Brian and Amanda Lain

Amanda traded in her clunker for a brand-new 2009 Ford Escape!!! Amanda’s 1997 Explorer had 149,997 miles on it when we traded it in (we figure it was going to go kaput at 150K, so it was perfect timing), the air conditioning hadn’t worked in years, and there was a spontaneous, though persistent, engine knock. The trade-up is Sport Blue, has SYNC (can speak on the cell phones over the car’s speakers), Sirius Satellite Radio, a Cargo Package to include roof rack and wet trunk (to carry wet boots), running boards to better access the roof rack, key-less entry, 2 sunglasses holders, 4 cup holders, AIR CONDITIONING, power seats, and a CD player. When we drove it off the lot in El Paso, TX, it had 106 miles on it. This vehicle will be much safer, as well as more reliable and comfortable, than the Explorer. See picture below!

OMG!!! First a belly button ring, now a tattoo!! Amanda has really gone off the deep end now! Well, luckily it’s not that serious, but a surprise nonetheless, right?!? The tattoo is shown below, a small panda on her right ankle.

“Early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese!”

Last week, we went to Keystone, Colorado for a week of skiing! We were invited by a couple of friends to stay in a cabin on-site, and were able to walk to the lifts at Keystone. We skied and went ice skating at Keystone, skied at Vail, went tubing at Copper Mountain, and saw the snow sculptures at Breckenridge where participants compete to carve a 10x10x12, 20+ ton block of snow. All in all, an AWESOME vacation, complete with exercise, fresh air, and no injuries!!!


AWESOME view from Vail Mountain. Did I mention that we are building RIGHT HERE (once we become gajillionairres, of course)!!?!?!?!


Us getting ready to speed down Keystone Mountain!


Skiing at Vail.


Tubing at Copper Mountain with Shawn and Victoria.


Ice skating at Keystone.


It was only 5* – Amanda’s face is stuck like this.


Snow sculpture at Breckenridge.

Brian’s mom, Sue, found an adorable, though severely starved, weak, and frost-bitten, puppy on December 12 (coincidentally, Brian and Amanda’s 7 year wedding anniversary) far removed from houses and Silver City. Sue took great care of him for about 2 weeks, but found that she was unable to care for him for he was wearing her out! So, as a Christmas present to all of us, Brian and Amanda adopted this cute lab/pit bull puppy to keep Ciara (their lab/pit bull) company. We named him “Miles” as he was miles from nowhere, and miles from “home”. He is 6-8 weeks old, male, mostly black with some white on his chest like Ciara, and was 7 pounds on December 12. He is gaining weight, and the hair on his tail and ears is growing back – it had all fallen out due to frostbite. Below are some pictures.

Miles on December 12, newly rescued and extremely hungry. Sadly, you can see his backbone, ribs, and hip bones due to his lack of food.

Miles at Brian and Amanda’s house.

Miles at Brian and Amanda’s house, tackling a rawhide almost as big as he is.

Miles and Ciara running through the house.

Amanda went to Montana for 1 week prior to Christmas to see the family and the snow, take care of her sister, Kassy, after a procedure, see Nicole’s (Amanda’s niece) school play, go to Kassy’s work’s holiday party, and deliver and gather Christmas presents. Montana, to include Missoula and West Yellowstone, and the 5 hours of driving each way, was remarkably un-cold and un-snowy! Not the Montana winters Amanda remembers, but great to be home for the (pre) holidays! Below are some pictures from the visit.

Amanda, Amanda’s mom, Nicole, and Kassy.

Kassy’s family: Tim, Kassy, and Nicole.

Amanda and Nicole.

Kassy kicking Amanda’s a** at Tri-opoly (3-layer Monopoly). Yes, she won, of course.

Snow as seen from porch. As a reference, when Amanda was growing up, you could not see where the road went from afar for the snowbanks, much less the weeds and sagebrush. Now, there is less than 1 foot of snow, compared to 5-10 feet in Decembers past!!

While we were in Silver City, we went on several nature hikes. The weather was very comfortable for November and the air was so fresh! Below are some pictures from our walks.

