Thanksgiving 2008

We had a great day visiting with Lois's brother Mark and nephew Chris... Mark and Chris took some time off from their elk hunting in the Mt. St. Helen's area to drive down and spend the day... Lois cooked a monster feast with a little help from the guy's and Lindsay

Deer Hunting 2008

The big 4 pt. buck north of Goldendale, WA on good friends Scott and Wendi Hall's property... Brad, the ole hunting buddy got his 5 pt. two days later above their ranch over looking the Columbia River and the Deschutes River in the background... a perfect day! You can see more hunting and fishing pictures by clicking here...

Lindsay 22nd Birthday!

The middle child, she's such a pain... home for the weekend from the UW and celebrating the big 22nd birthday. Double majoring in Economics and Journalism, she'll be a senior this year with a GPA of 3.4. Not quite as good as dad's but kinda close, hahah... Happy Birthday Lindsay!

UofO Baseball Recruiting Visit

Taylor graduates from HS in 2010 and had his first Division I baseball recruiting college visit this past weekend. The coaches were great and spent a number of hours with us, as well as showing a lot of interest in Taylor. We had the opportunity to see one of the top training facilities in the nation. Nike is a large sponsor for the college which supports some of the latest technology that sports training has to offer. The University will be re-starting their baseball program this spring after many of years of not having one. The program is building a new baseball stadium and facility that will be ready to play on this spring. We received tickets to attend the Saturday night football game vs. UW. Poor Lindsay... UW was blown out 44-10... Great weekend!

27th Wedding Anniversary

On August 22, we celebrated our 27th Wedding Anniversary by golfing with Taylor at Beacon Rock Golf Course. Following a perfect afternoon in the sun we enjoyed a great view and dinner on the deck at the Skamania Lodge in the Columbia Gorge..

Baseball Northwest

The past two years Taylor has tried out for and been selected to play in the Baseball Northwest Championship Tournament hosted in the Portland area for class of 2010. Regional Teams include Seattle Metro, WA Northwest, WA Southwest, WA East, Oregon Metro, Oregon State, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and British Columbia. The tournament is attended by many college and pro scouts. Taylor was contacted via this tournament by University of Oregon for a college recruiting visit and tickets for us to attend the UofO and UW football game Labor Day weekend... This past year Taylor was ranked by Baseball Northwest at No.4 on their top 100 players for the class of 2010 in the state of Washington.

Maryhill Camping & Cattle Roundup... yeeeha

Following our trip back from Boise we settled in at one our favorite places to camp, Maryhill State Park in the Columbia Gorge. Along with hanging out at the beach we caught up with friends Scott and Wendi Hall who have a cattle ranch within miles of the campground. On Saturday they hosted a roundup of close to three hundred cattle. Lois rode one of Wendi's horses in the drive from the top down to the ranch, while Scott and I transported vehicles back to the ranch, along with some cooking and beverage duties.

Boise, ID

In early August we traveled to Boise, ID to visit Jessica and Jeff and had a great time golfing, shopping, eating out, and just hanging out. The two will soon be moving to Renton, WA and we'll really miss visiting Boise, it's cool area and the city is A+. Jeff is going to be opening and managing new Golf Galaxy Store. Jessica will continue work with her company she really enjoys working for Balihoo.

50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration

On July 6th the Duty family hosted at their home in Black Diamond, WA a 50th Anniversary Celebration for Mom and Dad. Family, relatives, and friends enjoyed a great afternoon. The family presentation by the kids and grand kids relating a number with a fact or memory to all 50 years was a hit. A catered dinner, and video memory dvd were among the other hi-lights.

Baseball, Baseball, and more Baseball...

This years high school baseball season was a great year for Taylor and had him starting as varsity sophomore pitcher and shortstop. Hi-lights from the season saw him hitting a left-handed opposite field homerun his first at bat, pitching a no-hitter, a 1-hitter (only to lose to a no-hitter pitched against us), and a 2-hit game. Was named to the Greater St. Helen's All-League Team as a pitcher.

Taylor and friend Drew who catches will being playing for a team based out of Federal Way, WA this summer. Lots of driving and late evenings but it's an opportunity to raise their level of play and see how they measure up against other players in the Seattle area... The team web site can be located here. Here are links to Taylor's Player Profile and Photo's from the Buzz team this summer.

Our Home "It does snow here"

Our home on a rare moment with snow... most of the time it rains, but it was enough today that it canceled school! Everyone totally freaks out here driving in the snow so it doesn't take much to shut things down.

Christmas in Mexico!

For Christmas this year we celebrated Mom and Dad's 5oth Wedding Anniversary in Mexico... They flew and hosted all our family's at the Marival Hotel & Resort (all inclusive... food, drinks, and fun in the sun) in Nuevo Vallarta for seven days. The pictures speak for themselves, we had a great time. Here's a link to our Photo Album at Google's Picasa.