Ash Wednesday, Deer, and Yogurt!

Last week Dommy had his first encounter with ashes at Mass, and didn't even smear them all over like we expected. He did really well, and it seems that the evening masses are much better than Sunday morning WRT his behavior.

The other night when we were coming home we saw a bunch of deer cross the road in front of us near our house. We followed them as they moved towards our house, paying no attention to the cars and people. There were about 15-20 mule deer in the little herd, and it just seems funny to see them peeking in our neighbors' windows!

Dommy is starting to use the fork and spoon more and more, but it requires a lot more patience from Mom and Dad. Below, Dommy fed himself a whole bowl-ful of yogurt and frozen berries (from Kats and Jeff this fall). He even got some of it in his mouth, I think. Doesn't he look a little like Homer Simpson scarfing down a pink-iced doughnut here?

Snofest at Warner Canyon

Last Saturday was the Snofest at Warner Mtn, the ski hill just outside of Lakeview. It's a nonprofit, low-budget place with natural snow only, but has a ton of community support and we were excited to see the parade of skiers come down the mountain at night. Below is a picture of Dommy out in the dark waiting for the skiers, then with Mom and a random lady at the chalet. The video is dark, but shows the flares from the skiers' poles as they descend the mountain at night. Really cool. They also had a cookout, with beer and music in the chalet, which was a cool thing we like to support!

Portland and Seattle last week

Last Monday we took advantage of a trip Kirsten had planned to attend a conference in Portland and took the whole family for a ride. We spent a week in downtown Portland, then went up to Seattle and Tacoma to visit family over the weekend. What a great trip!

Dommy and Daddy walked all over downtown Portland, logging at least 4 miles a day. Well, Daddy logged the miles really, with Dommy on his back the whole time. We had great weather, and felt really lucky to see the city from the inside. In addition to lots of walks and great food, we got to visit the Oregon Zoo and see the elephants. Our good friend Jen came down from Seattle during this time, and added to the fun. Here are some random pics from downtown Portland: Jenny Russell on the waterfront of the Willamette River, Dommy hamming it up after dinner at the Rogue Ales brewery (fantastic food!), a 24-hr Church of Elvis on Couch St. in Portland, Dommy drinking from the constantly-running water fountains everywhere in Portland, Dommy at Pioneer Square (although it looks like a bullfight arena), and Dommy in the hall of our hotel. Don't worry--it was early in the day and I don't think we disrupted anyone with his racket!

On Friday we drove up to the Seattle area and had dinner with the Campbells, Kirsten's cousins. Although we forgot to take any fotos, it was really fun to catch up with them in Shoreline and see their two boys. That trip has been long overdue, and was great timing, because we also got to see Aunt Linda.

Saturday we went with Dave and Jen (Mike's brother and sister-in-law) down to Tacoma to visit the Antanavages. We got to see their great new house and Dommy had a blast playing with Hunter, Annie, and Erin. Colleen put out a tremendous spread and we got to see all the thought the kids put into decorating their rooms, etc, and we rolled back to Seattle with Dave and Jen.

Back at Dave and Jen's we got to feast like kings and Jen even broke out the guitar! Here's Dommy after a bath, taken by Dave and Jen.

Our other friend Jen came down Sunday and we watched (lamentably) the Saints beat the Colts before heading south and back home. It was a whirlwind tour, but a great chance to see lots of family and enjoy the warm coastal weather!

Vaseline and Jamie's Visit

The last week of January we had a good friend visit from Washington. Jamie was headed to Indonesia and came through before his trip. We had a quick visit, but got to do some cool stuff like visit the ski hill here in Lakeview (Warner Mtn) and go bowling.

While we were preparing dinner one night we got to talking with Jamie and Dominic was super quiet in the other room. When we checked on him, he was just playing by the desk and reading books, etc. After this went on for quite awhile, we got suspicious and Kirsten confirmed our doubts. Turns out the kid had spread a tub of vaseline as far as he could under the desk--from head to toe and all over the carpet and desk. Everything glittered in the light of the lamp, like a Thomas Kinkade painting. Well, it was a little less fun to clean up, but seems like it all worked out okay. Mas necio no podria ser!

Here he is with Jamie at the ski hill, trying to make a snowball to throw at Daddy....

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.