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Yosemite

My dream of the day is to just pack up everything and find a way to move all to the mountains of Yosemite.  I wish life were that simple.  If only things in my life had shaped up differently.  Can’t believe there was a time in my life when I was there and would have rather stayed in the Valley at home.  Thank goodness none of our seven are as dense as I was then.

It would just be so good to find a place there, retire to it, and find happiness in the waning days there in those incredible mountains.  Life and the pace of it would be so much different.  If only.

I miss Yosemite Blues

I just checked the virtual Yosemite site. It’s snowing atop Half Dome. Looks like the snow in the Valley has melted, but coming down still high up. We heard from our friend David Sunday. He says they’ve had 10 feet of snow since we left in December. Ten feet. The waterfalls late this spring will be incredibly forceful. I wish we could make another trip then. Not sure what the calendar holds. It’s been a busy three months and the next four or five promise to be just as busy.

Oh to be there now though. Oh to be there.

Yosemite Snow

It’s snowing again in the mountains. If you haven’t been looking at Virtual Yosemite, you should. The snow levels are very high. The spring would be a heavenly time to go back. The waterfalls are going to be tremendous.

Keeping my word

Yesterday, I found fortune at Target. Kari and I recently had been talking about Mary Poppins on DVD.  I found one.  Didn’t think they were supposed to still be selling it.

So to help keep order last night, we put it on in the family room.  Big hit.  The three-year-old and the twins sat and watched the whole thing, almost none stop.  One of the girls sat with me on the couch nearly the whole time, just resting up against me.  What heavenly bliss.  She’s the same one who said in Yosemite the best time she had was when we all just sat down together and watched the final Bourne movie.

Late post from Sat. Dec. 23, 2007

I wrote previously I’d be adding some more from the trip to CA. As promised:

Saturday, Dec. 22, 2007

We began the day with attempting to get more good sunrise pictures. We’ve noticed that here in the mountains, the prettiest colors associated with a sunrise actually are to the southeast of the point of where the sun will actually peak over the mountains.

After breakfast, we loaded up the kids, two trash bags of three days of trash, and pulled it all down to the van over at The Narrow Gauge Inn. We got into the van and headed for the south gate of Yosemite. There is a pretty nice area for skiing/sledding about two miles from the entrance to the park, but we didn’t stop, heading into the park instead.

At the gate, the park ranger said we’d need chains about 10 miles into the park. Before getting to the chain control area, we made a stop at the camping area on the left past Wawana Hotel area and before the first camp site. This is where we made our last stop into the park when we left in June. It was truly beautiful to see it in the winter with the rocks covered with snow, and the winter light reflecting off the gentle stream.

Back in the van, we headed further toward the impending icing situation. When we reached the area, Kari and I got out and tried to put the chains on. Having been through the ordeal on Friday in the drive, I’d had a better idea of how they were supposed to go on. Well, it didn’t work. We wound up letting 517 Chain Installer, a big guy who I kinda thought was Toby Keith as he walked up, put them on for $20.

The road way after the chain control began was absolutely heavenly. In parts the road was all white, simply covered over. It was in these tracks where the vibrations of the chains on the road subsided. Driving with the chains on would have been okay but for the fact that one of the cross links was broken and kept clunking the van as we went along.

We got through the tunnel and saw the view of El Capitan and Half Dome, both sporting freshly fallen snow cover and the view was incredible. The kids kept wanting to know when we would stop to let them go sledding. Kari and I got a bunch of photos. Stopped in the valley to get them lunch, and then we headed back out. We stopped in the meadow where the bridge crosses the Merced River, and now we have photos of three different perspectives—one with tons of water, one with very little water, and one in winter. Each view has been equally spectacular, but I think I really like the snow-covered one the best.

We were attempting to leave the chains on the van so that we could go back into the park in the morning to try for badger pass or that sledding area outside the park, but at this writing, I don’t know what we’re going to do. Another cross link broke on the way out of the park so we were done with the chains we were provided. We looked Sunday for a set, but they would have been $76 and we found upon returning to Dallas that they wouldn’t have fit on either of our cars…..

January in Texas

Ah. It’s spring time. I mean, January in Texas. What a life. What a wonderful life. I’m sitting under the sign on the porch Kari and I built last June/July, wearing shorts, T-shirt, Ashleigh and Haley are sitting on the swing by the pool, Molly is outside with us, and it’s just wonderful.

