared camera settings to see if we could get these fast cameras to slow down enough to generate a narrow depth of field (i.e. unfocused background).  Mission accomplished!

- Andi playing with Uncle Bill

- Rigel at Happy Hollow

- Feeding the goats at Happy Hollow

- Chillin at Happy Hollow

- After a weekend with the Dorfman clan, we headed out to Yosemite on our way home.  The Old Priest Grade was the nemesis of the family's old 1973 VW Camper and Phyllis's 1980's VW Jetta, but our Honda Ridgeline and Honda Pilot have had no issue charging right up the hill with air conditioning blasting.

- We stayed at Curry Village and had a nice mid-afternoon ice cream snack within sight of Half Dome

- the kids (Andi in the yellow) attended a very good Junior Ranger walk led by Ranger Shelton Johnson.  His presentation was done so well that Rigel still remembers that Granite is a plutonic igneous (fire in the underworld) rock.  Preston wrote a letter to the park superintendent noting that Ranger Johnson is a great "sesame street" ranger (entertaining both for the kids and adults).

- one of their tasks for the Junior Ranger program was to pick up a bag of trash.  With so many kids trying to get the badge, there's not much trash to be seen.

Which brings me to another point.  Given the limited lodging and parking in the Valley, even a peak day like the Fourth of July isn't terribly crowded.  It makes for a very nice visit at any time of year without sweating the crowds.

- Working on her Junior Ranger workbook while waiting for lunch

- - YES!  I MADE IT!  This is the well known kid's "slide" rock near the trailhead for the Lower Yosemite Falls trail

- another kid's butt polishing the rock a bit more

- Yosemite Falls with not so much water as the last time we were here

- playing in the water below Lower Yosemite Falls

- Ice Cream on the nose AND tongue

- Andi doing the dirty butt dance.  The video is MUCH more entertaining.  Preston's just HOPING that there's no pole in Andi's future...

- Glacier Point on the Fourth of July.  On the drive up, Andi fulfilled the "Cooper Road Trip Barfing Tradition" where at least one kid barfs once (and only once) during the trip. 

- Rigel at Glacier Point on the Fourth of July

- After Glacier Point we left the park via the Big Oak Flat road to visit the Pfeiffer Cabin a few miles outside of the park.  It turns out that it's mostly downhill from the Crane Flat gas station to a point near the cabin.  This is the highest mileage I can recall seeing on the Pilot (which averages about 22 mpg overall).  (Preston's note: on 8/5/12 Rigel and Preston returned from Breckenridge and filled up in Woodland Park; by the time we got to the Springs the mileage was reading at 77.8 mpg...)

- while there, the kids REALLY enjoyed tubing in the stream that runs near the cabin.

- Diane and Phyllis

- After leaving Yosemite, we enjoyed a drive across Nevada.  We did spend the morning in Yosemite before leaving, so we didn't get to Zion until after midnight.

- I'm not sure what I did to get this color of sky, but it sure looks cool.  I must have snapped it through the top of the windshield...

- While driving from Yosemite to Zion we stretched our legs at the Little A-le-inn in Rachel, Nevada (on the Extraterrestrial Highway)

- We have a similar picture of Rigel in this spot (he was 14 months)

- The next day we woke up, enjoyed breakfast at the Zion Ponderosa Ranch (a nice guest ranch establishment), and went into Zion for a few hours.  This picture was taken from the Weeping Rock.

- Then we went up to do the Riverside Walk at the Temple of Sinawava and hiked until the trail ended at the stream.  You can continue further upstream into the Narrows.  We didn't have time to, but were marveling at the people who pressed on ahead despite the warnings about flash floods if it rains upstream.  It was, of course, raining upstream.  By the time we left, we were soaked and there was a ranger hauling ass up the trail (presumably to tell the knuckleheads to get out while they still could).

- Riverside Walk

- More camera experimentation.  Regular exposure versus a longer exposure that softens up the flowing water.

- at the end of the trail, prior to the Narrows.

- After spending the morning at Zion we then started our drive to Breckenridge.  Just as the night before, we didn't get to our destination until after midnight.  The next day we attended an update presentation at the Grand Lodge (which helps pay the HOA fees...).

