Here are two videos, both of Megan, from our trip to the White Mountains this past weekend.

The first is of Megan on the very windy and cold summit of Mt. Eisenhower. We think the temperature was around 10° F or so, and with the 40mph+ winds the wind chill was around -15° F (though we also think the wind was 45-50mph+). The hike from Mt. Pierce to Mt. Eisenhower (the second video) was entirely along an exposed ridge and subject to the same wind, but it seemed measurably worse on the final approach and top of Eisenhower. Otherwise the conditions were perfect — completely clear skies, and a view well worth the effort!

While mom and dad were traipsing about above the treeline, Caleb had some quality time down below with Grandma and Grandpa. Photos and more about our trip to come…

Following are a few quotations (edit: OK, quite a few…) that I want to pass on to Caleb for one reason or another. While I am a big believer that words can be unnecessarily jumbled around any thought, issue, trial, or opportunity to make oneself sound fancy, I do like the clarity of certain quotations. Though the below list is fairly exhaustive, there are still many more not included that I think are worthwhile to think about every once in a while.

• › One who is firm of purpose in a just cause is shaken from his tenacious resolve neither by the clamour of this fellow citizens for that which is unjust, nor by the tyrant’s menacing scowl. ~Horace
• › The measure of a man’s real character is what he would do if he thought he would never be found out. ~Lord Macaulay
• › Even the tiniest initial deviation from the truth is subsequently multiplied a thousandfold. ~Aristotle
• › It is not the oath that makes us believe the man, but the man the oath. ~Aeschylus
• › If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. ~Henry David Thoreau
• › We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. ~Winston Churchill
• › Patience is the companion of wisdom. ~St. Augustine of Hippo
• › Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears. ~Marcus Aurelius
• › Forgiveness is the final form of love. ~Reinhold Niebuhr
• › Pleasure can be supported by an illusion; but happiness rests upon truth. ~Sébastien-Roch Nicolas De Chamfort
• › It is easy for us to forgive a child who fears the dark. The true sadness in life is when men fear the light. ~Plato
• › Death tweaks my ear. ‘Live,’ he says, ‘I am coming.’ ~Virgil
• › This body is not a home but an inn, and that only briefly. ~Seneca
• › Why do you hurry to remove anything that hurts your eye, but if something affects your soul you put off the cure until next year? ~Horace
• › A cheerful heart is a good medicine. ~Proverbs 17.22
• › Plan for this world as if you expect to live forever; but plan for the hereafter as if you expect to die tomorrow. ~Ibn Gabirol
• › O how small a portion of earth will hold us when we are dead, who ambitiously seek after the whole world while we are living. ~King Philip II of Macedon
• › Pale death with an impartial foot knocks at the hovels of the poor and the palaces of kings. ~Horace
• › To wish to be well is a part of becoming well. ~Seneca
• › The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them. ~Thomas Merton
• › Love grows by giving. The love we give away is the only love we keep. The only way to retain love is to give it away. ~Elbert Hubbard
• › Submit to love faithfully and it gives a person joy. It intoxicates, it envelops, it isolates. It creates fragrance in the air, ardour from coldness, it beautifies everything around it. ~Leos Janacek
• › True compassion flows fast, as if we were wounded ourselves, yet without diminishing our strength. ~Yukio Kurasama
• › If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete. ~The Buddha
• › I would rather feel compassion than know the meaning of it. ~St. Thomas Aquinas
• › A friend is one before whom I may think aloud. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
• › A mere friend will agree with you, but a true friend will argue. ~Russian Proverb
• › As yellow gold is tried in the fire, so the true bonds of friendship are seen in adversity. ~Ovid
• › A friend’s eye is a good mirror. ~Irish Proverb
• › You will find, as you look back upon your life, that the moments that stand out are the moments when you have done things for others. ~Henry Drummond
• › I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve. ~Albert Scheitzer
• › One of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody. ~Mother Theresa
• › Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive. ~Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
• › Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy. ~Thich Nhat Hanh
• › No man is born hating another person… People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite. ~Nelson Mandela
• › Open your eyes, and you will have plenty of bread. ~Proverbs 20.13
• › If I have lost confidence in myself, I have the universe against me. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
• › To seek all your applause from outside yourself is to have your happiness in another’s keeping. ~Claudius Claudianus
• › We have nothing to fear but fear itself. ~Franklin D. Roosevelt
• › Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don’t know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is! ~Anne Frank
