Good times... circa 2000

We were at the Puyallup Fair back in 2000. Dave and I decided to ride this ride called the "Ejector Seat." I did the favor of screaming for the two of us while Dave tried to collect himself. Enjoy!

Happy Holidays!

Christmas is just a couple days from now, can you believe it? We certainly can't! Please tell me where this year went?

Well, I just finished wrapping the last gift today, and we have one work day remaining—a half day at that—and then we're off until the new year!

We have so many things to be grateful for that we should acknowledge; and at a time when others do not.

1. A job
2. Loved ones to share the holidays with
3. A roof over our heads
4. Clothes on our backs
5. Food in our pantry

This year has certainly had its trials and tribulations, and I'd like to wish they never happened in many, many instances. But it's never good to focus on the negative. And for that, we must move forward because it's good for us to do.

So, what does the year ahead have in store for us Morgans?
We'll strive to get out and about more than we did in 2009; I can promise you that! Perhaps sell our home? (We're not sure... we're thinking about it though). We have some camping trips planned for 2010 and I'd love to go in search of waterfalls. I want to expand my photography experience to start working with shutter speed and see where that takes me. I also want to get more into the video parts as well and serve them up here on the blog. But it's about content and it has to be entertaining, so I'll try to make sure to produce something that has substance. (c:

What's the deal with this RedBubble site?
Well, if you can tell, I've started working with a website called RedBubble. I've done this because I have heard comments from friends that I should sell my work. I was so flattered to hear their feedback and thought, well others do it, why not give it a try?

So, I set out to find a way to do this in an electronic format, so my relationship with RedBubble began. Here, I have some of my more "prouder" shots that I can showcase and the site provides the opportunity for people to buy my work in a variety of prints to choose from—from cards to canvas, to framed prints, to posters, etc. It has been fun getting familiar with the online community, as well as inspirational to view others works. It has taught me a few things and I'm looking forward to experimenting further!

My gallery is located at this web address: http://photogyrl.redbubble.com

Feel free to post a comment here to share your well-wishes to those who view this blog, or if you have a comment regarding this post; we'd love to hear from you!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to each of you!
We hope for a peaceful and brighter year ahead!

« Jodi, Brett & Connor

Remembering heroes...

:: View the photos ::

These photos were taken prior to the large funeral procession to take place from McChord Air Force Base to the Tacoma Dome. The motorcade arrived to pick up the family members of fallen Officer, Mark Renninger, who lived in our neighborhood. Once this motorcade met up with the rest of those participating, the entire procession took 4 hours to drive the approximate 9-mile route to their destination in downtown Tacoma. Clearly, the turnout for the memorial was enormous.

It was a hard day that I hope brought closure and peace to everyone. A lot of hurting and sadness for the heroes we lost on November 29, 2009, who are gone but not forgotten.

Photos of Fall...

:: View the photos ::

I am grateful to live in a place that has seasons. Sounds crazy, I know, but it's true. Each season brings some color, but nothing like Fall... it's a full-blown kaleidoscope of color and I love every bit of it! I love to watch the changes, despite the lousy weather that we might encounter. At any rate, I've taken a few shots of this year's color changes in the above set and managed to fit a few shots in of the boys at the same time.

A visit to New York City

:: View the slideshow from this trip ::

I had the great fortune to go to New York City for a conference with a friend and colleague of mine from work, Misty, and I took a few pictures along the way. It was my first-ever trip to the Big Apple, and it was so enjoyable—I wish I could have stayed longer. I know I didn't see all of it by any means, but we did make good use of our limited time to tour around as much as we could.

Misty had been to New York a few times, so I was lucky to have this great tour guide help navigate about the city. She also had great tips on what to not "fall for" as there are a lot of opportunists out there that I couldn't tell.

We took the "Top of the Rock" tour to check out the sights from atop the Rockefeller Center building and worked our way around the skating rink and the familiar NYC scenes around there.

I attended my first Broadway show to see "Wicked" at the Gershwin Theater... it was awesome! I felt lucky for the nice seats we were able to score, and the show had a beautiful set and costumes; it was such a great experience to have!

The food in New York was amazing. You really can't go wrong in any place (well I didn't have anything bad)—Everything was delicious.

Now, I didn't take as many pictures as I normally would because I was too busy watching everything, taking it all in with my own eyes. There was so much to see, I couldn't possibly take pictures of it all.

I would so love to go back again with the family and have go on a trip with just a bunch of friends to do it again!

Visit to the pumpkin patch with friends

:: View the slideshow right here ::

It was a cool October morning when we got out of the house and headed up to a large pumpkin patch in Buckley, Washington, called Maris Farms (online at: www.marisfarms.com).

The three of us me met up with The Olsons, Kevin and Monique — along with their twins in tow ready for some fun. It was great to see the kids again and to experience their silly sides. As you can see in the photo above, this was one of the moments I caught of them, which I love. It's genuine and candid, just being kids!

