Mark, Nicole, Lincoln, and Cora

Got to keep up the blog momentum. . .

Nicole — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 02:46:39 +0000

What I should be doing instead of updating our blog:

1. Packing for our trip this weekend.

2. Writing in Cora’s baby book.

3. Watering the plants I was supposed to water on Monday.

4. Preparing the packages I should send tomorrow.

5. Sleeping.

6. Taking a shower, since it is nearly 9:00 pm and I’ve not quite squeezed that in yet.

7. Painting my toe nails for the wedding this weekend, even though my toes don’t show through my shoes.

8. Calling my sister.

9. Spending 3 hours or so on facebook looking at other people’s entries and pictures without leaving a single note.

10. Absolutely Nothing!

Lincoln’s re-enactment of our trip.

Nicole — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 15:40:25 +0000

“First, we park in the parking garage.”

“We are driving in the bus right now.”

“Then we go on an airplane.”

“We are on the runway.”

“We are taking off.”

“Then Grandad is gonna pick us up in Kari’s car.”

“We are jumping on the trampoline.”

“This is Grandad with my suitcase on the deck.”

“Now it’s Friday and we are going in the bus again.”

Signed: lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnncccccccccccccoooooooooooooooooooolllllllllllllllllllllllnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

Ummmmm…

Nicole — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 19:28:50 +0000

Coloring is perhaps not one of Lincoln’s strengths currently, so we try to encourage it when we have opportunity. I was commenting on his coloring job of Noah and the ark , and told him I liked how he colored the doorway.

His reply? “Oh, that’s where the animals shoot out of.”

Ryan and Amanda back to India

Nicole — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 22:22:32 +0000

After being here for two months, getting new Visas, and updating passports, Ryan, Amanda, Asher, and Shepherd are back in India. They have arrived, reported that the flights, customs, immigration, etc. all went well, and they are glad to be there. We look forward to getting updates through email and facebook. Also, if any of you are interested in being on their mailing list, they send out emails about once a month. But be warned, if you do sign up for that, they will sell your email address to 57 different companies for the price of 23 million yuro-rupees which is the equivalent of $50 million per email address. And if you believe that, I have a gold mine out in California that I’d love to tell you about.

Man-Venture™ 2010

Mark — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 02:04:37 +0000

Last year I met up with my college friends, John and Howell, in Washington D.C. (pictures here). This spring we were looking for an excuse to get together again. Out of the deep and murky waters of our brains was birthed the Man-Venture™. The idea was to squeeze as many manly activities into a visit as possible, each adding more hair to our chests than the last. Ryan was able to join us as well making a quartet of quirky Quatermains. In under a week we raced karts, did car work, played frisbee golf, hiked and camped, scaled precipitous heights, and went off-roading. We were dripping with manliness (or something) by the end. Unfortunately, we ran out of time for rhinoceros hunting, spear fishing, and volcano jumping. Maybe next year.

We had perfect weather and fully enjoyed the beauty of God’s creation. Click on the “more” button for some highlights.

Howell and his lovely wife Mary Kate arrived on Friday night. The next morning, MK tolerated us working on the Sidekick (our very manly 4×4) as we install a roll cage. John arrived in the afternoon and then we played disc golf. That night, we watched fireworks. After church on Sunday, we raced karts at Action Karting.

Here I am skidding around the corner. Probably not the fastest method, but fun. Oh, and manly. Howell is back but coming up quickly. Howell had the fastest laps of the day but we all had a lot of fun. We averaged high 30’s around the course, so probably hit in the 40’s. We celebrated Howell and Mary Kate’s birthday and then took MK to the airport.

Monday morning the four boys packed up the Sidekick and headed into the mountains. We drove to Eldora and took the Eldora Mountain trail.

It was a great trail to get used to off-roading. It had some fun rocks and beautiful scenery.

After driving over to the deserted town of Caribou, we went to Nederland and had delicious Indian food, then went to the Fourth of July Trailhead to hike into the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area. Luckily, it was the 5th of July and most people were leaving.

The “before” shots often show people smiling like this. The hike up the valley to the Fourth of July mine had wonderful views, small cascading falls to cross and Columbines aplenty.

We camped near the mine in a sheltered spot that had beautiful views and a patch of snow nearby that was great for cleaning dishes.

That evening we hiked up to Arapaho Pass, which is on the continental divide. We saw two little fang-shaped mountains that we ended up climbing. There are the lower two in the picture below.

On one of the “fangs”:

The view from the divide was amazing. We could look down toward the west and see Caribou Lake. To the north were jagged mountains.

