Hello all,
Ben has been trying to get me to use our .mac account since November. We finally sat down today and I have moved my blog to that site. It does allow comments but please put your name in them so I know who wrote me:). Just click on Mo's Blog and it should take you to the new site.
Thanks for reading.
In case the link doesn't work here is the site
http://web.mac.com/leppardb/iWeb/Site/Mo%27s%20Blog/Mo%27s%20Blog.html
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
PE Celebration
As promised here are some shots of our celebration from the Space Needle. Our friend Juliann was visiting us and got caught up in the whirlwind celebration. The orginal plan for the evening had been to get Thai food. Then we checked the mail and got the good news. I had told Ben that when he passed his PE we would go up the Space Needle for dinner. We called and they had a reservation in 40 minutes. That meant leaping in the car and heading straight there. But everything worked out perfectly. We didn't have to wait at all and it was an incredible evening to be up there. The only thing we couldn't see was Mt. Rainier but other than that it was wonderful.
Our dinner table. We weren't next to the window but the views were still fabulous.
Ben and I on the Observation deck - looking a bit giddy to be done with the PE.
Sunset on the city.
Our dinner table. We weren't next to the window but the views were still fabulous.
Ben and I on the Observation deck - looking a bit giddy to be done with the PE.
Sunset on the city.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Leppard Trip to the Olympic Peninsula
(Warning this is a LONG post:))
I know this next post is out of order but I didn't want to miss out on the chance to tell you about our most recent camping trip. After my time in California I hitched a ride with Ben's parents in their RV back up to Seattle. We stopped for a night in Redding CA and picked up my sister-in-law Becky. That has to be the best way to travel. Becky likes games as much as I do and we played games for at least 4 hours on the trip. Sadly I lost every single one but I think God is teaching me humility. Maybe when I have mastered it a bit He will let me win:).
This is Mt. Shasta taken on the trip up.
It was a bit smaller of a gathering as we had orginailly planned to have ALL the immediate Leppard family here. Due to a variety of things it ended up only being Ben, Becky, Mom L., Dad L, and myself. The first day I convinced Becky to go to an animal reserve nearby. It looked rundown when we drove up to it and I was feeling bad for making her drive so far to get to it. But that all changed when they asked if we wanted bread to feed the bears:). I have a love/fear relationship with all big animals and couldn't believe my good fortune that I was going to get to feed a bear. You basically drive around in your car and feed the animals. Some, like the big cats, are in cages and aren't interested in your bread:). Others like the bears are only separated from you by an electric fence and they wave hello so you will throw bread their way. And the rest of the animals like bison and deer and come right up to your car. I got moose slobber on my window when a particularly persistant creature kept stickiing its tongue out for more. Becky and I howled with laughter and fear as animals stuck their faces in our windows. We even got chased by a Bison - ok so he was about one month old but I am sure he could have kicked my car!!
The Peacocks were really putting on a show so we assumed it was mating season.
A baby yak that took a fancy to Becky.
THE BEARS!!!! Notice the nice wave we got.
We got the car close enough to the lion that he growled at me and then we heard him licking the meat off his bone!! Brought me back to my days of seeing lions in the game parks in Africa, minus the cage.
You can see the vicious bison that tried to attack me but gave up and ran back to his mommy. Who says I'm a wimp?
A deer - I can't remember which kind. It did have a perpelexed look on its face that reminded me of some of my former students:). (I hope they aren't reading this.)
After the animal adventure we drove back to camp and picked up everyone else. We then drove to the rain forest. It was hard to capture on camera so this is my attempt. We also went to the most NW tip of America, besides Alaska, but I didn't have my camera for that so you'll just have to believe me.
The second full day we all went a variety of hikes. The first hike was a mini one that took us to some falls. This is us getting ready. Mom is getting her poles ready. Dad is stretching. Ben is looking cool. I am taking pictures and Becky is being Becky.
The falls.
Some tree huggers.
My favorite shot of the day.
Ben on a bridge.
The next hike was going to be more strenuous so we split up. Ben, Becky and Dad went straight up a mountian. I wisely chose to go with Mom along the edge of a lake. She had foot surgery last year and so this was a long hike for her. She did great. We probaby did about 6 miles. The only downer was the notice at the trailhead for cougers. After my nice safe encounter with animals the day before I spent this day terrified of seeing anything. I carried a big stick just in case. In my wierd logic I thought the couger would try and get Mom and I would need to defend her!! I was wishing it had been a baby bison warning not a cougar warning.
The trail was an old RR track. This was the only evidence we saw of a RR.
The path along the edge of the lake where we could see the amazing water color.
The path when it veered inland a bit.
A little inlet and a bridge that crossed it. Very peaceful hike:). Ben would have been bored but I loved it.
The final hike of the day was short but well worth it. It was to another set of water falls that were much more impressive than the first. We were all pretty tired after this and ready to head back to camp for food:).
I was able to catch a rainbow.
I am trying to learn to capture water at a slow shutter speed.
The falls from the other side.
Four tired hikers. Notice Becky has the same look on her face as she did from the beginning of the day.
I know this next post is out of order but I didn't want to miss out on the chance to tell you about our most recent camping trip. After my time in California I hitched a ride with Ben's parents in their RV back up to Seattle. We stopped for a night in Redding CA and picked up my sister-in-law Becky. That has to be the best way to travel. Becky likes games as much as I do and we played games for at least 4 hours on the trip. Sadly I lost every single one but I think God is teaching me humility. Maybe when I have mastered it a bit He will let me win:).
This is Mt. Shasta taken on the trip up.
