O Canada!

Another weekend, another beautiful camping trip. This time we went to Banff. It was gorgeous. I new it would be beautiful but I was unprepared for how beautiful. The fall leaves were brilliant and the mountain peaks snow capped and looming. Sure it was a little (very!) cold, but totally worth it.

We will call 2008 The Year of the Bear. Check out this big griz getting ready to lay down for the winter.

Moraine Lake

Lake Louise

If you look at the reflection in the window you can see our view from the cabin.

This is the cabin we stayed in for one night. It had an amazing view and a beautiful hike right out the front door.

Our beautiful Asher. He was an angel this trip.
Sweet Jackson.

Family portraits with the fall leaves as backdrop.

The Smith family. We bookended our summer with them. Smith River in May(view here and here), and Banff in September. We love traveling with these guys.

What you don't see is how high up this sign is. Mitch had to do some climbing to get up here, but it makes for a great picture.

FYI: We drove a scenic route through Kanaskis, it was such a beautiful drive and totally worth the extra time it took, we even choose to take the same drive home. We camped at Lake Louise campground the second to last night that they would allow tent camping, it was soooooo cold. the boys were troopers. Asher made up for being less than good on other trips by being an angel on this one. Moraine Lake and Lake Louise were highlights. We went to Banff hot springs for some warmth on a cold day. And enjoyed the doughnuts of Tim Horton's. A good time was had by all!

Another day at the River

Our time in Montana is coming to an end faster than we would like. We are doing our very best at taking advantage of the time we have left. We spent another afternoon on the River with our boys and our friend Dave. Fall is coming soon so we have to take any warm day we can get and this was a beautiful day.Mitch and Dave burrying the kayak.

Stackled

Mitch getting "stackled." Our friend Grace used that word and I thought it was perfect. He is both tackled and has a stack of kids on his back.

Let's have a party

I just noticed that yesterday was the year anniversary of our blog. Confetti, streamers, party horns, balloons all that fun stuff.

I just wanted to say, though I know it is a bit dramatic, Blogging has change my life. I know, but it's true. I love that I can keep up with friends and family that are far away, or even just a few blocks away. I love reconnecting with old friends or acquaintances that I may have lost contact with entirely if it weren't for their blogs. And I love keeping a record of my family. We have so much going on right now and so much to be grateful for. It is wonderful to have the blog to share all the good, the bad and the in between. I seriously think in terms of blogs post! I am looking forward to putting together our blog book on http://blurb.com/, I recommend the program to anyone else interested in having a hard copy of their blog.

Thanks for reading and commenting!

These boys rock!

We took the boys out for a bike ride on Friday night. The plan was we would pull to boys in the bike trailer while we got a little exercise. As we were loading the bikes Jackson insisted we bring his, so of course Asher insisted on bringing his big wheel. We figured when we got there and pulled out the trailer, which they love, they would want to ride in that. That was not the case, they both insisted on riding their own bikes. Jackson has only been riding a two wheeler for a week now and he was amazing. He did hills, started and stopped on hills, and went super fast and would have gone on forever if we didn't insist that it was getting dark and we needed to turn back. And Asher, he was killer. He was going so fast down some of the hills on that little big wheel, that he flipped his bike a few times. He was determined to keep up, and wouldn't stop for anything. Mitch had the trailer attached to his bike and we didn't talk it off because we figured that Asher would want in within five minutes. It never happened. They are such cute, active, adventurous, determined little boys. I was so proud of them, I could have cried. They never cease to amaze me.King of the castle!

the little charmer
Giant Springs State Park

A first

We have never done the garage sale thing before. But move after move we keep taking the same stuff with us that we don't need and will never use again. We also had some friends in a similar situation, and they were done having kids so they were unloading all of their baby stuff, and they had a lot of stuff. Since we are on a well travelled road we held the sale at our house and it was kind of fun. It was raining during our sale so we didn't brake any sales records, but it was nice to get a little cash for what we think is junk. In the end we made a few buck and had some fun. Jackson took it upon himself to sell one of our picture frames for .25 cents, a super nice girl bought in from him and he was so happy it made his whole day.

When it started to rain we had to move the fun into our garage. By noon, when we were all packed up and done the sun came out and it was a beautiful day.

pandora

I was just making sure that everyone has heard of http://pandora.com/. This is the coolest website! It's an online radio station based on the music genome project. You enter and artist, then the site creates a radio station based on the music and sound of that artist. I have discover a whole bunch of new songs and artist that I love through this website.


If you have already discovered Pandora, let me know what your favorite stations are. So far I have Kalai, The Postal Service, Feist, I have even tried Schumann (classical as in Robert Schumann.) But I am always game for new ideas.

