A Crazy Hike

This post starts like most of the ones I have written. Paige, Jonah, and I decided we would go geocaching. So I picked a spot to go and we headed out. The weather wasn't bad, it was a little cold and overcast, but it is winter, so what would you expect? Anyway, I picked what looked on the map to be a small hike, about 1 mile in, so I figured even with the trail not being direct it would be a maximum of 2 miles in and 2 out. We could do that, right? Plus there were 3 geocaches on the way, and another if we wanted to go just a little bit further.

Everything was going good. Jonah was really happy to be outside. He ran up the trail with Paige following after him. I had to walk pretty fast to keep up. As we were going we saw a little snow here and there on the side of the trail. Not a big deal though. After about a half mile of running we got to our first stop. The problem was when we stopped I realized there was now a little more than a little snow. The trail was still all dirt, but the rest of the ground was about half green and half white. Luckily, we were able to find the geocache though, and we were feeling pretty good. Jonah was now tired from the running and asked that I carry him. I had prepared for this also, and had our Ergo with us, so no big deal. Anyway, as we kept going the snow seemed to get thicker, and a split tree for a bridge over a creek was covered in ice also. Paige walked slowly but perfectly across this, and I felt proud, and again overlooked the amount of snow around us.

It was about this time that we found a small cave on the side of the trail. Jonah loved it!!! I am pretty sure his favorite animal right now is a bat (although the skunk and opossum are close seconds) and he wanted to fly into the cave and to live there.

Once we got hiking again Jonah wanted to walk for a little bit, but when the snow started to completely cover the trail, he wanted to be carried again. By the GPS we were really close to the next Geocache and Paige was excited. However, this was the part of the trail that climbed the most, so it was actually quite a ways further. We kept going though, because the GPS said we were close...

Once we finally got to the second Geocache I finally realized how much snow we were in. I could not find the cache at all. As a matter of fact, everywhere I stepped trying to just get close, my leg would sink in at least a foot of snow. I knew we were close though, because I had read the hint on the site where I downloaded the coordinates, and it mentioned being at the base of a fallen tree. I could see the fallen tree, I just couldn't dig very well to the base of it. Remember, we didn't intend to go hiking in the snow, so we didn't have gloves or snow pants or hats or really most of the stuff we should have had as it turns out. We did have coats though, so that was good.

Paige was upset with me when I gave up looking. She really wanted to find 4 caches. So far we had only found 1 and I has already told her we would not go the extra trail looking for the 4th, so she was now down to only the possibility of 2. Jonah was ready to go back as he was getting cold. We was on my back and not moving, so he was the only one cold. The trail was more or less a loop and we were close to the mid point. My GPS now read 3.8 miles, and 900 feet elevation gain.

So here was the problem. We were 3.8 miles in, the trail wasn't that long, but all the extra walking around looking for the caches, and playing in the cave, etc. added up. We were up quite a ways so going down shouldn't be as hard. However, it was now 3:30 and gets dark at about 4:30 this time of the year. But Paige really wanted to try for the final cache. Well if you don't know, I would do almost anything for my baby girl, so I put Jonah in the backpack and we kept going. The final cache was at the peak of this hill and then we would go back down the trail around the other side of the loop. This picture is just a little way along after I made the decision to keep going, notice how high the snow is on the sides of the trail. Oh yeah, we haven't seen the dirt for a while now...

When we finally made it to the peak, I kind of laughed at myself. There was of course even more snow there than at the last cache. I guess I was hoping it would be under some tree canvas or something and not so snow covered. In any case I barely looked at all, it was pointless. Paige actually understood, which was cool. But now a real problem was developing. It was getting dark. It was 3:50 and we were still almost as far from the car as we had been all day. Just for reference it was around 1:30 when we started our adventure. We were 1200 feet higher than where we started and had hiked 4.38 miles. The furthest Paige had ever gone before was 4 miles so this was already a new record. So we started down. I asked Paige to go a little faster but to also be carefully, she was walking on the snow in her regular shoes. To top it all off, this was the point when Jonah decided he had had enough, and we starting to lose it and cry.

After about 10 minutes I noticed my phone had reception so I called Julie to tell her we were on the way back and that I would take us all out for dinner to celebrate Paige's longest hike to date. I didn't mention that we were still almost at the top. Anyway, you won't believe this, it started to snow. Not just a little either, it really started to snow hard.

So we finally made it to the car, at about 4:35. I was totally impressed with how quickly we came down. The trail was completely covered with snow except for the last mile. It was completely dark, our car was the last in the parking lot, and we had just hiked 6.2 miles. It snowed about 4 inches in the next 3 hours at our house, I am sure it was more where we were hiking. Totally crazy, but totally fun. I think Paige still wants to go again; Jonah not so much, but he will soon.

