And the framed house...
Sunday, July 28, 2013
House Update
The house is moving along...realistically it's going to be November before we move in. Yikes! I love the way it looks now it's framed. The windows in the kitchen and the bonus room that look west to the Wellsvilles are awesome! All of the rough subs are finishing up the next week or so and then we should be ready for sheetrock. It has been crazy busy and Jer has really been burning the midnight oil, but we're getting it done. Here are a few quick phone pics from the day they set the trusses.
And the framed house...
And the framed house...
Camping at Strawberry
This year we were back to Strawberry for our annual camping trip with Jer's family. There isn't a ton to see there, but the kids have plenty of fun just exploring, playing, and making their own fun. The weather was cool and nice. Cid puts tons of work into coming up with crafts and fun things for the kids, and they love it! This year Boyd made the mistake of making a bow and arrow for one of the kids and pretty soon everyone wanted it. With a bit of help from Jer and TJ he made six sets, and they kids used them a ton on the trip. They still have them a month later and have used them! Fun memories.
Luke also had the chance to go with Boyd, Cindy, and K'Lee on their annual trip to Stanley for the archery shoot. They were gone for 4 1/2 days. The kids had a blast camping, fishing, and using their bows they got for Christmas. Luke learned a lot about how to fish and shoot! Next year it's Seth and Addison's turn.
Random Outdoorsy Stuff
I've had lots of pictures hanging around and never posted them. We have been enjoying the great outdoors together, so here are a few things I've actually documented.
Feeding Ducks at First Dam
(I'm pretty sure this place gets grosser each year we go there!)
A fun morning of hiking at Limber Pine. It can hardly be called a hike, so even Leah was able and insisted on walking the whole time. We took a few side trips, and even met a family hiking with their pet goat while eating our lunch!
And a bad phone pic from a Wind Caves hike. Jer was with us and Leah rode in the backpack for this one, but Ian walked the whole way and did awesome. Jer and the boys caught a snake at the top. Most of our hike down was with headlamps in the dark, and we stopped about a million times to check out every crawly critter. Ian brought several bugs along with him including what he thought was a cricket but turned out to be a stink bug...which he proceeded and to let loose in the family room and it actually stunk up the house! Seth was trying to find more bugs for Ian and I pointed out he had run out of hands to hold anymore and then Ian told Seth, "yea Seth I'm not a squid!" That kid cracks me up.
Feeding Ducks at First Dam
(I'm pretty sure this place gets grosser each year we go there!)
A fun morning of hiking at Limber Pine. It can hardly be called a hike, so even Leah was able and insisted on walking the whole time. We took a few side trips, and even met a family hiking with their pet goat while eating our lunch!
And a bad phone pic from a Wind Caves hike. Jer was with us and Leah rode in the backpack for this one, but Ian walked the whole way and did awesome. Jer and the boys caught a snake at the top. Most of our hike down was with headlamps in the dark, and we stopped about a million times to check out every crawly critter. Ian brought several bugs along with him including what he thought was a cricket but turned out to be a stink bug...which he proceeded and to let loose in the family room and it actually stunk up the house! Seth was trying to find more bugs for Ian and I pointed out he had run out of hands to hold anymore and then Ian told Seth, "yea Seth I'm not a squid!" That kid cracks me up.
Summer Sports
The boys played rec t ball and baseball this year and had fun. Luke has never had any interest in baseball before at all, but he had quite a bit of fun. He caught on pretty quick and made some good plays including an awesome catch at shortstop. It was fun to watch them, and I was glad the season was short and sweet! They had tons of support from their grandparents as usual!
Back in June, Luke and Seth did a day football camp at USU. They had fun and looked pretty cute!
The boys have also done swim lessons, Seth did a little fun and fitness camp, Luke did a mini basketball camp, and Luke is playing soccer again next year so he had tryouts and is practicing this summer. It has been busy! Despite all that we've still had a lot of time around here doing chores, reading, trips to the library, the dreaded "school work" as the kids call it, and all of the other basic routine stuff. It has not all been fun and games! The kids have spent more time just with each other than ever before because my grandma's house is not in a kid neighborhood. We've had our moments, which are mostly scuffles between Luke and Seth, but they've spent a lot of quality time together too. It's going to be a bit of a rude awakening so start going to bed early and getting up early and being back on a strict schedule here in less than a month when school starts!
Back in June, Luke and Seth did a day football camp at USU. They had fun and looked pretty cute!
