Priceless

The kids gave Luke some photos for Christmas. I love that Becky caught them smiling at each other like this...they do it all the time, and I love having it captured on film.

Charlie Brown Tree

Dylan told me he didn't like this tree, because you can see the middle. But we got it anyway, because I like Charlie Brown trees. And Dylan wasn't paying. So there.

The Manger

This is one of my favorite Christmas traditions. Each good deed or kind word earns a piece of straw for the manger. It's nice to see Izzy and Dylan being especially well behaved; not because elves are watching, but because they want baby Jesus to have a soft place to lay his head on Christmas morning. Perhaps I should leave the manger out all year long...

Desert Day

Each year on the Saturday following Thanksgiving, our family heads out to the desert for some fun. We roast hot dogs and marshmallows, gather cedar to decorate our houses for Christmas, and shoot guns. Not an average family tradition, I know, but tons of fun nonetheless.
Dylan got in on the action this year. Desert day is no longer a spectator sport for Bucky...he is official. His friend Camden let him borrow his Crickett rifle, which ended up being the perfect size. Dylan was able to load and shoot on his own, and burned through an entire box of ammo in no time at all. He had a blast!


Izzy helped Luke send a clay pigeon or two flying for the big boys, shot for a little while,


then decided to hang out by the fire with me. I took a picture of her looking all grown up


and she took one of me hanging out by the truck.


We had a chance to hang out and chat while the boys went out looking for rabbits.


Bucky was hot on the trail of a couple, but didn't have any luck finding one. No complaints, though. We got our fill of sunshine, fresh air, and quality time together. The hot dogs weren't bad, either. Yippie for desert day!

Silly Putty

If you didn't get a chance to hear about our last silly putty experience, please click here.
Now that you are up to speed, take the bright yellow putty and instead of giving it to a child, give it to a yorkshire terrier. Awesome. There are no pictures of this event, because Luke was busy rubbing peanut butter on Ozzy's paws, eventually shaving them, and I was getting silly putty out of the carpet. And just so you know, eating silly putty makes dogs sick, so Luke got to clean that up, too. The true miracle of the season this year is that Ozzy lived to see another day. Barely.

Memories

This picture hung in our family room in the home I grew up in. I looked at it every day (it was above the big Zenith TV), but never really noticed it. Last year at a family party, one of Luke's cousins had the very same picture hanging above her mantle. It flooded me with memories of my sisters, my grandparents, the set of World Book Encyclopedias that were on the bookshelf by the window. I could smell my old house. I could feel the brown carpet under my feet. I closed my eyes and I could see every detail of that room. There are so many memories of that house, of that time in my life. When we all lived under the same roof and got to see each other every single day. We ate Sunday dinner together and laughed and loved and fought and cried. We opened Christmas presents and played Tetris in that room. I remember playing poker for Max Factor make-up with my sisters. So many memories! I was lucky to have two incredible parents and three amazing sisters. Especially at this time of the year, I am reminded of how thankful I am for them. And more than any other season, I miss them. I sometimes wish I could have just one day to go back and take it all in.

Happy Halloween

Harry and Hermione had a blast trick-or-treating. We hope all your ghosts and goblins did, too!

Fall Break

Play at the park...check.
Go to the beach...check.
Ride scooters on the bike path around the lake...check.
Sleep in every morning...check.
Eat too many treats...check.
Laugh out loud...check.
Go on walks...check.
Play games...check.
Relax...check.

Camouflage

I know it's hard to find Bucky in this photo, but if you can, check out the smile on his face. He stood still just long enough for me to take this picture before bolting for Luke's truck and his first experience elk hunting. There was no looking back. Just a fist bump and a "see you later, mom". Man, they grow up fast.

Fire Pit

Last night we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows in our backyard. We had so much fun! Fall is the perfect time of year to hang out by a nice fire. Thanks, mom and dad, for letting us borrow your fire bowl...we plan on using it a lot!

Finally!

