Lori and Rick Sitting in a Tree....

My wife / best friend / sweethart is the the love of my life. I will gladly give her credit for making what I am today. Of course, my overweightness is a bit my fault. Lori has become such a good cook that it dominates my will power.

She helped me find a profession which I liked and encouraged me, helped me, worked her tail off, and taught me how to be a bit adventurous...which has let us to Alaska for one thing. We are approaching 28 years of being married and still find time to be best friends amid all the "stuff" life throws at us.
Here are a few pictures of just the 2 of us in the past few years. I'll have to find some old ones to scan later.

On the Yukon River and next to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline.

This is where it all began.. 20 June 1983. Wow...that guy is skinny and the chick was and is a fox!!!

Fairbanks at 10:30 pm. June 2006

Disneyland Feb. 2005

Disneyland Feb. 2005

Sitka Thanksgiving Day 2008. A really nice day so we took a hike on the Mosquito Cove trail.

Crater Lake Sept 2008. Part of the trip we took with Meg and Charles to let them look at colleges. This natural wonder is still not as beautiful as my sweethart.

Disneyland March 2008. Yes, we like the place.

Fanning Island Dec. 2003. This was part of our Hawai'ian cruise for Richard's 16th birthday.
About 200 miles north of the equator.

Sitka Alaska Nov. 2005. This was during the site visit SEARHC did for us when I was being hired. This shot happens to be at Silver Bay and is about 2 miles from our current house.

I look forward to another 50 years or so with my wife in this life and an eternity beyond.

December Delights

December is such a busy time, but we still tried to get out and relax. Lori worked hard on her school/work, Meg and Charles studied, and Richard put up with holiday shoppers. Our little lake in town.. Swan Lake.. froze over mid-month. Once the ice is thick enough (monitored by the fire department) it becomes a busy place for young, old, and dogs. There is hockey, skating, walking (Lori and I don't have skates so we just walked around), people on bikes, sleds, etc. A local rental company donates a large light that allows use of the lake until 11pm or so. In December, dark occurs by 3 or 3:30 so it really makes a difference.

Christmas found us just enjoying warmth and family. As one of Richard's presents we brought his girl friend.. Abbey.. up from Utah (she was by herself...family back east) and she got to see how crazy our family is. The kids got some silly string and Lori just didn't understand that you don't tease someone with a can of that stuff. We had our traditional rolls for breakfast.. they must be pretty good since Richard, Charles, and Meg are smiling.
Even D'Artagnan got spruced up for the holidays. He isn't too keen on getting a bath, but he puts up with it and he ends up so "floofy" and soft afterwards.
New Year's Day was cold but sunny. Lori and I took D'Artagnan to Totem Park for a walk. The picture here is about 2pm and even though we are gaining daylight each day you can see how long the shadows are.