Snow Cave!

Mike, Paige and Jonah, well, Mike really, built a snow cave in our backyard on Dec 23rd. It took a lot of work on Mike's part. He filled the wheelbarrow over and over with snow and being a freak like he is, he gathered the snow from many different places so that there were no spots of green grass poking out. Then, of course, he had to build it. Cool, huh?




Paige took this picture of Mike! I was inside with Jackers. Didn't she do a great job? My first pictures were ALL blurry! Maybe I should give her the camera more often!

Here Paige and Jonah are, so proud of the snow cave and so proud of their Daddy. They really believe their Daddy can do anything. I have to agree. He is pretty cool!

Christmas in Leavenworth!

This year we did something that we have never done before. We left home on Christmas Eve morning and went to Leavenworth for Christmas with a bunch of family and had a ball! Mike and I were laughing at the irony of leaving our house that had about 8 or so inches of snow on the ground in order to go to the snow in Leavenworth. Of course that was not the only reason for going, but still it seemed funny to us to leave our paradise (Remember, we LOVE the snow!).

Besides just visiting with our family, we really enjoyed doing things together. The talent show on Christmas night was a lot of fun! There was a lot of singing and a lot of singing and a lot of humor. The kids were cute singing "Away in a Manger," dressed as Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus.

Away in a manger no crib for a bed, the little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head.....

Apparently Jesus woke up! First he woke up and then danced to the rest of the song.

Mike and Dale did a juggling act. This was hard to photograph. Those oranges, apples and lemons were flying everywhere!

Paige and Katie played the piano. Forever. I don't think they knew how to end their song, but the song had a good sound to it, very sweet.

Most of us went on a sleigh ride too. It was fun, cold, but fun! You can't see me in this picture. I am behind Mike's big head. Jonah is the one in the bright pink mittens. Paige has a purple hood on. You can kind of see Jack. Over all, this is really a good picture of our family. haha

Well, I guess this is out of order, but because I am trying to get this post done before nap time ends, I will just keep on sharing out of order. Paige and Jonah were so excited for Christmas this year. Jonah couldn't wait for Santa to come. For days, Jonah would tell us that he would close his eyes and go right to sleep on Christmas Eve so that Santa could come.
Paige was so pleased with her Nutcracker from Santa! She told me that that was her favorite part of Christmas.

Jonah, our funny boy, got a skunk from Santa! He loves the skunk, but he also got a shirt with a skunk on it that says, "Nothing but trouble" that he HAD to put on right away.


Paige and Jonah slept on an aerobed together every night, each in their own sleeping bags, but apparently they liked to share pillows. They were so exhausted each night. Usually all the kids go to bed at 7:30, but because I did not want to keep them silent from 6:30 until 8:30 or so, I put the kids down late around 9:00. It worked pretty well. I think the earliest we got up was 7:30.

I guess that's all I want to share right now! We really had a wonderful time with all of our family. Paige adored Katie and played with her constantly. Jonah LOVED all of the adults there, but especially my cousin's husband, Jon, and Jack was Jack, pretty easy going and cute most of the time. He spent quite a bit of time begging like a puppy to go outside when we were in the lodge. Mike enjoyed goofing around with Jon and Dale and sliding off the roof (That boy is crazy!). I was happy visiting with my cousins and everyone else and loved playing games (Yes, Jeri, if you read this, Spite and Malice is almost exactly like Skipbo! In Skipbo you go up to 12 and skipbo is the free card. Other than that, it is played the same. Mike and I have been playing it every night since we've been home!).

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! I was just informed yesterday that New Year's Eve is tonight! It just snuck up on me.... So, we have nothing planned. It's kind of scary. 2009. I can remember the party Mike and I went to in 1999 (Cuz tonight were gonna party like it's 1999....). Happy New Year!

Snow!!!

Our family loves the snow, especially the biggest kid of the house, Mike. On nights that it is supposed to snow during the night, Mike will wake up often and peek through the blinds just to see the white stuff (or not...). And I don't think Mike has ever called me so much from work, "What's the snow like? Are the roads covered? Should I come home"? I do think he is quite crazy that he LOVES to drive in the snow, but I am also quite lucky in that I never have to drive in the stuff with all those crazy drivers if I don't want to.

Anyways, I just wanted to share with you some SNOW pictures from this last week. We love playing outside in the snow and our yard is so perfect for it. Hopefully it snows lots more this year!

This is Mike teaching Paige how to be a wild one! Mike is lying on a saucer with Paige on his back. This seemed to be their favorite way to get down the hill.

This is Paige's 1st snow driving lesson.



