Spring is in the Air – I think! 
March 27, 2012: Well, my goal of monthly updating has missed me by another month, but as they say, better late than never! Amber is now attending school full-time in Boise, Idaho and considering a degree in Business Finance/Accounting. She is working part-time at Pier One as well. Brandon is now working at Pizza Hut, hopefully delivering more pizza’s than he’s eating!! Rusty & I are keeping busy with the norm-work, taxes, kids, church, house and a bit of travel in between. We were able to go back to Bonaire for some warm weather & scuba diving, as well as taking a suitcase full of supplies for the church down there! We had a great time, and will post pictures soon.
1/11/2012: Here we are almost 2 weeks into the new year, and I’m already behind on everything! We had a nice, quiet Christmas with both kids here and enjoyed the day off from work. (Pictures will be coming) Now it’s tax time, and doing two corporation tax returns along with personal is just not my favorite thing….I can think of soooo many other enjoyable activities I’d rather be doing! But we’re excited for another new, exciting year ahead of us and wish all of you an incredible 2012!
11/27/2011: Only one month left of the year-just doesn’t seem right! We enjoyed a visit from Sheila’s brother Sean & Christine for Thanksgiving. Amber, Christine & Sheila had fun at a Thanksgiving Day 10K Run/Walk, despite the very cool (no, not cold-it was 30 something with sun!) weather. It funded food for less fortunate families for the holiday. Rusty & I also arrived home safely and had a great time on a trip to Rome, Italy which included a 10 Day Mediterranean Cruise to Olympia, Greece; Athens, Greece; Izmir & Ephesus Turkey, and Alexandria & Cairo, Egypt. (click for pix) Amber is getting ready to attend school at Boise State University, and Brandon continues to work full time at a call center. We’ve got the wood stacked for winter and are ready for the snow – Bring it on!
10/20/2011: Looks like we’ve jumped right into winter here, already having our first snowstorm last week with 6″ of wet, wet snow! So wet and heavy in fact it took out more than half of our huge 40′ shade tree in our backyard! What a mess that made! Luckily it didn’t land on the house, but it looks pretty naked out there now! We made it through another long fair week last month, a convention in St. George, Utah, a trade show in Salt Lake City, Utah and a couple of R&R days in Lava Hot Springs camping. Our relatives from Fresno, Calif. came by for a visit for a few days & was great to see them. Amber is back home for a few months while getting ready to go to Boise State in January-”go Broncos” I guess will have to be our new family motto! Now if we could just have fall last until December…..
8/28/2011: So, July brought us Brandon’s golden birthday: 19 on the 19th! (pix here)WOW-can’t believe our little boy has only one year left of being a teenager; where DOES the time go??? I’d make a million if I could answer that one! We took a quick road trip to Fresno, CA & Yosemite to visit some of Sheila’s relatives. We also enjoyed Yosemite National Park-WOW, it was beautiful, fun and ….crowded! Well worth it though, the scenery was amazing. Here’s the pix.
7/5/2011: I’m a bit behind, always a day late and a dollar short! In May, Amber came up to run a 10K Race and I joined her-although she RAN and I WALKED! She did great, running the entire 6 miles and made some good time-we were very proud of her! It was a beautiful day and we were able to help fund hearing aids for 3 children, who we saw at the end of the race-the best part of the day! (click for photos)
The end of May through the first week of June we had some fun in Hawaii, where we met up with all of Rusty’s brothers, sisters & mom. The first 2 1/2 days were on Oahu where we attended the Laie LDS Temple, then went to the Polynesian Cultural Center for the day and the evening Luau. It was great! Then we flew over to Maui for 9 days, enjoyed the Road to Hana and all the waterfalls and lush scenery. (pictures coming!)
For our 27th Wedding Anniversary at the end of June, we hit the road with our bikes, kayaks and camping gear to the Teton National Forest and enjoyed several days of hiking to some beautiful mountain lakes, biking at the base of the Tetons and enjoyed some kayaking. It is one incredibly beautiful place! (Teton photos here)
Brandon was able to go to Phoenix for a week the end of May, and he recently got a job at a call center answering phones by computer (I think that means he plays on a computer all day!) He’s planning on taking some classes in the fall.
