Christmas Eve 2013

As a nurse I don't always get both Christmas Eve and Christmas day off, actually it's rare that I have.  I think this magical moment has happened twice since starting at the hospital 7 glorious years ago and lucky for me this was the second year.  In fact I had the whole week off before Christmas.  Our plan was to spend Christmas Eve at home and then head to my parents house when we got up the next day.

The kids usually get to open one gift Christmas Eve, their "surprise pajamas", however this year we opted to surprise them a little more and allow them to open all of their gifts.  We figured this way they had time to enjoy them and soak it in before heading to Grandma and Grandpa's the next day.  Afterall they still had the joy of Santa coming and filling their stockings for something to look forward to Christmas morning.

When they found out they were going to open all their gifts early, they were pretty darn excited and although Barley had no idea what was going on, he was just excited to sit on the floor and snuggle.

Jammies were opened first.  Lex asked for footie jammies this year and put them on promptly.  Only the top 1/2 of Nojah's pajamas arrived before Christmas so we are thankful he opt out of the photo shoot.

I am not big AT ALL on electronic devices.  In fact I think video games, TV, and Ipods rott kids brains and have led to our overwhelming problem with childhood obesity, and pure lack of work ethic, however I broke down this year and we bought the kids ipods for Christmas.  They never expected it of course because I am "anti ipod" and "anti smartphone" and "anti-everything" (according to my children).  Now I am wondering if our lives will ever be the same.

After the gifts were opened Lex and I frosted cookies and then set some out for Santa before bed.  It was nice to home relaxing as a family, enjoying each others company, listening to Christmas music and playing games instead of worrying about how I was going to fit yet another holiday into my work schedule.

Where to begin.....

The past month has been insane.  I know, I know, most of you would already say my life is normally insane, but this was abnormally insane and I am just glad that it is over......
Well I hope it's headed back to it's normal insanity anyway.

So....to catch ya'll up......

The kids started school and sports on August 22nd.  We now have 2 kiddo's officially in Junior high and it's really hard to admit I am going to have a freshman in highschool next year.  That just seems wrong.

We knew since last year that Lex was planning on playing volleyball but didn't find out that Nojah was going out for football until the 1st day of school.  SURPRISE.  So Lex practices each morning at 5:45am before school and enjoys traveling between county's on the bus with her brother for their games.

(Lex #7)

 Nojah practices after school between 4 and 5 and is enjoying playing quarterback and wide receiver this year on their 8 man football team.  He's only been seriously squashed once and missed a game but seems to be healed now. So far they have won all of their games but one and that game was still a lot of fun!

 (Nojah #23)

A long story short.....My past month consisted of on and off illness.  Started with campylobacter after our last backpacking trip, high fevers, body aches, which led to weird symptoms of numbness and tingling in extremities, face, weakness and just not me(ness).  So lab work, ER visit (Considering I was the ER nurse that night made it just that much more interesting), Spinal tap, MRI, IV fluids, Antibiotics, etc, etc, etc were done over a course of 3-4 weeks and required a lot of bed rest and many sick calls to work.  No scary results from all testing, in fact most everything was super normal.  The symptoms seem to have run it's course and I am back to work and much better (like 93.2% normal) and look forward to being a 100% soon.  Thanks to my husband, kids, mom and dad as well as our other friends for meals, phone calls, and trips to the doctor.

Hunting season started last weekend and it pretty much poured on us the entire time.  It didn't stop Lex and her friend Katie from playing outside, building teepees, hide and seek, exploring, and climbing trees. I was happy being camp host and staying near the stove.  The weather also didn't stop Tob and Nojah from heading out daily in the morning and again in the evenings to find that perfect buck.  Although they didn't find the perfect one or any deer at all over the weekend.  Tob shot Bambi on day 3 of the season after Nojah was back in school.  Poor Bambi.  However better to come home with Bambi than to come home with a tag.  Deer sausage, jerky, and steaks will be made.

Tob arrived home Tuesday afternoon from hunting to multiple phone calls saying that he is currently laid off, to return his phone, stay off his email, and not return to work until further notice.  I want to give a big shout out to the Federal Government for putting hundreds of thousands out of work and shutting down school programs for our young head start children!

Anywhoo, hopefully they will get it together and figure out a "wise" solution.  Until then Tob will enjoy golfing, hunting, splitting wood, and other honey do's at home.

Lakes Basin

I have had a fairly insane schedule at work this summer and with kids camps and activities, Tob on fires, and going to a week long conference in colorado has made doing much of anything impossible, so when we had 4 solid days together (minus dad unfortunately) we planned our annual backpacking trip.  This year we headed up to the Lakes Basin in hopes of the kids climbing eagle cap, which you can clearly see in the background.

