Disney: Cool Artwork

The first night at Disney we found this collage picture. Each shot will get closer on one of Mickey's eyes. Pretty cool!

Derlicious !

As is Steve and my tradition of hitting a Der at least once on travel (actually it probably Steve's tradition no matter when) then we got Joann to join us on our expedition. Turns out she had not ever had a chili-cheese dog before..and she liked it! Thanks to Joann for the picture on her phone.

Der Wienerschnitzel

They had to drop the Der and my guess is the reason is the fact Der is grammatically incorrect in German. But somehow they have placed Der on a small logo and tagged it on much of their product anyway. In high school we called them WeenyWorld.

NOTE: The Back Forty BBQ review is posted over at BubbaQlog as promised.

SDWest Day 5: Winding Down with Food

Well the last day is always the hardest and poorest choices. Sitting here in the last session time hoping for a useful talk on Managing Software Debt. We will see.

We ate at the Mall's foodcourt. Lots of Asian food to choose from along with Mexican. We went to find Joann some cold remedies which we found at a Walgreens finally. Seems she now has David's cold. No telling if Steve and I will get it too now. Oh well. All part of the business trip I guess.

I took a forty minute walk at lunch and saw lots of mallards and cranes. Nice walking paths here in Santa Clara/San Jose.

We will drive up to San Ramon (~27 miles) to try a Texas BBQ place called The Back Forty. The original place is up the road another 10 miles so we will stop short at a newer one. It is basically up the road toward the Livermore route. A review will be forthcoming over on the Bubbaqlog hopefully tomorrow or the next day.

I love my girls this much!!!!!!!!!!

SDWest Day 4: Down The Stretch

We have noticed that the last days of SDWest always seem to have less big name speakers and fewer titles of interest. But that is good in away since it helps us narrow down what we want to go see. Finding one speaker every one hour and one-half is good enough.

Nothing notable to report. Lunch was at an In-N-Out burger. The menu has four food items... hamburger, cheeseburger, double-meat & double cheese burger, and fries. And drinks are a minimum too. When we arrived they were on number 54 and we were 72. It took us less than five minutes to get our food. Luckily we found a table big enough for all three of us...luck? Well Joann jump on it when it opened about the time we got our food. When we left they had already went around the number counter past 99 and were back on 50-something. The place was packed and busy. They crank out the food. It is pretty good too. Except for a special sauce a lot like the Special Sauce on a BigMac. Turns out K.T. and Jon Dahl really like this burger joint.

The cardinal picture was just to add some color to this post. I found it online and it was free.

Well time to start another day. I miss and love my girls. See you in one more sleep...God willing and the creek don't rise. :) This Much!!!!!!!!!!!!

SDWest Day 3: Fun Day

Well Day Three was a bit slower. Only hit two presentations out of four but went for a couple of walks and got to visit with Steve and Joann a good bit. One talk was on how folks have succeeded with Agile. It was ok but nothing new to report. The other was a good talk by Dewhurst on C++ idioms.

I worked on making examples of how we use the boost library to design our software. Sorta how we design things.

We decided to eat at Olive Garden and had soup and salad. Yummmy.

I picked up a book yesterday hear at the conference called "Presentationyen." It is very interesting and exciting to think about doing better presentation which at the lab we really need.

No new picture today.

SDWest Day 2: A Better Day

The 2nd Day of SDWest was a bit better than the first. My hip is better but only because I did not run on it in the morning. The two tutorials I went to were actually pretty good. Reminders of good ways to write software in any language. Also one polished up a topic on Agile planning that I have been at a loss on....User Stories. Now just how to apply them is the question.