• › We’re fools whether we dance or not; so we might as well dance. ~Japanese Proverb
• › I’m a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. ~Thomas Jefferson
• › You cannot prevent the birds of sadness from lying over your head, but you can prevent them from nesting in your hair. ~Chinese Proverb
• › What we anticipate seldom occurs; what we least expect generally happens. ~Benjamin Disraeli
• › As long as a word remains unspoken, you are its master; once you utter it, you are its slave. ~Ibn Gabirol
• › The risk of an incorrect decision is nothing compared to the terror of indecision. ~Maimonides
• › You cannot run away from weakness; you must some time fight it out or perish; and if that be so, why not now, and where you stand? ~Robert Louis Stevenson
• › Those who are always preoccupied with something cannot enjoy the world. ~Laozi
• › Before you take another step, step back into yourself. If you can govern yourself and be your own master, yours is the whole wide world and everything within it. ~Paul Fleming
• › Anger is an expensive luxury. ~Pope St. Gregory the Great
• › If you find a thing difficult, consider whether it would be possible for any person to do it. Because anything that is humanly possible, that falls within human capabilities – you too can accomplish. ~Marcus Aurelius
• › The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith. ~Franklin D. Roosevelt
• › One man with courage makes a majority. ~Andrew Jackson
• › One needs to be slow to form convictions, but once formed they must be defended against the heaviest odds. ~Mahatma Gandhi
• › Consider how the suffering caused by your anger and grief is often much greater than the suffering caused by the very things for which you are angry and aggrieved. ~Marcus Aurelius
• › If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins. ~Benjamin Franklin
• › Even while we speak, envious time has passed. Seize the day, putting as little trust as possible in tomorrow! ~Horace
• › First tell yourself what you want to be; and then do what you need to do. ~Epictetus
• › A great revolution in just one individual will help to change the destiny of all humankind. ~Daisaku Ikeda
• › By attempting the impossible one can attain the highest level of the possible. ~August Strindberg
• › Life can only be understood backwards: but it must be lived forwards. ~Søren Kierkegaard
• › A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be. ~Abraham Maslow
• › Our plans fail because they have no aim. For the sailor who does not know where to set his course, there are no favorable winds. ~Seneca
• › Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead. ~Lousia May Alcott
• › The endless road is the only one worth traveling. ~Modern Sufic Saying
• › Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. ~Mahatma Gandhi
• › If you see nothing to be thankful for, be certain that it is your won fault. ~Tecumseh
• › Remember that what you have now was once among the things you only hoped for. ~Epicurus
• › Pleasure in the task puts perfection in the work. ~Aristotle
• › Everyone needs to work. Even a lion cannot sleep, expecting a deer to enter his mouth. ~Hitopadesha
• › That man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest. ~Henry David Thoreau
• › There is no heavier burden than having too many desires. ~Laozi
• › Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand. ~Mark Twain
• › Greater happiness comes with simplicity than with complexity. ~The Buddha
• › It is better to be seventy years young than forty years old. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes
• › Choose a job that you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. ~Confucius
• › Far and way the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing. ~Theodore Roosevelt
• › Vocations which we wanted to pursue, but didn’t,bleed, like colored dyes, onto the whole of our existence. ~Balzac
• › One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar. ~Helen Keller
• › You must be the change you wish to see in the world. ~Mahatma Gandhi
• › What we think, or what we know, or what we believe in, is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do. ~John Ruskin
• › Stand up, be bold, be strong. Take the whole responsibility on your own shoulders, and know that you are the creator of your own destiny. All the strength and succour you want is within you. Therefore, make your own future. ~Swami Vivekananda
• › To be always intending to live a new life, but never find time to set about it – this is as if a man should put off eating and drinking from one day to another till he be starved and destroyed. ~Walter Scott
• › Gold dust is precious, but when it gets in your eyes, it blurs your vision. ~Xitang
• › If you must begin, then go all the way, because if you begin and quit, the unfinished business you have left behind will haunt you for all time. ~Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
• › It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see. ~Henry David Thoreau
• › Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties. ~Erich Fromm
• › Concentrate all your thoughts on the task in hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus. ~Alexander Graham Bell
• › They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night. ~Edgar Allan Poe
