The Mountain Houghtons

Happy Birthday Annamarie!

2012-02-14T19:24:00.001-08:00

Birthday dinner with best friends.

From left: Lou, Sally, Nancy, Annamarie and Mark.

Nancy made this beautiful cake.

I can't believe we ruined it by eating it.

Nancy, Bea and Annamarie

Will you share your cake, please?

No, Buck! I will not!

Nancy loves to play in the cake.

Relaxing after the big dinner. Spitz goes to Uncle Lou for a scratch.

January Activities

2012-01-16T16:57:00.001-08:00

Mommy gave a bath to Buck. That tired him out good. He can sleep while standing.

Spitzers needs both Mommy and Daddy for a bath and we are the ones that get tired and scratched up.

Ranching: Mark is splitting, I am stacking.

Spitz wants to come out of the doggie yard.

Buck would rather be running free also.

Logging: Bea with the girly chainsaw

Mark with the big man chainsaw

Spitz is yelling: Let me off the rope!

Buck is giving up

Oh no! We got to load in all these logs!

Watching the fire fighter taking buckets to the Black Mountain fire

He is flying right over the yard.

Ten years ago today,

2011-12-31T07:53:00.000-08:00

ten days in New York City, ten thousand dollars out the window :)

The site of the Twin Towers 3 months after 9-11.

Click on the title to see our Christmas 2001/ New Year 2002 vacation page on our website.

Happy New Year!!!!

A Christmas Card

2011-12-21T07:59:00.000-08:00

This is a beautiful story rather than a card. The music was written by Martin Spitznagel, ragtime pianist friend. No. It's not a ragtime card :(
Click the title to view and
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!

Ragtime Birthday 25/48

2011-11-25T04:58:00.000-08:00

We celebrated the 25th anniversary of the West Coast Ragtime Festival and Mark's 48th birthday in Sacramento.

We could not keep up with the musicians. They played from 9:00 am till at least midnight.

At our age......we need some sleep. We also wanted to spend some time with Buck & Spitz. Not that they suffered without us.

Our last day at the Red Lion Hotel. Could you look happy, please?

OK. How is this?

Vintaged out in the storm. Behind me, Adam Swanson form Shenandoah, IA. He is a very talented, young ragtimer.

Buck & Spitz had their own little vacation at the Wag Hotel.They attended the all day play program for 3 days. The first day, their report card said, they were well behaved and played a lot with the other dogs. (Hmmm....Are they talking about the right puppies?) They made a lot of friends and had a great day.

The second day, Buck had a swimming session and Spitz had a buddy time. Buck was playing fetching and swimming, his favorit game. Spitz had a 15 minute individual playtime with the daycare teacher. Their report card said, they need to work on listening. That's sounds more like my doggies. Buck probably did not want to leave the pool, and Spitz wanted the teachers undivided attention all day.

Rachel, the doggie daycare teacher said: "Buck is so cute when he sticks his whole face in the water to get a drink"

The doggies were well worn out every evening when we picked them up. They were looking forward to dinner and they crashed out for 12 hrs every night.

We are at the wrap party dinner with two ladies from Kansas, and the men are from Canada and Minnesota.

I can't say I was ragtimed out on the end. Never enough for me. The festival was fantastic. We had performers from all over the country as well as an international crew, including Canadian, Austrian, Swiss, Norwegian, Englandians, and Texans...oh....that's local.

The Red Lion had 6 different venues each day, two of the arenas had a dance floor, which we did not use much.

Can we say it was a weekend well spent?

Absolute Genius

2011-10-19T07:48:00.000-07:00

Tom Brier is an extraordinary pianist and composer. He is recomposing a Russian folk song at the Ice Cream Emporium in Sutter Creek, CA. Click on title to view.

He will be performing at the West Coast Ragtime Society's 25th Annual Festival in Sacramento, CA in November 18-20 this year.

We are fortunate to be in town those days to see him. That is Mark's birthday present.....needs it or not.

"Tatum is 2" a book in 3 pages

2011-08-23T12:15:00.000-07:00

click title for the first page and please find the second and third pages on our website.

Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival 2011

2011-08-21T21:33:00.000-07:00

click title for our website page

Summer Fun

2011-07-15T11:12:00.001-07:00

Mark & Mom in the garden.

Bea & Mom in the garden

The Fountainhead. What? The new fountain as the bucket dumping.

Buck is hiding from the heat.

Spitz after taking a bath.

Puppie safety. They are not too happy about having a fenced yard on the ranch.

No more running away for Spitzers! Keeping away from rattle-snakes and staying out of trouble is a difficult life for a doggie.

I LOVE my ranch!

Work, work, work, work......that's what makes life exciting!

The flowers are taking over my trails and everything else that we are trying to keep plant free.

When not working on the ranch or at home....I'm in my heated office, waiting for my tools. Mechanical flowers and our mountain in the background.

Too much fun!

Work Vacation Weekend on the Beach

2011-06-27T11:51:00.000-07:00

We started the mini vacation on Friday morning with a long day drive ahead of us to meet the "bosses" for dinner on Shell Beach.
The first stop of interest was the Tehachapi Loop, a 0.73 miles long spiral on the Union Pacific Railroad throught Tehachapi. The railroad line connects Bakersfield in the San Joaquin Valley to Mojave in the Antelope Valley. The loop takes its name from the circuitous route it takes, in which the track passes over itself, a design which lessens the angle of degree of the grade. The loop gains a total of 77 feet in elevation as the track ascends at a sustained 2% grade. Today, the railway line, with almost 40 daily trains on average, is one of the busiest single-track mainlines in the world. In the few minutes we spent there, we saw two trains.

The Loop

Tehachapi Loop monument

A Tractor Supply shopping spree in Bakersfield was next. Doggie friendly store, so Buck & Spitz can browse with us and stay cool.

The golden hills through the central valley and the oil fields (which I did not get a good picture of) were beautiful all the way to the coast.

We made it right on time for the wonderful dinner with the bosses.

Saturday morning, the bosses were on their annual shareholder meeting, while I took the babies on a beachwalk. In the afternoon, we did a family stroll through downtown San Luis Obispo in search of good pastry. It was not easy to find. Mama's Meatballs is the one and only shop that knows about the art of baking.

The doggies and I took Mark on our beachwalk.
Along the doggie walkway of The Cliffs Resort

Saturday afternoon family walk on the beach

Buck thinks: let me go for a swim please!

Spitz thinks: get me out of this wet environment please!

On the trail along Shell Beach

Buck & Spitz had so many miles on for the day, they were ready to call it quit and retire for the evening on the cool tile floor in the hotel room.

We found a little mom and pop Italian restaurant for dinner followed by a drive along the beach communities to see how everyone tolerates the crowded and costly living with lots of birds around. There are some uncrowded, gated estates along the cliff, that I think are pretty tolerable if you have the money.

It was a short, but very enjoyable mini vacation.