For lunch Steve and I did our usual tradition, on travel, of eating at a Wienerschnitzel (The Der). Joann excitedly came along with us since she claims to have never had a chili-dog before. Only a hotdog with catsup is all. It was Derlicious. She may be hooked. :)

We found (thank you Mr. GPS) a small street in downtown Sunnyvale that had a ton of cafes and restaurants. It seemed like a popular spot in the middle of nowhere. We ate at an Indian place (Tumeric) and the food was good. We tried one of those blossom ball things (a samosa) that is is posted here. It was good but did not have much punch. Then after dinner we found a new/used bookstore next door to browse.

SDWest Day 1: So it begins

Well the first day was at SDWest was interesting. Went to a morning tutorial on Building Your Coaching Skills then a lunchtime talk by Uncle Bob Martin about Clean Code. Both were good. Bob is a very entertaining speaker. He should follow Agile advice and get a domain expert on his team to help him with his "fun" Physics part of his talk though.

This afternoon I had a hip that was bugging me so I hung out in the room resting it.

There is a lot of Agile Development talks along with some good C++ seminars. Always interesting. It seems there is fewer people here this year. Perhaps the poor economy. SDWest itself does not have break snacks like last time nor the cap and t-shirt like last year. Seems a bit slow here.

Our swanky Hotel is pretty much only swanky in the lobby. It is the conference hotel but does not have much in the room. No free breakfasts or no free WiFi. I am using the SDWest network over at the conference. Oh well. That is how it goes.

Tomorrow is another day with different talks and tutorials. :) I have Emily's laptop almost purring with C++ and unit-testing. Thanks ME for the loan. It makes for a better conference. Just can't wait to use it in a tutorial.

I love and miss everybody. ME I hope your ankle gets better soon.
Love Dad

Santa Ana Zoo: Margay

Today it was raining and cool. Since it is a holiday then Gwen had not planned on us going to Disneyland due to the crowds plus the rain and winds made it not so inviting.

So we drove over to the nearby Santa Ana Zoo. It is a very small zoo but very nice. With weather they let us in free and the animals were all inside with warm heaters.

But one of the more interesting varmints we saw was the Margay cat. It looked like an exotic house cat and its ankles turn 180 degrees. Way cool. I wonder if they can go up and down trees forward and backwards.

If It Is Such A Small World Then...

Why is it the longest dang ride at Disneyland? Think about it.

We had the chance to ride It's A Small World twice last night. It is amazing all the different things there are to look at on the ride. Not to mention the never getting the song our of your head afterwards. The only redeeming thing about the length of the ride is the fact it was warm and no wind. :)

Bob and Gale said they rode this ride back in 1964 during the World's Fair in NY.

It is an incredible ride with some cool stuff to see. Elizabeth and Emily loved it.

Speaking of cool stuff...the Disney fireworks at the Sleeping Beauty Castle is awesome. I have never seen such cool fireworks before.

Highlights of Chistmas

I do not have enough energy to post about everything, but here are some things off the top of my head that stood out to me ......


Season 2&3 of The Gilmore Girl's
Hunger Hippos
Rudy's Card
Aunt TK' Photo Calendar

Well those were mostly for me. :) LOL. It is all about me I guess.

Went to Don and Terri Bednar's for lunch and went sledding too. On the way home passed a car in the road by the Valle Grande sitting on its side.

Thanks to everyone who sent gifts to the girls and us. Merry Christmas and have Happy New Year.

New Zealand: Cadbury's Kitchen Quick Weigh

A useful keepsake from our time in New Zealand. Interesting design. Found this link that says it is from the 1950's.





















Hmmm, One Gill is a "Quarter-Pint." Talk about a quarter short of being a "Half-Pint." I wonder if Peter knows about this!? :)

Memories: Boot Horns

Ricardo Boot Horns like these have been around our family for a long time. The one on the left belonged to our great uncle, Uncle Terry. I guess I inherited it when he passed on in the mid 1980's. The one of the right I have had for almost as long as I can remember. I am sure I got it from a relative or something but it has been hanging around my room for a long long time....maybe since I was little.




