Christmas - 2006

Another year is quickly fading past into the distant past which means another Christmas will soon be upon us. The most significant changing of this Christmas is how much the children are growing. The older ones now are starting to participate more in an independent way every year. We have one who is going to split her time now between another family and ours this Christmas, gone is the opportunity of the family celebrating the holiday together.

Everyone is starting to get sick this holiday season. Once one person gets the bug then it starts going down the line. Right now, it appears to be a one day incubation period. One son got sick yesterday another one today. Hopefully, through prayer it will soon stop. It wouldn't be enjoyable for anyone to be sick during Christmas.

We went and saw the Nativity Story earlier this week. The story is incredible. If you have a chance to see it in the next couple of days you should take the opportunity to check it out. I don't think it will be around after next week. After that, it will be a definite buy when it comes out on DVD. I wouldn't anticipate it coming out until right before next Christmas season though.

In 3 days, I will be heading out to Palm Desert to help with the opening of the newest Bristol Farms. It is going to be a beautiful store. I will be gone for a week to help then be back before the New Year. My younger kids want to spend the night at the Rose Parade. This is something I am seriously considering. At least it shouldn't be as bad as last year. No New Year's Party this year at church? Nothing advertised yet, it is getting late.

Well, Merry Christmas, may you know the Risen One who gave us the reason to celebrate this season.

National Leadership Seminar

Josiah and I had the chance to attend the National Leadership Seminar this past weekend, November 16 - 19, 2006 in Fairfax, San Francisco. It was an awesome learning experience. It was taught by the regional and national leadership of the Order of the Arrow, BSA. It was incredible. It had young men teaching concepts of leadership which are normally taught to executives of major corporations, ideas such as situational leadership, a concept I learned about at the Food Industry Management Program, USC, Go Trojans! The young men who planned, taught, and delivered the program were all no older than 21. It was just inspiring to be in the presence of young men who were so gifted.

Tom and I had the opportunity to take 4 young men from our lodge to be taught at this seminar. I was impressed by their maturity level as well. They definitely already had down one of the concepts we were taught that weekend, "You need to walk as you talk," which is leading by example. I know this seminar will definitely benefit our lodge, Tatanka Lodge.

The picture is of the 4 young men from our lodge, the national and regional chief, l to r, Josiah, Brian, Sean Murray, National Chief, Cody, Nathan, and Kieran Thompson, Western Region Chief.

This is definitely the learning experience of a life time.

Mt. Gleason

I had the opportunity to go camping and hiking over the past weekend, Oct 28-29 at Messenger Flats. I went with my sons Boy Scout Troop, 373. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to go but I had a great time nonetheless.

I hiked 2.5 miles roundtrip up to the summit of Mt. Gleason, 6,500ft. The view from the summit was incredible. On the way up on one side of the ridge is the rich forest then on the other side is the Mojave Desert. It is a great lesson in climatology. The next morning I took the Scouts on a hike up to the summit where we had a Scout's Own Religious service. It is always inspiring to have a religious service in the wilderness.

Later this month, Josiah and I will be traveling with 3 other Scouts and 1 Scouter to Northern California to attend a NLS, National Leadership Seminar, for the Order of the Arrow. Josiah and I will be learing about leadership issues and characteristics.

Messenger Flats

I went to Messenger Flats to check out the campground to see if it would be suitable as a campsite for a troop campout. It is a nice campsite, not many people were at the campsite. Actually, there was no one at the campground. The campground is right next to the PCT so I took my little children and had them hike a little bit on the trail so my children have hiked the PCT!

The view from the campground is gorgeous. It is based on a ridge. On one side you can see forests and then on the other side you see desert and the city of Palmdale.

San Francisco

I spent the past 8 days in San Francisco for my work. It was quite the experience. There is definitely a difference between Southern California and San Francisco. I am so glad I live down here. I mentioned to a friend that living in LA is like living in Orange County compared to living in San Francisco. But then again, I did spend most or all of time in the Market Street/Union Square area of San Francisco so my image or impression of San Francisco my be distorted a little.

I would like to visit San Francisco as a tourist next time with my wife. The 8 days I spent in San Francisco was mainly work so I didn't get much time sight seeing. The thing I missed the most thought was spending time with my family here in LA. Tomorrow it is back to work and getting ready for the finished remodel of one store and then 4 weeks later the opening of another store. Then it is the holidays!

