2009 Highland Cross Country

Last January, Madison had knee surgery to repair a nagging injury sustained a few years prior. Little did we know the long range effect this would have on our family. Madison had a few complications from the surgery and was FINALLY released from physical therapy in June. She immediately tested the knee out with some morning runs around the neighborhood. While on one of her runs, she ran into a friend who was on the high schools cross country team. He invited her to a XC training session the next day. Madison had a great time and told Reagan about "certain boys" who were also at the training session. Raegan then decided she wanted to go. After a week or so of training, they were talked into running with the Cross Country team this fall. The rest is history!

Madison and Raegan both had a great year and improved on their times every race. This was the first time Madison had to manage her blood sugars while taking on such a dedicated work out schedule. Just finishing a race became a challenge itself. Telling the difference between fatigue and a low blood sugar is not easy.

It was also a nice change from the 13 years of dance recitals and competitions!!!

Madison at the Bob Conley Invite



Raegan at the Southern Idaho Invitational held at Pomerelle Ski Resort. Raegan is on her second of two 800ft vertical climbs (1,600ft total)!!! I was proud of her..... The course was littered with casualties. Next time you see Raegan, ask her about "The HILL"!



Highland High School Cross Country
2009 District Champions

International Space Station and STS-129 II

On Wednesday evening(Nov 25th), the ISS and Space Shuttle STS-129 had another favorable flyover (SE Idaho). This time, the Shuttle had just separated from the ISS in preparation of a Friday return to Earth. I always love to watch the ISS flyover, but it is a special occasion when the Shuttle and Space Station are separated and flying in formation.

On Wednesday we set up our observing site at the soccer fields just north of our house. The flyover started to the NW and ended to the SE.

The ISS was just ahead of the Shuttle. The path splits the constellation Andromeda. If you look "real" close you can see the smudge of M31 the Andromeda Galaxy!

Follow the link to orient yourself with the starts in the picture to the constellation Andromeda. Hint: ISS and Shuttle slice Andromeda in half.

Madison, Raegan and Kennedy enjoy the flyover. I told them to stand still and point for this 25 second exposure. Can you see the cars passing on the street (Olympus Drive) just in front of the houses?



While I was out, I took about an 8 minute exposure of the sky facing North. In the center is the "Celestial North Pole". With the Moon and city lights, the image was pretty washed out.

International Space Station and STS-129

With the Space Shuttle due to retire next year, I'm taking every opportunity to observe flyovers when the Shuttle is in flight. The Shuttle is currently docked to the ISS. On Monday, I hurried home from work and had about 5 minutes to gather the family and set up the camera. The Shuttle is currently docked to the ISS (until early Wednesday morning Nov 25, 2009). The street lights in my backyard are a problem, but I didn't have enough time to find a better location. Besides, it was COLD out!

ISS and STS-129, November 23, 2009 6:37PM MST

Shot is taken from my back porch looking NW. The four brighter starts just to the left of the ISS track is the head of Draco the Dragon. The bright star in the top left of the image is Vega in the constellation Lyra. The orange looking streaks are from the streetlights in my backyard. With the long exposure you can see visible star trails, especially to the bottom left of the image. The North Star is just out of view top right thus the shorter trails in the top right portion of the image. The image was taken with a Nikon D40, 18mm, F/5, Exposure 77.7 seconds.