"You're the Cream in My Coffee"

2011-06-20T12:55:00.000-07:00

Ray Henderson (December 1, 1896 - December 31, 1970) was an American songwriter. Born Raymond Brost in Buffalo, New York.

If the depression comes back, will ragtime come back also? Because then bring 'em on!!!

Thank goodness some people still find the sheetmusic for the REAL music.

(click on the title to see this song played by Etnah Uslan)

The 80th Birthday Bash

2011-04-24T19:55:00.000-07:00

Grandma Joyce celebrated her 80th birthday with us on
Saturday, April 23rd.

Stephanie Price came to California to join in all the festivities. Mark was in charge of selecting the dinner location and the chef for the birthday dinner.

The Cake

After dinner, we dressed in fancy and drove to see the San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra's performance of Gustav Mahler: Syphony No.1 "Titan".

The playlist on this page contains the third movement of this symphony. Between the minutes 2:20 and 3:25 is the most beautiful melody ever written. Mahler was a genious!

The best symphony for the best Grandma! We all really enjoyed the concert and we had a wonderful visit.

Happy Birthday Grandma Joyce!!!!

Happy Birthday Buck & Spitz!!!

2011-04-06T19:24:00.000-07:00

April is doggie birthday month. The babies are getting old like the rest of us.

His majesty the baby, Buck, is 9. You cannot tell by the way he is acting.

Spitz, the pampered prince is 7. He acts the part half of the time, the other half he is a puppy out of control just like big brother.

We love our babies!

The Queen of Ragtime

2011-03-27T13:21:00.000-07:00

Mimi Blais is playing her own composition, "Lili".

She dedicated this song to Lillian Hardin,

the second wife of Louis Armstrong.

(Click title for video)

Happy Birthday Bartok Bela!

2011-03-25T09:11:00.000-07:00

One of the most important composers of the 20th century and the greatest composer of Hungary was born on March 25 1881 in Nagyszentmiklos.
Let's celebrate his 130th birthday with his "Rumanian Folkdance" conducted by no less than the greatest Hungarian conductor, George Solti.
(Click the title for the video)

Super Dog Rescue Crew

2011-03-16T08:02:00.000-07:00

A week ago today, we lost our little Spitzers.

Mommy took Buck and Spitz to the ranch on Thursday. They are usually pretty good staying close or coming back from wandering around. When we take a walk, I always have Spitz on a leash and Buck free. Buck is better at staying with me on walks. After we did our running around, the doggies were tired and they were just laying down by the shed in the shade. We never tie them up on the ranch.
Spitz got bored as I was working and he started wandering down the trail and did not come back when I called him. Buck and I went down the hill to find him, but he was not around. We took another route to search and kept calling. No Spitz. I went down to a neighbor's house (about 60 acres down the road) to see if Spitz came by. He didn't. I called Mark to come and help me with the search.
3 hrs later we still cannot find him, meanwhile it was getting dark.
I was in tears and hysterical of course. We started to live with the idea that he might have become coyote food.
Mark had a message on his phone that Spitzers was found. We were overjoyed!

This is a picture taken by the rescue team.
The little baby found his way out to the hwy somehow. Those of you who have been on the ranch know that the hwy is pretty far and behind the hills. I'm not sure how the heck he got out there. Nevertheless, he went hitchiking. He was hit by a truck and almost got flattened out. I am not familiar with the details of the accident, but even thinking about it makes me cry. The only injury he had is some scratches on his lips.
3 young men saw the whole thing and they leashed up the baby to get him off the road. They called Mark and took Spitz to the Pine Cove Fire Station to wait for his parents.

The Super Dog Rescue Team: Dan, Tim and Corey with Spitz on the Pine Cove Fire Station.

Thank God for awesome people like these guys! We appreciate your caring and we are very thankful for bringing the baby back home.

The two pictures above were stolen from Coreys' facebook. Sorry Corey.

Back with the family on the ranch

Birthday with the Vienna Phil

2011-03-06T19:43:00.001-08:00

It is hard to keep track of the years at my age, but as long as I can keep track of this group, I will be allright.

The Vienna Philharmonics spent the first 4 days of March touring in California. Santa Barbara, Costa Mesa, Palm Desert and San Diego. The only tickets I was able to find was for San Diego. Long drive...but worth it.

It was my early birthday present to go to the concert. Schumann 2nd and Brahms 2nd made a remarkable birthday. I could not have a better present than an evening with the Vienna Phil.

Annamarie and Lou Padula joined us. They took us out to dinner before the concert. We all had a wonderful and long evening. Thank you Padulas and thank you my love!

The Civic Theater lobby in San Diego.

Before the concert. All 3000 seats sold out and padded for Mark.

Annamarie and Lou

Solar fielding, snow shoveling, solar fielding, snow shoveling

2011-03-02T07:59:00.000-08:00

That's how we spent most of February.
First stop Gila Bend, AZ for a couple days of testing.

Buck is showing Spitz how they can be the most helpful in the operation.

When the parents are tractor addicts, most likely the kids will be tractor addicts also.
They love the way the buckets feel; nice and cool on the tummy.

Mark in his Gila Bend office.

Back home from AZ, we had a few days to recover and to get ready for the next solar fielding.

We woke up on Sunday morning to this beautiful scene. The snow is 2 days late, so we have no time to enjoy it as we have to leave for work as soon as we get shoveled out.

Buck is over joyed because he doesn't know how to use the shovel.

Mark is staring on the driveway and I shovel all the walkways first and then helping him to rescue the truck.

Oh no! I can't get around in this. I think I'll go back to sleep until you get rid of the snow.

Are you done with my walkway?

That's better!

Come along Spitz, I make a trail for you.

Forget it bro. I stay up here and watch.

Buck wants Spitz to come and play on the backyard, but Spitz does not have enough clearance.

About 4 hrs of shoveling got us out and on the road. The job is a 7 long days driving and testing

piles in the Antelope Valley. We are working on Larson Ranch, where Mark helped out when he was a teenager. The ranch had not been cultivated for a couple of decades and now they want to turn it into a solar field.

LA county is making sure that we do not cause any damage before the big dozers come in to grub the top 2 feet. Thus we are followed by a group of 4 biologists to protect the one burrowing owl that they found a hole for, an archiologist to make sure we don't pocket any arrow heads that we might find on the formerly farmed and tilled land,

and a cultural monitor to ensure that we are not disturbing any ancient indian burrial site. We

also have the normal safety man that the client sends out to make sure we practice all the safety procedures and are loaded with all the safety gear we must wear. None of these we find a distruction. Once we are on a mission, nothing will stop us!

We had some interesting weather. While the entire southern CA was getting rained on and snowed in, snow level clear down to the beach, we managed to stay dry. The ranch we worked on is surrounded by mountains. The snow stayed up there and all we got is the black sky and the wind. We can get along with that. The rain will shut us down but everything else is OK. The ranch got its rain during the night. Well planned!

