Kenn, Jennifer, Quentin

2011-05-02T15:29:00.002-07:00

It has been a while, but life has been busy. Quentin finally went on his first Canyoneering trip. Jennifer could not make it, but Q and I headed to Northwash Utah outside of Hanksville. The trip was a ACA trip and was a blast. Here are some videos of Quentin from the trip:

First Rappel in Blarney East Fork

Another rappel in Blarney East

1st Rappel in Blarney West Fork

West fork - rapelling into the dark slot

Maidenwater Canyon - Assist rappel - Had some fun and stayed dry.

Stemming down in Maidenwater

the walkout Maidenwater - great canyon!

2010-10-14T19:17:00.032-07:00

Well a lot has happened since the last post. The beginning of July my boss walked in and talked to me about the opportunity to go to Guam. A little hesitant at first, I went home and talked to Jennifer about it. Before making a decision, we wanted to see what it was all about. So we packed our bags and got some last minute plane tickets to Guam (Quentin’s passport expired so he couldn’t go, who knew kids passports were only good for 5 years?). We were pleasantly pleased with what we saw. A cross between Honolulu and Kauai, just a little more humid. We spent 4 days there and were on board with the possibility of moving there in the future. It has all the amenities of Honolulu with the big name stores (Prada, Rolex, Dior, Gucci, Coach, Louis Vuitton, Fendi, etc) and some big name restaurants like Planet Hollywood, Hard Rock Café and Lonestar steak house. Once you got outside the major city of Tumon, it looked a lot like Kauai with the people being more friendly and welcoming than in Hawaii. One selling point for me was the spearfishing that is done there, incredible fishing! On the way back we stopped by the Marshall Islands and those too are extremely impressive. Guam is close to South East Asia and we are excited with the opportunity to travel if we end up in Guam. Once the trip was over, we let my boss know we were on board with the possibility of going there someday. The next step was moving back to California and working out of the Kiewit Santa Fe Springs office. I would be leading the Northwest portion of the estimates for Guam work. Over the next 3 years the government will be spending 12-15 Billion Dollars to build up the military facilities on Guam. There is a lot of work to do prior to us ever moving there, but you never know.
Once the commitment was made, it was moving time (again, actually our 9th move with Kiewit in 10 years). The movers showed up the 23rd of August and had all of our worldly possessions in the container by the 24th. We unloaded quite a bit in a garage sale knowing IKEA was waiting on the other side. We flew out, found a place in Yorba Linda and waited for our stuff. Prior to leaving I had to get one more Hawaii golf game in. Indi got one last play with her boyfriend Racus (next door neighbor pure pitbull) and was sad to see him go.
I had to go back and forth for a couple weeks and even threw a week in Texas to attend a crane school. I finally made it back to Southern California September 27th to start work. Jennifer has found a job at a local bead store where she will continue to make jewelry, teach classes, and even find time to take some new classes. Quentin is enrolled in a great school (actually has a waiting list for out of district kids) and is doing extremely well in school. We are close enough he is able to ride his bike and likes the freedom and new responsibility.
The first week I was here I got to tour the Long Beach Harbor. One of our Vendors invited a few of us out to tour a container ship and their facility. Talk about impressive. A lot of goods come and go out of this harbor every day; in fact our container from Hawaii was one of them.
We are getting settled in the new place with all the boxes unpacked. We are now slowly hanging pictures and getting the furniture in the right spot.
Being back on the mainland has its advantages too, though Jennifer and Quentin miss Hawaii like mad; she has been able to spend time with her brothers on a regular basis. Quentin will be joining a local swim team shortly and is looking forward to it. I am starting Hockey again and am enjoying the shorter days at work which allows me to concentrate on my master’s degree program which is wrapping up quickly. I am also going to Vegas and then Hollywood next week to shoot some pictures for a band, should be a good time.
We have even been able to squeeze in the home opener for the Mighty Ducks vs. Vancouver Canucks (great game), and are planning on the Broncos vs. San Diego in November and the Celtics vs. Lakers in February. Kiewit, So Cal District, has season tickets to the Ducks and they are great seats, 12 from the glass. I might be seeing a WHOLE lot of live games this season which is fine by me.
Indi is doing well and had a chance to make it to the beach where she found the water too be much cooler than Hawaii, it was worth a good laugh. She likes her new living arrangements, however, we know she misses her boyfriend and the ½ acre we had in Hawaii.
Pictures – top to bottom:
Guam overview map, out in the middle of the ocean
Downtown Tumon, Guam
Downtown Tumon, Guam
View from Two Lovers Point looking at Tumon Bay
Hotel room at the Hilton in Tumon Bay
View from Hotel room
View from Hotel room - night
Marshall Island pit stop on the way back to Hawaii
An aerial view of the Marshall Islands
Last sunrise in Hawaii
Indi and Rucus saying their goodbyes
Kauai house empty
Our bedroom in Kauai with the new floor
Last golf Game – yes that is me in the sweet Hawaiian shirt
Yorba Linda overview map
Yorba Linda close up
Outside view of the condo – not too bad, 4 bedroom and about 1600 SF
Corner unit which makes it nice
Tight squeeze in the Garage – left company car, right, the fun car
The new living room – new couch and new entertainment center
Lots of room for the dining area
New Office View
Corpus Christi from Hotel Room
Largest land based lifting device in the United States – Kiewit Offshore Services, Texas
Long Beach Harbor
Big overhead crane at Long Beach Harbor
Container Ship – Long Beach Harbor
Family at the Game
Ducks had just scored, great to watch the home team win (unless your team is playing against them of
course)
Game over – skating out for the after victory celebration

2010-07-09T00:48:00.002-07:00

Here are some helmet camera views from our zion trip. This was my first experience with the camera and learned some valuable tips. Hopfully the next trip will produce better video.

This is the first repel in Birch Hallow Canyon. This is about a 60 ft repel.

The last technical canyon we did was Spry. This was a great canyon and had 13 raps in it. Below are a couple of the repels we encountered.

Great repel into a narrow, dark canyon. This repel was about 45 ft.

Repel number 5, 80 ft.

2010-07-08T23:49:00.002-07:00

Want to know what it looks like on a 120 ft repel? This is a helmet camera on a repel in Mystery Canyon, Mystery Spring Repel. It was taken on our trip there (Zion Natioanl Park) in June 2010.

2010-06-05T21:44:00.005-07:00

Okay, so our two readers have bugged us to update the site (ray and James, you know who you are). So what has happened since my last update? Here we go;

We moved to Kauai from Oahu at the beginning of the year. The new house is very nice and quiet with a lot of property for the dog to run.

I started the new project widening the main road in Kauai by the mall, It will be a 15 month project so Quentin will be able to make it a whole year in one school.

Jennifer started her sea glass jewelry business and is plugging along nicely. She has a couple buyers and has been selling her pieces like hot cakes.

Claudia (Jennifer’s mother) has been visiting for some time now and is enjoying just taking in the sights and spending time with us. Here is Q and Claudia at Kauai Coffee enjoying some fresh brew.

Quentin finished his 6th grade up and graduated. He had a good time going back to the school he left 2 years ago. He played soccer again and even was placed in the higher aged team. They did really well and made it to the playoffs where they were defeated.

Looking like a kid from a Dad who played hockey...play the body and not the ball. What a kid!

Quentin looked pretty sweet during his graduation dance. I am really glad he has got to experience the Hawaii culture.

I had a company trip to Omaha so since I was already heading to the mainland, I made it back to Utah for a canyoneering excursion the week before. It was a blast and Jennifer and I are heading to Zion the end of June for another canyoneering trip.

This was at a technical canyoneering class I took before heading into the canyons.

Me on the first repel in Blarney Left Fork

Quentin and I are back at it again spearfishing. We picked up right where we left off, free dinner!

Rebekah from Colorado made it out just after we moved to Kauai. This was a good time and got to re-explore the sites.

I also had a friend from High School, Mark Miller visit us. He stayed a couple days and we too had a good time.

I made it up to the secret tunnels again with some coworkers and just like last time, they were pretty amazing.

Me taking a dip in the waterfall at the very end. Well worth the hike.

We bought a new car, well, new to us. A 2007 Nissan Maxima. I wanted something that was a little fun to drive and we got a killer deal on it.

So in a nutshell, you are up to speed on the last 8 months
Oh, and Indie is doing well and getting big…

2009-10-31T19:46:00.003-07:00

DEATH TO THE ZEBRA...

This is what happens when you spend a lot of money for dog toys at PETCO. Indie got the zebra yesterday and went right to work today. Dog 1, Toy 0...