Brian, Amanda, and Ciara


Sue, Brian’s mom


Brian and Ciara


A Stellar Jay

Amanda went to Washington, D.C. last week to begin her new job with Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology – CPST (www.cpst.org). After a long week of work, Amanda went to Fort Belvoir, VA to visit her sister and niece and nephews. They went shopping, played games, and went to the National Zoo, which, by the way, has 3 pandas! All in all, a GREAT trip!

Laura and the kids (Luke, 3; Natasha, 5; Brad, 8 )


Baby gorilla!


An orangutan crossing the high wires above where we were having lunch! Natasha calls them “Tang-or-Rangs” – CUTE!!!


Amanda and the kids in front of the Orang Crossing sign. No, we were not the orangutans they were referring to.


Beautiful fall colors!

The 11th Annual Red Ribbon Bash for Camino de Vida Center for HIV Services (where Amanda works) was on September 26, 2009. Below is a picture of Brian and Amanda all dressed up, headed to the big party. Unfortunately, this will be the last year Camino de Vida sponsors the Bash due to the agency closing its doors. In fact Camino’s last day was yesterday, September 30, 2009. At the time of closure, Camino de Vida was serving 187 HIV-positive clients, had performed close to 400 HIV tests, and provided HIV materials to over 2,000 people. The agency was providing a valuable service to the community and will be sorely missed.

For Labor Day, we went to Land of Fire and Ice outside Grants, NM, then up to Los Alamos, NM. At the Land of Fire and Ice, we hiked to a volcano and the ice cave. To learn more about this natural phenomena, go to www.icecaves.com. In Los Alamos, we hiked in the forest, and to a waterfall. The weather was perfect and the air was very fresh. The temperature got down to 49* while we were driving around, and we encountered some rain and hail, but the majority of the time it was sunny and low 60’s*.

Brian and Amanda, with the volcano in the background.

The ice cave. The cave stays 31* year round, and the ice is growing approximately 2 inches per year.

Amanda at the trail head on Pajarito Ski Area above Los Alamos.

Brian at an overlook on Pajarito Ski trail.

Waterfall in the Jemez Mountains above Los Alamos.

Amanda had to go to a training in South Carolina in August. Amanda’s sister, Laura, and Laura’s three kids – Brad, Natasha, and Luke – met Amanda there. Amanda was in training during the day, so Laura and the kids went to museums and parks and toured the city. Below are some pictures of Columbia, SC.

Amanda, Natasha, Laura, Luke, Brad

Brad, Natasha, Luke

Natasha, Luke, and Brad in front of a monument.

Brad, Natasha, and Luke in front of a statue.

Natasha, with Luke in the background

1% to the arts – a huge fire hydrant, with a “No dog peeing” sign. 🙂

Amanda, Kassy (Amanda’s little sister), and Nicole (Amanda’s 6-year-old niece), went to visit their Grandpa in Phoenix last week. We went in July, which is the hottest time to go, and the temperature hit 115 degrees! Whilst we were there, we went swimming, played cards, fed the birds, played at the park, and went to a Children’s Museum and an art gallery. On the trip home, we stopped at the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch between Phoenix and Tucson and fed the ostriches, donkeys, deer, and lorakeets. All in all, a great get-away to spend with our 94-year-old grandfather, and it was Kassy’s 26th birthday to boot!

Kassy, Grandpa Mel, Nicole, and Amanda.


Nicole, Amanda, and Grandpa Mel, playing Uno. Nicole won.


Kassy and Nicole driving a car at the park.


Nicole, Kassy, and Amanda at the swimming pool. Nicole is a FANTASTIC swimmer!


Kassy and Amanda at the Ostrich Ranch, feeding the lorakeets.


Nicole and Amanda at the Ostrich Ranch, feeding the lorakeets.

This weekend, Ciara, Amanda, Brian, and Brian’s mom, Sue, went to Bear Canyon Dam above Silver City for a peaceful morning and fun in the water. Ciara, of course, was so excited to play in the water. Below are pictures of the lake and surrounding areas, and Ciara splashing about.