Buck is a working dog and he loves to be under out feet. He digs at each location we let him out of the truck. That will give the environmentalists something to do. They need to figure out what kind of holes they are and they need to invent a story to take money from the client. I'm sure they can do it.

Spitz is grounded in the truck most of the time, on account of an incident when he ran out into the sage brush to flirt with a coyote. He was invited for dinner and he ran happily through the brush land not knowing that he was on the menu. I tossed half of my gear down and started running as fast as the steel toe permitted to find the little punk. The coyote ended up running away up and behind a hill and Spitzers came back to the truck. One lucky dog!

On my way back from the sprint, I found the remnant of a small sheep (the body missing but the fir complete) and brought it back to show it to Spitz. I'm not sure he got the point.

Our last day on the site, Sunday, the storm cleared up, but it got really cold and the wind blew even harder than it did during the black cloud days. We were bundled up and ready for it. By 11:00 am when we were wrapping up the project, it started to warm up so we could shed a few layers.

We are surrounded by mountains and they always had a cloud cover over them, which means we had a lot of wind to make sure we feel the cold.

Done with this field, get a good night sleep and head back to our snowy home.

First stop is the ranch to pick-up and deliver some firewood for a client.

Good thing we stopped, because we didn't want to miss our first snow. It was a bit of a challange to drive in, but we made it without sliding off the road.

6 inches is just the right amount for Spitz. He is so happy running through the ranch and playing.

Oh boy! Fresh snow! My favorit!

The new snow cover all around is so beautiful.

When we got home, we had the same amount of snow to shovel as we had before we left. 4 hours later, we were back in the house. Shovel out shovel in...that's the way things are.

Who put this wall in here?

Spitz has no view from the backyard. Lucky puppy.

We have a few days on the rest before we are needed back in Gila Bend.

Saturday Date

2011-01-31T09:46:00.001-08:00

We rarely do anything else other than working and being with the puppies.
This Saturday, Buck and Spitz had to baby-sit themselves, while momm and daddy had a date.

We got ourselves dressed in sassy and off we went to party.

It is nice to scrape off the mud sometimes and to do something civilized.

Destination Redlands. We had a nice, formal and costly dinner and we attended the Redlands Symphony Beethoven night performance.
Beethoven Violin Concerto and Symphony No. 7.
This was our first time to see this orchestra.
Our piano tuner told us how good they are and we really should go to see them.
They are performing in the Memorial Chapel on the University of Redlands Campus.
The chapel is very beautiful, but its' acoustics is not really made for orchestra sounds.
Knowing this, the music director reduced the size of the orchestra for this concert, so the sounds would be more accurate and not sounding muddy in the chapel.
The orchestra had thus only 40 people including the conductor. They did sound very good indeed, and they did give their variations to both the concerto and the symphony.

The solo violinist for the Beethoven Violin Concerto was Pavel Farkas.

Farkas was born in Chechoslovakia. He holds the position of Artist Professor of Violin and Orchestra Studies at the University of Redlands. He currently serves as Concertmaster of the California Philharmonic Orchestra.

The cadenzas he performed in the concerto were unusual and we could tell that he had too much fun with that violin.

The music director and conductor is Jon Robertson, bellow.

The Maestro is now in his twenty-sixth season as music director and conductor of the Redlands Symphony Orchestra.
Dr Robertson is currently Dean of Lynn Conservatory of Music in Boca Raton, Florida, where he resides. He also serves as Chair of the Music Department and Professor of and Conducting Director of Orchestras at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Our seats were at the front balcony, where the sounds were better than on the orchestra level.
It was a lot warmer up there, which felt nice to me and extremely hot for Mark.
The chairs on the balcony are not padded. The orchestra level has padded chairs and a lot colder climate. Mark complained about his backside hurting on account of the hard wooden seats. You can have me sit on a bed of nails and I will be happy as long as people dressed in black playing Beethoven on a stage, especially when the 7th is my first favorit of Ludwig's nine.

It was a late night for us, that we are not used to. Getting home after 11:00 pm is a bit much, but it was worth it. We had a great time and it was a fun date. We will do it again soon.

Our Christmas Story

2011-01-03T10:47:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year !!!

2010-12-31T08:27:00.000-08:00

We are not there in body, but in spirit.....always.

Merry Christmas from my homeboys, the Budapesti Cigányok (gypsies of Budapest).

2010-12-22T10:15:00.000-08:00

Rainy Weekend

2010-12-18T18:39:00.001-08:00

What is it that grandparents do on a rainy Saturday a week before Christmas?
Grandpas are watching TV and grandmas are baking cookies.

Not these grandparents.
This here grandma is playing in the mud. Yes sir.
It is very un-Hungarian...and MY grandma would not believe it is I, if she were alive.
It was pooring cats and dogs this morning and what better time it is to do some grading on green acres. But...the tractor only has one seat. Sigh......

I stayed out and did a hole mess of wood stacking while Mark was grading.

This is the result of 5 hrs of my stacking and of course a heep of muddy and soaked (inside and out) clothes and two pairs of saturated and messy work-gloves.

Buck got to play out in the rain all day and loved it. Spitzers was running around and got saturated several times; in between he was drying himself off in the cab of the truck.

The grading Mark did looks very good also. To me it looks ready for the BIG barn, but he says it needs a lot more work and earth moving. I think he just likes tractoring.

Mark was not sure if I can ride inside the cab, he prefered if I jump into the back to get home, THAT's how filthy and soaked to the bones I was.

Guess who stayed dry and clean?

Hi Mom! I'm clean! See???

Can we say........we all had a wonderful Saturday?!

The Rajko Orchestra is wishing Happy Hanukkah from the Budapesti Dohany Utcai Synagogue

2010-12-16T13:15:00.000-08:00

A Christmas Carol

2010-12-09T18:49:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Weekend

2010-11-30T19:29:00.000-08:00

Day 1:
-Morning workout for Bea.
-Cooking show for Bea.
-Logging day for Mark.
-Resting a lot for Buck & Spitz.
-Thanksgiving dinner stuffing ourselves for Mark and Bea, tasting a little for Buck & Spitz.
-After dinner walking in the woods for all of us.

Day 2.

-Family logging day.

Day 3.

-Family construction project on Green Acres.

Day 4.

-Continuing the pole barn.

-Running out of material, daylight and weekend.

Weekend with Tatum Part 1

2010-10-31T20:38:00.001-07:00

Tatum, Dani & Greg came to visit Grandma and Grandpa Houghton on a rainy, foggy, fall weekend.

This was the first time for all of the Brandts to come to our home.

We had a nice dinner, good talks, a pancake breakfast and some doggie plays. Tatum entertained us full time.

Tatum is eating her grapes after pancakes.

Who is that doggie in the window?

Buck and Spitz are waiting to play with Tatum.

Wait Buck! Don't go! Let me pull your tail!