2009-10-25T20:51:00.037-07:00

What a wild week of seeing everything on the Island. We had our good friends from Colorado, TJ, Alex and Ava, out for 3 weeks. I took off 8 days of their weeks so we could explore the Island. Since we have been on Oahu, we have not done a lot of exploring. So this was the chance for us to get out and check it out.
We started with the Ko’olina lagoons. There are 5 man made lagoons with 4 of them being outside hotel/resorts. The 5th is known as the “local” lagoon and is not visited that much. There you can see turtles swimming and the occasional monk seal.
While out here we decided to look for filming locations of the TV show LOST. The entire show is filmed on Oahu and looking online we found plenty of places to go and see.
We ventured up to the North shore, Mokule’ia Beach. This is where the plan crash for the TV show was filmed. We spent the day up there and some of us got plenty burned.
We visited the Waikiki Aquarium too. It was smaller but was nice and had some interesting things to see.
We hiked to the top of Diamond Head. Again, this was a long hot climb but the views from the top were worth the hike.
We also decided to hike to the Makapu’u Lighthouse. The hike was warm but we got to see a scene from lost being filmed. We watched the filming for a while and while walking through the set we saw “Jack” and “Hurley”. We continued to the top to the lighthouse. When almost to the top, Hurley drove past us and hiked the last little bit to the top. On his way down, he stopped and Alex and I got our picture with him.
We also made our way to the famous Waikiki Beach. I have never been there and so this was new territory for me. It was interesting and the beach was crowded, reminding me a lot of a SO CAL beach. It was a quick day and we headed back to home.
We also took a trip out to Pearl Harbor. This was my second trip out there and again, it was pretty sobering on the events of that day. We took the boat ride out and got to look at the Arizona Memorial.
One thing that I had wanted to try was snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. This is a fish preserve so there is no spearfishing there. The fish were incredible and HUGE. I was swimming with parrot fish that were well over 12 lbs and looked so tasty (in my opinion, they are the best tasting fish that come out of the ocean). There were a couple turtles out there and other amazing large fish.
The Ha'ikū Stairs, also known as the Stairway to Heaven or Haiku Ladder, is a steep hiking trail on the island of Oahu.The trail began as a wooden ladder spiked to the cliff on the south side of the Haiku Valley. It was installed in 1943 to enable the construction of antenna cables that would be strung from one side of the cliffs above Haiku Valley to the other. A building to provide a continuous communication link between Wahiawa and Haiku Valley Naval Radio Station was also constructed at the very peak of Puukeahiakahoe, elevation at about 2800 feet. These extraordinary antennas transmitted very low frequency radio signals from a 200,000-watt Alexanderson alternator located in the center of Haiku valley. The signals could reach US Navy submarines as far away as Tokyo Bay even while the submarines remained underwater.When the Naval base was decommissioned in the 1950s the United States Coast Guard used the site for an Omega station. In the early 50s, the wooden stairs were replaced by sections of metal steps and ramps — by one count, 3,922 steps. The station and trail were closed to the public in 1987. Despite the closure, some hikers ignore the No Trespassing signs and continue to climb, contributing to the local community's misgivings about reopening the structure.Local officials have repaired the trail and the ladders, but the trail will remain closed and patrolled by security until access and management issues have been resolved.TJ and I attempted to access these. We made it through the gates and onto the stairs. We thought we were in the clear and started up the stairs. Almost to the first platform (we estimate about 1600 stairs in) we ran into the security guard patrolling. He made us turn around and told us he contacted the police and we were going to be arrested. By the time we got to the bottom of the stairs we were calling his bluff and he let us walk out. We were a little bummed we didn’t get to the top, but we at least got to make it almost halfway up the stairs.

Makapu'u Overlook - hand glider taking off

Makapu'u Overlook

Quentin Swing around like a monkey

TJ Checking out the turtles in Hanauma Bay

Big Fat Parrot in Hanauma Bay

Hanauma Bay from the top

Turtle in Ko'olina lagoon

Haiku Stairs

H-3 and the tunnels from the stairs

Haiku Stairs

Honolulu from Diamond Head

Arizona Memorial from the dock

Pearl Harbor from the boat

Makapu'u Lighthouse

Waikiki Beach with diamond head in the back ground

Pali Highway overlook - Kane'ohe in the distance

Papa'iloa Beach - Campsites

Papa'iloa Beach - Lost Campsite behind the orange fence

Papa'iloa Beach - Lost Campsites

Papa'iloa Beach - Lost Beach - Grave sites

Papa'iloa Beach - Lost Beach

Kenn and Hurley

Lost Season 10 being filmed at the Makapu'u Lighthouse

Sydney Airport - Season 1

Honolulu Convention Center - doubles as the Sydney Airport

Jin at the Byodo-In temple - Season 1

Byodo-In Temple

John in the walk about company - season 1

Right Across from First Hawaiian - the walk about company

Mokule'ia Beach - North Shore

Mokule'ia - North Shore Plane Crash Beach

Kate in the Bank, First Season

First Hawaiian Bank from Lost

2009-10-06T16:53:00.006-07:00

Well it has been a while since the last post. In the last 2 months this is what has happened.
August: Brandon came out for a short visit. We climbed the 3 peaks again, went kayaking and went to the beach a lot.
At work Kiewit was low bidder on a 40 million dollar job on the Island of Kauai. The project, in Lihue, is going to allow us to move back. I am going to be the project manager on the project which will start in February. We anticipate a move in January. We will keep you posted and are excited to go back. The project is 18 months but there is another phase that we hope Kiewit can get, keep your fingers crossed for a longer stay.
Jennifer stayed busy at work and hanging out Quentin and Indie.
September: A lot went on this month. Quentin started 6th grade (I know we are old people now). He likes his classes and is super excited because he has a required laptop this year. He started swimming again and is doing very well with that.
Jennifer and I went to Sunriver Resort (bend, Oregon) for company business. We had some friends of the family stay with Quentin while we were gone. While there, (hold your laughter and comments) I learned to play golf. Actually it was more I learned what not to do if you want to be successful at golf. It was a good time and Jennifer got to get pampered in the spa on a daily basis. It was a nice get away.
Jennifer continues to work making jewelry and is trying to get in as many classes before we move. She still really enjoys it and is very talented at it.
I got to have a whirl wind trip back to Omaha for 3 days to help teach a class for new employees. It was nice to see Omaha in the summer when leaves were still on the trees.
In a nut shell, that is about the extent of the last two months, not much new and exciting. We will post more soon.

Picture 1: Joe & Jeneca - our friends from Kauai came over and went took them to the Oceanarium Restaurant

Picture 2: Top of the 3 peaks looking South

Picture 3: Brandon climbing up the ropes fro peak 1

Picture 4: Fellow employee, Matt Adams, playing golf at Crosswater Club, Sunriver, Oregon

Picture 5: Quentin at the Kapolei Golf Course driving range hitting a bucket

2009-07-18T11:10:00.003-07:00

Mid Month Post:

Can you believe that I am actually posting mid month. Nothing exciting has been going on. Jennifer is still working making jewelry and she is starting to get a stockpile. When she gets enough stock she will start the online store so she can start selling. She also has been working wonders with Indie. I didn't realize how well behaved our dog is until you get around others that aren't. Jennifer has done an amazing job with her.

Quentin is doing well. He got hit new laptop for school and you can't pry it from his hands. Jennifer and Q got summer passes for the local water park so they have been going regularly to have some fun in the sun.

Me, well, still working long hours. Have a big job bidding the 6th of August. Wish me luck, this could be the one that takes us back to Kauai in Feb. I started the next quarter of school, have 2 exciting classes (there was a severe sarcasm undertone in there if you didn't hear it). I have also been riding the road bike a lot hoping to compete in a race around the island September 6th. We will see, 112 miles is a long way. Currently we live at the top of a pretty substantial hill, almost 3 miles. To ride to work takes me about 10-12 minutes. The picture below is what speed I hit coming down the hill this morning. The computer captures what your max speed is during the ride. This is 3 mph faster than I have ever gone before. I would love to break 50 mph but it starts getting a little sketchy with cross winds and cars.

2009-07-07T11:16:00.013-07:00

The 4th of July weekend we decided to get out and explore the island. A couple people from work were going to do the 3 peaks of Olomana on the windward side of the island. We decided to go along and met up with them at 8am on Friday. The following is a description of the hike:

Olomana is a three-peaked monolithic land mass that is separated from the Koolau ridge line. Olomana resides in Maunawili Valley with a panoramic view of the windward coast, Kailua, Waimanalo, and Kaneohe to the east and a great view behind of Mt. Olympus, Lanipo, Puu o Kona, and Konahuanui. Climbing to the first and second peaks are somewhat challenging and is considered an intermediate hike, going all the way to the third peak is a good deal more difficult and dangerous; it is rated an advanced hike.

Of the three peaks, the first is the highest, clearest, and affords the best panoramic view of the windward coast. From this vantage point atop the first peak, the impressive sharpness of the third peak is plainly visible in the distance.

In the foreground is the second peak with a nice shaded area. It requires about 15 minutes to reach the second peak from the first. Proceed down the hump across the saddle and climb the second peak. This spot provides excellent views and a shady spot for lunch and is a good spot to end Olomana hike.

For those who are adventurous, determined, and capable, the third peak provides a nice challenge. It takes about an hour to reach the third peak from the second. Descend steeply down the precipitous back side of the second peak down at least three hundred feet. This is not for the acrophobic or the faint of heart--also keep in mind that you will have to climb back up this steep slope on the return trip. At the bottom of the saddle, begin the ascent of the third peak along a very narrow ridge with severe drop offs on both sides. Next you will encounter a steep rocky face with a rope to assist you. The trail contours along the mountain-facing side of the peak and slowly regains the ridgeline. After contouring a second time, you will then reach a rock face with a ledge Typically, there is a rope there to assist you. Once you pass this point, just a few more minutes is needed for you to conquer the third peak of Olomana.

All in, it took us 4.5 hours to do the entire trip. Quentin was amazing and was eager to be the route finder.

Pictures: (Top to Bottom)

Looking at Peak 2 and 3 from the top of peak 1

View from Peak 1

View of Kialua from Peak 1

View of Peak 1 on the way to Peak 2

Peak 1 from Peak 2 - the people at the top are the rest of our party that decided not to push on to Peak 2 and 3

Peak 3 knife edge/ridge line from Peak 2

Quentin walking the exposed trail coming back from summit of Peak 3

Quentin navigating ropes along ridge of peak 3

Ropes along ridge of peak 3

2009-06-20T23:42:00.001-07:00

To let everyone know, I finally have a photo website up and running. If you would like to see it is KWarrenphotography.com.