It was a bit smaller of a gathering as we had orginailly planned to have ALL the immediate Leppard family here. Due to a variety of things it ended up only being Ben, Becky, Mom L., Dad L, and myself. The first day I convinced Becky to go to an animal reserve nearby. It looked rundown when we drove up to it and I was feeling bad for making her drive so far to get to it. But that all changed when they asked if we wanted bread to feed the bears:). I have a love/fear relationship with all big animals and couldn't believe my good fortune that I was going to get to feed a bear. You basically drive around in your car and feed the animals. Some, like the big cats, are in cages and aren't interested in your bread:). Others like the bears are only separated from you by an electric fence and they wave hello so you will throw bread their way. And the rest of the animals like bison and deer and come right up to your car. I got moose slobber on my window when a particularly persistant creature kept stickiing its tongue out for more. Becky and I howled with laughter and fear as animals stuck their faces in our windows. We even got chased by a Bison - ok so he was about one month old but I am sure he could have kicked my car!!
The Peacocks were really putting on a show so we assumed it was mating season.
A baby yak that took a fancy to Becky.
THE BEARS!!!! Notice the nice wave we got.
We got the car close enough to the lion that he growled at me and then we heard him licking the meat off his bone!! Brought me back to my days of seeing lions in the game parks in Africa, minus the cage.
You can see the vicious bison that tried to attack me but gave up and ran back to his mommy. Who says I'm a wimp?
A deer - I can't remember which kind. It did have a perpelexed look on its face that reminded me of some of my former students:). (I hope they aren't reading this.)
After the animal adventure we drove back to camp and picked up everyone else. We then drove to the rain forest. It was hard to capture on camera so this is my attempt. We also went to the most NW tip of America, besides Alaska, but I didn't have my camera for that so you'll just have to believe me.
The second full day we all went a variety of hikes. The first hike was a mini one that took us to some falls. This is us getting ready. Mom is getting her poles ready. Dad is stretching. Ben is looking cool. I am taking pictures and Becky is being Becky.
The falls.
Some tree huggers.
My favorite shot of the day.
Ben on a bridge.
The next hike was going to be more strenuous so we split up. Ben, Becky and Dad went straight up a mountian. I wisely chose to go with Mom along the edge of a lake. She had foot surgery last year and so this was a long hike for her. She did great. We probaby did about 6 miles. The only downer was the notice at the trailhead for cougers. After my nice safe encounter with animals the day before I spent this day terrified of seeing anything. I carried a big stick just in case. In my wierd logic I thought the couger would try and get Mom and I would need to defend her!! I was wishing it had been a baby bison warning not a cougar warning.
The trail was an old RR track. This was the only evidence we saw of a RR.
The path along the edge of the lake where we could see the amazing water color.
The path when it veered inland a bit.
A little inlet and a bridge that crossed it. Very peaceful hike:). Ben would have been bored but I loved it.
The final hike of the day was short but well worth it. It was to another set of water falls that were much more impressive than the first. We were all pretty tired after this and ready to head back to camp for food:).
I was able to catch a rainbow.
I am trying to learn to capture water at a slow shutter speed.
The falls from the other side.
Four tired hikers. Notice Becky has the same look on her face as she did from the beginning of the day.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Ben Passed His PE
YIPPEEEEE!!!
Ben just heard that he passed his PE. In case you don't know what that it, it is his Professional Engineering License. It was a lot of hard work, time and money but totally worth it. He took the test on April 20th and we just heard today that he passed so it was with a huge sigh of relief that we read the letter. I swear I saw a burden fall off Ben's shoulders. We agreed to only eat in the Space Needle if he passed so we will be heading there this weekend. I will make sure to send pictures.
Ben just heard that he passed his PE. In case you don't know what that it, it is his Professional Engineering License. It was a lot of hard work, time and money but totally worth it. He took the test on April 20th and we just heard today that he passed so it was with a huge sigh of relief that we read the letter. I swear I saw a burden fall off Ben's shoulders. We agreed to only eat in the Space Needle if he passed so we will be heading there this weekend. I will make sure to send pictures.
California Visit Part One
June started off with me leaving poor Ben in Seattle to finish up his thesis while I spent two weeks in California. I first went out to my parents house near Yosemite. It is always so peaceful there.
It was a blast to be back with my parents. One fun part of the time was getting to see Bob. He is a REAL minor who lives on the Merced river. He is amazing. He can hardly walk but manages to live alone out there. We even were able to help him fix his roof which is leaking. My sister, Meg, was a great sport and came over to my parents house to see me there so I could have more time with my parents.
I totally forgot to take pictures of my time with them so I cheated and added pictures from the graduation the next week. I did remember to take a shot of my mom's new kitten. Meg, Tom and Mom are not going to like the last one as they were being silly but I LOVE it:).
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Mo's California Visit
The second stop was to my brother's house. I got to see the boys in a swim meet and was the loud cheering aunt. We also took a trip back to our old college town. As you can see from the family shot my little neice has quite a few brothers to put up with. She may look sweet and girly but she can take care of herself. One brother was teasing her and she turns around with her fist held high and says, "You wanna peice of me?". The pictures of the boys are from when my sister-in-law and I decided to highlight the boy's hair. To speed the process up we put bags on them. They were playing a rousing game of Monopoly while we did this. Impressively there was no fighting during the game. When I think of our childhood Monopoly games, I think of fights!!
The main reason for the whole trip had been to go to my neice's graduation. I have pictures of me holding her at my high school graduation as she was only 18 month's old. It was neat to be able to see her on her big day. I was even brave enough to take my two oldest neices clothes shopping. That was an experience shoping with two teenage girls. I loved it. We were able to find the polka dotted wonder dress you see in the first picture that was chosen for graduation.
Here you can see that two of the neices are already bigger than me and the little one will soon catch me up. I feel like a midget around the Welling family.
Me and my big sister!!
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