Briana

I was so hoping that Briana's visit would be a good one, it was horrible. For the first time in my life I was called a 'stepmonster'...she didn't win many points after I heard that statement. But it got worse, she drank, drank, smoked, smoked, and did so many other things, it was embarrassing for me, and for Matt. It is obvious that we did not raise her. She finally went home on Monday night, she is not welcome in our home again. Just shows u can never go back...

Kidd Lake

Everytime I was taking pictures, guess what? Briana was with Ryan again, again, and again. When I told her he was married, she told me that makes it more competitive. WOW. I was speechless.

Our Camp

Our camp usually has about 5 tents, this year there was 9 tents in our camp. So we put our tent as far down by the water as possible.

Briana, Briana, Briana

OMG Briana hung around Ryan the entire time, she would sneek out of her tent, and stay up all night with the boys. She came back on the boat with Ryan at 6:00 am dressed in a sweatshirt, period, and had flowers in her hair and a beer in her hand. Wow, talk about 'out of control'...This little girl drank 3 cases of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale in 2 days. This is her last trip with us. She was not raised like we raised Crystal and Heather, and indeed it shows. Matt and I had no control over her whatsoever. We will not be trying that again. She is the same spoiled little bratty girl that she was the last time we saw her.

Mario, Pat, and Myself

We met Pat and Mario at the gate to get into Kidd Lake. Little did I know how crazy this trip would be.

Debbie, Tom and Suzanne

It was awful watching Debbie get so jealous of Tom and Suzanne. Tom and Suzanne have played music together for 20 years...But this weekend there were flames flying everywhere and I don't just mean the campfire. You can see Debbie intently watching to see if there is a connection between Tom and Suzanne. There wasn't but Debbie thought for sure she saw something. It was called 'Debbie is Drunk'.

Music and Campfire

Everynight we had our musician friends playing music for us around the campfire. Wow there were a lot of 'mini dramas' going on. Debbie didn't like Tom and Suzanne playing music next to each other.

LuLu Locked Up

Lars finally put LuLu in the car for bed, because she was literally falling over falling asleep. She was definately Gaffed Out.

Debbie and Tom

Debbie and Tom got engaged a couple weeks ago. Poor Debbie was so intimidated by Suzanne, (toms ex) that she proceeded to drink like a lush. It is obvious by the pictures...

Lu Lu and Lars

Lars is one of the Gafbos, he lives in San Diego, He has the cutest little dog named LuLu. LuLu is a little PUG that found Lars at work. He posted signs everywhere to find her owner. To No avail. So now Lars has LuLu. She is adorable. She makes the cutest little noise, it sounds like" 'mrr, mrr, mrr'. Cute dog. Lars with his mowhawk was also unique.

Briana is here!

I picked up Briana at the airport today, I was nervous, but for no reason...the apple does not fall far from the tree...GAFBO is right up her alley! How crazy is that. All is well.

Briana is Coming Tomorrow

Matt and Briana have not seen each other in about 8 years. The last time I saw her was at our wedding on Jones Bar. She is 21 now, loves Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, and is going to the Kidd Lake Gafbo with us?! I keep asking Matt if he has thought this through all the way. He laughed and told me remember gafbo means: 'give a friendly baboon oranges'...not 'get a f%#@ buzz on', He said it always worked with the kids,before! I reminded him she is 21. So I am picking her up at the airport and I guess 'I' will be having the gafbo talk with her. Great! Thanks Matt! I will take some pix tomorrow and post them. Wish me luck everyone, I believe I will need it. Oh and yeah, remember I said no more drinking in the daytime, I think I should bring double the wine this weekend...

Scott's Flat Lake

Sunday afternoon we went out on Tom's boat, Debbie and I swam and ate, and had two bottles of wine celebrating her engagement to Tom. When the boy's got back from fishing they couldn't believe we polished off both bottles. Wow, I was buzzed and had a hang over all in a few hours. Won't do that again, not soon anyways. We bbq'd on the beach and left as it got dark. It is so nice to have so much recreation so close. Living in Nevada County is so enjoyable.

More Back Porch

I found this sign at a Ross sale, it was $2.99 at it said it all 'Welcome to the Back Porch'. When we have people over this is where we sit and enjoy. It is usally cool enough in the evening for us to eat outside too. We are really lucky as far as insects go, rarely are there even any flys. Wish our Mom and Dad and Trude and Gordon could come spend cocktail hour with us.

The Back Porch

We enjoy our back porch so much, it is nice to have a covered patio. We relax out there in the evening, bbq ing is so easy with this patio right off the kitchen. I think I have used my oven once since we have lived here. Mom and dad's sunscreens make it tolerable out there in the early evening, the sun sets on this side of the house.

Decorating My Walls on the Cheap

I have been collecting frames from Thrift Stores since I moved here. 35 cents here, 50 cents there, maybe a dollar, but no more. My walls are so bare, I decided to take apart a calendar of Lighthouses, and use some of the frames I have been collecting. I think they turned out pretty cool. There is a hand painting someone did of Japanese boats in the night, and I found these other to prints that are 1893 pictures of an old Savannah Estate, and the Savannah River, and the old black and white is of Canterbury England, it is an old ferry dock, I paid $.49 for it. My kitchen and living room are all done in early 'thrift store' finds. All of the pictures are of places...mostly far far away!

Egyptian Artifacts

Last Fall the girls and I went to an Apple Farm to get pumpkins and I found this booth with all kinds of Egyptian hand painted Papyrus. I found the one above of Queen Nefertitti and the God Horas. It was actually hand painted by this Egyptian, it was inexpensive and I loved it. Last June, Matt and I went to my friend LeAnne's wedding. This head of Nefertitti was her parents statue, they got it at a King Tut exhibit years ago. After studying Egyptian mythology in college, I so admired this piece for years. When we went to LeAnne's wedding, she gave it to me and told me that her parents, Dorothy and Irv, would have loved me to have it, since LeAnne had it stuck in a corner. I love it, and it matches my painting. Cool !

Morning Moon

This morning we had a beautiful sunrise, only it was not the sun rising, it was the moon setting. Such a pretty morning. Matt is going fishing today with Ryan. I am just going to relax today.

Total Destruction

Our trees have been literally destroyed, as you can see there are no more leaves. I mean the deer munched right down to the trunks of the trees. They only missed one, the Weeping Cedar of Lebanon. Matt and I have drug this tree around for almost 11 years, and everytime we move into a new place, it gets 'one' pinecone. You can see it in the picture, it is the strangest pinecone I have ever seen, it is a green white color. Strange!

Deer Deer Deer

We live in 'deer haven' for sure. We have laid Hog Wire down all around our trees, and they just walk right over it. That is unheard of, they usually do not cross the wire (kind of like cattle guards). The do not like to get their feet into it. Apparently hunger has taken over. Out my kitchen window, I see this baby deer just eating away on our Jap Maples. I ran out to take a picture to find the momma deer watching over her babe as he was eating our trees. All I could do was take a picture...time to find another place for all of our trees. Our trees look like it is fall, no leaves left.

Grampa and Connor

You can certainly tell Matt loves Connor and vice-versa...I am not sure which one is smiling more!!

Wild Turkey

Last night we had a herd of Wild Turkeys in our yard. When I say wild I mean wild...they were even gobbling at each other. They are really loud and look really mean!