A Saviour Is Born

  After our years of celebrating Christmas solo on the east coast, it still remains a gift to celebrate with family.  Whether it's a few weeks before or a couple of months after the "BIG" day, we treasure the time we are able to be with family.  True, we love the presents and the food - but it's the memories of laughter and joy with loved ones that stay with us throughout the rest of the year.  We feel that even more in this increasingly chaotic and fractured world.  Here are some of my favorite faces on Christmas Day:

We try not take the presence of loved ones for granted during the holidays.  We know that at any moment life can change irrevocably, as we have seen so many times over the past months.  We are so grateful for the hope given to humanity by the coming of the Savior, whose birth we celebrate together.  If you don't know Him, we urge you to seek and learn about His birth, life and death that saved the world from itself.  We surely do need Him!

 

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Fourteen

  

Annabel's birthday is exactly one week before Christmas, and her birthday celebrations can sometimes get overshadowed by all of the other festivities that occur during this hectic time of year.  But we always strive to do something to show our sweet girl how much she means to us.

 

This year we celebrated with her friends earlier in December.  They had a snowball fight, decorated cookies, made bracelets and enjoyed a dinner of teen-approved snacks.  What a delightful group of girls!

 

 

On her actual birthday, Grampa and Gramma came over for a huge carb-fest of chicken waffles and chocolate cake (oh to have a teenage metabolism again!)

 

 

Annabel is super smart, and she is turning into such a sweet young woman.  She has a heart full of love for her friends - human and furry.

We love you sweet girl!!

Twelve

Thane recently celebrated his 12th birthday, which isn't as surprising as I feel like it should be since he has grown up so much this past year.  First he helped and learned a lot during the process of building our home.

As much as he enjoyed construction, Thane will always be a boy who prefers the great outdoors.  To that end he continued to hone his fly fishing skills.

He also shot his first grouse while up in the mountains.

To celebrate his birthday, we had dinner with Grampa Frank and Gramma Bobi one night.  A week or so later we invited two of his buddies to have a nerf gun war, explore the local draw and find golf balls that neighbors drive into the field from their backyard.  Then we headed to the Chinese buffet and watched the local team play hockey.

But undoubtedly the highlight of Thane's year happened 2 days before his big day when he shot his first elk.  The cow was spotted at quite some distance, and he and Jordan got as close as they dared.  Thane insisted he could make the shot, and sure enough he did!

It was a pretty darn exciting way to start off the year.  We can't wait to see what you'll do next.  So much love heading your way Thane!

Fall In the Air

  

 

I think I've mentioned before that I get incredibly homesick for New England this time of year.  There's nothing quite like the smell of wood smoke in crisp air while walking through a carpet of colored leaves under a pristine blue sky.  Thankfully the Big Horn Mountains are pretty in the fall too, and we've been privileged enough to head up the mountains several times over the past few weeks.

We've taken Freya a few times, and she loves being in the wild.  She doesn't seem to mind frigid alpine water too much either.  Silly dog!

 

Last weekend Jordan took me along to go scouting for elk.  We got to hike up Steamboat, which has breathtaking views.

The setting sun on the cliff face was beautiful, and I could breathe that fresh mountain air all year.  It's not home, but it's a pretty close second!

Hiking Adventures

As I said in my last post, Jon flew up from Arizona to go on a hiking adventure with Jordan.  The two drove a couple of hours up the middle of the Big Horns to get on the Cliff Lake Loop Trail which, judging from the pictures, was pretty spectacular.  After a 4+ mile hike through a pine forest, the men hiked through a meadow and up a cliff pass to see some pretty epic views.

At over 10,000 feet in elevation, the mountain range is home to numerous crystal clear alpine lakes.

 

The boys hiked a total of 19 miles in 2.5 days, stopping each night at a different lake to camp.  The second day Jordan and Jon walked just below the Black Tooth Mountain ridge, which you can see from our place.

Here's a much closer view of the mountain:

The trek was over far too soon, but Jordan is already planning a camping trip to this beautiful spot with the kids and I - maybe later this fall if the weather holds.  We can't wait!

Full Days

It's been a busy, but super fun, couple of weeks at our place.  First, the kids and I headed back to school.  I'm still in the office of a local elementary school, while both of the kids are at the junior high.  So far Annabel and Thane both agree that they would rather be home on summer break.  Something tells me that it could be a long year!

Two days after school started, our wonderful friend Jon came to visit on his way to being re-stationed on the east coast.  While he could only stay for one day, we were all thrilled to be able to visit.

The day after Jon left, we got to hang out with Uncle Kelly and Aunt Michele!  Visits with these two fabulous humans are always fun, and it was great to be able to show them around our neck of the woods.  