• › Whatever we perceive in the world around us reflects who we are and what we care about most deeply, as in the old saying, "When a thief sees a saint, all he sees are his pockets." ~Robert Frager
• › The reality of the other person lies not in hat he reveals to you, but what he cannot reveal to you. Therefore, if you would understand him, listen not to what he says, but rather to what he does not say. ~Kahlil Gibran
• › It is one of the commonest of mistakes to consider that the limit of our power of perception is also the limit of all there is to perceive. ~Charles Webster Leadbeater
• › They are ill discoverers that think there is no land, when they can see nothing but sea. ~Francis Bacon
• › Power without wisdom collapses under its own weight. ~Horace
• › One thorn of experience is worth a whole wilderness of warning. ~James Russell Lowell
• › Don’t break your shin on a stool that is not in your way. ~Irish Proverb
• › To be clever enough to get all that money, one must be stupid enough to want it. ~G.K. Chesterson
• › Men of most renowned virtue have sometimes by transgressing most truly kept the law. ~John Milton
• › What strikes the oyster does not damage the pearl. ~Jalal Ad-Din Rumi
• › The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers. ~Thomas Jefferson
• › A donkey with a load of holy books is still a donkey. ~Traditional Sufi Saying
• › How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live. ~Henry David Thoreau
• › Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. ~Leonardo Da Vinci
• › A mind is a fire to be kindled, not a vessel to be filled. ~Plutarch
• › Children need models rather than critics. ~Joseph Joubert
• › Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in another time. ~Chinese Proverb
• › It is vain to do with more what can be done with fewer. [Occam's Razor] ~William of Occam
• › If you want to see what children do, you must stop giving them things. ~Norman Douglas
• › The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one. ~Elbert Hubbard
• › Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts. ~Winston Churchill
• › Inches make champions. ~Vince Lombardi
• › We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. We often discover what will do by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery. ~Samuel Smiles
• › The greatest of faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none. ~Thomas Carlyle
• › The true way to be deceived is to think oneself more knowing than others. ~Francois, Duc De La Rochefoucauld
• › If people never did silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done. ~Ludwig Wittgenstein
• › Beware you be not swallowed up in books! An ounce of love is worth a pound of knowledge. ~John Wesley
• › Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. ~Confucius
• › The little reed, bending with the force of the wind, soon stood upright again when the storm had passed. ~Aesop
• › Quarrels would not last long if the fault was only on one side. ~Francois, Duc De La Rochefoucauld
• › Never stop because you are afraid: you are never so likely to be wrong. ~Fridtjof Nansen
• › We do not see things as they are. We see them as we are. ~The Talmud
• › Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for truth. ~Benjamin Disraeli
• › Which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to your span of life? ~Matthew 6.27
• › A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties. ~Harry Truman
• › When one door closes, another opens, but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us. ~Alexander Graham Bell
• › The best, most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, or even touched. They must be felt with the heart. ~Hellen Keller
• › Positive anything is better than negative nothing. ~Elbert Hubbard
• › Our chief affliction is that we live not according to the light of reason, but after the fashion of others. ~Seneca
• › If you live according to the dictates of nature, you will never be poor; if according to the notions of humankind, you will never be rich. ~Seneca
• › Who reaches with a clumsy hand for a rose must not complain if the thorns scratch. ~Heinrich Heine
• › When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world. ~John Muir
• › The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
• › Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves. ~Chief Seattle, Suquamish Nation
• › I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in. ~John Muir
• › Glance at the sun. See the moon and starts. Gaze at the beauty of the green earth. Now think. ~Hildegard of Bingen
• › Man’s heart, away from nature, becomes hard. ~Chief Standing Bear, Ponca Nation
• › Under cherry blossoms there are no strangers. ~Issa
• › Youth is happy because it has the capacity to see Beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see Beauty never grows old. ~Franz Kafka
• › It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petroleum dump. ~David Ormsby-gore
• › The more we sweat in peace, the less we bleed in war. ~Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
• › Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box. ~Italian Proverb
• › I think the king is but a man, as I am; the violet smells to him as it doth to me. ~William Shakespeare
• › He that is kind is free, though he be a slave; he that is cruel is a slave, though he be a king. ~St. Augustine of Hippo