Oak Glen

We went on our annual Fall Family Field Trip (if you don't count last year)to Oak Glen. We had a great time this year. It is amazing how much it has changed driving up to Oak Glen. Everyone always tells us to take the Cherry Valley exit and go the back way up to Oak Glen but I decided to take our traditional way through Yucaipa. I am so glad we did, on the way out there was a major grass fire so they closed both the on and off ramp to the 10.

We had a picnic at Parrish Ranch, bought our apples and cider at Snoline Ranch, and then stopped at Los Rios. We picked raspberries at Snoline. It was great! So fun and relaxing, picked 3 pints of berries!

We ended our time in Oak Glen by purchasing a fresh baked apple pie at Laws. It was still warm when Cara bought it! That is how warm it was.

I love going to Oak Glen with the family. Spending time with the little ones is so important before they get to old to make the trips with you is very important. I am starting to realize that more and more as the children get older.

The picture is of a cider mill at Snoline which dates from 1896. There is also a chestnut tree which was planted in 1898.

Hoegee's Hike

Today, I went on a hike with my son Caleb. We went up to Chantry Flats, which is finally open. We got there around 10:45am, found a parking spot then hiked down around 11:00am. We made it into Hoegee's around 12:15. It was a 2 mile hike from Chantry Flats to Hoegee Campground.

The weather was beautiful in the canyon. It was a good 15 degrees cooler in the canyon than up on top at Chantry. We found a gold mine on the way in which I had never seen before. We were going to take Upper Winter Creek Trail on the way out but decided to hike back the way we came. We made it back to Chantry at 2:30. Overall, it was a very nice hike with Caleb. This was my first hike after coming down out of the Sierras. It was an uphill hike to the campground. We gained about 800 feet elevation in about a mile and a half.

Caleb is a great little hiker. This was his first hike into the woods. He had previously hiked to Echo Mt. with me.

Sierra Trip 2006

Well, if you are reading this post on August 14, you know I am back home early. The 2006 Sierra Trip was scheduled from August 12 ~ August 21. The trip was 60 miles from North Lake through Piute Pass down through Evolution Valley and Evolution Lake, Muir Pass then out through Bishop Pass.

The first day of our hike was 7 miles from North Lake, 9350 feet through Piute Pass, 11,450 feet to a creek feeding Golden Trout Lake. The second day of the hike was 11 miles to Muir Junction at about 8,900 feet.

I only made it through the first day. I made it as far as Piute Lake, 10,958 feet. It was the last lake before Piute Pass. It was beautiful. I would have had to ascend another 500 feet to make to the top of the pass. I don't have a picture of the lake but I do have a beautiful picture of a lake just below it, Loch Leven, 10,748 feet. It is a beautiful lake.

The reason I had to come down was a combination of reasons with the main reason being altitude sickness. I also was having high blood sugar results so I didn't want to be further down the trail and be taken out then. So, I decided it was best that I come out on the first day. It was a very hard and emotional decision because I wanted to finish the hike, the scenery was beautiful, and I had never not been able to finish a hike. It was a very emotional decision for me.

I owe a lot to Arnold Gaffrey who was a bigger help to me then words can ever describe. There aren't enough words to express the thankfulness and gratitude I have for him in helping come down off the pass.

Cooper Canyon Trail Camp

Josiah and I went backpacking to Cooper Canyon Trail Camp this weekend. It was a wonderful time. We got to the trailhead at 12noon and reached the camp at 1pm when we had lunch. We hiked part of the way down on the Pacific Crest Trail. The hike in was 1.8 miles with an elevation loss of 700ft. Yesterday, we were the only people there until about 7pm when 2 other campers came in to camp. The stars at 3:30am were beautiful this morning. It was like being at Yosemite. The stars just lit up the sky.

We hiked out this morning at 9:00am and reached the car at Cloudburst summit at 10:45am. It was a 2.6mile hike out because we took the PCT all the way out to the car. The last 1/2 a mile we had an elevation gain of about 400ft. Now that was a training hike (the last 1/2 mile.) I feel fine after coming home. I don't feel to sore but I will see how I feel tomorrow morning when I have to be at work at 6:30am.

Well, the next backpacking trip we will be on is the trip through the Sequoias. We will be going in from North Lake and coming out Bishop Pass and South Lake. I will post pictures from that trip when we get back.

Oh, this was a much better of a training hike than Orchard Camp. It wasn't 104 on the trail at 12:45pm. The high was 84 and a low of 60 this morning. We camped at 6,300 feet elevation.