Despite being on the road together for 2.5 weeks, I don't think anybody was overly relieved to be home or sick of the company.  In all, lots of great memories were created.

- After spending a day at Breckenridge (pulling weeds, attending the update presentation, deep fertilizing tree roots, etc.), we returned to Colorado Springs.  Upon our return, we discovered a leaking pipe leading from the kitchen sink to the mechanical room.  Some black ABS pipe was getting odd fractures and one of these cracked all the way through.

The grey water (thank goodness it wasn't BLACK water) had dripped into some insulation and through the drywall ceiling of the mechanical room.  There was extensive black mold...

- So Preston contacted a builder that he'd contacted about doing some siding work at some point.  With the newfound plumbing crisis, he came out within a couple days and started doing demolition to address both the mold problem and the siding and in-wall water problem created when the box window was installed in 2006.

- all of this insulation was damp and there was more mold in some spots.

- while addressing the mold the contractor discovered that our main furnace makeup air vent was not vented to the outside.  Since the area above the ceiling was obviously frequented by mice this meant that our furnace was spewing air containing mouse poop vapors, dander, and insulation...

- and he also discovered that the downstairs bathroom fan was vented into the unfinished basement space rather than outside.  The problems just went on and on and on...  Most have been fixed by now.

- Rigel had one or two more t-ball games after we returned.  It rained for both of them, so here are the girls enjoying some umbrella time.

- Another big event for Black Forest is the demolition of the old fire station.  Preston and the other fire department board members realized over time that the old station was effectively worthless.  In deciding how to eliminate the ongoing expenses we negotiated with the Black Forest Community Club and Log School Association to come up with a wonderful solution.  The fire department paid for demolition of the building and will be reimbursed for the demolition through grants given to a new Park Foundation.  The Foundation will turn the old station site into a community park, nicely bringing together the Community Club and the Log School with a history themed park.

- On July 20th the family ventured down to Los Alamos (again arriving after midnight; it wasn't a good month for sticking to schedules) to help Erika and Bill cut down the trees at the site of their former cabin (lost to the Las Conchas fire last in July 2011). 

- Preston worked a big tree that rocked back onto his saw during the back cut.  This happens periodically and is generally no big deal.  But this was a BIG tree (24"+) and when measures were taken to finish dropping it, the tree tore down through the location where Preston's big saw was stuck.  This is the first bent blade that Preston's had in 25 years of cutting down trees.

- but the damage went much further, with the casing torn apart and the handle ripped off the saw.  This is one dead soldier, so if another tree cutting party is held this fall, Preston will be needing a new big saw.

- for the rest of the day Preston used Diane's little saw.  He could still cut down 18-24" trees, but it took a LOT longer (and required a lot more effort since it doesn't have bucking spikes or an aggressive cutting capability).

- since all the topsoil is coated with a fine ash, this was dirty work, but the kids helped along with everybody else.

- did I mention that it was dirty work?

- REALLY dirty work?

- the cousins did get a chance to play together.  Cousin Ethan just graduated from college and has been accepted into grad school this fall at UNM.

- Of course, Ethan didn't want to be left out.  He remembers this kind of thing happening 15-20 years ago and commented that "this just never gets old"

- afterwards we stripped the kids and put all the dirty clothes into a garbage bag.  It was a long day so Andi crashed on the way back in to Los Alamos...

6/16/17 - A Few More Pix

The last 6 weeks started off quietly, catching up on a lot of things that were neglected during ski season, but then things got crazy.

About 4 weeks ago Preston's mom was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia which has started filling her pleural space with fluid.  She's had 1-2 liters of fluid drained once of twice a week for a month now and has started chemotherapy.  She's reached the point where in-home care assistance isn't quite enough, so as a family we've agreed that assisted living is the way to go.  Unfortunately, New Mexico's Medicaid system doesn't pay for assisted living, so Lorna has moved to Colorado and plans to move into a brand new facility as soon as it opens in mid-July.

Last fall Preston had the pleasure of emptying and cleaning the fridge in Breckenridge when the GE control board crapped out and stopped running.  That food had been rotting for 1-4 weeks and it was a very unpleasant afternoon.

