A Not So White Christmas

This year we spent Christmas in Utah with my family. To save room in the suitcases Jake and I exchanged gifts before we left. It was kinda fun to spread out the holiday fun over multiple days. Once we got to UT it was great to see some friends we haven't seen in a while as well as all the fam. Jess was even able to make it in from Alaska (not without a little adventure of course).

It wouldn't be a holiday trip to Utah without what has become our traditional get-together with our friends from college. As usual this involved plenty of drinking, lots of snacks, tons of pictures and a few games played. This year we invaded Kevin's parents house in Kaysville and it a blast.

Somewhere along the line we got off track with the Leystra's on the holiday switching, and this year was a Jenkel Christmas. So we had our festivities on Christmas Eve. There was a ton of delicious food and lots of laughs throughout the evening. After dinner we did the gifts and Xavier and Maizey loved showing off their new stuff.

Bry even got in the festive spirit...

One of the highlights was after the gifts were finished the kids wanted to get an update of Santa's progress. So Mike got out the smartphone and found the Santa tracker. In a vague motion he pointed to the screen and said "there he is, on his way but he can't come until you are in bed". This prompted two very different reactions - Xavier went into hyper drive that everyone needed to clean up so he could go to be. On the other hand, Maizey ran to the kitchen practically in tears to tell Leisl that she wanted to go to bed right then. Jess tried to console her by saying Santa wouldn't come until she was in bed, at that moment the doorbell rang (neighbors bringing treats) and this induced full blown hysterics from Maizey. It was the saddest/funniest thing ever! After much more consoling and her basically kicking everyone out she finally got to bed and we all went home. It was a great night full of fun, laughter and most importantly family.

Christmas day started in typical fashion, with me waking Jess up and her complaining that it was too early. We had a the traditional coffee cake breakfast and then did stockings and the few gifts that we didn't do the night before. Then came the entertainment for the morning with Jess and I performing a little Christmas karaoke. We have video, but I will spare everyones ears and not post it. But I am sure you can imagine how horrible it sounded!! After the laughter stopped we had to get ready to go over to dad's house. I was glad we were able to visit that day because he got terribly sick the day after Christmas so we had to cancel our dinner plans. It was another wonderful Christmas day, even if there was no fresh snow.

The day after Christmas Jess, Sis and I met up with our friend Jess Montgomery who was in town from ID. It was fun to catch up since we have not seen each other in a very long time. That night since dad was sick we all just hung out at mom's house and snacked and chatted. We even managed to get another good sibling pic!

We had one last lunch with everyone before we were back to the airport and heading home. It was a good trip and we enjoyed seeing friends and family.

Very Thankful

This year was a California Thanksgiving. Jake got home from island the Tuesday before and we packed up the car and headed south the next morning. Thanks to a bunch of snow we had to take the long way, but since Jake had been gone for 3+ weeks I didn't mind having a little more time to catch up. Our first night was pretty low key, just enjoyed some dinner and caught up with the fam. Thanksgiving day was great. Grandma Jeanne was able to be up in Alturas with us and Zeke, Catherine and their boys joined in the fun as well. There was plenty of delicious food and it was wonderful to be with family.

On "black friday" we decided to take the little boys sledding. I had not played in the snow or gone sledding in many years and forgot how much of a workout it is hiking up the hill in all those winter clothes! But it was so much fun!! There were many times up and down the hill and many crashes along the way too. What a blast!

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing, playing games, watching movies and just enjoying time spent with family.  It was a very nice weekend and a great way to spend the holiday.I am so thankful to have a fantastic husband and such loving family on both sides. Love you all.

Bonham Ranch, Smoke Creek Desert, Nevada

Last weekend we made a trip down to Alturas to see the Bonhams. The main reason for the trip was to go out to the ranch in the desert of Nevada. Jake had not been out there for about 12 years and this was going to be my first time to see it. I was really looking forward to seeing it and hearing more stories about life on the desert. Saturday started early with Jake and Ethan going down to Susanville to pick up Grandpa Bonham. Meanwhile Jerry, LaDel, Zeke and I finished getting ready and headed down to meet them at the turnoff to Wendel. Along the drive out to the ranch we passed the site of the old town of Flannigan where both Grandpa and Jerry attended grade school in a one room school house. When we got to the ranch area the first stop we made was at one of the natural artesian springs, where Grandpa filled up his water jugs with "good water". To many people this sulfur flavored water would not be ideal, but when it was all you knew for most of your life I suppose it would be good.

This ranch was in the Bonham family for about a hundred years and served as a stage stop with a hotel, a cattle operation and the home to 4 generations of Bonhams through the years. It was fascinating to hear the stories and try to imagine how it must have looked back then.

The original house that at one time was part of the stage stop. 

Ethan, Jake, Jack and Jerry checking out Round Hole, a circular pond that is fed by natural springs from underground.

 

The chicken coope and pig pen on the left. View to the east.

