We had one exciting weekend. The boys went to a cabin in Hobble Creek Canyon and Gail stayed at home. The adventures began on Friday afternoon. Andy and the boys departed for Utah about 12pm. They were going to stay with our friends, the Boatmans, at a cabin in the canyon. They arrived to a huge thunderstorm and once it passed the weather was absolutely beautiful.

Saturday morning they got up and went fishing

and caught some beautiful trout.

Andy and Brian met up with another friend of ours, Chris Johnson, and played golf at the Hobble Creek course, which by all reports was fantastic. The boys then all went kayaking and swimming and Nikolas took another try at riding dirt bikes (no burns this time). They finished off the day BBQing some ribs and had a feast. The boys return Sunday afternoon, all tan and tired and were ready for bed.

Gail enjoyed her weekend at home. She was doing a Pampered Chef party on Saturday and rearranged furniture while everyone was away. Other than some peace and quiet, she was excited because she made herself fish both evenings without any complaints.

The rest of last week was fairly typical. Matthew started summer school and had a good start. Gail and Andy worked and the boys continued to enjoy their summer.

We hope all is well.

We have been having a rather odd summer. Nearly every day for the last two weeks it has rained and not just sprinkled, but really rained. It has resulted in things staying very green and quite nice. It has also been relatively cool. Gail is happy, because by this time last year, things were beginning to turn brown and did not look so good. It is good to have her spirits up.

The big news this week was the Motorcycle Jamboree this weekend. The jamboree brings out the best in Elko culture, including Sue's Fantasy Club offering free drinks to its "clients" and setting up a vendor booth to sell alcohol laced Otter Pops. I am not making this up. One of the many shocks coming to Nevada was how loose the liquor laws are. Essentially, except for in your car, you can drink whatever you want, wherever you want, whenever you want. Thus, the jamboree results in a lot of local yocals having a good time, insuring Andy will have plenty of work.

Andy was quite excited because this year there were suppose to be two nights of concerts. The first night L.A. Guns, Great White and Molly Hatchet were scheduled to play. Night two were two all-female cover bands Zepperella (Led Zeppellin) and Hells Belles (AC/DC). Andy went both nights. The first night was rained out and the second night the sound system did not work so well. He was greatly disappointed.

Other than the Jamboree it was a fairly quiet week. Our nephew Gareth was with us until Thursday and we enjoyed having him visit. It gave the boys someone else to play with. Gail did a few cleaning jobs, but she has arranged her schedule so she works every other week, thus giving her time with the boys. So far the schedule has worked out.

We are all looking forward to our upcoming trip to New Hampshire. Everyone is excited to be going back.

Not much else to report. Hope all is well with our friends and family.

We just returned from a long weekend in Idaho visiting Gail's parents. Matthew had been up there all week and he came back with us. He reported having a great time at Grandma and Grandpa's. He went to the pool, built a fort and I think enjoyed most of all hot having to compete against his little brother.

Our nephew Gareth came with us on the trip and we were glad to have him with us. He will stay with us for the week and then Andy will take him back home when he goes to Wendover later this week. Our little trip was nice, despite the fat it rained each day we were there. We left Thursday evening. Friday morning we went into Boise to see Grandma Bates and then went to Chuck-E-Cheese's to celebrate Nikolas' birthday. We then went for a ride to Homedale to see some petroglyphs on some rocks by the Snake River. They were neat and we will try and get a picture up as soon as we get them downloaded.

Saturday was celebration day. We had a family get together in a local park to celebrate Nikolas and Gareth's birthday. It was a fun trip , but we were glad to get home.

The rest of last week was fairly typical. We all worked. Nikolas helped Gail out and it was fairly quiet with only Nikolas here. We hope all is well with you and wish you well until next week.

We have survived the 1st week of the boys summer vacation. This was also the end of Nikolas' baseball season and he did very well. During his last game he went 1-3 with another RBI and ended the season batting over .600. He had a great year and is looking forward to playing again next spring.