I do not see these very often anymore and thought they were interesting memories. Uncle Terry was a rancher and it just seemed natural that he would have a boot horn. They both work great as door stops too. :)

Memories and Pictures

This is one of my favorite pictures of Emily and me taken six or seven years ago. We tried to reproduce it today when Emily decided to hug me on the small couch. I do not look so happy but it is just the fact I was waiting to smile and look up on que but Gwen got the picture off a tad sooner than I anticipated. Oh well we may try again. It seems just like yesterday we took the older picture.


Elizabeth wanted her picture taken in the same way. Pretty cool.

A Christmas Present Remembered - Buck Knife

I got to thinking that I do not really have too many Christmas presents left from my youth. So I have decided to post pictures of them as I find them. I have several lined up.

This one is from when I was about 14yrs old. It is a Buck Knife. I still carry it when I go hunting. It is good and broke-in now. :) I may wrap it up and put it under the tree again this year.

It is beginning to look alot like Christmas

Trash or TV snack as my family calls it. More commonly known as Chex Mix these days. We brought some back from Angelo at Thanksgiving that Mom and TK had made. Yum. I am almost out.

I cannot remember a Christmas without it. Not even in NZ where Mom sent me some while we were there. :)




We had a pretty good snow that got things in a Christmas spirit.







Almost filled the driveway all the way up the concrete wall.

Gwen Birthday!!!

We bought four Eclairs for Gwen's BD cake and put candles on them. Elizabeth really wanted a picture of Mom and her with the cake. Emily took the picture.

New Blog: BubbaQ-Log

I have a small affection for BBQ. Not just any BBQ but Texas-style. A few years ago I setup a blog for BBQ but never did much with it. Emily (M.E.) saw it and asked if we could start reviewing the BBQ places we visit.

So we restarted the BBQ blog and we have added a few reviews to kick it off. We have several reviews long overdue though like Cyclone and Cooper's to name a few.

If you enjoy BBQ then have a peek. We (Emily and myself) called it BubbaQ-Log.

Tech-Texas Game: This Says It All

A picture forwarded to me by a UT fan who got it from a friend. This is of that friend's kids.

Cool Birthday Card

A really cool card from the Nolens. Thx guys!

Also thanks Mom and Bob & Gale for my cards and presents! :)

GUNS UP, BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Courtesy of SI via a AP Photo.

What a great shot of the game winning touchdown. You can see the great hands of Michael Crabtree though they are not showing the fact his feet are dancing less than a half a foot from the out of bounds. When he crossed into the end zone the clock said one second left in the game.

Also what a perfect shot of the football showing the Texas Tech logo! You couldn't ask for better. I was really not happy that Tech held the lead in this game all the way until less than last minute and one-half of the game and they might lose. So this game winning TD was so appropriate.

Since I first went to TTU in 1988 Tech has been able to beat Texas and Texas A&M in upsets regularly but usually Tech is not really all that good. They just rise up and play well. Spike Dyke's teams beat both A&M and Texas in a balanced number and combined than even Leach. Leach has A&Ms number but against Texas he has had a lot less success. But Tech was never a real contender when they beat either school....it was just an upset and Tech went to a consolation bowl if lucky.

This upset was only in the odds from Vegas not in Tech's ability. They really are this good (the number 6 ranking was no fluke) and can play with the best of them (Texas ranking of number 1 was no fluke). Hats off to them and Texas for a great game...perhaps one of the greatest College game I have every watched myself. (Someone reminded me of the Oklahoma and Boise State game which was incredible too).

GUNS UP!!!!!!

Leaving Portland As I Entered Portland

In the dark.

