Friday, March 18, 2011

Our 4-legged baby Dutchess

Some 10 months ago, Nancy and I decided to purchase a pure bred yellow lab. The one we wanted when we first looked at the pups was already taken, but one was very fascinated with our shoes and laces. I picked up the pup and put her in Nancy's arms, and right then we knew we would buy her. Dutchess is her name,and she is a huge part of our life now.



Dutchess will turn 1 year old on the 31st of March, and here are a few photos from her first year with us. We will add more photos as the days go on!















Thursday, September 9, 2010

Crusaders roll past Foxcroft 3-0

September 7, 2010
By Skip Hawkes

uesday in Bangor, Sierra Pierce and Victoria Miller each had a goal and an assist as the Crusaders of John Bapst shutout the Foxcroft Academy Ponies 3-0 in girls varsity soccer action. With the victory, Bapst improves to 2-0 on the young season while Foxcroft sits at 0-1.

John Bapst's Brandi Pierce (left) tries to get the ball past Foxcroft's Drewcilla Stone (second from left), Erin Boyer (9), and keeper Haley Mcleod during the second half of Tuesday's game in Bangor. John Bapst won the game 3-0. Photo by Skip Hawkes

The Crusaders dominated the game for the majority of the 80 minutes of play, and on the defensive side of the ball limited the Ponies to just one shot in each half.

Pierce put the Crusaders on the board with 26:52 left in the opening half assisted by Maggie Lynn to give Bapst a 1-0 lead.

John Bapst's Taylor Edgecomb settles the ball during the first half. Photo by Skip Hawkes

Miller made it 2-0 Bapst with 9:42 remaining in the half with an assist by Pierce, and Sarah Pyne wrapped up the scoring for the half with a goal off an assist from Miller with six seconds to play to put the Crusaders on top 3-0.

Despite the Crusaders total control of the second half and a shot difference of 19-1, Bapst was not able to add to their three goal’s in the first half.

Foxcroft's Drewcilla Stone gets tripped up by John Bapst's Brittany Williams. Photo by Skip Hawkes

Abby Pyne picked up the shutout in net for the Crusaders making two saves on two Foxcroft shots.

Haley Mcleod had a very busy afternoon for the Ponies making 14 saves on 40 John Bapst shots.

Bapst also got the advantage in corner shots 11-0.

Foxcroft (0-1) 0 – 0 – - 0
John Bapst (2-0) 3 – 0 – - 3

Click to view additional photos from the game

Hawks, Vikings battle to 3-3 tie

September 7, 2010

Caribou never led during the game, but twice battled back to tie the score and pull out a 3-3 double overtime tie against the Hermon Hawks on Pottle Field at Hermon High School Monday afternoon.

The Vikings fell behind 2-0 inside the first eight minutes of the game, but held the Hawks in check the rest of the half while scoring two goals of their own. Hermon regained the lead in the second half, but a penalty kick score allowed Caribou to tie the game before both teams came up empty in the two overtime periods.

Caribou's Ben Blackstone (right) curls the ball past a Hermon wall of Darius Ntacyo, Josh Allen, and Taylor Gross as Keeper Brady Knowles watches the play during the first half of Monday's game in Hermon. The two teams played to a 3-3 tie in double overtime. Photo by Skip Hawkes

Kevin Frederick put the Hawks on the board first scoring with 36:30 still to play in the first half. Frederick notched his second goal with 31:59 on the clock to put the Hawks up 2-0.

Hermon's Kevin Frederick (22) gets congratulated by Darius Ntacyo after scoring one of his first half goals. Photo by Skip Hawkes

Matt Till finally got the Vikings on the board scoring with 11:50 left in the first half to cut the Hermon lead to 2-1. With 4:23 on the clock, Ben Blackstone wrapped a direct kick around the Hermon 3-man wall and past keeper Brady Knowles for the tying goal for the Vikings.

Hermon regained the lead in the second half when Josh Allen scored on a direct kick with 26:50 left in regulation to give the Hawks a 3-2 edge. The lead was short lived for the Hawks, as Frederick, who took over as the keeper in the second half, was called for tripping in front of the net resulting in a penalty kick for Caribou. Chad Caverhill drilled the ball to Frederick’s right side into the back corner of the net to tie the game at 3-3 with 19:02 left to play.