The boys have also done swim lessons, Seth did a little fun and fitness camp, Luke did a mini basketball camp, and Luke is playing soccer again next year so he had tryouts and is practicing this summer. It has been busy! Despite all that we've still had a lot of time around here doing chores, reading, trips to the library, the dreaded "school work" as the kids call it, and all of the other basic routine stuff. It has not all been fun and games! The kids have spent more time just with each other than ever before because my grandma's house is not in a kid neighborhood. We've had our moments, which are mostly scuffles between Luke and Seth, but they've spent a lot of quality time together too. It's going to be a bit of a rude awakening so start going to bed early and getting up early and being back on a strict schedule here in less than a month when school starts!
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Rim to Rim
So way back in the middle of May, Jer and I made another trip to the Grand Canyon. This time we traveled in a 15 passenger van, on a trip organized by Sid Titensor, to hike rim to rim in a day. Fred and Kara, Darron Kelley, Adam Couch, Megan Titensor and her friend and sister made up our group. Andrew was so kind as to be our shuttle driver. Our trip was quick. We drove down and camped at the North Rim on Friday night, hiked to the South rim Saturday, and drove home Sunday. It was a really fun group, and I'm so glad we had the chance to go along.
We took very few pictures but here is one at the start, a few along the way, and one at the end. Notice we get progressively worse looking as it goes along. My cowboy bandana is a nice addition to my wardrobe...it was my cooling mechanism. Have I mentioned that it's really hot, even in May, at the bottom of the Grand Canyon? Jer and I used to do tons of backpacking and climbing pre kids, so it was really fun to get out together on a "grown up" trip again. Hiking rim to rim is quite the experience—including our little side trip to Ribbon Falls (which was amazing) it was about a 25 mile day. Hiking the full distance is highly discouraged by the Park Service, but it is very doable for a reasonably fit hiker or runner. I did see some people along the trail that looked like they had no business being there, and I hope they made it. I've heard people get rescued out of there on a daily basis. You do have to be really careful about the heat and be sure to drink a lot and replace your electrolytes.
Jer and I hiked on our own to Phantom Ranch and then spent quite a bit of time there relaxing, eating, and hanging out. For the second half of the hike we formed a group with Adam and Darron and finished it together. We were all cussing the length and the heat a bit at the end. I drank a bunch of Gatorade which was just a reminder to me of how much I hate that stuff. My stomach just can't take all that sweet—not again! The three red heads I hiked with were entertaining, and we had quite a few laughs along the way. There is lots of elevation loss and then gain to get back up to the rim. We encountered trail runners along the way that were running Rim to Rim to Rim...you know like 46 miles in the heat with about 20,000 feet of elevation change. Yikes! Maybe sometime in a fitter lifetime! We didn't bother to run but we hiked along at a steady pace and I really enjoyed it. The Titensor clan is lots of fun. I'm not sure which caused us more trouble...the actual hike or establishing what time we were leaving that morning with the confusion between Arizona and Utah time. It was seriously a 30 minute discussion Friday night. The worst part for me was the bad migraine I got afterwards...they still continue to plague me after exertion. Very annoying for someone who exercises fairly often!
I'm once again reminded of the terrible pics with our little camera. Here's one at the trailhead. It was chilly but that did not last long! Somebody took a whole big group shot, but I don't have one.
Coming down from the North Rim is really beautiful!
This picture is awful but Ribbon Falls was gorgeous.
Getting ready to cross the people bridge over the Mighty Colorado. Adam and I were lectured by a lady driving a mule train.
We were so wishing we were on a float trip instead! :) I would love the chance to do that, but I would probably have to sell my first born or something. It's not easy!
A sweaty guy and his sad little cowgirl?
That's Darron making his way up some switchbacks and way, way back in the distance you can see the trail we came on.
We made it! Me and the "gingers" as they kept referring to themselves. We were so dirty they actually looked tan. It was quite funny when we got back to the trailhead. There was this big, fancy reception thing there that John McCain was in town for to rededicate the trailhead or something. We were literally right behind a podium with a microphone. It was hilarious to us all but no one had the guts to make a speech. I heard a guy comment, "they look like they've been in there a while!"
