Super Cool Rocket Launching.....

Video provided by Jon, audio provided by Seahawks game on the radio...

Tony

2011 and the new year has begun..

All the snow is melting, the falling flakes have turned to falling rain and school has started again. It seems this year's Christmas break was perfect for the kids and families. We enjoyed having a lot of relatives and friends over to visit and stay with us in the new house, I just wish there was less of a pile of "sugar" and cookies left on the kitchen counter. Cheryl even cooked dinner for 14 people all on her own, serving her specialty, chicken enchiladas. The boys raked in the typical amount of loot and goodies, Cheryl scored two major items off her list and I got a Cuisinart food processor. It has already been put to good use. Jon has entered the realm of delayed gratification and will be flying to Bozeman, MT this summer for a week of adventure and fly fishing with Cheryl's Uncle Jim on the Galatin River. A family tradition for those who turn double-digits. We will join him a week later for a full family week of Montana-ness. Gabe scored two miniature catapults we discovered at Lowes. It was a build it yourself kit that we thought only had one in it but ended up having two catapults. The construction was a bit advanced but once together they were put to good use. While the glue dried he distracted himself by driving his new remote controlled 4x4 on the ice covered sport court. Once the drying process was complete, the battles began. A visiting friend, "little buddy", and Gabe went head to head launching wine corks (the softest/lightest projectile we could find) at each others stand up enemy targets, also included in the kit.

Matthew's siege-works experience and superior military tactics won over. (Cork in flight by the chair.) During the battle Gabe repositioned his launcher near the fuzzy "Cliffs of Despair" attempting low angle trajectories. While Richard the Pirate stood just above his fallen comrade. A late, but still special surprise, gift arrived to an amazing amount of interest. A drawing pad and book with step by step illustrations on how to draw dragons and mythical creatures seems to have captured the imaginations of both boys.

Gabe has already drawn two full creatures but has yet to bite his tongue off in the process.

2011 started with a bang, literally as we rattled off a few 12 gauge shells in the driveway at midnight, sorry neighbors. We played random games for a while finally settling on an entertaining round of Cranium. We missed the ball dropping in Times Square (on live Internet feed) due to the competitive nature of the night and due to the lack of TV we also missed the fireworks at the Space Needle. Still the night was a success and the New Year still came on time as scheduled.

I have yet taken time to read all the Christmas letters but anticipate a night by the fireplace sharing them with Cheryl. Thank you all for a great Christmas and may the new year bring you all unimaginable blessings.

Tony PS Here is a photo of a shirt Chery recieved from her aunt.

Great Wolf Lodge

I was just reminded that I neglected posting on our trip to Great Wolf Lodge for a birthday party. Instead of lots of words I'll let the pictures show ya. We had a blast and are contemplating making this an annual adventure. Fun for all ages!!

The entire water park was indoors and kept at a constant temperature. There was more than enough for everyone. We stayed one night and the boys had unlimited passes for two days. It was great.

Tony

Honey, why is there water on the floor?

Yup a water leak in the wall of the guest bedroom was a not so welcome "home ownership issue" to have on Thanksgiving morning. I had just arrived home from a shift of responding to water flow alarms. AKA thawing pipes that had split and are now flowing water. The last was an apartment building in Edmonds with standing water in the foyer. It took six of us with brooms shovels and squeegees two hours to get the standing water out. So I arrive home to the question of why the water is all over the hardwood floor of the guest bedroom; ya know the bedroom the in laws were to sleep in that night. We pinpointed the leak and busted into the wall. I heard the water flowing and went outside to check the spigot. IT WAS OPEN, meaning it and the attached hose were frozen and now the little bit of pipe in the wall had thawed and allowed water to flow. Fortunately we caught it quickly and turned off the spigot to stop the flow. We still have cupping hardwood and a rather prominent hole in the wall but with the help of fans and the neighbors dehumidifier we are getting all the water out. We may still have to sand down the hardwood but the rest is an easy repair. See the split in the copper on the bottom section.