2009-06-12T23:55:00.008-07:00

Wow, it has been a while since the last update. Actually my brother remided me me today its been a couple of months. So lets try to catch you up on what has been going on. In May we went back to Colorado for a friends wedding. The wedding went well and the pictures I took turned out pretty well. In Colorado we got to see all of our friends and family while we were back. After the wedding, Jennifer and Quentin went to California to see her brother Brandon. While there she and Q got to go to Catalina, Disneyland and up to Morro Bay to see Granni. I went on a camping trip for 3 days with Dave Strunk (see MOONHOUSE link to the right).
After we got back, Quentin graduated 5th grade and is on his way to 6th, he is getting big as you can see from the picture with my mom, he is taller than her. Jennifer is making jewelry out of seaglass and silver rope. She has been taking classes at a local bead store and has been making jewelry non-stop. She has been to the store so much, they offered her a job and she accepted it. Now she will be able to take as many classes as she wants for free.
Indie is doing well, she is growing so big and has been going to the beach on a daily basis. She is doing so well swimming. Quentin and Jennifer throw the frisbe and she will go after it until she can barely stand. She even goes out and wont let them swim, she will pull either of them back in to the beach when they go out, great dog.
As for me, I am finishing the first class towards my masters and looking forward to the next couple of classes. Still planning on graduating in the spring of 2011. Work has been going well, still in the office estimating.
In a nut shell, that is what has been going on the last couple of months.

Pictures from top to bottom:

Quentin in front of Mile High Stadium

Quentin found the Bronco Fan

Jennifer, Rebekah, Tad, Q and I in Silverthorn

Q and grandma Hallquist

Me at Rocky Mountain National Park

TJ, Alex and Ava Rocky Mtn National Park

Tad and Brandon at teh Pizza Parlor, Catalina

Q and Brandon Biking on Catalina

Brandon and Q at Disneyland

Quentin's dance at school

Quentins crazy hair day for school

Jennifers braclet

Indie sleeping in the doggy pool

Indie saying please for a treat

Indie at the beach and pulling in Quentin from swimming

2009-03-30T00:17:00.008-07:00

PICTURES OF THE KIDS

This last weekend we decided to go and take some good pictures of Quentin and Indie. The two are growing so fast we wanted to document the two before they are no longer kids. We packed up the camera gear and headed to the local park to snap some pics...

This was taken from Diamond head a couple weeks ago, a great view of Honolulu.

2009-03-19T23:57:00.005-07:00

WHALE SEASON

I have had the last week off and we took a trip around the island. After a small hike to the top of a look out, we were treated to a incredible whale watching experience, a mother and her baby playing.

2009-02-05T21:03:00.016-07:00

Wow, where do we start. The last time we posted anything was the beginning of December. Since then we went to Kiewit's Holiday party/U of H football game, Pearl Harbor on the 6th of December, Grandma and Grandpa Hallquist came out to visit over the holidays, Kenn started working on Oahu and commuting back and forth, we then moved to Oahu after the 1st of the year, Quenitn started his new school and joined swim team, Kenn spent 2 weeks in Portland for work, and we all went up to Portland for Kiewit District meeting. It has been a busy 2 months and that is why the updates have been slacking.

The visit from the folks was a good time. We saw all kinds or tourist things. We took the movie tour which showed us all the locations that movies were filmed including Jurassic Park, six days seven nights, Indiana Jones, Blue Hawaii, Tropic Thunder and the list goes on. We got to have a tour of Coco Palms which was closed in 1992 because of hurricane damage. We then hiked to the top of sleeping giant which allowed some incredible views of Kapaa and the coast. We took the drive up Waimea Canyon and to the North Shore of the island and saw some incredible scenery, and did the Wailua River trip to the fern Grotto. They were out for 5 days before they headed to Oahu to go to Pearl Harbor.
Jennifer is doing the oh so fun deed of unpacking, however she has been going through the boxes systematically and getting rid of a lot of stuff. Jennifer is doing well and in good spirits even though we spent our 12th anniversary at district meeting again. We have figured out this has been our 11th move in 12 years of marriage. What an understanding wife.Quentin has adapted to his new school and really enjoys it. The teachers are impressed with him and glad he can be part of the school. He has recovered from his injury and shows no signs of permanent damage. Kenn is currently estimating in the area office trying to get more work in these tough times.

Pictures Top to Bottom: Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor Memorial -laying of the wreath

Quentin by the Anchor at Pearl Harbor

U of H football game - they lost

Fern Grotto - don't see the big attraction

Q and Indie on the North Shore

Waimea Canyon - perfect timing

The kids hiking up Sleeping Giant

View of Kapaa from the top

The lagoon at Coco Palms

Indie chilling out at the new house

2008-12-03T10:42:00.008-07:00

A lot has happened since the last post.
Quentin’s ankle was hurting the week before Thanksgiving so Jennifer took him to the clinic to see what was wrong. They could not figure out what was happening so they told her to take him to the hospital. After going to the ER, they could not figure out what it was so they admitted him to the hospital. Long story short, after 3 days in the hospital, they figured it was a bone infection. They operated on his ankle to clean all the fluid out and put a tube in for 3 days. He was in the hospital for a total of 8 days and will be on crutches for the next 3 weeks. Jennifer spent all the nights and when I was in town, I would come and stay during the day so she could go home and get some rest and take a shower. He was released the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which by the way, hospital turkey is not so good, and is doing well and is getting around okay on crutches. He is expected to make a full recovery.
In other news the project I was working on is officially opened. We opened the bridge December 2nd with the mayor of Kauai present. It was a nice ceremony and the bridge was well received. I am not sure of my next assignment yet, but will keep everyone posted when I do find something out.

Pictures top to bottom:

Q in his hospital room.

Q's ankle surgery

Some pictures of Indie for you dog lovers

The final product - Kilauea Stream Bridge

Opening day - left to Right - Alex Pascual (County of Kauai Project Manager), Bernard Carvalho Jr. (Mayor of Kauai), Myself and Walter Sohl, my project engineer.

2008-11-04T20:55:00.005-07:00

I AM A SLACKER!!
It has been a while since the last update. Things have been busy. Quentin is finishing up with soccer, Jennifer has been busy keeping the family running smoothly and training her new friend, and I have been bouncing between California and Oahu. I was gone to Cali last month for a superintendents meeting and have been on Oahu for the last week and a half in the area office helping out on a job estimate. I am now just getting back from a trip to the big island.
While I was in California, Jennifer and Quentin found and fell in love with a puppy. Her name is Indie and she is a 7 week old Yellow Lab. Jennifer definitely has her hands full training the new pup.
We are still on Kauai for now. The job I am on is winding down and we do not know where my we are going next. There are a couple big jobs coming down the pipeline here in Hawaii and hopefully we get a chance to stay. It is looking more and more like we are going to move to Oahu to be closer to the area office. As long as we stay in Hawaii, Jennifer and Q will be happy plus it will also allow me to keep spear fishing on a regular basis.
Jennifer is staying busy with the training of the puppy and is still working one day a week for our landlord. She is waiting till the beginning of the year to see where we end up, but is hoping we are still in Hawaii so she can attend school at the University of Hawaii.
One of my diving partners and I went out 2 weeks ago and had a close encounter with a shark. It was a gray reef shark and got up-close and personnel with us, chasing us out of the water and we last saw him in less than 3 feet of water, too close for my blood. He got within 2 feet of us and I was loaded and ready to shoot if I had too, doubting it would have done much damage. On the plus side however, I was able to land a beautiful parrotfish (which most likely attracted the shark due to the shot I got on him, lots of blood). We cooked him up that night and I still say he is the BEST tasting fish I have pulled from the Hawaii waters. This shark encounter has made me want to invest in a “bang stick” to be able to ward off the sharks if need be.
Quentin is wrapping up with soccer and they did very well this year. He plays defense and is a great goalie. He is one of the teams premiere goalies and the coach counts on him the most when he is in the goal. He is doing well in school and looks forward to the weekends when he can get in the water and hunt large fish with his hand sling, he is getting pretty darn good with it. I took him out a couple of weeks ago and he got his first fish with a spear gun, he was extremely excited, let me tell you. His fishing stories have already begun, the ones that have gotten away are getting pretty huge let me tell you.
We will update a lot sooner than 2 months. We will post some better puppy photos when we get them.

2008-09-02T11:07:00.008-07:00

The end of summer has come and gone. It was a good 3 day weekend and as always, too short. It started with Quentin's first soccer game. He played very well and his team won, 3-2. He is now playing on the big field so there is a lot of running for him which wears him out very quickly. After the game, we decided to go fishing. I caught 3 Nenue which we had them for dinner that night, fresh fish is the only way to go. Jennifer cooked them on the grill and they were good eating as always.
Lobster season in Hawaii is any month with an "R" in it. So lobster season began Monday. Lobster catching is a night time sport and yo go out with a underwater light and look for them. When you find one, you pounce on it and grab it. They are spinney lobster and have no claws, but the spines on their back can cut you if not wearing gloves. I got 1 big one and 2 little, the little are still good size being around 6-8 oz tails. We pulled the tails and they are in our freezer waiting to be eaten. The weekend was good and we are looking forward to future lobster eating/hunting.
The bottom picture is an example of Quentin's Hawaiian Hand Sling. He has been doing a good job getting fish. He will swim with the sling loaded (in the picture it is loaded) and spear fish. It takes talent to get this down and Quentin has been doing a great job with it, getting fish every time he is out.

2008-08-29T19:41:00.015-07:00

It has been awhile for a post. Things have been going pretty smooth to round out the end of the summer. Quentin has started soccer and his first game is the 30th of August, pictures will follow. We bought him his first Hawaiian hand sling (hand spear). He got to go out in the shallow reef and got the hang of it really quick. He got several small fish and I took them out and used them as chum so they didn't go to waste. Now he is just like dad, can't wait for the weekend to go fishing.

Bob and Claudia (Jennifer's folks) came and visited. We got to go on a helicopter tour and pretty much explored every last region of Kauai. We had a good time as always.