Kiss kiss... Buck loves Tatum too.

Sooo...that's the doggie yard....

Are you going to pet me or just stand there?

OK....I'll play with you too little doggie.

Weekend with Tatum Part 2

2010-10-31T19:44:00.001-07:00

A morning on Green Acres.

Tatum is ready to take a ride in Grandpa's truck to the ranch.

Silly boys, girls can grease tractors too. Especially Texas girls! Dani is preping JD to do some work.

Getting a short class on driving.

There she goes grading and compacting.

Country girl at heart.

Greg get's to work too. He is widening our trail.

Tatum woke up and she is ready for some action. Playing with Spitz....

Running after Buck....

Petting Buck.....

Loving Buck.....

and of course tractoring.

Hey...this is too much fun!

We visited Idyllwild for an afternoon. Walked around downtown, did some browsing in the stores, some shopping and had icecream.

Weekend with Tatum Part 3

2010-10-31T19:15:00.001-07:00

A day with Great Grandma Joyce.

Tatum wonders how come she has so many grandmas.

Everywhere she goes, she is meeting another grandma. Lucky girl!

All children, grandchildren and great grandchildren used this blackboard to draw.

Grandma Joyce fixed us a wonderful dinner.

Grandma Joyce, Dani holding Tatum and Grandma Houghton

You better give me more of your candy Grandpa!

...or else.....I get grumpy...

If you give me more chocolate no-one gets hurt.

Logging Weekend

2010-10-17T19:56:00.001-07:00

Fall time is logging time. Not that we are waiting till the last minute to get our firewood. This harvest will be drying for 2 years before we need it. We call it: planning ahead. Besides...what else do we have to do? Buck is always ready for a cool oak cutting day.

Mark is cutting it and I'm kicking it. How come I always get stuck with the harder job?

Must have steel toes for this work.

Must have muscles too. Those logs are heavy. I am saving on GYM membership again!

Our pile is ready to load.

Spitzers is helping to unload the first tree on the ranch.

If an oaktree falls in the forest and nobody is there to hear it, does that still mean we will cut it up and take it to the ranch?

You betcha!

That was a dangerous tree. Half of it was suspended and would not pull off even for the truck yanking.

Mark had to cut the other half of it, which was still attached to the main tree. Instead of falling down, the tree jumped off the trunk and stood up on the ground still holding up the broken part.

Then we pulled it over with the truck and cut it up.

And here is the pile of two trees, a little over a cord, the result of the logging weekend.

If we stack it 4 feet high, how many cords can you fit into ten acres?

Fixing up the ranch video

2010-10-05T08:23:00.001-07:00

Our Anniversary Present

2010-10-04T19:48:00.000-07:00

IT'S THE GREEN ONE!

Our anniversary tractor is ready for delivery, but it has to wait another week until we get back from solar fielding in Arizona.

Hi! This is Grandma's new baby :)

Last Friday, on our way home after the AZ trip, we finally got the tractor delivered.
Here we go caravaning to the ranch. Mark and the babies are following me as I am driving the tractor to it's new home.

It was a nice, rainy afternoon and I wish we could have stayed and played, but it was also lightning and since we are exposed to it all up there, we did not think it's too safe. So we parked John and went home.

This is too much fun!

Saturday morning, I jumped out of bed at 5:00 am and was ready to go tractoring.
We did a lot of grading work, brush dragging, roots yanking and dumping that day.

Hi Mom!!!!

Mark gets his turn first thing in the morning.

It wants to rain again. Perfect day to push the dirt around.

Clouds were coming and going all day, but we only had a little drizzle.

OK. It's my turn!

I am making the driveway flat.

The sand dunes need a lot of improvement for the future storage containers and wood cutting area also.

The truck needs a less bumpy spot to park on too.

This morning I was up with the chickens and back in the tractor. My sand dunes are almost gone. I need to grease up John tomorrow morning and we are ready to hit the sand again.

A Solar Fielding Month

2010-10-02T19:32:00.000-07:00

We did 3 solar field testing in September. The first one was on the farms outside of Florence, Arizona.
That was the job where everything went wrong. Anything that could break did break.
Each pile was a 14 feet long, heavy, steel pipe and we had about 12 of these to hammer into the ground.
The progress as follows:
We drove one pile, we had a hydraulic leak.
We drove another pile, we had another hydraulic leak.
We drove another pile, we had a hydraulic hose broke.
We had to drive clear into Phoenix to get the hose rebuilt.
Two hours eveporated.
When we came back, the farmer told us that the tractor shop around the corner could have fixed the hose. Hmmmmm....now you telling me.....
Hose replaced, leakes fixed and bolts tightened, we are ready to drive some more piles.
Next pile, half way into the ground, the hammer broke in half.
Here we are (Earl and myself) fixing the post vibe.

Buck and Spitz are enjoying the hotel life, as always.

Not in Arizona any more...

Mark is in Canada for a week, without the family.

We can't do work in Canada, so the Canadian union labor workers do my slave jobs and I get to stay home to clean the house.

This Hummer was Mark's work truck while out there and he had 3 helpers, two to replace me and one to replace him. tihihihihihi...

His job is to order these men around.

Oh boy! We bent this one good.

I am back in business (above). We are in Luke AFB back in Arizona.

We had this "cute crawler" to drive some of the piles for us this time.

I am logging the drive time and the condition of the pile after it's pulled back out.

My wide brim KMart gardening hat is pretty awesome to keep the sun out of my face, but it does not serve as a hardhat. Most of the time, I put the hardhat on top of it, so my boss doesn't scream.

Hoo hoo hoo...don't push so hard!
Poor steel :(

Not enough to bend it, they had to break it in half as they were pulling it out.

Luke AFB had some pokie bushes that we should not have driven over, because the morning when we were ready to drive home we found a tire like this.

The babies were missing out on the work fun, because doggies are not welcome on the AFB.

They had a new adventure every day. They were in a daycamp at PetSmart Hotel while we worked. They had a great time and got a good report card every afternoon. They made lots of friends, played a lot and they crashed out the minute they walked into the hotel room and slept from 6:00 pm to 5:00 am each day.

A Fireplace Tale Part 1

2010-09-19T15:29:00.000-07:00

What? A tale? No! It's a tail. Spitzers is having a last look at the fireplace before the living room turns into a construction zone.

The winter look

The summer look

The construction look

Someone built this as strong as a vault.

Let's see if any gold is hidden in there

No gold, but this sure is a lot of work. Mark is sick of my home projects.

Pain pain pain...

Building the hearth

Waiting for the installers

All in

Making a model paper wall

A Fireplace Tale Part 2

2010-09-19T14:48:00.000-07:00

Gluing the rocks

Building the Wall

Finished the wall

Test Fire

The finishing touches

Ready for the winter

Happy New Year!

2010-09-18T19:37:00.000-07:00

Desert Day

2010-09-02T08:51:00.001-07:00

We had a family day in Palm Desert yesterday.