The venue changed things up a bit since last year and it seemed well-organized this go around. Instead of paying at each attraction they had there, you paid an upfront charge instead. This was an improvement, but we wound up spending a lot in the long run anyway.

This year, the boys got out on the monster truck for a ride, so I have some shots of them in the slideshow, above. They said it was a lot of fun. Several attractions were there to enjoy. Connor gave their pumpkin cannon a try and also their corn cannon. Guys love that shooting stuff, you know. I enjoyed watching him aim for the targets they had in the field.

What's a pumpkin patch without the corn maze? We always do it... Every year at this farm they do some sort of design. View the aerial view of what this year's looked like. I always wonder how they do this? Connor, for the first time is curious about their nighttime haunted maze. We'll have to plan a trip for him to explore that — he's certainly of age now and not a little boy anymore!

We hope you've been enjoying the season — we certainly have!

Back to school: A look back and a look ahead...

:: View 6 years of first days of school ::

School is back and we have a fifth grader on our hands. Each year on the front doorstep I take a snapshot. I thought I'd reminisce from the years past... our son is growing up so quickly.

He is still my baby boy no matter what size or age! Sniffle, sniffle...

I love you, my sweet boy. —Mom

Visiting the Olympic National Parks...

:: View the complete slideshow from this trip ::

With Summer drawing to a close, for our last vacation trip before school begins, we headed back to the Neah Bay area, but this time with a focus on hiking and checking out the points of interest within the Olympic National Park system. This was a beautiful, scenic trip that allowed us to venture on foot through different trails.

Cape Flattery Trail

Our first visit we have frequented before was the Cape Flattery Trail, which overlooks the waters we fish in as we did in July. It's a short trail through the woods with certain platforms for you to take pictures. With the tripod in tow and my remote at the ready, I made a point of making sure I was able to get into some of the shots, just for you, mom! (c:

Connor along the trail

Ozette Beach Petroglyphs

Previously, we learned you can find some petroglyphs the Makah indians carved back in the 1700s or so right on Ozette Beach and thought it would be cool to check out. We've been through one portion of the trail system before, which is called Cape Alava (see the archive, here). However, this time, we were going to do the loop and that included the Sandpointe trail as well. An 11-mile hike round trip.

The petroglyphs were cool to locate but we didn't find all of them, so we will definitely venture back. One specifically, that we were looking for was of Spanish ships apparently from when they first arrived. There's some of orcas as well that we'll get pictures of next time too. I guess it's good not to discover everything at once so that we have an excuse to return!

La Push, Washington

Have you read Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series yet? Well, I've been completely engrossed in them and I'm on the last book, Breaking Dawn now. The storyline takes place in Forks, Washington and one of it's main characters in it is a native american named Jacob, who is from the Quileute tribe in La Push, Washington.

Anyway, this area is an old stomping ground of Brett's from when he was little, as this was their main fishing spot prior to Neah Bay. A lot has changed since Brett was a kid and Twilight fever was everywhere. It was sort of funny to observe and we understand there's actual Twilight tours as well (we didn't go on any, however). The beach and views were gorgeous and the driftwood laid in artistic disarray that seemed to create it's own sculptures. It was clear that the water in this area is quite rough and untamed.

The Hoh Rain Forest

Our last trip landed us at the Hoh Rain Forest, where we went through a short walk along the Hall of mosses. It was a magnificent display of gigantic trees and green everywhere among us with umbrellas of moss overhead.

It was magical being among the old growth trees and a great display of nature at its beautiful best.

:: View the complete slideshow from this trip ::

Taking mom fishing in the Puget Sound...

:: There's more... view the slideshow ::

It has been years since my mom, Leah, has fished; and it had been years for Brett, Connor, and I that we've crabbed, so we blended the two and took mom out for some long-overdue fishing and crabbing.

Mom started off the morning and caught a good-size king first thing and then not long after that, rounded off by catching an even larger king! Clearly, she has not forgotten what to do given the long break she's had.

Crabbing in years past had been so poor, we gave up, but it was Dave who motivated us to get out there and what a great surprise it was. I don't recall ever a time where the crab were this large and plentiful, so we were delighted to see the batch we hauled in.

Take a look at the short slideshow linked above for an inside look!

Videos of our adventures in Neah Bay

Morgans have a heritage of enjoying our free time in the outdoors. There are so many amazing things to see when you're out and about like this. Featured video snippets will include some of those great experiences, which we hope you enjoy.

↓ "Even grandma has more guts than you, mom." —Connor

↓ "Got it... got it!" —Jodi
We had an amazing experience when porpoises pay a close visit to us.

↓ "He's purty!" —Jodi

↓ "There's a knucklebuster!" —Dave

Patty and her catch on the knucklebuster pole.