Very Random Happenings

Because this is my family journal I'm going to try to do a catch-up post on all the stuff I never blogged about this summer. This is totally random and in no particular order and will probably interest no one so don't feel obligated to read on.  My kids are playing inside for once (in Luke's case it's because he's in a bit of trouble and can't play with friends today), so they are ransacking the basement while I do this.

 

I cannot make this new editor behave, so I guess the text will be here.  The top pic is Luke and Seth with their summer charts.  We set some goals and made a list of lots of things to do this summer and did most of them.  They earned stickers for days when they did their "homework" and chores without complaining.  A few days ago they went and spent their loot.  Luke chose a "How to Train Your Dragon" weapon set which is so him.  He loves to dress up and pretend to be a cowboy, explorer, superhero...he was so disappointed though that the helmet didn't fit.  It was perfectly round and not even close to big enough for his big noggin.  Bummer!  Seth picked a big robot that makes lots of noise.  Yippee!

In June the boys played t-ball.  Neither of them had ever played before, and they don't seem to have much interest in it.  In Seth's case it may just be his age but with Luke he really doesn't like it much.  We'll see if that changes.  I've never been a baseball fan at all, so I won't mind if they don't want to go there.  The team was for 3-7 year-olds which was way too big of an age/ability gap.  Jer was their coach.  The one and only girl on the team loved him.  It was a big hassle for him because his job does not exactly lend itself to being somewhere at 5:00, but he did great!

Over Father's Day weekend Jer was supposed to run in his steeplechase, but he couldn't due to the massive sprained ankle he got training over Memorial Day.  We had booked a room at Little America to stay down there at the race, so we decided to go anyway.  It was our first kidless getaway since Ian was born and it was awesome!  We ate out a lot including P.F. Cheng's where we would never go with our kids, went to a late movie, slept in, and had an amazing brunch at the Grand America.  We stopped off at my parent's house on our way back to pick up the kids and celebrate the holiday.  The Picketts came down for dinner and it was great.  These boys are like uncles to my kids, and we love them so much! 

Lots of fun swimming at the pool, swimming lessons, and home with friends and cousins.

A fun weekend in Salt Lake City with friends.  I met Kristy and kids on what has to be the hottest day ever at Thanksgiving Point.  Luckily we spent most of our time at the dino museum.  When we ventured to the petting zoo we almost died...but we had fun!  Then we met up with Jer and a bunch of other friends at the Miller's house in Holladay.  The guys hit the road for a bike ride on Saturday, and we hit the Gateway with the kids.  Good times.

We have done a few races this year.  We both ran the local half marathon in August.  Jer mostly biked after hurting his ankle, so I would give him about a D for training.  I would give myself maybe a B-.  It was fine though.  I was a few minutes faster than last year, and I didn't have to breastfeed at the finish so that was a plus.  It was a hot day which is really bad for my head.  My migraines have become such a nuisance.  I just plan on having one whenever I get hot exercising which is pretty much each time I train during the summer plus I just get some for no reason.  My pills usually counteract them pretty well.  Well, I had a pill in my running shorts for the finish.  Unfortunately it was a pretty hot day, and the race did not start at the crack of dawn when I usually run.  Needless to say I got a bad headache which was not improved with any of my pills which led to bad puking later in the evening accompanied by dehydration which led to a trip to the E.R.  That was really fun.  At the E.R. they decided to give me some meds by I.V. which took two people and about 3 hours to accomplish.  Just this week I tried this 3 day IV treatment that is supposed to help a lot, but the verdict is still out.  Jer also ran in a very hilly, trail half marathon at Snow Basin last weekend.  He did great despite the fact that he thought he was cramping, ate a bunch of salt, and puked for 10 minutes during the race.  It was beautiful up there and I want to do this one next year.  Running on trails is much more my thing than pounding the pavement.

Trip to Tony Grove.  It was one of the only cold days we've had in recent history and was about 50 degrees, but we had a fun hike around the lake.