Brian, Sue, and Ciara, with the mountains surrounding the lake in the background.

Sue, Amanda, and Ciara, after a long hour of running and playing tirelessly (Ciara, not Amanda and Sue, though throwing sticks can get tiring!).

Sue on the trail around the lake.

Ciara splashing into the water, full speed ahead, to capture a run-away stick.

Ciara, chasing another stick, slapping at the water! (We could do this all day!)

She got it. Whew – that was a close one!

Brian and Amanda had a nice get-away weekend in Albuquerque! The weekend included a sunrise hot air balloon ride, then a relaxing day at a Hyatt Resort outside of Albuquerque. The balloon ride was excellent, and we were even rewarded with a “Survivor’s Pin” once we landed. The weather was perfect for all of our activities, and we had an exhilarating, yet relaxing, weekend away. Until the next time…

This is us in our hot air balloon! There were nine of us altogether – 8 passengers and the pilot (the guy in red, pulling on the valves shooting up flames). The pilot has to be a certified pilot to fly a hot air balloon (don’t worry, we checked!).

Our hot air balloon, which stands 8 feet tall when fully inflated. And, the balloon fabric (nylon) weighs 500 pounds, not to mention the basket and bottles of propane!

The balloon is filled with a fan blowing cold air at first, then a burner heats up the air to make the balloon float. The temperature inside the balloon when flying is a whopping 175 degrees!

This is a picture of a fellow balloon. Four balloons went up at the same time we did, with the same company – Rainbow Ryders. The balloons go the direction the wind blows, and we got to go right over the Rio Grande!

Whatever you do, DON’T LOOK DOWN!! The balloons fly several thousand feet above the ground, which can make your stomach roll over if you look down too long!

Brian and Amanda, with the Tamaya Resort in the background. It had a golf course, a resident horse, and a nice 1-mile trail to the Rio Grande River.

For Amanda’s 28th birthday, we went on a Caribbean Cruise on the Carnival Conquest!!! We went to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. We left out of Galveston, TX, and were in Grand Cayman-snorkeling-for Amanda’s birthday. Brian’s mother, Sue, also went with us to celebrate the quickly-approaching conclusion of year-long cancer treatment. The ship was beautiful and exciting and the cruise was extremely relaxing for all of us.

Ship Facts:
Approximate Cost: $500 Million
Home Port: Galveston, TX
Country of Registry: Panama
Passengers: 3,200
Crew: 1,200 (Almost 100% International)
Maximum Speed: 23 knots
Tonnage: 110,000
Horsepower: 85,000
Length: 952 Feet
Beam: 116 Feet
Passenger Decks: 13

Below are just some of the pictures from the trip.

Picture of the Carnival Conquest – the Fun Ship!

Map of the adventure – stopping in Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel.

Picture of our first “elegant evening”, standing at the stern of the ship.

The three of us on a chairlift in Jamaica. It was so lush and beautiful. We just came from Dunns River Falls where Brian and Amanda climbed a 900 foot waterfall!

In Grand Cayman, with the cruise ship in the background.

Our second “elegant evening”.

Brian free-diving to look at all the cool stuff on the bottom.

Brian free-diving again, and seemingly walking on water?!?

If you’d like to see all the pics you can download this ZIP file that contains all the pics.

Sadly, Amanda’s grandmother – Polly – passed away in January. Amanda and her grandmother were very close, as Amanda and her grandmother lived together and went on many adventures over the last 10 years. Polly was in poor health for quite some time, so we are thankful that she is no longer suffering, but we will all miss her nonetheless. Below are the pictures used to exemplify her life at her service. May she rest in peace.

Polly’s Collage (Big file 3.6 MB)
Polly and Homer (Big file 10 MB)
Pictures contained in the collage (VERY large file: 85 MB)

Brian and Amanda celebrated their 6th anniversary in Florida! Neither of us had been to Florida before, and we could not have picked a better time — hurricane season was over, and almost everywhere else in the United States was undergoing freezing temperatures.
Amanda’s older sister, Laura, has a time share, so she invited all of us to join her. There were eight of us in all: Laura and her three kids (Brad, 8, Natasha, 5, and Luke, 2), Brian and Amanda, and Amanda’s little brother, Chris, and his girlfriend Amy. We were in West Palm Beach for 1 full week.
We saw the sites and relaxed on the beach. We found a lot of neat shells and man-o-war jellyfish, and Brian found a bright orange conch shell (which had something living in it – that spit at us! – so we threw it back), we found a washed up puffer fish, and Chris found a sea anemone in a little pool. All in all, it was a fantastic trip, and great to get away!