Bucky lost his first tooth last night during Isabelle's birthday dinner! They both thought it was a perfect ending to a fabulous day. He decided not to put it under his pillow, though. Apparently the tooth fairy wouldn't appreciate it as much as he does. What does she even do with those teeth? Besides, he wanted to keep it in his pocket and show his friends at recess. That boy would keep everything if he had a place to put it. Luke and I find rocks and paper clips, pine cones and wrappers...so many random things under his pillow all the time. He just hates to throw things away. Maybe he'll change his mind in a few days :)

Birthday Girl

Isabelle is celebrating her 9th birthday today. She is one of my very favorite people in the world. She's funny, smart, organized, happy, nurturing, kind, thoughtful, talented...the list goes on and on. We are so blessed to have such an incredible daughter! Happy birthday, Tiny :)

Stitches

While we were in Sitka, Fred (my father-in-law) got a message from Dylan's school. Bucky was in the office, bleeding, and needed to be picked up and taken to the hospital for stitches. Did I mention I was in Sitka? I honestly thought Fred was pulling my leg to get a rise out of me, but it turns out he was being serious. After a phone call to the school, a few to my awesome mom who stayed with my kids for eight days, and a couple to the doctor's office for a co-pay and consent to treat, I was left standing in Alaska completely helpless. Thank heaven for my mom. She got him picked up, taken to the doctor, and stitched up like the old pro she is. In all honesty, it was probably better that she handled it. It turns out I'm not so good with blood. Thanks, mom, for saving the day!

Alaska

We started our trip in Seattle on Friday. First stop, Starbucks. A raspberry hot chocolate with extra whipped cream...yum.


I had to stop and kiss the pig at the market for luck. Just the fact that I didn't get sick from touching my lips to millions of germs proves that indeed, I have been blessed with good luck so far.


I love Pike's. The flowers, the fresh produce, the people...honestly one of my favorite places. It has an energy about it that I just can't explain. Seattle is a way cool city, and I hope we can go back soon with the kids!


On our way to the market, we passed a little note in the sidewalk. Good advice.


I have a million pictures of Alaska (really just 200 or so), but I'll try to just hit the highlights. Our first stop was Juneau. We found a cool mountain outfitters shop and asked the guys working if there were any cool trails in the area. We ended up walking up a dirt road and past a killer old wood bridge (pictured) to the Mt. Roberts trailhead.


It was breathtaking! Both for the beauty and the steep incline. Luke powered through, but I had to take a break or two. We saw some bear tracks, but no bears. Luke was disappointed; I was relieved.


When we got just below the summit, we ran into some wild mountain blueberries. So delicious!


Back to the ship, and on to Hubbard Glacier. Emily and I took in the sunshine, which is apparently pretty rare at the Glacier, and watched the ice calving.


Pictures don't do the glacier justice. It was absolutely amazing. The face of the glacier that we could see was over 6 miles wide. It's not something I can explain, you just have to see it for yourself. Incredible.


Em and I finally found the rest of the group, and we asked someone to take a quick photo. Not a bad looking bunch, eh?


Our next stop was Sitka, which was gorgeous. We went for a walk on some trails in the Sitka National Historical Park.


If you look at the water, all the little black spots are salmon. I've never seen so many fish! It was really neat to watch them jump and swim upstream.


We also went to an old Russian cemetery, which I thought was beautiful.



It rained in Ketchikan, which was no surprise. They get 152" of rain on average each year. We walked through the old red light district and Fred took us to see some Tlingit totem poles, which were really neat. And we got really, really wet.



We weren't able to stop in Victoria due to the weather. The wind was pretty strong, so the captain couldn't dock the ship. We were a little bummed, but that just means we'll have to go back! We could see the parliament building and the Empress Hotel from the back of the boat, so we got out the old binoculars and enjoyed the fresh air and good company.
What an experience! We made memories that will last forever. We played games, ate a lot of food, laughed till our stomachs hurt, and flat out relaxed. Thank you, Fred and Kelly, for the trip of a lifetime!

Keeping Busy

Last week Luke taught Dylan how to replace a radiator,


and Izzy started a new ballet class (this is the first year I'm not her teacher).


We were busy having fun, and then school started and ruined everything.

Things to come...