We really enjoy having friends come along so this year we invited Katie to join us for Lex and then had some friends from La Grande (Korrie and Cody) come over and meet up with us on day two so Nojah and I had friends too.  The hike is 7 miles in to mirror lake where we camped and this is where they opted to take their lunch break 1/2 way in.

This is probably one of my favorite photo's of the trip.  Katie and Lex are truly just the best of friends.  Here the girls had soaked their hair in the river on a break and then Lex brushed Katie's hair out for her.  Pretty cute.

  On day 2 we were super excited when Korrie and Cody arrived and we all had our friends. 

 The next day after that was the start of our adventure up to Eagle Cap (the center of the eagle cap wilderness, which sits at roughly 9600 ft).  Korrie and I have both been up there multiple times but were excited for the kids to have the experience.

This is just one of the gorgeous views near the top looking down the East fork drainage that we hiked in.  Check out the awesome blue green glacial puddle we saw along the way.

They climbed about 2500 feet in 2.5 miles in about an hour and a half and thought the views of the wilderness were totally worth it.  Nojah claims he arrived at the top about 15 or 20 min ahead of the rest of us, which is probably true.  After they had enough of the views, photos, and inhaled their lunches, they scurried off to play hide and seek in the small area of trees.

Overlooking Glacier lake

Just love these girls

Instead of going down the same we came up we thought it would be more interesting to go off trail and make a loop down to glacier lake and back around to camp.  The kids loved all the glissading and playing along the way.  Snow is always a bonus in August!

Glacier was a much larger lake than I thought.  I have never been there and now it's definitely on my favorites list.  

The kids enjoyed skipping rocks with their slingshots in the lake.

and the dogs enjoyed napping.

The gorgeous morning views from our campsite.  The reason I backpack.  It's always hard to come home.

and a picture of the moms, for proof we were there.

Playing catch-up so there are some newer posts if you are interested in scrolling back some.  I have at least one or two more to add over the next week too :-)

Great start to fair week

Lex has been working with Barley since Nov/Dec to get him ready for this particular day.  Prior to this they have competed in 2 other shows and she attends Dog 4H meetings (some with him, some without) once a week.  He has tried her patience for sure and up until yesterday she was adamant that she would NOT be doing 4H again next year.  Afterall, I am the ONLY parent in the group that HAS to stay with their child to control their dog in each and EVERY 4H meeting we attend.

Luckily for all involved yesterday's competition went fairly well, compared to how they have previously done.  Barley hung in there for showmanship which was new for him.  Previously he pulled her out of the ring and they weren't able to compete.

This didn't mean he didn't still occasionally stick his nose up other dogs butts, however he did chose to do it when the judge must not have been looking because they earned a first place ribbon.  Anna and Rowan (the dog Barley can't get enough of) earned grand champion.  Well deserved I must say for putting up with that.

By far the best part about fair is spending time with your friends.

and visiting with the cousins, aunts, grandmas and grandpas who come to watch.

Lex's favorite competition by far was costume.

 and we are pleased to announce she and Barley won "GRAND CHAMPION" for her florence nightingale and non-compliant patient costumes.  WAHOO Lex and Barley.  The cowgirl boots were a nice touch to the outfit as well. 

So in all she won a blue 1st place ribbon for showmanship, a white 3rd place ribbon for obedience, reserve champion light purple ribbon for agility and Grand Champion, dark purple ribbon for Costume.  Barley must have heard Lex didn't want to bring him back to see all his friends so he was on his best behavior.  Now, I think she wants to continue to work with him and give it another shot next year.  It's been exhausting for all of us and we are glad to be done, but proud of them for what they accomplished together.

After the show, Lex, my mom and I went hiking while the boys went golfing.  Then we had a nice dinner together in Joseph while Barley passed out under the table.  It was a great start to our fair week.  Next week is Medusa's big debut with small animal showmanship and agility.  Should be great fun.

Nojah's 2nd Peak

Nojah has been begging to go to twin peaks every summer since he was 8 years old and was sitting on top of Sawtooth.  I finally found the perfect day and we climbed the 4 1/2 miles and 4500 ft up there today.

I think it took us roughly 3 1/2 hours to get to the top.  On the way we had beautiful views overlooking the wilderness of course and frances lake.

One of the really cool parts about climbing the peaks is being able to sign in to the box at the top and write whatever comes to mind.  It's fun to see who has been up there and how their days were, if they saw goats, sheep or whatever.  We saw one goat while we were there.  On occasion, some environmentalist come along and removes the boxes, so it's a disappointment when you get up there and you have nothing to read or sign into during lunch.  I think it would be SO much fun to read through them and see our names when I am old and frail sitting in my rocking chair reading to my grandchildren, but apparently not all people see it that way.

Our friend Fred came along which was great, due to the exposure.  I always told Nojah I wouldn't take him to this particular peak without another experienced climber/hiker for that reason.  Today we had Fred and he was great with Nojah.  Nojah was a little cautious with the heights for sure and the exposure gave him a few extra heart palpitations, but he persevered.

