Tweety Bird

Ruby reminds me of Tweety Bird in this photo. What a cute kid!

Ruby is here!

She has arrived! Ruby was born on July 4th and is doing well. I am simply too tired to write more.

A Ph.D in Animal Control

Once again, a minor tragedy took place in front of the old homestead. I hear another bang in front of the house and take a peek out the window to see a car backing away from a deer. The car drove off while the deer suffered 3 broken legs. The car must have slowed down enough because the deer was not even close to being dead. The thing tried to get up several times but 3 broken legs will keep any quadra-ped on the ground. Once again, I dutifully call the police and let them know they have a live deer in the middle of a busy street.

Well the old boys send a couple of squad cars and the police officers sit around yakking about what to do with the deer. Clearly these city boys are a little confused at the situation because they are looking at this thing like it is an alien. At this point I figure they are going to call animal control and dart the thing, choke out, or at least take the animal elsewhere to finish it off. So, I go to bed thinking nothing else is going to happen. Now, what is the dumbest way you could imagine the cops getting rid of a 1 legged deer in a very residential part of town on a busy street? Yep, you guessed it. I jump from bed after hearing what was clearly a shot gun blast only to see Barney Fife and Chief Wiggam pump one more round into the head of Bambi's mother! It was funny and confusing at the same time. I tried to get a picture of the action but I was too late for the photo op.

Myles is "The Man"

A picture of my nephew Myles and I goofing off during Christmas break. The highlight came when Myles came out looking like an underwater baseball player.

Which brother lived with Pops?

Can you tell which brother lived with Pops? Hint: note the stain on the sweatshirt. It could be Myles residue, walleye guts, car grease, or something from 1994.

The Big Dig 2007

The snow storm was a good time. I scooped out the front third of our driveway 3 times yesterday and then let it go until today. It seemed futile at the time but it did save me a lot of work. Good deeds are returned in kind was the lesson of the day. I helped a 2 neighbors dig thier cars out of snow banks in front of their driveways. Apparenlty they were under the impression you can ramp a vehicle over anything. The next day one of them brought out his snow blower and took care of all of the heavy snow at the end of our driveway and said I could borrow it anytime.

Bathroom remodels

The first two pictures here are the downstairs bathroom before and after. The second two are the upstairs bathroom.

18 years old + drinking = amazingly stupid decisions

A couple of months ago Nicole and I awoke to a loud boom outside of our house. At first I was convinced that it was a gun shot. When I looked out the window I couldn't see exactly what happened. I started hearing a girl screaming which really freaked me out. I honestly thought that someone next door killed themself. I ran downstairs to look out the front door, saw a car slow down and then keep driving. So, I thought it wasn't a big deal. I threw my pants on and went outside to see exactly what took place. Admittedly I was a little worried about doing this because there was that chance that it wasn't a suicide but a homicide. We live in a nice neighborhood but domestic violence can happen anywhere. What I found was a Chevy Blazer with the front end crushed in and wrapped around the pole you see in the picture. Three other people were on the scene (two of which were just returning from the bar themselves) and nobody was interested in calling the police because they didn't want to get the 18 year old driver into trouble. WHAT!!! The driver's boyfriend couldn't even stand up because he was both bombed out of his mind and had a huge gash on his head. Call me a party pooper but I called 911 and they took over from there. Turns out the boyfriend was underage also. We all watched in amusement as he hid in my neighbor's garage when the cops arrived. It was kind of like watching an ostrich stick its head in the sand to avoid danger. As for the car that slowed to look but didn't stop to help, you suck.

W. Branch AuSable River Video

Click the image to watch the video. Thanks D-bone for the footage!

West Branch AuSable River

I love this picture, the trees turning colors, the river flowing briskly, a beautiful red mini-van cutting through the middle of it all...

My buddy Dallas and I made a trip up to the West Branch of the AuSable River in the Adirondacks last Friday. We decided to take the day off from school work (he is a law student) to enjoy the crisp mountain air we miss so much. The fall foilage out here is really amazing this time of year. Dallas is from Provo, UT where he was a fly guide on the Provo River during his college days at BYU. He is fun to fish with becuase he loves it as much as I do. He also takes the time to appreciate his surroundings and is responsible for all of these pictures. We had a great day of fishing with a handful of Browns and Bows caught throughout. Soft Hacke Hare's Ears and Grey Kauffman Stones were all producing fish. I caught one Bow that was around 15 inches and have a video of it but have yet to get it posted.