Caribou's Roland Thibodeau takes control of the ball away from Hermon's Taylor Gross. Photo by Skip Hawkes

Neither team was able to find the inside of the net the rest of the way, despite a number of scoring opportunities over the two overtime periods for both teams. Frederick help prevent a Hawks loss when he fisted a shot up over the crossbar with 1:26 left in the second overtime, and then made another great save off a corner kick with 20 seconds left in the game.

Hermon's Justin McHugh plays the ball during the final overtime period. Photo by Skip Hawkes

Garrett Jordan had seven saves for Caribou on 20 Hermon shots in the game. Knowles and Frederick combined to make seven stops on 17 Vikings shots for Hermon.

Caribou (1-1-2) 2-1-0-0 – - 3
Hermon (0-0-1) 2-1-0-0 – - 3

Click to view additional photos from the game

Hawks fall to Caribou in season opener

September 6, 2010
By Skip Hawkes

Monday at Pottle Field on the campus of Hermon High School, Caribou scored five first half goals and cruised to a 5-1 win over Hermon in the Hawks season opening game. The Vikings improved to 3-0-1 with the victory.

Ginny Kieffer put the Vikings on the board 1:22 into the game to stun the young Hawks. Jenna Selander made it 2-0 Caribou when she scored off a Jamie Martin assist with 14:27 left in the half. Olivia Sleeper kept the offense rolling when she scored an unassisted goal at the 13:52 mark to give the Vikings a 3-0 lead.

Caribou's Meredith Sleeper (right) battles with Hermon's Kaitlin Saulter for possession of the ball during the second half of Monday's game in Hermon. Caribou won the game 5-1. Photo by Skip Hawkes

Caribou’s final two goals of the half came inside the two minute mark. Meredith Sleeper scored with 1:46 remaining on a Paige Small assist, and Meredith Sleeper made it 5-0 just 24 seconds later on an assist by Martin.

The Vikings took advantage of the Hawks mistakes, and dominated play through the majority of the opening half.

Caribou's Jamie Martin controls the ball during the first half. Photo by Skip Hawkes

In the second half, Hermon came out much more aggressive on offensive and seemed more relaxed on defense as they shut down the Vikings offense and matched up well through the entire half.

Kelsey Small got Hermon on the board when she scored with 33:40 still remaining in the game. That goal would be all that Hermon could manage despite picking up most of their game shots in the final half.

Caribou had 24 shots in the game, and Hermon had 15 shots. Morgan Swan stopped six shots for Caribou, while Sara Bishop stopped six shots for Hermon.

Hermon goalkeeper Sara Bishop wraps up the ball before Caribou's Olivia Sleeper can get to it. Photo by Skip Hawkes

Caribou (3-0-1) 5 – 0 – - 5
Hermon (0-1) 0 – 1 – - 1

Click to view additional photos from the game

Hornets sting Broncos in football season opener

September 4, 2010
By Skip Hawkes

Friday night Hampden Academy played host to the defending Class B state champions Leavitt of Turner with one thing on their mind, getting revenge for the loss to the same team in the 2009 playoffs that brought an end to their season. Leavitt, on the other hand, would have nothing to do with those plans, as Jordan Hersom threw two touchdown passes and ran back an interception for another score in the Hornets 34-6 mutual season opener.

Leavitt's Jordan Hersom (4) fakes a hand off to Devin Long and drops back for a pass during Friday night's season opener in Hampden. Hersom threw two touchdown passes in the game as the Hornets defeated the Broncos 34-6. Photo by Skip Hawkes

While the Hornets racked up 300 plus yards on the ground, the defensive unit held the Broncos to just 10 yards rushing.

Hersom threw two touchdown passes to Lucas Witham, a 40 yard score in the first quarter and a 24 yard pass in the third quarter. Hersom picked off a Jon Haws pass in the second quarter and ran it back 41 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown.

Leavitt’s first score came with 4:31 left in the opening quarter on a 40-yard pass from Hersom to Witham, and the Hornets led 7-0 heading into the second quarter.

The Hornets added two scores in the second quarter, with the first coming on an eight yard run by Jake Ouellette with 8:46 remaining in the half. The second score came on the Hersom 41 yard touchdown interception, and the Hornets led 21-0 at half time.