Jennifer has been busy getting Q ready for school and keeping on him about his homework (full time job let me tell you). She hasn't had a lot of chances to get to the beach during the week, but hopefully that will change. We are coming up on our year in Hawaii (instate resident) quickly and she is going to go back to school at the University of Hawaii satellite campus here on Kauai starting in January.
I have been busy at work flying back and forth between Oahu and Kauai, almost weekly. We finished our big milestone on the project, we got the girders set. This was stressful leading up to it but it went very smoothly, without a hitch. The girders weigh 100,000lbs each and are 112 feet long. We had to do a tandem pick which makes setting them extremely dangerous. You are 5 times more likely to have an accident doing a tandem pick over a one crane pick. I worked close to 36 hours straight without any sleep, but caught up the following Sunday, let me tell you. The job is still on track and will be complete in November. We are hoping to stay of Kauai but you never know.

Pictures Top to Bottom:

Quentin at his new school, Island School. It is the best private school on the island.

The Spouting Horn in Po'ipu

The Waimea Canyon (also known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific). The red arrow is the helicopter tour we took, the exact copter and route.

Kalalau Valley from the top. This is the Na Pali Coast. We stayed at the bottom of this valley on the beach.

Waimea Canyon from the Helicopter

Jurassic Falls - this is the water fall in the beginning of Jurassic Park, hence the name

This is the sleeping giant in Kapaa. The red arrow is where we live.

Kalalau Beach - Na Pali Coast. Here is the beach we were at after 11 mile hike. The rock in the ocean at the bottom of the picture is in front of the sea cave we slept in.

Quentin showing his catch. The fish about to get his ear is one I got and we ate that night, it was good eating.

This is the barge we used to get our precast bridge girders from Oahu to Kauai. The cranes are inside the house (the white part that says Young Brothers on it).

The cranes set up picking girder 2 of 6. It took all day to get all 6 set.

Girder 6 waiting to go into place.

2008-08-04T00:30:00.004-07:00

We made it out to the Na Pali Coast this last week. To see pictures and trip report, Click on the Na Pali Coast Trip to the right. Other than this trip, not much else has been going on. We have been spending as many weekends as we can at the beach. Jennifer and Quentin hang out at the beach and in the shallow waters, and I have been going spearfishing as much as possible. The following pictures were dinner Sunday night, a little taco (raw octopus) and a good size reef fish. It was a good day in the water, even though the white tip reef sharks were out and about feeding.

2008-06-17T20:35:00.008-07:00

Another month has passed, and not a lot of excitement with that. Quentin is out of school, Jennifer is still busy taking care of our lives, and I am at work even more than ever.
Quentin had a graduation ceremony for their 6th grade and with Jennifer’s help, made a killer tea leaf hula skirt. He is now itching to get to the beach as much as possible. Jennifer has been staying busy with all the end of year activities for Quentin, getting him ready/enrolled in school next year. She is starting to look at continuing her schooling next year also.
As far as me, my job has been keeping me busy. In my free time, the family goes to the beach. I have gotten into spear fishing and try to do it as much as possible.
Other than that, not much exciting has happened in the last month. We will try to update in the next couple of weeks.
Oh by the way….BOSTON CELTICS WON!!!!

2008-05-18T09:37:00.000-07:00

Finally I had a day off from work on a weekend. We wanted to do something adventurous so I did some research on the internet and found the “secret tunnels of Kauai”, also known as “Kaapoko Tunnels”. What I found out about them was they were old irrigation tunnels that were used to divert 28 million gallons of water a day which was used to water the sugar cane in the valleys below. The main tunnel is 1 mile long with 2 more tunnels that are ¼ mile, and 1/8 of a mile (these are considered tunnel 1). Supposedly there is a 2nd tunnel but we ran out of time to find it. We left the trail head at 10:30am and began down the muddy trail. We were prepared and brought the proper footwear for the hike (I had a pair of Merrell water shoes and the rest of the fam had tabis). We made it to the first tunnel after some extreme route finding, bamboo bushwacking and several stream crossings.
The first tunnel was tall enough that I could stand and wide enough to walk side by side. It did have shin deep water the whole way and the last ¼ of the tunnel had old rail track in the bottom. When you start you can see a faint pin hole at the other end which grows larger every step.
Approaching the other end of the tunnel there was a split, we headed up the 2nd tunnel and ran into the truss system. The trusses were placed at what looks like a collapse years ago. This tunnel winds around and eventually leads you to the irrigation canal. From here you get to the 3rd tunnel. This tunnel is a little more difficult, It has a low ceiling that you have to bend over the entire way and to make things worse, you are walking through shin deep mud. When you get to the end of the tunnel, you have to crawl through a small opening to get out. Once out, we were awarded by a river and waterfall all to ourselves.
This adventure was 4 miles one way and took 7 ½ hours from beginning to end. I am planning to go back some day to get to the last tunnel, one of these days.

2008-04-29T09:53:00.003-07:00

Not much going on since the last post. We went to the ocean again on Sunday and did a little snorkeling. The surf was pretty rough so Quentin and Jennifer stayed on shore. We went with a couple friends who took me out to check out the sharks again. They were not there but a baby turtle was. We also took spear guns but were unsuccessful catching anything, maybe next time.

2008-04-19T16:12:00.007-07:00

Where has the time gone? Not much has happened in the last month besides Quentin and I turning 1 year older.
Quentin is doing very well at school. He is still at Kula Elementary which is a private school close to my work. The class size is 10 students and he has excelled academically since enrolling in this school. Q is a water bug and every waking minute he is not at school, he is itching to go to the beach. During spring break, Jennifer and Q spent almost every day hanging out at the beach.
Jennifer is doing very well here. She is spending time at the beach and researching recipes on the Internet. She has made some incredible meals lately (not that any of her meals were ever bad to begin with). She has been working part time for our land lord at her dog boutique in Kapaa. She likes it and it keeps here satisfied with dogs until our arrives. That is the other big news, we finally found a Akita breeder on Oahu whose dog just got pregnant. Their dog is a show dog which means we should get an outstanding bloodline. The down side is the $$$$ it will take to procure one of the dogs, OUCH!.
Work has been going very well despite long hours. I got a promotion this last month which took effect on April 1st. I am now a Job Superintendent with the Kiewit, which in a nutshell means I can run jobs that are up to 50 million in value. Not too shabby. You cannot beat the location of my office and the views I have while driving home every night.
We did secure permits for the Na Pali Coast this July. The Na Pali coast is ranked as the number 1 beach camping in the world. After the trip, I will post the trip report like usual.
Take care, and remember, the door is always open.

Pictures top to bottom:

Q at Costco enjoying Pizza

After pizza, he got to go to Fun Factory (island version of Chuck E Cheese, just a little more ghetto)

What Q won (check out not only the boxes of boogers, but the pimp hat is the best).

On my Bday my Engineer took us fishing on his boat, this is Q just as we are taking off.

My foreman was washing off and made the mistake asking Q to hose him down. Q has a little too much Calvin and Hobbs in him.

And finally, this is my office. Do let the lush tropical setting fool you, walk on the deck and you will have 5 mosquito bites in 30 seconds

2008-03-09T23:55:00.006-07:00

Surprise, surprise, we spent another day in the water. This time we wanted to try a different spot. Perry and the family headed to a reef where white tip reef sharks have been seen before. We headed out to the reef, and within minutes we were swimming with the sharks. We were all a little in awe with our first sighting, but when we realized they would go after us, we warmed up a little. After seeing the sharks, we continued around the reef and viewed many cool fish. I am sure we will be out next weekend for another adventure.

2008-02-25T10:55:00.006-07:00

The house is about put together. Jennifer has done a great job getting the house looking good. Jennifer has a couple friends, Perry and Becca, that live on the Island and are from Apsen Valley, CO. She grew up with them years ago and had no clue they were on Island. Perry is an avid snorkeller and tries to get out as much as possible. He suggested we go Sunday afternoon. This would be the perfect test for my new waterproof case for my digital camera I just bought. With gear in hand, we hiked to a little cove along the coast. The cove, pictured here, is where some of the movie Six Days, Seven Nights with Harrison Ford was filmed. We dove in and explored the reefs in the area for about an hour and half. It was amazing and saw all kinds of marine life. As we were getting out of the water, we saw a baby Monk Seal sleeping. We kept our distance and observed for awhile. We grabbed our gear and headed home. We are looking forward to doing this again next weekend. WE LOVE HAWAII!

2008-01-10T11:18:00.001-07:00

We have made it safely back from Africa. The trip was amazing and we definitely have some incredible memories. Since we have posted so many pictures, we had to make 2 pages to explain the trip. Start with the Kilimanjaro tab and then move into the Safari. We are slowly getting the trip posted, so be patient if it is not all there.
The day we got back, the movers were in Vancouver and started to load the truck (Thanks to Bob and Claudia for helping with this stressful part). Everything went real smooth and the flights to Hawaii were good. We got here last Sunday and started the stressful house hunting. We were told by numerous people it would be really hard to find a place. We looked in the paper and on craigslist for places. We found 9 potentials and one caught our eye on craigslist because it had pictures attached. We emailed and long story short, first place we looked at, we took. The yard is amazing, very tropical and they allow dogs. The house is on ¾ of an acre (yard service included), lush, 2 car garage (very rare on Kauai) and a big, spacious eating area (perfect for our new table from IKEA which is still in the box). Best thing - 3 bedrooms. Let the influx of visitors begin.

2007-11-19T09:57:00.000-07:00

HOME SWEET HOME

Almost there. We are that much closer to getting to Hawaii. I am temporarily working on Kauai and I have been here for a week. I am over there over here for another month or so. I get to go home December 12th. Jennifer and Quentin are coming over for Thanksgiving next week. We are going to explore the island a little more. The island we are on is quite small and it shouldn’t take long to explore it, end to end. Here are some pictures I took this last weekend. The island is called the garden island, and I know why. It is very green and lush. This Island is where the movie Jurrasic Park was filmed.

