Crazy Hike

So I come to the office to make a post and see these two slide shows...wow. All I can say is - hey, I worked in the sun and the sagebrush all summer:o) I miss you dear, despite the scandalous pic, and can't wait to see you guys in a few days. - Here was my original post

With Morgan and the kids gone it has been quite, too quite but I have been able to get a few more things down around the house. I also went for a hike into the Latir Wilderness yesterday. The hike was nice but very steep and the snow a little deeper than I expected – waist deep in some places, even with snowshoes. I think that Erich would have been the only one who wouldn’t have complained about that hike (over 2,000 feet in just over a mile). I had a good time but was a little disappointed that I didn’t get to timberline for some great views. So these pictures are all you get, sorry.

As for Morgan, Sage and Keiger, all I know is that they have been having fun…maybe she will fill you in sometime.

This is the road that leads to El Rito the little town at the base of the wilderness on the west side. The red was my route since I was tired and by myself, and wanted to come down while it was still light the top will have to come another time. You can just make out Cabresto Peak in the center of the photo. A view back on to the 'Taos Plateau' or Rio Grande Valley centered on Ute MountainThis aerial photo gives you an idea of where I wanted to go (Cabresto Peak, bottom left and Venado Peak, top right with Virgin Canyon between them)...can't wait 'till summer

Evening glow on the Wheeler Peak Wilderness

We love Jake!

Ok, so not to be a tease or anything, but here's a college photo of Jacob. Take a look at his face and arms. Now glance down at those white little legs. Nice. Just kidding you, Jake. Going to the wedding today made me love you even more. Nell and I got to chatting about anything we would change about our weddings, and I don't think I'd change a thing, except my poofy veil. I miss you!

Ahh, to be in college again!

So, I've been in Utah for the past week while Jake's been a bachelor at home. It's been nice to visit family, and I was able to go to the wedding of an old college roommate, Jen. It was one of the few weddings of my friends I was able to attend since we've lived so far away. Anyway, it was really nice. Jen looked gorgeous. Just like a princess. And her new husband is a cute guy. And, of course, I forgot a camera, so sorry, no pics. BUT, I did happen to come across some old pics from college that brought back a lot of great memories of good times in Rexburg. And I got to visit with Mel and Nellie (more old roommates) at the wedding too, so I've had a lot of nostalgia about those Ricks College days where we (well mostly me) were such goofs. So instead of wedding pics, you get Moe's old college pics...even better! And I must warn you that I post these pictures without permission from anyone in them. Sorry guys! Just think of the fun we had, though. Remember the "CC?"

Finally, Taos Ski Valley

Well, Morgan and the kids off to Utah for a while, I guess it is up to me to write the blog – sorry. We have been just plugging along with nothing really exciting going on. Morgan and I did finally make it up to the famed Taos Ski Valley for a gorgeous, but cold ski afternoon. I kept having to remind myself that we were in New Mexico. The above picture pointing out Morgan is looking down the Kachina Bowl and the next one is looking back in to the bowl from a different part of the mountain. Needless to say we had a blast.
Sage has just been enjoying her favorite activities as of late, ice skating and ballet. This time ice skating she even decided to try it without the little helper bar – sorry the picture is blurry. It didn’t last long but she sure enjoyed herself. Also, ballet has been so fun for her – I personally have not seen her, but is looks cute in the pictures and Morgan says she tries so hard to follow the teachers.
Keiger received some mega blocks for Christmas and he and Sage have been building away. We got the child-safety locks up so no more sweeping up dumped out crackers at least, but there is always something as he never holds still. His walking is great loves to be chased, or chase is sister when she doesn’t want him around. But they have been playing better together.
Like I said, nothing to exciting but at least there are some new pictures to look at :o)

Musings

Ever have those days where you just call someone just so you can talk to a grown-up for a while? Yeah, today was one of those. This Christmas was so nice to just have time to do stuff together and to not have any commitments, but I think we’re ready to get back into the swing of things.
New Year’s is such a funny holiday. What do you do? We went up to Taos Ski Valley to watch a torchlight parade down the mountain and fireworks. We were late (big surprise), so we missed the parade, but caught the fireworks. Sage was afraid of the loud booms (another big surprise), so we just watched from the car. That was fine by me because it was COLD! Jacob and I put in a movie when we got home. I was asleep by 10:30. We spent New Year’s Day sledding. Sage discovered she like going down on her bum and tummy best of all. Why buy a sled?
Jacob and I finally got to ski the other day. It was the first time we have ever hired a baby-sitter, but worth it, for me at least. Jacob did remark that he’d rather be hiking. I told him he could just skip the lift and hike up the hill. He had a spooky fall—must have caught an edge just before he hit a cat track. Anyway, he ended up sliding off the cat track and flying off the edge of the hill into the trees. Luckily, he didn’t hit any trees, only stumps. No injuries, thankfully! We were thinking that that was the first time we’d been skiing since I was pregnant with Sage, about 4 years ago. Crazy.

I have had a bit of tooth trauma the past few months. It all started with a broken filling which boiled down to a dreaded root canal. I have heard such horror stories about those that you can imagine I was so nervous! And of course, I had to go to Sante Fe to get it done. I seriously had such anxiety. And then I met my dentist, Dr. Gavron. Quite a character. He really likes his root canals. Anyway, the whole experience, thankfully, went just fine. Totally painless—I don’t do well with teeth stuff—and really fascinating in a weird sort of educational way. I learned some new things about teeth. I got to use a mirror to see a lot of what was going on. I have become quite committed to pampering my pearly whites to hopefully avoid any extra dentist visits, nice as Dr. Gavron was.
We’ve put it off long enough, but the time has come to install the child locks. Not that I’m worried about Kei getting into the cleaning cabinets and finding something dangerous. It’s his getting into the food cabinets that has become my biggest pet peeve. He’ll open the cabinet where I keep the snack stuff, pull out a granola bar or a fruit snack, and follow you around wanting you to open it. Or he’ll pull out a box of crackers and dump them out as he munches. As cute as Keiger is, this is one habit we are going to stop. I’m sick of sweeping. But we still love him. He is able to this so well because he decided to start walking. After taking a few steps in Arizona – thanks Talon for showing him the way – he just started walking more and more each day. Now he is just acquiring new bumps and bruises – fun stuff.