The Grand Teton

A few weeks ago when we went to Wendy's cabin in West Yellowstone I slipped away for an excursion with my college friends. It was a last minute thought, but luckily Nate, Scott, and Gene were able to join me. I missed the last group Grand Teton trip, so I was glad this came together, and their climbing experience made it much easier. Here is a picture driving up to the mountain. The peak is just under 14,000 ft, and the parking lot is around 7,000 ft. The trail was approx 9 miles. As you can tell the climb is pretty steep. Scott Whiting, Gene Spalding, and Nathan Berg on the way up

Me and Gene hiking to the lower saddle

We left in the evening and hiked to the lower saddle just below 11,000 ft where we camped on the rocks under the stars. It was a clear full moon night, but unfortunately I couldn't capture it on camera. Here is the sunrise shortly after we began climbing at 5 AM.

This is looking down on the lower saddle as the sun is rising. The steep scramble begins at the lower saddle with a few tricky traverses and climbs. This is me making one of the traverses with a 4,000 ft cliff looming below.

This is me at the upper saddle where things start to get steep

Me, Gene and Nate working our way to the top

We were extremely lucky and had a beautiful day. We summitted around 10 AM, and there was almost no wind, it was warm, and the visibility was incredible. We could see from Yellowstone to the Wind River Range in Wyoming, and beyond. We spent almost 45 min on the top eating lunch and taking pictures. It was incredible.

The gang on top

Scott showing off doing his famous handstand

We repelled twice on the way down. The first was approx 150 ft, and the second was approx 200 ft. It was a lot of fun, and a lot easier than going up.

The hike out was quick with a short swim in the river on the way down. The climb was perfect and couldn't have been better. It was great to see my friends, and finally get the chance to climb the Grand.

Jackson goes back to school

Jackson started preschool this week. He is going to the same school he went to last year, but now he is in the 4 year old class and he loves it! He loves Miss Carol, and missed her all summer so he we super excited to be going back. He was excited to be headed off for school, but. . .

His brother was broken hearted about the separation. It was pretty dramatic Wednesday morning as I got Jackson ready for school. Asher knew something was up and he was not happy about it one bit!

He was really excited for today because it was the first "show-and-tell-o" I am not sure why he adds the "o" but it sure is cute.

Big Day!

Today was a big day! A really big day.

Jackson broke the training wheels off his bike he rides all day long. Mitch was trying to figure out how to fix it when I suggested he just teach him to ride without the training wheels. Next thing I know he is outside with Jackson teaching him. He is such a determined little boy, he kept saying he wanted to practice and made us help him until he got it. And now my guy is riding a two wheeler, and he couldn't be happier, I tell you if he could fly we couldn't keep him on the ground. He told us, now he is a real big boy and we have to start calling him a five year old. We have some great video I need to post but I wanted to put up the good news because there is more.


Asher went poo poo in the potty today! For anyone that remembers the drama of potty training Jackson this is huge. Huge because we haven't even started potty training. He just told Mitch that he needed to go potty, sat on the potty, waited patiently and we had potty success. I realize that to anyone who has not potty trained a boy, blogging about poop might seem a little extreme. But to those who know this is big happy news. I guess I should get out the potty books and get that boys some big boy underwear. My boys are growing up so fast. It makes me proud to see them with their little accomplishments, but they seem to be growing up so fast, I wouldn't mind a little more time.

Leigh Lake and other good times

We finally got to go! Every year our friends from the good old days in Logan, get together at Leigh Lake in Teton National Park, right in the shadow of the Tetons. It is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Every year we would see the pictures and die a little inside because we couldn't make it. We did live in Pennsylvania for four years, which it made it a little difficult to get there. But this year, nothing would stop us from getting there. It was amazing! We started on String lake with a kayak (everyone else had canoes) to the end of the lake, a short portage, then a paddle across Leigh Lake to the campsite. It was a great time spend basking in the sun on the beach, frog catching and berry picking. Not to mention reconnecting with some of our favorite people ever! I can't believe that next year we will be back in PA, it will be another 3 years before we can get back. That sound you hear, that is my heart breaking a little bit.

I paddled a boat with the boys while Mitch paddled in all of our stuff.

Kiss a frog become a prince

Paddling around the lake, blueberry face & Asher's best side. (can I show this picture because it's my favorite.)


The kids, Jackson called this a grand kids picture

The girls. I was so happy to be with them again

Asher taking a nap in the hammock on the beach paddling out

Mitch with all our loot.

The fun didn't stop there. We had the next two days to spend in Jackson with our friends. Sunday was spent going to church, catching up on sleep, and just plain catching up, some of us hadn't seen each other in over two years.

Then on Labor Day, the guys went kayaking on the snake River. The moms and kids met them a few hours later and we headed to Granite Creek hot springs. They are natural hot springs up Hoback canyon. The boys were in heaven. They both love to swim and to get to swim in a super big bath tub was like a dream come true. It was hard to leave, which is why we didn't leave Jackson until 6:30 p.m. We had a long drive home, but it was totally worth it.