 

And to prove that good things come in groups of 3, our beloved brother-in-law flew up from Arizona for a spell.  He and Jordan were hiking up in the mountains for most of his stay, but we were happy to have him home with us for a bit at the end of his stay.

We all agree that we didn't have nearly enough time with any of our guests, and we are actively hoping that they will all be back again soon!

UNwelcome Visitor

We just love our new neighborhood nestled up on a hill surrounded by fields with incredible mountain views.  But apparently such luxury comes with a price.  A scaly, poisonous price.  While walking Freya (15 weeks) after dusk the other night, Jordan and I walked past this guy soaking up the last of the day's heat on the road: 

That would be a prairie rattlesnake.  Um, NO THANK YOU!  Jordan killed it, and we've duly warned all of our neighbors who walk their dogs in the area to be cautious.  On the bright side, we now have a cool snake rattle to add to our collection of natural wonders.  But to be honest, it's something I could have definitely done without!

Welcome Visitors

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We were so excited to be able to spend a few days with my folks, who drove up from Arizona for an all-too-brief visit.  

 

It was great to be able to relax and enjoy each other's company.  We went into town a few times to visit King's Saddlery Museum, to shop and to enjoy ice cream in Kendrick Park.  Of course we drove up into the mountains one day.  We were grateful for a good day with the wind blowing the smoke away from us for a change.  We could see most of the mountain peaks, and Thane & Dad were able to spend some time fly fishing.

 

 

Back at home, the kids spent time working on their golf skills in the back field.  Even Mom took a stab at it!

One night we celebrated Dad's birthday.  It's always such a treat to be together for these occasions! Sadly, Dad and Mom are on their way back home.  Until we meet again!

Freya

Meet Freya, our new puppy.  A wire haired pointing griffon, Freya is officially supposed to be Jordan's bird hunting buddy.  But don't let him fool you, she is very much a family dog!

The kids are in their glory working on such skills as potty training, manners and playing fetch.  Fetch is going great;  as to the others...  let's just say it's a work in progress.

Freya's only been with us for a 3 days, but we are already smitten.  Love at first sight for sure!

Lake Life Is the Best Life

This year we were super happy to spend a week at the family cabin in Minnesota.  Jordan's Aunt and Uncle are such wonderful hosts, and we were once again spoiled rotten!  We did all of the usual things that make our time in this special spot so tranquil:  swimming, boating and, of course, fishing.

We took the kids to the fun park where they tackled Ninja warrior-style obstacles, go-carted and had epic water balloon fights.  After we visited the best candy store in town.

One night we were treated to a huge family-style dinner at an old logging camp.  Ribs, ham steaks, roast beef, baked beans, cole slaw, macaroni salad, rolls, cornbread, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pickles and donuts.  It was a FEAST.

As much fun as all of these events (and more!) were, the best part of the week was hanging out with the fam.  The fun and laughter is the thing that we find most memorable. 

Thanks for a fabulous week.  We're already making plans for next year!

Cowboy Luke

On our last morning in Yellowstone the kids and I packed up and drove straight to the airport in Billings, Montana, to pick up my sister and nephew Lucas.  We had a wonderful visit with Kim and Lukie, who was thrilled to be in cowboy country.

The kids played around the house, in the hotel pool, outside our home and in all 4 corners of the park.  We also went to a book carnival that our library sponsored.  

The weekend was over far to soon, and we are all missing our Arizona family a lot more these days.  Hoping to see you all again in the not too distant future!

Yellowstone Fun

As everyone knows, a trip to Wyoming is never complete without a visit to Yellowstone.  So the Yorks packed up their luggage and invited the kids and I along to the park for a few days.  After a brief visit to the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody, we spent a long day and a half driving around the park loops.  On our first evening we watched Old Faithful erupt, and then headed over to the Grand Prismatic Spring.  The bad news is that we couldn't see the spring due to the freezing torrential rain that hit the scalding hot water which caused a fog cover that was thicker than pea soup.  But the good news is that we caught the gorgeous rainbow at the end of the storm.

The next day we drove another loop where we saw loads of buffalo, a petrified tree and the moonscape-like Mammoth Hot Springs.

And while I'm sure that the kids all enjoyed different aspects of the park, the one thing that they will all remember quite vividly will be our sleeping accommodations.

Yep, those are teepees anchored right along the Shoshone River.  Short on electricity and indoor plumbing, but long on adventure, these were the perfect places to reminisce about our days exploring the wild west.

Meanwhile, Up in the Mountains

 

While we girls were living our best life, the boys were definitely roughing it up in the mountains.  Jordan, Thane, Keith, Liam and Barrett hiked into our camping spot for an overnight adventure.  They had a grand time until everyone came down with a nasty summer cold.  Despite the short excursion, the boys had a wonderful time together.

Until the next time, I'm fairly certain that Liam and Thane will both be dreaming of their next camping escapade.