Weekends in January

It's been a bit since I've posted, and things have been busy and good. School and work have resumed and we've fallen back into the busy day-to-day. A few highlights: Jacob had a bowling party pack meeting, and he is preparing his pinewood derby car (pictured). We've had some birthday parties scattered in, and the swimming lessons on Saturday mornings. Also, Annie and I went to Discovery to visit some friends for skiing and an over-night. A nice get-away just the two of us! That's a picture of us on the ski lift, compliments of Sunni, as I forgot my camera. The other picture includes our neighbors, whom we see a lot of, Ricky & Nicholas. We are packing for a long-weekend to Whitefish Ski Resort, to celebrate Brian's birthday.

White Christmas

We've enjoyed a nice Christmas Holiday so far. We had a bit of sledding at a friends on Christmas Eve. It was a quiet, happy Christmas morning, with the excitement of Santa's arrival and gift-opening. Thank-you letters are on their way for the great and generous presents! Then after gift-opening and before the prime rib, we took the kids ice skating at the local park. It was a first for the kids, and Brian, too. Then on Sunday, we took the kids for the second time skiing, and it was another success, most especially for Jake. I think it is fair to say we are embracing winter and winter activities! That's good, since winter is bound to stick around for a while.

Family Skiing

It was the first day of skiing for the whole crew -- and it was fun! Jake took to skiing, and kept going up the tow rope without taking a break. We had to drag him off of the little hill. When he returned his skis, he told the guy, "I had so much fun on those!" Annie didn't take to it as easily as her brother, but she still did well. She's bold, but unable to stop when she needs to. More lessons and practice are needed, but hopefully they'll both be strong, confident skiers soon enough. Certainly, it has been a great start. I had a fantastic time skiing, but forgot about some of the leg muscles necessary. The day ended with some wood-fired pizza and a bloody mary. Not too bad!

Christmas Tree Cutting

We got a Christmas tree from the Lolo National Forest this year. It was a much different experience than cutting a tree from Coconino National Forest/North Rim. First, there were so many places to go nearby, which was convenient. In Arizona, there was only one road up to Jacob Lake, and it was 90 minutes away. The forest in Jacob Lake also had many tall pine trees, so we had to search for the smaller trees that tried to grow in the shade. Here, there were trees everywhere - different types and all sizes. It was easy to find a tree! In Arizona, we also had the distinction of driving from a wamer climate to a considerably different winter climate and back again. A last difference was that in Montana there were loads of other people doing the same thing, instead of us being one of a few. It was different, but just as enjoyable and memorable. We ended up with a nice douglas fir and have it decorated already.

Sledding

Not the most exciting video - just Annie & Jake on a sled ride.

Thanksgiving - Family & Snow

Grandpa & Aunt Annie trekked through snow, wind and cold to spend the holiday with us. We are so glad, thanks! It was a quite traditional holiday, with lots of food, drink and family time. We also got some shopping done and lots of board games were played. Annie and Brian skied for a half-day, as the early snow opened the slopes. The kids sledded, built a snow fort and generally enjoyed the snow. We all got a real kick out of having a house full of family!

A hike behind our house

Last weekend, we went for a hike behind our house. We recognize how nice it is to be surrounded by wilderness area & open space! Though the endless amounts of deer, and sometimes bear, poop in the yard get old. I took down many of the apples from our apple tree and put them in our garden, thinking it'd make nice compost. Well, overnight the dozens of wormy apples disappeared. Even Brian didn't believe me when I told him they were ALL gone. Anyway, just walk to the end of Sunflower Drive, and this trail takes you up Mount Jumbo with views of our home and Missoula.