Orchard Camp Hike

Josiah and I went on a 6 mile hike today to Orchard Camp. We hit the trailhead at 8:45am. We hiked 3 miles up to Orchard Camp. We started out at approximately 950 feet and hiked up to 2,800 feet for an elevation gain of almost 1,900 feet.

The hike was miserable. This is definitely a November ~ May hike. When we started out it was 98 at 9:00am. At least half of the hike is in the sun. On the way out when we were coming down, the temperature reached 104 on the trail. This was at 12:45pm.

We did this hike as a conditioning hike for the Sequoia hike we will be taking in the middle of August. I don't think we will have to worry about 104 degree heat at 9,000 feet elevation.

We did ok on the hike except for the extreme heat. Overall, I wouldn't recommend this hike to anyone who was looking for a hike. It is a hot hike with not much scenery. 1st Water was a nice waypoint and we had lunch at a nice shady spot with running water but the hot sunny parts of the trail left both of us with bad memories of this hike.

Cooper Canyon Falls

Cara and I took a hike today to Cooper Canyon Falls. It was a beautiful hike. The hike was through a pine forest at 6,200 feet. There was an elevation gain/loss of 600feet.

The first part was a 1.8 mile hike to the water falls. The water falls were beautiful. We took a couple of pictures of the waterfall.

We had intended to take a hike to Mt. Islip but the road to the trailhead was closed. The hardest part of the hike was the return to the trailhead. The last half of the hike was all uphill.

Cara and I liked Buckhorn campground. We want to take our family camping there sometime in the near future, probably near the end of July.

I think this would be a good training hike for a camp out at Cooper Canyon Trail Camp. There are a couple of places where the trail is steep.

The Getty Villa

I had the opportunity to go to the Roman Villa in Malibu. The last time I was there was almost 10 years ago. The Villa was very beautiful. The only bad thing about the day at the Villa was the 3 hour bus ride. It took an hour to get there then 2 hours to get back to our cars by bus. It seems the Getty wanted us to be taken there by bus so there wouldn't be so many cars at the Villa.

We were thinking private tour bus, air conditioned nice seats but... what we rode down on was an Old Blue Bird school bus. It was like the bus I used to ride on when I was in 10th grade in Germany. The shocks on the bus were probably from that time also. We felt every bump in the road as we drove along.

But the Villa was well worth it. If you ever have a chance to tour the Villa you should take the opportunity.

Chou!!

Fish Canyon Falls

Cara and I went on a beautiful hike this morning. We went to Fish Canyon Falls. The hike was only 5 miles round trip. The canyon was so beautiful with the water and all the vegetation. The wild flowers were all in bloom today.

The falls are listed as being a 3-tier water fall. It is billed as being the most beautiful falls in the San Gabriel Forest. It is only open to the public once a year on the weekends during the month of May. The rest of the year there isn't public access to the trail head. Otherwise, you have to hike up a tick infested trail head.

If you have a chance during the month of May I suggest hiking the Fish Canyon Falls trail. The only drawback is the amount of people on trail. By 11am there were 160 people on the trail.

Camp Cherry Valley

My Order of the Arrow Lodge had a great time this week end duing a service project for one of our council's camps, Cherry Valley. It was a great time. My chapter, Hunkpapa, had th most Arrowmen participate in the service project.

We had the opportunity to rebuild 2 trails. I helped to rebuild one trail which overlooked the Pacific Ocean. We had great food for Saturday and 1/2 a day on Sunday. We were able to receive free boat travel over to Catalina Island because of the service project.

It had threatened to rain all week end but only rained hard after midnight, just like the weatherman said, on Friday night. Saturday was a beautiful blue sky day on Catalina Island.

After the work was completed we had a great dinner, campfire, then a tour of an old silver mine on the camp. The silver mine explained the 2 gravesites which were on the trail we rebuilt that day. I receive some California history that day. What a filling day!

This was my first trip to Camp Cherry Valley, CCV. I hope Jesus grants me the opportunity to come back many more times to help with the maintenance of CCV. If you ever have the opporunity you should visit CCV.

Family Night

We have family night on the weekends for our family. Every Saturday night, we have family dinner. We have "christianized" the Jewish Sabbath dinner except we celebrate it on Saturday evenings. What I finally realized it part of the meal is a celebration of communion. We have a toast of grape juice/wine and a breaking of the bread with every meal. Every Saturday dinner when we celebrate Sabbath dinner we are celebrating communion, remembering what Jesus did for us on the cross, His sacrifice.

