My Turn to Leave...

On August 3rd I flew out of Reno and into Phoenix. I left to go to another Banner facility called Banner Boswell.

I went to help with a new computer system we use for charting. As each facility goes up people from other facilities are sent to help with support during the first week. We go and help trouble shoot when small problems come up. This facility was a whole lot bigger than the one I work in.


It was about 30 minutes from Phoenix. It was really warm ....well that's putting it mildly. It was hot! For several of the days I was there it was 118 degrees at 3 o'clock in the afternoon! When I would get off work at night it was still in the mid to upper nineties. I had a nice room while I was there and met some really great people. That's one of the best parts about doing these trips, the people I get to meet.

Katana goes home..

Well, our little cousin Katana has gone back home to Vegas. She came for the summer and we were able to do a lot of fun things with her. She lives in Vegas with her Dad and her grandparents on her dad's side.

He he he, I cut off Dwayne's head in this picture. Dwayne and I are usually able to make a couple of trips down to Vegas for various reasons and because of such we are usually able to visit with her more often. She sure is getting bigger!

This picture Dwayne took and did a little better getting us all in it. Katana will start school this year and will turn the big 5 in November. Hard to believe this is the same baby girl that couldn't even walk down the aisle just yet at our wedding when she was the flower girl! We love her and we miss her already! Have a great first year of school Katana!

Camping!

When you get four very busy people together from two different families from two different towns with three dogs it is tough to find a weekend that works for everyone to take a camping trip. But, some how, we the Macies and our very good friends the Baerwaldts were able to find a weekend that we all could escape the high Nevada summer temperatures and go camping.


While the husbands were at work, we the wives got everything together and loaded up in the vehicles. When they got off work, we were on our way. The above picture is of me and Halo, waiting to hit the road! We got gas in Reno and were on our way....or so we thought. Just outside of town, we came upon an accident. A man had rolled his truck and was still inside as we came on the scene. We both pulled over and made sure the guy was alright. When the emergency services arrived on scene, we loaded up again and headed out to our trip.



The campground we decided to camp at is located just outside of Susanville, CA. It really is a pretty drive once you get past Susanville and start winding up through the mountains.



In this picture you can see the Baerwaldts' vehicle leading the way as we wind through the mountain passes.



We're here! This is our campground!

At the entrance we had to stop and check in and pay of course. We had already made a reservation for the weekend so all we had to do was give them our name.

This was us! Campsite number 4. I did a really good job picking a spot for us. It was near the bathrooms, just inside the entrance, but didn't have any of the other campsites super close to us like some of the sites did.

Halo couldn't wait to get out of the car and explore! We kept him close and on his leash though.

Dwayne couldn't wait to get out and stretch his legs either! It was so pretty up there and the air was amazing to take in. Instantly, I felt relaxed when I got out of the car.

We got right to work setting up camp.

If we looked puzzled its because the tent we are setting up was 7 feet tall, slept 7 and was brand new to us! We had just bought it the day before.

Here it is! Beautiful! It's all set up!

This is our campsite! We put up one easy up, and saved the other for the beach. We had a fire pit, bar-b-q grill and picnic table. Our tents fit right next to each other. We got camp set up and made dinner. Then we cleaned up dinner before sitting around the fire for a little while. The boys had gone to a nearby area to gather the fire wood and as far as we can tell, are lucky to have made it back. I believe there was talk of them getting stuck in the dirt and someone appearing to be calling them in to what could have been the authorities! After sitting around and relaxing, it was time for bed.

We turned in for our first night in our tent. We were fairly comfy on our air mattress and sleeping bags. It was slightly chilly but not too bad.

Halo had a little bit harder of a time settling down for the night. He is our little guard dog and every noise he heard made him want to investigate. Dwayne and I were awakened a couple of times throughout the night by some little creature outside our tent but other than that, we couldn't think of a reason not to relax.

We were up nice and early the next day. Halo couldn't stay in the tent any longer and had to be let loose. So we got up. It was kind of chilly that morning so Dwayne made us a fire to sit around while we drank coffee, ate breakfast and made our plans for the day.

The boys went down to the beach to play around with a jet ski we had borrowed for the weekend. Erin and I stayed back at the site to relax a little bit more and enjoy the beautiful area.

After a while the boys were hungry and came back to the site for lunch. Dwayne threw the Frisbee for Halo, one of his favorite games while I got lunch ready.

After lunch, the boys talked us into coming down to the beach with them while they played. Erin and I took this picture while we were waiting for the boys to finish putting the jet ski in the water at the dock. When they were finished, we followed them down to the beach.

