Hurricane Bill

I know that you all were being careful of rip tides because of Hurricane Bill but I thought that you may like to see an image of where it was on Aug 23rd! Click on the image to enlarge it, you will be able to clearly see the Delmarva Peninsula. Pretty Amazing. Even more amazing that it didn't make landfall in the US.

Team Blue Shirt

I just thought we should have a photo of team blue shirt.

This is why you always take 2 photos

Hip-Hip-Hooray for Maryland!

I'm excited. Just sayin'

Dewey Lakes

We just got back from a wild backpacking adventure!  We hiked down to two lakes just outside of Mt. Rainier National Park.  The wild flowers from the beginning were spectacular!  I got behind because I wanted to capture each one!  We hiked through these meadows in the afternoon shade and enjoyed passing by many small waterfalls, a few of which we dipped our heads into.  We arrived at the lakes in the early evening and soon realized that there were quite a few mosquitoes.  Then we realized that there were an unbelievable amount of mosquitoes.  Then we realized that there were an impossible amount of mosquitoes.  The kids and I went and swam in the lake for a reprieve from the mosquitoes, Dan cooked dinner and just got eaten.

 

The hike out was easy as cake for the kids and killer for the adults.  It was 700 feet up! but at the end of the climb we came around a curve and up a small hill and there was an amazing view of Mt. Rainier set beautifully by a meadow and a small alpine lake.  We continued to have beautiful views of Rainier for the rest of the hike.

 

Emma and I at the site where we started the hike.  That is Naches peak in the background.  Our hike completed a circle of it with a dip down to the lakes to camp midway through the circle.

This is the Dewey Lake that we camped by.  It was very beautiful with the afternoon reflection.

Our campsite

Chas with one of the frogs he caught.  Emma was catching them too but I didn’t get a picture of her with a frog.

the big Dewey Lake in the morning

the big Dewey Lake from the 700 foot climb

This is the meadow where we got our first glimpse of Rainier!

The bird tracks that Emma found

JOSH!

PFC Anderson, J.T., has received orders to return to Camp Pendleton, California. Leaving Iraq August 18, 2009 and arriving Camp Pendleton August 21, 2009.

Our dear Josh has orders to report to mother and pops on September 4, 2009 to support operation pick up Clay from boot camp and visit J3 on Parris Island.

Its almost time to stop holding my breath.

Ward Spudsters

Official results are in for the Ward Spudsters:

Kristi won Ms. Congeniality Spud finishing the last 100 yards in a dead sprint to the finish against Chas, James, and little David who all tied for Best Tatter Tots; Mike won Good Samaritan Spud, stopping along the bike route to help broken down competitors; Dan won Most Determined Spud by seriously pushing everyone to tri and by driving the farthest to get to (and return from) the race; Charlie won Twice-Baked Spud for the second degree sunburns and heat exhaustion trying to stay ahead of his younger sibs (MAN was it HOT!); And Laura won Mrs. Potato Head, for taking care of the camp and kids while the Spudsters were all out wasting the day away.


Most importantly we ALL did it, and we did it all together! Here's a communal pat-on-the-back to all of us AmaaaZing Spudsters!

Before the race: Early morning bedhead.


Team Ward after the race: Early afternoon deadhead.


Here's Kristie's big finish.





Team Kate at the finish line


Team Puyallup at the finish line


My buddies


Somehow I missed getting a photo of Team Mike and Laura.
:(
They'll have to run again next year!

Mt Rainier

Dan, Chas and I finally made it home from the Spud. We stopped and
camped by a river in Oregon, stopped and saw Lee,Carol and Becca, and
drove through Rainier.

Reunion Stuff

Check your e-mail - - - - info about t-shirts and meals/activities.

Leave me a message here if you did not get it and I'll make sure you do.

thanks!

The whole office played Hookie

My boss closed the office yesterday afternoon and took us all to the Utah Olympic Park and then to dinner. We had a great time. They've built some new attractions since we were all there including a stainless steel alpine slide. I was a little leary of riding it, especially after what happened to Deb and Jayson at Snowbird... but the kid running the ride told us that you could go the whole way without hitting the brakes. So that's what I did (except once at the very end when I thought I was going to fly out).

Here's a video for your enjoyment:


There is a new zip line too. It's much shorter but twice as fast as the big one we all rode.


After that we went to the bobsled ride... I was pretty excited to do that too. It didn't seem like any big deal, but let me tell you, IT WAS. We got up to 70 mph and 4Gs. They strap you and tighten you down, then the driver takes off... for about 3 seconds it's exciting... and then the terror takes over as you roll 30 degrees up the side of a turn. The whole thing starts to shake and bounce and then as the sled picks up speed your body begins to compress and you feel like it's taking all your strength just to keep from turning into a pancake on the floor of the toboggan. My head was bouncing around in the helmet that felt too small when I put it on. I thought it was going to come flying off with my head attached. My brain felt like a scrambled egg afterwords. I'll never EVER do that again! I don't have the picture of that yet... someday I'll post it.

Family History

I have been putting the information that Grandma did on family history into the PAF (personal ancestral file) and looking up some of the place names as I go. Here are some maps.

The "A" bubble on this map shows Steynton, Pembrokeshire, Wales where Francis Gibbs was from. He was christened in 1792. His son was John Duggan Gibbs whose son was Joseph Edward Gibbs (pictures below) whose daughter was Zina Elizabeth Gibbs whose daughter is Grandma!

This is an 1835 map of Gloucestershire county England where a lot of the Harris’ are from. I have circled and highlighted in green some of the place names but because of the detail on the map it is hard to tell where I did that and where there are just green places on the map. The places are primarily on the East side of the river South of Gloucester. Some of the place names are: Hucclecote, Churchdown, Gloucestershire, England; Badgeworth, Gloucestershire, England; Twigworth, St. Catherine, Gloucester, Gloucs, England; Apperley, Deerhurst, Gloucestershire, England; Deerhurst, Gloucestershire, England; Standish, Gloucestershire, England; Quedgeley, Gloucestershire, England

I have scanned this whole journal if you would like a digital copy of it. I have only read a page or two but it was very interesting. Joseph Gibbs was talking about getting a letter from his daughter telling him that she had gotten married. She had included some wedding cake and he had divided it into 22 pieces to share with others.