Virginia

Chris went to Virginia for training in October and I decided I would meet him out there for the weekend since it was his birthday. We didn't have much time to play tourist because he was in training all day and we were leaving early Sunday morning. So, Friday late afternoon we went to NRA's headquarters in Fairfax and went the National Firearms Museum with Joslyn. Then at sunset we went to the Manassas Battlefield. Then Saturday, we went to Washington DC with Joslyn and Jonathan and saw what we could in one day. We went to the Library of Congress, Capitol, Smithsonian Air and Space, Washington Monument, Vietnam Wall, Lincoln Memorial, WWII Memorial and saw the back side of the White House.

Here's a few pictures from our trip:

More Camping

We are going camping this weekend with some friends and family. We are going to Jefferson and stay in the campground where the guys stay for their elk hunting trips. I will post more and pictures from our trip when we get back.

*** We had a blast. We stayed in an open camp area. My dad and brother went with us as well as friends Rebecca and Ian. It rained one of the nights, and we all sat around the fire inside trash bags. We also had to doctor up our camper as it leaked from the rain and got the kids bed all wet. We had to put some plastic trash bags over the top of the camper and hold into place with rocks. It has since been sealed with some asphalt tape and silicone.

Summer Time

We've had a nice summer so far. We went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs over Memorial Day weekend. I forgot what a nice zoo that is. The boys enjoyed it, but it is a lot of walking so they starting to complain that they had to walk up the side of the mountain too much.































We went camping at the beginning of June up behind Central City. Was nice that the 4 of us went up for the weekend. The weather was nice and cool while it was hot down in town. The boys had fun riding bikes and digging in the dirt. Chris was getting the fire prepped to cook dinner.














































Then, we went to Telluride for the 4th celebration. That was an adventure in itself. We were so close to the fireworks, you could feel them rumble off your chest.
When we got there on Friday, we were going to stay at Alta Lake....Well, when we looked at the campground listing it just said for high clearance vehicles. I thought, we have a truck and the camper isn't as low as a car.....what could it hurt? Let me tell you what it hurt - we got stuck in the pouring rain and snotty mess called mud. We got stuck on some rocks trying to get out and it ripped off the stablizer jacks and ripped a hole in the sewer tube. Was a big mess. So, after an hour of standing in the pouring rain, we finally got out. We head down the road a ways and discover all the campgrounds are full, so on down the road we continue. We come up on Lizard Head pass (elev. 10,500 ft) and see an open field with a bunch of other campers in it. We decide to pull in to check it out. Chris decided to try and go up a little too far and got the truck and camper stuck - AGAIN. This time it is in about a foot of wet, gooey mud. We drew a big crowd as we tried to get out. Every time Chris would try to back up, the camper would jack knife and he couldn't get out of the ruts. Eventually, after numerous attempts he got the truck high enough up the hill to get the camper straightened out so he could actually back up straight. We get parked in our spot and begin to set everything up.



Chris had to rig us some stablizer jacks since we tore them off. He used some 2x4's and hammered them tight up against what was left of the supports....Talk about red-neck! (I didn't get a picture of it) The sunset was from the first night up there. It was amazingly beautiful. This was looking out the door of our camper. The other sunset picture is on the back side of our camper.

This is what wideass looked like after we parked. The picture does not show all of the mud, but it was EVERYWHERE! You can see in the distance a camper up at the top of the hill. That is where Chris was trying to go when we got stuck.













































Bridal Veil is such a beautiful waterfall. We went back a few times to just sit there and watch and listen to it.



I was dreading how the rest of vacation would turn out, but it turned out just fine....no other incidents. We spent some time in Ouray and went on a horse drawn carriage tour of the town. That was cool because the guy giving the tour had some inside history of the town. His wives relatives migrated to Ouray back in the 1800's when it was a mining town.

Doulas

I have been taking an online class to be a doula. You ask, "what is a doula?" The word doula comes from the Greek meaning "a woman who serves". A birth doula assists the laboring woman during the birth of her child. She provides emotional and physical support as well as providing the parents-to-be with information to make an informed decision, helps prepare a birth plan, position suggestions during labor, avoid unnecessary interventions, written birth record and help with breastfeeding preparation.

Statistics have shown that having a doula during your birth:
50% reduction in cesarean
25% shorter labor
60% reduction in epidural requests
40% reduction in oxytocin use
30% reduction in analgesia use
40% reduction in forceps delivery

If you are pregnant or know anyone who is and these services would be of benefit feel free to contact me to set up an interview.

Arkansas

We had to take an unexpected trip to Arkansas this week for Grandpa Fisher's funeral. Despite the purpose of the trip, it was nice to see the family and for the boys to meet their Great Aunt's and Uncle's. The boys also got to meet their Great-Great Uncle and Aunt.

The trip started off a little rough leaving Colorado. A snow storm was moving in as we were trying to leave. As we dropped the dogs off the snow started to pick up. Roads were snow covered and slick, but we managed to get out of Colorado. Kansas was really windy, but at least the roads were just wet. We made it just outside of Kansas City and the GPS started acting up. Kept recalculating then decided it wanted us to keep turning. We finally made it into Missouri and that's when the trip got a little scary again. The wind was blowing and the roads were icy. There was some black ice along the way. After 15 1/2 hours of driving, we finally made it into Arkansas.

I'm so proud of the boys. This is the longest trip they have been on and they did awesome being cooped up in the car. They all had their moments, but they managed to be good.

We had a good time visiting with all the family and telling stories.

Left to Right:
Uncle John, Aunt Terri, Aunt Tamy, Joshua, Uncle Brad, Brandon, Bailey, Great Aunt Val, Great Uncle Roy, Ashleigh & Chris.









Bailey and Brandon with their Great Uncle Brad, Great Aunt Terri and Grandma

Holidays 2009

Well, we've had some busy holidays this year. Started off in October with Talon's party on Halloween. We had so much fun as we all dressed up in our costumes for the party and then all went trick or treating afterward. I don't have any pictures as they were all taken on Jenna's camera (and I was behind the lens so none of me :) ).

Then there was Thanksgiving. We had a very nice dinner with Mom and Dad. We had ham instead of the usual turkey. Hit the spot for sure.

Then there was December.... had Christmas Eve with the Goodnow's, Christmas breakfast at my parents and then gifts once the Mears clan came over. This year, we decided to celebrate Ember's birthday on New Year's Day with Brandon. It was a good year in whole, but I'm ready to see what the new year has in store for us.

Here is a picture of the 3 Goodnow generations on Christmas Eve.

As soon as I get the birthday pictures downloaded and the rest of the Christmas pictures sized, I will post up some more pictures.

New Truck

Chris crossed over.....Decided that he doesn't want a Government Motors vehicle any longer, so he got a ..... FORD!!

Better check to see if hell froze over. It's a 2003 F-350 dually.