Thanksgiving fun

Rina and I somehow managed to avoid the crowds and delays on our trip to Georgia and South Carolina over the Thanksgiving holiday to see friends and family. It was pretty smooth sailing all the way despite having to go through Las Vegas to get from one major Delta hub to another.

We arrived in Atlanta late on Tuesday and stayed with friends from medical school, Brent and Michele. Their son, Ethan, guided us up the Georgia landmark Stone Mountain the following day and on Thanksgiving we drove on to Fairfax, SC to spend the holiday with Rina's dad and her sister, Donna. It was a short holiday visit but really nice to see our friends and family.


Ethan strikes a pose at Stone Mountain.


Rina, Ethan and Rob at Stone Mountain.


Rina's sister Donna, Rina's dad and Rina at the Hooper homestead in South Carolina.

Seven Random Things

For the love. . .

Well (thanks to Miranda and Jodi) I've been "tagged" twice now and have this sense of duty to list 7 Random Things:

1. I'm actually considering swimming this winter so that I can do a sprint triathalon in May.
2. I have one tattoo (that I hope to remove some day).
3. I pass the slow hours at work with spider solitaire, people.com and checking all of my friend's blogs.
4. I would like to go cross country skiing in Antarctica.
5. My favorite treat is caramel, hands down.
6. The news about the 52 pilot whales that died in Tasmania this weekend made my heart ache.
7. I love coming home to Lucy's excited greeting after a long day at work:)

I now tag:
Amy, Jen, Stacey, Dina, Megan, Susan and Eleri:)

Here are the rules once you've been tagged:
*Post the rules on your blog
*List 7 random things about yourself
*Tag 7 other people to do the same, pass along the tag

Moab in November

We had a great 4 days visiting with old and new friends in Moab this past weekend. Reini, Chris, and Calder met up with Pete, Dina, and Drake at an amazing off-the-grid solar house located at Behind the Rocks in Moab. Rob, Lucy and I joined Sam, Megan, Eleri, Susan and three new friends- Ivana, Damjan and Domagoj from Croatia- at a modern condo just south of Moab. It was a little chilly, but still pretty amazing weather. Our first hike was to Fischer Towers with Eleri in the lead:

Eleri and Megan stopped to play with sand and rocks earlier on, but the rest of the crew continued on to the end to enjoy the spectacular views. Susan on the precipice:

Our second day's hike was to Corona Arch off Potash Road. Sam came along for this hike while Susan and the Croatians went to Arches. Eleri is still holding up pretty well at this point.

Sam, Eleri, Megan, Rina, Lucy and Rob with Corona Arch in the background.

Let the jumper shots begin. . . Sam jumps over the La Sals.

Pete hangs over Delicate Arch.

Sam and Susan getting good air next to Delicate Arch.

Eleri and the breakfast burrito.

Dina, Drake and Pete at Eklectic Cafe in Moab.

The Painted Porch

Just in time. . .our painters finished the front porch on Friday. Whew! It looks like it should have always been there. We're really pleased with the way it turned out.



This is a reminder of the porch before it was painted.

Scotland Trip of 2008, the Wedding of Andy and Becca

We were very fortunate to be have been able to make our third annual trip to the UK this year. This time was to celebrate the wedding of Rebecca Barnetson and Andrew Duncan. But first, we had to get through the 3 connecting flights and 2 long layovers courtesy of our Delta frequent flyer miles. The longest layover was in Amsterdam, so we took advantage of this and spent a day in the city. It was wonderful to see that Amsterdam has an amazing commuter bike system in place and most people don't even use their cars in the city! We also brushed up on our WWII history as we took a tour of the Anne Frank Huis.

Next stop. . .Bishop Monkton of course! It's always a great place to recover from the jet lag with Rob's gracious family. Between the homes of Jane and Johnny Heller and Chris and John Feeny, we were able to really catch up on some well needed sleep and enjoy wonderful meals, and fun games of Scrabble!

After a week of getting over jet lag, we set off for Becca and Andy's wedding in Loch Tay, Scotland. Being the outdoor enthusiasts that they are. . . on the morning of their wedding, both of them took out groups of wedding guests for a day of hiking Tarmachan Ridge or sailing on Loch Tay. Rob and I went with Andy up Tarmachan Ridge.

