Orgeon Tuna Classic

http://webmail.aol.com/40627/aol/en-us/Mail/get-attachment.aspx?uid=1.22475865&folder=NewMail&partId=6&saveAs=Proposal_for_Sponsorship_of_2008.doc

I thought I'd post a link to this. My dad loves to fish, and this event is a charity Tuna tournament that benefits a food bank and is hosted every year for the last few years. They are always in need of sponsors, and my Dad in particular can always use a sponsor, so if any one knows someone who'd like to help let him know. If you don't want to sponsor, but would like to donate, you can always talk to him too. You can email him at trackerputnam@yahoo.com or visit his website justkeepfishing.com.

(The tournaments are in the summer so donations would not need to be made right away.)

Skiing Kids

I thought these pictures of my neices skiing were cute. They have like 3 feet of snow at their house in the California mountains. We will be there for Christmas, so I guess we'll probably have a white Christmas!

Pine Cones and Christmas Trees

While in California I collected pine cones to do an art project with. I spray painted them either silver or a light copper color. I then used a spray on glue, and glitter to make them sparkle. They are my table centerpiece right now, and I have a few on the front porch. There's still a bunch in the backyard, but I ran out of glitter so I might just leave them as they are.
This year we got a fake tree. Everyone says it's more economical than buying a real one every year. I like how the real ones smell, but I like how this one is pre-lit and I can move the branches around to make the ornaments fit. I love Christmas, and Christmas ornaments. They are just such happy things.

Mountain Hike

Cameron, Ali, Ashling, Tony and I went for a hike on November 29th. The place to hike is not too far from their house. You can see Big Bear lake in the background of some of the photos. Loud chilly winds were blowing at the top, but for most of the hike the temperature was really nice. It was a fun hike, and kept us from gaining any Thanksgiving weight. Cameron would have liked to hike a little longer but the rest of us were happy with heading back.

Sunset Pictures from the Car Window

These are just some pretty sunset pictures I took out the car window after we picked out the Christmas tree.

Thanksgiving 2008

For Thanksgiving we went to California to my sister's house. It's really nice to be able to drive there and not have to pay for plane tickets. Prior to dinner on Thanksgiving day, we started a game of Risk. Dinner was ready before we finished the game so a plan was devised using a piano bench to postpone the game. It was pretty funny. Melissa ended up winning.
The next day we went for a drive to some neighboring mountains. (None of the Black Friday specials seemed worth getting up early for.) The clouds were really pretty along the way.
Later that same day, we went to Gunther's Tree farm up in the mountains to find Melissa's family their Christmas tree. Gunther's is a secluded mountain property with tons of some what wild trees growing. Gunther doesn't trim or prune the trees so it's a little harder finding the right "one," but it was so pretty, and such a change from Arizona that I enjoyed it. Plus his prices are much better than any where else. Ali and Ashling had probably the most fun trying to pick late apples from the apple trees that are also mixed in on the property.

Bryce Thompson Arboretum

We went to the Arboretum back in early November. They have plants and trees from desert climates all over the world. It's a nice walk and finally in November it had started to cool off.