Megan and Caleb allowed me to capitalize on a conference I had to attend in New Hampshire with some solo winter hiking and camping in the days just prior. I had to be in Manchester all-day on Tuesday so I figured why not head up to Franconia Notch to climb a few mountains on Saturday, Sunday and Monday?

I am posting this here, even though Caleb was not along for the trip, because I think he and I will take many of these types of trips in the future. Plus, I think three days of solitude in the mountains is important for a Dad. I thought about he and Megan a lot and was able to spend time doing something I love. I can’t wait to have him join me on a future winter trip, and he and I are already planning some spring and summer outings.

The weather was phenomenal, in my book, ranging from about 0˚ to 28˚ F depending on the time of day, with an added wind chill of anywhere from 10˚ down to -25˚ F on the exposed portions of the mountain. I only experienced the extreme end of those temperatures on my last day of hiking (on the approach and also on the summit of Mt. Tom) and otherwise had very nice hiking weather.

The evening temperatures were a bit on the cold side as I chose not to buy a new winter sleeping bag and instead brought my light-weight 25˚ bag (which, I have decided after this trip, is clearly a 35-40˚ bag). I made up the difference, as the temperature was between 0˚ and 10˚ each night (inside the tent), with a liner and by sleeping fully clothed, minus my shells. That meant that on my legs I had two pairs of socks, mid-weight long underwear, and my insulation pants (synthetic fill, and quite warm). On my torso, I had a wicking shirt, a mid-weight top, and my insulation jacket (same fill as the pants). I also wore my gloves, my hat, my fleece face mask, and the first night, my wind stopper balaclava as well. I wised up the second night and added a fleece to my torso, a third pair of socks (a liner + two mid weight pairs) and created a foot warmer with a Sigg full of boiling water (nestled in a sock) for the bottom portion of my bag. I left off the second balaclava, cinched myself in, and was more comfortable on the second night, despite a temperature of roughly 10˚ lower. It all worked out just fine, BUT, in the future, I’m bringing a 0˚ bag or warmer, and saving myself a lot of trouble and hassle.

On to the hiking. As I was on my own, and lacking in some key equipment (hmmmm, like winter boots, crampons, and snowshoes), I decided to stick to moderate summit attempts. My trail running shoes (yes, waterproof, but absent any kind of insulation or real support) performed perfectly, as did my trusty MicroSpikes. In short, I stuck to peaks that had minimal alpine zones and kept things simple. By Monday afternoon, I had managed to summit Mt. Liberty, the north peak of Mt. Kinsman, and Mt. Tom.

If you want to see some of the photos and read more about the trip, click on the image below.

OK, I finally had some time to sit down and put text next to each image from our recent trip to Costa Rica. Click on the photo below to view the images and read more about our trip.

As a brief overview, we spent a week on the Pacific side of the country just north of a beautiful fishing village (Puerto San Juanillo). We were there for a wedding (Megan was the photographer) and spent most of our down-time relaxing (read: hammock time, pool time, beach time, etc.) and exploring a bit (a few hikes and two small outings (Tamarindo and a turtle boat tour). We had a wonderful time, and may possibly be in love with Costa Rica as a result of our time there. Now we just have to plan a trip so we can experience the rainy season…

Yes, we had a phenomenal time! A longer post will come in the next week or so, but in the meantime enjoy the few ‘teaser’ photos below, or check out all of the photos in this gallery.

This is a completely unrelated post as it is about Lumiere Imaging (Megan and my photography company) but I include it here for a few reasons.

First, I love the archival aspect of blogs. Megan and I have redesigned our photography website about 10 times since we launched our business in 1999. Many of those designs are long since forgotten. Some can be found online in various historical archives while others we more diligently preserved on our own. With a blog, however, content is almost never lost (within the blog, on an internet archive, within various server backups, etc.), so I tend to post things that I want to remember.

Second, Megan and I care deeply (very deeply) about making travel a constant presence in our own lives, and more importantly, in Caleb’s life. He loves to travel and we love to travel with him. Accordingly, we are opening our business (lumiereimaging.com) up to take on more exclusively travel and documentary photography commissions, whereas previously we would only take on wedding or small portraiture work.

