Sunrise (Campground) Snowshoe

My parents invited us to join them, plus the rest of the fam (plus my uncle's family, too), for an MLK snowshoeing adventure.  We met up at the Bear Lake Overlook rest stop, geared up, and headed for the open snow (where luckily someone had already broken a trail through the nearby Sunrise Campground).  The sun was shining and the snow was sufficient for a lovely walk through the woods till we reached a hill with a nice view of the lake.  Or what would have been the lake, had the clouds not been filling in the valley below.  Unfortunately, our kids were not feeling super great (and would only get worse as the week progressed - it looks like we caught them on their best day of the last seven), so Gregg and I carried them on our shoulders (or flopped over in our arms) pretty much the entire hike (which wasn't that long, but when you're hiking in snow while carrying a child, the distance/effort feels like double whatever it actually was).  Luckily the invitation also included a delicious picnic lunch of mom's homemade shake 'n' bake chicken, dad's potato salad, chips, rolls, and brownies.  Mmmmhmmm.  Ain't nothin' bettah.  My grandparents drove up to dine with us in the sunshine, and it was fun to be able to visit with them and Bryan's family, who I don't get to see that often.  A fun day to enjoy sun and snow, even with sad, sick kids.

Setting off - where does the snow end and the clouds begin?

She was thrilled to try out Grandma's Bear Tracks
(snowshoes for kids!), but the poor girl just didn't
have any energy after walking a few feet down the
trail (that building behind is where we started).

At least she was smiling at some point.

Selfie in the snow.

Our overlook stopping point on the hill.

Group shot! We had everyone there from our family except
Michael who had to work.  Plus my dad's brother Bryan,
his wife Penny, and their kids Austin, Spencer, Parker and
Mallory.

bonus video!

one of five grandkids enjoyed the adventure

(she was smiling the entire time - a true outdoor girl if I ever saw one)

bonus video!

make that 2/5

(though he was the one we could hear wailing through the trees

because he did NOT want to be stuffed in his snow suit and strapped

to his dad's back at the beginning)

Let's lunch!

Pineview on Ice

At our first music makers class of the new year we got caught up in a conversation amongst the group about frozen Pineview and the rare phenomenon of it being frozen yet clear of snow.  After a few very adamant testimonials from a couple of moms about how magical, surreal, awesome, "you've GOT to go before it snows!" it was, I let their peer pressure (and this viral video they mentioned) talk me into our own pilgrimage down to the lake the next day (4 Jan).  

We chose our usual Old Highway beach access point, mostly because the bike path to get there was clear of snow and the day was sunny and Cal was itching for a bike ride.  So I pushed Sam in the Burley and Cal pedaled her pink prize and we made our way to the ice.  The first thing we noticed was a big log sticking straight up out of a hole in the ice.  It wasn't far from the edge and we slid-walked our way to explore it.  Sam was not impressed with the whole ice experience.  He did not want to stand or walk on his own, so I ended up carrying him the whole time.  Cal, on the other hand, was digging it; she shuffled around on her shoes, kicking rocks, noticing the different textures of the surface of the lake, and pointing out cracks and skate marks.  It was fun to see our neighbor (and Sam's nursery teacher) Jan Wight out there skating along the edge of the lake till we could barely see her anymore.

Don't let his smile fool you.  He wasn't having
any fun out there.

bonus video!

on the ice

The frost pooches were pretty awesome.  Those crystals were
so long!

A sort of sketchy crack - but it was totally iced
over, so it wasn't really as sketchy as it looked.

"wrinkly ice" (Cal's word for it)

My first time on a frozen lake!

Showing us how he truly felt about the experience.

bonus video!

slippery stuff

Serene setting sun.

We (minus Sam) liked it so much we convinced Gregg to join us the next afternoon (5 Jan) to check it out for himself.  It really was pretty surreal to realize the solid ground we were standing on was actually frozen water, and in the summer it would be over our heads.  While we were out there we could hear distant booms of the ice shifting.  But nothing was too close or scary (unlike my friend who went the next day (to a different place) and had a giant crack appear right between her and her husband while they were standing on it!).  We left convinced that we need to wrangle up some skates if we're going to live here for any more winters.  How cool would it be to skate around the whole lake?!  We just need to convince Mr. Sam-pants that its a good/fun/worthy idea.

They humored me with a feet pic.  We're standing on the lake!

Silhouette attempt.

Winter lover.
I loved this field of frost pockets.

Pretty cracks.

Frozen waves.

Serene setting sun, a sequel.

Photos From Phones - December 2017 Round Up

December has been a holly jolly sort of month - full of Christmas cheer!  Tons of posts in the books already, but I still have this monster of randomness to share, as well.  Enjoy!

12.2.17
(We had some extra branches from our Christmas tree so I snipped
them into boughs and tied them to the deck railing.)

12.2.17
(and then I added lights!)

12.2.17
(it's pretty rough, but it brings me joy to look out my window and see)

12.2.17
(Gregg added the pinecones and I think they are
a perfect touch!)

12.4.17
(it snowed!  Cal could not wait to get out the door
as soon as she finished breakfast.)

12.4.17
(fave!)

 

12.4.17
(we brought our snow clothes to the library to get some snow
time in after story time and craft time and snack time - and our
friend Charlie (and his mom Erin) joined us.)

12.4.17

12.4.17

12.5.17
(another example of Cal finding something in a magazine and
wanting to make it (it happens all the time, actually) - she saw
this clay nativity in her December Friend Magazine, so we both
worked on it for Mom and Cal time one day.)

12.5.17
(Eden Community Christmas Party Santa
Sing-a-Long - Cal got right up front for the fun)

12.5.17

12.5.17
(Sam sat in back with me.)

