Battery Life

OK, so sometimes do you guys feel like your nothing more than a rechargeable battery? I do. My energy levels were running low... very low last week and I needed a recharge. Problem was that it started raining and snowing this past weekend. It wasn't going to be enough rain to bring much water to the dry riverbeds and since there wasn't a base of snow to support the new snow I wasn't sure what to do. I called a friend living near Lake Tahoe and he suggested we just give the snow a chance.

So I left the house at 6:00am for the drive up to Truckee and Greg's home. So I have to say right now that Lora and I knew we were lucky to live in Salt Lake City, being so close to the mountains. I love California for many reasons but the driving times to go skiing are a bit much. For most of the trip it was dumping snow which meant 30mph on the freeway all the way to Lake Tahoe.

BUT IT WAS SO WORTH IT! After skinning up a mtn near the Mt. Rose ski area I quickly realized that California has snow... really good snow. It was white-out conditions, 14 degrees, and waist deep fluffy powder! Turns out we got lucky. Greg and I made three runs down a beautiful bowl making choking turns. Faceshot after faceshot were had by both of us. It was hard to smile because I was choking but at the bottom of each run we were beaming and high-fiving.

So now I'm home, batteries recharged, ready for what life brings us. Lora is doing well, but is in a lot of discomfort. We visited the doctor yesterday and she informed us that Lora was dilated to 2cm. The baby is sitting extremely low and will probably not drop any lower... that is until D-Day. We'll keep you posted.

Tim

Thanksgiving

My step-father Norman turned 70 the day before Thanksgiving, giving the family an excuse to all get together for the long-weekend. We haven't been together in one place for years. So it was great spending the weekend together in Weaverville.

The whole gang, minus my niece Kim who couldn't get off work.

We spent the weekend eating, playing games

and general horsing around.

Point Reyes Weekend

Lora has been staying in Berkley working out of a lab at UC Berkley. She has been staying with her sister and brother-in-law, Karen and Kevin. She's getting a lot done with her plant samples that she sent herself from Australia. Of course this means that she is in the Bay area and I'm still in Sacramento. So for this weekend we decided to go camping out at Point Reyes National Park. Lora spent some time in this area quite a few years back working at a research station on the coast, but I had never been out here.

Lora hiking down to the lighthouse at Pt. Reyes. You can really see how pregnant she is right now. 35+ weeks! Not far off now!

We loaded up the van and headed west for an evening of camping, using Gumby of course! Nothing really exciting but it was really great to just get away together and hang out. We cooked some dinner and watched a movie inside the cozy van.

Sunday had us hiking down to the lighthouse where we took a short hike. Lora is so strong. She gets winded a bit quicker but she doesn't seem to let the extra load slow her down.

Just a blurry photo of Gumby and the campspot in the redwoods.

Thanksgiving up in Weaverville with Shirley and Norm. Happy Birthday Norm! Then the following weekend down to Campbell to hang out with Jim and Pat. Busy upcoming two weeks.

We get back from Australia and there's been a population explosion with our family of friends! 9 new kiddies including the two preggos and one not pictured (William).

New Orleans, Shrimp Po-Boys, and Family

Lora, Frank and I drove down to New Orleans to see my grandparents. It was good to see them since we had not seen them in over two years. Papa Frank is 94 and seems to be doing well. Mama Cherry looks like her usual self with her red hair, albeit with a little hearing loss. We had lunch at a really nice Italian restaurant with plenty of yelling across the table.

We then went down to the French Quarter for a drink at Pat O'Briens out on the sunny patio. Ahhh, Nawlins'!


Here's a photo dad shot of Lora and I in the middle of Jackson Square. We debated the significance of the horse's two front feet being off the ground. It's supposed to symbolize that he died in battle... he didn't. Geeky stuff sorry.

I'm sick now with a cold so I'm trying to just relax and get healthy before work starts back up. Today for instance I relaxed by looking at breast pumps with my lovely wife and mother. Exciting stuff!

We are in Mississippi

Well, as hard as it is for me to admit I'm currently in Mississippi visiting with my family. Lora is here too of course. It's a Louisiana thing!

The most recent family photo.

Waiting to get seated outside the Jackson Crackerbarrel. A southern tradition.

