A not-so-slightly overdue post

Since I last posted, there's been a Desert Trip, we had a SWORD Hiking trip, we went on a camping trip, I had my wisdom teeth pulled, and a bunch of other things. Speaking of getting my wisdom teeth pulled, I've now figured out why people use the chipmunk comparison for people after they've had them pulled. I always thought before that they were only referring to their cheeks swelling up, but there is really so much more to it than that.

When you get your wisdom teeth pulled, it leaves these big pockets at the back of your mouth where your teeth used to be. You would be surprised how much food you can actually store in them. It is really great... I can eat breakfast and then snack on it till lunch! Just what I always wanted (unless it is eggs... those don't last very well at all.. eww)!

My deepest apologies to anyone who has that mental image in their head. I realize it is very gross, but I thought it was about time that the truth was told about the real reason for the chipmunk comparison. ;) And just so everyone knows, I DO clean them out after every time I eat. Just had to clear that up. ;)

I will now attempt to get that mental picture out of your head. It isn't healthy to have that picture in the slightest.


We went on a desert trip in April, and we saw these deer. Kyle and I ended up chasing them for a long time to get a closer picture, but they only seemed to gain on us... ;)


It is amazing what good framing, and a little color adjusting can do for a picture. This place didn't actually look that good in real life. Next time I see any ghost town pictures and see a really cool looking one, I'll have to remember this picture.


We went to Tom and Katie's house awhile back, and Katie was taking some portrait pictures of us. Here she is taking a picture of Rachel...


...while I take pictures of a lizard. It may not be as good of a subject as Katie had, but lizards do have their merits. We saw a video recently by a guy explaining how some animals, especially reptiles, used to be way bigger before and even after the flood. Reptiles never stop growing, so if they live long enough, they can become very big. In the pre-flood conditions, they lived much longer, so this guy would most likely be closer to 10 feet long, rather than 10 inches long. That is a very intriguing thought.


We had been planning for a few months to take some of the SWORD guys on an overnight backpacking trip. Everyone was really excited for it, but then I ended up spraining my ankle (AGAIN!) a couple days before we were supposed to go. We decided to push it back a week, but there were no other days where Kyle, Stephen and I all had two straight days off, so we had to do a day hike. It actually worked out a lot better to do a day hike this time. I think trying to go overnight the first time was taking on a little bit more than we could take.


We picked out to go to the "Bridge to Nowhere", but we never made it to the end. There were a lot of water crossings which slowed us down a lot. We ended up swimming as much as we hiked, which was great fun.


Jimmy and Sammy crossing one of the many times.


Here is a picture with most of the guys that came. We had a great group of guys, and everyone had fun.


Last week we went camping with the Townsend family at Palomar Mountain. We were last there in 2006, which was way too long ago. There is a little pond there which the DFG keeps stocked, so it makes for very fun fishing.


Maddy with her biggest catch of the day... weeds (or maybe I should say, seaweeds?)! Always plenty of those around.


Timothy patiently waiting for a fish to bite one. You didn't have to be very patient a lot of the time.


Cleaning the fish is never one of the better parts of fishing, though it was quite entertaining this time since Jonathan had everybody clean a fish or two.


Dinner! Well, maybe for something.


We had this semi-dangerous game we played on the hill down from our campsite. The people at the top would kick the soccer ball down the hill, and the people down the hill had to chase it and make sure it didn't get past them.


Kicking the ball up the hill was a lot harder than kicking it down.


And it made for some great pictures.


We took a few hikes, and this one ended up at some slippery logs. I think there was another way of going by, but we decided to just turn around.


I ended up tying hooks and blowing up worms a lot of the time because they were catching the fish so fast there were always a couple poles needing to be re rigged. There is something fun about just sitting back and having your group pull in fish left and right. It is very relaxing.


A farther shot of the fishing.


Paul fishing.


Here we are roasting hot dogs around the fire.


I tried to do a panoramic of our campsite, but all I had was a 3inch tripod on top of a car, so it didn't turn out perfect. One of the tree branches is hanging in mid-air.


The day after we got back from camping, we went to El Dorado Park with Tom and Katie and the kids. They are so cute when they are watching the turtles from the bridge.


Rebecca and Julie.


Julie was being especially cute that day.


Here Katie is taking a picture of Mom holding Ruthie, while trying to get Ruthie to smile. Taking pictures of people trying to get babies to smile is always fun. ;)


We came to this spot for our family picture, but Michael and Bethany were running ahead so I got this picture of them with Paul and Timothy.

That's all for now... hope I got that mental image out of your head. Oops, I just brought it up again. Bummer!