I rode the train from the Airport to City Center/Hotel in the dark. There are three lines available to ride ..... yellow, blue, and red. I was told that only red leaves the airport and to just get on a train. I did as I was told and the train said City Center and was red. About 1/4 of the way into my trip it switch to blue! The ole bait and switch. I scramble to figure out if I need to find a switch off place to reconnect with red. Then one person said it was ok that red and blue both go through the city center and had the exact same stops. Wow! Of course I had to trust this person and the train. It was completely dark and I had no idea where I was except for a town map given to me at the airport. Luckily it had the train lines and stops on it. Once we were within the boundaries of the map I could see each stop and we more confident. No worries. I got off one block away and walked to the hotel easy as cake. The train took about
40 minutes with distance and all the stops along the way.

This morning I decide to leave a bit early just in case of problems. I was think with backtracking I could get red or blue and get to the airport. This assumption seems to be true except blue might have detoured me a bit. The lady at the front desk said take red that says Airport on it. They come by every 10minutes or there abouts. This time I had to walk down one block but then over one since the tracks go the other direction from which I come in on but one block over. I was beginning to think both ticket machines were broke and would not take any form of currency until I realized you had to push a button and pick a ticket type then it would say give me your money. :) As luck would have it a blue train to Gresham and Yellow to the Expo center came by first. So the red was next and I got on at 7:00am. At about 7:30am I noticed outside it was still dark...maybe a small small bit of daylight trying to show. It was overcast....luckily it only rained yesterday morning.

My trained arrived at 7:40am almost on the dot and I got my bag check, shopped, and ate breakfast. I am sitting here in a southwest chair that looks like first class writing and waiting to board the plane. It is 8:45am EDST. I have a bit to wait since the plane leaves at 10am. Gwen and the kids will be picking me up at the airport. Yeah! I miss them dearly. The trip is 2hrs and 30 minutes in the air. They are in ABQ spending the night and swimming at the hotel with possibly a Zoo visit this morning before picking me up. :) I unsure what is in store when I arrive but I know that Big Tech-Texas game is on at about 5 or 6pm and I am hoping to watch it. Both undefeated and both rank high (6th and 1st respectively). It is time for Tech to show they belong. I hope they rise to the occasion.

The training has been great and my stay has been great. Look a Hawaiian Airline plane is taxiing to the runway for takeoff. I did not know there was such an airline. Interesting.

Well I love and miss my family. God willing the creek don't rise I will see them soon. I love them this muchhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!! Elizabeth, Emily, and Gwen just keep smiling and save me a kiss and hug.

Last Night In Portland

Well the last day of my training is complete. I have two certificates to prove that I was here....but I really did give it my best. Which is a bit unusual since classes and conferences usually leave me skipping out on somethings. Not this class. Even though I had read the book this class was based on, I tried to hang with it and do my part on our teams.

It was fun and enjoyable. I learned a great deal.

I had dinner with the gentleman who once went to 4th and 5th grade in Angelo. We went to the
Deschutes Brewery just down 11th Street (about 5 blocks) from the Governor Hotel. Unknow to me until I arrived is that Portland likes good beer and coffee. There is alot of good local breweries (some micro and some bigger) here and coffee shops that buy and roast their own. Even the Europeans at the class really like Portland because of their beer.

Anyway we ate Deschutes (an Oregon beer) which has a very nice restaurant with alot of beautiful woodcarvings to decorate the place. You can see the beer vats and what not through windows. The food is very nice (mine was a cheeseburger) and its location was on a path with Powell's Bookstore.

I gather Powells is one of the largest used and new book stores in country. Easy to believe since I need a map to get around in it. Several floors with several rooms per floor big. The floors and rooms were color coded to help with the search. It is one big place. There are several stores but the one at Burnside and 11th seems to be the biggest. Deschutes is just one block on down 11th street. All of this within a five minute walk of the hotel.

There is a region in Portland called the Pearl District which has what they call The Brewery Block. There appears to be a concentration of breweries in this part of Portland at the Pearl District which is just a bit farther down from Deschutes on 11th. We walked past the old Henry Wienhard place which is Bitz-Wienhard brewery. And you could see the old brewery vats up on stilts high in the air. Sorta cool.

It really helps to have locals give you walking tours. Everyone here is happy to help. Very friendly town and folks.

