Dear all, does it feel like 2008 passed by in a blur or what?

It was our first cattle drive since 2001! Prior to that our family had done it every year since 1897.

In 2002, the worst drought in recorded history in our area, we chose not to drive our cattle to the summer mountain range in the Rio Grande National Forest, as our family had every year since 1897, because the 6 mile trek across the base of Greenie Mountain (some of the most arid land in North America) would be too dusty for the calves and we were concerned about dust pneumonia.

The morning before the Water Polo (YingDong Natatorium-not the Bird's Nest) we decided to visit the Beijing Zoo because it was fairly close to the event. Construction of the subway to the Zoo had not been completed, so we took our first bus ride, flashing our Olympic tickets to get free entry. We splurged (about an additional $10 USD per person) to add on the Aquarium which was totally worth it.

(This is Max) On Sunday, August 10, we didn't have any events. We used the day to rest and recover from jet lag. We also joined a health club in the same complex as our apartment so we could use their pool and other facilities.

On Monday, we had tickets to Women's Volleyball. After another trip on the subway we arrived at the Capital Gymnasium. Our first game was the US versus Cuba (see picture, US is on right). Unfortunately, the US lost to the clearly superior Cuban team in 3 straight games. We found out later that the Cuban women's team is one of the best in the world.

May 12-Greetings from Bimini! Our gateway to the Bahamas! What a great place to rest and get into the cruising rhythm! Three days zipped by as we explored the island and enjoyed the beginning of our cruise.

May 9-We are finally underway!It took two weeks at the dock for my husband Dave and I to prepare Mariposa for our cruise. Mariposa is our boat and she is a true champ. She is a 38 foot long, 22 foot wide sailing catamaran. She draws about 4.5 feet, which means we can sail or anchor in water no shallower than about 5 feet (to be on the safe side) and we’ll have six inches of water under us.

Hi this is Sara. if you have ever gone to the Olympics you've
probably seen the Olympic mascots. If you've never seen them or never gone to the Olympics you've probably never seen them.
They each have decorative heads,the blue ones name is Beibei, the pandas name is Jinging, the red ones name is Huanhuan, the orange ones name is Yingying, and the green ones nsme is Nini. My favorite ones are Yingying, Huanhuan and Nini. If you put their names together it means "Welcome To Beijing".

I got a set of all of them and I really like to play with them.

Hi, my name is Sara. Stephanie and Max are my parents. Yesterday was my very first day ever at the Olympics and we saw the mens gymnastics. For my first at the Olympics I thoght it was pretty cool! I think I thought the fliping guys were pretty awsome. I think the archery and the fencing will also be cool to watch.

The Chinese, Japanese, French, Canadian, and Russian Republic teams were competing in a round robin display--rings, hobble horse, vaulting, floor exercise, parallel bars and tall bar were the events. As no U.S. athletes were competing, we cheered for them all. At least half of the spectators were Chinese and the cheers always went up for the home team, which was indeed an impressive display of muscle, flexibility, and precision movements. There guys were truly the best in the world!

After a great dinner at a local restaurant (and 3 beers-san pi jiao), we managed to get some sleep and prepared for our first Olympic event, the Men's Artistic Gymnastics trials at the National Indoor Stadium on the Olympic Green. Our apartment is in the southwest corner near the 2nd ring road, a bit far from the north site of the Olympic Green, so we decided to try the subway. Running late, we took a taxi to the station, and then purchased tickets (in English) at the machine (we forgot that our Olympic tickets should have worked as free bus and subway passes--we will try it today).