 

 Jerry, Ethan and Jake in front of the bunk house. Jerry was telling us about how he used the side of the building as a backstop for playing baseball and field goal posts for football, when he was a kid.

 

 Grandpa Jack loves getting out of the house and out to visit the old ranch site.

It was a beautiful day to be outside and I greatly enjoyed my first trip out there.

Race for the Cure 2010

Last weekend Jake and I tied on our running shoes and headed downtown to run in the Portland Race for the Cure! Gerber was sponsoring a team for employees and family and we decided to join in the fun. We were a little nervous that we would get rained on since it was POURING on Saturday night. But when the alarm went off at 5:30 on Sunday it had stopped and thankfully held out until we were getting on the train to come home after everything was over. We were both super excited about our times - I got a personal best at 25:36 and Jake did too (even though this was his first real race!) at 22:34!! After the run we walked around the booths that were set up and then headed to the meeting spot to find the Gerber team. At the end of the day we ended up running one 5K and walking another! Plenty of exercise for that early on a Sunday morning!

Jake wearing pink had to be documented!

There were In Memory Of signs to wear so of course I had to dedicate this one to Tutu!

It was a good day for a run and a great cause.

Story of my life....

I am playing catch-up. Thankfully I have good reason to be slacking because we have been enjoying summer and doing fun things.

Way back at the end of July we headed down south to see Jake's family for a weekend. It was a good trip and we are used to the drive now so it goes by pretty quick. While we were there we enjoyed an afternoon at West Valley Reservoir. It was gorgeous weather and perfect for a day by the water.
















The next day we went down to Susanville to visit the Bonham grandparents and had lunch with Grandma Jeanne. It was great to be able to spend time with them and just visit. It was a quick visit and we headed home the next day.

Last weekend we decided to hit the water again and went down to the Tualatin River and rented a kayak for a few hours. I had not ever been in a kayak before so I was just learning the paddling and trying to not get myself soaked or flip the thing over!! It turned out to be an awesome day. We got into a very good rhythm going up river. Found a spot to stop and eat some lunch. Then enjoyed a slow coast back to the rental spot. We saw a bunch of ducks, some geese and even a few Great Blue Heron. It was a ton of fun and I hope we can get in another trip before the summer is over.


And to get all the way caught up, yesterday we kept up the water theme and took a trip out to the coast to Cannon Beach. The weatherman said it was supposed to be in the 80's and sunny out there. Sadly weathermen don't know what they are talking about most of the time. Turns out it was foggy and only in the high 60's or so. But that did not stop us! We headed down to the beach and enjoyed just laying down and relaxing for a few hours. After a walk down the beach we headed back to the car and into town. A stop at the candy shop for a dessert to go and then dinner. After dinner we went back down to the beach for a little walk. At the time the tide was heading out and you could practically walk all the way out to Haystack rock. A little more walking on the beach and it was time to head home.

It has been great to have Jake home to go do fun things with this summer. He is getting ready to leave this week for Alaska for a couple weeks though. But I can't complain since he has been home a lot more this year.

It's me again!

That's right, Jake. Somehow I have successfully avoided writing a blog entry for quite some time now. However, I could not stay away. I write this under my own free will, with no coercing needed from the lovely wife. In fact, she is unaware of my blog takeover and most likely will not find out I posted for several days (insert maniacal laugh). Thankfully, Kari has kept the blog going in my absence and hopefully you all (yes you, the three people who read our blog) enjoy the updates we share. Now, on to the business at hand....an update!

Somewhere between our last post and now I came back from San Nicolas island, that was good. A rather short tour this time of only a couple weeks, with two days of meetings in Santa Cruz, CA on the end. The island was pretty much the same, still had island fox, thousands of seals, and nesting seabirds. I did have some nice Nat. Geo. moments that put things into perspective, reminding me how special it is to have a job that allows you witness nature up close and in the raw. Check out the slide-show on the right for new pics. By the way, speaking of SC, if you are ever in town check out Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing, Wednesdays are $6 liters! So that makes me home now for a few weeks. I took some time off right after coming home to feed the fishing addiction. Explored some new rivers I hadn't fished before and made the best of high temperatures and low water conditions. No catches to write home about, but just being on the rivers was really all I needed. After my time off, we cruised down to Nor Cal for a short visit with the Bonham clan. Our little nephew Tristan isn't so little anymore and just celebrated his first birthday. My brothers are both fighting fire for the BLM and we luckily caught them for a day at the lake just before a huge lightening bust that has had them slammed since. Visited the parents, traveled to Susanville to see the Grandparents, and back to Portland all in a long weekend...time well spent!

As for work, next stop Alaska. More info to follow.

Happy 4th!

Jake was out on island again this fourth of July, so Sandy and I headed downtown to enjoy the festivities. The Blues Fest was going on at the waterfront, however when we got there it was at capacity so they closed the entrance. Instead, we watched a little break-dancing and did a lot of people watching. Mel and her friends John and Chris met up with us as well.

