A Mouse in the House! And some pumpkins, too!

Aaack! Yes! I was watching a movie the other night when a mouse (ugh!) scurried out from behind the T.V. stand! It took a couple of nights to finally catch it. I was still in bed when this lovely picture was taken--I would never have let the kids near the thing! Keiger thought it was sooo cool the mouse's eyes were still open in the trap. Yuck!

Anyway, October has been full to the brim. Jacob's grandpa passed away last week so he has been in Oregon for the funeral. The Primary Program was this morning. We got through it with no injuries so we can all breath a bit easier. The kids did great.

We've been busy each weekend with some fun activities. Last week, we drove into the middle of nowhere New Mexico to McCall's Pumpkin Patch. It was so worth the drive. What a darling place! It was like barn amusement park: hayride to the pumpkin patch, bouncy houses, rubber ducky races, petting zoo, corn maze, a big ol' trampoline jump thingee that I want in my backyard, and more. We could have stayed so much longer. It was so fun.

We had an "It's the Great Pumpkin Pajama Party" last week--made yummy caramel apples and listened to "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." Kids had fun and it got them hyped up to ride the "It's the Great Pumpkin" train in Durango yesterday. We met my parents and all boarded the narrow guage train and rode for about 30 minutes to an area where there were all sorts of games, music, trick-or-treating, and a pumpkin patch maze. When Keiger saw Snoopy, he literally bolted from us and ran right over to him. He was so excited. We looked hard, but didn't see the Great Pumpkin. Maybe next year. Poor Linus.

Sage is dressed as a dalmation, by the way. Yes, their costumes are fairly hilarious this year.

So Jacob and I went to our first adult Halloween Costume party this year. The theme for the costumes was "famously dead." Think about that for a bit. Too fun. Anyway, I went as the scandalous Cleopatra and Jacob made a great Steve Irwin, Crocodile Hunter. There were some great costumes, but seriously, by 10 p.m. I was so ready for bed! I can't handle late-nighters anymore--could I ever? We've been lucky to have a good year with pumpkins in the garden. The kids, Sage particularly, were excited to pose with some of them.

Happy 1st Day of Autumn!!!

Hurray for Autumn, our favorite time of year!

So I've been doing a preschool playday for Keiger and one of his friends twice a week, one day at our house, one day at the other mom's house. It's been great fun. Couldn't resist putting in this photo from "BUG" day.

Goings-On

So I finally took the Hunger Games icon down, but, seriously, if you haven't read those books yet, you need to. Jacob even read them. And he liked them. Since our TV broke last July, and we just haven't really thought about fixing it, we've been doing a lot of reading at night. It's actually been really nice.

So about a month ago, I noticed a bottle of "no-scent" body wash in the shower and could only think one thing. Yep. Hunting season. The time of year Jacob lives for. He drew an elk and a deer archery tag this year, and, in a word, it's been...frustrating. "Lots of elk. No good shots," as Jacob says. He has until Wednesday before his season closes. We'll see. I keep telling it's going to be just fine if we have to get meat from the grocery store. He's not convinced.

We've decided to tear apart the yard again. Why not? No really, we've been wanting to get rid of some lilacs around the house that are just unwieldy and kinda ugly. It's turning into a big project, but once it's done, we're satisfied that the yard will finally be finished!!! Yippee!

Yesterday, we made our annual trip to the raspberry ranch. We've been waiting for the berries to come on, and I must say Sage and Keiger are good little pickers. They had a good time helping out, and we came home with plenty of berries to freeze and make jam. Yummy!

So Finn is completely unlike our other kids. He really is everywhere and into everything! Non-stop! I'm exercising in the family room the other morning, and I come into the kitchen to find that Finn discovered a measuring spoon and had been scooping dirt from an indoor plant and carrying it over to dump on the couch. So there's this trail of dirt across the kitchen floor and a lovely little pile of soil on the couch. He was so pleased. I have a feeling this little guy is going to keep us busy!

Finn's 1!