Buck had to come along for Spitzs' visit to the eye doctor.
The doctor said Spitz is doing great, however the eye site is not coming back.
We can only hope that his normal weight will come back though, because he gained 8 lbs from the steroid pills. He finished them yesterday, so now it's time for a weight loss program.

I took the babies to the Palm Desert City Park to walk around. It was 104, so they did not move too much. We found a fountain/shower for kids, so took advantage of cooling Buck down. He was happier when dripping wet.

We went shopping to PetSmart. Buck was scarring the fish in the aquariums and he had a great time annoying the cats. One of the cat was so mad at him, she was screaming and scratching to attack, but the glass cage protected us from her.

They had to see the groomer for a bath session and that's not among their favorit activities.
While Buck & Spitz were having a bath, Mark & I went out to dinner to the Cheesecake Factory.
Mark evaluated the dinner as a waste of time and terrible food. We didn't even have time or room for dessert. Sigh.......

The clean doggies are happy to be back in their cool home.

Blue, green, yellow or orange?

2010-08-24T14:36:00.000-07:00

Decisions decisions.... The blue goes better with the beach umbrellas I got from Walmart for $15. If that matters at all?

But...there is more to tractor shopping than picking a color. We also need to know if we like convertible or closed cab. Depends on how much dust we want to eat. Other factors are less important for me. I leave those up to Mark. After all, we want to comply with the gender roles.

Tractor shopping is the most fun I've ever had!!!! :) :) :)

Happy Birthday Tatum!

2010-08-18T11:18:00.001-07:00

Saturday on the Ranch

2010-08-01T12:07:00.001-07:00

Spending a Saturday on the ranch again. Got a little work done, set up a beach-lounging area, had a lunch pick-nick, got a sunburn and laughed a lot.

This newly cleared sitting spot has the perfect view to watch the clouds over our house in Pine Cove.

Hot doggies. Not much shade around and even under the umbrellas, the ground is still too warm for Buck and Spitz.

I gave up my shade for Buck so I can get a good sunburn.

Mark & Spitz are enjoying the mountain view.

Mark can't sit still too long. He needs to get some brush clearing in for the day. His new method of placing a chain around the bush and pull it out with the truck made me laugh really hard.

As he was driving away, the chain pulled through the top of the bush, yanking out a few branches and leaving the majority in the ground.

Really funny operation.

I'm waiting for my tractor so I can plow through that land like a mower over a lawn.

The Garden

2010-07-24T21:31:00.000-07:00

Just so y'all don't think I have nothing to do this summer.

to do list:

2010-07-12T19:48:00.000-07:00

Our kitchen ceiling when we moved in.
Recessed lighting is about the most unimaginative one in home decorating, in my humble opinion.

We lived with it until last month. Then it had to go.

My new kitchen ceiling is not only prettier, more open and gives us more light, but it is highly energy inefficient. We went from 120 watts to 320 watts. Nothing like being green....

BUT!

It is not flourescent so we do not get cancer. Not from that light anyway.

More projects...

So. We are buying this ranch. In case we run out of projects to do around the house, we will always have plenty more waiting for us on the

"Roads' End Ranch".

It is 10 acres with beautiful views. We see our San Jacinto Mountains and the San Gorgonio too.

If you feel like you need to do some work, you are always welcome on the ranch. We have a long to do list there too.

Next on the list is the fireplace. Stay tuned.

Chapter X. "The Dopp Stop"

2010-04-28T09:57:00.003-07:00

Anabel was home and waiting for us in Mesa.

She showed me how she can ride her pony and how she can talk and walk and her other new tricks.

Avery is not pet friendly at this point in her life, so she chose to pick roses with grandma Val instead of playing with Buck and Spitz. Anabel followed to get some roses for herself.

Spitz is getting all the attention.

Anabel wants to see how Buck is doing.

Caitlin still loves her little red dog.

Noelle is wondering what is with all these new activities.

Spitz sneeking up on Anabel.

Ethan loves Spitzers too.

Later in the evening, we all went out to have a wonderful dinner. Anabel is watching her figure, so she just had water.

Good times, good food and good laughs with the Dopp Family and all the little ones was the best way to finish our 25 days and 7000 miles trip.

Chapter IX. "Leaving the East Coast"

2010-04-28T09:57:00.001-07:00

Good buy beautiful, industrial coast,

good buy red barns and rolling hills,

good buy neat, little European looking, historic towns.

Loaded with ticks and antiques, we are leaving the prosperous east.

We had a great time, but let's face it... rednecks belong in the west.

We will be back though, because I need some time to pick through Ohio.

When we return, I must do some historical studies in the Ohio antique malls.

This is outside of Columbus, OH.

On the way to Champaign, to see Stephanie Price, we had to take a detour from the freeway. Not just because I wanted to see the home of Indi 500, but because the traffic did not move.

So here it is.

The entrance to the racetrack for Formula I.

We had a very short visit with Stephanie Price, because she had two students coming for their weekly lesson and we were pressing to make some miles. She made us a delicious lunch and let us continue our journey.

Is that the Mississippi again?

Oh good. They have good BBQ around here. Let's go shape our waiste lines.

St Louis, MO is where we spent our second night.

Spitz is wondering which one is the lunch stop. He can almost smell it.

And there it is.

Springfield, MO. Good bread, lunch meat, lunch cheese, fruits and pastery on the tailgate with the view of the Springfield City Hall.

On the road to Branson, MO.

Ready to tour downtown Branson.

Through Arkansas on a rainy evening, we settled in Shanee Oklahoma for another night. Texas, New Mexico, long day and the night in Gallup, NM.

We took this picture in Arizona, rolling down from Heber toward Mesa.

In the hills north-west of Phoenix.

One more stop before California.

Chapter VIII. "Working again"

2010-04-28T09:11:00.000-07:00

Part 1.
Emmitsburg, Maryland

Mount St. Mary's College campus corn fields

Above is James, Mark's helper.

Mark was out here in January to do the pile driving and testing. What can I say...it was cold, snowy and very very muddy back then.

Part 2.
Emmitsburg, Maryland 4 months later

Conditions improved somewhat by April. It is raining and hailing and it is cold and very muddy, but no more snow. The backhoe will not be stuck that's for certain.

Mark is digging trenches and I am logging the soil. In technical language, we are playing geology in the mud.

On our second day, the sun came out and the fog lifted by 11:00 am. It actually warmed up nicely to do some soil sampling.

The Mount St. Mary's College Campus
A little hazy, but there is Mary on the hillside looking over her pupils.

Here I am looking over my ring sample.

Driving the rings down to pull up some soil

The muddy clay makes the driving the sampler easier, but walking in it is a different story. The truck didn't exactly stay clean after this one either.