Pictures top to bottom:

Kapaa - the town where we will be looking for a place.

The lush green valleys. This picture was taken near the North shore of the island

The next two are beachs up on the North shore

2007-11-06T08:31:00.000-07:00

Gear for the Trip

We finally have completed getting all the gear to climb Kilimanjaro. It took a while and a couple of dollars, but it was wrapped up last night with one final trip to REI. This is the gear that will have to be carried up the mountain. Hurray for porters!!!

2007-11-06T08:19:00.000-07:00

I was in Omaha for two weeks going to training for Kiewit. On my way back out, I took a pit stop in Colorado and saw some friends and family. While out there, TJ, Dave and I decided to go camping. We picked Mee canyon due to its impressive Alcove. The trip was three quick days, out and back. It was nice to get a way and relax.

The top picture is Dave stay on an outcrop inside the Alcove.

The bottom picture is camp on the first night. We setup camp under the alcove.

2007-11-05T11:06:00.001-07:00

Well, if you have not heard, I have been transferred again with Kiewit. This time the desitnation is Hawaii. We are moving to the island of Kauai. I am leaving on November 11th and will return on December 12th to go to Africa. After we get back from Africa we will be moving. We will be living in the town of Lihue and I will be working on a bridge outside of the town of Kilauea. We will keep everyone posted and our phone numbers will not change.

2007-08-23T05:58:00.000-07:00

The job is progressing along just fine. I am on the East Side Combined Sewer Outfall (ESCSO) here in Portland. In a nutshell we are building a 22 ft. inside diameter tunnel 7 miles long. Once complete, it will carry sewage to the treatment plant. We have now tunneled 250 feet. This was our first milestone, we now have dropped all the trailing gear (the rest of the tunnel boring machine) into the hole and the long task of hooking it up is on its way.

There are 7 shafts that are spread throughout the 7 miles of tunnels. These shafts range in diameter from 85 ft to 45ft. They are vertical shafts and will allow the sewer to go from the surface down into the tunnel.

My job is to plan and supervise the setup of the shaft sites and get them ready for our subcontractor to sink the shafts.

2007-07-16T16:04:00.000-07:00

James finally did it, he got married. James and Emilia Goldstein (aka E-dog) tied the knot July 14, 2007. Jennifer, Q-ball and I had to go out and witness the glorious event. We wanted to get in early to see the city and family. I have always liked New York, the hustle and bustle, the sights, and the size of the town. We arrived early Thursday morning, red eye flight, to my awaiting parents. They picked us up and took us back to the Hotel, right downtown. We rested for a couple hours and then we were off. First we stopped by James’ work and checked it out. Pretty impressive I must say. He works under the Queensboro Bridge for a banquet hall. He is the manager of the facility and is the head man in charge. We got to take a look around and then we headed for Bryant Park. We stopped and got some lunch and ended up at the Empire States Building. I had seen it, but never been up it. We took the tour to the top and did the whole tourist thing. That evening we went to a restaurant right down the street from our hotel. James and Quentin had an all out pillow fight to work up an appetite prior to departure to the restaurant. I couldn’t tell who had more fun, James or Q-ball. By this time, Ray and Jennifer had caught up to us and Dell and Jerry (aunt and uncle) were also there. After dinner Ray ordered the largest dessert on the menu for Quentin. He bet him $20 that Quentin couldn’t empty the glass; well in the picture you can see Quentin holding the $20. Friday we woke and took the subway to the Natural History Museum. This is the same place where “night at the museum” was filmed. We spent 4 hours and then headed to Central Park to see the statue of “Balto”. Quentin read the story of Balto, and at the end it talks about the statue in central park. Quentin had always said he had to see it if he was ever in New York. Friday night was the rehearsal dinner with both families and then a walk through Time Square. Saturday we took a trip down to Ground Zero to see the progress on the Freedom Tower. Then it was James and Emilia’s wedding. It was held on James’ place of work and was really nice. The ceremony was perfect and the party that followed was great. Quentin didn’t feel to well so we left early.
The trip was great and we are really happy for James and Emilia, we wish them the best and have fun on the Honeymoon.

2007-07-09T10:11:00.000-07:00

We just got back from another camping trip along the Washington Coast. We left on Thursday the 5th of July and got back Sunday, July 8th. It was great fun to get away and Quentin caught his first fish. Check out the trip to the right, Yellow banks. Details of the trip will follow.

2007-06-15T07:16:00.000-07:00

CHAMPIONS!!! We won the championship hockey game on Wednesday night. We had played the Avalanche (first place team) twice in the season and didn’t beat them either time. We ended up taking the lead and never gave it up winning 5-3.

2007-06-04T07:13:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since the last update. Since the camping trip, we have been busy getting ready for summer.
Quentin has finished his WASL (State of Washington schools required test the students must pass to make it onto the next grade) and he feels he did very well on it. We will not get the results until the end of the school year. Quentin has finished his spring soccer season and is ready for his next sport for the summer. He has expressed interest in Basketball and Lacrosse.
Jennifer is doing very well. She has been working incredibly long hours at work. She is looking forward to the trip in Africa and when she is not at work, she is training for Kilimanjaro at the gym.
Work for me has been going well. I am going to have my big push this summer and will be done with my portion of this job this fall. Jennifer is hoping Kiewit gets another job in the Northwest so I can get transferred to it. We all have taken a liking to the Northwest, the rain isn’t so bad. Hockey season is coming to a close next weekend, we made the playoffs and are playing next weekend for the championship. I have also been biking a lot lately, both road and mountain. Portland has a lot of incredible trails.
Our next big trip comes over the 4th of July weekend; we are going camping out to the coast again. The following weekend after the camping trip, we are heading to New York for my little brothers wedding.

2007-04-08T13:37:00.000-07:00

We have just got back from another trip to the coast. Again, the Pacific Northwest has not disappointed us. Click on the "Hole In The Wall" link to the right to see our latest adventure.

You can see on the map, the box is the area where we went. You enter at Rialto Beach and hike to the North.

2007-03-30T02:50:00.000-07:00

We have been out in Portland for over a year now. The reason we got relocated to Portland was for the "Big Pipe" project. It isn't really a pipe, but a tunnel. In order to build the tunnel a crucial piece of equipment is necessary, the tunnel boring machine (TBM). Ours was built in Germany at the Herrenknecht plant. It was shipped in February and has been slowly arriving to the site. We put it in the shaft in the end of February and have slowly been building it. It costs around 12 million dollars and all said and done will be 280 feet long. It will cut a 24' diameter tunnel ranging from 90' to 150' under ground. As it goes through the ground it sets precast segments which is the liner of the tunnel. To see more how this works, click on "The Job" link to the right. Here are some pictures of the machine that were taken yesterday. We always take a picture with someone in them for size reference.

Pictures top to Bottom:

Kyle (My engineer) standing on the TBM during construction

Me standing next to the TBM in the hole. Pretty big piece of machinery.

Me standing next to the cutter head. This is the piece that will cut through the earth creating the hole for the tunnel.

Looking down the 125' shaft at "Rosie", the TBM. This is the front can which will have the cutter head attached to the front. It is called "Rosie" for the City of Roses.

Kyle standing at the tail end of the TBM.

2007-03-26T18:30:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we got to try something new. Jennifer has some friends who work for the BNSF Railroad here in Vancouver. He had invited a bunch of the kids along for a train ride. We had no idea what to expect. When we got there he crowed all of us onto two engines and took us for a spin. It was actually really cool. I have been on trains before, but not like this. Quentin had a ball and went twice. He got to sound the horn at crossings and everything. It was quite the experience.

2007-03-15T16:56:00.000-07:00

It is official, we are heading to East Africa, Tanzania to be exact. The tickets were purchased Wednesday and we receive them Friday. We have the entire trip set up and the tour company in Tanzania is getting the final details set. Jennifer and I will start the fun part next month. We have a series of shots to get for Hepatitis A/B, Yellow Fever, Malaria, Meningittis, Typhoid, Rabies, Tentanus, and Measles. They say it is about a 6 month ordeal for shots and visas.

We leave December 14th and fly to New York. From there we go to Amsterdam, have a 10 hour lay over where we will take a quick tour of the town. We then leave for Kilimanjaro International Airport located in the town of Arusha. We arrive Monday, December 17th at 9am. We will then start our 9 day trip to the top of Kilimanjaro (19,341 ft).The photo below shows the route we will be taking up the mountain.

We then come down and take a 5 day Safari through the Serengeti. We will be back home on January 2, 2008.

We have been looking forward to this trip for 2 years, and finally, we are moving forward with the plans.

Besides this exciting news, not much has been happening. We have all been busy with work. Quentin starts soccer Saturday with his first game. We will post pictures as we get them.

We hope to hear from everyone soon. Have a good month.

2007-01-22T08:31:00.000-07:00

After the snow storm, we wanted to get out of the house and do something fun. Jennifer suggested the Portland Zoo, somewhere we had yet to explore. It was a

little on the chilly side, but nice, because there weren’t many people there. We began exploring and were very impressed by the zoo. Quentin had a great time to. The animals there are amazing. There are several animals at this zoo that we hadn’t had

the chance to get so close to any where else. After the zoo, we headed over to the Rose Garden to watch the Portland Lumberjax, the cities professional Lacrosse team.

We got some great club level seats from a local supplier to Kiewit. I was actually impressed by the game. Never watching the game before, I was surprised by all of the

similarities to hockey. The entire family had a great time, and Quentin got a ball from one of the ball boys. He was super excited and can’t wait for the next game so he can have it autographed by the team.
We finished the weekend by watching the Bears spank the Saints. GO BEARS. My team finally heads to the superbowl!!!!