Brian and Amanda, with high-rise buildings and ocean in the background.

Laura and kids (Luke, Natasha, and Brad).

Amy, Chris, Amanda, Brian.

Kids playing in the sand.

All of us at the beach, about to get pummeled by a HUGE wave.

Action shot of Brian, Natasha, and Chris braving a wave, while Brad is getting out of range.

Action shot, right before Laura is taken down by a fast-moving wave. (Chris and Luke in foreground.)

All of us on the balcony of our suite.

Below are pictures from Glacier National Park. There are fewer and fewer glaciers in the park (about 26 in 2005) and, if current trends continue, there will not be any by the year 2030. The scenery was beautiful with lots of lakes and rivers and waterfalls. Amanda and her sister Kassy and Kassy’s family went at the end of September, so the fall colors were spectacular. See pictures below–the first 6 pictures are from East Glacier, and the remaining 7 are from West Glacier (an 8-mile stretch on the “Going to the Sun Road” was closed, so we went to the East Side first (40 miles from Canada!), then the West side.

River with railroad track and tunnel on right.

Kassy, Tim, and Nicole on bridge.

St. Mary’s Lake, with mountain in back with glaciers on it.

Waterfall coming from inside the rock.

View of fall colors and lake.

Majestic mountain.

Lake McDonald – Glacier’s deepest lake at close to 500 feet deep. Amanda and Nicole on right.

Haystack Falls waterfall coming off mountain, goes through tunnel under the road.

View of the mountains and hillside.

Weeping Wall where the wall looks wet. It is always running, and has quite a bit of water in the spring.

Another spectacular view from Going to the Sun Road.

Another mountain covered in snow, with glaciers.

View of Logan Pass.

Wide mountainside view .

Amanda took a spontaneous 10-day vacation to Montana to visit family and see Glacier National Park for the first time. Amanda brought the warm weather with her from New Mexico to Montana, and the days were in the 70s and low 80s! Amanda visited her mother in West Yellowstone, Montana, then her sister, Kassy and her family in Missoula, Montana. We went to Glacier National Park on September 27th and 28th, which just happened to be “Volunteer Appreciation Weekend” so EVERYONE got into the park for free both days!! We did not see any wildlife in the park (aside from fellow Americans), but the glaciers and fall colors were beautiful. Below are some pictures of scenery and family, and you can see more pictures of Glacier National Park by clicking here.

View of river and mountains in Southwestern Montana where Amanda and family were raised.

Amanda in front of cluster of Aspen trees.

Amanda and Nicole in front of a river in Glacier National Park. Amanda bought Nicole the shirt she is wearing, and it says “If you think I’m cute, you should see my aunt!” 🙂

Kassy, Nicole, Tim, and Amanda with waterfall on left in Glacier National Park.

For Brian’s 29th birthday, we rented a cabin in Cloudcroft, NM–“9,000 feet above stress level”. We went to “get away”, hike, and enjoy the lush scenery. Below are some pictures from our hikes–we walked about 13 miles in two days! There were lots of different kinds of mushrooms (some white, that looked like pinecones, some yellow and looked like a lemon peel, and some brown, red, and as big as our hand!!), as well as beautiful flowers in every color of the rainbow. The air was very fresh, the earth was damp, and everything seemed so healthy and alive. We had a great time, and now it’s back to reality.

View from “Rim Trail” with White Sands in the background.

Amanda and Ciara.

Brian and Ciara.

All of us.

Green mushrooms mingled with moss.

Yellow mushroom that looked like a lemon peel.

White mushroom that looked like a pinecone and the top moved freely.

Brown mushrooms all along a log.