4/20/2011: I’m sure spring is going on somewhere in the world, just not in Idaho! And since we just didn’t get enough of the cold and snow, we went to Wisconsin and Chicago the first part of March for the International Housewares Trade Show. We took a few extra days to visit some of Sheila’s family, and had a great time seeing everyone after a few years! This past weekend, we went to Bear Lake, Utah which is actually right along the Utah/Idaho border, which we enjoyed, especially the 2″ of snow! (not!) Brandon especially enjoyed it because he got to pick up his new toy…a Kawasaki motorcycle, which means new stress and worry for us! Amber & Chris drove up for a couple of hours, great to see them as always. We had forgotten how beautiful Bear Lake is, with the turquoise water, little town (pretty much still closed up) and pretty views. Here are some photos of the Chicago/Wisconsin Trip & Bear Lake.
3/1/2011: We celebrated Grandma Dear’s 68th Birthday in Pocatello, at a restaurant so our Amber-girl could drive up and meet us. Amber brought with her the BEST cupcakes we have ever had from a small family bakery in Logan-mmm, thanks Amber-girl! We also had the most beautiful looking trees in January when we had below freezing temperatures, making ice crystals on the trees. It was like looking at sculptures, they almost looked fake. Click here for some photos!
1/17/2011: If we could only figure out a way to make time slow down, we could sell it on the internet and make a million! I seem to be stuck in 2010, as everytime I write the date, the numbers 2011 just don’t seem to want to be written. But another year gone, and a new one to look forward to. We hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday season and are ready for another new start to a new year! We enjoyed a beautiful white Christmas, with Amber, Chris and Grandma Dear. Brandon was in Phoenix, so we missed him greatly but he came over beforehand for an early Christmas. Another highlight in December was being able to meet up with the missionary, Elder Terry Bagley, who taught me (Sheila) and baptized me into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 31 years ago!! Wow, it only seems like a couple of years, but what a great experience to see him again and meet his wife. I appreciate them taking time out of their busy schedules to meet us in Salt Lake City! So while there, we also had to see the Christmas lights at Temple Square; what an amazing sight to see any time of the year, but at Christmas they are spectacular!Click here for Christmas photos here. New Year’s Eve was spent at the airport on our way for another diving trip to Bonaire! We just arrived home and had a great time under the sea! Click here for creature feature photos! Now we are back to reality, and have to pay for our play with mountains of paperwork and tax time to get through-2011, here we come!
12/12/2010: It’s winter time, already? We are enjoying the beautiful snow and getting ready for the holidays! I love having a winter wonderland for a few months each year. And trying to understand how another full year has come to an end-ALREADY! We’ve had a great year, ups and downs included, and look forward to what’s in store for 2011! We just finished up with a surprise 50th Birthday Party for Rusty-and we pulled it off! We had about 80 people come by, and made us realize how blessed we are to have so many wonderful friends and family! A big thanks to my Amber girl for helping me, and an extra heartfelt thanks to Alan, who kept Rusty busy yesterday for a while and schemed with me to make it a success. We are grateful to those who traveled from out of state to share this fun time with us-thanks, you are awesome! And missed those who couldn’t make it. Here are a couple of pictures We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and good things to come in 2011!
10/13/2010: Fall is here, my favorite time of year! Amber has recently applied to Utah State University and is planning on starting school in January-we are excited for her! She is also working full time at a fabrication shop as their secretary/bookkeeper, and is doing well. Brandon finally got his driver’s license, but is now trying to figure out how to get something to drive! He is currently looking for a job (ah, the joys of being a teenager!) We’re done with the fair again this year, and took a 3 week trip to Europe so now it’s back to work (although Rusty says he needs a VACATION from our TRIP to recuperate!) Rusty & I started from Brussels to Holland. Then Rusty’s mom, Charlene, met us in Belgium and then through Germany for 10 days. Rusty and I continued on to Austria, Slovenia, the NE corner of France and back to Brussels. Wow, a great trip with some unbelievable sights and views! Our friend, Gisela, from Munich, Germany let us stay with her for a couple of days and took us to the real Oktoberfest – that was great fun! She then drove us to Slovenia, a beautiful country with very friendly people. Rusty & I then drove through most of Austria to the western state of Vorarlberg, to a small village called Schröcken where my (Sheila) ancestors came from. We did some hiking and sightseeing in the Alps, which are truly breathtaking. Now we can’t wait to go back! Here are some pictures (out of the 2000 we took!)