It was absolutely fantastic to see my sister, Kimberly, and her two adorable girls. Both Lora and I missed them both a ton. Boy have they grown! It was also great to meet Mark for the first time.

John seems to be doing well. It's been two and a half years since I've seen my brother. He looks great. I'm not sure we'll be able to get a round of golf in this trip but hopefully in April when we return with our new addition.

Until the next post YA'LL BE GOOD NOW!

Two blog posts in the same day? What's up with Tim and Lora?

Lora and I went to Salt Lake City to see our friends Mike and Vicki get married... in an airplane hanger. With the multi-million dollar Lear Jet I felt like I was an extra in a rap video. This was the back-up plan in case of snow. Well, it snowed. The hanger actually worked really nice. Everyone had a great time. It was super fun getting to catch up with some old friends.


While we were there Nicole took some photos of Lora all pregnant and all. I know Sylvia has been hounding us to put some photos up on our blog. Well, here you go Sylvia.


Doesn't she look great? Nicole and Paul are great photographers too. You can check out their websites at the following sites.

http://www.nicolemorgenthau.com/
http://www.richerimages.com/main.php

Another story of Upper Cherry Creek from KayakSessions magazine

Check it out for some photos you have and haven't yet seen. The story is pretty good too. It was just "published" online today.

http://www.kayaksession.com/kayak-yosemite.php

Tim

J and J wedding

Hello everyone, we know we have been very bad with updating our blog. I am getting settled in here at g-mas house. My days are busy working from home, but I still wish I got more done. My belly is growing well and we are getting excited for the big day, which is now Christmas since I crossed the international date line. Sorry Silvia, we still don't have a picture of me looking preggers.

Last weekend we went to Jason and Jessica's wedding reception.




We had a great time. Good food, dancing, catching up with friends and flying pumpkins.


Here is the trebuchet that Jason's brother, Nate, built and supplied endless entertainment as he launched pumpkins great distances.

It was great catching up with Jason, Jessica, Michele, Ben and Jessamyn.

On Sunday we drove to Pacifica where Tim finally got some airtime. He has been trying for the last couple of weekends to get in the air, but the wind has been a bit cross. You can imagine how happy he was to get a 30 min flight in. We finished the weekend with a delicious dinner with Karen, Kevin, Laura, Ara and STINKY. He is still the best cat on the planet and very well loved.

I know, I know... How are we supposed to keep you coming back if we don't put up any new content?

Just a short hello from Sacramento. Things are going well here. Lora is back in the States and looking great. Work for me is fun at times and stressful at other times. We haven't really been up to much action. We've just been hanging out with our friends, family, and of course each other.

Future plans include a trip to New Orleans/Jackson to see family and then squeeze out a baby in December at some time. Feel free to send us an e-mail or a phone call.

Don't worry! Lora and I are still going to be posting to the blog.

Tim

The joys of playing in the mountains

OK so the title of this post basically is an effort by me to explain to you the reader how much my life has been a living hell since returning from the Middle Kings kayak expedition three weeks ago. On the last two days (days 6 and 7) I had to do some walking through poison oak. I've never really had to deal with poison oak more than just a bit no larger than a quarter. Well, I ended up getting it REALLY badly all over my arse! It was a really bad case. So bad that I couldn't even really sit down. I'll spare you the drippy, oozing details. It's finally receding and I can sit without wincing.

Chad with our route up Temple Crag right next to him.

Last week I decided to go climbing in the Sierra Nevada Mtns with a kayaking buddy. Chad is a great boater and like me he enjoys scaring himself on the side of a mountain. We decided to climb an absolute classic, Temple Crag.

Me at the base of the route. It ended up being nine pitches.

Chad snapped this photo of me on lead on one of the loose pitches.

It was a good trip but my poison oak condition made the 6 mile hike in and the climb a rather painful experience. I ended up having a fever due to the P.O. You can see in the photo below me on the approach at 4:00am needing to take a nap due to the fever. It really hit me hard. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that we had to do this car to car because we couldn't get a wilderness permit due to the hiker quota.

I need a pillow... and some Tylenol!

Chad on the summit with the Palisades in the background.

All in all it took us about 14 hours. I think I would have enjoyed it a bit more if I hadn't have been sick. It sure was great getting back into the mountains on some good rock though. Chad and I have plans to do some more so stay tuned.