Gail and the boys were off to Idaho from Tuesday to Friday for a short visit. Gail attended a Pampered Chef training meeting and the boys played at Grandma and Grandpa's. Andy had to hold the fort down and was off to Wendover for Court on Wednesday. He missed having the crew around and was glad to see everyone on Friday.

Saturday was busy around our house. The boys were off to Cub Scout Day Camp, each came home with some badges, excited they got to shoot a gun and do archery, but the real excitement was the gold fish that came home. The boys named them Matthew and Nikolas so ...... we now have two boys and two fish with the same name. Andy relived the 1980's by attending an outdoor "Survivor" concert in Wendover. He came home humming "Eye of the Tiger" and reported it was very fun.

We cannot end our post this week without wishing a big Happy Birthday to Nikolas who turned 8 today. We are planning his baptism for August 1, 2009 in Elko for those of you who would like to attend.

We hope you all have a great week.

All is well in sunny Northeastern Nevada. It has been a short week since the last post but here is an update of what has occurred. Matthew and Nikolas are on top of the world-school is out. Mom and Dad are not so giddy, but glad each had a successful year. The boys will each be starting a new school in the fall. Matthew begins 'middle school" at Flagview-yes he is in 5th grade. Nikolas will go to the school for the area will live in and will begin 3rd grade. To celebrate Andy and the boys went to the movies and had a good time.

Gail would have come allow, but unfortunately was in SLC attending the funeral for the daughter of some friends of ours from law school who only lived 54 days. We were all saddened by her passing and have kept them close in our prayers. Gail left Thursday afternoon and came back Sunday. We were all glad to have her home.

Andy had a relatively quiet week. He was suppose to start a jury trial but it settled a week or so ago, so he had a clear schedule. Which worked out really well. This allowed him to participate in Matthew's field day Thursday. Andy oversaw the tug-o-war and had a great time helping out.

Nikolas' baseball season is almost over. He had a game Tuesday and Saturday and had one more Friday. He continued to do well and has shown great improvement in his playing.

That about sums up our week. We hope all is well with our friends and family.

We just returned from a fantastic weekend in Park City, Utah. We left Saturday morning and staying until yesterday afternoon. On the way back we spent the night in Wendover with our friend's the Boatmans.

Park City was cloudy and cool, but we still got out to see quite a bit of stuff. The boys took advantage of the swimming pool at the condo. In total I think we spent 5+ hours swimming. Saturday we mostly hung out at the condo, exporing the general area. We went into Park City and thought it was beautiful. The next morning we went to church and then for a ride. We stopped at the olympic center where the ski jumping and bobsled events we held and found it to be neat. The park offers a chance to take a bobsled ride, Nikolas was the only one excited to give it a try. Needless to say, he was outvoted.

We stopped to have dinner with our friends in Wendover on Monday evening. Brian had just bought a new dirt bike for one of his kids to learn how to ride. Nikolas asked if he could give it a try and as you can see he did pretty good on a 50cc dirtbike. He took to the bike quite naturally and now wants one. He did have a small spill and burned his leg on the engine, but that did not stop him from getting back on. He did a great job.

Just wanted to give a quick update and hope all is well.

We are in the midst of some beautiful spring weather here in Northern Nevada. You can smell the sage in the air, the trees are in full bloom and everything is actually green. We probably will not see any rain until the fall, so we better enjoy it while we can.

All of us are doing well. Nikolas continues to tear up the baseball field. This week he went 4-6 with another RBI. He is even beginning to play great defensively. His overall BA is at .581. Matthew has been making a great coaches helper and he even enjoys coming to the games. We are so proud of both of the boys.

Gail continues to struggle with the nagging cough she has had, but it seems to be on the decline. She was in SLC this weekend doing some Pampered Chef stuff. We joined her Saturday and had a nice visit with our friends Irene, Daniel and Oscar. We enjoyed getting away for the day.

Otherwise it was a typical week. We hope you are all well and until next week.