Most Precious Shots of the Week

The Magestic Ranier (Photo Credit: to Jaron)

A Day Back in The Open Arms of North Bend

Last Saturday us Brown kids decided to take a drive down to North Bend to spend the day at my Aunt and Uncle's beautiful home, where we first lived when we moved to Washington.

We never really knew Aunt Annette and Uncle Scott well until we moved to Washington. We quickly found out that they were some of the most caring, loving, and welcoming people we had ever met. The coolest part about their home at North Bend is that it displays all of the warm, welcoming, and inviting attributes that Scott and Annette also so lovingly exude.

Even Annette's perky flowers seem to shout "Hello, Welcome to North Bend" as you walk past them.
The Days activities included:
Golfing in the morning (Jaron and Scott), while Jess and Olivia enjoyed visiting with Aunt Annette.
A deluxe and delicious lunch prepared and cooked by Uncle Scott:
shrimp fettuccine
orange/beet salad
cream filled crepes for desert
Yum!
Liv enjoyed her lunch atop a cushy fern:
After a wonderful meal, a short drive around north bend and a quick cat nap, we went for a ride in the Canoe!
Scott and Annette have these little whiffle golf balls that you can hit into the Lake, so our mission was to collect all of the golf balls that we had hit into the lake. It was all fun and games until I decided to spastically reach half of my body over the canoe to grab a stray golf ball.

Moral of the story is. . . don't do that.
40 degree glacial run off. . . Not So Welcoming! Liv was pretty stunned to say the least.
Jaron was already in his wet suit, the little nerd, so he was completely un-phased by the freezing cold water.
Since I was already wet, and had to wait for my clothes to dry anyway, I decided to jump in my wet suit and go for a swim too.
It was pretty fun wasting each other in the water, well pretty much I just wasted Jaron. Click on the picture for a larger view and you will clearly see defeat in his face.

No hard feelings there.

What was Liv doing while her crazy parents were out acting like 6 year olds you may wonder?
I think she was still in a little bit of a shock from the capsize, but she was chillin out with Uncle Scott in the warm house.

Thanks again Annette and Scott for such a fun and relaxing day with you!

Be appeased, clamoring hordes.

In order to satisfy the global demand for an in depth look on what being a civil engineer at nhc is like, I present the following pictures of my most recent bout of field work. If the town of Chehalis, Washington rings a bell, it's because it almost got washed off the map in December of last year when a mega flood came through due to a prolonged period of prodigious precipitation. And when I say mega, I mean 60,000 cubic feet per second of water when normal flow is about 200. This torrent removed a couple of bridges, one of which had been built and successfully stood the test of time since 1921. (I guess if the exam is long enough, even the best are bound to get something wrong?) My company has been retained to perform the hydraulic calculations for the two replacements, meaning, "tell us how high to put the new ones." To be fair, NO bridge is designed to withstand the type of flood that took these two out, so anyone thinking that the new ones will be able to withstand the force the next time 60,000 cfs comes down the chute can expect either disappointment, or a VERY large, VERY expensive bridge to go in. So expensive in fact, that everyone would be in an uproar about big government spending and all that. So that's why we were out there, now have a look:

Bridge #1, Chandler Road, the flow direction is from left to right, and you can tell that one end (the end that was on the bank the photo is taken from) broke off first, the bridge swung around like a weather vane, and then the other side broke loose.

Bridge #2 Leudinghaus Road. The bridge seen is a temporary one put in so people could get to their homes, as the two that washed out are the only way in and out of a little un-incorporated townish community called Dryad. This particular bridge just got ripped right off its abutments, which are still neatly in place.

The sad creature was tossed downstream about 100 yards, and flipped over upside down for good measure. This picture is taken from that temporary bridge see above.

Here we see the side of the truss, full of debris, and nicely wedged into the mud. Notice my coworker (One Pat Flanagan) in blue shirt at the end of the bridge for scale.

This would be me and coworker Sam Gould standing on the Chandler Road bridge deck, looking at the large rapid that is formed by the flow constriction caused by the bridge taking up more that its fair share of the channel.

Here's the same bridge deck looking in the opposite direction. It is pretty remarkable that the thing stayed in on piece (not a crack in the concrete decking!) while being treated like a rag doll in a pit bull's trap.

After assessing the scene, we get to work. Here's me and my watercraft used to keep me from getting sucked into the swirling vortex downstream.

I guess it doesn't totally keep me from getting sucked into the swirling vortex.

In case you wondered what in the world 60,000 cfs looks like compared to 200, check out the debris pile stacked up here. The survey rod is extended to 18' and the water surface behind me is about 3-4 feet lower than my feet.

Here is the poor little truss from the top of the big debris pile in the picture above. Now you can see the temporary bridge upstream of the failed structure to get an idea of how far downstream it went.

A victory leap once the work is over:

So now you know what it's like when I am not sitting in my office at a computer.

Random thoughts on a rainy, thursday afternoon

Yesterday I went to Costco, because Olivia was all out of diapers, and before I left I promised myself that I would only go in for the diapers. I should never make such silly promises to myself, especially when fresh berries are in season!
Blueberries? Yes Please! Rasberries? Yes Please!! Cherry Tomatoes? Double Yes Please!!

This morning while I was doing an on-line work out, Olivia came and sat on our sub woofer (no idea how to spell that) and watched me work out. I thought her little body fit so perfectly on the sub woofer that I took a picture. It was a nice little seat for her. She really enjoys watching me workout. Sometimes she even finds little sticks and things to poke at me while I'm in the full plank position shaking like a mini earthquake. Its great.

Last weekend was my grandma Pope's Birthday. She is truly one of the most strong willed, and faithful people that I know. To celebrate her birthday back home in Utah, her kids threw her a luau with a roasted pig, hula dancers, and the whole nine yards. Being the considerate mom that my mom is, she sent us out-of-towner's some little outfits so that we could have our own party in celebration of Grandma Pope. Here is a picture of Liv doing a hula dance in her Hawaiian outfit.

Actually I think she's doing the Haka in this one.

I just got called to be in Young Women's last Sunday. And I had my first Sunday back at young women's after 7 years! I'm over the beehives and they seem like such sweet girls. I'm so excited to be in this calling. If anybody has any advice for me, you women that have served in young women's, I would love it! (Note about the picture above: this is not a girl I know, I just found this picture on the church website).

HAPPY THURSDAY My PEEPS!

I just called to say I love you. . .

Hi everybody! Good news, we changed our plan! We have minutes again! And we also have free nights and weekends now for only $10.00 more a month! So please feel free to call, anytime, any day.

Hey everyone Jaron and I have used up all of our minutes for this month and our cycle starts over on the 10th. So if you don't have t-mobile and you wonder why were not answering the phone, just know that we still love you. Emailing us will be the best way to get a hold of us! Thanks!