Antelope Hunting 2009

This year my mom and dad (Cathy and Alan) were lucky enough to draw antelope tags for Easter Oregon ... I was not :(

The trip started out with mom, dad and Quigley driving up the Wednesday before the season starting on that following Saturday (8/15/09). My family (Cindy, Grace, Natalie, Ryann, Colby and myself) drove up the Friday before. I was up there for a supporting role as a guide for mom and dad; helping them glass, pack, drive truck in support to getting them each an buck antelope.

We where able to go out glassing that Friday night to see where the antelope would be bedding down for the night, as usual the next morning they were no where to be seen. So we got a good walk in for the morning hunt on Saturday.


**under constrcution**


*Picture to come*

Time off for some fishing

Today we took the afternoon off and several of us (Grandpa Ashforth, Natalie and myself)headed to the high Cascade Lake and did some shore fishing at South Twin.

Natalie was trying out her new Barbie fishing pole while dad and I used our trusty old fishing poles that have delivered in the past .....but as luck would have it the new Barbie fishing pool ruled the day and pulled in the only Bullhead fish caught that afternoon in our fishing party.

*Pictures to come*

7/12/09 - Summer Project Update

Its been awhile since I have last updated the blog but the family has been keeping busy either working at work or working around the house on multiple projects:

Project #1: Build a new fence on the West side of the house:

Project #2: Move over the kids play fort/swing set from the other side of the yard (where the new lawn is now) and build a pea-gravel base:

Project #3: Built a rose garden:

Project #4: Creating a new lawn (seeded two weeks ago), raised garden beds (transplanted) and new flower bed where the kids play fort/swing set once was (still need to spread 3/4 minus gravel aronud new lawn and raised garden beds):

Project #5: Build a new fence on the East side of the house:

Project #6: Create a new baseboard and corner/roof molding for the old shed (Still Under Construction):

Please Note: All the people that lend a helping hand: Bill, Cindy, Natalie, Ryann and Grandma Cathy (thanks mom for the helping hand when Cindy had her hands full with the kids ...and all the gardening advise was a true bonus).

Happy Thirteenth Birthday Grace :)

Yepper it is true, my wife is old :) ....Grace our oldest daughter just turned thirteen today, that is right we have a teenager living amongst us now ......

This year we had a full house for Grace's birthday, the following people were able to attend this year: Cindy's sisters (Misty and Dawn), Cindy's mom and significant other (Linda and Bernd), my parents (Alan and Cathy) and the immediate family (Grace, Natalie, Ryann, Cindy and myself).

Group Picture

Dawn and Misty

Bernd, Linda and Natalie

Cathy and Alan

Cindy and Ryann

1st Camping Trip 2009

Since Verizon bought out Unicell the family (Cindy, Natalie, Ryann and myself) decided to go camping at our old deer and elk hunting area off the Middle Fork of the John Day to see if we still had cell phone coverage …well that was the original intent ……

The first sign of trouble occurred when I was filling the old camp trailer with water and found out that I did not get all the water out of the system before it froze during this last winter …that’s right BROKEN WATER PIPES ……luckily I only had to fix a 3 foot section of the water pipe in the bathroom.

Truck and trailer ready for the road trip

(Click on picture to make bigger)

The ride over was uneventful will hardly any wildlife along the river.

The second sign of trouble happened when we pulled up to where the family normally camps (the upper camp site) and half the site was under water so I found a new location on the upper end of the camp site where it appeared dry and solid ground (remember APPEARS).


Camp site under water

(Click on picture to make bigger)

Since we got there in the afternoon on Saturday and the weather was in the upper 70F, we decided to go check the several locations that we use to get cell phone signals, well halfway to the first location on the main road between the upper camp site and the Deadwood camp site the road was still blocked with 8”-10” of snow pack from the winter. Since we were the only ones in the area I decided to walk the 1/8 mile to check cell coverage ….and we had 1 good bar.


Main road between camps (8"-10" of snow)

(Click on picture to make bigger)

Next we tried to go out to the point to see if we got coverage and again the road was blocked by 8”-10” of snow, so I decided to go back in the morning and walk the ½ mile to where we setup to scope and to call out.

Back in camp the family got some time around the camp fire and then we went to bed early. The next morning I got up and set out to hike the ½ mile to the point and was treated as I parked the vehicle to see several elk about 200 yards away (love watching elk in the wild).


Family time around the camp fire

(Click on picture to make bigger)

After the hike to the point I found that I was able to get 2 bars (Yes) ……several pictures later I walked back to the truck and returned to camp to get things packed up to head home.

After packing up the back of the truck I looked to see about hooking up the trailer, remember the statement above about APPREARS dry and solid, WELL after the extremely warm weather of up 70’s the day before and now low 80’s the snow behind the trailer had melted and deposited a nice pool of water at the front of the trailer.

Yepper you are going to guess it …. Long story short, I got the truck stuck (right in front of the trailer) trying to pull out the trailer …..As I was in the middle of digging out the truck, two trucks came down the road and I flagged them over to help pull the truck out. As luck would have it they were DUCK fans (to go on record ...........the BEAVERS ROCK).