Just in case this wasn't the longest post ever I'm also glad to say I finished my master's project a few weeks ago.  What a relief!  Getting babysitters or my mom and getting up to USU at least once a week for the last 6 months has been a huge pain.  I still have lots of writing and more coursework to do but everything else can be done at midnight in my p.j.s.  Okay I've neglected my kids for long enough.  That's it.

Say Cheese

So we got our family pics done in June, and I'm finally getting around to posting them.  We had some miscommunication about location which resulted in a last minute choice of place, but I think we got some cute shots anyway.  Seth wins the award for most uncooperative this time, but they were actually pretty good.  The worst shots were definitely of all the boys together trying to look at the camera at the same time...see below.  The candid ones were great.   

First Backpacking Trip

This past weekend Luke went on his first backpacking trip!  He had a great time, and we are so proud of how great he did.  Friday afterschool he and Jer headed up Logan Canyon and hiked up to White Pine Lake for an overnighter.  It's about a 4-mile hike each way.  Jer said he complained a little but not a lot!  He was so amazed at all of our backpacking stuff that he got to see and use for the first time.  We've done quite a bit of car camping and hiking with the kids but this was the first time he got to see the little stove and water purifier in action.  He is a gadget guy like his dad, so he was totally impressed.

They picked a perfect, warm night and Luke was also impressed with Jer's sweet cooking skills--not something he sees around here a lot.

On the way out Luke found an old, broken dog leash which provided a lot of entertainment.  He used it to get bad guys in the bushes and trip Jer among other things.  He's also no dummy and at some point hooked it on Jer's backpack for a little extra pull!

The rest of the weekend was great too.  We all met up at the Liechty's cabin at Bear Lake on Saturday morning and then headed to the beach for the day.  The drive up was so pretty.  We had the kids at Tony's Grove a few weeks ago and only a few trees had changed but now it is absolutely beautiful.  I love fall!  Even though it was September the water was tons warmer than when we were there in July (at least warm for Bear Lake).  The kids were fully submerging, and we had a great day topped off with way too much food at La Beau's.

Luke and Caitlyn warming up after a dip.

Jer and Steve in their cute swim shirts.

This guy needs a post of his own soon.  Let's just say he has left the angelic baby stage and is becoming quite opinionated.  He's a cutie though. 

The whole gang.  We got the van stuck in the sand and the easy-up blew away and took out Caitlyn but other than that it was just a lazy, almost summer day.  Please stay fall...I am in no way ready for winter!

P.S.  I didn't think Blogger could do worse than the old way to upload pictures, but they managed.  The new editor is terrible.  Only click that preview button if you have all day.  I might have been muttering a few choice words while trying to post this.  Frustrating!

Big Preschool Kid

Seth started preschool last week, and he loves it! It's so nice to have a child that just wants to be dropped off and go do his thing. He goes to Ms. Jenny who lives about 5 minutes away from us. Every time we drive in that direction he asks if we are going to "my Ms. Jenny's house." He picked out this really tacky Buzz Lightyear backpack with lots of bling on it but for some reason he did not want it in the picture. He wears it with pride to school though!


It is hard for me to believe he's already three. I know time will keep flying, and he will be in school all day before I know it. I love having him at home with me, so his preschool is only twice a week which is great for both of us.


What am I going to do with the three hours per week with just one child that I now have? I don't know...the possibilities are endless though. This Tuesday I went to the grocery store with just Ian, and it was awesome...like being on vacation...almost.

Seth is becoming quite the character, and he charges through life at full speed (doing lots of crashing into things in the process), but he is also very sweet and doesn't seem to have an aggressive bone in his body. I find him laughing with Ian all the time. We sure "lub" him around here.

Cute Kids

So we've had more firsts around here the last few days and I need to do another post with some pics, but I just wanted to write down a few cute things my kids have said recently.