Third, in looking at our photographs (granted, the following is a bit awkward to point out about one’s own work), our travel and documentary images represent very honestly a lot of what makes Megan and I tick. And indeed, whenever we travel as a family, or on our own, we always come home changed in some mild or noticeably profound way. Caleb shows the same growth during our adventures, a result we strive to maintain by committing to take a healthy number of trips every year.

So, click on the below to browse through a few of our new home page images (they appear with a randomizer script on the Lumiere homepage) which are focused on documentary and travel imagery. We’ll be updating our portfolios in the next month or so and will also start to pursue this type of work more actively. (Shameless plug: If you happen to stumble across this post and want nothing more than to secure us immediately for a documentary or travel project, please contact us on the Lumiere Imaging contact page. – Thank you!)

I’m at home tending to one rather sick Caleb this morning so now is as good a time as any to post the resource to the right. If you click on the image (or here), a US Forest Service guide to hiking in the White Mountains will download (or display in your browser, if you have that capability). While the guide is geared specifically toward hiking and backpacking in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, the infomation is easily applicable to outdoor pursuits in almost any region.

In particular, I recommend that everyone read the following sections:

1. Hiker Responsibility Code (pg. 2)
2. Recommended clothing and equipment (pg. 2)
3. Stepping Safely (pg. 3)
4. Leave No Trace (pg. 8)

On item #2 above, I have one essential to add to the list of ten essentials, and two optional items to add, depending on the type of hike: 1) sunscreen,  2) an extra pair of socks, and 3) extra water.

1) I am a little surprised that sunscreen is not considered an essential, especially for the White Mountains. Exposure can creep up on you while you are hiking, and moreso if you are lucky enough to be hiking for extended periods above the treeline.

2) I recommend considering a second pair of socks if you anticipate that your first pair may get wet and uncomfortable while hiking. An extra pair adds little weight and bulk, but can be priceless if you accidentally get your feet wet miles away from the trailhead. I almost always carry an extra pair regardless of the season, but on winter hikes, my pack is never without a spare liner and winter sock replacement.

3) The single most important item in your pack, aside from a map and compass, perhaps, is plenty of water. That said, water is heavy, and I frequently battle with taking too much water and having to lug around the extra weight. On the upside, if you are hydrating properly, your pack will become lighter throughout the day as you transfer the water from bottle to your digestive system…

These are from just after Christmas, on a day when the temperatures soared to the sweltering high 40’s and low 50’s… (Click on the photo to the right to see more.)

While we had quite a fun time in the snow a week earlier, it was nice to see it melt down into the ground and drains along with the colder temperatures. For a moment, we thought that we might be back in sunny California, until we went to the park and encountered the mud fields (which, a day before, were vast snow/ice/slush fields). Ahhh, there is nothing like a beautiful white snow scape turning into a sticky, messy, mud dump.

These are from a little over a week ago but certainly worth posting. They were taken in the aftermath of our family playtime in the snow (we got over a foot) and before we headed out of town for the holidays.

Nadine loved the quinzhee. No, really, she did. She’s just ducking to peek out… Yeah.

More choice photos of our dog. Nothing like scratching the top of your nose with your tongue, right? I think we were trying to put together a family photo in the snow or something.

I was having a nice time resting on the couch. Then I invited the dog up and had no space left. Not wanting to be left out, Caleb decided to lay on top to ensure my comfort level was optimal.

Merry Christmas from the Begley family!

In an effort to save a bit of paper, fuel, and postage, and selfishly to capitalize on the posterity of a blog post to combat our disappearing memories (where ARE my keys?), we have opted to post our holiday update/letter here. Plus, as you’ll see below, it allows for a bit of extra features that a low-tech letter simply cannot handle (…yet). Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~

Winter.
2008 began with snow, snow, snow! We had a cold January but the snow made it delightful and (almost) enjoyable. The North End was beautiful covered with a foot of puffy, fluffy snow…that is until it turned to cold, hard, dirty, ice. We had many opportunities to dig our car out of a huge snow drift only to have it buried again the next day. Oh yes, and you haven’t really experienced parallel parking until you do so in the middle of winter in the North End (rock your car into an icy hole of a “parking spot” with negative inches of buffer between the cars in front and back much?) In February, to escape the cold and get our fix of what we remember Mexican food really tasting like, we traveled to Cancún, Mexico for 10 days where we met up with our friends Mike, Monica, Erik, and Thomas (more here, here, here, here, here, here, and here). It was amazingly beautiful and we had a great time building sand castles on the beach, exploring Isla Mujeres, and being with our friends. We all loved the vacation and Caleb in particular announced that he loves and wants to live at the beach. (Us too Caleb!)