Leavitt's Devin Long (with ball) rolls out to the left with protection from Jesse Pelletier (50) and Max Cloutier (55). Photo by Skip Hawkes

In the third quarter, Leavitt sandwiched two more touchdowns around Hampden’s first score. Hersom connected with Witham for the second time in the game on a 24 yard touchdown pass with 8:09 left on the clock. Just over five minutes later, Hampden picked up their first and only score on an eight yard touchdown pass from Haws to Logan Steward. Oscar Rodriguez completed the scoring with a 26 yard touchdown run down the right sideline with 1:16 left in the quarter to put the Hornets on top 34-6.

Hampden's Tyler Norris punts the ball. Photo by Skip Hawkes

Reserves on both sides saw plenty of fourth quarter action, but neither team could move the ball into the end zone.

Leavitt – - 7 14 13 0 – 34
Hampden – 0 0 6 0 – 6

Click to view additional photos from the game

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Tondrau hat trick sparks 8-0 Ponies win over Hermon

September 1, 2010

By Skip Hawkes

Foxcroft Academy has long been a powerhouse in field hockey, and Wednesday afternoon the Ponies put on a scoring exhibition led by Tia Tondreau with a hat trick to roll past the Hermon Hawks 8-0 at Laughlin Field on the campus of Hermon High School in a mutual regular season opener.

Foxcroft's Tia Tondreau slaps the ball past Hermon goalie Nicolette Hashey for her third goal of the game at Laughlin Field in Hermon on Wednesday. The Ponies won the season opening game 8-0. Photo by Skip Hawkes

The Ponies dominated the game almost right from the opening tap, allowing Hermon just four trips to their offensive side of the field during the first half. The Foxcroft defense did not allow the Hawks a shot in the first half. Hermon would get off just one shot in the entire game, and that did not come until inside the final two minutes when Debbi Colpitts unleashed a shot.

Gabi Henderson got the Ponies rolling with a redirected shot coming off an assist from Hilary Kendell with 12:34 left in the opening half. Tondreau scored the second goal of the half, with an assist from Jen Seavey, with 8:52 remaining, and Rachel Keane wrapped up the first half scoring on an unassisted goal with 2:19 left to play for a 3-0 first half lead for the Ponies.

Foxcroft's Gabi Henderson carries the ball to midfield after scoring the games first goal. Photo by Skip Hawkes

Kate Morrison and Henderson scored the first two goals of the second half, both on assists by Seavey, as Foxcroft put the game away early with a 5-0 lead and just under 20 minutes left to play. Keane scored her second goal of the game (unassisted) with 14:17 remaining to give Foxcroft a 6-0 lead.

Tondreau picked up her hat trick with her second and third goals being the final scores of the game. With 13:29 still left on the clock, Tondreau scored off an assist by Henderson for her second goal. Her hat trick goal came with just 2:54 left in the game as Lindsay Arno provided the assist and the Ponies wrapped up the game with their eighth goal.

Tondreau had three goals in the game to lead the scoring. Henderson had two goals and an assist, and Keane scored two goals. Morrison added one goal for the Ponies. Seavey had three assists in the game, while Kendell and Arno each chipped in with an assist.

Hermon's Taylor Buck does a little stick work on the ball. Photo by Skip Hawkes

Sam Gould got the shutout win in goal for the Ponies, making one save on one Hermon shot. Nicolette Hashey picked up 13 saves on 26 Foxcroft shots.

The Ponies had the edge in penalty corners as well, getting nine corners in the game to six for the Hawks. All of Hermon’s corners came in the second half.

Foxcroft – 3 – 5 – 8
Hermon – 0 – 0 – 0

Click to view additional photos from the game

Saturday, June 27, 2009

St. Louis Arch & Museum of Westward Expansion

The famous St. Louis Arch at ground level. Photo by Skip Hawkes

ST.LOUIS - Today, Saturday, June 27, we took a ride by tram up to the top of the St. Louis Arch 630 feet above ground. There you can see the city of St. Louis and the surrounding areas, as well as a portion of the Mississippi River.

Busch Stadium from the top of the Arch. Photo by Skip Hawkes

Some of the St. Louis skyline from the top of the Arch. Photo by Skip Hawkes

The photo gallery contains photos from the Museum of Westward Expansion, which is underground below the Arch, as well as many photos of the St. Louis skyline and beyond.