We even waded thigh-deep into icy Lake Dorothy, but since we were in our boxers, Nicole thought I should leave that picture out. But here is the lake:

After dinner and a night’s sleep (notice the omission of “good”?) we headed up out of the valley toward South Arapaho Peak. After a while we go to the pass and saw the Arapaho Glacier, the largest in Colorado and part of Boulder’s water supply. The pointedness of the peak was a little intimidating. Note the people below for scale. Once we got to the top of that point we saw that it wasn’t the ultimate peak and had a little farther to go.

Looking down into the valley below:

The peak offered splendid views, easily worth the hike. We could see Eldora and Winter Park ski resorts as well as a host of 14ers.

This little guy tried to sell us climbing insurance.

John, Ryan, and I hiked a ways along the ridge to North Arapaho peak, which has a few class 3 sections. Here’s Ryan on one of them called the Gendarme I believe.

The weather was absolutely perfect. In the 70s and 80s with almost no wind. Ryan referred to it as one of the most beautiful days he’d ever spent in the Rockies.

Clouds started to gather on our way down so we picked up the pace, though we didn’t get rained on. One last view of the peak:

We packed up camp and headed out. The next day, Howell, John, and I went off-roading in a light drizzle. We went on a forest road off of Peak-to-Peak Highway. This was a little more advanced than the previous off-roading and was a blast. Here’s a section we weren’t exactly sure how we’d get through, but we made it fine.

This particular trail goes to the crash site of T-33A jet. This was a personal jet that crashed in the 60s and the wreckage is spread along the hillside.

We then hopped back in the Sidekick to make our way out.

Howell headed to the airport that evening. John and I sneaked an additional round of disc golf in the next day.

It was a very fun, very manly, vacation. Very manly indeed.

-Mark.

Name that Superhero

Nicole — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 02:49:24 +0000

There will be a prize (I don’t know what yet, but it will be good!) for anyone besides Mark who can name the superhero Lincoln is imitating here.

My new favorite picture

Nicole — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:02:20 +0000

From Blog

Washington D.C., 2009

Mark — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 20:21:15 +0000

I’m a little behind on my blogging. A year ago, my college friend, Howell, got married. This was the perfect excuse for Nicole and I to go visit Howell and other buddy John and his family. Nicole was pregnant with Cora and we left Lincoln for the first time. We spent a couple days traipsing around D.C. and then went to the wedding in Pennsylvania. Click on the “more” button for some highlights.

I don’t need to comment on the bizarre bunny sculpture. It’s obviously the bizarre bunny sculpture that everyone goes to Washington D.C. to see.

Couldn’t resist.

Took a tour of the capitol. Very interesting.

Escalator to the sky.

I, for one, did not know about this large lady on top of the Capitol. There is a life-size version on the tour.

Nicole in front of the Supreme Court building. We were able to go into the actual courtroom, which was wonderful. No pictures, though.

Supreme Court to the Capitol.

See the kite beside the Washington Monument?

How about now?

Looking down the Mall toward the inspiration for the back of the penny.

Not the usual picture of Mark, Nicole, and Lincoln.

A storm passed through and gave us an amazing view from the Lincoln Memorial back to the Washington Monument.

It was a great trip with friends. Of course, being part of Howell’s wedding was a day I wasn’t sure would ever come. ;^) –Mark.

July the 3rd, 2010

Mark — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 19:54:32 +0000

Each year on the July the 3rd, we go out on our little deck and watch fireworks set-off from the neighborhood across the way. I have no idea why they are on the third or how that neighborhood can afford such nice fireworks, but they are enjoyable enough that the next day I feel no need to drive anywhere to see more. Here are some shots from this year.

Click on the “more” button to see, well, more. –Mark.

Waiting on the deck for the night to get dark enough. Notice the red brake lights of the passing car (as well as stars) with the long exposure. It was much darker looking than this.

Palm tree.

My favorite.

Part of the finale.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ryWlfgV6j-8/TENZke7vODI/AAAAAAAAJ5Q/61l8n0k6PM0/s800/IMG_7971.JPG

Lincoln jumps out of an airplane!

Nicole — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 20:55:36 +0000

Hah! Got your attention, didn’t I?! So, to quote Paul Harvey, here is “The Rest of the Story.” Lincoln was flying his airplane (read: frisbee that lights up that he turns back and forth for a steering wheel when he is “flying”). He was on the couch, and then he “landed.” He said to me, “Oh no! There’s no jetway or stairs! I have to jump out of the plane!” and proceeded to jump off the couch. So not nearly as exciting as just the tagline, but still cute. We are playing airplane nearly every day as he flies us to Montana, Denver, and Canada. He often “forgets” his suitcase and has to go back for it, and he usually flies to the airport instead of taking a car.

Here is a recent picture I love of Cora and Lincoln:

And the other happenings around here include Woof-Woof turning three (complete with candles, presents, and Thomas as a guest–on-the-napkin). . .

Coming soon. . . hopefully a post from Mark about his recent adventures, and maybe some house project pictures.