Spring.
Spring started off with a trip to the emergency room for Caleb. We spent Easter in Connecticut with Nonna and Boppa and enjoyed a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Straughn during, unfortunately, the rainiest week of the season. Travel highlights were a train trip to Washington D.C. for Aunt Katherine’s graduation from George Washington University, and a car trip to Pennsylvania to attend a birthday party for Caleb’s second cousins, Giovanni and Vincenzo. Also this spring, Megan joined the Park Street Church Green Initiative, an effort to make the church more environmentally sustainable. Her “assignment” was to build a website for the initiative and she, along with her partner for the site’s development, Abigail, completed the site later in the year. Caleb also finally broke down our resolve and became the proud owner of a skateboard, confirming to all onlookers that he is indeed a California boy at heart.

Summer.
Busy, busy, busy… Peter, Caleb, and Nadine took their first camping trip together while Megan traveled for work. Despite the rain and mosquitoes, the “boys” (and Miss Nadine) had a wonderful time — in fact Caleb noted it as the best thing he did this summer. Near the end of June, Megan started a new job at the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC). She is working in Development designing their communications collateral and assisting with the Capital Campaign, the Maine Woods Initiative. She is really enjoying her new position, and as you will read about below, we’re all enjoying the benefits that come from working for AMC. This summer also took Peter back to California for his annual MBA reunion trip during which he and his classmates spent a long weekend camping in Sonoma and having fun in San Francisco, Walnut Creek, and a few spots in-between. In August, Caleb turned 3 and we spent a week in California to photograph a wedding in Santa Monica, empty out our Santa Maria-based storage unit, and visit friends in Santa Barbara. Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Straughn for helping us get all that done! Over Labor Day Weekend, we traveled to AMC’s Highland Center in the White Mountains where on his own feet, Caleb summitted his first mountain, Mount Willard. Oh yes, and how can we forget all the feasts that took place in the North End throughout July and August (basically a two-month long party complete with marching bands, saints, more marching bands, street vendors, and more marching bands)!

Fall.
Fall found us taking several trips to New Hampshire to hike, enjoy the changing seasons, and escape the noise and chaos of Boston. Megan took a 2-day course to be certified in Wilderness First Aid and CPR at Pinkham Notch, while Peter and Caleb played, hiked and did a bit of exploring. In September, along with Peter’s sister Rebecca (who basically did everything), we planned a successful surprise 60th birthday party in Philadelphia for Nonna and Boppa which included friends and family from throughout the country. Also this fall, we moved out of our wee apartment in the North End to our new place in West Medford (roughly 10 miles northwest of Boston). We absolutely love having more space, a yard, parking, in-unit laundry, and all the wonderful things that are hard to come by in the North End. During the week, we take a 12-minute train ride to/from Boston — Megan and Peter to their jobs, and Caleb to preschool in the North End for his “work,” as he likes to call it. We were also able to squeeze in a trip this fall to see Grandma and Grandpa Straughn, GG (Megan’s grandmother Straughn), and friends in Minnesota. November 10th was Megan and Peter’s 6th wedding anniversary and we spent 2 nights in New York City ALONE (thank you Nonna and Boppa for taking care of Caleb and Nadine, and thank you Nora for letting us stay in your awesome apartment!). It was a much-needed and wonderful getaway. We spent Thanksgiving with Nonna and Boppa at AMC’s Highland Center in the White Mountains (New Hampshire again!) and enjoyed fresh snowfall and a lot of late fall/early winter hiking.

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Finally, we’ve made it to December and we are starting to see the first snowflakes of winter (enough, in fact, to make a snow hut…). We kicked off the season with a live Christmas tree (aka: uncut; the cut trees were very upsetting to Caleb – us too, now that we think about it) and a gingerbread house decorating party with some of Caleb’s classmates from school. The kids had so much fun! We look forward to the adventures that 2009 holds (Florida and Costa Rica, here we come!) and wish everyone a happy and healthy holiday season!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

~ Peter, Megan, Caleb and Nadine