In July, the 5 Kappel kids (Mat, Rusty, Cory, Kim & Kelly)with their kids and with mom Charlene got together for a family reunion in Island Park, Idaho. We visited Yellowsone Park, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, did some kayaking and rafting down the MacksInn River & the Snake River. We also made a day trip to Virginia City & Nevada City, Montana which are old mining towns and fun to visit. Tried some fishing, ate a lot and just had fun! We’re grateful that some of them travelled so far to make it: From Lawton, Oklahoma and Tucson, Arizona! At the end of the two weeks, some of us attended a Mormon Tabernacle Sounds of Sunday Performance in Salt Lake City-that was awesome! Click here for pix: 
7/18/2010: Well, I guess I haven’t done so well on my monthly update, but I have added a few new pictures-FINALLY! Now I can’t remember what all has happened the past few months to report on, so the highlights: Brandon attended Prom in May and had an interesting date! Rusty & I went to Las Vegas & met up with his mom, sister, brother & sister-in-law for a week and had a fun time! Pictures here. Ok, ok I have to confess the highlight for me was seeing DONNY OSMOND in concert!!
We were fortunate to be invited by some great friends to go to Salmon, Idaho (this past weekend) for a weekend of whitewater rafting, fishing and enjoying the beautiful outdoors-WE LOVED IT! We saw a lot of wildlife; deer, elk, big horn sheep, mountain goats, chukkar, geese. The scenery was beautiful, and the little cabins we stayed in were awesome, mostly because there was no electricity, phone service or plumbing-yes, that meant NO CELL PHONES-whoo,hoo! Photos
3/28/2010: I’ve been told it’s supposed to be spring, but we seem to have more snow than flowers right now! I’m sure it will be here soon enough! This past month we’ve had two weddings in Tucson (Saundra & Stevie Loftfield) and lots of tax work; gotta love tax time! We got back last week from a trip to Tucson, where we were able to see lots of family and friends we haven’t seen for a while! We had fun warming up in the desert sun, got to ride some 4-wheelers and visit with best friends, Chad & Sharon Cottrell and family. We stopped in Salt Lake City on the way home and were lucky enough to catch wonderful friend Gisela, from Munich, Germany while she was here just for a few days and enjoyed our time with her! See our photos from Tucson here!
2/5/2010: We just got back from a week in Cozumel, Mexico where we had a great time scuba diving and spending time with the Loftfield family. Before we left, we attended a trade show in Salt Lake City and also were able to go skiing for a day at Snowbasin (with no injuries!)Amber & Chris came down for the skiing day. Amber & Brandon both got certified for diving, so it was great to share with them the beautiful underwater world we love! We saw 2 nurse sharks, turtles, pretty coral, large grouper, sand rays, eels, lobster, crab and much more. No one complained about warming up in the Mexican sun! One strange encounter we had was seeing a crocodile as our boat was heading to a dive site; I’m just glad we saw him while we were in the boat and not in the water! Who would have thought we needed to watch for croc’s instead of sharks?? LOL…. Click here for photos of Skiing & Cozumel.