This is our beach! Okay, not ours exclusively, but ours for the afternoon!

I put Halo's life vest on him and we took him out for a swim in the water. He paddled along in the water when he couldn't reach anymore.

But, he didn't really like not being able to touch and as soon as he could he headed back toward the shore. He was so cute though in his little life vest!

As the day wore on the boys kept going out on the jet ski.

Dwayne really wanted me to come out with him on it at least once that weekend. I was hesitant to go, I have this fear of falling off or being dumped in the deep, unknown water. You know what I mean? Life jacket or not, its a little scary to me. Anyhow, Dwayne knows my fears and kept reassuring me that wouldn't happen and I wouldn't even get wet.

But what do you think happened? Yep you got it. I got on the jet ski and as Dwayne was getting on behind me, he dumped me. I was less than thrilled as you could imagine.

I got back on, we went a little ways out but I was NOT having fun and Dwayne thought it would be better if we just turned around and went back to shore. That was a smart move!

When we got back to camp we discovered we had a little friend move in with us. Yes, this is the chipmunk that decided it was a good idea to hang out in our tent and eat our dog's food.

Apparently, in this new tent of ours, there is this little section that you can zip that will allow a power cord to be pulled into the tent. Well, we didn't know about this little whole that was open and that is how our friend got into our tent. We spent a good amount of time trying to get this little furry thing out. It kept trying to go inside of Halo's kennel. Eventually, we got it out though and made sure there were no other entrances into our tent!

We spent the rest of the day taking naps, hanging out around the fire, having a great dinner and watching an awesome summer thunderstorm. Had Erin or I been brave enough to hold our cameras during the lightening, I'm sure we would have had some really great pictures from that night. The lightening was so close the thunder would boom right away and we could feel the vibrations as we sat there. The doggies weren't too thrilled about the storm though so we took them into the tents. Good thing we did too, right after we got into the tents, there was a huge downpour of rain. The storming lulled us all to sleep and kept on until about 12:30 A.M.

We took the above two group pictures with the timer on our cameras after we had packed up camp the last day and were getting ready to head back home. In it are from left to right: Erin-holding Josie, Dan-holding Lily, Dwayne- holding Halo and me! The Macies and Baerwaldts. It was such a good trip we have decided we need to make it an annual camping trip every summer. According to Dwayne, we need to make it a quad-annual event...guess that shows you how great of a time we had!

Dwayne goes to Louisiana....or is it Mississippi?

Actually it was both! On Sunday, July 12, Dwayne flew out of the Reno-Tahoe International Airport and flew into New Orleans, Louisiana. He left to go do his annual training for the Navy. Although he flew into and slept in Louisiana he worked and did his training in Mississippi.

Every morning he would get up, get ready and drive across the border to Mississippi to the Stennis Space Center. Yep, he went to work for NASA. Okay, maybe not NASA directly, but the Navy office is at the space center.

I'm still not completely sure what he did while he was working but I know he did a lot training and classwork.

Since he was in the area, Dwayne drove over to his sister's to visit with her and our little nephew, Thierry. She is stationed at Keesler Air Force Base, Biloxi, Mississippi. The above picture is their first photo together ever!

While Dwayne was down there he and his sister were able to spend some time together hanging out and catching up.

In September Dianna (Dwayne's sister), Thierry and Dwayne's parents are coming out to visit for a week. It'll be nice to have the family all get together.

After completing his training and spending time with his sister and nephew, it was time for him to come home. I happily drove to Reno and picked him up from the airport on the night of Friday, July 24th. I was glad he had a great trip but I was so happy to have him back home!

Going to the Library

Today I took my little cousin Katana and my "little"-grown up sister to the library. Reading is a passion of mine that I've had since I was really little. My family says that when I was about my cousin's age, I had memorized all the books in my room and would sit on their laps and pretend I was reading to them. I knew what words went with what pages and when to turn the page before continuing on with the story. Unless they knew better, everyone thought I could read! As I got older, the library in the town I lived in usually had a summer reading program. You were allowed to put your name in a drawing for prizes every time you finished a book. You got one entry per book and the librarian had to check off that the book was really your reading level. I was always winning prizes since I was always going to the library!

I am hoping to instill this same love of books and reading in Katana. While she is here for the summer I hope to take her to the library every week. We went two weeks ago to the story time the library hosts and then I showed her around the main library. She enjoyed it so I brought her again today.

Melanie and I spent about an hour with her reading stories from books she picked off the shelf. She sure picked some great stories! She stays involved in the stories really well and helps turn the pages.

