Visitors from Chicago

Picked up Nana & Papou from the airport for their week long visit. Kids are very excited. Planning to goto the Reagan Library this week. Great weather for it: 70s.

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4th of July Oh-Nine

We had a super fantastic time this 4th. With a full schedule of visitors, there was never a lack of space, tasty food or things to do! Fri (3rd) we had Jason & Amy Porter down from Edwards for the day, along with their 2 boys, Isaac and Andrew. Moments later, Mike, Becky & Andy arrived to stay the weekend. After a light lunch of sandwiches, we hung out and then went out back to take some batting practice. Despite the 100 deg temperature, a nice Godsent cloud hovered over the field for a full 2 hrs keeping us relatively cool for the slugfest. We retired back to the house so Scott could fire up the grill for some pollo asada (spiced grilled mexican chicken); mmm mmm, lemme tell you! After dinner, coffee "appeared" like it always does around here, and then we stepped out back and played a beanbag game called cornhole, thanks to Ang's construction/craft/sewing skillz. Wind correction is everything w/ cornhole! Given the advanced conditions, this game went on for-EV-er! The Porters packed up the worn out boys and headed back home. Was great to hang out with them! And Gib was so incredibly happy to have other boys his age around. That night we snuck in a quick Halo competition on the Xbox 360.

That was just the 3rd! The 4th afforded us a lazy morning, breakfast, coffee (standard!), hanging out & playtime and then a light sandwich lunch. After lunch the Johnsons arrived with their 4 kiddos and the parent-to-kid ratio was way skewed! :) In a short period of time we packed in a pool party out back, highly requested DVR'd episode of Wipe-Out, fresh smoked salsa, and Ang's excellent turkey tacos. Sadie and Andy gained confidence on their tiptoes in the water. And Wipe-Out was a source of some serious laughter and shouting. After dinner, coffee, and then we packed up and drove to the local Minor League baseball game, the High Desert Mavericks.

How do those Mavericks do it? No kidding, just like last year, they tried to lose the game, were down a couple runs in the bottom of the 9th and then somehow tied it up with a base hit and a big triple. Then the next thing you know, the opposing pitcher hits a batter to load the bases with 2 outs and then throws a wild pitch to allow the winning run to steal home! Mayhem ensued after the storybook ending which closely mirrored last year's 9th inning walk-off victory. Then the big fireworks show began. Wow, from our grassy hillside directly beneath the fireworks, we were dazzled, no engulfed by the impressive bursts overhead. Not bad for $3 grass seats!

Kids inside, kids outside, good food all around. That's Andrew in brown and Andy in green. And Mike busy w/ utensil at work. Amy can't choose a salad dressing.

Laney takes photos of Jason & Scott's neverending cornhole duel.

Amy and Andrew on the swings, the cornhole game, Chip entertains the little ones and Sadie, Isaac and Andy figure it's just another day at the park.

Pool time is how you beat the 100 deg temp! Little troy did awesome with his floaty vest, and Katie was quite dangerous with a squirtgun. Andy is good to go (with ball and Mom within reach!).

Sadie slowly became comfortable on her feet with patient Chip.

Troy and Mike enjoy the game from the grassy hillside seats.

Scott and kids watchin' the game from the blanket.

Mavericks celebrating the walk-off win!

Post-game 4th of July fireworks extravaganza!

But we got to wear cool shoes!

Real bowling is a little more difficult than on the wii. Who knew?

Fun in the sun

Chip and Sadie at the beach last week.

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day
Originally uploaded by scottie_ang

Thanksgiving Day
Originally uploaded by scottie_ang

Thanksgiving Day
Originally uploaded by scottie_ang

Thanksgiving Day
Originally uploaded by scottie_ang

Thanksgiving Day
Originally uploaded by scottie_ang

Thanksgiving Day
Originally uploaded by scottie_ang

Don & Chip starting the XR500 on loan from a friend in Vegas... the beast lives!

