We went climbing a couple weekends ago at Sandrock, AL and had a great time!  Michael and I had not been climbing for years (although we did meet at the Georgia Tech climbing wall!).  Katie was in town from Colorado, too, which made it extra special!

Hard at work piloting the plane, huh?  Likely story!  oxoxoxo

A few more photos from our AT backpacking trip in October!  The top three photos, taken by me, are from our campsite.  The bottom gnarly tree, taken by Michael, is from the second day of hiking.

We went backpacking with Brian and Erica a couple weekends ago and had such a great time!  The weather was exactly right, the fall colors were beautiful, the dogs did great - it was perfect.  More pictures to come.

We took a short hike in the mountains with Michael's dad while we were in Utah.  I especially like the bottom photo of Michael and his dad on the trail.

We travelled to Salt Lake City two weeks ago to celebrate the life and mourn the passing of Michael's grandfather, Poppy.  From The Salt Lake Tribune:

Ralph E. Christenson
9/20/1922 ~ 9/19/2011

I was born in Salt Lake City on September 20, 1922 to Walter G. and Elizabeth Puls Christenson. Other than the four years I proudly served in the U.S. Navyduring World War II in the Pacific theater, I lived my life in Salt Lake City. I worked many years for and retired from Amoco Oil.

I am survived by my four children Gregory (Connie) Christenson, Marilyn (Jim, deceased) Poulsen, Leslie (Brad) Campbell, Brad (Tara) Christenson, seven grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, brother Frank (Wanda) and brother Grant (deceased). 

I bid a very fond adieu to all of my loved ones and friends. At my request there will be no service. 

Note from family: We love you and will miss your sense of humor Poppy. 

Photo from Katie (in route from Wyoming to Mississippi via C-130):  Flooded Mississippi River, just south of Memphis.

Michael's mom and stepdad came to visit Huntsville from Salt Lake City last week!  We ate lots of good food, did a TON of yard work, shopped, relaxed, and had lots of fun!  They were very good sports about helping us with all of our projects - Brad helped Michael chainsaw down some trees and Leslie and I planted vegetables.  They even went hiking with us!

I recently donated some clothes to Karma Rags in Huntsville's Lowe Mill, including a number of items my mom gave to me that she no longer used.  Among these donated pieces was the dress you see above, designed and sewn by my Aunt Georjean.  We were hesitant to let the dress go, but neither my mom nor I are bold enough fashionistas to pull it off.  I was thrilled when we went to Karma Rags last Saturday, and the dress was for sale!  I spoke with Cheryl, Karma Rags' owner, and she said not only was the dress a big hit in the store, but it was prominently featured in her recent fashion show at Lowe Mill!  I'm so happy that this special dress is being appreciated.

Thoughts from my boss, in response to this article:

"Make as many mistakes as fast as you can, as fast as possible without hurting yourself or any of your stuff.  The number of mistakes required to achieve success is a fixed number, to the first order.  To the second order, the number of mistakes needed is proportional to the time between mistakes.  Thus, there is a mistake rate at which no progress is made.  For example, if we made one unsuccessful attempt at a task per year, and eight attempts were required to achieve success, it's very likely that success would never occur.  This is especially true if the forgetting of lessons is considered.  If a lesson is remembered and effective for only five years, then we'd always be three attempts away from success.  Also, make mistakes at the small scale as fast as possible, where the political, economic, and capital cost are also small.

Successful engineering occurs when the executor fails to build the object incorrectly."

Well, our race yesterday got cancelled due to lightening and excessive rain.  We took a walk with the pups in the afternoon after it stopped raining-it was fun to see Mountain Brook running with so much water!