Pumpkin carving time

OK, here's our pumpkins. Let's see some of yours. Click on the title to see more pics.
Jim

Jonah/Reunion

This is Jonah, our youngest. He is six and caught this big trout out of the pond close by. I didn't take this pic, but we are here in Colorado on a vacation. Crazy weather here in the high countryk; snow, wind, hot............................Speaking of reunions. Karen and I vote for CC again. We would prefer (as already said) a spot where we can circle the wagon train and all be together. How about that camp ground just past the big trees towards Grants Pass. I'm nominating Glenda for Black Sheep award next year; any seconds? And Teisha should get Most Improved Second Gen. Did I tell you all, Chuck called, and is looking forward to the next reunion! PnK

missing you guys

my pics missing all of you!!

Reunion 2009

To see larger, click on the pic.
Jim

Have a great week.

Some people build decks and shelving (useful stuff). I make wreaths, go kayaking, cut firewood, take pictures of birds, and play with Gonzo. It was a fun weekend, that's my story and I'm not apologizing for it.
Jim
If you click on the pic you can see the pics larger.

Illa

HAPPY BIRTHDAY....

and may you continue to be a blessing to everyone you meet.

Dick

Projects progress

Still need the roof over the front, stairs and a ramp in the front. Here is the first bank of shelves. It is slowly getting there. Later on I will have to remove all of them when I go to insulate and drywall everything. It would have been better to do it first but there is an issue of funds availability. Oh well, I knew it would come down to this. But at least I can use it in the mean time. Next year hopefully the tower, gazebo and fish pond. Maybe I'll have a decent looking yard in the process. This year was too busy to keep it up. Will just have to wait and see if I managed to kill all the flowers in this process.

Illa

Bonnie and Rick

It has been great with Bonnie and Rick staying with Lisi and the joy that they have created in this visit with Lisi. She has so much had fun hanging out with them. Also Jess and I have had such fun with them also, while they have been with her.

It's been great seeing Jess and Rick visiting, and hearing Jess talk to Rick, they have been having so much fun just hanging out..... I also have been busy and love the time, that I can get with them, visiting and seeing the joy of this time we have been able to have........ Thank you Rick and Bonnie.

We know that we will be seeing them when they need a break and visit with Lis, Jess is looking forward to the time we will be seeing more of them, Jess needs a man to talk to, laugh.

We did have a great day today, just visiting, driving the area here, with them... and have got so great idea's, also Jess is looking for the time with Rick working in stained glass.

Lisi and I are grateful that they are going to take care of Agness during her last day's so that she can die at home, with those around her at these last day's........

Just want to say hi to everyone. Rick and I have been staying with Lisi and spending time with her and Lili and Jess. We will be staying with Grandma Aggie until she dies which I hope will not be for a long time. she is going down hill fast and they were going to be have to put in a rest home because my sister in law Maxine is not able to lift her by herself. We feel God placed us here at just the right time so we can both take care of her and she will be able to stay in her home until she dies which could be 2 weeks or 6 months. She loves Rick and I a lot and we love her so it is a wonderful opportunity for all. She loves The Lord with all her heart and is at peace about dying. It really awesome how God opens closes doors and opens others. We love ya all. Rick and Bonnie

Lili say's.......
Dear all, it's great to have family here visiting, and Lisi is having a ball with Bonnie and Rick, with her, she's having a great time, cooking and having a little wine and just hanging out. But, for me, they are having problems, have me sit for two seconds, laugh!!! Also you and all know, that with my big mouth, and seeing so little of each of you. I try to get in a little time, so my mouth runs, off and I cut you all off, visit more and problems gone.............

Lis and Bonnie are going to create a mouth zipper for me!!!!

Found a home for Missy

Speaking of pears................................

Sandi and I took a day trip over to Seiad Valley today. Seiad Valley is where Mom and Dad had the mining claim that we experienced each summer growing up. It took Mom about 6 hours to drive there, we got there in about 3 hours. We took a route (now paved) that Mom didn't like (maybe because it wasn't paved then). It was one of the first places that I took Sandi, and it was one of the first places that we took the boys camping and fishing. It holds many good memories and experiences. Andrew introduced Rachael to it a few weeks ago, so the tradition is being carried on.

It was a classic fall day; leaves changing colors, cool at higher elevations, and the feel of the change of seasons to come. We used the 'Super Duper Hooper Apple Plucker' on some pears in an abandoned pear tree and we found that it worked up to industry standards on pears too.

Jim

I like this picture

This is a couple years old. I never found out what was being said. Probably something about feet.

Gonzo's birthday today!!!

9 month, that is, and other stuff too.
Jim

Shasta Speedway aka Nascar

Well, Ben is taking a turn around the Shasta Speedway this weekend. There is some sort of special race event going on there. One of the racers is from here in the valley. I asked him if he would be willing to give Ben a spin around the track in his car (# 32) as He was never able to get to any of the Nascar races and it looks like I won't be able to get him to one now either to see if his favorite driver would run him around a few laps and this would be about as close to that as I could get. He was agreeable to do that. He was even going to talk to his promoter about the race in addition to the practice races. I was hoping to be able to go to the main race Sat. night but I have to work and can't get off. It is kind of funny that I happened to ask this gentleman as he was showing me his car, I called it the ghost car. It is white and has several other stickers on it as he is running in Memory of 2 other persons that were his friends and Nascar fans.

ILLA

We were walking our dog

We were walking our dog and this lady had to hold her dog from tearing ours apart. I snapped a quick photo.

Hi Everyone,
Just wanted to tell you all how great it was to see everyone at the reunion.
Sandy and Jim thanks so much for all you did and opening your home to all of us. I loved seeing Gonzo and getting to see you kids. We had a great time.

