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!