After we were done reading for the day she picked out two books to check out to take home. Her mom came by and filled out the paperwork so she could get her very own library card. Her little signature on the back is so adorable (she'll probably hate it when she gets older and has a real signature but for the time being I think it is wonderful!). So, she was able to check out the two books she picked with her very own card. I would have taken her picture with her card but they mail it to her after it is all in the system. Mellie checked out her books and I checked out mine and we were out of there until next week.

Dinner and an Old and New Friend

Today I was in Reno for an appointment and was able to have dinner with one of my old friends from when I lived there. I met Rayna and her baby girl for a meal at Carrinos. I met Rayna when I was going to school in Reno and while I worked at The Children's Place in the Mall. She was my manager and we became good friends. A little while later she was one of my bride's maids and a little while after that, I did the day of coordinating for her wedding. Now that I live in Fallon, I don't get to see her as much. She recently had her first baby, a little girl named Aubrie. Aubrie is one tough little girl. She wasn't due to be born until May and came early, in March. She weighed next to nothing but was a strong little baby. After some time in the NICU she was allowed to go home. Today, at about 4 months old, she weighs just over 8 pounds! She's spunky and such a sweet little girl.


The three ladies after dinner (Me, Baby Aubrie, and Rayna)

A Day Hike

On Monday, July 6, Dwayne, Melanie, Halo and I all went for a day hike up at Lake Tahoe. We loaded up into the car with some snacks, water, sunscreen, first aide kit and of course, the digital camera!


For weeks I've been looking up hiking trails at Lake Tahoe. I've been looking for trails that had a difficulty level we could all handle and that we could get to easily. I finally decided on the Tahoe Rim Trail. It is just off Mt. Rose Highway and didn't sound too hard. If you'd like to look for a trail to hike yourself I found the info at www.tahoerimtrail.org


Dwayne looking out over one of the views from the trail.



The first walking stick Mellie picked up...it was too bulky and too short so she found a better one a little further along.



It was so beautiful and nice up there!


The road we drove on that leads to where the trail began.


This tree could almost be in one of those AT&T commercials. We thought the grouping of trees was really neat so we made Mellie take a picture next to them.

Time for a family picture on a really neat rock we hiked by on the trail.

Dwayne is really into geology and meteorology and this rock in particular caught his fancy. He told me about the cracks in the rock. They are called frost wedging. When the water gets in the small cracks and freezes, it expands the crack in the rock. Eventually over time pieces begin to fall off in perfectly cut or sliced pieces. I think that's how it went. He could tell you better I'm sure.

Shortly after the cool frost wedging rocks I ate it on the mountain. Yep...I fell. Apparently I'm just as clumsy while hiking as I am when I'm walking through the house. I managed to twist my ankle on a rock, get thrown off balance by my backpack causing me to fall, twisting my knee and then twisting my ankle in the other direction. After a few minutes I was able to get up and hobble along. Unfortunately we weren't exactly sure where we were on the trail... so thinking we had to be close to half way through and if that were true, then it wouldn't matter if we turned around or just finished the trail. So we decided why not just push through...only it turned out, we weren't close to half way through. I ended up by the time it was all said and done, hiking an additional 5 miles or so on a bum knee and ankle.

Is this not the coolest way for a tree to grow? It looks just like a door frame!

Along the trail there were still packs of ice and snow. Dwayne ran up the mountain to stand next to this one, it was the biggest of them all.

He brought me back a snowball. He said I could put it on my ankle.
Isn't he so considerate?

A different view from one of the trails. Actually this view is from the trail we took by mistake. We thought we were going the right way to finish the trail and get back to the cars but it turns out we were on the trail taking us to the very very very top of Mt. Rose. Although this seemed like a way cool trail, it was just too much to be doing with a bad injury. So we turned around once we realized our mistake and went back.

This is one of the little streams you have to walk across while hiking. Halo enjoyed the ice cold water it had! We kept having people remark on how surprised they were at how well he was doing on the trail. He was by far the smallest dog out there and everyone said how well he was doing for being so tiny.

Along the way there is also this waterfall. It wasn't very big but it was so pretty and I loved just standing there in the mountain air and listening to sound of the water flowing by.

It was really rocky surrounding the waterfall but Mellie braved it and got a closer look.

Minus the injury, and the subsequent 8 hour ER visit with crutches and an air cast later, overall it was a really great day. The scenery was excellent, the company wonderful, the exercise invigorating and the air refreshing! We all have every intention of doing it again when I'm better. We even plan on finishing that trail to the very top of Mt. Rose. I can't wait but until then, Happy Summer Travels!