Happy Birthday Stephanie

Seems like only yesterday our little “China Doll” was born.
She walked at 6 months,
Wouldn’t talk until she could talk full sentences, no matter how hard we tried.
Had to have clothes with pockets,
Loved to sing in kid’s choir,
Loved to dance in dance recitals,
Loved to swim on swim team,
Now all grown up, married to a great guy, she’s a great Mom and now
is watching her own kids grow.
Happy Birthday Stephanie, we love you.

Happy Birthday Camden Jackson Hay

Today is Camden's 3rd birthday (March 3rd). His birthday celebration began last Saturday (February 28th) when family and friends joined him at the Santa Barbara Zoo. Everyone had a fantastic time and many rode the train around the zoo. Stephanie and Matt had reserved the elephant patio for the party. The elephant patio overlooks the elephant exhibit featuring 2 elephants. There was a special time when zoo staff brought a large lizard for show and tell. Everyone got to pet the lizard. Here are pictures of the patio view and also of Camden's special events. Again...HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAMDEN.

January 30, 1949

Joyce L. Jackson Born January 30, 1949 St. John's Hospital, Santa Monica, CA 90401

Joyce L. Shell now celebrating her 60th birthday
Visit: http://5hays.blogspot.com/ and http://jpdahlberg.blogspot.com/ for the full story.

Jacob and Noah at the cabin playing in the snow

This weekend we took Jacob and Noah to the cabin in hopes of them being able to play in the snow. As luck would have it...it was snowing when we arrived. We quickly unpacked and loaded the saucers and sled into the truck. We drove to Mt. Pinos which is about 9 miles up the hill from the cabin. The elevation at the summit is approximately 8,300 feet; it's 5,500 at the cabin. We unloaded the sled and walked up the icy slope. The temperature was 19 degrees so after about 3 or 4 trips up and down we jumped back in the truck to warm up. At the summit we were above the clouds. The skies were blue and the sun was shinning. We headed down the hill to see if we could find some fresh snow. About half way down the hill it was snowing again. We found a place where we could park and get out and play. There was a little over an inch in fresh snow so the boys started making snow angels and making snowballs. Jacob asked if he could eat the snow and Grammie said just as long as it's not yellow snow. Grammie then pointed out some animal tracks in the snow and Jacob said that cool. Jacob asked Grammie what's that...and Grammie replied "that yellow snow." Jacob replied "very cool." We played in the snow for a while then headed back to the cabin to thaw out and have lunch. Here are some pictures of Jacob and Noah having fun.

Happy 40th Birthday Shawn

Mom writes: Such a special day. I was way, way overdue for you to come and finally everything was coming fast. We had to drive from Hawthorne to Santa Monica. We get to St. John’s Hospital and all the nurses and aides were talking about New Years Eve. I didn’t have a whole lot of time before they took me to the delivery room. When the moment came everyone stopped because you came out looking around and so awake and aware. Bright Eyes! Always interested in everything around you. Everyone commented about how beautiful you were. You are so special. Happy Birthday, Love Mom.

Then...

Now...

Christmas at Pop and Grammie Shell's

We celebrate our family Christmas on Christmas eve. This year Brent's family (Melinda, Jacob, Paige, Noah) and Stephanie's family (Matt, Bracken, Camden, Ainsley) joined us. Shawn's family (Jeff, Jesse, Jenna, Shanna) couldn't make it due to Jeff's work schedule, although they were able to be with us on Thanksgiving; a special treat. Christmas dinner consisted of 14.5 lbs prime rib, green beans, brussel sprouts, mashed potatoes & gravy, corn, rolls, iced tea, punch, and chocolate cheesecake. Pictured here are the Rowley and Hay children under our Christmas tree.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

The snow storm finally arrived on Monday as predicted and left behind 18-24" of fresh powder. Weather the remainder of the week didn't get above the mid-thirties. Highways and roads were hazardous due to ice and Interstate 5 (I-5) was closed for periods both Monday and Tuesday. However, careful driving, snow tires and 4-wheel drive did the trick (no snow chains required) to get us to the cabin safely. We arrived Friday afternoon and the snow at the cabin was still as fresh as if it had just fallen. Friday afternoon we tried to build a snowman on the patio deck but the snow was not cooperating (too powdery). Friday evening we watched Star Wars V The Empire Strikes Back. Saturday morning was play day in the snow...sliding down the driveway and playing in the snow cover playground while Grammie was getting a haircut. Pictured below: Bracken and Camden at the Christmas tree in the front yard, inside warming up after playing in the snow, and videos of them sliding down the driveway. Everyone had a wonderful time.