Tonight, we are watching a great family movie, "Dreamer." It is a movie about a horse. I haven't watched a finer family movie in some time. We rented the movie from Blockbuster. I am in the mood to buy the movie and have it as a regular movie in our family movie library. I highly recommend "Dreamer" for your family movie night.

Trust and Faith

This past month has been quite amazing. A lot has happened since the last time I wrote. This time of month always seems to be busy anyhow, it is the month of birthdays, 4 birthdays in one week, 5 birthdays in 2 weeks. And, all of thisd within one immediate family. Whew!

On top of all of this, work is getting very busy. I have put in a couple of 12 hours days now and with more on their way in a short while. Schematics are starting to pile on top of one another. The good thing for me is work has decided to give me a laptop to I can work at the store and at of course at home! Oh, boy!

But last all of is the amazing thing which has happened to me this week. Jesus has given me the same word within the same week, do you think He might be wanting to tell me something? I am trying to understand what He is wanting to tell me or learn from what He is telling me.

"I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly." John 10:10. He gave me this verse on Sunday during church and today the same exact verse from the devotional I get on the internet.

It is interesting especially what my family is going through at the time. It is a matter of trust and faith on my part in his word.

"I See His Blood Upon the Rose"

I read a beautiful and moving poem tonight in "How the Irish Saved Civilization" by Thomas Cahill.

"I See His Blood Upon the Rose"

I see his blood upon the rose
And in the stars the glory of his eyes,
His body gleams amid eternal snows,
His tears fall from the skies.

I see his face in every flower;
The thunder and the singing of the birds
Are but his voice-and carven by his power
Rocks are his written words.

All pathways by his feet are worn,
His strong heart stirs the ever-beating sea,
His crown of thorns is twined with every thorn,
His cross is every tree.

Winter Olympics

Another moment in time which occurs every 4 years, the Winter Olympics. It doesn't seem to be getting much attention this time. There doesn't seem to be much excitement around this Winter Olympics.

Today, I went and helped my two sons with the Rain Gutter Regata event in his pack. They had a lot of fun. They built a sailing boat out of styrofoam, put a sail made out of paper on it then raced them against time in a rain gutter. Both of my sons came in third place in their respective divisions. My youngest was very happy and proud of his blue ribbon. He hung up the ribbon on the wall by his bed.

Today, was my first Valentine's Day Tea Party that I remember attending. I kind of made a barbarian lunch out of the delicate tea sandwiches. While everyone else was eating delicate cucumber tea sandwiches, I was eating 2 Chicken Jezebel Sausage sandwiches with heaping mounds of saur kraut. It brought distress on the females in my family and made my sons proud. Next year, I won't be such a barbarian! NAH!!

Bailey Canyon

Cara and I went on a hike today in Bailey Canyon. It was hard at first finding the trail head but when we found it we made good time on the trail. The hike was 4.4 miles long (roundtrip.) We went to the foundation of the ruins of a cabin up on the trail. It was 2.2 miles to the cabin.

On the way up, we met a hiker who at the age of 13 in 1940 restored the cabin with some friends. After the war the Forest Service tore down the cabin. All that is of the canyon today is a wall surrounding 3/4 of the cabin. The wall is about 18 inches high in it's tallest spot. We had lunch at the cabin.

The hike was pretty steep. I knew it was going to be steep according to the contour lines on the map. They were pretty close together and the trail went straight up at times. At the end of the trail we starting going down hill so I knew we were close to the cabin because according to the map we would start going down hill a little bit before the cabin.

I like going on hikes with Cara. It gives us a time to be together without any distractions except for being on the trail. It was a nice hike. I would like to go on the trail again. Except this time we would hike a mile further to Jones Peak.

One More!

Denver won one more game. They are a game closer to the Super Bowl. Everybody had them counted out at the beginning of the year. The majority of people had New England picked to win the game tonight. It was a great game by Denver. 5 turnovers by New England. Turnovers are what creates wins in the post season.

You should know who I will be rooting for tomorrow! I am rooting for Pitsburgh to beat Indianapolis. If Pitt wins,then Denver is playing at home again.

Well, here's to another week to wait for another great game next week. Tonight was really exciting watching the game at home with my sons.