In California, not so wonderful. They say 400K without power now. More weather on the way.

Grandma Claxton said there was snow on the ground in Indiana yesterday. And here I am with the Mac Book Pro on the back porch enjoying the hard work of last year. It’s a beautiful afternoon. Had a good nap. Have been moving iMovie video from the December Yosemite trip over to Final Cut Express. Class is Tuesday p.m. Can’t wait to learn what’s next.

Trying to figure out what to do for dinner. The girls wanted Wings for dinner. Still full from a good breakfast, and Arby’s for lunch.

Untangled the pool cleaner hose. I think that’s the first time I am aware of that it’s gotten balled up a little. Noticed it today when pulling out these tumble weeds that plague us each fall and winter. Instead of just clogging up the garage, they now get into the pool.

Kari and I made the decision to have the weeping wall put into the pool when it was built. So between the ceiling fans turning overhead, I’m also blessed with the sounds of running water bouncing over the rock walls of the pool. Very relaxing.

Haley and Ash are having the best of time. Molly getting the benefit of the two of them being out here with her. We put a shock collar on her last weekend because she’d been digging her way into the next door neighbor’s yard. So far it’s working. No more digging.

Molly has been such a great addition to our family. She must be getting close to 100 lbs now. Kari was fussing about Molly the other day and said she’d never want to get another Great Pyrenees, but I would. I’ve actually thought it would be great to get another one now, but we’ll have to wait on that one. Certainly are good guard dogs.

Southwest is on it’s way in for another arrival to Dallas. We’re very close to the southern inbound flight path to Love.

Having new thoughts about the greenhouse. Don’t think four by eight is going to be big enough to matter. Thinking it should be at least 10 by six or 10 by 8 like the shed, but not sure it would fit in the side pocket of the yard. Also concerned about how much light the plants would get there. Would not get morning light because it’s on the west side of the house, wouldn’t get much late afternoon light either because it’d be between our house and the next. And yet I also know I don’t want to put it in the far right portion of the backyard because I don’t want to see it first thing as I come out of the house. I’m also thinking of slanting the roof so that one end, either the front or the back, is as much as eight-feet high, and drops down to six, six and a half or so. That way it would be easier for me to be in it. The other side of the thought though is that anything we put in the backyard isn’t supposed to be visible from the front, and the fence is six-feet high….

Trying to decide, too, when I want to build it. Today would have been stellar. The weather, as I’ve mentioned, has been stellar.

Haley has come back outside now with her “laptop” and is sitting on the chase with it, while I sit her blogging away. As parents we just don’t know how much we can affect the lives of our kids, just by our actions and something as simple as sitting on the back porch, under the patio cover, in shorts, a T-shirt, and enjoying the sounds of the pool on a warm, January day in Texas.

Mac Book Pro tells me I have 3:42 hours:minutes left on my computer. I can recall the days when you would have maybe two hours at best. Back in the days when a 14:4 modem was considered innovative. Just makes me wonder what the next 10 years will bring.

The girls and I went to North Park Mall to the Apple Store after we dropped Kari and Logan off at Love for their flight to HOU. I’m contemplating what kind of external hard drive to get. I’m down to just 50 gigs of memory on this machine and know that the video projects I am doing are eating up space I could push over there and keep going without blinking. I learned last week in class that a USB connector to an external hard drive is nice, but not as good as the 400 speed firewire that’s built into the Mac Book Pro, or, better yet, the 800 speed firewire port.

I’d been looking at Wal-Mart and found some EHDs for a little more than $100. But they were USB only. Score a point for me for not getting another one. I have one My Book but it, too, is down to about 50 gigs of memory, so I know I’m bound to run out of space soon, the rate I keep shooting and editing video. Trying to decide if a 500 gig would be okay for now, or go for the gold and get the tetrabyte one and it be the in thing a little bit longer…. Kinda like going from 14:4 to 28:8 or 56 K. Do you remember those days? My 14:4 PCMCA card was $199.00 in 1994. Now I’d be in tears if I had to do anything at 14:4.

Tell me how it’s possible. Battery power now at 3:48. ?????