Want to pack your bags? Something small
Take what you need and we'll disappear
Without a trace we'll be gone, gone
Moon and the stars will follow the car
And then when we get to the ocean
Gonna take a boat to the end of the world
All the way to the end of the world

Oh and when the kids are old enough, we're gonna teach them to fly

You and me together
We could do anything baby
You and me together yes, yes
You and me together
We could do anything baby
You and me together yes, yes

The other night, under at least a billion stars, Luke and I listened to Dave Matthews sing those lyrics live...amazing. It's funny how different songs hit you in different ways at different times in your life. I had started packing my bags just that day. And just like in the song, Luke and I are headed to the ocean. And we do want to teach our kids to fly. And we can do anything together. It was a perfect song on a perfect night. It's hard to believe it's been ten years since we got married. I wouldn't have wanted to spend the last decade with anyone else, and I am looking forward to taking a boat to the end of the world with him in just a few days. Awww :)

Back to the Lake

We headed back to the lake on Wednesday, but there was nothing quick about this trip. We relaxed and had fun, which was really nice. Summer seems to be slipping right through my fingers. School shouldn't be starting in two weeks, right? I had such big plans for summer, and now it's almost over.

We managed to pack a lot of fun into our 3 days of relaxing, though. The first thing we did after settling in at the cabin was head to the boardwalk and down to the beach. The kids were so excited that they got right into the water. In their clothes!


It was a long walk back to the car, but totally worth it. They all had huge smiles on their faces despite the cold, wet clothes clinging to their bodies. Hopefully they will always remember it.

For some reason, Bucky didn't want me to take any pictures of him. I guess he's getting too cool to have his mom following him around with a camera. I did manage to get a quick photo of him on the playground, though. I am so in love with this boy.


The day started out with a little drizzle of rain, but we didn't let it get us down. Who has time to worry about getting wet when there is a bounce pillow to jump on?


Too much fun! Even Sarah and I got in on the action, but there won't be any photos of that. We even tested out our teeter tottering skills. We're still pretty amazing after all these years...impressive. When the sun came out, we headed back to the beach and found a few sand monsters


as well as some sun kissed kids soaking in the last bits of summer.


There were buckets and buckets of water


and some serious engineering.


The next day we spent a little more time at the beach before heading over to my cousin Ashley's house to see...puppies!


There are ten of them (free to a good home), and I think the kids would have taken every single one of them with us if they could have. Each pup was so unique. And sooo cute.


Izzy hit it off with one of the big dogs. She loves all animals, and they seem to sense it. She wants to be a vet when she grows up, and I think she'd be a natural.


In a nutshell, we played games, stayed up too late, and ate raspberry shakes. We all got sunburned, and we are all exhausted. We laughed a lot, read a little, and looked at the stars. Sarah and I discovered Jerseylicious (are you kidding me?), and I ate my weight in muddy buddies. All in all, a great little getaway.

Quick Trip

We made a quick trip this week to Bear Lake with my folks. They got some wood permits and were nice enough to share so we could stock up on firewood. We got up at 5am on Wednesday morning...wow. So early. We wanted to get a good start so we wouldn't be working in the heat of the day. It was worth it to see the sunrise over the lake on our way to the canyon, though. Luke slowed down just enough for me to snap this photo (which doesn't even do justice to how beautiful it was).


We cut down five trees that were about 70 feet tall. It was so awesome to watch them fall. There was a really cool thunderstorm in the distance while we were working, so between the sound of thunder and trees falling, it was pretty spectacular. It was a lot of work to load them onto the trailer once they were cut up, but well worth it. Especially when I'm sitting in front of a warm fire this winter. Thanks mom and dad-we had a great time!

Bow Hunter in Training

Dylan is counting down the days until he turns twelve and is able to go elk hunting. Seeing this one sealed the deal! He's ready to go pick out his bow right now.

More Yard Stuff

Luke said he wouldn't be happy until we had a fence. He's been working on it non-stop, and it is looking great. It will provide some much needed privacy, and now I feel like I can start filling in the flower beds. What a difference it makes!


The garden is doing so well! We have been eating beets, peas, zucchini, squash, chard, basil, thyme, carrots...you get the idea. We even have a few new potatoes. Yummy.


The orchard is doing great, too. We have been spoiled with handfuls of ripe raspberries. Watching Izzy and Dylan picking them, laughing with each other...priceless.


The trees are full of peaches, plums, pears, and a variety of apples. Also, if you look closely, you can see that we actually have grapes this year! It seems all the waiting is worth it, after all!


Man, I love summer.