I will remove all hoses in freezing weather, I will remove all hoses in freezing weather, I will remove all hoses in freezing weather, I will remove all hoses in freezing weather, I will remove all hoses in freezing weather, I will remove all hoses in freezing weather.........

Tony

Rock wall update

Below are a few updated shots of the rock wall. The borrowed tractor was an immense help. I completed the entire wall with backfill in a fraction of the time it would have taken with a shovel and wheel-barrow. These two show the main southeast side with the east facing stairs. The remaining slab from the old garage will be encircled with more basalt and raised beds to soften the edge.

The next shot is of the north facing stairs and remaining wall that connects to the BBQ porch on the north side of the house. The stairs were the hardest part of the process. Placing the rock properly was a learning process of building, dismantling and rebuilding. Now we wait while winter does it's thing and helps the soil pack down. In the spring we will bring in more gravel for the foundation of the patio slab.

Tony

Family Updates and Hard Scaping photos

Howdy all, Okay update.

Jon finished another great season of soccer, I took a spill running downhill on a chip sealed road (lots of blood and a bruised knee), Chery continues to shoot people....uh pictures I mean and Gabe...well Gabe is Gabe; wounds, head injuries and still cute as a button.

On to the house and yard. Hard scaping is taking place after all the vision and designing. The guys at Cadman delivered three loads of riverbed sand, one of 5/8 minus and two of 1 1/2 clean rock for drainage. Paul, over at Pine Creek Nursery, dumped about 25 tons of 1 to 1 1/2 man basalt for the wall. I used some of the leftover darker colored basalt to complete the beds by the entryway and transitioned to the lighter colored rock at the corner of the front patio, seen at the bottom of the post in the second photo. We shaped out the outline for the back raised patio with string, tweaked it a bit and then started building. At first I was using the "tractor appreciation" technique of two hands, a shovel and a wheel barrow. That was fun. After spilling the wheelbarrow several times and in frustration lofting the thing across the yard, I began to search out other more mechanically advantaged options. I accepted an offer to borrow a tractor from Jon's soccer coach, KUBOTA ROCKS! And in 6 short hours I pretty much multiplied my progress ten fold. (Below is a shot of the begining of the stairs that will lead from the patio to the back yard. At this point the wall will be about 4 1/2 feet tall.) I WANT A TRACTOR! Then the snow started falling today. It is pretty but I really wanna keep working out there although the cold and wet is not to attractive. (Below is a shot from the other side where I decided to dismantle the base of the wall to gain access with the tractor.) The main issue is that we have Thanksgiving parking to think about, not to mention it's kinda fun driving the tractor. The rock and gravel seems to be somewhat blocking the vast majority of the driveway and needs to be moved. So maybe later today and the next few days will provide time to clear out the driveway and get the backyard presentable for Turkey Day.

Happy Thanksgiving, talk to ya soon,

Tony

Wallace River Fish Hatchery Tours 2010

It is that time of year again when the boys get to play with the spawning salmon. This year both Jon and Gabe led their own tour groups, Jon even got to lead his own 4th grade class through the hatchery tour. This year was a low return run of Coho salmon and the holding pen was occupied by a quarter of the normal count of fish. The weather held for both days as the clear sky allowed full viewing of the local foothills and mountains. We welcomed the buses and lead the kids to the holding pond for the introduction and fertilization demonstration. Gabe soon realized his tour guide vest was upside down and in need of a little attention.

The short intro told the life cycle story and emphasized habitat stewardship concepts, but the fun was the demonstration.

After fully sliming themselves the tours led the students through six different stations explaining egg storage and development, natural habitats and food, tagging and migration studies, anatomy, stewardship and hazards, and finally returning and spawning salmon. Jon carried the female Coho to the area for the anatomy demo leaving behind him a trail off eggs along the way due to her being so ripe. It was a great couple of days and the boys shined with their knowledge and entertaining ad libs. In all they led four tours of groups from 30 to 10 kids. The tours were organized through their Four-H club, Bicycle Tree, and hosted by a chapter of WSU's environmental studies program....

Tony