2007-01-17T15:26:00.000-07:00

It has been a couple months since the last update. Not much has happened. The holidays were fine and nice to have two long weekends in a row off. We didn’t do much, just relaxed and watched the Bears play some football. Quentin is doing fine,

he enjoyed his vacation time off and most recently, playing in the snow. Jennifer and I had to work the entire time, so not much to report there.
The most exciting thing that has been going on is the weather. It first started with

incredible windstorms throughout the Northwest. Most recently it has been the snow. Yes, snow. At elevation 50 you would think that snow wouldn’t come that often. We have had back to back snow storms that have completely messed up Portland. When it snows in the Northwest it also brings ice and freezing rain. The combination makes

for interesting driving conditions. Yesterday we got 4 inches of snow. It doesn’t sound like much, in fact, in Denver we would consider that a dusting. The difference is the ice that comes with it. Yesterday the freeway systems shut down, city busses were caught off guard and stuck everywhere, schools were cancelled, and Portland had a mandatory chain law all around town. I know, it was only 4 inches. I am slowly getting adjusted to the Northwest storm mentality, rain good, snow bad.

2006-11-27T19:26:00.000-07:00

Well another long weekend has passed. Jennifer’s parents decided to visit from Costa Rica for the extended weekend. We started the weekend off on Wednesday by seeing Happy Feet at the OMNIMAX at the OMSI in Portland. It was cool to see it on the dome screen. We took Thursday off and enjoyed some turkey and good home cooked meal.

Friday we headed up to Hoodsport to show the in-laws the property we bought. We were surprised to see snow so soon at the property, made the drive fun to say the least. We headed back down to Vancouver Friday night and planned for Saturday. We woke Saturday and headed to Tillamook with intensions of going to the cheese factory. We

arrived and found that they had the weekend off, so Claudia didn’t get to see the cheese being made. The good news was the ice cream counter was open. We watched a short video on the tour of the factory and learned the coast had a lot to offer. We found that there was a lighthouse and a couple small towns just West of Tillamook

and that is where we headed. We first set off to see the lighthouse and an attraction called the Octopus Tree. After our short visit at these sites, we drove the coast and ended up in Oceanside. I went to the beach as everyone was getting

coffee and trying to stay warm. I looked South down the beach and saw what I thought was a bunker. I asked a local and they explained that it was a tunnel to another beach and could only be passed through at low tide. This sparked my interest and I

have to check it out. I waited for everyone and then headed out. Sure enough, the tunnel took you to another small beach which had picturesque scenery. We stayed in Oceanside for an hour or so and decided it is a perfect place to come back during the warm summer months.

Sunday we decided to go back to the OMSI where they have a special exhibit, Star Wars. I had no idea what to expect or what it had to offer. It was actually quite
interesting; it consisted of the models and costumes used in the movies. Quentin thought it was amazing and had a great time.

2006-11-20T07:34:00.000-07:00

Some guys from work and I have been planning a trip to Mt. Hood in Oregon for the last 2 months or so. Mt Hood is 11,000 feet high and has year round snow/glaciers which means full gear (crampons, ice axe, harness, rope, etc). We chose November 18th because of the possible snow that should have fallen on the mountain, the more

snow the easier to summit. A week ago it got its first snowfall, 36 inches. Good for Timberline Ski area which sits right at the base of the mountain. Kristian (a fellow co-worker) and I left Friday night from work. We drove to Timberline parking lot and threw up our tents on a snow bank. We woke around 2:30 am to get ready for the

climb. About 2:45 am the rest of our climbing party arrived. Cory (co-worker) and Jim (his friend from Kansas City that flew in at 10:30 Fri night) drove up to meet us for the 3am departure. We signed in at the lodge and that is when the excitement started. While we were filling out the permit, the paramedics and sheriff were there talking to a guy. What we got from the story was a 17 year old was staying up at the lodge with his dad and they were going to try a summit attempt. His 17 year old son instead woke up at midnight, grabbed all his dad’s gear and started up by himself.

After getting the story we started to head up the hill. The hike was LONG and steep in parts. About an hour into the hike the Mountain Rescue Team passed via snow cat. There was a snow cat trail that takes you about half way up the mountain. We watched the rescue team unload and there headlamps disappear up the hill. We kept trudging up the hill, step after step. The sunrise was amazing and marked the halfway point

for us. When we reached 9500 ft elevation the sun was out and beating down on us. Right about then we saw the rescue team heading down and they had the 17 year old, safe thankfully. It was another 30 minutes of climbing when we ran into another set of climbers heading down who broke the bad news to us. Near 10,500 ft on the

mountain there are two different routes to the summit, through the pearly gates or the old climbers route. As we found out through other climbers is that both routes were vertical 45 foot ice walls and would require technical ice climbing gear,

something we did not have with us. These ice walls will eventually be buried after future snowfalls. Jim and Cory turned around, but Kristian and I kept going for about a half hour before deciding to head down. We made it back to the car by 1pm and are already planning a return.

2006-10-24T12:58:00.000-07:00

Wonder why we moved to Portland, OR.? Click on the "The Job" link to see what I am doing on a daily basis....

2006-10-22T14:36:00.000-07:00

After closing on the property, we have been itching to get up and actually stay the night. We purchased 5 acres of pristine forest property that has an obstructed (but not after I remove a dozen trees) view of Hood Canal. The property is split in half with a stream that flows year round. Access to the stream is a little tricky, but nothing a good set of stairs won’t take care of. Right off the road there is a level pad which has a 150 SF cabin that is fairly new. We came up with a plan that can make the pad close to 15,000 SF. There are no utilities to the property yet and that

is one of the many things we scoped out this weekend. We found where we can get power, how big of a new cabin we can build, where the septic tank will go and how to get water. We spent the night in the cabin using sleeping bags and candles for light, it was rustic for sure. We watched the sun come up on the Hood Canal which

was breath taking. We left shortly after with big plans for the near future. On the way out of town we decided to stop by Lake Cushman and some scenic pull outs for the Hood Canal.

Images Top to Bottom:
The cabin tucked away in the woods
The road going to the property
Lake Cushman
The stream that runs through our property
Downtown Hoodsport
Sunrise from our property
Hoodsport from the dock
Our accommodations in the cabin
Hood Canal on the way home today

2006-09-29T08:31:00.000-07:00

Escrow has closed, we offically own 5 acres of property in Hoodsport, WA. We are heading up there Oct 21st, we will post pictures then.

2006-09-16T15:26:00.000-07:00

It has been a whirlwind month already. With my parents coming out the first weekend, work for 4 days, then TJ and Alex coming for a week, it has been a good start to September.
Quentin had his first soccer game on Saturday September 9th, actually it was a soccer jamboree (4 games in one day). Quentin did very well and scored the only goal

in the second game. He also got to play goalie in the third game. To see his pictures, click on “Quentin's Soccer 2006” on the right side. Shortly after Q was done playing, TJ, Alex and Ava arrived from Denver. Ava did very well for her first big

road trip (her first birthday was on September 1st).
Wasting no time we started out on Sunday with a trip to the OMSI. The OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) is incredible. Most of the displays are hands on and

are as much fun for adults as kids.
Monday, Quentin went to school and we went to the Ape Caves. We were so impressed

the first time we saw them; we had to return to do it again. This time however, was after Labor Day so there weren’t as many people. In fact, we only saw one other couple the entire time we were down there. With tripod in hand, we made our way down

the 1 mile long Lava tube. We made it home just in time to pick Quentin up from school.
Tuesday we then decided to go take the tour of the waterfalls in the Columbia Gorge. Again a favorite for Jennifer and I, these spectacular waterfalls leave you

breathless every time you see them. This was our 6th trip to them. Again, we made it home just in time to pick Quentin up from School. Tuesday evening we rented a minivan. Wednesday, our plan was to drive to Seaside, down through Tillamook and end up in

Newport, OR. The minivan would be necessary because Quentin would finally be going with us.
Wednesday morning we departed nice and early. The 2.5 hour drive from Portland to

Seaside was uneventful. Upon arrival in Seaside, we choose to eat at Normas Cafe, once again, a favorite for Jennifer and I. After eating, we made our way to “The Candyman” where Quentin got to choose from the 170 flavors or Salt Water Taffy. We

then took a stroll down the main street and did some window shopping.
After the quick stop in Seaside, we loaded up the van and headed to Tillamook. Jennifer, Qunetin and I have been through there before, but did not have the chance

to stop at the Tillamook Cheese Factory last time. This time around, we knew we had to. Once there, you can do the self guided tour ending up in the cheese tasting room. After cheese tasting you can get fresh cheese to go and ice cream cones. We couldn’t resist.

We then piled into the van for the 1 hour trip to Newport. We finally arrived in Newport around 5pm and it couldn't have been better timing. We had all had enough of the car and decided to check out the accommodations at the Waves Hotel. We unloaded the car, got the little one’s rested,

and took a stroll on the beach. Alex and Ava got to finally touch the Pacific Ocean for the first time. From there we headed to the Rogue Brewery for some dinner.
The following day (Thursday) we went to the highly recommend Oregon Coast Aquarium. Indeed it was a treat. This is where the original “Willy” was housed from the movie

Free Willy. After his release into the wild, they turned his tank into a shark pool with a glass tunnel you can walk through. Pretty impressive little aquarium. We took a stroll over to a old light house and tour on our way back to Portland.
Friday we decided to go to Silver Falls Park. Again, highly recommend it consists of

a 8 mile trial with 10 water falls along the way, several of them you can walk behind. We decided to do the abbreviated tour due to time. We hiked down and saw 6 of the ten all in a 4.5 mile loop. Ava enjoyed the trip in the new Kelty kid carrier

they got her. Quentin, again, was in school.
We wrapped up the week long adventure with an anniversary dinner for Teej and Alex (4 years on Aug 2, congrats) at Beaches restaurant. We thank TJ and Alex for the

time they spent out here, we had a blast.
It was a good week with lots of new Oregon to see. We will keep exploring the land and make a list of the best places to go, that way when you come out, we know where we will take you.

