Wisconsin Trip: Part 1

And we're off!

Every other year we hit the friendly skies for a trip to Wisconsin to visit Jim's family.  But first a few crazy pictures at the Durango airport.

A snowboard in the airport?  Makes for entertainment while waiting for your flight

Standing next to an "Idea" balloon, I said "Sometimes... I randomly start to think." 

Jim and Stown agreed that perhaps I shouldn't.  Ha! Joke-sters! 

Wow! Look at this Motley Crew!

Jim (on the far right) and all his cousins.

Once in Wisconsin, they entire family gets together for a reunion.   Food and beer and catching up on stories makes for a great afternoon.  However, to the teenagers this can be a bore, so they split out and found the local quarry.....

Nothing can be as much fun to a teen age boy as jumping off the rocks to impress the chicks!

GO STOWN!!

Great Aunt Anita & Jim

The next day we spent to afternoon visiting with Jim's Great Aunt Anita.  She's 91 (92 this Fall)!!

She told us wonderful stories about hitching rides in a horse drawn carriage to get to church in the winter, the different farms she lived on in her lifetime and shared beautiful photo albums she had been working on chronicling the family history for her sons.  I can't believe how well she gets around.  She still has friend over every Monday for cards!  Sharp as a tack, it was such a gift to hear her stories.

Just part one of our trip, stay tuned for more to come!!

As you may have noticed, I am still having issues with the set up, why won't it upload a vertical photo vertically?  Why can't I rotate it once it's uploaded?  Is anyone else having these problems?   Any help would be appreciated.  I guess for now if I plan on taking a "blog specific" picture I will have to remember to take it horizontally.

STAY OFF THE ROADS!!!

Well, it's finally here...

The Day Stown Got His Permit!

Actually, he took his test and recieved his paper temporary last week.  This one arrived in the mail today.  In Colorado, he has to hold his permit for 1 year before he gets his license. 

Perfect!  12 months of weather and adverse road conditions on which to practice!

On that note, you might want to invest in Calming Tea. 

 I have a feeling I will be drinking it by the gallons!!

First day of school

Stown Everest Ross

15 1/2 yrs old

10th Grade

WOW!

My have you grown!

Shining like a star and blossoming like a flower.

(I can't figure out how to rotate photos yet, just tilt your head.)

Still a bit sideways,

but I am sure you will straighten up with time!

Stown, you are amazing! 

Keep striving for all you can imagine possible.  The world is yours for the taking if you keep your head down, focus and work hard enough.

I love you, MOM!

Disclaimer: I don't know what the little photo off to the left is doing there, how it got there, or how to remove it.  It doesn't show up in my drafts but is there in the final post.  Oh well, more to figure out another day.

YEAH!!!

Ok, just like Jim taking the time to teach Stown how to change the oil in the truck, I too need to find the patience and the time to tackle complex, changing and unfamilair things in my world.

Finally, I sat down with nothing else to do and attempted another blog post (with success, I might add!).  Soon this will lead to more stories and pictures of life here in Durango.  Sorry to all those who have missed our little corner of the world - I will be attempting to catch up on all the summer postings that have been missed due to my fear of confronting technical changes.

Love to All!

Thank you for your patience.

Workin' to figure it out...

 Like Aspen trying to figure out the smell of the wild flower, I am trying to figure out the new changes to my blog layout /format / set-up / etc.  I can't seem to understand why this picture uploaded horizontally when it is a vertical picture in my files.  I also can't seem to figure out how to rotate it. 

Oh well, on to bigger and better things....

Like Jim snowboarding in July!!

(Sunday 24 July 2011)

Washed down from above in an avalanche.

A testimony to how dangerous this area can be during the winter.

 A little snow-skating for Stown, after he hiked up and took some turns on his snowboard.

Doug was giving me a good luck kiss before I headed down the mountain. 

Thanks for not actually licking me, Doug.

Well, I will have a smile as big as this if I publish this post and it looks right and I can continue updating my blog regularly and effortlessly.

If it doesn't work out right, frustration may get the best of me again and the future posts may be few and far between.  As for now, I am crossing my fingers and hitting "publish"...

MAY 18th - What?!

SNOW!!!

Yep, this is what I came home to this afternoon after working out in the drizzling rain all day in town. Quick! Cover the plants and bring in the herbs!

Sage?... Catnip?....





Where are you?





























Below: Garlic chives, green onions, leeks and salad mix

Now, I know Swiss chard is a cold weather green,

but this is a bit much - don't you think?

Meanwhile, the motorcycles are collecting their fair share of the white stuff, too.

Hopefully May brings you flowers in your corner of the world!!

Disclaimer: Something is not right with my blog layout and I can't seem to fix it. I didn't notice it until after Stown did his post and I started this one. Now I am fighting with it trying not to delete everything on this post. Hopefully, it will back to normal soon. Until then please excuse the random layout.

The Best Art Work On The Planet

Hey so my mom is making me write this blog post since this one is all about my art work.

So what we have down below this section of text is my version of M.C. Escher's "Glass Ball Portrait" featuring me. Even though it looks like my head is tiny I think that it looks pretty good. What motivated me to this piece in particular was: in my art class we had to do either transparency or a reflective piece of art work. So i took a metal ball and, yes, held it in one place for a period of days so that i could draw this and show it to all of you.




WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My Art Work IS AMAZING
YAY!!!!!!!














The next piece in our small selection is a enlargement self-portrait of a picture that was taken during my art class. For this piece I had to have a picture taken of me put it on a document camera projecting on a wall, tape the black paper onto the wall and trace the hard lines over with a soft graphite pencil. After doing so, I had to take everything down, place them side by side and begin using a white charcoal pencil to fill in the brights. With an enormous use of the tortillion (aka a blending stick) I was able to turn a black piece of paper and some harsh highlights into a beautiful, roughly 3' by 1.75', portrait of me smiling back at you .


I hope that you all enjoy my art work hopefully if I can continue to get into art classes I can keep showing beautiful pieces of work to all who click on this sight, whether it be by obligation, want to read about the family, accident, or you're just bored and don't have anything to do in middle of the day when the family's away.

This Blog Post Brought To You By:

A very joyous young man with nothing to do when his school has been canceled do to a senior prank and has been stuck at home for three days and may, very soon, get cabin fever if not let out

-Stown