  

It was a gorgeous day! I am glad I had the opportunity to take him and that my kids both share my love for the mountains.  After all, this isn't an easy climb, up or down.

As we drove away from the trail head we had a good view (bad photo) of Twin peaks and what Nojah can see from town and why he ached to get up there so bad.  It's so fun, to sit in town and point to all the highest peaks you have been too and to know that you are capable of getting up there.  The views and solitude are simply amazing.  

If you follow the little white chimney on the red building to the top of the mountain, that is Twin peaks.  Elevation....9600-9700ish feet.  The rock has been slowly falling from the peaks throughout the years and I am sure one day they will no longer be there, but for now I plan to make more trips in the future.  Pretty proud of my kiddo.  Always a good day with him.  6 1/2 hours overall up and back.  Not too bad.

ER conference in Snowmass Colorado

This summer has been insane for us, especially July.  Tob left July 1st for a dispatch down to Dolores Colorado and during that time I worked 9 out of 14 night shifts.  The kids spent 10 days in LG with my parents and I would visit on my days off here and there.  It was so nice for all of us involved to be able to ship them off for that time.  Tob arrived home the evening of the 18th and then I left the morning of the 19th to re-trace his steps back to Colorado for an Emergency Nursing Conference.

As you can see Barley was quite thrilled his dad was home and hoping that maybe he would remove the cone he had on almost the ENTIRE time he was gone for some ouchy hotspots he developed while romping around in the wilderness with me.  The kids were also thrilled to see their daddy too!  Within 12 hours of him walking in the door, I was walking out.

Myself and 3 co-workers drove the 17 hours to Snowmass/Aspen Colorado over 2 days.  I felt blessed to be able to stop, even if it was only a few moments, by the site where our dear friend Dan was killed in a van rollover in 2002.  5 firefighters were killed in that accident and Dan was the oldest at age 28.  I placed a photo of him there and a mountain dew in remembrance.  We sure loved him and to this day it's hard to think that he is no longer here.  It gets easier throughout the years but we will never forget.  Tob has been fortunate to have stopped by the site 3-4 times over the past 10 years to take a moment to remember what a great man he was.  A necklace and fire shirt he placed there shortly after the accident is still there and intact.

Along the way we stopped multiple times for bathroom breaks.  Mostly due to me.  I have a drinking problem.  I won't hesitate to pound 4 or 5 liters of water on any given day if given the chance.  This was one of the overlooks we stopped at.  2 of the girls had never been to Utah or Colorado so they were enamored with the rock formations and scenery and sheer beauty of the landscape.

I know this may surprise you all but, one of the huge pluses for me to attend this conference with the super long drive was the ER conference went from 8-1pm every day leaving us to explore Aspen and Snowmass Colorado ALL afternoon, for 4 days.  I was in heaven.  I thought because I am fairly decent shape I would be exempt from the lack of oxygen at the higher elevations but, I could feel the difference for sure living at greater than 8000ft for the week. Every now and then even during lectures I would need to take an extra breath.  It was crazy.  I have a lot more respect for my husband and his firefighter cohorts when they are sent over to climb these crazy steep mountains at super high elevations they aren't acclimated too.

Andie and I spent our time running and hiking, some alone, some with the other girls.  On one trek into the Maroon Bells Wilderness at about 4.5 miles in and 10,000ft we ran into a local who pointed out the bear to us on the hillside.  We watched him (the bear, not the local) for quite sometime and then headed back up the trail.  On our way back down he had made his down the trail as well and we ran into him again.  He was gorgeous and fun to watch.

Goose mama who is lucky enough to live at Maroon lake.

Maroon Lake.  We did an evening hike up here on our last night.  Loved it.

 The wildflowers were in full bloom and Andie was a WEALTH of knowledge teaching me the proper names of all the flowers we encountered, as well as the birds.

Hula hooping (I look pretty serious) at 11,200 ft after riding the gondola up from Aspen.  After lunch Andie and I walked 5 1/2 or 6 miles down to town.  Pretty cool views.  I am aching to go back with my mountain bike for sure.

Group photo Deidra, Andie, Wendy and ME.

One of the best parts of being in aspen were ALL the incredible aspen trees of course.  Some were super old and BIG, but I love trees.  My top 3 are probably the redwoods, joshua trees and aspen.

Oh and to stay on the topic of WHY I went to Colorado (Emergency medicine, if you had forgotten).  Here is their sweet Ambulance.  Their fire trucks matched.  I was tempted to call 911 just so I could take a ride.  The conference was great and location even better!  Now we are home and looking forward to quilting, 4H (fair), a wedding, hiking, and maybe a quick backpacking trip before the kids head back to school.