Chapter VII. "Gettysburg, Pennsylvania"

2010-04-28T08:27:00.000-07:00

Two short afternoons are all we had to explore this beautiful, historic town.
This church in downtown Gettysburg functioned as a hospital during the battle and it is a museum now.

The backyard

View from the backyard

On Cemetery Hill

Separating the country didn't quite work back then, but this is a historic moment and we should try it again.

Bilingual applications are available in at least 42 different English dialects. No masonary skills required. No benefits until the wall is complete. No union members please. Click here to sign up.

The gate to the National Cemetery in the background.

Mourning woman.

I am not trying to reproduce the pose, but reading the name of the artist.

Entering the cemetery

Touring downtown Gettysburg

Historic Gettysburg Hotel, built in 1797.

Chapter VI. "Sierra & Jenna"

2010-04-27T10:02:00.000-07:00

We have a Sunday off before going to north Maryland to do some engineering geology there. Between Delaware and the girls, we have to cross lots of water. It's very pretty out here. Had we not collected so many ticks, especially Buck and Spitz, it would even be fun to live out here.

Accross the Chesapeake Bay and the Patuxent River.

Jenna is doing her classic Jenna pose in dad's new hat.

Buck swims in the St. Mary's Lake

We are hiking around St. Mary's Lake. The trail is 7 miles long and there is no elevation to gain, so the hike goes fast.

Buck, Spitz and Millie are absolutely loving this too.

If there is mud, Buck will find it to play in it. I don't know where he learned it from. Definitely not from his mommie.

The hiking Houghtons

Chapter V. "Easter Birdies"

2010-04-26T21:09:00.001-07:00

After hours in Dover

We spent our free time in the tractor supply store. These little ducks and chicks (pre feather) are the cutest ones available for purchase. We did not buy any, because they would not have time to grow feathers around Buck and Spitz.

Dinner time in the Dover Residence Inn.

Chapter IV. "Working in Dover, DE"

2010-04-26T20:42:00.001-07:00

We had so much fun visiting with the East Coast Houghtons and site seeing, we almost forgot that we came out here to do some work.

This vacant, old farmhouse is in Dover and the corn fields behind it is where we were sent to check out the conditions after the winter snow just melted.

You are not in the desert any more!

Hey, it's muddy out here! Bring the tractor will ya? I'mma little stuck here.

This was the dry day, before the rain. We have no pictures after the rain made a really muddy mess out of these fields. I got the truck stuck that day also and I got me nice and covered with sticky clay. Myself, the truck and the dogs were all covered from head to toe. Mark stayed clean sitting in the tractor driving around and giving orders.

Mark in his office, entering data. The client's engineer is observing the operation.

The babies are resting up to run after the truck and tractor to the next test location.

Chapter III. "Easter Weekend in Amhurst, NH"

2010-04-26T11:28:00.000-07:00

What? This is not the Amherst Hilton on Story Brook Lane?

Oh! I see! It's even better! It's the Houghton Residence Inn. We have a membership there AND an invitation.

We visited with Bruce, Stephany and family for a short weekend.

We enjoyed the conversations and the lovely dinner. After a nice night rest, we all pitched in to fix an unforgettable Easter feast.

Stephany is hard at work, frying bacon, smoking up the house, setting of the fire alarm and having a great time.

Superman is in charge of the pancakes

Dr Horrible is frying his special potatoes, top secret recipe.

Bruce is supervising the action and making a healthy fruit salad, while taking the calls from the fire department responding to the alarms.

I am in charge of the eggs and Buck is cleaning the floor.

Everyone in the Houghton Family took part to produce a delicious Easter Sunday breakfast. Mark did the photography and Spitz gave moral support.

Thank you for your hospitality Stephany and Bruce.
We loved the family cooking shows and the good times with all of you.

Chapter II. "Capital of the First State"

2010-04-26T11:08:00.000-07:00

Five days of commuting to work and the site is not ready for us yet. We are waiting for some clearance from the city of Dover before we are allowed to play in the local mud. No problem.

Plenty of history and a German bakery in downtown keeps us content for a day.

In front of the historical governor's home.

The home belongs to the city now and it is a museum that can be visited by appointment only.

The backyard

Buck likes fountains and would love to jump in if Mark would let him.

The home where the current governer lives.

The back of the state capital building.

The Delaware Militia Monument in front of the Capital.

A replica of the Liberty Bell.

Chapter I. "On the way to work"

2010-04-26T08:53:00.000-07:00

Commuting to work really kills a lot of time for us, but we get to see the country side across the USA.
Our route this time was CA, AZ, NM. First night in Grants, New Mexico. Continuing through Texas to spend the second night in Oklahoma City, then through Arkansas to stay our third night in Nashville, Tennessee.
We liked the radio stations in the Great Smoky Mountains. They played a lot of good Bluegrass. We drove through Virginia and a little corner of West Virginia to get to our fourth night destination in Frederick, MD.
Finally, on the fifth night we arrived at work in Dover, Delaware.

Crossing the Mississippi at Memphis, Tennessee.

Scenes from the beautiful industrial and prosperous East.

It is comforting to see that we still have some factories left in the USA.

Mount Airy, Maryland is the first, but not the last stop in search of Antiques and pre Salvation Army junk.

I was allowed an afternoon of detour into the land of 19th century America. I don't care for museums, so I do my history studies in Antique Malls.

A Solar Birthday

2010-03-23T08:54:00.001-07:00

We celebrated my 46th birthday on a few hundred acres of sunny farm land outside of Lancaster, CA.

We arrived on Sunday afternoon and did a preliminary b-day with Mom Houghton. We did a Mall trip to get me a new pair of DG sun glasses, and a Thai dinner.

Throughout the week, I had countless girlish tasks to tackle on my first solar fielding project.
I wrestled with 8 feet tall, 60 lbs steel posts such as the one bellow.

We had 65 of these babies to drive in with a hydraulic post driver. I transported them with the truck to 28 locations. We drove them all in record time of a day and a half.

On my bithday, I got to drive this cute little tractor accross the hundreds of acres, back to the starting location. Given the rapid speed of this mobile, I was bouncing and shaking for a couple hours to get a few miles distance covered.

We only had a half day work (8.5 hrs) on my b-day because we had a tax appointment that afternoon. The numbers came out in our favor, so that was another present. We had a pizza night with Mom H and she made me a chocolate cake. I also got a pair of fancy, fabric cutting scissors from her. She always knows what I need somehow. I don't know where that information leaks from....

I even got to drive this backhoe for some time. That was really fun too! It travels quite faster than the other little tractor.

We need one at home.

After we drove in all the posts, I had to cut them down to the desired size for testing.

I had lots of fun with my bendsaw too. Even the generator didn't give me trouble after the first day. I showed it who the boss is.....

A working week birthday cost far less than a non working one even if we consider the minor dent I put on the bumper of the truck and the bending of the steel testing frame I did right before we finished the project. I think Mark will take the cost of repairs of these out of my paycheck....but...I still come out pretty good and ahead.