2006-09-04T16:47:00.000-07:00

This month has flown by. We can't believe it is September already. Not much has happened this last month other than Quentin starting soccer. Now that Labor day is over, Quentin will be going back to school. He is looking forward to that.

Over labor day, my parents came out for three days. I had to plan something that none of us have seen or done, just to mix things up a little. It started off on

Saturday with a trip to the Ape Caves. The Ape Caves are a 12,000 lf lava tube that was caused from an eruption of Mt. St. Helens 1900 years ago. It was discovered in the late 70's by a group of boyscouts, the Ape troop, hence the name. You can go one of two routes, the easy or the difficult. We chose the easy wich takes you in about

1 mile. The temp inside is 42*F year round, a little on the chilly side. It was amazing. On the way back from the caves we pulled to the side of the road and picked marion berries. They are like a cross between rasberries and blackberries. They grow

everywhere and are considered a "weed" to most the natives. We pciked close to 3 lbs and Jennifer made a incredible pie out of them.
The following day I made reservations for a whale watching cruise which departs

from Anacortes, WA. Little did I know it was 40 miles from the Canada border. We left at 4am and it took us 4 hours to get there. Once there we had to picked either heavy coat or suit, Quentin picked the suit. They then loaded you onto their custom

built aluminium boat wich will do around 35-40 knots, it moves you right along. We got front seats and were skimming across the water in no time. We went through the San Juan islands and eventually caught up with three pods of Orcas. We watched them for about 35 minutes and then headed back in. We were out on the boat for about 4 hours.

After that we headed to the property Jennifer and I are buying, took a look around and headed home. We walked in the door about 8:30pm. A LONG DAY!
All in all we had a fun three days. We got to see something new and that's what makes it a good adventure.

2006-08-20T21:05:00.000-07:00

It is final. The property is in Escrow. We will post pictures after we go up there and take better ones. My parents are coming out for Labor Day, we will most likely stop by the property, we can post those pics.

2006-08-07T21:48:00.000-07:00

Another month has past. Not much news came about through July. Big events include Jennifer teaching preschool again and finding a piece of property.
Jennifer got a job at a local childcare facility. She is teaching preschool and so far enjoys what she is doing. I give her credit, I could not do that job.
We found a piece of property in Hoodsport, WA. It is 5 acres and over looks Hood

Canal. We are expecting to make an offer later this week, keep your fingers crossed. We are planning to build a small house on it in the next 8 years and use it mainly as a get away. The property is situated 15 minutes from Hood Canal and 10 minutes away from Lake Cushman. We will keep you posted on what happens.
One of my best friends, Tad Snide, came out to visit in hte beginning of August. He was out for 6 days. While out here we took a trip down to the OMSI. At the OMSI, we watched "Superman" the new movie on the 72' dome IMAX screen. It was pretty cool. We
then caught a concert in Salem, Rob Zombie and Anthrax. Tad knows the bad Anthrax on a first name basis. We arrived early and hung out with them on the tour bus, and even got to take Scott Ian to Best Buy. It was pretty sweet. Tad hooked me up with a
full access photo pass for the concert. While they were on stage, I could go anywhere and shoot them. I mainly stayed down in front between the crowd and the

stage, it was amazing. Check the photos out on Anthraxband.blogspot.com.
Over the weekend we went downtown Portland and then out to the waterfalls along the Coulmbia Gorge. Once again, they were amazing.

2006-07-03T20:10:00.000-07:00

We were looking for a “non-crowded” camping trip this time around. We loved the coast so much in May, we decided to look there again. We had been looking at a visit
to Shi Shi Beach/Point of Arches area. It is a long haul to this spot, taking almost 7 hours. We put it on the back burners until the perfect weekend. We spoke to the rangers last time we went camping, and they told us to try Toleak Point and then Shi Shi Beach. We took their advice and scheduled Shi Shi Beach for the July 4th weekend. To our surprise, the latest backpacker magazine came out featuring our July 4th destination on the front cover. We thought we were going to be among a sea of tents, but we were wrong. There were less people than there were at Toleak Point. To see the whole trip and read about the most amazing beer story ever, click on “Shi Shi Beach” to the right.

2006-06-25T11:46:00.000-07:00

What a month it has been. It started off perfect with an incredible camping trip to Toleak Point, and will end with another one. Unfortunately the destination of choice coming up is featured on the front page of this month’s issue of Backpacker Magazine. We expect a lot of people to be present.

Quentin got a little pet. We got him a hamster and he named it “dash”. A fitting name because the thing will not stop running on its wheel. That seems like the only activity it likes to do.

For Fathers Day the family and I went to the Portland International Speedway to watch the Portland Grand Prix. We got free tickets from a vendor at work which had

incredible seats, right across from the Pits. What not a better time to bring the Canon 20D and the 300mm lenses which allowed for the close up action.

Last weekend I had the great idea (at the time) to build Quentin a clubhouse. Every kid needs a clubhouse some time in his life and Q was overdue. With most of the kids in the neighborhood hanging out at our house anyway, I thought it would be a good idea to keep them outside in there own play place. At work, we are about to demo a building. I went in and removed a couple walls, doors, shelves, etc. Everything that was used in this clubhouse was 100% recycled and cost $0.

This weekend Jennifer, Quentin and I decided to go for a hike. We learned that there was a hidden waterfall which required water hiking. We set out for the short trip which led us to the base of a pretty large waterfall where you could swim in the

bottom. It was incredible and beautiful. The hike is was exciting, reaching depths of mid torso deep, it kept it interesting.

2006-05-29T12:01:00.000-07:00

What a weekend. Quentin, Jennifer and I all went camping at the Coast in Olympic National Park (Check Map Below). To read and see the entire trip, click on "Toleak Point Trip" on the right.

2006-04-16T10:25:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since our last update. We have been so busy with jobs and life. We have had little time on the weekends to do much of anything, except to relax and get ready for the next week. We finally got a break when Bob and Claudia (Jennifer’s parents) decided to visit. Our first stop was the waterfalls along the Columbia River. This trip was better than the last trip, not so cold and miserable. We took the entire tour of the falls finishing at the Vista House.This last weekend we made the decision to go to the Oregon Coast. We drove the hourand half to Seaside. Seaside is a small town suited for tourist right on the coast, with a large board walk and many shops to explore. Jennifer finally got to see theocean which made her very happy. From Seaside, we made our way South to Cannon Beach. While in Cannon Beach we drove into the local park which sent you to a very picturesque over look of the cliffs and ocean. While on our departure from the park we got our taste of wildlife. Elk are not a big deal for us due to the fact we got to see them on a daily basis in Colorado, but it was interesting seeing them in a different environment, so green and lush. After departing Cannon Beach, we drove Highway 101 along the coast to Tillamook. Tillamook is famous for cheese and dairy products. We were not that impressed with the town and left fairly
early. From Tillamook, we drove back to Portland and called it a day.
Our next weekend trip planned is to visit the Ape Caves out side of Mt. St. Helens. We will keep you posted.

2006-02-25T14:29:00.000-07:00

We are all moved in. The house is put together, and we can even park a car in the garage now. We now have a guest bedroom and our door is always open.

Jennifer is staying busy finishing the final touches, working a part time job, and taking care of the family. We are both looking forward to December for our 22 day trip to East Africa. We are going for our ten year anniversary, can you believe it is almost ten years.

Quentin is loving his new school. He has lots of new friends and is being challenged with the new curriculum. The schools here are much tougher than the Colorado school he came from, they rank 2nd in the Country. This will be very good for him.

As for myself, I am busy with work. I have been putting in some long hours to try to get the job up and running. Little time for anything else. This will be one of the most interesting jobs I have ever been on. We are building a sewer overflow tunnel under Portland. It is 80'-165' deep and 22' diameter tunnel that stretched for 6 miles. It is going to be pretty cool. The Tunnel Boring Machine is having the final preparations done at the Herrenknecht plant in Germany before it is shipped to us.

Last weekend we finally got to get away for a little bit, we made it to the waterfalls along the Columbia River. They were really cool even in the winter time. We are looking forward to them in the summer.
We have attended a Winterhawks hockey game up here, it was fun, especially since the tickets were free. We invited our new neighbors to go with us, they are pretty nice, and again, they have a daughter Quentin's age. We do miss the Avalanche though.
This weekend, the fire department burnt down a house about 3 blocks over, Quentin and I went and watched, it was interesting to watch and made me miss doing that on the Fire Department in Evergreen.

All is well and we hope to hear from all of you soon.

2006-02-05T14:52:00.000-07:00

We are moved in and the house is getting unpacked slowly. To see the fun we had on the road trip, click the link to the right that says "The Move 2006"

2006-01-23T08:33:00.000-07:00

Got the house this last weekend. Everything is set. We went to Q's new school and that sold us on the house. The movers will be at our house the 24th of January and we will do the long road trip route and be at the new house the 30th of January. Here is a picture of our new house we are moving into....

2005-12-27T07:32:00.000-07:00

WE ARE MOVING

Kenn just found out he will be transfered to Portland, OR at the end of Januay. We are going to be in our new place by Jan 30th. We are not changing our cell phone numbers so you will still be able to reach us without having to go through the big hassle of remebering another number.
We are looking to move on the Vancouver, WA side of the river and Kenn will drive across each day.

2005-12-08T08:13:00.000-07:00

Another month has almost past and no new news. Jennifer, Quentin and myself are all doing fine.
Jennifer and I attended the Boston vs Colorado Hockey game last night. Of course I was cheering for Boston(even though they traded Thorton - boneheads) and Jennifer
for Colorado. Just like most of their season, the Bruins looked horrible and lost 4-1. The seats were great at least, we sat in VIP club level (one of the vendors I work with gave us the tickets).