Okay, guess I better figure out what we’re going to do for dinner. I have a ham I bought for New Year’s Day, but we never cooked it. Too late for that now, but I have to figure something out soon. Kids will be asking soon; postulating that they might blow away from starvation….

dc

Saturday, Jan. 5, 2008

Good morning. Here in Dallas the weather is decent. Overcast, warm. In Yosemite, well, the complete opposite. The weather service is talking about white out conditions. How heavenly. If only we could be back at The Logger’s Retreat with a load of food and all our stuff already atop the hill and no need to go anywhere for several days. It sounds like that is what it will take to get through the next few days.

Kari and one of the boys head to Houston today for a gymnastics tourney. I get the opportunity to remain here with six of the kids. Trying to map out some activities to keep everyone busy enough so that we have a good time the last Saturday before they go back to school.

We had family over to steak and cake last night in honor of one of the kids’ birthdays. Good times. Exchange of some more Christmas gifts. I’ve kinda enjoyed the staggered gift-giving this year. Has made it last a little longer and feel like I’ve actually gotten more this year for some reason.

All our Christmas is down and I’m being called to do some honey-dos around the house. Need to find a good match for our interior color and do some touch-up work. So much to do.

On top of that, I’ve designed the greenhouse I want to build in the backyard. Know now how much wood, nails and nuts and bolts I’m going to need. Just trying to figure out now the right time to start the project and how much it’s going to cost.

Class for FCE is Tuesday. Had to move today’s because of Kari leaving, which is fine, just wish I could move this along quicker. Need to spend some more time with the manuals and work to figure some stuff out on my own, too. With work and the stuff coming with work, I’m kinda torn between mental activities. And I’d like to just have some down time again, too. Getting up at 430 a.m. the other day to fly to Houston at 630 was no picnic, either.

For its part 2007 was the year of the airplane for me. I’d never flown as much before as I did in ‘07 and the way ‘08 is going, it looks like I might surpass even that. No complaints, just a change in perspective.

Saw my life-long friend Terry Abbott Thursday in Houston. He’s been such a good friend for 20 years now. Funny how time flies. And how much the world has changed.

Will see about updates while Kari is gone. Trying to tame the building/design side of my brain that keeps telling me to go buy the wood I need for the greenhouse and get going.

Goodbye 2007

Well, as Lennon said, “Another year over, and a new one just begun.”

Half-day here at the office today.  Great things ahead for 2008 and a fond farewell to 2007.

So much has changed in my world as a dad this past year.   No surgeries!  Woo hoo!

I made my mid-life conversion from a PC to a Mac and have never been happier.  No more blue screens of death.  No more virus updates.  And all kinds of kewl apps.

My dearest wife/Santa brought me a one-to-one training lessons from Mac for the entire year.  Hour-long sessions once a week.  I had the first class on Saturday and I cannot recall a more useful Christmas gift ever.  Thank you, Santa.

We made two incredible trips this year to Yosemite.  Both with all seven of the kids.  Incredible memories.  Incredible pictures.  And inspiration for all the children.  We’ve been back a week from the Christmas trip and the kids all are still talking about it.  Every time we get in the car, the three-year-old asks if we might be going to the airport to go to new house in Cal-forna.

I made two job changes this year, and finally landed somewhere where I can use my talents, where I’m close to home, and doing something that can make a difference again.  What a blessing.

We added a dog to the household this year.  Molly, the Great Pyrenees.  She is truly one of the things we didn’t see coming.

After waiting and much debating, we finally got the pool added this year.  And instead of paying thousands for a patio cover, Kari and I did something we never would have anticipated–we built it ourselves in June.  Yes, we built a major addition to our house, all by ourselves.  (Thanks, Armando for doing the wiring).

Now we set our sights on 2008.  What new projects will come about?  Kari’s mom begins her battle with Chemo in the coming days.  The demands of the new job begin to unfold by the hour at work.  And the changes coming in our lives with the growth of our kids.  One of them becomes 16 in the fall and has aspirations of driving.  Right.
Thank you, God, for the blessings of a new day, a new year, and new hope.  So many prayers have been answered this year.  So many dreams fulfilled.  So many new hopes for the future are in our hearts.  May we always seek comfort and guidance in you.

