Let The Games Begin!

It's the boys turn on the lake. A 6AM wake up to try and get some good water pays off. And the name of the game was Bigger, Higher, Better. Flynt Starts the day off demonstrating some new skills, learned on the muddy waters of Lyman (look out Ty! Flynt is out to take your title of "best wake boarder in the family" away). Check out Flynt's new 180. No wake necessary! Pretty Cool huh?

Mike was next. He was looking for some big air but seemed to have white man's disease. He did have some pretty crazy wipe outs though.

I of course pulled off a perfect 360! OK, maybe I was still asleep when I did it. But, I did get some pretty good air for the heaviest man on the lake.

And then there was Shawn. A man who fought through the adversity of a knee injury to compete with the big boys. Here he is going for style points. The outcome was very stylish!
Here is a close up of what happens when you go too big, too fast, and neglect to consider the effects of gravity. Just kidding!!! he is really just doing a back flip off the boat.

The Main Attraction!

Well there is no question to what everyone loved the most on the Roosevelt trip. It was the Tube! some rides where mild for the little kids. Here is a picture of our kids getting a ride with their cousin sam and Aunt Coco. Kiera is trying to make it more exciting by dipping her feet in the water to see if she can get drug off.



Next is a picture of Shawn and Melanie with their kids. Again nothing too rough but we did manage to sink them a few times and send them over enough bumps to force Brigham into retirement. Howerver, It was quickly apparent that the real fun of the tube begain when it got airborne.

This is a picture of Marisa and the kids enjoying the effects of a little air. Kiera's hair looks so cool. It looks like she has dreads. ha! ha!

For even more excitement you have to see what Mike and Shawn did on their tube ride. Now that's fun! Be sure to check out my previous post with a vid of Mike and Shawn.

The Flying Tube!

One of the best parts about Roosevelt was the flying tube. Flynt bought this tube specifically because of it's ability to become airborne, and we made full use of it's ability. Check out this short slide show.

Flynt's New Baby

That's Flynt in his new boat (new baby) pulling the kids on a tube. Flynt installed the wake board tower. The tower was in the way of the shade canopy so, Flynt engineered a way to attach it in a different location. I am always amazed at Flynt's ingenuity. We have been having an incredible time at the lake!

Roosevelt Pictures

Check out Coco! Doesn't she look professional? Something happened to the boat's speed (Marisa was driving). Co started to sink just as she was crossing the wake, making for some cool white water and this picture. Below is my favorite picture of Colette, in the process of discovery (discovery of pain).

Roosevelt Trip

We made it to Roosevelt! We didn't get to the Lake until 12:30 last night. It was hard to get up this morning, but with the help of a very persistent alarm clock (Flynt) we got up had breakfast and hit the lake. Colette showed up mid morning and took this picture of me wake boarding. I got a lot of other cool pix today including some good ones of Colette. Hopefully I will have time to post them tomorrow. As for tonight it is 11:30 and time for me to get some beauty rest, and believe me I can use all of that I can get. Oh never mind you don't have to believe me you can see my picture!

My Wife the Model

Marisa was complaining today that she didn't have any pictures of herself. So we did a photo shoot. Here is one of the shots from the shoot. Isn't she such a good model? You can see more pictures from our shoot in her new slide show on her blog here.

Technical stuff: sb800 camera right through white umbrella. sb800 camera left bounced off ceiling and back wall. Nikon D200 Manual setting F2.8 250 speed ASA 400.

You can see more of my photos by clicking here.

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Can you see the spider. You may have to click on the image to enlarge so you can see it. The blue tint to the water is the reflection of the sky. Below is a better shot of this tiny pool of water the colors are more vivid but, no spider. And I really like the spider!

More Drops Left By The Rain

Another Drop of rain left on a pine needle. This picture I took by getting as close as I could and still focus. I then cropped about 300% in post production so you could see the drop up close.

Can You Guess What This Is?

I also love the reflections of light that you can see in the drops of water that are left behind after the storm ends. I saw a photo of a drop of water once, that you could see the reflection of an American flag in. I am not exactly sure how to capture an image like that but, I know that it involves getting a good macro lens that allows you to focus a lot closer than my lenses will allow.