Let's not forget the babies! Buck and Spitz had a long and tiring week. They were right there with us and got to run on the fields, chasing rabbits and having a good time. Some times they were confined to the seats in the truck for their safety.

Spitzers was hard at work with mommy when he was allowed.

Buck was enjoying the desert sun while watching us working away.

Tired doggies did not get the usual beauty sleeps during the days. They did not really care for the 5:00 am alarm. To watch the sunrise and the sunset on the field was really pretty though and they liked it too, because that's when the rabbits came out. The pups were looking forward to crash out every night and they did not move for the few hours they were able to sleep.

We are ready to go again!

The Washington Post

2010-03-02T07:55:00.000-08:00

The reward of spending a week in northern Maryland, stumping through the snow and the mud to test a solar field, was a day with Jenna and Sierra.

Mark and the girls had a Saturday out in Washington DC.

Jenna in front of the Senate Building

Mark and Jenna about to enter the Senate to apply for a job

The Madison Building

I wonder what this is?

The Capitol

General Grant on the horse

Scene from the Civil War

The Botanical Gardens

Not sure...

The Smithsonian Museum for sure

The Washington Memorial

The Glamour Bow Princesses

2010-02-19T15:30:00.000-08:00

Princess Tatum

Princess Anabel

Princess Tatum

Princess Anabel

I am totally in love with these two little glamorous bow babies.

How can I not?

Tatum in San Diego

2010-02-16T10:27:00.001-08:00

Tatum came to San Diego this weekend for the blessing of Joneaux, Anna and Amadeo's darling little baby boy.
Grandma was excited to hold her little cutie pie.

Grandpa Houghton took us all out to a BIG dinner to the Cheese Cake Factory to celebrate.

Tatum was very tired from the long day filled with activities and she crashed out in her daddy's arms.

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

2009-12-30T11:05:00.000-08:00

Let's see if we can rescue this "New World" in 2010?

click to play

Christmas Eve

2009-12-24T21:24:00.001-08:00

Our Family Christmas Tree.

Instead of having our cards on the mantel this year,

I made a tree out of ribbon and bamboo to clip all the cards onto.

Christmas corner.

Living room disorder, otherwise known as present opening.

Shirts shirts and more shirts....

Shearling slippers and dust buster...I was planning to quit dusting in 2010. Now I need to reconsider that decision.

The old office

The new office

We got a new printer/copier/scanner/fax machine and a big, flat, wide screen that makes us look wide.

Never mind the dusting next year, I'll have to run more to look narrow on the wide screen.

Our new office gives us much more room in the little nook we have set aside for it.

The babies had a good Christmas run this morning with us.

They made a new friend along the run. We met a little husky pup looking JUST like Buck.

Buck and Spitz got their fancy Christmas dinner and crashed out early, so they missed the present opening extravaganza.

Merry Christmas and good, silent night!!!

Silent Night

2009-12-24T10:43:00.000-08:00

click to play
Merry Christmas to all!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-22T18:05:00.001-08:00

Hanukkah in Palm Springs

2009-12-19T18:04:00.001-08:00

Our vacation started with a hike. Teri and Ben showed us their favorit spot in the desert.
We hiked up to a beautiful lookout to see the San Jacinto and San Gorgonio mountains after the storm passed.
The desert had a little flood but the creek Teri walked us to dissapeared. When it's flooding, creeks are usually running more. This one must have ran so fast it ran away from it's bed. It took the bridge with it too.
No kidding. Teri said there was a bridge and a creek and we couldn't find either of them.
???

At least the mountains were still there and what a view!
Teri with Ben and Buck & Spitz

After the hike, we moved into Teri's house. I had to get away from the cold and the snow and the mud. That's not for grandmas. Grandmas like country clubs and knitting in the sunshine.

Buck and Spitz didn't mind soaking up the sun, laying around Ben's pool, sniffing up his yard, sharing his toys and looking for things that Ben was hiding.

Buck found a flat and dirty rawhide that was burried for a long time. He brought it to show me it and I was very proud of him :)

Spitzers found the rawhide Ben left for him. It wasn't hard to find, since it was in the middle of the yard, but he was not certain that he can chew it. When he found out that he can have it, he spent most of the day happily chewing it.

Buck is waiting patiently until Spitz is ready to share.

Thank you Teri for showing me what a darn good idea it is to have a home in the mountains and one in the desert.

Happy Hanukkah !

2009-12-12T18:11:00.000-08:00

click on title to play

Let It Snow??????

2009-12-07T13:18:00.000-08:00

Sunday afternoon in the park, before the storm.

Are you ready for lots of snow Spitzers?

Monday morning 8:00 am.

Buck wants to be warm.

Inclement weather for Spitzers.

This was after I finished shoveling 7 inches. Now it's almost 10 inches and I'd rather be skiing. Spitz doesn't want to leave the house. Buck can't wait to go sink through the neighborhood.

Heck with the shoveling, we are going on our doggie walk!

3:00pm. Walking in the pouring snow was absolutely beautiful.

Buck was sinking up to his tummy, running through and biting the snow, loving life.

I was following the trail he made and Spitz was dragging himself after me, sinking up to his neck.

We had a great time.

Made it back to the house and shoveled the walkways again just in time before the bogus snow started coming down. Wet, slushy, heavy, white stuff = bogus snow.

One of the babies threw up out on the yard. Maybe Spitzers. I didn't see which one. Spitzers get very stressed out when the weather is like this. They are both cuddled up next to the pantry now, waiting for some dinner to come out of there.

Snowy Family Sunday

2009-11-29T19:04:00.001-08:00

We had the first snow this season. Between Saturday night and Sunday morning,
Pine Cove had 7 inches of snow fall.

Above: We are standing on the rock, where Jenna was sitting 5 years ago at Christmas time, drawing the view.

Above: Taquitz Peak before the sunset.

Thanksgiving Tasties

2009-11-27T11:36:00.000-08:00

Our babies are so abused.

Daddy gives them peanut butter which sticks to the top of their mouth so they keep licking it and licking it. They get some turkey and ham bites as a reward for entertaining their parents.

Texas Week

2009-11-15T20:04:00.001-08:00

The new solar field testing trip began with a family mini vacation.
We always wanted to see Tombstone and we ran right into it on our way to New Mexico.

Friendly town!

Let's step inside.

No, we did not take the ride.

This is Lili. She is walking around and showing off her little western outfit made by her mommy and collecting donations for the animal shelter.

My doggies go: Looook at Youuuu! How much do they pay you to wear that silly outfit?

Before the gunfight.

Buck and Spitz did not like the gunfight act. They tried to hide and to run away.

Scene from Tombstone.

This is the wagon I would like for my front yard. It's not for sale, neither do I have room on my front yard. Oh well....sigh.....

Wonder if the substitute teachers are still allowed to carry guns into school?

