Aaron - our Fishing Guide

Fish for dinner at the Zinks!  Aaron our fishing guide (Ben's friend) decided to fish at the creek near the house.  Within two seconds he caught a fish to eat for dinner.  Check out the dressings on this baby....  Ben

4th of July

What an awesome weekend!  We were told about what a blast it is here in Saxtons River for the Fourth and we were not disappointed.  The Renners came to visit for the weekend, Papa came for a day, we had a BBQ, went to a parade, and watched the Fireworks from VA.  Here is recap of what we got in pics, it truly doesn't do our weekend justice - especially since somehow Hillary, Stacy, and Samuel managed to escape the camera.

BEARS!

Not the Chicago Bears, real Bears....

We had some visitors at the house in NH.  Needless to say Maisie did not play outside off of the deck.  There was a cub and a mom, then a single bear a few other times.

Neat to see but not my cup of tea - who would have ever thought we'd be relieved to be back in VT for it's urban setting!

We cheated

We spent another weekend in New Hampshire in the Mountains.  This weekend we went up North to Franconian Notch to visit friends from IMS in IL.  We went to the top of Cannon Mt which is over 3500 feet up but this time we took the tram - it was much quicker and we have no blisters. 

This was Maisie's weekend alone with John and me.  Ben and Sammy stayed in Stillwater with Aunt Chriss and Uncle Andy.  Maisie told everyone all weekend - I LOVE BEING AN ONLY CHILD!  She was so much fun to be with, it is amazing how different she is when she gets attention from everyone Without needing to be naughty!

Maisie and JerryOn our way up Cannon MountainAt the top of Cannon Mountain

Maisie took a great picture of the grownups!  Here is Scott, Cindy, Michelle, Jerry, John and me

We did it!

It took us five hours but we did it!  We made it to the top of Mt Monadnock.  Thank you for all of your support for the Pick a Peak Fundraiser - We did it for Austin.  We did it for Max.  This is such an incredible experience, we are glad we could have been a part of it.

Here are a few shots of our way up the Mt. There were about twenty of us climbing together for Austin and Max.  We all went our own speeds.  Craig our team leader kept a really quick pace!Ben and John at the top of the MT.  There are different trails to take up.  The top of the Mt is about 3100 feet.  It was very windy!

This was the home stretch those little things up on top were people!  This was the hardest part (going up it took about 45 minutes and there was no easy way.  Our descent was tough, we were tired and the footing was slow going, it was a different Mt going down than up, that's for sure!

Please Sponsor Ben for the 2010 Pick your Peak Cure Duchenne Climb

Please join us in helping to raise funds to find a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwM-7radruQ&feature=channel 

On June 19 Ben will climb Mt Monadnock in New Hampshire with John and me to support his friend Austin and Austin's little brother Max.  Both Austin and Max have Duchenne muscular dystrophy.  They are counting on the rest of us to help raise money to find a cure for this fatal disease.  One in every 3500 boys is born with DMD and historically the boys have not lived beyond their teens.  

There is hope that raising money we will bring these boys and their families one step closer to finding a cure. 

Please consider supporting Ben and his friends in this endeavor.  Every little bit adds up to a lot.  

You can send checks directly to Ben - PO Box 423 Saxtons River, Vt 05154   or go to our team's website and use paypal or your credit card.

http://www.firstgiving.com/ausmax

Thank you for your support! 

http://www.cureduchenne.org/

Two birthday girls turning one!

Our cousins Delaney and McKenna just turned one and they were pretty excited for the big day that was ahead of them.  They woke up around ten and they were really happy.  At the night time we had a party at a Pizza Place - too bad they slept part of the time!  They had two cakes, a tiny cake and a big cake.  I think the twins really dug it - especially Delaney.  They got very messy.  We were happy to be with the twins on their first birthday and to hang out with them.    - Ben