No disappointment!

     As we enter the month of July so far there has been no disappointment at all in our summer of fun!!  Even though the weather has caused my work to get busier and busier with more claims coming in daily it seems like, we still have found time to get out and have tons of fun on the weekends! 
     Last weekend we were invited by our friends the Ralstons to spend a night on Hailey's parents boat which was in the Bellingham harbor.  We jumped at the chance since we did this last summer with them on a different boat on Flathead and it was awesome!  Kelli said sleeping on a boat is so much fun because the gentle rocking of the boat form the waves keeps you sleeping like a baby!  We had an absolute blast hanging out with good friends, ate a great meal at Anthony's, and as Kelli would put it slept like babies!

                                             "Yacht Server", our lodging for the night

                                            Captain Mooley and his first mate:)
     I must have slept too good cause I got up on Sunday morning at 4:45 wide awake and ready for the day.  So I snuck out of the boat and took a walk over to a tiny peninsula on the opposite side of the harbor which had a small park with a fisherman's memorial on it.  I was also in search of a cup of coffee:)  The fisherman's memorial was pretty neat, I was shocked to find out that the most recent death on the plaque was from 2009!  I guess the reality shows don't lie, it truly is one of the most dangerous jobs out there!  I spent a good hour sitting on a bench overlooking the ocean thanking God for all that he has given me in my life, I feel more blessed each day and experiences like that morning make me feel like I'm the luckiest man alive.  The only thing that made that morning better was Kelli waking up and joining me out on the point, and I finally found that cup of coffee!:)

                                        A shipping container between me and the San Juan's

     On a morning like this when I am the only one around I can't help but feel like God created this sunrise to only be seen by my eyes!  Almost as soon as I saw another person up moving around the clouds rolled in and the sun disappeared.
     Overall the weekend was a great time, one that we both hope to duplicate again before the summer is out!  Maybe next time Hailey's parents can join us and we can take the boat out to sea! 
     As I'm writing this I'm getting ready to go back down to Hoopfest, the biggest 3 on 3 tournament in the world, to watch my nephew Christian play another game.  Kelli and I spent the whole day down there yesterday watching not only Christian but his dad, my cousin Jamie, and boy did we get a show!  Not only was the basketball exciting so was the weather!  The weather man's predicted forecast of 90 and sun failed as we saw more rain than sunshine throughout the day.  Never the less it was a great time and we had ton's of fun spending the day with Jamie and his kids as well as my Aunt Linda.  Unfortunately Jamie's team lost their first two games but Christian's team went 2-1 on the day, Christian even hit the game winning three late in the evening yesterday!  It looks like the weather man has a better chance at success today so hopefully the boy's teams play well and have their own success!  

Remember, None of us know how long we'll be here so fun isn't an option, it's a requirement! 
 

Summer Fun!

     Well after a couple weeks, here I am getting ready to go board a plane again bound for Klamath Falls, OR for work, and I am finally over the events that caused my last little outburst on this blog about our justice system:)  Now I am on to bigger and far more positive things, like summer fun!
     I figured I'd update this thing with monthly recaps of all the fun things we've been blessed to be able to enjoy so far:)  Through the halfway point June has already been full of good times!  A couple weeks ago Kelli and I got to put the canoe on the water for the first time as we took it to the lake mom and dad live on, Shelley Lake.  Our tour guides, GG and Daisey took us around the entire lake, including pointing us in the direction of the turtles favorite sunning rock.  Unfortunately the turtles were nowhere to be seen, but we had a blast anyhow!

     Just days after our time on the water, we celebrated both Kashi and Duchess's birthday.  Since we don't have any two legged kids yet we get to spoil our dogs a bit on their birthdays, something that I don't think will change even after we have a baby.  Their birthdays are a day apart, just like Jill and I, so we celebrated them together by taking them on about a 5 mile hike which was capped off by a doggy biscotti and a thorough round of fetch in the backyard!  It's hard to believe that these two are 10 and 11 already!  It seems like just yesterday that I brought the curled up tiny ball of black fur home that was Duchess.  I never thought the day would come where either of them slowed down at all, especially Duch, but as they both enter their senior years they seem to spend more and more time curled up sleeping, just as they did as puppies!