Goodbye 2007.  Welcome, 2008.

Back in Dallas

I have additional posts to add from our trip, will be posting shortly.  Sent a thank you to our Logger’s Retreat host yesterday.  David Holland-Moritz is the nicest of hosts and did wonders to make sure our stay was a memorable event.

It was simply divine intervention that we got to the house Wednesday night, were able to enjoy snow all day Thursday, and have the drive in such a way that we could at least carry our luggage down the mountain on Monday when we left.  Had we arrived Tuesday or Thursday when it was snowing and been required to carry up our nine large bags of stuff, I’m not sure we would have made it.

But we truly enjoyed our stay. We needed the rest forced by two days of basically being socked in and not able to drive.  And we resisted buying tire chains on Sunday that worked, because it doesn’t look like they would have fit either of our cars back home. …

We also were fortunate enough to meet Robert Smith and his associate Steve at Yosemite Tours on Highway 41.  They gave us great deals on Teddy Bears for all the kids and the conversation was lively about the area.  Great place to stop on the way up or coming back out of the park.  And the rate for a tour by their bus, $75 for adults, but kids under 11 are free, was something to ponder.  If we didn’t have seven kids, it would have been a real bargain–and the fact that our kids didn’t want to tour, they just wanted us to pull off somewhere new so they could get on the sleds….

It was hard to drive out of those mountains Monday a.m.  The kids were only happy to go because they knew Santa was coming to Dallas that night.  But they all would have been begging to stay otherwise.  The three-year-old did not want to come back to Texas.  And she remains convinced any time you mention the days of the week that, “On Tuesdays/Wednesdays, I go to California.”   She’s ready to go back.  I am, too.

As we drove back down into the valley toward Fresno, I recalled the ugly Christmases we had in Atwater in 1979,80, 81 after having lived at K.I. Sawyer AFB from second grade to sixth grade and I realized why I was glad to have gotten out of the Valley.  But I do regret that Texas is so far away from Yosemite.

And I kept thinking about my late Grandpa Andy Sheptak who held a love for Yosemite.  Grandpa was proud that Kari and I went to Yosemite for our honeymoon.  I know he’d be even happier to know that in the past six months we’ve taken all seven kids there twice now.  Certainly not a financial undertaking we can maintain, but it was good for the kids no less.  I’m certain that as they grow older they will make many trips back, eventually with their own spouses and then their own children.  This is a legacy my own parents can be proud of, but it would no less be enjoyed in the heart of my Grandpa Sheptak.   And probably is in his spirit at this very moment.

On as equally important a note for all parents out there reading this blog, I asked my younger twin daughter Haley Monday about her favorite part of the trip–I thought it would be sledding, the snow, etc.  No, it was “When we all watched a movie together.”  The Bourne Ultimatum no less.  Haley liked the movie, which is the best of the three, but she was talking about all nine of us sitting in one room together and enjoying the time of a movie–something we didn’t have to pay thousands of dollars to cover airfare and lodging to do.

I began dubbing the digital video over to disc last night.  Got some great stuff for the season.  And I begin my Final Cut Express classes this Saturday a.m.  Santa, thanks for the one-to-one year-long lessons from Mac.  I hope to make you proud of what I will learn to do with these classes…52 of them for $99, how is Mac making money for that?  At only $2 per hour.  My only guess is that they’re not planning on me making all 52 classes….

Kari and I about have the house put back together, the snow clothes put up, and me headed back to work.  Looks like 2008 is going to be a whirlwind of activity at the new job.

Gotta go.  More posts from the trip coming….

Yosemite Trails Dec 2007

Dec. 21, 20r07

We’ve taken all seven of the kids to Yosemite for the holidays. We return to Dallas on Dec. 24. The kids are having a ball. It snowed the first day we were here, essentially trapping our 15-passenger van atop The Logger’s Retreat mountain top, but thankfully I’d gone Wednesday p.m. to get groceries and stocked up.

The kids have been learning how to weather snow. The boys certainly had never seen the likes of this, claiming at one point to have never even have made a snow man. The girls, while having made snowmen before, certainly hadn’t been able to sled like they have the past two days. It’s been worth every cent paid to get everyone here to be able to enjoy the environs.