Hi Jonah, I mean, raccoon! (That was his animal of the day.) Don't you love his snowsuit? It is a great hand-me-down from our family friends. Their little boy wore it too after his big sisters outgrew it. It really is super warm and cozy. Jonah never gets cold in it. We're glad he doesn't mind purple and flowery for now.



Jack wasn't so fond of the snow at first. He loved being in his swing watching others in the snow. In fact, I could not even put Jack on a sled until today and he LOVES it! I pulled him up and ran him down our hill over and over. Jack would laugh and yell "Mo mo mo"!

Awe! They are too cute!

Yep, it is indeed a camel ride!

Here's the last pic. My sweet Jack.

Yeah snow! Hope you all get to enjoy some snow soon too!

Ant-ARC-tica Ant-ARC-tica

You'd better wear your PARC-tica!
We have been repeating that phrase over and over in our house today! It is part of a poem in the book Antarctic Antics, a book we LOVE but we get from the library, and we don't remember all the words...
But guess what!? Our cruise is booked! We are going to Antarctica- and Argentina and Uraguay and the Falkland islands too, just to name a few. We are all so excited to go! Jonah, our animal lover cannot wait to see the penguins. He wants to go "today!" Paige is really excited about the swimming pools on the boat, as she is now a great swimmer and even jumps off the diving board! Mike and I are ready for adventure! Hoping little Jack is too!
Anyways, I just wanted to tell you all the news. We are excited about the cruise obviously and are also excited that my mom (Bubba/Nana) is coming along and our friends Zachariah and Fiona and their 2 year old twins are going too! Yeah!!!

It shouldn't have been so hard

Mountain biking is one of my favorite activities. I started riding when I lived on Tiger Mountain, and behind our house (literally four houses away from one trailhead) were some of the best trails in the area. Of course like everything in life, you don't enjoy something as much until it is gone. I really started riding more after my family moved from that house and I had to drive to the trailhead. But away, I have always enjoyed mountain biking.

Over the last ten years the majority of riding I have been doing has been on weekends with Bruce, a friend from work. He lives about a five minute bike ride away from another great trail system. Not as nice as Tiger Mountain, but more accessible year round, and still plenty of fun. This year we went for a ride on New Years Day and I came up with the idea that we should set a goal to ride at least one time per calendar month. We laughed about this because we tend to ride more than that, but never the less, we set the goal.

It turned out to be really difficult. When you combine travel, family activities, bad weather, etc. time can disappear really quick. Throughout the year there were months where we rode on the last weekend, even in bad weather, just to not lose the goal. At the end of March (note: only the third month of the year), when we still hadn't ridden, we considered counting February 29th, leap year day (and Bruce's B-Day) since it normally would have been March, but we didn't and went for a ride in the pouring rain instead. Another month, I actually arrived home from Brazil on a Sunday afternoon, came home only to change, grab my bike and go for a ride, because it was the last weekend of that month, and we still hadn't ridden yet. There were better months too though, were we rode three out of the four weekends, but still looking at the entire year it was not as easy as seamed when the goal was set.

Yesterday we went for our December ride. I yelled "woo-who" went we first hit the trail. We completed the goal. Twelve months, at least one ride per month. I am sure that this seems silly to some, but I felt really good about accomplishing this, not because it was a major milestone, but because it really wasn't that easy, and without the goal, I probably would have ridden a lot less this year.

Next year my goal is to summit Mount Rainier. That probably will not be easy either...

Rudolph Hunting

We began this almost nightly "hunt" a couple of years ago. Mike was in Brazil the first week or two of December and we needed something to fill in our evenings and something that was kind of special and different. Well, I took Paige and baby Jonah to a couple of nice neighborhoods and drove around admiring the lights with them. A while into our drive, Paige kept asking, "Where's Rudolph? Mommy, I want to see Rudolph!" I drove for over an hour that night, searching for that red-nosed reindeer without any luck. The next night, I had a brilliant idea. We would search for Rudolph in the mobile home parks by our house. Maybe they'd have old Rudolph decorations, not just those big air-filled snowmen or snowglobes. Well, it turned out that I was a genius. There were lots of Rudolphs there. There are also a few Rudolphs in at the houses in our area, but we have yet to see any in the higher-income (or is that higher-debt) houses.
So, almost every night between Thanksgiving and New Years for the last few years, we have driven around the neighborhood finding Rudolphs and each time we sing "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer". The most we ever saw in one night was 13. Last night we saw 5! For the beginning of Rudolph season that was a great number. And most of those were new Rudolphs! Hopefully more Rudolphs get put up today! And hopefully their owners will remember to turn them on. It only counts when you can see a red nose!