The Crib is Finished!

Finally, after sporadic weekend work over the last six months, I finished the crib I had promised for RJ and Anna and delivered it this last weekend. (With a month to spare) As usual, there are definitely some things I would do differently next time in order to speed up the process. I guess you're always learning...


Here is a picture of one of the joints. The four sides of the crib and the bottom can be taken apart and moved separately.



The inside of the crib where it attaches to the legs. There are three different settings for the bottom height of the crib.



Here she is. All oak, with the exception of the pegs, which are mahogany. This finish is a mixture of walnut oil and beeswax. And there are no screws, nails or glue holding it all together. Probably wouldn't build it that way again, but it was a great learning experience.

The Big Chop

Spur of the moment haircut and and Vanessa's sleepover/birthday party, crazy times in the Hayes household.

My hair has never been this short, well, except for when I was 2, as Dr. Walker reminded me. Chopped it all off.

Playing with fire at the birthday party.

Terra transformed the girls into superheros, here is Spiderwoman...!

Adventures in SLO

Big Sur, triathalon, fly fishing trips to the cabin, hanging out with Nathan and Vanessa, Mom and Dad Hayes came down with Grandma Lois, hanging out with Lyndal, Aunty Julie's birthday, visiting Camille's grandpa, gardening, working in the woodshop, surfing, teaching, engineering... always an adventure here in San Luis.

Today's Report: Trouble had just barely adjusted to her new outside life (since we realized that she really is "trouble"in the house) when the Walkers got two new kittens. Add the little lab puppy they brought home today, and we really have a yard full of life! Here's the count, 7 chickens, Maggie (old, loving, german shepard mix), Deuce (the Walker's "special"dog), Pearl and Pig (the two cats), Trouble (our cat-kitten), now add the two new kittens and the new puppy, that makes 15 animals runnin around in the yard at one time! You can imagine the shows they put on.

Past Report: Well, a lot has been happening around here, so in addition to that brief summary, here are a few pics to fill in some of the gaps!

The Animal Farm

Just a few of us here...




The newest addition, 6 week old lab puppy...

Meet the kittens (black) Olive and (orange) Sampson. Trouble is getting used to them slowly...



Halloween

To prevent any rumors from being spread, Camille is a pirate, and Ryan is a 70's tennis player, and yes, I assure you, this was for Halloween.



Visiting Grandpa with the Cousins

Grandpa Freitas just had hip surgery here, but now he is home and doing well.



Hanging out with Nathan and Vanessa

Vanessa's cheerleader performance!

Out on the farm...

Camping trip in Big Sur with Tim and Debra.

The surf was horrible, but good friends and a rousing game of croquette on a hill can cure anything!

Kristin and Nick got married!!

Jessica, Megan, Mr. Spivey, and Camille - We love him!

Kristin's wedding and bachlorette party!! Just getting started...

Here's "Trouble"

We've officially adopted a kitten from the Humane Society, and named her Trouble. Adopting is quite a process, we had no idea. Camille was ready to bring her home, but Ryan had to come to the shelter and "meet" her before we could do the adoption papers, you know, Society protocol.
She's a cuddler, but quite vicious as well. Hopefully she'll be a great hunter.

Like a little lion, look at her face, it's intense!





Trouble, in full cuddle mode- although she's on Camille's lap, we think she prefers Ryan. She consistently chooses him over Camille.

Backpacking Mineral King/Whitney

June 27-July 4, 2008
Leaving from Mineral King, we did a beautiful 7 day hike through Sequoia Kings Canyon and Inyo National Park. We traversed through the high sierras down to the Kern River, trout fishing, hot tubbing and summited Mt. Whitney. We did 107 miles, with 32,000 feet of elevation change. Needless to say, Camille was hurting the first three days. However, day four was our "rest day" and we didn't have to carry our packs (although we did hike Whitney that day), so from then on Camille felt much better, and Ryan, as usual, was full of energy the entire trip.

Lunch Break

First day, Franklin Lakes

First night, Forester Lake

Amazing personal hot tub right on the Kern River. Ryan caught some big trout and we had a few great dinners!!

River Crossing, there was a lot of water on the entire trip, we had some shoeless crossings, balancing on logs to cross, and rock-hop crossings, but managed to avoid any serious spills.

The top of Mt. Whitney, 14,492 feet, day 4 (halfway through the trip)

Yep, those are mosquitos. Some places were worse than others, and a few nights they were like clouds in the air...hungry little buggers.

Winter fun

Definitely better together...

Snowboarding with Garth and Holly, some of our fun winter trips!

Our little cabin, we all rented it for two nights, us and all the spiders...

Well, we have taken quite a break as we have settled into our house, but it's been quite peaceful around here lately. Ryan's working at RICK and Camille is substituting and going to school. We are enjoying the country life, flowers and insects and all! Hopefully we will keep this a bit more updated in the next few months!


Mom and Dad Lucio enjoying some amazing cake made by Terra!

A backyard BBQ at our house for Easter and for Mom and Dad's birthdays in March!