Yesterday Diane and Preston decided that our Black Forest fridge had stopped working on Thursday, so we threw out all the perishables and went fridge shopping.  We wound up deciding on a Samsung French Door fridge with a bottom freezer.  While Preston went straight to the fridge atop the Consumer Reports ratings, Diane headed for the fridges costing twice as much (with a number of spiffy features).  After selecting one of the fridges Diane wanted from Sears, we went to Lowes to take a look at another Samsung fridge that was #4 in the Consumer's rankings.  Though normally priced just under $3k, it was on sale for $2250 AND then you got another 10% off.  This fridge had the additional benefit of being immediately available, so after taking the kids home and making a quick dinner, Preston hooked up the trailer and ran back to Lowe's to pick up the new fridge.  We moved it into the house, unboxed it, hooked up the water, attached the handles, leveled it, and pulled off all the protective tape, finally getting to bed just after midnight. 

What a day.  Hopefully after dealing with 2 dead fridges in the past 9 months, we'll be able to go for a few years without dealing with any major appliances...

- on May 20th Preston went ballooning with Russ Robinson again.  It was a beautiful morning and great flights.

- Rigel and Preston have been practicing our archery the last couple of months.  Preston's getting better.  The attached is from 10 yards.  Now that we're sighted in, it's time to move back.

- Birdhouse construction.  The one on the right is a kit from Lowes.  The other 2 were both built from 30" cedar boards as prototypes for our final Cub Scout Tiger Cub Den meeting of the year.

- Andi and Coach Lee at her first T-Ball practice.  In June they were finally able to play some games and it's REALLY funny seeing 4 year olds play t-ball

- Preston's mom has moved to Colorado due to health issues and differences in Medicaid coverage.  After filing paperwork, Erika joined us for a short hike before heading back to New Mexico.

- Yes, Rigel's foot did get a bit wet.

- Panorama on the hike

- Towards the end of the season, they started offering picture packages that equated to $1 downloads of the ski area's professional pictures.  Preston created a couple of collages.  This one is the Preston collage.

- And this one is the family version.  Note that as a family (Diane, Preston, Rigel, Andi, and Richard) we were JUST shy of 1,000,000 vertical feet.  The number of days on the mountain and the pins are Preston's stats; the family actually skied on 118 different days.

- our goofy photo

- Preston and Rigel at Keystone

5/17/12 - April/May Update

And there goes another 2 months.  Whew.

- The pajama-wearing centurian spiderman circus guy

- Preparing with a purchase of railing, shelving, and staircase materials

- Rigel and Andi love a trike that was given to us

- In March Rigel had a couple Fridays off from school.  He and Preston went on the zoo's Safari Trail for the first time.

- In March, Rigel not only did his first double-blacks, but Andi also did her first blacks.

- We don't know HOW the toilet was missed, but after a while the scent wafted into the kitchen, causing Preston to go find the source....

- Rigel continued his love of Double Blacks with Preston's favorite slope name in Colorado

- Preston and Rigel also spent a day over at Keystone.  This is Rigel in the foreground with Breck in the background.

- A marvelous view of Lake Dillon

- Keystone always builds a snow fort at the top of the mountain for kids to play on.  This year it included a dragon entryway

- "I love mom and dad"

- Rigel on perhaps his first run off the Imperial Lift.  The highest lift-served terrain in North America

- Rigel skiing Contest Bowl (double black) with Ellie and Lee

- Before snowblower

- after snowblower

- Any questions?  This happened sometime in February or so.  I found the big black pieces immediately.  I didn't see the red handle and figured that it was fiberglass or something and had been thrown out into the yard.  A couple weeks later I saw something red wrapped around the driveshaft for the auger and mangled it even more getting it out.  The missing piece of black handle was found about a month ago out in the yard (30-40 feet away).

- Towards the end of March Albert and Hannah joined us.  Here Andi is displaying the Dorfman tongue concentration thing

- Rigel never really free skated, but seemed happy enough inside a walker.

