04.18.09
Dad’s 60th birthday party…
It’s kind of crazy but within the last 6 months we’ve had 4 major birthdays in the family including Marshall’s and my 30th, Jeffery’s 25th and now my dad’s 60th on Thursday.
My dad had insisted that he did not want a big party and even though Heather had wanted to put together something big with friends from the past and people from work, my dad had told my mom in no uncertain times that he did NOT want a party and would be very upset if she tried to throw one. I know Heather was bummed about that but wanted to respect my dad’s wishes so she set her sights on a family party at her house.
Heather handled all logistics (she’s an amazing party planner) and made plans for having the family over to her house at 2pm on Saturday. The food was amazing and featured specialty dishes from my mom and all the kids: two sets of guacamole-one with onions and one without for my dad (Jeffery), salsa, stuffed mushrooms and spinach dip (Heather), cupcakes and fruit salad (my mom), and macaroni and cheese (me).
In attendance were my Aunt Tiffany and cousins Robyn, Jeena and Tessa, my Uncle Greg, my cousin Lorien, Cyril, their daughter Neomie, and our immediate family. Unfortunately my Uncle John had to head to Helms Powerplant to do some work for PG&E so he wasn’t able to be there to celebrate with us.
Since Easter was just around the corner and all the cousins were there, they decided to do an Easter egg hunt at my sisters house. This proved to be a lot of fun for the bigger kids too. Marshall is always the biggest kid so he had fun hiding eggs for the kids.
Lorien and Cyril moved from France back to California and were celebrating their first Easter with Neomie in California. Cyril quickly got the hang of hiding eggs which also lent itself to a cool picture.
The outhouse shed that my dad built doubled as a hiding place for several well-placed eggs.
While the kids ran around grabbing Easter eggs, I got to have some fun by pointing out one of the eggs to Sierra and then watching her try and get it. Marshall had “hid” the egg in the pool so it was all Sierra’s if she could get it.
After having the egg pointed out to her Sierra tries her hand (paw) at retrieving an egg hidden in the pool.
Hmm, she's really going for it but can she get it?...
It only took a split second but while Sierra was pawing at the water to try and get the egg Marshall pushed her butt forcing the front half of her to fall into the water. Aw, what a mean daddy. Shake off all that water on him Sierra. 
After the Easter egg hunt we headed back inside for cake and presents. Heather made an Angel Food cake with bananas and strawberries smothered in wHip cream frosting. It was delicious. My sister takes after my mom with her baking skills. =)
Happy 60th Birthday Dad. We love you!! =)
Aunt Tiffany and family gave my dad a really nice patio/garage heater which will come in very handy up at the ranch.
Before opening his present my dad shares a story with his brother Greg about how his window got stuck rolled down when it was raining (hmm, I know someone else who had the same problem) and the jacket my uncle gave him kept him dry even though he was soaked on the outside.
So the party went well and I think even though my dad wasn’t ecstatic about turning 60, I think he had a really nice time. =)
Here are some other pictures from the party worth sharing… For the rest, check out my Picasa album.
Jeffery loves to rough-house with Awesamoe and truth be told, that cat seems to love it. =)
Dad and mom on Heather's balcony overlooking the alfalfa fields.
Happy Birthday Dad. We love you… =)
04.04.09
Henry W. Coe State Park backpacking trip…
Woohoo, first backpacking trip of the year and it was awesome. =) “V” was the official lead for this trip and because it was intended as an “Intro to Backpacking” he also mentored a number of us on how to lead the rest of the crew. Speaking of, here we all are just before getting started on our trek.
Our crew before hitting the trail on Saturday
This was actually the first backpacking trip I had done without Ksenya (she already had plans for that weekend and wasn’t really interested in an intro backpacking trip) so I was eager to meet new people and see how the whole experience went going into it without knowing anyone (except “V” of course). =)
One of the girls I really clicked with and ended up sharing my new tent with was Magda. Magda’s been on several day hikes that I’ve been on however we’ve never really chatted much. Turns out she is super cool, very outgoing and happens to play ultimate frisbee (I had brought my frisbee) so we had a lot of fun on this trip. Magda also provided much entertainment for the rest of us as she thoroughly tested her hypothesis that a frisbee could be skipped over a smooth water surface. For the record it can’t but it was sure funny to watch her try to get it to obey her wishes. =)
Super cool chick and killer ultimate frisbee player, Magda, relaxing at the edge of China Hole
One of the coolest things about this trip was the amount of wildflowers in bloom along the trail and filling every meadow. It was difficult not to stop every two seconds to stop and take a picture. The nearly 30lb pack on my back made that a bit easier to resist as it is incredibly difficult to keep kneeling down and getting back up with that kind of weight trying to pull you over. I think that’s probably how I strained my knee but it’s all good. =)
A bug's eye view of some beautiful purple flowers and the blue cloudless sky in the background.
Super cool wildflowers (star lilies) in varying states of bloom
After the hike I worked to identify the flowers I had seen on the trip and came up with this link which is super helpful. I had been trying to identify the Star Lilies for quite awhile and hadn’t been able to until now. A very friendly ranger at the station told us we could bring our pictures to them to identify after our hike but by the time we were done, I was ready to head home to see Marshall. I love the hikes but it’s great to get home to my family. =)
I’m not sure when the next backpacking trip is or where it will be scheduled for. Ilya is going to lead a hike to Henry Coe on Easter weekend so I won’t be able to make that. “V” is also leading a trip to Yellowstone which would be awesome but it’s already full. Maybe later in April or early May. We’ll see. Until then, here are some links to the photo albums from the trip. They will have to sustain me until the next backpacking trip.
- My photos
- Sam’s photos
- Saurabh’s photos – (really awesome photos)
- Magda’s photos – (awesome pictures of red-headed woodpecker)
- Video of Saurabh, Magda and me playing frisbee
After playing frisbee with Shaurabh, Magda and Justin I took the opportunity to snap a shot of me on the flower covered abandoned airstrip.
