Ladd Photos

Aliciana and I were in Sacramento and neighboring Davis to celebrate the marriage of Angela Lee and Durin Linderholm. It was a beautiful ceremony at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Davis. After the ceremony we headed off for the reception in Sacramento at the Sterling Hotel.

The reception was quite a festive event, as is to be expected. We had a delicious lunch and got to catch up with some old college friends. But, I think the most memorable image that will stick in my head is the giant smiles on both Angela and Durin’s faces. They were happier than I have ever seen them and I hope they have many more happy days to come.

Seeing what a wonderful day their wedding was makes me long for my own wedding even more.

Aliciana and I visited the California Living Museum (CALM) which is located out by Hart Park. Everyone knows that I love animals and Aliciana is quite fond of them as well, so, as you can imagine, we had a blast. It was a hot day and you can tell from the photos that the animals sure were feeling the heat. For the first time in my life I saw a squirrel laying down. He was just sprawled out on the ground… it was a weird sight to see.

We visited the Kern County Fair. My favorite part was the exotic animal petting zoo. I got to pet goats, a camel, some baby antelope, a deer, and Scottish Highland cattle. The baby furry cows were the best. They loved to be petted and were very soft. I have never seen such furry cows! We had a lot of fun but it really wore us out… 3.5 hours of walking will do that.

Today, on the way back from the mailbox, I had a run in with a local apartment complex dweller. Being only 9 inches long and crawling on the ground, I nearly stepped on him. I don’t know for sure what type of crustacean he was, being the first one that I have seen that wasn’t on a plate with a butter dipping sauce, but maybe my Dad can put his Biology degree to use and let me know.

After seeing him, I ran back to my apartment to grab my camera and then returned to the wild to capture my discovery on film. I moved him over from the sidewalk so I could get a better picture of him and he didn’t seem to like being picked up. He proceeded to square himself up to me and threaten me with his big red claws. I assumed he lived in the pond by the mailboxes and had gotten out for an afternoon stroll in the rain, so I let him be after snapping some shots.

Aliciana and I went to San Luis Obispo on Saturday morning to visit with my brother, Jessie, and my parents, who were also there visiting for a long weekend. We had a wonderful dinner Saturday night at 1865, which is a great steak house in SLO. We stayed the night, had breakfast on Sunday morning, and then drove back to Bakersfield. Here is some pictures from the hotel room, which I took while waiting to go to breakfast on Sunday morning.

We had another wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with the family. As always, the food and company were great. Almost the whole family was able to join us. We missed Doug and Grandpa who were both sick, Aunt Susie and Uncle Gary who had to work, and Aramie.

Aliciana got some beautiful flowers today from her Mom and Dad for her birthday. She wishes to thank them for everything. She loves you lots!

We have had our Christmas tree for nearly a week and I finally got around to taking some photos and uploading them to this site. It is our first Christmas tree because during all our years in college we were always traveling during Christmas. But, now that we are ‘working adults’, we have to stay put for Christmas.

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve celebration at Grandma and Grandpa Ladd’s house. Unfortunately, Aunt Rochelle, Aramee, Logan, Brianna, Brian, and Damien couldn’t make it. Also, my parents, Nick, Jessie, and Courtney were in Las Vegas so they weren’t there. But, the rest of the Ladd Clan had a fun time although we missed those who couldn’t be with us.

When we got home we opened Christmas presents from my parents and siblings. We decided to open them tonight so we could leave as soon as possible tomorrow morning. The fog may hold us up but hopefully we can get down to San Diego without too much trouble.

We drove to San Diego on Christmas morning to spend the weekend with Aliciana’s family. The little ones managed to wait to open presents until we got there. Of course, as soon as they we let at their presents an eruption of wrapping paper ensued. It was fun to see the little monsters open their presents. It is always good for the soul to spend Christmas around little kids.

Here are some pictures of the wildlife native to my apartment complex. The ducks were busy taking a bath and were funny to watch. I also finally got a picture of the crazy looking bird that I think might be a woodpecker. He usually flies away before I can get my camera, but not this time.

I played around with the aperture priority mode on my camera this morning. By combining a small field of view (F3.2) with the macro mode I got some pretty cool shots of my desk animals.

Aliciana and I decided to get some fresh air along the mighty Kern River. We ended up walking 3.63 miles (according to the GPS) along the bike path that runs along the river. It was nice that the river actually had water in it for a change. Usually, the river’s water is diverted to the farm land. I think they should try to keep water in the river more often, it is much more pleasant to look at than a sandy river bed.