- Rigel and Hannah reading

- playing with the snow

- This was the town's easter egg hunt

- the next day the ski area did one too.  The kids found few eggs until Preston figured out a good place to look.  There they found about 200 eggs that nobody had violated yet (teens were doing smash and grabs all over the green slopes looking for the paper prize certificates; they left broken eggs and candy littering the sides of the slopes).  Those 200 eggs represented about 2% of the 10,000 eggs that were reportedly put out that morning.

- Andi & bunny

- Looking longingly at their haul from the egg hunt

- April showers bring....

- Aurora was put up for adoption about a year ago.  We talked the adoption folks to kennel her starting in April.  Wouldn't you know it but she looks to be placed after only a month in their care.  With Aurora no longer being a passenger in the truck, Andi helped clean out the dog hair & dirt and such.

- Spring Tulips

- On another day off, Rigel and Preston did some things in the barn, including BB gun shooting

- and trying out our new bows

- While Diane went to California for our reunion, Rigel, Andi, and Preston got some skiing in for closing weekend.

- waiting for ice cream

- This year was NOT like the winter of 1898-9.  This is one of the driest years on record, with the least water content on record.

- Closing day itself.  This year the family (to include a couple days with Preston's dad) finished only 15,000 feet shy of 1 million vertical feet.  Preston skied on 44 different days and put in over 450,000 vertical feet.  The most in almost 30 years.  Perhaps the most ever, though the early 80's might have seen more days and more vertical feet.

- In early May, Preston's dad drove his VW bus up to road test it prior to taking it out through Utah and other such places.  He spent a weekend in the barn with Preston cutting the old workbench down to kid size

- and putting up posts, shelves, railings and balusters.

- the finished product

- the shelves / supplemental stair supports.  Pounding these posts into place really stiffened up the loft and eliminated an annoying rattle.

- On his way back to New Mexico, Preston's Dad had a mishap.  Fortunately he was just south of Colorado Springs when the wheel assembly (not rim, not tire) fell OFF the VW.  He rented a car and left it to be fixed, returning the following Thursday to fetch it.  He spent another weekend and worked in the barn again with Preston to put OSB up on the walls, build a new workbench, and install peg board.

- Meanwhile, Rigel continued shooting his bow.  He now takes out the worst shot and shoots again until they're all in the yellow.  Then he moves back.

- For Mother's Day we went to an expensive brunch at the Craftwood Inn.  This picture was done in the HDR mode so that the outside wasn't over exposed

- taken by our server

- Group hug!  This has quickly become one of my favorite pix.  It's in the top 20 for sure.

- Rigel, in the "finished" workshop, showing off a deer jaw bone that he found out in the yard.  The deer are being seen in the yard, now that we have no dogs around.

- Finally, our Tiger Cub Den Meeting in the backyard, practicing tent setup.

3/18/12 - March Update

Wow.  What a busy 6 weeks since the last update.  Here we go!

We've done a LOT of skiing this year.  This weekend is the first one we've spent in Colorado Springs since mid-December.  While the snow hasn't been the best, the skiing has still been a lot of fun.  Next weekend Preston will hit 30 "days" of skiing and the area just announced that it'll be open another 2 weekends.

- Diane and Rigel

- Again, but check out the look on Rigel's face

- Rigel saw some people posing like this and has been doing it ever since

- unfortunately, he's not COMPLETELY stable...

- Andi in her Bomber's class.

- Andi waiting for her Bomber's class to head up the mountain.

- We almost used this as our New Years Card photo, but didn't download it in time.  They lock the high res versions of the photos after 30 days to encourage you to buy (creating an artificial time pressure).  But a couple days ago they unlocked all the old photos AND offered a photo package.  20 downloads for $20 (as opposed to the regular price of $20 per photo).  Some of the photos have been very good, so we're pleased to be able to go back and download a lot of good stuff.

- The kids went to a birthday party this past month, and here's the cabal of little girls that love spending time together.

- Meanwhile, here's Rigel playing at that party.

- Grandpa came up to Breck for some skiing over President's Day.

- That same weekend, Andi wanted to learn how to make pancakes.  She mixed, poured, and flipped.  Here Grandpa is explaining how the bubbling on top of the pancake indicates its readiness to be flipped.