Since this little journey I have been continuing to trail run and train somewhat. I'm still not nearly as dedicated as I should be, but I've been running up Prov canyon a lot and I will miss having that so close. I have been really bad the last few weeks, but I'm going to buckle down now for a few things I signed up for in August. Jer and I both ran the Wahsatch Steeplechase in June. I did not get in nearly enough miles in preparation so I was very conservative but considering that it went well. Jer got busy with the house and virtually didn't train—he's just tough! It was 17 miles through the mountains and was quite a challenge. The first 8 miles gain 4500 feet of elevation and 1 mile of that was so stinking steep I could hardly believe it. The crags with the rock climbing moves at the top, that I was so worried about, were no big deal and actually the funnest part of the race. The descent was insane. I have never run down anything so steep and technical before. It was actually pretty fun too although tough on the knees and quads! All in all it was a great experience and I finished in under four hours which was my goal for the first time, so now I want to train hard and run faster next year. They give out a "bloodiest" award at the end. I'm proud to say I was not a recipient. In fact, unlike a lot of other people I went fast down hill and did not fall, but I did do a number on my big toes. I've never lost my big toenails before but this may be a first. Jer and I are trying to get out at least twice a month on an early Saturday morning "date run." We go for a longish trail run and then out to breakfast and are back before 11. Our last jaunt was out and back on the Stump Hollow trail up Logan Canyon—absolutely beautiful.
We took very few pictures but here is one at the start, a few along the way, and one at the end. Notice we get progressively worse looking as it goes along. My cowboy bandana is a nice addition to my wardrobe...it was my cooling mechanism. Have I mentioned that it's really hot, even in May, at the bottom of the Grand Canyon? Jer and I used to do tons of backpacking and climbing pre kids, so it was really fun to get out together on a "grown up" trip again. Hiking rim to rim is quite the experience—including our little side trip to Ribbon Falls (which was amazing) it was about a 25 mile day. Hiking the full distance is highly discouraged by the Park Service, but it is very doable for a reasonably fit hiker or runner. I did see some people along the trail that looked like they had no business being there, and I hope they made it. I've heard people get rescued out of there on a daily basis. You do have to be really careful about the heat and be sure to drink a lot and replace your electrolytes.
Jer and I hiked on our own to Phantom Ranch and then spent quite a bit of time there relaxing, eating, and hanging out. For the second half of the hike we formed a group with Adam and Darron and finished it together. We were all cussing the length and the heat a bit at the end. I drank a bunch of Gatorade which was just a reminder to me of how much I hate that stuff. My stomach just can't take all that sweet—not again! The three red heads I hiked with were entertaining, and we had quite a few laughs along the way. There is lots of elevation loss and then gain to get back up to the rim. We encountered trail runners along the way that were running Rim to Rim to Rim...you know like 46 miles in the heat with about 20,000 feet of elevation change. Yikes! Maybe sometime in a fitter lifetime! We didn't bother to run but we hiked along at a steady pace and I really enjoyed it. The Titensor clan is lots of fun. I'm not sure which caused us more trouble...the actual hike or establishing what time we were leaving that morning with the confusion between Arizona and Utah time. It was seriously a 30 minute discussion Friday night. The worst part for me was the bad migraine I got afterwards...they still continue to plague me after exertion. Very annoying for someone who exercises fairly often!
I'm once again reminded of the terrible pics with our little camera. Here's one at the trailhead. It was chilly but that did not last long! Somebody took a whole big group shot, but I don't have one.
Since this little journey I have been continuing to trail run and train somewhat. I'm still not nearly as dedicated as I should be, but I've been running up Prov canyon a lot and I will miss having that so close. I have been really bad the last few weeks, but I'm going to buckle down now for a few things I signed up for in August. Jer and I both ran the Wahsatch Steeplechase in June. I did not get in nearly enough miles in preparation so I was very conservative but considering that it went well. Jer got busy with the house and virtually didn't train—he's just tough! It was 17 miles through the mountains and was quite a challenge. The first 8 miles gain 4500 feet of elevation and 1 mile of that was so stinking steep I could hardly believe it. The crags with the rock climbing moves at the top, that I was so worried about, were no big deal and actually the funnest part of the race. The descent was insane. I have never run down anything so steep and technical before. It was actually pretty fun too although tough on the knees and quads! All in all it was a great experience and I finished in under four hours which was my goal for the first time, so now I want to train hard and run faster next year. They give out a "bloodiest" award at the end. I'm proud to say I was not a recipient. In fact, unlike a lot of other people I went fast down hill and did not fall, but I did do a number on my big toes. I've never lost my big toenails before but this may be a first. Jer and I are trying to get out at least twice a month on an early Saturday morning "date run." We go for a longish trail run and then out to breakfast and are back before 11. Our last jaunt was out and back on the Stump Hollow trail up Logan Canyon—absolutely beautiful.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)