Christmas pics 3

Family photo with Sarah's side & Gma & Gpa Fowler.

Sarah's cousin Jess with Annika & Abby.

The Uncle Bill & Aunt Jody (hosted the Christmas gathering) and son Danny w/Gparents.

Shawn is inspired by his Wolverine gifts.

Now that's a good lure!

Christmas pics 2

Dad & the salsa incident - "Who left the lid off!?!"

Mom, Sarah, Carl, Sam, & Spencer downtown Mpls for the Holidazzle Parade.

Opening presents Christmas Eve.

More presents on Christmas Day.

Christmas Eve service at Wooddale - the church we were married in.

Christmas pics

Sarah and Radar at Mom & Dad Tiede's house

Shawn's sister Audra & boyfriend Tim at their apartment in Uptown

Sarah chatting with Gma & Gpa Fowler at their house

Everyone holds the door for the guy with the camera!

Shawn with some former Grant Thornton co-workers downtown Mpls.

Mom & Dad having fun in Palm Springs!

Mom & Dad Norton arrived in Palm Springs on Wednesday the 13th, and we've been doing a lot of fun things so far - below are some pictures...

We decided to head for the ocean the first day they arrived to take advantage of some great weather. Dad learned to surf and boogie-board, and Mom enjoyed the warm sand of the Carlsbad beach. Above are Shawn and Dad both getting up on their surfboards.

Here's the only picture we got of Dad actually standing on the surfboard, although it did happen a couple times on the waves.

Friday Mom, Dad, Mac, and Shawn went hiking on the Lykken Trail above Palm Springs. We all got some good exercise and enjoyed great weather.

On Saturday Shawn, Mac, & Dad hiked all the way to Murray Peak, a huge climb with great views at the top. It was a little hazy so the pics weren't great, but here's one of Dad and Mac at the top.

Sarah and Shawn at Shield's Date Garden in Indio, CA about 20 miles from Palm Springs. We all enjoyed our first date shakes and learned a little about how dates are grown and where they come from. Then we went to El Mexacali Cafe for some real Mexican food - Shawn had a dish with cactus in it!

Trent Visits Palm Springs

My buddy Trent came all the way from Moorhead, MN to visit us this weekend. Sunday we went to Joshua Tree Nat'l Park for some rock climbing and sightseeing, then Monday we went surfing in Carlsbad, CA. Since we didn't want his camera getting sandy we don't have any pics, but I can confirm that Trent is officially a surfer!

Trent w/Salton Sea in very distant hazy background.

Shawn & Trent on top of Cyclops Rock.

Trent struggling to hang on to Cyclops Rock on the way down!

Open CPU Surgery

About a month ago I decided that our computer needed upgrading, after it didn't have enough horsepower (technically speaking) to burn a photoshow DVD. After shopping around, I decided to try and save a few bucks by building a new computer myself. So after a month of varying stages of heartache, despair, and frustration, my patience has finally paid off and I have a high-speed machine that will hopefully last me another six years....I guess I only saved money if my time is worth nothing, but these are the sort of projects guys resort to when they rent - no home improvement projects to waste time on....

Thanksgiving Feast

Our first Thanksgiving without family around turned out to be a filling experience. Sarah successfully cooked her first turkey, and Shawn watched football, ate, watched more football, and ate some more. Just like the pilgrims!

Picture Happiness

As you can see from the large number of pictures posted below, I have discovered the answer to my picture-posting problems: Firefox! It is a free internet browser that is faster and more stable than Microsoft's version. Expect more frequent posts as I am no longer limited by my software! Hooray for capitalism!

Bryce Canyon National Park - 11/9/06

For my birthday, I decided to take a couple days off and go see the national parks in south-east Utah.

Driving makes the dog incredibly tired.

A man-made arch on the way into the park.


Mac, Shawn, and Sarah arriving at Bryce.

Bryce Canyon.

Our first night of cold-weather camping. The lack of daylight makes it a lot harder to see as much as you'd like. Then our lantern mantle gave out, so we had to use flashlights to cook dinner. Of course we have the mantles that you can't find at gas stations.

Bryce the next morning - we survived the cold despite having frozen noses.

Capitol Reef National Park - 11/10/06

The Castle above some fall colors.

Chimney Rock. I'm impressed.

Our campground the next morning. Mac and I were herded out of a neighboring campground by an eight-point buck earlier that morning. I thought I was going to end up on the next "When Animals Attack" show, but thankfully he didn't get any closer than 15 yards.

Also the start of our first and only cloudy day. Good for driving, not so good for pictures.

Canyonlands National Park - 11/11/06

This park had many beautiful canyons and mesas, which don't look nearly as cool in pictures when its cloudy. The park has been shaped by the Colorado and Green rivers.

Overlooking the huge canyon where the Green and Colorado rivers meet. The size and structure was unlike anything I've seen.

Sitting above Upheaval Dome. Salt deposits have pushed through the sandstone crust. It may have been caused by a meteor strike - the areal view shows a perfectly round crater.

Shawn trying to tire the dog out.

Arches National Park - 11/11/06

After driving around Canyonlands NP, we made the 20 minute drive to Arches, where we would be camping.

Sarah standing underneath the South Window arch.

2 natural arches - one made of rock and another made of human. We are so cool.

The Delicate Arch, which is the one you see on the Utah license plate - by far the most famous. Unique in how it is perched on a cliff and its size. Note the tiny person standing right next to the arch.

Shawn standing under the arch.

Landscape arch is the longest in the park - it is longer than a football field! It's hard to put it in perspective from the picture, but it looks like it defies gravity in person.

Another view of Landscape Arch - those are full-grown trees directly under it.

Exposed sandstone "fins" along the trail - note the morning sun on the cliffs in the distance.

We found snow on our drive home! The night before it had just sleeted at Arches NP, but in higher elevations it actually snowed so we let the dog out for his first snow experience.

Mac quickly learned how to spell his name in the snowbank!