- Grandpa came up with a couple of friends, whose vehicle couldn't make it up the driveway due to the season's worth of snow that had been packed down.  So, the 70-somethings both got out there and shoveled and scraped their way down to the pavement.  They cleared the top half of the driveway and by that afternoon it was bone dry.

- The next week was warm.  Andi and Preston came up on Friday to clear away any snowfall and spent some time popping up and shoveling the rest of the driveway.  By the next day, it was completely clear.

- Last Fall Rigel's eye doc decided that Rigel might want to start wearing glasses in class.  One eye is slightly worse than the other and she's concerned that his brain might start ignoring the bad eye.  He resisted initially, but at a follow up visit we decided that it was time to act.  Rigel got these glasses and doesn't seem to mind wearing them now (though he denies that he sees any better with them).

- Bombers ended in March.  During the second-to-last class we were a bit rushed in the morning.  If you look closely, you'll notice that Rigels boots are on the wrong feet.  This picture was taken at the end of the day and Rigel's instructor was amazed because they'd spent the day running moguls and Rigel did great.

- Diane and Preston during Bombers.

- Andromeda made great progress this year.  She started out needing a leash on green runs.  By the end of the classes she's now doing blues without any issues AND is starting to ask if she can try the moguls.

- Another beautiful blue-sky day in Colorado

- Last day of Bombers.  They ran a little slalom race for the class and Andi was the fastest of her group (because she didn't fall)

- Andi's class with Ripperoo

- That weekend we had friends up and enjoyed a quick snack at One Ski Hill Place

- Andi deep in coversation with Uncle Lee

- The little girls loved getting dressed up

- Everyone waiting to run the Dragon Trail

- March 4th was Rigel's first time down a Double Black.  He was excited and handled it well.

- Here he is on Mach 1 - by the time he got to the bottom he was in good shape and excited to do it again (which we did).

- After skiing came swimming and some reading at the Grand Lodge

- The next day Preston stayed over and went for his annual trip to Vail with his 81 year old Scoutmaster, Mr Mader.  Preston realized that he's been chasing him down the mountains on skis for about 35 years now.

- Preston getting off of Earl's lift.  Mr Mader took one run off in the morning and another in the afternoon.  While he's been skiing 8,000-12,000 vertical feet per day, this day was Mr Mader's all time high in EpicMix with 24,000 vertical feet.  (it was also Preston's EpicMix high with 27,000 vertical feet).

- We had lunch at Vail's newest restaurant: The 10th.  This provides a nice new sit-down venue for dining at Mid-Vail and is surprisingly affordable by ski area standards (the Epic Burger might cost $15 at a nearby cafeteria, but a very tasty french dip "only" cost $18 in a very nice establishment).

- The following weekend we went skiing again with guests and Rigel wanted to try another double-black that Uncle Lee had mentioned.  Here's Rigel at the top of Inferno.

- And again, panoramically.  Rigel enjoyed this run also and wanted to do it again as soon as we got to the bottom (we didn't, due to the lateness of the hour).

- We took Sunday off from skiing and went snowshoeing out to the picnic table withour guests.

- When we got back to the house, Rigel went over to say hi to Aurora.  We're still amazed that the dog hasn't just walked over the fence.

- The following Monday, Preston and John Wilson again went skiing with Mr Mader on what was definitely his last ski day of the 11/12 season.  It MAY also be his last day of skiing after 55 years of doing it.  This was one of those particularly good EpicMix photos that may just get printed to canvas and hung on a wall somewhere.

- There are still a couple of old lifts at Beaver Creek.  On these lift rides, Mr Mader prefers to ride alone so that he can put his feet up.

- Mid-morning break (after John and Preston did a bump run called Screech Owl on Grouse Mountain)

- A late lunch at the Arrowhead base

- Emma Jean and Charles Mader - rather than skiing another 24,000 vertical feet, Mr. Mader called it quits at lunch after 18,000 feet (putting him over 450,000 vertical feet for the year and 750,000 vertical feet for the past 2 seasons).  Preston his another EpicMix high of 32,000 vertical on this day and went over 300,000 for the season.  (given the extended season Preston may very well hit 400,000 vertical this season; now that the kids are skiing more stongly, 450,000 or 500,000 are theoretically possible, but not very likely unless Preston has a couple more solo ski days).