For those of you who have done any hiking in the central highlands of Scotland, you'll know how windy it can get even on the best of days. We really gained an appreciation for the terms "gale force winds" and "bracing winds" as we got closer and closer to the summit.

We found some shelter from the wind at the top and were really glad to have had such a wonderful day for the hike. Andy (third from the left in this photo below) 2 hours before he is to marry Becca.

Everyone cleaned up quite nicely as can be evidenced by the following photos. This is Andy with his mother just before the ceremony.

Andy and Becca with the celebrant signing the official papers.

We thought this was great. . . an arch of ice axes for the bride and groom.

This photo with all the guests and wedding party gathered together on the pier took some effort to organize but the final result seemed worth it. Andy and Becca truly did look like a pair of Cheshire cats:)

We learned a lot about the more traditional Scottish weddings, the different types of kilts and the ceilidh. Everyone had such a good time. It was one of the most fun weddings we've ever been to. And Rob actually kept getting up and asking me to dance! Here's a photo of Simon and Ross Barnetson and John and Chris Corson.

The Barnetson brothers and John Corson, a.k.a. Duncan.

House Project News

So, it's been a year since we started "the basement project" which really has turned into a "house project" in that we've impacted every other room of our house in some way. The good news is we're finally getting to enjoy the fruits of all of our subcontractors' labors.

Here is a reminder of the exterior of our house (only just one year ago) before paint stripping and front porch and gable addition:

Thanks to Dave's hard work and good eye, here is a picture of the front of our house now:


Another view:

And we're really happy with how the open floor plan on the main floor has turned out:

We've finally stained and sealed the built-in bookshelves and railing also designed and constructed by Dave:

Lucy likes not having to listen to all the construction noises anymore:

The view from the top of our new stairs:

The bottom of the stairs with a view of the bamboo floors:

We've already slept 6 nights in our new downstairs bedroom!:

The hallway in the basement that leads to the laundry room, bathroom and 2nd guest bedroom:

The fully functioning laundry room!:

Our downstairs shower with actual hot water coming from the pipes!:

The sink will be hooked up next week and centered under the light fixture:

The clawfoot tub will be moved into the corner over the weekend and hooked up next week:

The second guest bedroom (north view):

The second guest bedroom (south view):

Summer Travels

Sorry for the long gap between postings. We've really been slacking, but here's a smattering of what we've been up to this summer:

In June, we joined Mike and Jen on the Desolation-Grey Canyon river trip. Matt Anderson was our buff river guide.



Jen was suspiciously not partaking in the consumption of copious amounts of beer floating along this trip.

Rowing, not as easy as it looks.

We had a great time save the mozzies. Jen and Mike's blog has a lot more of the good times captured on Flickr.

At the end of July, we took a scenic road trip to Glacier National Park, the first trip for all of us (although we're not entirely sure where Lucy may have gone before she entered our lives). Lucy was happy to come along for the drive but sadly had to stay in the cabin the first day we hiked the park and then at a doggy day care the second day as dogs aren't allowed on the park trails.

We were really fortunate with great weather and had magnificent views on the Dawson-Pitamakan trail (a.k.a. the Awesome-Pitamakan). Note the handy can of bear spray attached to my right shoulder:)

The Awesome-Pitamakan. . .

On our second day, we went on the loop trail off the Going-to-the-Sun Road on the west side of Glacier. It was spectacular. We really hope to go back next year for a longer trip.

We stopped in Stevensville, Montana to see the Haggerty's on the drive home. Ruby has gotten so big and is such a sweet, beautiful girl.

Rob didn't have a hard time convincing Jack to climb to the top of this tall stack of hay in the barn.

Allison's pink Shasta trailer. . . it was meant to be.

The men fishing. . . while the girls went out for a drive.

A horse? A dog? Doesn't matter, Jack likes it.

Ruby's down for the count on the walk back home.

So, just a friendly reminder to those on the men's team for the candlepin bowling tournament of 2007. . . Your turn will be coming soon. We graciously held the shark trophy this year and have now bestowed the honor on Phil and Allison. Next up in no particular order: Pete D, Rich B, Mike A, and Marc T.