Happy Labor Day...Umm, I mean Thanksgiving!

Cuddly Big Brother / Bewildered Little Sister

Commercial Honda mower...Liam wouldn't have it any other way.

The Sistine Chapel? Almost.

What better than on a 4 day weekend after eating turkey (and for Liam CRANBERRIES!) than to shed off that extra food by watching your children show you what kind of work they are capable of doing for you. Liam rolled out his favorite mower and mulched the leaves in the yard for us and then turned to showing us how using a tiny paintbrush is the most effective way to paint our chair rail feature. Finally, it was the end of the weekend and Brooke was left wondering what happened as Liam showed her that big boys still carry blankets and can be a manly man!

Have you seen a Puma lately...and I don't mean the shoes!

Over the weekend I did some back country camping in Big Bend National Park, hiking over 20 miles through the most unique and isolated terrain in Texas. Beginning in the Chisos Mountain Range I camped under the numerous visible stars awaiting the visitation of one of the many black bears spotted in the recent weeks. However, my nerves got a jumpstart when after watching the sunset, and completing my climb to the top of Emory Peak (pics below), I saw 20 ft off the trail a set of yellow eyes in the desert brush reflecting off of my headlamp during my night descent back to camp. Turns out it was a "adolescent" mountain lion just watching me and then slipped away silently. I made my way quickly back to camp, constantly looking over my shoulder and wondering if its mother was nearby. I guess that is part of the draw of a night hike, it causes one to rely on your hearing senses, making me wonder if a rustle in a bush is a nervous javelina or just the wind causing my adrenaline to quicken.

Big Bend recently earned the distinction of the park with the least light pollution in the lower 48 states, making it a joy to sit and soak up the clearly visible Milky Way, planets, and shooting stars that seemed to slice the sky every few minutes.

After traversing the famous South Rim (pic below) I turned my attention to my limited water supply and filtered water from one of the few stagnant pools of water in Boot Canyon (pic below) killing the parasites with a piece of equipment called a Steripen. Despite the algae, it filtered crystal clear, even though I flavored it with Gatorade...for my peace of mind! I woke up at 3 a.m. the next morning to cut my way down the switchbacks by moonlight (pic below) to the car and drove the 8 hour journey back to my family and understanding wife. Thank you Jill!

The cookbooks are coming...