Well tomorrow, God willing, I will return home to ABQ with my family waiting for me. I now need to get down to the gym for some exercise.

Weird Crossing of Paths

At lunch today, which the training course provides, it came up I was from Texas. When I said I was born and raised in San Angelo there was a nice response from two of the gentlemen.

One said that his grandparents had lived in San Angelo. They both died in recent years and had been at the Baptist Memorial nursing home. Then the guy next to me said he went to fourth and fifth grade in San Angelo when his dad was stationed at Goodfellow Airbase. I went wow!!!
Said he used to catfish on the Concho and other things.

Then the first guy said his other grandparents lived in White Rock and his granddad had been a guard (PTLA) at the lab. Wow again. Really weird.

Almost makes me think that I had spies working on me or something. What are the chances of this happening? :)

Then a third guy at the table said his grandparents were from Uvalde! For crying outloud. Uvalde is south east of Sonora a short to medium distance. I almost stood up and ask if anyone else had heard of San Angelo, Texas!?

Walk Around City Center - Portland

We not a big walk around but I walked to the mall (Pioneer) which covers four city blocks. Ate at a Macaroni's Grill ... not bad. Downtown is nice even at night. I had noticed a couple of interesting buildings and went to take a look.







The Telegram Building

First Presbyterian Church

Looking online I find that there are is a cluster of historic buildings and churches in this area. These two were the ones I could see from the hotel.

Tony Hillerman's Passing

I was sadden to learn that Sunday Tony Hillerman has pass away. Just imagine, I was passing thru there to the airport Sunday. Having just read his last published book several weeks ago, I had hoped a few more would come out. Likely he will have one or two that were sitting there ready or partly ready. Hillerman was 83 and a WWII battle veteran. There are not many WWII left it seems. In the article I linked to there is a quote from Elmer Kelton about Hillerman's passing. Kelton is a WWII veteran himself.

I have really enjoyed Hillerman's books over the years. His characters of Chee and Leaphorn really come to life and are now part of reading memory. There seemed to be no end to their own imaginary lifes.

As with the passing of Louis L'Amour, my reading choices have again narrowed a good bit. Who will fill the void? McGarrity has been similar to Hillerman and he fills it a good bit but I have been reading him for many years now. I do not even want to think of the void created by the one day passing of Elmer Kelton...though I reread so many of his books that it may not matter.

"No Worries"

Before our NZ adventure fourteen years ago, I had never really heard the expression "No Worries" used very much. If I had it was not often. But in NZ it seemed everyone used it in many occasions. If someone said, "thank you" then a "no worries" back at them was like your welcome. If something was not quite right then you might say, "no worries" so as to say it is good enough or no skin off my nose.

For reasons I cannot say why, I picked up this expression and have used it continually as part of my language. As time has gone by and in recent years I have noticed that more and more folks use this expression here in the States. A perfect example was tonight at AJs burger place the young lady doing the cooking answered me with a your welcome by saying, "no worries." Since I have noticed it used more I have been more sensitive to listening for it. I was surprised she used it.

Funny how our language changes and does so in a fairly fast timeframe. The ole, "No Worries, Mate" is stereotypical Aussie like in Crocodile Dundie but just the, "no worries" was not really part of that.

AJs On The Rails

Deciding to get food as fast as possible and then get to the gym for exercise was good. This way I will have more time to read, write, and play so to speak. AJs On The Rails is a burger joint with a java house inside. I asked the door-man if the place was any good and he said it was good enough since I did not want to get too far away from the hotel. AJs is just down from the India House so it was an easy walk.

