Lakeview this week

We had a good snowfall early this week (~5"), but it melted off the day after. Here are a few pictures of Lakeview in the snow. The first one is approaching Lakeview from the west (sagebrush in foreground), the second is a picture of Black Cap, the "peak" that overlooks town from our backyard, and the last is the Packer Gnome in the backyard.

Dominic playing with Daddy on a snowy day (with some help on the spelling).

Ride 'em cowboy! (in our frontroom).

Like Father, Like Son?

On Monday Kirsten helped me bottle up my first batch of beer made in OR--a hopped up nutbrown. Well, I added some extra hops that proceeded to get stuck in the bottler tube and it began to leak on the floor. Two seconds later we looked down and Dominic was lapping it up like a calico! Does this make us bad parents, or just give us reason to worry about the future? (hahaha).

Chemult Sled Dog Races

On Sunday we went to the sled dog races in Chemult, OR, about 2.5 hrs from Lakeview. We were wondering if there'd be sufficient snow since there isn't any in Lakeview, but it was about knee-high when we got there. It was warm and they even had a warming shack and outdoor fire! Dommy enjoyed the snow and all the dogs, and the trainers let him pet a couple, too. We learned the term "dog in a basket" to refer to a wounded dog that rides back in the sled, then got to see one live! Turns out many of the mushers come from all over Oregon, and that one of the famous ladies who did the Iditarod (Karen someone-or-other) lives locally and breeds siberians and alaskan malamutes.

Here's a video of one of the dog sled starts, I think it was a 6-dog team.

Here's a sled finishing and heading back to the parking lot.

This is a video of skijoring, which is one or two sled dogs pulling a driver who's on X-country skis. A gal told me this is really taking your life in your hands, and I believe her. These two-dog teams went on a 2.5-mile course full of hills--crazy.

Funny pics this week

I was cooking in the kitchen yesterday when Dommy came out wearing my zapatillas. He almost fell on his face 10 times, but it cracked me up that he would just put them on! The other fotos are while wearing Mommy's swim goggles (aka Elton John) and peeking into the tent to see Dad. What a ham!

The Tunnel

Grandma and Grandpa Cassingham got Dommy a little indoor tent with a tunnel entry for Christmas and he loves it. The first video is on Christmas day (where he's dressed like a candy cane) and the second is when we just took out the tent here in Lakeview last night. Dad plans to hook it up with boxes and doors to form a mini Habitrail here in the living room for the little rascal!

Random Christmas Pics

On New Year's Day we went down to Santa Cruz beach and boardwalk with Grandma Cassingham. It was great weather (about 64 degrees and sunny) even though the water was pretty cold. Dommy didn't seem to care and was rolling around in the sand and surf the whole time. On the boardwalk Dommy took an interest to the pellet gun game--couldn't take his eye off it!

Between Christmas and New Year's we went hiking with the Allens. Audra, Eric, Liam, and Elizabeth went showed us a nice hiking area near Rancho San Antonio (I think) with a great view of the Bay. The hike was a little longer than we originally expected, but a great way to work off some holiday eating.

Dommy chowing down under Grandma's careful watch in the antique high chair.

Troy came down from San Mateo and Nikki came down from Redwood City for an afternoon to visit with Alex and Kate.
A nice photo of the Cassinghams with Aunt Linda and Cousin Michelle after dinner on Jan. 2nd.

Christmas Day at the Cassinghams

Dommy poses in his new Christmas pajamas from Grandma Tighe next to his new rocking horse. He's still a little afraid of the bigger horse, but loved to push the buttons on the ears and make the galloping sound.

For Christmas Day Mass we went to the Cathedral in downtown San José, but could only make the Spanish-language Mass. It was very nice, if a little different.

Dommy in his Christmas duds (after we took off his sweater). He figured out how to open the wrapping paper by the end, and really got into it.

Christmas in downtown San José

On Christmas eve night we went downtown for the annual showing of the animated traincars. We took the real train down to the city center with the Allens, and it was Dommy's first time aboard.

There are a whole bunch of animatronix traincars that they set up each year that were donated to the city. They're pretty old and show things like elves making toys and Santa going down the chimney. Thousands of local residents come out to see them, and also to ice skate under the palm trees there!
We went into the ritzy Fairmont hotel downtown to use the bathrooms and saw their lifesize gingerbread house, too. Dominic was playing inside with random kids while we listened to some jazz. If you look closely, you can still see the flour on the gingerbread!

After walking around we went out for Thai food, since it was the only place open on Christmas eve. Thai food, just like Grandma Tighe used to make!

San José Sharks game

My biggest Christmas gift from Kirsten this year was to attend the San Jose Sharks vs. the Washington Capitals hockey game. It was at HP Pavilion in downtown San Jose, which is a great arena to see a game. Kirst, Troy, her Dad, and I went together and watched the Sharks dismantle the Caps 5-2. It was also the first game since 1987 to have 2 penalty shots successfully scored, which was really cool to see. I had never seen one of these live during the Hurricanes games in Raleigh before. Ovechkin spent some time in the box and was pretty much a punk the whole game. Great to see, though, and great memories!

Monterrey Aquarium

Kirst and I really wanted to see some more of CA during the holiday, so we snuck away to Monterey and Carmel for a day while Dominic stayed with Grandpa and Grandma. A good friend of the Cassinghams arranged for tickets for us, so we got to see the Monterey Aquarium and enjoy the seahorses, sea otters, and jellyfish. The coolest things, though (not pictured) were the sea dragons. These are crazy dragon-like sea horses that live in the Great Barrier Reef and are amazing.

After the aquarium we took a drive down to Carmel (where Clint Eastwood was mayor) and checked out the beach and fancy downtown. All we could afford was coffee, but it was really good coffee!