Happy 1st Birthday, Finneas! Finn celebrated his first birthday last Friday. Too bad he’s had a cold and has been a bit grumpy. The kids made him a great cake, we played some fun games outside, and Finn watched as Sage & Keiger opened his gifts for him. Of course, he enjoyed smearing his cake all over. Too fun. Finny is seriously such a goofy little guy, but he is so endearing that you can’t help but love him, especially us. Ever since he started to walk, he disappears into another room for a while and usually reappears with the toy stethoscope around his neck (he really likes that) or somebody’s toothbrush that he’s probably swirled around in the toilet a few times. We are all so grateful for Finn in the family.
School started last week, so it’s back to early bedtimes, lunch-packing, and new this year: homework! Sage loves 1st grade already and says it’s even better than kindergarten.

We did manage to squeeze in a little adventure on Saturday. We all packed into the truck and drove up past Red River on this narrow, bumpy, bumpy, bumpy, long dirt road to Goose Lake. The lake was pretty, but we hiked up above it to the ridge of the mountains where we could look down onto Taos Ski Valley. It was beautiful and at 12,000 feet, the highest the kids have ever been. It’s also where Jacob wants to do his deer hunting this year. So is that why we want on this hike?

Trip

So we’ve been out of town for what seems like forever…nearly all of July. We were able to go to Idaho for Jacob’s cousin, Kendra’s wedding. Very nice to see all the family there. Then we went with Jacob’s parents and Justin & Maile’s family to a cabin near Park City for a little reunion. The cousins had so much fun together, and Shawnee planned some really cute things for us all to do…for the kids of course, although I’m pretty sure Jacob really enjoyed crazy hair day and learning a dance for Hawaii day. He was into it. And we all saw plenty of moose on our 4-wheeler rides.

The following week, we left the kids with my mom and went with my dad on his annual backpacking (“extreme-hiking”) trip into the Wind Rivers. There were 14 of us in all, quite a fun crew. We hiked in nearly 16 miles to a beautiful area, way up high. The Winds really are spectacular, especially high above tree line where it’s just rock and snow here and there.

As you can imagine with Jacob around, we hiked a lot and fished. I hadn’t fly-fished in two years and it is still just as fun. We found some fun spots and caught quite a few. Jacob even tried his hand at bow-fishing (yes, he packed his bow in. Are you surprised?). You should have seen the boy scouts who were with us. He had quite an eager audience when he tried to skewer the fish with his arrows. No luck, unfortunately. Yet, the scouts are completely in awe of mountain-man Jacob, and I’m sure they want to grow up to be just like him. In the midst of all of this rugged, manly activity (there were only 2 of us girls on the trip—and seriously, I was most glad to get home so I could have a little privacy. Trying to find a private bathroom spot with 13 other people camping around you can be a wee bit stressful! Anyway…), I still found time to read...a lot. There was one rainy day that gave me plenty of time to relax and read some good books—among my latest favorites: The Hunger Games and The Beekeeper’s Apprentice. Both very good.

And even though one of the scouts prayed that we would see a bear, another year went by without a sighting. I’m okay with that.

Here is a picture for all the "wildlife" enthusiasts.

Doings

Jake had another half marathon trail run a couple o’ weeks ago in Pagaso Springs, CO so we made a camping trip out of it. The kids had a blast. Amazing how quickly they can get filthy! Jake did well in the race, finishing 4th, a bit behind Brad, who got 3rd. Seriously, they make this look too easy.

Williams Lake

We took a hike up to Williams Lake last weekend. It turned into an entire day trip we had so much fun. The weather is so much cooler up there, and the kids could have played forever by the water. Finn loved being in the back-pack. Surprising, I know, but he thought it was the best to be in there as long as he could find something to suck on. Sage also made friends with the Camp Robbers. Maybe she really will be a vet someday.

Wheeler Peak - highest peak in New Mexico 13,161

Bless his little heart. Keiger came running out into the garage the other day to help me bring in the groceries, and he stumbled and fell, smacking his nose into the edge of the toolbox—so he has been sporting two black eyes for the past 2 weeks. They’ve gone from black, to purple, to greenish, to yellowish. Now it’s nearly gone, but I’m used to people staring at him and then whispering to me, “What happened to Keiger?” We forgot to get a picture when it really looked "good."

