Thanksgiving

I couldn't wait for the first three days of the week to be done. Because that meant I was done with work for the week and off to Utah for Thanksgiving break. The day I left, Dayton was under flood warnings but luckily that didn't slow things down and I touched down in Salt Lake late that evening.

Amber and I stayed up at Devin's for a few days. For Thanksgiving we went up to Logan and got together with the Utah Barlows. It was good to see family again especially grandma. Amber got a warm welcome from the family with Gordan announcing, "We'll have Travis introduce his girlfriend and then I want everyone to come up and talk to her at some point." With that unexpected announcement Amber got to know the family quickly.

This year I didn't really have the desire to get up early on Black Friday. Even when Devin asked me to get up at 3:00am, I had to "regretfully" decline. Amber and I did brave the stores later that day to seek out a new SLR camera for Amber. She got a great camera and we had fun testing it out with a little photo shoot up the canyon.

This weekend was the weekend of animation. We saw Toy Story 3 with Devin and Katie and watched the New Disney movie Tangled. I really wanted to go to it because if Amber was made into a cartoon figure she would look exactly like Rapunzel from Tangled. Both of the movies were really good.

Friday night we took a carriage ride to see the lights at thanksgiving point. It was a cold night and I felt bad for our horse Jody for working under such harsh conditions. We also went down to Provo to watch the BYU game. It was fun to see my friends but heart breaking to watch BYU lose to Utah.

The weekend came to an end all to fast and I found myself back on the plane to Ohio on Sunday. I'm looking forward to Christmas break in Georgia with Amber's family.

photoshoot

Who doesn't like a photo shoot when they are the star? Well, when you have a talented Sister-in-law that is always looking for "test" subjects and a gorgeous girl-friend it's not a hard sell. So I couldn't turn down the chance to have us magically transform through the lens of Shonda's camera. Here are a couple of pictures from that shoot back in July.

This last weekend when Amber came out we took our own little photo shoot because the leaves looked wonderful. For some reason, I've appreciated the beauty of fall a lot more this year then ever before.

After a long 49 days I finally got to see Amber again. I've been looking forward to this weekend and it was fabulous. First off Amber helped me pick out a couch. It's great to finally have something to sit on.

My boss recommended the Haunted Cave so on Friday we decided to check it out. About 30 minutes away after passing through this spooky ghost like town we arrive at this old mine that is now haunted by the undead. As we pulled up we were surprised to see probably 100+ people waiting to enter the cave. Intense music and Signs warning about bats and other things and lined the 80 ft slope down into the cave. We entered the cave in a group of about 8 people. The first part was surreal. With Amber tightly gripping my arm and her head buried in my sweater we started by walking across this rickety bridge which seemed to be suspended 100's of feet in the air. It was nearly completely dark and foggy and it sounded like things were falling on the bridge and falling in to the water below. That is when something grabbed my ankle! To make an hour long adventure short, it was very well done and will be in the Guinness Book Of Worlds Records as the longest haunt.

On Saturday we went to Hocking Hills state park which is like a outdoor playground.

From coast to coast

The second half of my vacation took me from wading in the waves of the Atlantic to tickling the shores of the pacific. Trying to get out of the airport in Atlanta was crazy though and we wondered if we'd ever make it. Who knew plane traffic gets so bad. We were about an hour late in leaving.

I flew with Amber into Portland, Oregon where we met up with Devin and Kati to drive to Corvallis. We got there later that evening just in time to catch the end of the madness for the day. Thursday we went to the coast in Newport (hence the coast to coast). The Oregon coast is quite different then the coast in NC. Amber learned that real quick.

We had a great time playing in the sand and even brought the trampoline with us to jump on at the coast! Of course we had to have an obstacle course and this time Zac caught some crabs to eat.

On Friday, we went to the park and played games like blob tag, drip drip drop and sponge relay. We also played a movie on the barn. Saturday we headed up to Portland to take a jet boat ride down the Willamette river. Other then that the family reunion had the typical food, teasing and good times. I was grateful to see my family and introduce Amber to them. She seemed to fit right in. I'm looking forward to the next time we all get together as it is sure to bring good times.

The Southern Way Of Life

What a great way to start a vacation. I took the red eye out on Tuesday night to Georgia. After a prolonged flight I touched down in Atlanta. I was picked up by Amber's dad and younger brother and we headed out to the North Carolina beach. Of course we didn't get far before I got my first taste of southern food at one of the many Waffle Houses that dot this area like bugs on your windshield. It took about 8 hours to get to the beach house on Emerald Isle, where Amber's family congregate every year.


In all there were about 5 families staying at beach. We had a great time! We played in the waves, body surfed, went skim boarding, played Frisbee, went for walks, looked for shells, played mini golf, and visited the third oldest town in North Carolina--Beaufort. We capped the beach trip off with parasailing!! It was a blast!

Putt putt with the kids

Welcome to Beaufort.

We found a lot of great hats on a window shopping adventure.

Up...up....and away!

Beach Fun