Now we are still trying to get settled in at Suzy's. We are working on getting Certified. Her life here is really busy and we are trying to keep up. It is great being with family. I still need to get up to see my daughter and Lili and Lisi and Jess.
Love ya all

News from McCloud

Well, the kids and I are doing fine. Athena's had a mild form of the swine flu, but she came through that beautifully. She's to be tested to get some extra help with her school work as well.

Athena goes to church as often as she can. She enjoys the sermon more than the classes.

Merlin enjoys getting to sit in front of the nearest church every morning, as the parking lot there is where he gets picked up from for his trip to school. So Monday through Friday, he and I watch the sky change together, cuddle under a blanket to keep warm, and admire the beauty around us.

I've been keeping busy taking care of the kids and catching up on some art projects I'd committed to for a role play gamesite, Dragon Hearts (link), that I help out with. Currently I finally finished the image version of the game map, though some time in the future there will have to be additions as the map is slated to expand in the next game version. I also have several landscape scenes to paint for area display as the players wander the map. The ones I've finished so far are forest, sea, and mountain... I have several other land types to complete, so the project isn't done yet. I do have what's been completed so far up in my Deviant Art (link) portfolio though.

That's been definite practice for my artistic skills, and showing just the forest scene to some people around here, I've been told I should make myself available for custom greeting and holiday cards.

Other than this, not much has been going on. Kids have been happily playing with friends, not-so-happily doing school work, and eating so much I suspect a growth spurt is due soon... yet again. Must be something in the water... *laughter*

~Teresa, Athena, Merlin, Lightning, Banzai

No partridges in pear trees here.

Yeh, it was like this: I took my shoes off to air my “dogs” and what did I see in front of me? You’re right. Bigfoot, Sasquatch, The Wild Man of the Forest, Oh-Mah, or what ever you want to call him. I don’t know, I guess he may have been attracted to the aroma of my feet!

Andrew, Rachael, and I went hunting again yesterday. It was a very successful day except for the fact that we didn’t see any legal deer. In fact we only saw two deer all day. We did see a lot of squirrels, big salmon jumping in the river (we each saw one but not the same one), 4 bear, and a lot of grouse near a pear tree.

I think the gray squirrels over in Siskiyou County may have some kind of mutual death wish that they’re all taking part in. As near as I can figure out it goes something like this. Two very bored squirrels sit along alongside a well-traveled road. They're probably the miscreants of the squirrel world and should really doing something constructive like preparing for winter or at least laying out in the sun catching the last rays of summer. But no, they are daring each other to dart in front of oncoming cars and run down the road in front of the car as long as possible before veering off to the side. I’m not sure what they get for winning other than bragging rights and the cheers of admiring fans (hopefully of the opposite sex). Maybe, they’re betting stores of stashed nuts. Judging from the pressed-out remains in the road it appears that it’s one of those types of races that you can win a lot of times but only lose once. One of those winner-take-all kind of contests. See, the Darwin Awards are alive and well in the animal world too.

My students at school always ask me after I get back from taking a sick day or a long weekend, "Mr. Hooper, how come you always come back all tired, scratched and beat-up looking, itching from poison oak, and your pickup has even more scratches on it? In spite of the way you look and smell you have a big grin on your face. You must really enjoy being sick."
To see pics click on the title.
Jim
P.S. If you can get your hands on the Oct. issue of Nat Geo it's awesome! There's to be a special on the Nat Geo Channel called Climbing Redwood Giants Sept. 29 at 10 pm ET. I think it's based in part from the book I just finished reading (that I highly recommend) The Wild Trees by Robert Preston, published by Random House. 2007.

Jess and Lili- moving from St. Helens

News from the State of Jefferson

I hope all is well with everyone. It’s been a very busy time since everyone left. Sandi has had to change teaching assignments after about 10 years in the same position. She’s moved back to a self-contained 6th grade position and changing classrooms, twice. I don’t envy her at all, but I know that she’ll do a great job. As she is fond of saying, she's "been busier than a one-legged man in a $*##-kicking contest." Of course, her mom’s visit came at a very inopportune time. She was here for a week but Sandi didn’t really get much time to visit with her.

For me, it’s been business as usual. You know, teacher goes “blah, blah, blah” students goes ‘blah, blah, blah” and we all go home. Andrew and I went hunting last weekend…for four days. It was great. We saw 5 bears, 10 deer, 2 elk, a fox, a huge Bald Eagle, but no Bigfoot. The animals over near Orleans are really smart. Not just the animals I mentioned, but the ones in the campground where we were staying. I was just ready to fall asleep about 10:00 when I opened one of my eyes to see a dog walking quietly across in front of me about 5 feet away. He was carrying an opened full package of our banana muffins in his mouth. No, he didn’t take the opened package that had two muffins left, he had to take the unopened package. I opened up other eye and the last thing I saw as he walked by was the wagging happy tail that belonged to that light-toothed mongrel of a dog. About five minutes later I saw a mangy rat come by to see what may have been left. I shined a light at him and he took off. I rolled over and went to sleep not wanting to view any more of the local thieving wildlife.

By the way, have you seen the October issue of Nat Geo.? The feature story is the redwoods. Jed Smith Park and the local area are mentioned. This was especially interesting to me as I’m reading a book that Andrew and Rachael let me borrow. It’s called The Wild Trees, and it’s written by a guy named Richard Preston. It’s basically a story about how a few amateurs set about climbing and looking for the world’s tallest tree. The Stout Tree where we walked down to only rates in the top 50 of tall trees. They (without any government or corporate funding) have found the world’s tallest tree VERY close to where we took that hike to the falls. Only about 12 people have been there to view the tree. I highly recommend the book.
Jim