The mountains have been breath-taking in all the snow. The snow-capped pines are just fantastic. And yesterday, as the mountain clouds lifted it was just heavenly.

David Holland-Moritz, the owner of TLR, has been here. We didn’t know if we were going to have water when we left Dallas. But he used an Artesian well to fill up the 2,000-gallon water tank, so we’ve been fine there. He recommended that we leave the van at the bottom of the hill the first night and in some ways I wish we had, but then being caught up here at the house has required us to find other things to enjoy, like the surroundings here at the house.

I don’t think we spent this much time here in June; we spent more time on the go. This has made this a little more relaxing, though the kids definitely have been going through a little cabin fever and anxiety over the fear that California mountain snow is like Texas snow—gone the next morning. Well, there still is about six inches on the ground and though the sun is melting the snow on the drive, there still is plenty to work with ala snowmen and sledding.

It is not supposed to snow the rest of the time we’re here, which is okay and of course, I wish it would all at the same time.

This really is a wonderful place to come to and get away from the nuttiness of the regular day world. The kids were relatively good on the plane on the way out.

They are simply having the best of times sledding. I’m sitting on the porch with the Mac Pro Book playing Christmas music while they play. Kari, Ash, Ricky and Logan all have gone down by the camping area to make a snowman.

The pictures we’ve taken so far are tremendous. I’ve really concentrated on video as I will definitely turn this into something memorable for each of the children.

I have a double ear infection and it hurts pretty bad. We’ve been using ear drops Dr. Ragel prescribed and I’ve been taking Levaquin to try and kill what ever is ailing me. I guess working in the garage last weekend has caught up with me. But I’m also enjoying meeting Kari’s request of us not rushing off too and fro and taking time to enjoy downtime. Vivaldi on my computer playing through iTunes is just magic outside here on the porch. If Vivaldi had ever conceived of a better use for his music, this would have been it. Such spirit. Though I must admit, without a tree here and lots of decorations, even one decoration, it really doesn’t feel like Christmas. But that’s okay. The kids will remember this weekend for the rest of their lives and they no doubt will be coming back here with their kids with only the fondest of memories. So for what Kari and I invested into this trip, we’re going to reap dividends in the hearts of these children.

This is the closest thing I’ve come to my childhood winters since leaving Northern Michigan in 1978. That was a long time ago. So much has changed. To think of sitting here with a laptop that has 5,006 iTunes songs on it at the moment, to have an iPhone, let alone a phone, to have emailed people digital photos of the snow yesterday, to have the software on this machine to be able to make some wonderful movies for the kids, this is what life is all about.

There are few things more in life I could ask for. I have my health, a great job, a loving wife, and seven great kids. Okay, going to go get the camera and get Jerrod to play news anchor for me… Be back in a spell.

10:59 a.m.

Friday was an eventful day. At 1230, we had everyone down for naps and Jerrod and I snuck out to go to the grocery store. We got the van down to the end of the ridges in the driveway only to be met with an icy one-third left of the mountain in shear ice. We tried and I tried to convince myself I could get the van down and then came to the simple conclusion that it just was not going to happen. As Jerrod and I walked to the foot of the drive, we heard sounds coming down the mountain. It was the well crew. Two guys who had been working since seven a.m. and now were stuck behind us mid way down the mountain. Well, I offered them $20 to help us get the van off the mountain and it was quite an ordeal. I’d tried to put the chains on the van and they were slipping off. There is no way I would have ever gotten the van down in one piece they way that I’d put the chains. Well, we finally got the chains on, the guys got the van to the bottom of the hill, we got the chains off, and then headed to Oakhurst for groceries. We got back up the mountain in time for Kari to have gotten David to drive to the Narrow Gauge Inn and meet us. He didn’t have room for us and the groceries so we moved the food over to his car and he drove them to the top while Jerrod and I walked. What a hike. We got back about 3:40, a three-hour venture just to get four or five bags of groceries. I made spaghetti when I got back. Kari and Jerrod took a walk while I cooked. It being the shortest day of the year and in a snow covered trail, I thought it reminded me much of The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost. It was really a beautiful evening, though I have to say we all were getting a little edgy on them being gone as it was getting dark and not knowing exactly where they were.

After dinner we watched The Bourne Ultimatum with all seven kids. We put the kids to bed after the movie.