- Yesterday was the Pack 85 Pinewood Derby.  It was Rigel's first, and the first one Preston had participated in since 1974 or so.  Here are the 2 Tiger Cub dens.

- The Pack is only a couple years old and just bought a nice shiny new aluminum track with timer system and software.  All of these worked quite well.

- Here are the pack's derby cars.  Rigel's is in the front row, 2nd from front.  It's a police car that's painted somewhat like the General Lee.  Uncle Stephen sent Preston a Pinewood Derby Speed Secrets book for Christmas and it proved invaluable.  Preston didn't remember anything of the derby, so having a book to walk you through the steps in building a car was great. 

One of the best hints in the book is to build 2 cars.  Dad builds his car and shows son how to do each step to the son's car.  So, Rigel actually built most of his car, with assistance and guidance from Preston.  Preston's car was raced in a parents & siblings race afterwards.

- Preston warned Rigel not to get too upset if he didn't win.  Some parents will build the kid's car and put in a LOT of time, so he shouldn't expect to be the fasted.  Preston was actually hoping that Rigel would come in a close 2nd so that he'd do well but not actually win, because this is a lesson that Rigel needs to learn (how not to pout and scream and cry and get upset).

Unfortunately, Rigel took first place for the combined Tiger dens, which means that his car can go on to District races.  He is excited though!  His car did NOT place in the top 3 in the pack, so he's not likely to go from District to Council.  But the important thing is that we got to spend a lot of time together and he got exposed to woodworking (band saw, belt sander, drill press, sandpaper, priming, painting, lubrication, etc.) 

- Pack 85 (before the awards ceremony).

2/7/12 - More skiing

- This weekend we had Lee and the kids over.  While the kids were in ski school, the three adults went on a tear, skiing blacks and double-blacks all day.  The morning started out below 10 degrees, but there was NO wind (which is quite unusual) so it was a very pleasant morning. 

We got high up on the mountain via the T-Bar, Lift 6, and the newly opened Imperial Express lift which goes to nearly 13,000 feet.  The snow and views were fabulous up there.  We went over towards Peak 7 and skied down Vertigo / Whales Tail, where the snow was soft with good coverage.  But additional snow is definitely needed to cover all the rock outcroppings. 

- We had lunch at the Vista Haus with Rigel's ski school; after picking Rigel up, we finished up the scavenger hunt that his class worked on.  His instructor had buried a ziploc baggie with a handful of Jolly Ranchers under this sign.  In the end, Preston wound up with a season high day of nearly 22,000 vertical feet.

- On Sunday, Diane and Rigel went back to Colorado Springs for the Phineas & Ferb show while Preston and Andi went skiing.  We hooked up with Lee and Laena for a few runs on the Dragon Trail, then did a few more runs before heading over to Peak 9 for a series of runs on Ripperoo's Enchanted Forest and Ripperoo's Haunted Forest.  Aside from a quick lunch break, Andi skied for 5-6 hours, then went home to play on the computer, ignore her dinner, and fall asleep on Preston while watching the Super Bowl.

So, while Rigel had his father-son day skiing blacks on MLK day, Andi had just as exciting a daddy-daughter day making her first runs down all these kids adventure zone trails.  She skied almost 7000 vertical feet and approximately 10 miles.

- At the beginning of the Dragon Trail.  Unfortunately, Preston's big mittens obscured the lens.  He took a long video (freezing his hand) that mysteriously failed to appear on the phone afterwards.

2/1/12 - January Update

- Preston updating the Pack on the activities of the Tiger Cub dens

- Cubmaster Bruce presenting Rigel and some of his fellows with their Tiger Cub rank

- Andi engrossed in watching a Blues Clues video on mommy's tablet

- Andi decided that she wanted to go outside and shovel, so she and daddy went out and cleared the snow off the patio

- grin

- meanwhile, Rigel was making paper airplanes from his airplane-a-day calendar

- On January 16th (MLK Day) the snow was finally good enough that Preston was ready to try Rigel out on his first black diamond run.  Preston picked a groomed black so that Rigel could try out something steeper, but he really wanted to do the bumps and sought them out on each of the 4 blacks we skied that day.  At his age (7 1/2) Preston hadn't even started skiing.