I love watching fireworks and think that more holidays should include this little treat. Sadly my camera revolted against me and made all the firework pictures look kinda strange. But that is all I have to work with so here it goes.





During this holiday I am reminded of how lucky I am to live in America and how grateful I am for those who continue to serve to protect all that we have here.

Two Years and Counting

Another anniversary has come and gone. We seem to have a theme of water going now... married at a lake, first anniversary at the ocean and we continued this by heading to the John Day River for a little get-a-way this year.

On the drive out we came across a wind farm and it was incredible to see how many huge windmills were out there!


One of the big attractions we planned to see were the John Day Fossil Beds. There are three separate sites and the first one we saw was the Clarno unit. The Palisades rock formations were awesome. These were formed by volcanic mudflow that coated and preserved leaves, trees and everything else in its path.

This was one of my favorite spots... Do you see the face?


In typical fashion, we set up camp in the rain the first day. Thankfully it stopped not too long after we finished and we were able to have a fire after dinner. Of course you are not really camping without s'mores!









































The next day the weather was gorgeous. We headed into the town of Fossil and saw the super cute court house building that was built back in 1898!


That night we stayed in the town of Spray in a little bungalow right down by the river and had a great view from the back yard.


The next day we visited the Sheep Rock unit of the fossil beds. Very neat looking green rock formations.
























We also stopped by the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center to enjoy some air conditioning and learn a little more about the processes that created all of these fossil beds. The Cant Ranch Museum was our next stop. It was interesting to see a little bit of how life was for the first settlers in this area. This was our actual anniversary day and we had a lovely dinner at the little
(and only) cafe in Spray.

The next day was spent just enjoying the river. Jake got to do some fishing while I enjoyed reading my book and relaxing in the sun. We camped that night in Spray and got to see a beautiful sunset.


















Our last stop before heading home was the Painted Hills unit of the fossil beds.


















It was a wonderful trip and I was sad to be going home. Jake did all the work and planned everything so all I did was get in the car and enjoy. I have such a great husband and had a great anniversary!!

Finally Some Sun

I have become horrible about blogging as events happen, which has lead me to my new goal of staying up to date. We will see how long this lasts! First I have to catch up though.

Jake and I had a couple fun adventures this month when the rain finally stopped:
We visited Hagg Lake for a little walk on the trail around the lake and enjoyed the beautiful weather.


Next up was a hike in the Mt. Hood Wilderness on the Elk Cove trail. It was a great day...


Until we came to this...


The trail disappeared but we kept trekking (Jake more willingly than I). We then realized that the trail was going to cross the creek and obviously there was no less snow on that side! So the hike ended up being a little shorter than planned, but still a great day.

Where Did May Go??

Somehow it has been a month and a half since the last post. We have been pretty busy and it sure did go by fast.

I was in UT near the end of April for my mom's birthday. It was a quick weekend visit but it was fun and Jess came out as well so it we were making the rounds to see everyone. It was great to see family and we even managed to get a dinner in with Sara and Michelle. The next week was Xavier's birthday, so we had a joint party for him and mom and the fam headed to the bowling alley. It was the first time Xavier and Maisey had bowled and they had a blast.

















I was on my way to Cincinnati after the visit in UT. I have been very lucky and able to stretch my working from home arrangement for over a year but it is now coming to an end. This trip was to begin training the ladies who would be taking over everything I do. Worst case scenario I will be employed through the end of July so I will enjoy it while it lasts.

After I got back we met up with the Parkers to visit Silver Falls State Park. It was a great day to be out and about. We did a 5 mile loop hike and got to see 7 of the 10 waterfalls. The Parkers little girl Emma took a liking to me and we were buddies through the whole hike.























Later that week Jake left for CA to visit his family and go on a fishing trip with his dad, brothers and grandpa. It was great that they could get 3 generations of Bonham boys together for an afternoon out on the water.


While Jake was in CA, mom came up to Oregon to spend Mother's Day weekend. We had a good time checking out the Beaverton farmer's market that is about a mile from our house and taking a walk on the trail at a nearby park. It was a gorgeous weekend and nice to relax and hang out with mom.

Because I just can't get enough of it, I was back to Cincinnati the next week for our annual HR meeting. It was nice to see all the other managers from our facilities one more time before my time is up.

In celebration of Armed Forces Day we went south to Sutherlin to enjoy a BBQ at the Parkers house. Trevor and his wife Erin and Wes and Sandy came out for the celebration as well. There was tons of delicious food and good times breaking in the fire pit in their backyard. It is a few hours from home so everybody spent the night there and the next day we headed up to Blacktail Ridge and walked along the trail through some lovely rolling green hills.


That pretty much sums up the last month. I can say I am definitely ready for summer to be here and get rid of this rain that seems to be non-stop. Then I remember where we live and just put on the rain coat and move on. Here's to hoping for some sunshine!