Our short old west vacation ended with a long drive to El Paso, Texas.

The first night, we got smoked out of the La Quinta Inn and escaped to the smoke free Residence Inn Marriott. It was a difficult decision to make that move especially for me.

Hanging out all day for 4 days in the clean and beautiful Marriott was a hardship and we all suffered so much.

Buck was looking out the window every night after dark thinking: It's time for daddy to come home.

I spent the mornings in the fitness room and in the swimming pool, while Spitzers and Buck got bored watching Animal Planet and took their beauty nap.

The boys are cuddled in for the night. Where do I sleep? Floor or sofa? Hmmmm...

Mark's office in south-west New Mexico. He took the family to see how he spent his days out on the sun, getting a tan, in the sand dunes and lovely but thorny bushes, playing on a tractor....

Doooon't go there!

They should keep these fields in Iraq. That's where they need them. No?

Spitz is looking for excitement and would like to explore the White Sand area, so I keep him on the leash.

Buck is running around on the solar field site not wanting to blow up.

Boys day out

2009-10-31T19:23:00.000-07:00

I left early this morning to visit my favorit stores today. Winco for food, so I can have my weekend cooking shows, and JoAnn's for more projects of course.

Mark was up bright and early and was ready for a boys alone day.
Buck and Spitz were excited to see what daddy has planned for them.

Needless to say, the boys got into the Jeep and took off as soon as the sun came up.
They were on a firewood hunting trip driving on a dirt, logging road on the mountain side. Buck and Spitz were in the back enjoying the ride in the cool, fall, morning breeze until Buck decided that he needed more space, so he pushed on Spitzers with his nose until the poor little pup fell overboard. The little doggie flew out of the Jeep and rolled behind it for a bit. Lucky they didn't go too fast, or so tells the story I hear ...They stopped to gather up Spitzers. He got up groggy and staggered back to the Jeep. Mark put him into the front seat, where he was much safer from big brother's pestering.

Buck is turning into a typical older brother.
Another example:
The other day we had a rain storm. Spitz does not like rain AT ALL.
Buck was laying inside the shed, blocking the doggie door, locking Spitzers out.
Spitz was yep yep yeping out there and getting all soaked when we finally went out to see what's going on.

Hmmm . No pictures this time.

Mark is Playing Again

2009-10-26T06:46:00.001-07:00

Another solar field site inland from the central coast;
east of San Luis Obispo and west of Bakersfield.

Diggin' it

You can see how much he suffers out there on the hot sun playing with the tractor.

Bringing the loadframe for some testing.

That's how he spent last week, slaving from sunrise to sunset each day.

Almost as fun as being a farmer.

Last Days of Summer?

2009-10-21T09:32:00.000-07:00

The last rose in bloom this summer. My garden is slowly fading out.
Year around summer doesn't sound too bad to me.

Buck would rather have year around winter.

Spitz likes the warm sunshine, but he grew his thick, winter coat just in case.

Better watch out I'm tellin' you why, 'cause Anabel is coming to toooown.

2009-10-11T13:31:00.000-07:00

That's right!
Anabel made her debut in Pine Cove this weekend to visit the leader of her fan club.

Grandpa drove her all the way from Mesa to have dinner with us.

We were all amused watching Anabel posing and having fun with the camera.

Her mommy told her to "make a cute face" ..........

right..... like she could make one that's not cute?

After Anabel got too sleepy to deal with the rest of us,

we had a late night talk show with the Dopps. Really late!

Saturday morning, Anabel is playing a piano duet with grandma.

We all had to take a morning stroll with the doggies.

Snuggling with mom is soooooo cozy.

Buck thinks Anabel is so cute and yummy looking, he sure would like to, at least,

give her a doggie kiss.

...and there he goes.....

We drove up to Lancaster with everyone to visit grandma Joyce for the rest of Saturday.

Anniversary Week Chapter VI

2009-09-13T14:06:00.001-07:00

Last stop: St. George

The town grew and changed so much since I lived here, I can't find anything.
Twice we could not find the antique shop I loved years ago.
The red rocks are still here and we need to pay even if we want to look at them.
Hiking in the canyons is out of question. We can't afford to drive through Zion it costs so much
AND no pets allowed.

The trees and the creek is still there in Pine Valley and it is affordable to visit them. For a $2.00 fee we were all able to walk around, dogs and all...What a bargain!

Running out of daylight, we stayed in St. George and did a little swimming and soaking in the hot tub.

Next morning, we loaded up the tummy with a logger's breakfast to carry us through the long drive.

For our anniversary dinner on Wednesday, September 9th, Mark took me to our favorit Thai restaurant in Banning.

The End

Anniversary Week Chapter V

2009-09-12T14:51:00.001-07:00

A Stroll Along the Provo River

Grandpa is holding Tatum in the river by the Bridal Veil Fall.

I am holding Spitz out of the water of course and Dani is with Buck.

View from further up the canyon.

Buck likes the cold water on this nice, warm summer day.

Bundle up that cutie! She likes to be warm.

On the way to Heber City...we kept walking and walking past the falls. Greg said the trail goes all the way to Heber. Unfortunately, he has to be at work in a couple of hours, so we will not make it all the way this time.

Grandma is up front strolling Tatum.

TBC

Anniversary Week Chapter IV

2009-09-12T11:15:00.000-07:00

Tatum

Our grandbaby is the sweetest, cuddliest, softest little girl in the world.
She is so cute and dainty.

We arrived at the Brandt's residence on Sunday afternoon.
Dani fixed a delicious dinner, roast beef, mashed potatoes and green beans.
Tatum took a nap in her vibrating chair.

Mommy opening the presents for Tatum. She loves to dig into the gift wrap.

Tatum wanted cupcakes, Tatum got cupcakes.
Grandma made her a throw to keep her warm in those icy winter days.
I made it big enough for the whole Brandt family to snuggle under.

Daddy is such a pro when it comes to diaper changing. He takes the day shift (when not at work or in school) and mommy takes the night shift.

I loved holding Tatum. She is so soft and warm and just a bundle of cuteness.

Awwww.....cry with grandpa....

Here...you better fix her up Dani...

All right missy, here is something to keep you busy.

TBC

Anniversary Week Chapter III

2009-09-12T10:48:00.000-07:00

"Driving to Orem"

How long before we get to Tatum's house?

Rest stop time. We are at Lee's Ferry by Vermillion Cliffs. Last time we were here, we hiked into the Paria Canyon for a few days.
It was also Labor Day weekend and it was very hot.
We did not have our doggies yet. They would not liked that hike.
We spent the entire hike filtering drinking water. We drank half of the radio active, contaminated
creek. I have never been so thirsty in my life.
Most of the hiking we did was in the creek to stay somewhat cool.
There were other hikers around, but they walked at night so they missed the awesome scenery.

The red rocks are still here and they are still my favorit.

Settle the babies in the Orem hotel and off to see the grand baby.

TBC