Can I tell you how much I love summer? I am having so much fun just being able to be at home without worry over getting to and from school at certain times. We are so mellow and loving it. Jacob’s soccer league has begun again, the garden’s going good, the library’s summer reading program is in full swing (Sage is totally into it), the plastic pool’s up in the backyard, and I’m usually am not even ready for the day until 11 or so. Life is good. We have time to just play.

Friends invited us and the other young families in the ward over to their ranch. Horses, chickens, four-wheelers, dirt, and “root-beerd.” Hmm…I think the kids had fun.

Jacob's Half Marathon

So Jacob had his half marathon last weekend. We camped at Bandalier since it was pretty close to the race site in Los Alamos. I think we all learned that our tent is a wee bit too small for our family--especially with Keiger rolling all over the place all night. It's a wonder we give him a sleeping bag and pad, because he doesn't seem to use them. Anyway, Bandalier's pretty cool, just like Mesa Verde, only smaller. The more I learned about this half marathon, the crazier it was. It was a trail run basically up Jemez Mountain (lots of elevation gain) and then back down a ways. So Jacob has been training by running up a trail up a ridge behind our house. For some strange reason, he thinks that's fun. The last bit of the course was this crazy steep uphill narrow track that was formed by water running down these rocks. Does that make any sense? Anyway, it was steep and knarly enough that I certainly would not want to run up it at the end of 13 miles. In fact, I think I only saw a couple of runners who were able to run it without walking--Jake said he was using his hands to pull himself up. The morning of the race, we woke up early and Jake downed his peanut butter sandwich on the drive to the start. Brad and Brooke from the ward also ran, and the Leishers came along, so the kids had lots of buddies to play with while we waited for them to finish the run. I was mighty surprised to see Jacob power up that last hill so early--neither of us had imagined he would finish that soon. He finished 15 minutes faster than he thought he would and ended up placing 11th or 13th (I can't remember) overall. There were 280 runners. So I was pretty proud--and he was pretty tired. Brad and Brooke did awesome as well. I was quite impressed--that was a tough course and they are very good runners. One race down for Jacob. He has one more in a couple of weeks at Pagosa Springs--so we get another camping trip.

APOLOGIES for no pictures! I forgot to take the camera--horrid, I know. You probably won't be surprised to hear that Jacob just wore an old soccer jersey and shorts--no shorty running shorts for him. Although, his ankles have become super skinny from all this running! You have to see them. I couldn't convince him to let me make him a t-shirt to run in, so we cheerleaders made shirts for ourselves to show some support for Jacob, Brad, and Brooke. Those shirts deserve a picture, because I think they're pretty cool.

Here are some pictures from the run's website (Jacob)
The bottom of the mountian (looking downhill, around 3 miles into the race)

Starting the climb (around 4 miles in)

about 5 miles in

from the top looking down to Los Alamos 6.4 miles in

Sage turned 6 yesterday if you can believe it. I can't. She had a dog birthday party earlier this week before school let out. Lots of doggie fun there. What do you get a girl for her birthday when all she wants is a dog? And we're not getting a dog. Oh well. I think she's pretty happy with the alternatives she got. Sage did finish school this week. The kindergarten class had a sweet awards ceremony, complete with puppet shows and a performance on recorders. Sage received the award for "Best at Drawing Chickens." We're so proud.

We're in Utah right now to play, and Jacob is spending his free time in Taos searching for antlers. Must be summer.