When I walked in the young lady behind the counter by the grill asked if I would be dining with them. I said I would like take out and she said that was great and started to get me a menu. Then a young lady walked in and asked if I would be dining with them and when I told her what I wanted she got me a menu before the other lady could. They both were very friendly and helped me alot without me being left with questions. The burger took about five minutes and I was off the hotel to do some blogging. :)

The burger was not bad...the meat had a different flavor but it was moist and overall it was good. I doubt I would try it again since it did not have the flavor I expected but I nothing stopped me from finishing it. The fries were ok...sorta the BBK changed to fries that they changed back from. Just the friendliness would be enough bring me back if I did happen to be in Portland.

I am all done now and will wait 15minutes before I go down to the Gym for some exercise. More later.

Agile Training and Sleeps

Well the agile training is interesting and has stimulated more questions than I have time for here. :) If you wonder what is this Agile? Then go to Wikipedia: Agile. We are learning the Extreme Programming version that also includes a bit of Scrum.

Well Elizabeth, two sleeps down and four sleeps to go.

It is almost time to head down for breakfast and start the second and last of the Planning training class. Tomorrow was start a new three day class on Delivery. This means less planning and more developing/programming.

To my girls.... I love you this much!!!! Have a great day.
Terry

India House, Portland Oregon

India House on SW Morrison across the street from the Governor Hotel serves pretty good food. I was able to pick out Chicken Tikka Masla and Chicken Tandoor so I went with the Masla which hit the spot just right. The Naan bread was a bit thin and crispier than I like but it was good bread. Here at this Google map location is a link to the street view of the India House.

Follow this link and then type in "India House Portland Oregon" and search then click on the A link and then on the street view. Pretty cool eh!? So cool to turn that view around.

I may make one more visit before I go. Maybe try Chicken Tandoor. :) And there are a ton of different breads to try.

Governor Hotel, Portland Oregon

Here is the hotel I am staying at and taking training here in Portland. The building and hotel will be 100 years old next year. The name has changed over the years but the building is now
a historic site. One part of the building was built for one interesting purpose which Bob Pallissard would be interested to know about. :) Have a look at this link and the history of the hotel.

Governor Hotel, Portland Oregon

Portland here I come

Have never been to Portland...actually have never been to any west coast state beside CA. Should be interesting. Get a little Agile Development training. :)

Elizabeth, Emily, and Gwen I will be taking off within the next hour. My trip to ABQ was good and safe. I love each of you very much....thissss muchhh!!!!!!!! :)

Take care of each other while Dad is gone.

I love you guys lots.

Courthouses: Huerfano County

Huerfano County Courthouse in Walsenburg Colorado courtesy of Gwen Adams. The girls know I like Courthouses so they snapped this one as they went to Estes Park to visit Colorado grandparents.

Toilet By Elizabeth

Thanks Aunt TK...this is all your fault. :)

Bacon Salt - What would my Grandma think of this!?

Now this sounds cool. Hard to find home cooked meals that are fried in bacon grease. Maybe this would be a good substitute.

Bacon Salt

Sleeping Elizabeth

No it is not a new doll that Elizabeth has gotten. It is Elizabeth herself. Since their return from Colorado we got her started on no Binky. So she now sleeps with no binky...yea! But she refuses to take naps. Part of it is no binky and the other is she is now at the age where she just does not want a nap. Needing a nap is a whole other issue as you can see.

She will be motoring along and starting to get grumpy. Saying, "I am not sleepy." And in a heart beat she is asleep. Here is a few of her right where she fell asleep.



In front of the front door with plenty of daylight left.







In my arm by the computer with plenty of daylight left.











Two nights ago...she was grumping and just crawled up on the couch and asked if she could put her head on Emily's feet. Then she was out like a light. Emily is awake in this picture but playing possum.




Last night Elizabeth was sitting on the bed, again plenty of daylight, with me while I talked on the phone. Next thing I know she is asleep. Recently if I take her with me to Sonic right before dark then she will fall asleep in her car sit while I am ordering. Once she was awake when we left Sonic and even bragged about it. Then within two blocks she was trying to fall asleep. :)

A few Birthday Pictures

On Elizabeth's BD she wanted to have dinner at Gabriels which is a favorite of the whole family. She was excited to be there.