We were able to get the truck out but had to leave the trailer, and were able to make it back to Bend to restock the truck with supplies to rescue the trailer.


Leaving the camp trailer

(Click on picture to make bigger)

With my dad, his truck, and me and my truck we headed back the next day (Monday) and were able to pull the trailer backwards 30’ to a solid spot to get the trailer out.


Pulling the trailer backwards

(Click on picture to make bigger)

What was supposed to be a leisurely camping trip of round trip driving of 400 miles and one night of camping turned into an 800 mile road trip over three days.

The priceless part of the full experience was my middle daughter (Natalie) using her toy cell phone to call Uncle Dave (a college friend of mine) to come get the trailer out for daddy.

Easter 2009

Well the Easter bunny visited our house this year and the girls were able to hunt for Easter eggs inside and outside :)

First Day of Spring 4/5/09

Today (4/5/09) was actually a good sunny day (61 Degrees) to work out in the yard, I was able to pick up all the pine needles ....... it took all day but was able to get it all done :) This will hopefully set us up so we will be able to go camping more this summer.

The front yard all picked up and ready for some fertilizer on the lawn.

The side yard all picked up with some yawn chairs and baby Ryann's play set

Was able to get a full truck load of pine needles.

After the work was all done then it was time to get out the BBQ and cook up some steak and potatoes ....mmmmmm. I was glad that my mom and dad was able to join in on the steak.

After dinner Natalie talked me into getting a fire going in our outdoor fire pit and we had some delicious roated marshmellows over the open fire.

From Left to Right: Natalie, Dad, Mom, Cindy and baby Ryann roasting some marshmellows


From Left to Right: Me, Natalie, Dad and baby Ryann roasting some marshmellows

Spring Break 2009 Part 2 of 2: Family Trip to Oregon Coast

Under Construction ...More to Come :)

Spring Break 2009 Part 1 of 2: Trip to Yakima WA to visit my Grandmother

My family (Cindy, Grace, Natalie, baby Ryann and myself) along with my mom was able to travel up north to Yakima WA to visit my moms family for our first part of Sprink Break 2009. We traveled up on a Saturday and had a small family reunion at my moms brothers house with a good home cooked meal. We spend the night and then was able to visit my grandmother at her place on Sunday.

Four Generation Picture: Grandmother, Mom, Myself, Natalie and baby Ryann with Cindy and Grace to complete the family Picture

From Left to Right: Grandmother,Stray dog Grandmother is taking care of and Mom

Here are some pictures of my grandmothers place (this is the same house that my mom grow up in):

The old farm seen from the main hiway

The Old Farm House

The old Root Cellar

The Old Barn

Where does the time go?

Just wanted to let everyone know that I shall be posting more ...have been spending time on Facebook getting in contact with old friends :)

Wow ...look at them grow

One second I' bringing the girls home from the hospital all wrapped up in my arms and the next they are walking, talking and showing off their own personalities:

Baby Ryann gets a new hair style (yes note the scratch on her nose from her first big fall walking with a remote control in her hands).

Natalie sits down for a second to strike a serious pose

Instead of me giving Grace rides on the old 4 wheeler, now she is giving her younger sister rides (picture taken during this years deer season)

Happy Birthday

Just wanted to drop an entry into the blog to say "Happy Birthday Baby Ryann and Grandpa Bernd", Just after Halloween Ryann turned 1 yrd old and Grandpa Bernd also sharing the same birthday had one also ....Again Happy Birthday to you both :)

Halloween 2008

TRICK or TREAT ...Trick or Treat ...this year we had our three girls go trick or treating with the grandparents (Grandma Lindsey and Grampa Bernd) .......Grace was a scrary old woman, Natalie was a beutiful good witch and little Ryann was a fluffy white lamb.

New Baby Boy

Just wanted to post a congratulations to my Friend Nathan and his wife Korina for having there first baby.

Please meet little Evan who was born at 1:16am in the morning on Sept 19, 2008. Baby Evan weighs 7 lb 14 oz, and is 21 inches long. Mom and dad are doing well at the hospital after an 18 hour labor period.

Congratulations again :)

About time I wrote something :)

Sorry for the long delay in updating this blog but the family has been very busy over the summer:

1) We have had a family vacation back to Wisconsin to visit the grandparents (with some fishing on the side with Natalie catching her first fish and her bigger sister catching some also).

2) Cindy and I made a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate our friend Todd's 40th birthday in August.

3) The family has endured living in half our house while the master bedroom and master bathroom have had a make over. Yes even the deck that I started last year finally got done (no I did not finish it ... I paid someone to do it).

New York Vacation - Day 6: Travel Home

The travel home was fairly uneventful. Our flight from LGA to Minneapolis was 1.5 hours late, but this time we had a 2.5 hour layover so we made our connection to Portland and ultimately back to Redmond. Ryann had been absolutely perfect on the way to New York – she fell asleep during takeoff and woke up at landing on all three flights – but wasn’t as great on the way home. She spent a good 20 minutes screaming on the LGA to MSP flight, but was better after that.