Shooting skeet in the neighbor's backyard... The whole group is pretty much an even mix of neighbor Tom's extended family and of the guys in our bible study. Don & Chip got to try out the .20 & .12 gauge shotguns Don brought back from Turkey in '02. Thanks to neighbor Tom, we just showed up and bought ammo and clay pigeons by the boxful there. This was Tom's family's first Thanksgiving in their newly built house.


Don gave Gibson a half-hour fun ride on my Husky TE250. The ground
was damp, the air was cool--perfect conditions.

That evening we had our Thanksgiving feast. The Johnsons (Kim & Troy, and their kids, Ali, Stephanie, Katie, and Lil Troy) came over to join Don, Chip & our family at our house. This is the kids' table in the front room. The smoked turkey turned out AMAZING! We took 1 thawed 22 lb turkey, injected Lawry's Steak-n-Chip marinade into the meat, then cooked the turkey in the Orion smoker (link) for 2 hrs with the temperature probe attached. EASY and superdelicious.

Chip & Scott: Night 5k Run

So Chip & I have been running now.  Geeking out over all the various web-based ways one can track his/her own running progress, vitals, weight, speed, blah blah blah.  All in the interest of keeping my interest!  So last night we took the fam down to the local college for their annual 5k night run.  It was Chip's first ever organized race, and only my third 5k ever.  We had a blast and plan to do it again soon.

More "Development" (now and recently)

As you can see, there's always something going on around here... from Gib getting a first hack at 2-wheeled training; Chip & Sadie's odd but very cute feeding lesson; Sadie learning to walk (or is it learning to push a shopping cart?); Gib doing tumbling (that ends with a spirited 'discussion' with sister Sadie); and Mike-On-Bike! Mark it down, Oct 7 '07 is the day Mike and Laney both first rode a Honda XR50!! We'll get you some Laney footage once she completes here initial ground-school training! :) Mike's probably going to get this model bike for his new commute. We may buy this XR50 we're borrowing...if only to further entice Vee to return to the west coast! :)

Child Development

So much child development to catalog here... Thanks to the tutelage of Chip, Mike, Beck and the rest of the gang (and our DVD player), our kids can now shoot giant nerf rocket launchers with pinpoint accuracy; Sadie is demanding to spoon-feed herself; Baseball skills are being honed; and big little-cousin Andy is teaching them to live with intensity!

Quote of the day: [Gib walks out the backdoor with helmet, baseball, batting gloves, and hands Uncle Mike a mitt and says] "Here, it's called 'baseball.'"

Chilly, Chilly Willy the Penguin

It's hitting 50 deg F at night... kinda reminds me of the brisk nights in Sequoia Nat'l Park back in June! *sigh* When do we get to go back!?!? Maybe next time I'll post pictures of the mysterious creature known as a bear-ver... half bear, half beaver. I have proof.

Chip's '96 DR200 Lives!!

They got the bike started!!!! - just have to tune it now (couple fuel line connectors, and then presto, hopefully)! I'm thinking tomorrow is a riding day!

What? I was supposed to bring the power cord?

Chip has the coolest paperweight in the whole world!

Chillin in Vegas

Wouldn't the world be a better place with 2 of him? Ask Ang for the truth.

'Scuse me, I ordered the LARGE pink shades

You decide - photoshopped, or are the tinted manhole covers really this huge?

(Good choice, Vee. Seriously. No, seriously.)

Hey Chip, I don't care how small the Ride is... you still need a "hemmit!"

Weekend fun

Chip's been getting drum lessons from Mya -- she says he's doing okay but could use some more practice. Scott's been able to put the snow plow blade to good use in Southern CA. Slave labor has also been introduced in our house to prepare the motocross track.

And if you've ever wondered how many people can fit in a 15' pool - we've got the answer.

Moto #2

If you have yet to visit Chip's Blog, you need to do so before viewing this video!





Now that you have done so, try not to enjoy this video too much!

Moto #1

Chip & Vanessa are here!

Here's our first day of riding in the backyard. We hadn't planned on photographing this event, but luckily, Vanessa is into photography and snapped all these great shots. Chip's previous riding experience came right back--as you can see he was ripping it up on the RM250!! (Sorry I don't have a pic of Vanessa today!)

(as always, click to enlarge)