You probably had to be here for this one but the other day at lunch Seth told me, "my tummy is starting to rumble." I kind of laughed and then he said, "my favorite food is gruffalo crumble." Then I realized he was saying the line from the book "The Gruffalo." It was pretty cute, and he wanted some "gruffalo crumble" for lunch. We had to improvise.

Last night as we were driving through the parking lot at the park Luke starts yelling, "hey there's Cream. He's in my class."
Me: "Cream?"
Luke: "Yes." We went back and forth with that a few times.
Luke: Starting to get frustrated with me, "Cream, C-R-E-A-M."
Me: "Like ice cream without the ice?"
Luke: "Yes!"
We still didn't quite get to the bottom of it. He told me "Cream" has black hair. I'm thinking it must be like "Kareem." Anyway, it was cute and he finished the conversation by saying that "Cream" had a brother that looked exactly like him. I asked if they were twins. He said "yes it's his twin only older." Apparently we're still a little fuzzy on the concept of twins!

Glad I have these cute kids to make me laugh everyday. Ian is currently pulling his favorite trick of sticking his hand under the lid of the garbage can on purpose and then squealing until I notice and help him.

Back to School

This summer went by way too fast. When all of a sudden it was the middle of August I really wasn't ready for it to be over. It was great (most of the time) to have all the kids home all day and that won't happen again for a while since Luke is starting 1st grade this year. I think I was more nervous about it than he was although when it came right down to it he told me a couple of times, "I'm kind of scared." Those few days before school started I got a big lump in my throat just thinking about sending him off to school for almost 8 hours each day! It's hard for me to believe he's that old. We all went to back to school night and met his teacher, and I've heard great things about her so I think it will be a good year.


Here are the classic first day of school, new duds pictures. Doesn't he look grown up? It kills me! He was definitely nervous by the time the bus came but luckily he just kind of got swept up in the huge crowd of kids at our bus stop and got on. I'll be honest...I was fighting back the tears a little. What can I say, I'm a control freak, and I am used to being with him/in charge of him basically all day every day. It's hard to let go!

As soon as the bus pulled away Seth asked, "where's Luke?" It is going to be an adjustment for him too. Although Luke teases him a lot they have been best buddies this summer. I'll admit I was in kind of a slump for a few hours, but then I snapped out of it. I guess change is inevitable. These little guys are going to grow up whether I want them to or not. So I'll just have to enjoy these moments while I can...

Mt. Borah

I really have not been finding the time to blog this summer. At least it's because we've been busy having fun. The last few weeks have included swimming, a trip to Lagoon with friends, and the demolition derby just to name a few. Yes, Lagoon and the derby in the same week. It's hard to say which brings out the stranger, most scantily clad crowd. There I consider those things blogged, but I really do need to give a little detail about last weekend's adventure.

Boyd (Jer's dad) got the idea of climbing Mt. Borah which is the highest peak in Idaho. Jer and I have already done a few highest peaks (King's in Utah and Gannett in Wyoming--way intense), so we were both excited to do it. This was my first hard hike/climb since having kids. We headed up to Mackey, Idaho to camp with Jer's parents, TJ and Amy and fam, and our kids. We headed out early Saturday morning and Cid and Amy's sister Jamie tended all of the kids while the rest of us hit the slopes. (Yes, they are saints and I think their day was tougher than ours. At least our sweet RV park had a tepee that provided hours of entertainment for the kiddos.)


This is actually not a picture I took but this is Mt. Borah from a distance. It's 12,662 feet. I have been at a lot of trailheads but never one quite like this. It was a zoo! The parking lot was packed and there were hordes of people hoping to summit that day. I guess that's what you get when a peak this big is only a day hike, and it's a nice summer day. The round trip is only around 7 miles, but it is straight up and straight down--you gain over 5,0000 feet of elevation. Yea, that's like a vertical mile in 3.5 miles. It was a steep 'un.

Our group was varied in its preparation for this hike. Boyd had been hiking in preparation and Jer, Amy, and I have all been running or biking a lot this summer. TJ on the other hand is not a big fan of exercise and was hitting it off the couch. Ouch, but he made it.