Here is the whole family with photo courtesy of David Daniel a family friend who Elizabeth invited. His wife Joann could not make since she was headed to England that day.







Here is a picture of David along with the girls.








Emily's BD came quickly after Elizabeth's and she did not have a special dinner request but she did want an ice cream cake or pie. Mint chocolate chip pie. Yum.






Here is one of her presents from grandma Texas. It is only displayed here since it was a favorite of Dad's! So nice to use on that laptop. :)

Been awhile

Seems that since coming back from Colorado we have not been doing much posting. School started not long after the girls go back and we have been busy.

Gale is doing good after her surgery. It just took time to heal and get stronger. I think the girls all enjoyed being there but were also glad to get home to their own bed and things to play with.

Emily started fifth grade and her Eleventh BD is tomorrow. Elizabeth's fourth BD was Friday a week ago. She was very happy to have a BD. She talked about it all day long. She got to eat at the Bandilier Grill in White Rock for lunch then we went to Gabriels for dinner for her. David Daniel, a friend from work, joined us. Elizabeth really enjoyed her meals for her BD. When we got home she opened her BD presents from the family. She has been playing with them a lot.

ALB is going to preschool/daycare three days a week. On Thursday she goes to preschool while Gwen goes to a ladies bible study then they meet me and the Nolen's for lunch. As Steve calls it the Familys' tradition.

Emily's most notable activity at school is that the fifth graders are running to Austin, Texas. Why Austin I do not know but they as the fifth grade are adding up the miles they run in the morning at school to see if they can run to Austin. Family and friends can join as often as they like to run with them. I ran with Emily a week ago Friday. She had a half mile on me by the time I arrived then we ran together until time was up. She got 2 miles and I got 1.5 miles. Not bad for the Adamses. So far she is doing very well in school and adjusting to her new teacher. Both teachers of the fifth grade seem to be turning up the school thing a notch or two with a lot more work and responsibility on the kids than four grade. They are adjusting well.

Tomorrow is also Gwen and my seventeenth anniversary! We were going to Taos for two nights at a nice B&B without the kids but we along with Elizabeth have been sick. We were able to cancel and get a gift certificate for two nights good for a year. Yea.

One finally note...the All-Blacks beat Australia this morning to win the Tri-nations tournament again. It came down to the finally test to decide.

Elizabeth Pictures

The infamous shoe shot.







Self Portrait








You tell me ... a ducky thing.

Utopia Shoot Pic

Just found this over at the Utopia Shoot page. I had forgot they took a picture that day back in June.

Love You My Family

Well it has been wonderful to be here again and get to do things with my family.

Gale keep getting stronger and get up lots. I love you and will see you soon. Bob start playing some horseshoes. Elizabeth is ready to go anytime. And I think Emily is ready too. :) Thanks for everything guys.

Elizabeth, Emily, and Gwen...I love you guys soo much...how much....this muchhhhhhhh! Remember to think of Grandma and Grandpa first no matter how tired you get. Lord willing and the creek don't rise I will see you all soon. Give Bri a hug for me when you see her please?

For all my family wherever you are....I love you.

Elizabeth Having Fun

Elizabeth has been wanting to practice her HorseShoeing since Bob and I cleaned out the two sandpits for the horseshoeing. I placed a mark on the ground for her to stand behind when pitching the shoe. She made a ringer on her second throw. She does pretty good.
















Emily and ALB like swinging on the swings and ropes in the back. Here is a little video of ALB swinging from the rope.

Heaven and Hell

No this is not about John Jakes novel from the North and South series. This is about two interesting books I have read lately and they are of the most serious nature.

90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper tells of his after death and return to life experience. Don (a minister) was killed in a terrible car accident (1989) and was dead for 90 minutes. He tells that those 90 minutes were in heaven and that he returned to life trapped in the crushed car with another minister singing and praying over him. His life was very difficult for the next two years as he recovered from the accident.

