Pure Random-ness....

Man! Time flies! I can't believe I haven't added ANY pics since NOVEMBER!! Ugh....
Well...here are Very Random pictures from our January Adventures. There are a couple trips to the Fresno and Portland Zoos....Local beach hot dog roasts...Maddie in the plane (we flew our Pacer up to the Portland area last weekend...)....Maddie riding her bike and just plain old being silly! :-)
Anyway...I suppose life is just getting busier and busier these days...so it's tough to make time for everything...but here are some newer pics nonetheless! :-)

Tidepooling and hiking at Cape Arago... (11-28-08)

Okay...so as you look down over the latest new blog entries....YES...we like to hike. :-) Pretty much all of the new entries having some hiking involved...but hey..we love the outdoors! :-)
Besides..Maddie really likes being in the backpack right now, so why not? :-) Plus, it's one of those fun family activites where everyone wins---we all get to be together, we all get to get outside and see beautiful things, and we all get some exercise!
Anyway...this place we were at today is seriously one of my favorites so far. :-) We'd never gone here before, but it's a really secluded little beach, surrounded by incredibly beautiful seacliffs. The cliffs extend out pretty far, allowing for tidepools full of interesting things! (anemones, hermit crabs, weird looking fish, etc). (We especially liked the beach because we had the place all to ourselves...) :-)
Katie Roesel and Ben came along too...which was especially fun because Katie's moved up to Portland now, and we rarely get to spend time together! :-) Anyway...after the beach, we let the kids run around for a bit and get wiggle-bugs out before the drive home....it still baffles us at how quickly the time has flown. Katie and I have been getting our kids together since they were 2 and 6 weeks old...and here they were running around together....it's going SO fast...:-)

Dirtbiking at Blue Ridge... (11-26-08)

Lauralen, Brent and Herman enjoyed getting muddy!! :-) The trails were pretty slick in places...but they had a great time riding together in the late afternoon. :-) Blue Ridge is a fun place because there are tons of dirtbiking trails, but very few people...so while the three of them enjoyed their dirt bikes...Karen, Maddie and I logged in some more hiking and everyone had a good time..:-)

Aunty Lou arrives! :-) (11-25-08)

Aunty Lauralen flew up from Loma Linda for Thanksgiving! :-) We kept Maddie up so she could see her Aunty Lou...and she was HILARIOUS!! A COMPLETE "Show-Off"!!! She obviously remembered her...and began running around the room...purposefully running into things and falling down...bending over to put her forhead on the ground (but she did everything with incredible speed and force...kind of like a crazy-person!)
:-) She then proceeded to take her practically EVERY book she owned. She'd bring the book to Lauralen...sit for a few seconds and then get up to rush and get another book! :-) We all had a great time watching her entertain us..and I think SHE really enjoyed getting to stay up extra late! :-)

Flying and Hiking with our new friends...The Bell Family (11-23-08)

The Bells just moved to our area a few months ago after finishing military payback (for medical school tuition). Jason is the newest orthopedic surgeon to our county and he's also an avid pilot and airplane enthusiast. :-) He and I both have surgery cases on the same day, and after learning that our families had similar interests...we decided that we should get everyone together to meet! So..on a really nice Sunday morning (the weather's been REALLY nice lately)...they flew their plane to Bandon...met up with us...and we both flew a short way south to a landing strip that is very close to one of our favorite hikes (Cape Blanco). The hike was awesome and they really enjoyed the amazing view of the seacliffs and rocky beaches when we reached the trail's end. Their daughter Sierra adored Maddie and Maddie felt the same! It was so cute to watch their interactions...we hope to get to know them more...and have more flying/hiking/whatever adventures to come! (P.S.--our plane's the red Pacer, theirs is the orange/black Cessna 172)