Justin's Cold Tub

It gets very HOT here in the summer time. We have a hot tub in our back yard that is broken so my brother decided to fill it up with cool water and use it as a COLD TUB to cool down. It's not an Olympic size pool but it does the trick.

Camping at Joshua Tree Park

The first weekend in April we went to Joshua Tree National Park and went camping for the weekend. This time of year the nights are very COLD and the days are very HOT but it is about the nicest time to visit. We usually come here a few times a year because it is only an hour from Loma Linda and is a nice escape from the Inland Empire. There are many things to do here including: Hiking, Rock Climbing, Snake Hunting, and enjoying Cacti and nature.

Justin had to try out his new basket for the top of his car for this camping trip. It worked very well. We had a group of 12 people on this trip including Ryan, Deanna, Teresa, Justin, Randi, Tylea, Sarah Skau, Andy, Herb, Alfred, Marlin, and Danny. This made up a very adventurous group and made for a fun weekend.



I found 3 large rattle snakes basking in the sun. All three had large bulges indicating that they had recently eaten and were just relaxing after their big meal. Alfred later decided to tantalize them causing some excitement as the three lazy snakes soon turned on their defensive game.
The fields of these cactus looked very soft from a distance but they seemed to jump out at you when you got very close. Once stuck it was very hard to get these needles out of your skin, shoes, cloths etc. Only a few people had the opportunity of experiencing their prick. Luckily I was not one of them.

Happy 90th Birthday

March 23, 2006 was my grandpa Walkers 90th birthday. Most of the family was able to make it up to Boise to help him celebrate this accomplishment. Chad shares the same birthday with Grandpa so it made it an even better celebration.



Here are the two birthday boys, Grandpa and Chad.


Dani and Teresa enjoying the Party.


Justin and Heath competing for the title of Twister Champion


Stacey, Doug, Grandma, and Ryan relaxing during the party.

Match Day

March 16, 2006 was Match Day. This is the day that we found out where we were going for residency. The day that I learned that I was moving to Phoenix. That evening we had a Match Party in Redlands. The theme was Black and White, not necessarily meaning formal black tie! The food was terrible but it was a lot of fun to get together and see friends that I have not seen in a long time.

Deanna and Ryan


Ryan, Julie, and Andy


Danae her boyfriend decided to add some variety to the evening coming as a Zebra.

The March Snow

Winter came late this year in So Cal. In the middle of March when it is usually starting to get hot we had several weeks of cold weather. This made the weekends a little more fun since we were able to go into the mountains and play in the snow (yes it does snow in southern California too!).


In southern California these rugged road conditions require chains ON all vehicles in order to continue so we were turned around with everyone else because we did not have chains.

From this picture you would think that we were in a blizzard!!

Here is Teresa doing what she loves best.


This is the first time that I have been in the snow with my truck. Thats what I get for buying it in the summer and moving to So Cal.

Whale Watching

This last February we went whale watching off the coast at Newport Beach. We didn't see any whales but did get to see some sea lions and a dead dolphin. Since we did not see any whales we got vouchers to come back again for free at another time. Even though we didn't see any whales it was still a lot of fun.

Here is the group. Heath, Ryan, Deanna, Randi, Justin, and Teresa

These are the sea lions. I think that the boat drivers feed them here just to make sure that they have something to show us.


The Pacific Ocean out the back of the boat.

We had to stop to let these non-motorized boats pass.

Winter in Ohio

This December I was in Dayton Ohio for my Neurology rotation. I arrived the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend and flew back on Dec 23 to take an exam. A couple of days after I arrived it snowed 6 inches and the temperature (F) was lingering in the single digits. It was only above freezing one time the whole month that I was there. I was working at Kettering Memorial Hospital. This is one of the nicest hospitals that I have ever worked in. They supplied me with an apartment and a car for the time that I was there and also gave me unlimited food from the Cafeteria or the Atrium Grill, a restaurants in the hospital. There was also a doctors lounge that had breakfast and lunch catered every day. This lounge also had many computers and two large plasma TV's to watch along with refrigerators full of drinks and a snack bar open 24 hours a day, all complimentary. The month went quickly but it was definitely enjoyable to get some real winter weather for a while.




Here are a couple of pictures of the Hospital. I was unable to get indoor photos but it was very extravagant.


This is the entrance to the apartment.
This is the back yard and carport for the apartment building.


But I got the honor of parking on the street since I was only there for a short time.



Dayton Ohio is also the home of the Wright Brothers and this is a picture of the Wright Mansion just outside of Dayton.

Halloween

My sister Teresa had a pumpkin carving contest this year at our house the weekend before Halloween. Many people came over to see how artistic they could be with a squash and a knife.




This is my pumpkin on the left and I am not sure who made the spider. You can click on the pictures to make them bigger.



This is Justin as Disco Santa, Teresa as a girl from the 20's and Ryan as Luke Duke from the Dukes of Hazzard (the original series)

Forest Falls

The Inland Empire (this area of Southern California) is a misurable place in the summer. Luckily there are a lot of escapes close by. We enjoy going to Forest Falls to hike around on Sabbath afternoons. It really isn't much of a hike since the trail less than a 3/4 mile inlo the falls but it is a peaceful place to escape to. It is only about 30-45 min away and it is usually about 20 degrees cooler there. Here are a few pictures from this last weekend.

Justin, Randi, and Ryan hiking.

Teresa at the lower falls.

Tylea trying to catch up!

One of the lower falls.

Looking towards the upper falls.

Welcome

I have started this page in hopes of keeping everyone up to date on what is going on in my life. It is my goal to keep it updated (which probobly will not happen) so that you may keep up with what is going on in my life.