                                                             Kashi-10    Duchess-11

                                                        Duchess-2 months old
     Last weekend was the latest installment of fun as Kelli's parents came over to spend Fathers day weekend with us.  We had a great time hanging out and showing them all that we've done to the hose since the last time they saw it we were moving in.  Then on Sunday the girls shopped until they dropped and Dan and I took to the north fork of the Coeur D Alene river in search of some cutthroat trout!  Even though it was more of an exploratory trip, since neither of us had fished it before, we had a blast and even had a couple chances at fish!  This time around though the cutties were smarter than we were and we didn't land any thing.  It's a beautiful little river though and I know we'll be back again with better results:)

                                                               Dan working a seam     So with this month only half over I eagerly look forward to even more fun to be had!  I simply can't wait for some of the stuff we have planned, and summer doesn't even officially start for 2 more days!!  I hope you all are getting out and having just as much fun during your summer as we are!

Remember, he who rises first does not always catch the most fish, but he most likely will have the best chance to:)

Justice?

     If you've talked to my sister Jill anytime in the past 2-3 months, chances are you have heard her mention how hard she's been working lately.  This is because she has devoted the majority of her time picking through the details of one of the highest profile murder cases Spokane County has seen in a long time.  For those who don't already know she is a public defender, now I know when you hear that you either think one of two things about her.  Either you can't believe she helps the scum of the earth, or you admire the fact that she is willing to take on the cases no one else wants for half the pay of a private attorney.  I fall into the second category and have been more impressed every year with the level of BS she has to deal with on a daily basis, all while honestly loving her job!  I know this sounds cliche, but if you give yourself 10 minutes with her on the subject you will realize she truly DOES love we job!

     Most of her time is spent in a futile effort to prevent the guy who just received DUI number 7 from spending years behind bars, not exactly a glamorous job, but every now and then she gets a case that grabs everyone's attention.  This murder case was one of those.  

     I'm not going to go into details for many obvious reasons, Im simply going to say that the jury came back with a verdict today of guilty.  This came as an absolute shock to me!  I know I wasn't in the court room for all of the trial, I was only there for half of a day, but being as my little sister is one of the defenders on the case I can say I've followed this case enough to know that the evidence simply was not there to support a guilty verdict!  I have been trying to figure out how they came up with this, even mentally going through various hypotheticals that could lead to a guilty verdict and I simply cannot.  In my tiny little pea brain this can only mean that the jury must have just pegged him as a guilty man from day one and nothing  was going to change their mind.  In the defense of the jury however the judge would not allow a boat load of evidence and testimony that I believe was crucial for the defendant, leaving them with only half of the story.  

     So I wonder this as I sit here waiting for a flight, all good thoughts seem to happen while waiting for a plane:), how can we deem our judicial system fair?  I understand that we sit in front of a jury of our peers when in trial, but if that jury is being dictated on what they get to see and hear aren't we really sitting in front of one of our peers?!  And since every one of us humans has a different opinion on nearly everything how can one single person, who's not going to have a room full of fellow judges to discuss his opinion, have so much say in a persons life?  I know he has to mediate the trial as best as he can, knowing what some of the stuff he deemed in admissible is though, I just don't see how that is always fair!  

     But, it is what it is and no matter how much I gripe about it or try to understand it, at the end of the day I have to move on and hope that I never have to watch someone I love put their life in the hands of our system!  I admire my sister for what she does on a daily basis, it cannot be easy to take blow after blow like this and just keep getting back in the ring with just as much determination for the next client as she has for this one!  

Remember, some days it's harder than others, but we simply have to cinch up our boot straps and put on a smile tomorrow morning!:)