We feel that we saw everything we wanted to and it definitely puts the things you see on TV shows into perspective. Although we missed Natalie, I have to admit it was much easier to play tourist without a three-year-old and her attention span (and her afternoon naps). The baby was able to easily sleep whenever she wanted in the baby carrier, although she seemed to be quite sick of it at the end of the trip and would cry when she saw me take it out. But she survived too. Our legs had quite the work out. If only our weather would improve here at home, we could start walking here too.

I would recommend this trip to anyone who hasn’t been there; although I don’t feel a burning desire to go back anytime soon.

Next big trip…. Maybe Vegas this summer for Cindy's 40th.

New York Vacation - Day 5: Midtown

After another subway trip, we started our day by visiting the Today Show at Rockefeller Center. They didn’t have any outdoor events that day due to the cold weather, but we were featured in one of their fade-away shots. Nothing like a baby to draw the camera’s attention. J We got our 15 seconds of fame before walking over to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. We followed that with a shopping trip down Fifth Avenue. While we saw Tiffany’s, Gucci, Jimmy Choo and Manolo Blahnik stores, amongst others, we limited our stops to places like the Disney Store, FAO Schwartz, and Build-a-Bear. We lunched at the famous Carnegie Deli and it was absolutely as good as they say it is. We shipped a sandwich back to Bill’s dad and he concurred as well.

We went up the Empire State Building in the afternoon and it was another series of long, long lines that I’m not sure was worth the time. The views up top were certainly good, but the crowds make it difficult to enjoy. We stopped by Grand Central Station and saw the New York Public Library before heading back to the hotel to rest our very tired feet and pack up. After the lunch at Carnegie, no one was very hungry, so we had a light dinner and early evening.

New York Photo's: Day 5 (Select slideshow in album to view pictures)

New York Vacation - Day 4: Easter and the Museums

We had planned on doing some uniquely New York Easter activities, but decided against it at the last minute. We had talked about going to services at Trinity Church, seeing the Easter Parade, and going to the Easter egg hunt in Central Park. Instead we settled for letting Grace have an Easter egg hunt in our hotel room followed by another subway ride and a visit to the Museum of Natural History. We toured that at a whirlwind pace in the morning, followed by a stroll through Central Park where we had limited success finding a decent hot dog vendor. Misty, Dawn, Bill and I toured the Metropolitan Museum of Art while Dad, Marie, and Grace continued to explore Central Park. We went back to Times Square that evening and had dinner at what some call the “best” pizza place – Bella Vita. It was good, but certainly different than what we are all used to having as pizza, with fresh buffalo mozzarella and ground sausage rather than sausage balls.

New York Photo's: Day 4 (Select slideshow in album to view pictures)

New York Vacation - Day 3: Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island

We went down early for tickets Saturday morning and were able to get the last Monument passes given for the day. After waiting in line for what seemed like forever, and going through airport-like security, we finally got on the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. It was a bit of a letdown. We had to wait in more lines to go through yet another round of security in order to go in the monument, where you are allowed to climb the 156 steps up the stone base. No one is allowed to climb up into the statue itself anymore. It had some nice views, but I’m not sure it was worth the long lines to get in there. If you didn’t have a monument pass, all you could do is walk around the outside of it. And it was so windy, and pretty cold, that it wasn’t the most pleasant experience.

We took the ferry from there to Ellis Island, where we realized we were pretty pooped. Bill was the only one who walked through the entire building. You can only see the main building at this time – the rest are being renovated. We took the ferry back to Battery Park – there are some great views from the boat – and it was practically dinner time. We went back to Little Italy for dinner this time and had a wonderful meal at Da Nico’s. The food was absolutely fabulous – the best we had the entire visit. There isn’t much left of Little Italy – it is getting swallowed up by Chinatown. We were impressed with the street vendors and their fresh produce. All the markets had great looking food and reasonable prices.

After dinner, we got adventurous and took the subway to Times Square. It is impressively busy with huge TV screens many stories tall. There was a large police presence and it didn’t feel dangerous at all. The stores were jammed, just like the streets, but we managed to get some Easter goodies for the next day.

New York Photo's: Day 3 (Select slideshow in album to view pictures)

New York Vacation - Day 2: Lower Manhattan

Our hotel, the Marriott Downtown, was in lower Manhattan, a mere 2 blocks from Ground Zero. We started there in the morning and walked to St. Paul’s Chapel, which was across the street. We then went to Trinity Church, Wall Street, New York Stock Exchange, and the Federal Building where George Washington was inaugurated. It was the original capital building for the U.S. before they moved to Philadelphia . We continued on to tour the NYPD museum and then went to the South Street Seaport. After lunch we split up. We visited the Maritime Museum. Dad and Marie went to Battery Park to get ferry tickets for the next day to visit the Statue of Liberty, which didn’t work out because the ticket sales ended before they were able to get any. Misty, Dawn, and Grace went shopping at Century 21. Apparently the place is quite a zoo, but it does have good deals.

After meeting up at the hotel, we walked past City Hall down to Chinatown and Little Italy where we had dinner and dessert, respectively. We walked back to the hotel thinking that we really needed to learn how to take the subway.

New York Photo's: Day 2 (Select slideshow in album to view pictures)