i miss you all!

just thought id give a little update from northern california. things here for the most part have been pretty good. i am going to make another attempt at day shift starting november 2, we will see how it goes but thinking it would be nice to see my husband a bit more, and actually be home most nights. i have also started working per diem only a few hrs every few weeks for a plastic surgeon. its pretty fun and easy money. nice to have some extra income without having to work a whole 12 hr shift. were looking forward to dinner tomorrow night with roger and grace. roger is up here in sacramento for a conference for work. i will really try to take some pictures! and were really looking forward to doing our own thanksgiving again this year, last year it was just with our friends since most of us had to work. this year were super excited mom and dad are coming up and tami is flying down. should be fun!

love you all!!!

Say Hi to Sadie

Sadie got a new bed from her "friend" Sandy, the Engel's new dog. Sandy will not sleep on the bed; she prefers the floor. Sadie prefers the bed, even if it was Sandys. :)

The Balvenie for the Captain/Bishop

the road goes on forever....

Pole Vaulting Over the Salty Dawg

Roses from the Portland gardens

I was looking through the pictures of the roses that we took when last in Portland with David and Becky. Here are some favorites. What a pleasant, fragrant walk that was!

Brian and Becky were down for a few day last week. Becky has the pictures. Sadie got a bath and some quality time with Brian and Becky. She didn't eat for two days after they left. We will be having Thankgiving dinner in Sacramento with mom's side of the family (at Brian and Becky's)on November 14th and then back to Long Beach to greet Mike and Caroline on the 19th. Billy and Tami will be in Chicago for Thanksgiving weekend. Love you, Mom and Dad

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAROLINE

Here's hoping it is a great one! Sure can't wait to see you again.

We love you,

Dave and Becky

Port Townsend's Wooden Boat Festival

Lots and Lots of wooden boats!

There were lots of people out enjoying the weather and the local music.

I really liked this boat!

Look familiar?

I loved the Devlin boats. There weren't any sailboats by Devlin but the motorboats were super styley!

To the Top of South Sister

So here is the high meadow above Moraine Lake at around mile 2. We had around 6 miles to the top and from here you can see the entire route! It is directly south, straight up the mountain. Ryan, Dave, Zoe and me were up for the trek. (Zack was up for it but we couldn't get our schedules to work out)

From here, we walked up the mountain to the high point under the highest two glaciers. Then the route went right to the left of those glaciers up to the to top.

Here we are starting the final push, hiking along side those glaciers. Yep, they are the same ones you can see in the first picture.

Here is Zoe on the ridge above the glaciers. We were climbing pretty directly at this point.

Atop South Sister

It was a hard hike up and down but definitely worth it. The guidebook called it "a hike of a lifetime" and I wouldn't disagree.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY CAROL & MIKE

LIN UPDATE

Sooo... since the last time I posted on the family website, the following has occurred:

1. the name was changed to creep zone
2. billy got a fabulous job with microsoft (that he hates this week, because he has a deadline)
3. i have gained at least 8 pounds
4. billy and i found an apartment (after 3 1/2 months of homelessness and mooching)
5. we started considering moving to Illinois, went and visited Illinois, and decided we are moving to Urbana, Illinois in February (billy will work remote-- still for microsoft)
6. (and for the particularly nosey) i did not get pregnant

...the adventure of our life continues....

Much love to all~
the Lin's

Hannah's wedding

Hannah Kight got married yesterday.... mom and dad unfortunately missed the wedding because dad is sick. heres some pics of the wedding of hannah kight to mike stratton...

trip to the north west.... too bad it dosent go as far as canada

Hey all!
Especially my siblings in the northwest... were planning on driving up to portland on sept 24th... and then driving home oct 1. what happens between those 2 days we arent quite sure... we would like to spend some time with dave and becky exploring portland, and a couple days in seattle. brian has never been to either.... i dont think he understands why i always try to get him to apply for departments in oregon when they come up on his fire recruit website.... anyways... if anyone has any preferance of days let me know.. ill try and call dave and becky this week and finalize what days they want.

love you all!

becky

Finally fishing!

Had a good time with my folks. They really enjoyed the boat and were overwhelmingly impressed (as am I) with the Bluebird as a whole! My mom caught the first halibut and later became the current record holder for biggest fish.
We just got the news that our contract in Long Beach has been accepted! We put in for a start date of Nov 10. We received a call immediately the next day saying that everything was cool except one thing.... THEY WANT US TO COME TWO WEEKS LATER!! Woo Hoo... we are most happy to have two more precious weeks handed to us on a platter! Should be arriving in Long Beach around Nov 18 or so??? Well I think we figured out our picture problem so will try to post a few more pictures. Love you guys.

finally pictures from camping!

hey everyone! sorry it took so long, im finally getting around to posting pictures from our camping trip in july.... and a video.... zoolander started randomly swimming yesterday, usually when we take him to the river he just wades around and wont come in, but we went yesterday to the river for a bit and zoolander was swimming all over the place... .i guess watching the olympics does pay off! haha.... we will see my siblings in the north west at the end of september! should be a fun trip!!!

Quick little update from the Mancebo

Hey all!
Thought i would post a quick update from our neck of the woods... things have been crazy here! we are moving yet again this weekend... apartment living just isnt for us. and its very cramped with the dogs, so we are going back to renting a house for a year and then our plan is to buy a year from now. I also totalled my car... yes im that good of a driver, so last weekend we had the joy of going car shopping and settled on a honda crv. it gets the same gas mileage as my old car but adds a bit more space so we wont be renting suvs for road trips and camping trips that include more than just the 2 of us. we are planning on heading north to portland and maybe seattle at the end of sept from the 25th to oct 1st... let us know if that works... will post pics from our most recent camping trip when i get a chance, im at work right now and cant do it.

love you all!!

The Bluebird has launched!

Well we just got home from launching the Bluebird. AWESOME! She floats! We had a lovely christening ceremony here at the house and then took her down to the harbor and SHE FLOATS! It was awesome. It is so beautiful and so incredible that Mike built her! We cruised around the bay for an hour and a half or so. Didn't splash the boat til about 10:40pm. Gonna sleep a couple of hours and then get up at 7am for more!!! Love you guys and will post more pics soon..