If you guessed a gate. You were right. This is the neighbors gate the above picture is a close up

of the corner. Often times in the morning you can see drops of water, glistening in the morning light, hanging from this gate.

Bombs Away

Here is a mud puddle in the front of our house that I don't think has been dry all year. The Drops are quite large thus making the volcanic looking splashes every time they hit.

Rain Drops Keep Falling

We got hit by 2 big storms today. This was certainly not the heaviest rain we have had this year but at times it came down pretty hard. Here is a Picture of the neighbor's roof taking a beating by the rain. I love how the drops bounce off the the roof. The Lightning was also pretty amazing today. We took several strikes within our neighborhood. Some of the strikes seamed to be within 100 ft of our house. I remember as a kid not worrying to much about lightning. It never really scared me much. Since we have lived here in the mountains though, I have gained a new found appreciation for its awesome power. We have had several slow moving storms that produce multiple strikes within 100 yards of our house. And one storm that hit our neighbors house and jumped over to our house destroying everything we had connected to telephone lines and cable. We lost a couple thousand dollars worth of equipment in that storm but, we're just grateful to be alive.

Kiera Shows Of Her Cute Nails

This has been the wettest summer ever well, at least the wettest since we have been here. It rains nearly every day. Here is a picture of Kiera showing off some drops of water she stole off the neighbor's fence. The kids Love the rain, or should I say they love to play in the water and mud after the rain.

Week 2 of soccer for Olivia

Olivia now plays on a full size soccer field! This was quite a shock to her and the other first year girls in her division. The field they played on last year was about a third of the size. She did some running this week and was much better prepared to play this week then she was last week. She started the game at Right Forward and played really well. One of the parents next to us commented on how aggressive she is. Marisa and I ran into her Girl Scout Leaders, at the movies tonight, and they told us how impressed they were with her abillities. Her Game was a lot of fun to watch especialy while she was playing as a forward! You can see more of her Pictures on my web site by clicking HERE.

Week 2 of Soccer for Kiera

Kiera scored her first goal of the season today. She was very excited. She still hasn't gained the aggressiveness we saw from her the first part of the season last year but, it seems to be coming back. Last year she became very passive after we told her not to steal the ball from her own players. I kind of wish we hadn't told her that? Oh well. More pictures of her can be found on my website HERE.

Week 2 of Soccer for Dillon

Dillon is a little more excited to play soccer this year than he was last year. Last year he would get frustrated because the other kids were faster than he was. He would try at first, but then become a spectator and want to go do something else. This year he still does a lot of spectating but has figured out that there are times when there is no competition for the ball. Today he seized one of those opportunities. The ball had been kicked out of bounds, the whistle was blown to stop play and Dillon, seeing the ball left alone on the sidelines, took it dribbled it up the sideline, to the other side of the field, past the end line, away from the playing field out to the center field fence (the soccer field is on a baseball field), around the warning track, and toward the other soccer field. As this is going on the ref is blowing his whistle, and chasing Dillon (Dillon loves to be chased) finally the ref caught up to Dillon and that ended that. Last week he picked the ball up, carried it like a football and ran it toward the other teams Goal (there were fewer obstacles in front of that one). He then dropped it and kicked it in. scoring his first goal of the season! (for the other team of course.) So he has figured out ways to compensate for his lack of aggression. You can view additional pictures of Dillon's game HERE.

First Time Skiing

Flynt and Amber have been kind enough to share their new boat with us this summer. It has been a lot of fun. Livi and Kiera battled through their fears to water ski for the first time. Here are the pictures.

First Day of School

Ok, So today is my first try at this so I will be brief and fearless as I begin a new stage in my digital progression. I have been considering doing this for a long time and I am now finally getting around to it. Like most things in my life procrastination tends to get the better of me, but I am trying to push my way through my head trash and come up with reasons to do as apposed to reasons not to do. If you get my drift.



Just shot a photo of the Kids last week on their first day of school, that I will try to include. Livi started 3rd grade, Kiera 1st, and Dillon is in Kindergarten this year. Ashlyn gets the full attention of Mom, and boy does she need it. Hope you enjoy.