A very late Thanksgiving Post

I know it is almost Christmas, but I just found several pictures from the Thanksgiving that I had completely forgotten about.

Thanksgiving week was quite eventful. First off, the Bradford's rode the train up on Monday to hang out with Caleb (and Grandma and Grandpa too, who arrived later in the afternoon)!

Here comes the train...

It was a joyful reunion, as you can see, not over-dramatized at all...

Safe and sound at the end of the journey.

Later that night we celebrated Sara's birthday. Dad made some of the best salmon I've ever eaten, and we topped it off with some red velvet birthday cake.

Happy Birthday Sara!

Early the next morning, Caleb went in for his extraction.

Getting drugged up..

The last known photo of his tooth

A day later, we parted ways for our separate Thanksgivings (really you guys, we need to plan this out a little better next time). Mom, Dad and the Bradfords had a beachy Thanksgiving in Pismo, and Tyler, Susie and Caleb drove to Visalia and had a full-on redneck celebration at a Gun Club. Actually, it was quite fun, but the downside was that I discovered that I am a horrible shot.

Don't mess with the Wilsons.

And Now back to all things Christmas...

All I want for Christmas is my maxillary central incisor...

Caleb and Grandpa are looking very similar these days. I think Tyler is trying to give us all a warning...

Timber!!!

Nosario and Pedro survey the damage after the Oak tree at the corner of the house was cut down. The root was dangerously close to the foundation so the tree had to go. Jeremiah's crew was here for two full days cutting, grinding and schredding. I have three people lined up to take the firewood - which looks to be about three cords.
Jesus did all of the high work - in the bucket if it reached - and he took down the three trees in front of the corner bedroom. The other problem tree was the big Oak that used to have the swing in it. The giant rot hole, a systemic Mistletoe problem and obvious rotted areas on both major upper limbs doomed it. The third tree had been crowded out by the other two so it was both ugly and leaning toward the house at a pretty good angle - so it went too.

After the rotted trunk was down Jeremiah dug out the treasures of the past 37 years including several plastic army men, three rubber or nerf balls, various soda cans, burrito wrappers, unidentifiable metal stuff, a plethora of otter pop wrappers - but no Yellow Cup!

Mark, the stump grinder guy, ground down all of the stumps from trees past so there is no trace of any deforestation.

So, this is what it looks like in front. However, all of the trees, including the Digger Pines, were trimmed for balance, broken limbs from the big snow of last December, dead wood and mistletoe. The place looks good but we will have to do some replanting and pouring of concrete for the corner walkway.

Fist Photo Shoot

After 12 years of marriage, we decided it was time to actually have a professional photographer take some pics of the family. We did this shoot at Leo Carillo in Malibu and thoroughly enjoyed the day. Lucky for us it was an 80 degree November day. I'm really pleased with how they turned out and wanted to show off my cute kids!

SLO Gran Fondo

The serial hobbyist strikes again... We all need to give Tyler a big slap on the back for completing the SLO Gran Fondo century (100 Miles!!). I think he deserves extra credit for not dropping out after seeing how good the surf was when he rode by Moonstone Beach.

We showed up at the San Luis Mission just in time to watch him come in. Here he is, with all of the other old dudes in bike shorts (seriously, who is behind the design of some of these shorts??).

"Go Cutters!!!!" (yes, there is meaning behind the name as I discovered lastnight, thank you Dennis Quaid). And check out the diverse local sponsors. I especially like the aptly-placed Gastroenterology sponsor.

Dirty, smelly, and ready for a hot meal.

This little guy enjoyed the bluegrass band after the race. I was just glad that his shoe turned up. Dang velcro...

But back to the old dudes: I think cycling is more of a mature person's sport, simply because it is so time consuming and the equipment is so prohibitively expensive that you kind of have to be an older guy with money to be a part of the snobbery that is road biking (no offense Tyler).

Yay! 100 miles!

A Tribute To San Francisco (and some sweet '78 style)

Catch the Fever

HUMMMM - BABY!

The Road Home

We left the story of our trip back in southern Wisconsin, where Carl won the coveted perpetual green visor trophy on our final evening of Sequence, Yahtzy, Phase Ten and Mexican Train Dominos. Carl and Bobbi went south to I 80 and headed toward home.

We stayed in the fields of Iowa. This soybean field surrounded by corn was at the edge of a cemetery near Anamosa IA.



Some of the old towns looked rather prosperous - others were in bad shape. This sign was in downtown Anamosa. I like the slogan at the bottom of the sign.






Anamosa State Penitentary was a classic from the 1880's

The Warden's house was in the top two floors above the administrative building - right on the front wall of the big house.

Some of the old courthouses are beautiful, such as this one in Clarinda, Page County, Iowa - the birthplace of American trombonist and bandleader Glenn Miller.

We crossed the Missouri River into Nebraska and found the city of Plattsmouth - County Seat of Cass County. The town was another preservation of the late 19th century.

Plattsmouth is, of course, at the confluence of the Platte and Missouri Rivers. It has the best tower on its courthouse of all the courthouse towers I have seen.

We camped outside of Omaha for a couple of days. We spent few hours at the Winter Quarters Visitor's Center. It is located adjacent to the pioneer cemetery in Florence NB where the Mormon pioneers buried the 500 people who died during the 18 months in Florence.

What impressed me most about this place was the fact that after laying out this little city, building over 800 log homes and getting the first three groups ready to cross the plains, they left it all behind and moved back across the Missouri River into Council Bluffs Iowa. We found our relative, Chauncy Loveland, who at age 50 was a member of the "Vanguard Company" led by Brigham Young, listed on a document that was on display in the museum.

We made a long drive across Nebraska to Stirling Colorado. The next morning we drove a short hop into Arvada to stay with Brett, Mireille and the boys. Oh boy, let's help grampa wash the truck!

We went to a local harvest festival. We got to get up close to some rescued birds of prey. This Bald Eagle was from Alaska.

This cute little boy is from Arvada.

Evan and Brady were kind enough to pose for me.

After several days of fun in Arvada we hitched up and departed for Utah. Everything was smooth and easy until we had to drive through this thunderstorm. Now, that is what I call weather!

We were rewarded with the magnificent drive across I 70 through Colorado and Utah. It is one of the most beautiful and unpopulated roads in the country. You've gotta love the West.

We made a couple of long drives: Arvada to Salina UT and Salina to Barstow CA. We dropped the trailer at John Sage's place and continued on to North Hills for a visit with the Bradfords and the team of Susie and Caleb.

On Saturday 10/9 we got to see Carissa and Derek play their soccer games.

The day was very hot.

After church on Sunday we visited with "Uncle Eric." His remodel is in the finishing stages and it is gorgeous! He has removed walls in the old house to make the kitchen and dining area quite spacious. He has done the same in the living room.

When you climb the free-standing spiral staircase from the master bedroom to the deck the view of Palos Verdes and the blue Pacific is fantastic.

We drove the final 400 or so miles of our journey on Monday the 11th, arriving home in time to see the Giant's squeak out a division series victory over the Braves. We traveled 6,569 miles through 13 states and saw stuff we have always wanted to see. We are so fortunate to be able to do this.