Bracken and Camden help decorated the cabin for Christmas

This weekend we decorated the cabin for Christmas. Bracken and Camden decorated a small Christmas tree. We were hoping for a big snow fall but the big storm was late, not scheduled to arrive until Monday. Grammie noticed that some snow was starting to fall so she walked the boys over to the patio window to watch. Bracken said: "I never knew that snow came from the sky." "I caught snow with my tongue." "I think that is not something that many people see." Camden said: "That's so funny." "I never saw that before." The boys were so excited. We wish the snow fall could have been more, but we're taking the boys back to the cabin again Friday afternoon and we hope that the snow is sufficient to build a snowman. Bracken and Camden have also developed an interest in Star Wars and we played with their Star Wars The Clone Wars figures. We also watched the first Star Wars movie (Star Wars IV The New Hope). Here are some pictures of Bracken and Camden after they decorated the Christmas tree. They also baked some Christmas cookies with help from Grammie.

Thanksgiving 2008

This year we had the entire immediate family for Thanksgiving (minus my Mom)...that's 9 adults and 9 grandchildren. The challenge this year was not cooking dinner which consisted of 24.6 lbs turkey, 10 lbs mashed potatoes (garlic and regular), 2 types of stuffing, gravy, green beans, sweet potatoes/yams, cornbread muffins, rolls, green salad, cranberry salad, 24 hour salad, herb butter, cranberries, deviled eggs, assorted relish tray, pumpkin pie, chocolate cream pie, carrot cake, punch, ice tea, and coffee. The real challenge was getting 9 grandchildren ranging in age from 7 months to 12 years old to sit still long enough, and facing the camera to get this picture.

Fireplace Mantel

This weekend we installed a new log mantel above our fireplace at the cabin. The builder of the cabin was suppose to install a split log but instead did nothing more than just a 2" x 6" and some 1" x 3" trim (it's a long story). I'd been toying with the idea of building a mantel myself but always fell short of coming up with a plan or design that would meet my standards of perfection. After about 5 years of living with the 2" x 6" mantel I did a search on eBay for a rustic mantel. I found a master craftsman in Augusta Georgia who makes furniture, including custom made to measure mantels using cedar logs. We communicated back and forth and finally came up with the perfect mantel. After about 5 weeks the mantel was delivered. Several attempts and a lot of help from Joyce to get it positioned just right, we finally got it just where we wanted it. Here are some before and after pictures. Hope you'll agree that the new mantel is a BIG improvement.

Late season trout fishing...not

The trout season in the high sierra's ends October 31st so we thought it would be nice to get in one last fishing trip before the season closed. We (my fishing partner Wally and I) headed out late Wednesday afternoon for Mammoth Lakes; Wally owns a condo there and it's been our base of operations for many years. As we arrived at the condo we were greeted by a mother bear and her 2 cubs. They appeared to be standing guard over the trash dumpster which fortunately was locked. The picture above is upper and lower twin lakes at Mammoth Lakes and shows just how beautiful it can it be regardless of weather. Our plan was to fish upper twin lake at Bridgeport Thursday and Gull lake (part of the June lake loop) Friday. We rented a boat at upper twin and headed out for a days fishing. Shortly after leaving the boat dock we encountered conditions that made fishing almost impossible. Winds were 30 MPG generating wave and white caps; it was like victory at sea. Little did we know that a major storm was heading our way which would eliminate most all of our earlier plans. Bottom line... winds continued throughout the day and into Friday evening. Temperatures dropped to 18 degrees and there was 4" to 6" of snow everywhere. We headed home Saturday morning stopping just south of Bishop to fish the Owens river. No fish anywhere to be found.

Pictured below: Leaving snow covered Mammoth Lakes and Wally fishing the Owens river.

Game #1 for the Dragons ends in a tie

Earlier this year it was Baseball (T-Ball) but now it's the season for Soccer. Bracken plays for the Dragons and this was his 1st game. The game started at 10:15 AM and the mid-day sun came early (97 degrees). Bracken will be 5 next month so at this level of competition there is no score keeping, and the clock runs continuously; every game is a tie. They break every 15 minutes for water and there are 3 breaks per game, including 1/2 time.

Bracken is taking a water break and also a free kick.

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