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1/15/2010: How weird is that to write 2010?? That looks like such a futuristic number, but I guess it’s here to stay for a while! Busy month so far, but great. Just before new year’s, we went to a friends cabin in Island Park (just south of Yellowstone Park) for a couple of days and did some snowmobiling-it was great! The weather and scenery was beautiful. Then we took off for Disneyland to meet up with some of Rusty’s family for a few days of fun & sun! Brandon decided to get scuba certified, so we stopped by on our way to LA, just outside of Logan, Utah to do his first dive; it was only -5 BELOW ZERO! The water was was a hot spring, but they were still out in the weather a bit and froze, so did the equipment! I can’t believe they did it. Not too many get scuba certified in below zero temperatures!! Brave (or crazy!) boy!! We had a great time at Disneyland, went to a cute little German Village nearby, and went to Huntington Beach for a couple of hours. Click here for new photos
12/2009 Now it’s another year behind us! We had a great Thanksgiving last month, with Amber & Chris, Sheila’s brother Sean and wife Christine, and Rusty’s brother Cory & his family. We had some ping-pong challenges going on and some serious Wii competitions happening! We had our annual GoKart Races, but we won’t say WHO won, so I’ll just give a clue; the female editor of this webpage! (ok, I won one out of the 3!) Don’t forget the YUMMY food, and Food and FOOD!
The week before Christmas, Sheila’s foster family, The Loftfields, (from Tucson, AZ) braved our balmy weather (HA!) to come up for their daughter Stevie’s graduation from BYU-Idaho! (and newly engaged!) It was great to see them, go wedding dress shopping and have a fun couple of days. And of course Christmas!! Amber & Chris came up late afternoon on Christmas Day, so we just enjoyed a quiet morning and we went out to IHOP with Grandma Dear for breakfast! First time we’ve gone out to breakfast and assumed it would be empty-boy, we were surprised! What WERE all those people doing there Christmas morning??? HAHA! We opened gifts and stockings that afternoon, and enjoyed a yummy ham dinner. Day after we braved the crowds and ate lunch at a pizza buffet, went to the mall (only for a SHORT time!) and went to see “Sherlock Holmes”. Had a fun afternoon, then Amber & Chris left Sunday to head back to Logan. We look forward to a great 2010! (2010-that sounds like a futuristic movie title to me!) WE WISH YOU A HAPPY & HEALTHY NEW YEAR! Click here for photos
10/29/2009: What a great surprise we had this weekend – we got new raingutters! Amber & Chris came up from Logan, and since he owns Cache Valley Raingutters, they installed new ones on our house for an early Christmas gift. We’re so excited not to have to clean out our raingutters again! THANKS CHRIS! We had a fun weekend with them and Brandon. Since we had quite a few leftover apples & rotten tomatoes from the garden, Brandon practiced his batting with them! Rusty is also trying to recuperate from his 2nd knee surgery on Oct. 20, and will soon be the new $6 Million Man if he keeps up with these surgery’s! 
10/4/2009: I’m so glad FALL is here-it is my favorite season of the year! Things are well here in the land of potatoes. We finished picking the rest of our garden before it froze, so now we have corn, potatoes, tomatoes and zucchini coming out our ears and trying to incorporate these into breakfast, lunch & dinner!! We survived our weeklong nightmare at the State Fair once again (we have a booth there every year for our business) and figured it was time for a break, so we took off to Bonaire for a week of Scuba Diving! (or as Rusty put it, water therapy for his knee!) And the Dr. and PT actually did say swimming and bike riding are the two best things for him to do, so we gave it a try. It was great, saw lots of neat little creatures and a beautiful seahorse, always a highlight while diving. Click here for Bonaire pictures: I also uploaded the video I took of the octopus, which is pretty neat as he changes color while swimming: Click here for video link . Amber is still working at Comcast in Logan but is looking for a new job. Brandon is doing good and working on his HEC (Highschool Equivilency Certificate) Now we have to get everything ready for winter! (or is it here yet, since it is supposed to snow tonight!!)
8/24/2009: We had a fun weekend with Sheila’s brother, Sean, here in town for a couple of days. Amber & Chris came up from Logan, so we had a “Pool Party” at grandma’s house with a yummy BBQ. New pictures HERE
Rusty is also doing good after a full knee replacement surgery on Aug. 6. A bit of a slow recovery, but he’s slowly getting some strength and should be able to bend his knee, which he couldn’t do before!! What joy in simple pleasures…. If you like to be grossed out, you can see his knee after surgery here:
7/19/2009: Rusty is back from Alaska with a successful catch of Salmon! Pictures here . And a black bear video here and a river video here. Hard work, but someone’s got to bring home the fish!!