2005-11-18T14:35:00.000-07:00

Click to see our latest adventure on the right. Jennifer, myself, and a couple guys I work with went to Blue John Canyon November 11-13, 2005.

2005-11-01T07:02:00.000-07:00

Another month has passed.

Fall is finally here. These are some pictures taken last weekend of Jennifer and Quentin playing in the leaves. The last of Quentin’s soccer pictures have been added also.

October was a fairly good month. Quentin finished up soccer on the 30th. He finished with quite a few goals this season. Now that soccer is over we are going to really concentrate on skating. I have put him on inline skates and he is improving. I would like him to start playing hockey this spring. He should be ready by then. School is going good for him and his parent/teacher conference went really well.

Jennifer is doing equally as good. She is still teaching preschool at Parker Landing in Aurora. This takes up the majority of her time and enjoys the weekends off at least. She has made it to every soccer game and practice, making her the ultimate soccer mom. We are going on a Canyoneering trip November 11,12, and 13th to Blue John Canyon in Eastern Utah. This is the same canyon where Aron Ralston had to amputate his own arm to survive. We are looking forward to this trip and will post pictures when we get back.

I am staying busy with work, hockey and weekend photography. The job is going well and we forecast our departure sometime in spring. We are hoping to make it in Denver until Quentin is out of school. When we do eventually make it back to the West Coast, we are going to do a road trip and swing by to see everyone in Southern California. We will let you know the details when we have them.
I have started a new hockey team on Sunday nights and we are doing very well so far. The photography business is taking off and the weekend schedule is starting to book up quickly. I have taken several studio portraits, a couple of weddings, and family location portraits for different families and friends. Finally the money is starting to come in to offset some of the equipment that has recently been purchased.

This is our non-exciting month in review.

2005-10-10T07:28:00.000-07:00

Practice makes perfect

Quentin did an incredible job playing soccer again. He scored the first goal of the game for the Bulls. He was almost at half field charging to the goal when he became swarmed by the other team. He gave the ball a huge kick and it got nothing but net. If you look at the pictures under “Quentin’s soccer pictures” you will see the 3 pictures of his goal and congratulations from other teammates.

After the soccer game Jennifer and I wanted to freshen up our repelling skills for our trip in November. We are going to attempt (with 2 other people) Blue John Canyon. You may have heard of this canyon, this is where Aron Ralston got trapped and had to cut off his own arm to survive. The route we are going requires 4 repels with one of them being 65’.
Quentin, Jennifer and I piled into the car and drove to Evergreen and found the perfect wall to repel off of. Someone else had the same idea; they left 2 embedded anchors behind. After testing the anchors to make sure they would hold our weight, we were off.

2005-09-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend of the summer

Quentin is back in soccer. He is playing for the same team he was last spring, the Bulls. So far this year they have played two games and have dominated both of them, winning this past Saturday 8-6. Quentin is quite the ball handler and scores at least one goal every game. Jennifer and I get to go to every game and I, of course take pictures with the new Canon 20d with a 75-300 telephoto. If you look to the right you will see a tab for Quentin’s Soccer Pictures, click on it an you will see up to date pictures from his games. I will add pictures every week as I take them.

I wanted the summer road bike riding to go out with a bang, do something I have never done before, a long hill climb. I decided to ride Mt. Evans road, the highest paved road in North America. There are many options on where to start. You can either start in Idaho Springs (27 miles one way) or Evergreen (32 miles one way) for the common rides to the top, or you can opt for the Dave “Crusher” Strunk and start from Denver which makes it a 60-70 mile one way trip. I was under a time crunch and didn’t feel I was in that good of shape, so I started from Echo Lake, which makes it a 14.25 mile one way ride. One of my riding buddies, Jason UL and I set out from my house in Denver around 7 am and were at the lake around 8:30 or so. The lake sits at 10,600 ft above sea level and is the beginning of the Mt. Evans road off of Highway 103. The road is a well-maintained due to the fact you have to pay to use it. Jason and I started out at 9am slowly climbing the road towards the top. I stopped several times to document the trip with my camera. When we made it to summit lake (mile 9.5), we were please to find the road closed to cars beyond that. This was great news to us, we had the road all to ourselves. As we pushed on we got to the last grueling part, the final switchbacks. They were steep and the wind was blowing making it cold (I would guess in the 40* range). Finally, 2 hours after we started, we made it to the top of Mt Evans. It was by far the longest, most grueling hill climb I have ever done. With an average speed of 7 mph, I have GREAT respect for the men of the Tour De France who could of maintained an average speed of close to 20 mph cranking up that hill.
It took us 2 hours to climb, and around 25 minutes to descend, passing cars going along the way.

2005-09-05T11:53:00.000-07:00

The last 3 day weekend of the summer....

Thursday we thought we would be in for just the normal 3 day weekend. Wow, were we wrong. It started out by hearing the great news that our super close friends the Schmidt's, TJ and Alexandra, were proud new parents. We got to go see them at the Hospital and it was really exciting. Congratulations to the Schmidt Family. You can read about their adventure at http://aschmidtlife.blogspot.com/

Earlier we had made the decision to go camping with Quentin and the dog, again, an adventure. Click on the " Q's first camping trip" to the right and read all about it.

2005-08-22T07:16:00.000-07:00

This last weekend Jennifer and I attended a Indy Car Race. I got some free tickets and we decided it would be an experience. One of my good friends sister in-law got a couple free also.
TJ, Michelle, Jennifer and I piled into the car and headed to Pikes Peak International Raceway (PPIR) which is located between Colorado Springs and Pueblo. We arrived at 1:15 pm and found our way to the correct tent where we would receive our tickets. We were shocked at how good the seats were, 6th row from the track. We made our way to the grand stand and were sitting just in time for the beginning of the race. Jennifer nor I have ever been to a car race of any type before, this would be our first. As the pace car dived off the track the cars screamed to 200 mph and it gives you goose bumps.
About half way through their was a wreck which happend right in front of us, other than that it was a pretty normal race and exciting to watch.
225 laps and 2 hours later, the race was over and the four of us were on our way back to Denver.

2005-08-20T07:43:00.000-07:00

Well, it is that time of the year again, When kids get to go back to school. I don't miss that feeling of coming off of summer vacation and going back to school. Quentin does not care too much for the feeling either.
Jennifer started her new job back in May after Quentin was out of school. She works at "Parker Landing Child Dev Center " in Aurora. She is one of two teachers in the preschool. Quentin went to the 1st-5th grade class this summer and it was good for him to interact with the other kids.
Jennifer and I decided that for his last day of summer break, we would take him to Six Flags Elitch Gardens. I went to this amusement park many times when I was a teenager, in fact Ray (my brother) worked there for one of his very first jobs. It has changed over the years but Quentin had a blast. Quentin is fortunate, he is very tall for 7 years old (50.5"), so he was only turned away from 3 rides.
The morning started with the Light Rail Ride into the park. We got there at 10am just in time for the park to open. We started out with Quentin taking his first metal roller coaster ride. He was a little shocked at the speed and the loops but he eventually warmed up to them and went on everyone he could. Elitches has a lot of rides that have the Batman theme to them, so Quentin was in Heaven. We got to see the Batman stunt show and he even got to meet the characters afterwards.
After riding many "spin you around until you throw up" rides, Jennifer and I decided to call it quits right around 5pm.
Quentin said he had a great time and was looking forward to the next day, his first day of school.

2005-07-11T09:48:00.000-07:00

Kiewit Family Day '05

Every year Kiewit puts on a family day. Family day is geared towards the kids so they can ride the heavy equipment safely. Kiewit puts seats on the equipment for the kids to sit in, and then operates the equipment so the kids can see exactly how it works and what it feels like.
This year Quentin, Jennifer and I attended. After eating a lot of BBQ and free snow cones, we headed out to let Quentin ride the equipment. Quentin is no stranger around heavy equipment. When he was 5, I took him out to a project and he got to run a backhoe (he sat on my lap and operated the controls) and he got to operate a Volvo L150 Loader.
At family day he road along on a excavator and water truck. He was super eager to get back for the face painting. Luckily, she was still there when we got back. She had a large board to choose different designs. Quentin passed up Spiderman and batman. Both Jennifer and I were amazed with want he wanted……Go Broncos

2005-07-05T07:30:00.000-07:00

Extended Weekend - July 4th

The weekend started off a little rocky. Friday Quentin had to have a tooth pulled because of an odd blister/infection that had formed on Thursday afternoon. All went well though and he was a brave little guy. We got our new cell phones Friday, if you would like the number feel free to email me at Kennhallquist@yahoo.com , I will give you Jennifer's or mine. Friday night my Dad flew into town and so the family and I piled into the car on Saturday and drove to Evergreen. Quentin got the spoil treatment from the grandparents which included lots of sugar, and the super soaker water battle. After spending much of the day there we headed home.
Sunday night Jennifer and I attended the 80's hairband, Whitesnake. We had pretty good seats, 15 rows from the stage. Whitesnake was very popular when Jennifer and I were in High School, and we both listened to them quite a bit. The show was great, and the people who showed
up were almost as interesting. It made Jennifer and I realize one thing, we are getting old. The night of the 4th we went next door to our neighbors house where he had brought back some amazing fireworks from Missouri. We had a picnic type dinner and watched as fireworks were launched for hours.
That was our 4 day weekend to start July off, hopefully the month is just as fun….

2005-06-27T12:28:00.000-07:00

The project. The reason we are in Denver right now is because of Kenn's work. He is currently an engineer on a 1.4 Billion Dollar Freeway Expansion Project. He is working in the drainage discipline trying to solve the freeway water problems. The project is starting to wrap up and we hope to be moving by the end of the year. Our next destination is currently unknown, but we know it should (99% chance) be on the West Coast somewhere. The top photo is looking East at the interchange of I-25 and I-225. The bottom photo is looking North up I-25 at the Yale Street overpass.