Thanksgiving in Snowy NY

We went to upstate New York for Thanksgiving. It was the first Thanksgiving that Jason spent with his family in several years. We landed in Syracuse on Thanksgiving afternoon with several inches of snow on the ground. On Friday, both sides of Jason's family were invited up to his parents house. Almost everyone came to visit including Jason's younger cousin and great uncle who are both battling cancer. We had a great time. The King of the party, by far, was Dylan. He is our (almost) 3 year old nephew. Dylan is a ham and full of energy while being well behaved (quite the opposite from his father). On Saturday morning, we woke up to run with lots of snowflakes falling. It was a beautiful scene and made for a fun run. Even though our stay was short, we thoroughly enjoyed our holiday!

Our New House

It has been a long time since we posted a blog. I have many excuses, but one in particular is of merit. We have purchased a new house. We closed on our new home on November 14th and spent about 4 weeks doing projects before we moved in. It has been a great home for us so far. It backs up to some woods, so Jason feels more at home. Here are some pics:

As you can (somewhat) see, we have plenty of room for visitors. For all those who expected a Christmas card from us this year and did not get one, this house is again our excuse. Please come visit...Birmingham has lots to offer!

On Wisconsin

Last weekend, Cayce and I went to Madison, Wisconsin. Cayce had never visited Madison and I wanted her to experience real football weather.

We saw my old house and the view of the stadium from it.






Saturday morning, we went on a jog along the Menona Lake Trail. It was awesome!





The view from Picnic Point (1/2 way through the run)









The Wisconsin Student Union Terrace.






Following a Heisman Winner. Ron Dayne walked down the hill to the stadium with us.

Wisconsin played Ohio State and lost. #2 is true freshman QB Terrelle Prior who is going to be a stud.

No Wisconsin football game is complete without Jump Around in the student section!

The capitol building on Sunday morning.












We had a great time in Madison. We stayed with my friends Bart and Suzy and we were able to meet up with great old friends. The weather for the game was in the mid 40s and it was perfect. On Sunday, we were able to go to the new Blackhawk church building (this is the church that Jason attended in grad school and where the friends who helped lead him to Christ still attend). They just built a huge new building on the west side of Madison and we heard a great message!

Mad-town is a great place and if you ever want to go to a game up there, let Jason know and he will try to meet you!

Jeff and Elena's Wedding

We went for a trail run the first morning in Phoenix. It was a beautiful morning, but as usual, Jason got us lost. We were trying to find a road that did not exist. It was a beautiful, although stressful and hot, run. We made it back in time for Jason to shower quick and head out, still sweating, in his tux.

The wedding ceremony was neat. All the music was performed by a mariachi band. The ceremony was in a beautiful missionary-style church.

The set up of the reception was amazing. There were huge flower arrangements on the tables and a great band. We spent most of the night on the dance floor and Jason had some great laughs with old friends.

The Bride and the Groom...looking Dapper.

For those that do not know, Jeff and Jason were classmates, fellow troublemakers, and most of all great, great friends in college. Elena has made him a better man.

The Boys. Tim, Jeff and I were trouble in college and some slight resemblance of those old days peeked out during the weekend.

Sunday morning we decided to hike to the summit of Squaw Peak in North Phoenix. It was another beautiful morning. We saw huge, movie-like, cactus everywhere. It was a great hike and there were alot of people on the trail.

At the summit of Squaw Peak. The hike was 1.25 miles to an elevation of 2,608 feet.

Phoenix was awesome and we can see why so many people want to live there. If only it was 30 degrees cooler in the summer, we might consider it.

Jason's New Blog

If you are intrested in hearing Jason's ramblings go to jasongotothecorner.blogspot.com

Our First Alabama Adventure

We decided to take a hike over Labor Day weekend and we had many options. I had no idea there were so many outdoor things to do here in Alabama. We made the 2 hour drive up to Little River Canyon on Monday morning. Little River Canyon is a national park located in Northeast Alabama (about 20 minutes from the place where all the unclaimed airline baggage goes to be sold in a huge warehouse). The canyon itself is known as the Grand Canyon of the east. It was a great day for a hike. There is a 50 foot waterfall that we had easy access to and a great hike down the side of the canyon to the river below. This is where the adventure began...we stumbled upon a couple of nude bathers. They were actually suprised to see us and asked us to stop walking while they put their clothes on! Our reaction was to continue to walk and basically ignore them as best we could. Maybe if we were born and raised in Alabama we would have been shocked, but we just came from Austin where nudity is an acceptable form of expression at public pools and social events. Below are some pictures of the day.

Last Ireland Pictures

Hey all,

Here are some final pictures from our trip to Ireland. It was a great time and we will have ever-lasting memories. I will continue to update the blog from time to time with our current adventures. Please keep in touch! Cayce and Jason