Before going I knew of a section called "Chicken Out Ridge." It is so named because lots of people get sketched out and turn around at this point. I was prepared for that but kind of thought it would be a short segment. It turned out to be quite exposed for a long time. It is not very technical, Class III scrambling, but you look down and see only air...for a long time. We saw lots of turnarounders at that point (some who looked like they belonged at the derby not climbing a mountain), but we pressed on. It is a real knife-edge outcropping of rock that reminded me of a stegosaurus back. Once I got to a point I could get my camera out I took some pics of Jer who was right behind me followed by Amy. (Amy had never done anything like this before, and I must say she did awesome!)


Chicken Out Ridge


I thought once we got off the yellow rock of Chicken Out Ridge we would be done with the exposure, but no. You then get on some black rock and the fun just keeps on coming. The girl of a couple near us called her boyfriend a bleepity-bleep at this point and I guess they turned around because I never did see them again.

Physically I felt great but my mental state took a bit of a turn for the worse when we got almost to the downclimb in the picture below (this was actually taken on the way back across). Right as we were reaching the top of that little cliff you have to climb down we hear this lady yell, "oh no." It sounded serious, and we came up on top of the rock to see this man sliding down the snow slope pictured. He was scrapping and fighting but picking up serious speed. At one point he got turned head down the hill, and I thought for sure he was dead. He did get his feet first again just before slamming off a huge pile of rocks and continuing to slide. He stopped after about a 50o+ foot fall at about 40-50 mph (my guesstimate). It was totally freaky to say the least. He did wave his arms when he stopped and a person in his party downclimbed the 60+ degree slope to him on the rocky sides fairly quickly. It was unnerving to say the least. (It turns out he was a scout leader from Boise who made a very bad choice. Instead of going across the crossing on the top of the ridge (see pic below) where there is a footpath stamped he (against the advice of others) ran across the snow at a lower point, quickly losing his footing, and nearly sliding to his death in front of his scouts. Can you say, not smart? He ended up spending the night with a broken leg and tailbone and getting rescued by a helicopter the next day.)

After seeing that, Amy and I in particular wanted to take a look for ourselves at this snow crossing before deciding to proceed. After a jittery downclimb we decided it was okay if you stuck to the route, and we crossed without looking to either side too much!

This is a pic we took after coming back down. Near the top you can see the snow chute that guy took his fall down. If he'd gone much further he would have reached a sheer rock cliff. I guess it wasn't his day to die.

Once you get past the nerve wracking stuff you have about 900 feet of vertical scree to climb up. Joy! At this point, we all went our separate ways and paces and got to the top. There's not really much of a trail, but it's just a really steep hike. Thank goodness for trekking poles.

Here are Boyd and Amy covering the last bit of ground to the summit.

There were plenty of people at the top to take our picture...not exactly secluded but an accomplishment nonetheless. We spent quite a bit of time at the summit waiting for everyone to arrive and regroup to head back. Jer even went back down and gave TJ a little moral support for that last stretch. I was totally impressed by this group of four 50-something women who did this climb. They were pretty slow, but they made it. I never do things like this without Jer along! There were also some 10-12 year-old Scouts up there. We saw them on the way back down and they made me super nervous. My mom instincts came out big time, and I could hardly watch. In my opinion this hike is not Scout appropriate. In fact, earlier in the month a scout fell 600 feet without his troop noticing and wasn't found until 17 hours later. Really?

Here's the whole gang at the top. I did not enjoy downclimbing all the exposed sections but after that it was just a knee-jarring descent. We all ditched each other and headed down at our own pace after the climbing sections. Boyd got a wild hair and was even running at one point. It was a great day, and I'm really glad we did it. I may just check Borah off my list and be done with this one forever. I would probably let my boys do this with their dad if they were old enough, but you will not catch them going up there with their scout troops anytime soon...make that ever!