Morgan, the Half Marathon Runner

So we headed down to Albuquerque this past weekend for the long-awaited half marathon. Honestly, I was so ready to just run the thing and get it over with! The training over the past few months has been pretty crazy, especially since I couldn’t even run 2 miles around Thanksgiving. So I am pretty excited to know I don’t have to go running tomorrow and I don’t have to go on a long run…unless I want to, which may not be for a little bit. We’ll see. Anyway, the morning of the race finally arrived! It had rained during the night, so part of the course was muddy, which I thought was appropriate. We are from Taos after all: land of springtime mud and wind. But, best of all, the course was FLAT!! I couldn’t get over it! Seriously, there is pretty much nowhere to run in Taos that doesn’t have hills, and I was tired of them! I cannot emphasize enough the wonderfulness of running on FLATNESS. That made all the difference. That and I had a great buddy to run with. I really can’t imagine how anyone could do something like this alone, so I am very grateful for a friend who was willing to stick around by me through all this training and eventually the race. I won’t bore you with those minor details of how fast I ran or where I placed. Suffice it to say, we set out to run the whole thing, all 13.1 miles of it, and we did. I didn’t die, and the medical staff didn’t have to remove me from the race because I looked distressed (I was worried about that!). I am quite proud. And I’m Jacob’s hero. And I got a medal. Pretty good, eh? Thank you to all our cheerleaders, whether you were there or not, and even to those I didn’t even know. You really helped!
So now we look forward to Jacob’s crazy half marathon in the Jemez Mountains next month, which includes a lot of STEEPNESS. Not good. I am very excited to go, mostly because I don’t have to run it. Jacob is pumped, and I’m all about being a cheerleader. Any suggestions about what to write on his T-shirt for him to wear during the race? Yes, Jacob, you are getting one! Even if you say you aren’t going to wear it.
Sage has been losing teeth lately, which has pretty much freaked her out. You can imagine that she wouldn’t let anyone try to help pull them out—she would barely do it herself. It seems she would rather have the teeth dangle out of her mouth forever, as you can tell by the pictures. It was a little gross. Can you see her adult tooth already growing in? After a wee bit of drama, the teeth did finally come out, painlessly too. That was really important to Sage. And she has learned that the tooth fairy really does exist and pays a lot more than what I got when I was a kid.

Disneyland

I am honestly going to try to be better at updating the blog. It’s been typical spring here in Taos: warm and sunny one day, snowy the next. On Saturday morning, the kids were outside in snow-pants and coats playing in fresh snow. By the afternoon, it had melted and the sun was shining. I think we’re all ready for spring. I put in a seed order for the garden and can’t wait for it arrive so I can start some stuff. The half marathon training continues. Jake is cruising right along. It makes me soooo proud and happy to see how easy this is for him. Just kidding. He really is a good runner. On the other hand, I seriously doubt my body was made for this running business…BUT, I will make it through the race in a few weeks…I hope!

We had a blast at Disneyland last week. Even Jacob admitted that he had more fun than he thought he would (that’s huge, by the way). The weather was perfect and our kids did so well. Finn was so good to just hang out in the stroller or our arms—I think he liked having so many people around. I do think we’ve freaked Sage and Keiger out about going on rides. After taking him on the Matterhorn, Keiger was afraid to go on anything, even the train. I kinda forgot about the abominable snow monster with glowing red eyes that pops out at you on the Matterhorn. We couldn’t have traumatized him for life, right? Sage put on a brave face, and went on pretty much all the rides she was tall enough for. It was pretty funny to watch her face. She’d be so nervous during the rides, but as soon as it was over, she would talk about how “awesome” it was. But if you asked her if she wanted to go on it again…no way!

So, if you had to get stuck on one ride at Disneyland, what wouldn’t you want it to be? Yep, we got stuck on “It’s a Small World.” Poor Lance. He told us he’d never go on that ride, but we dragged if along, and, or course, something went wrong with the ride and we were stuck. At least they turned off the music! Oh, and Keiger had to go to the bathroom too! It was pretty funny.
By the way, Keiger has just learned to pee standing up. I never thought I’d be so proud, but I am!

Ever since we got home, Sage has been coloring birds and hanging them up all over our bedroom wall to turn the room into “The Tiki Room.” I got them a CD that has the music from all of the rides at Disneyland, and they’ve been listening to “The Tiki Room” over and over again, along with the yo-ho-ho song from Pirates of the Carri-BEAN as Keiger says. Anyway, if anyone wants to take a trip to Disneyland, I’m up for it.

Sage as we were headed up the climb for Space Mt

After it was all said and done.