It was our friend Brandon's 29th Birthday. Brandon (far left, back row in the first pic) is one of those outdoorsy, hiking, camping, biking, triathlete sort of guys. He loves this stuff. So, for his birthday, we decided to surprise him on the top of Squaw Peak on a full-mooned night this past week. A few of us went up early to surprise him at the top. The only problem with that was Steve, Brandon's roommate, kind of gave away the plan. Apparently, Brandon saw him sending out the evite a few days before. It was still a blast, though. It was a very cultured event. We celebrated at the top (beautiful) with wine, cheese, crackers, and alot of sweat.

On the way down, Kira and I had a scare. We heard a rattle. And jumped back about six feet in about .02 secs. Sure enough, there was a baby rattler on the left side of the trail. It took its time to slither across the trail as we waited shaking. I kept waiting for it to "charge" towards us..or for something to come behind us that would make us run forward. It was a bit scary for a sec. But I was very brave. And we are alive here today because of it.

Happy Birthday, Brandon!