23 Minutes in Hell by Bill Wiese tells of his personal experience of being dropped into hell. Bill's story is not about a near death experience or dream but of how Jesus greeted him after his brief but horrific trip to hell and asks Bill (not a minister) to warn others (non-believers and believers) that there is a hell and it is not a place anyone wants to go. Bill never wants to have even one second in hell again it was that terrible and horrible. A video of Bill telling his message.

ALittleBit's Hole In One at Putt-Putt

If you can listen closely then Elizabeth will declare her hole in one. :)

Estes Park Updates

The girls with their Colorado Grandma at the hospital. Gale is now at home.











Elizabeth and I took a walk downtown this morning. She is petting the Bit Cat statue downtown in Estes Park.










ALB wading downtown with the Beaver sculpture in the background.












M.E. in her karate outfit











Elizabeth trying out the outdoor theater in Estes Park. The hills are alive with the sound of music.

Appaloosa and Resolution

Recently I picked up a copy of Cowboys & Indians because it had this cover of Tom Selleck on it. I do not usually pickup Western magazines unless it had Selleck, Elliot, or Duvall on them. If you have not seen it then the article is worth the read. Some interesting stories about Tom Selleck and how he got into western movies.

But totally unrelated to Tom Selleck is another article about the novel Appaloosa by Robert Parker which is going to be released as a made for TV movie this fall. It will have Ed Harris and Vigo Mortenson(?) as the leads. While reading the article I discovered that Parker is a mystery writer who created the Spencer character in Spencer for Hire and the Stone character that is on TV played by Tom Selleck...ok so this is related to Tom in some nth degree of separation.

I found the fact Ed Harris and Vigo M were going to play in this western interesting so I checked out Appaloosa and the sequel Resolution out at the library.

Appaloosa is basically about two gunfighters who do their fighting as official lawmen. The main character is Virgil Cole who has been doing a gunfighter/lawman for hire for many years. His partner a West Point graduate ex-military Indian fighter named Everett Hitch. Cole is cool as a cucumber gunfighter and Hitch is a tough and almost as cool sidekick who uses a ten-gauge shotgun as his main weapon of choice. They are usually hired as lawmen to clean up a town under the town's laws which are usually written by Cole and signed by the town counsel.

As I read the book and saw the development of the characters I could see Ed Harris as Cole and Vigo as Hitch perfectly. If they can adapt the characters then the movie should be interesting. Parker develops two characters whose re pore is incredible. I found their dialogue to be cool and at times intelligent.

But as a western it is just fun. It is nothing like L'Amour and totally not like Kelton. The characters may be more like Grey. The books are a fun read.

I only have a few cautions, there is a lot is profane and nasty language and a lot of talk about sex and prostitution. Most of it unnecessary to make these novels work and believable to a point. There is also a lot of violence that is a bit more over the top than L'Amour or Grey. Honestly I was not sure I could finish off Appaloosa due to the language and some of the graphic nature...it just detracted from the story in my opinion. I do not recommend the books based on these cautions.

If the movie adaptation can remove most of the language, voilence, and sexual references then it should be a good movie. But after watching Costner's last movie with Duvall then I am not so sure Hollywood will remove these things. I look forward to seeing if Ed and Vigo can pull off these two characters.

Rocky Mountain National Park

A few weeks ago the family drove up into the Rocky Mountain National Park. We drove up to the lookout near the top of the pass on Fall River Road and back down on Trail Ridge Road.

Elizabeth was on a Marmot hunt but we found a lot of wildlife and flowers to look at along the way. Here we found this beautiful bull in velvet.




And here we found Elizabeth one of the yellow-bellied marmots she so wanted to see. We also saw many pikas too.







We once took a picture of Gwen, Emily, and myself at this waterfall, I think was Chasms, so we decided to do it again now that we have Elizabeth. Not too bad.