7/2/2009: We were able to take a road/camping trip to Camano Island, Washington then on to Glacier National Park, Montana. We stayed with our friends, Alan & Pam, on Camano Island and Alan took us out Sturgeon fishing one day and then we got to do a little clamming. Brandon and Rusty both caught sturgeon (one 4 ft and one 5 ft!) and we all caught some little sharks! We also visited Seattle for a day. We enjoyed Glacier Park and got to see 2 bears that walked in front of us, some bighorn sheep, deer and mountain goats. The scenery there is breathtaking, just wish we had more time! Click here for our photos…
And Brandon’s video link catching his Sturgeon here: (click on the HQ button on the playbar for best quality) Rusty’s Sturgeon fishing video here.
5/28/2009: We just couldn’t pass up the chance to go see Donny Osmond Monday night in Logan, Utah! Rusty was just sooo excited, he even dragged me there (kicking and screaming – NOT!) and then took a lot of video! What a guy to put up with me and be willing to sit in the front row (off to the side) to watch Donny! So for all you DONNY OSMOND fans (which I do believe I am in the minority, but hey, that’s okay!!) that would just love to see pa
rt of his concert, you can click here for our YouTube video (be sure to click on the “HQ” button on the playbar for the best quality) AND if that doesn’t give you your Donny fix, then here are a couple of photos also!
Rusty’s mom came for a visit last week and we enjoyed seeing her. We went to Soda Springs, Idaho for a day, which is where she grew up. Drove by her old house, went to Hooper Springs which is a really pretty park with a natural carbonated spring where you can dip in a water bottle, add some flavor (Kool-Aid, etc.) and make your own soda pop! It’s a fun place. Also went to the cemetary where Charlene’s parents are buried, walked around the the old Soda Springs Hotel where they also have a really neat museum upstairs along with old fashioned rooms. Ate lunch and we then stopped at Lava Hot Springs to soak in the hot springs. Amber and Chris came up for the evening which was a nice visit. Click here for some photos!
5/6/2009: Amber had her 20th Birthday today! We cannot believe how fast the years have gone. She has grown into a beautiful, fun young lady! She & Chris drove up from Logan and we went to Texas Roadhouse (her favorite) for an early dinner and then some cake & ice cream at the house. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMBER!!
Click picture for more Birthday Pictures
4/20/2009: Click on the link for a video on YouTube of our trip; above & below the water. (first few are of still shots, then underwater video of fish, seahorse, octopus, squid) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt-ohVRRAcM Be sure to click the “HQ” button on the YouTube player for MUCH better picture & video quality.
We also have some new pictures while our niece Cara was here this past week and Easter on our photos page (Misc. Family Photos)
4/13/2009 UPDATE: Yahoo, I got some pictures up! Click Here for our Bonaire Scuba Diving pix
2/9/2009 UPDATE: January was just about as busy as December. Amber and Chris came up for New Years Day and SeanyBoy and Christine (Sheila’s brother) also were here from Denver, so we enjoyed playing some games, movies and eating! Mid January, Rusty and I attended a Food Trade Show in San Francisco. We did LOTS of walking around the convention center, but also had some fun in SF; Fisherman’s Wharf, Trolley cars, Chinatown, Golden Gate Bridge and took a ferry to Sausalito to have dinner. Just after we arrived home from that, we had an Outdoor Retailer Trade Show in Salt Lake. Amber and Chris met us there to get some free ski passes, so Brandon went snowboarding with them one day, and then they all attended the show with us the next day. Chris took us out to a really delicious Chinese restaurant for dinner – Thanks Chris! Have had a bit of snow here, which has been fun to go out and snowshoe and cross country ski at our neighborhood park. Might as well enjoy it!! (especially since I now have to focus on getting business taxes done – Yippee!!)
My goal is to update the site around the first of each month. You can click on our Photos page for some new pix from January. Thanks for stopping by our site and be patient as it is currently a work in progress for a bit!!