- Rigel's Bombers class tried out a small terrain park

- Meanwhile Andi has learned to snowplow and link turns without her edgie-wedgie.

- Diane and Rigel having fun

- Preston and Rigel having fun too, but the tongue threw Rigel off balance and...

- ... this was the result

- Preston's been staying up in Breck an extra day or two to get some work done.  Returning home one day he left Breck in the snow, came across Park county in sunshine, and then hit a fogbank at Wilkerson Pass.

- This past weekend Rigel collided with a snowboarder, cutting up his goggles and banging up his face.  The day of the accident it looked a bit puffy but...

- ... the next day it didn't look so good.

- this was the same day and didn't look so bad

- We went down to the International Snow Sculpture Championships again this year.  This was Andi looking through an ice castle

- the actual snow sculptures were cool again this year.  Having seen nighttime pictures of them, I think it's probably better to go at night.  With multiple sources of light, I can see the relief a lot better

1/9/12 - Barn Work & a Ski Weekend

After we all returned to Colorado Springs on New Year's Day, Greg & Preston spent Monday, 1/2/12 installing the barn stairs that Preston had built in 2007.

Note that we've started a new page because the hundreds of pictures on the old page took a long time to load.  The old page is now under the "Rigel and Andi through 2011" page.

- Upstairs in the barn, checking out the project area

- Greg starting out with a cut to remove the decking.  Note the nice sunshine & snow.

- minus the decking

- testing the lift system

- with the joists cut (the cut ends are supported by the plywood decking above)

- and by the time we cut out the decking and joist (and doubled up the outside joist) it was now dark.

- by the time we started boxing in the ends and supporting the joist ends, the temp has dropped enough to warrant sweatshirts.

- the completed framing

- the lift system.  A 2:1 block & tackle hung from a roof truss, with a 4x4 providing additional support between the roof truss and new floor joists.

- The nylon rope stretched and wrapping it around Preston to make the lift implied that the stairs were well over 500#.

- using 4x4 bracing to provide supplemental support while fine tuning

- using Preston, a fixed post, and a 4x4 to provide almost another 2:1 mechanical advantage.  It's now about 9 pm and the patio heater in the background helped keep working temps pleasant.

- the finished stair install.  Posts will come "soon" (perhaps this winter; maybe not until summer when Jack visits in August?).

- despite having designed the implementation and purchased the components 3-4 years ago, the design was sound and all the needed parts were available.  Not THAT is quality planning.  Thank goodness for finally

- Andi, Aunt Barb, & Rigel

- plus Uncle Greg

On 1/7/12 we went up for our first dedicated ski weekend of the season.  Rigel and Andromeda started their 2012 Bombers class and over Saturday night we got a half foot of snow that made for nice skiing on Sunday, though we still have exposed rocks on runs without manmade snow (and the expert runs are still not open).

- Rigel's class (Rigel in red).  His instructor said he's doing really well and is bringing up the rear, hollering out when anybody in front of him crashes.  He did get lost once during the first day (he didn't stop and wait for everybody else), but his instructor called in a lost student, he was found at a chairlift nearby, and met by somebody else from the ski school who escorted him to his class.

- Andi and Diane at her class dropoff.  She got a new instructor by the end of the day, and that's who she'll stay with for the remainder of the time.

  - this is about one third of one half of the parents, kids, and instructors who are involved with the Breckenridge Bombers program.

- Enjoying some runs without the kiddies

- We did take a run looking for the kids' classes.  While on a green run, we found that the EpicMix photo guys also do Action Shots.  It was pretty chilly and a couple runs later Preston wound up catching an edge on something a lot steeper and wound up landing harder than he has in years.  The shoulder is pretty painful right now.

- After a day of ski class, Andi came home, curled up on the couch, and slept for the next 12 hours.

- With Ripperoo on Sunday afternoon.