12.5.17
(Sam was not too enthused to sit on this stranger's lap)

12.5.17
(but he gladly took a bell and candy cane from the nice fellow.
Cal had already been through the line (she got there quick), so
we missed seeing her sit on Santa's lap and hearing her request
money in her stocking.)

12.5.17
(these are our friends Brooke and Caleb, who we invited to come
with us to the party.  Clearly poor Brookie was even less enthused
than Sam about the whole Santa business)

12.6.17
(really lovin' the audio books in the car these days.
I sometimes wonder if Cal and Sam are paying attention,
but they always surprise me with random details from a story
or a request for "yisten doggy audio book, mom".)

bonus video!

"Sam 'reads'!"

12.7.17

(I just had to record his cute little voice and his knowledge of all the

trucks in this big book of trucks)

12.9.17
(a new nativity on my mantel! (I think I need more shelf space.)
It's the wooden one with the star, second from the right, and it
came as an early Christmas gift from Gregg's parents from
Amish country.  I love it so!)

bonus video!

"sunday morning UNO"

12.10.17

12.10.17
(after church read alouds)

12.10.17
(I love his little crossed leg)

12.13.17
(we finally tried out the Huntsville ice rink
with some friends after music makers)

12.13.17
(only one of these kids is actually on skates, but all of them had
a great time)

12.13.17
(Sam was especially happy when this little
firetruck push toy came available)

12.13.17

12.14.17
(I had some good gingersnap-dough-ball-sugar-
rollers and smashers today)

12.14.17

12.14.17
(when you want your magic cookie bars to cool
fast.)

12.14.17
(seen on our afternoon walk - I thought it was
growing there on our driveway, but I think it
actually fell from the trees; quite bright green
for mid-December, though.)

12.15.17
(I was sewing aprons for cousins and Sam
climbed up on my lap (with a fistful of cars, of
course) saying, "help you, mommy!")

12.15.17
(finished! Bradley's on the left and Gracie's on the right)

12.15.17
(they're reversible!)

12.15.17
(Cal decided on her own she wanted to write
down all the C words she could think of)

12.15.17
(after the obvious Cal and Callie at the top,
we have car, Christmas, cob, calf, chick, chinchilla,
cat, cows, chicken, cockatoo, chimpanzees, cheetah,
and cold - most of those animal ones came from
our Big Book of Animals that she flipped through,
stopping only when she saw a c word.)

12.15.17
(and on to "K is fors" now)

12.16.17
(I got to go to the Ogden Temple for my cousin
Emily's wedding)

12.16.17
(it was cold, but at least the snow stopped for
pictures)

12.18.17
(we read literally stacks of Christmas books, this month, but
these by Patricia Polacco were definitely on the top of my list
of faves.  How have I never read her stuff before?!)

12.18.17
(breakfast of champions - thanks to my sister Heatha for the
cranberry orange variation on the flying apple flap jack)

12.18.17
(Gregg had the week before Christmas off, so
he came with us to the library on Monday morning,
and we showed him the Huntsville rink before
story time)

12.19.17
(Gregg took the kids to the store for some Christmas shopping
so I could finish up some top-secret Christmas sewing projects
at home.  I also had time to get in a nice long walk to the lake
and caught up on my back-log of Science Mag podcasts.
Merry Christmas to me!)

12.19.17
(a frosty lake - it wasn't completely frozen over yet, but I was
able to stand and walk on this part)

12.19.17
(I even got to walk on dirt! what a weird December)

12.19.17

12.19.17
(I just really liked the sparkles on the water - it reminded me of
Little Mermaid - ha)

12.19.17

12.19.17

12.21.17
(Cal had been begging to make sugar cut out cookies "for Santa"
for weeks and I kept hedging and hemming and hawing and
delaying because I just wasn't feeling it.  And then I made up
my mind to just get over it and enjoy the process and you know
what? It was the best sugar cookie making I've ever had)

12.21.17
(I guess you could say my grinchy heart grew three sizes that day)

12.21.17
(Cal's frosting skills have improved immensely since last time we
did this)

12.21.17
(Sam mostly did this)

12.21.17
(but there was plenty of this, too)

12.21.17

12.21.17

12.21.17
(Gregg chipped in, too, so I could finish up dinner)

12.21.17
("what are you doing, Sam?" "dudding" aka cutting)

12.21.17
(all day, every day, she's chippin' snowflakes -
I love her word for it)

12.21.17
(I fold them and she cuts out the design)

12.21.17
(over the month her patterns have become much
more detailed, it's fun to see her progress)

12.22.17
(cute art on the wall at Morty's in Logan)

12.22.17
(sibs lunch at Morty's was a delicious, messy, hilarious, wonderful
blast)

12.22.17
(I love the sight of a big bowl of citrus)

12.23.17
(we had the tiniest one-snowflake-deep skiff
and Gregg was ready to break out the snowmaker
but then the heavens opened and we got dumped
on at last!  just in time for a white Christmas!)

12.23.17
(as soon as breakfast was over we all bundled
up to go play/shovel)

12.23.17

12.23.17
(Cal and Sam and their "Snowman in a forest")

12.23.17

12.23.17

12.23.17

12.23.17

12.23.17

12.26.17
(day-after-Christmas good mornin' to ya - they
both woke up like this, jacket and tutu and all)

12.26.17
(trying out the dress up earings she was afraid to
wear at Grandma's because she didn't realize they
were just clip ons. "I don't want ones with a needle!")

12.26.17
(fancy nancy in the flesh)

12.26.17
(tying her first recipe from her new cookbook:
Super Chili Bowl. she got to try new tecniques
like dumping things from cans and stirring them
on the stove, spraying cooking spray, cutting tortillas,
and grating cheese!)

12.26.17
(to go with dinner - my stocking stuffer dragon
fruit. conclusion: it looks better than it tastes
(I don't know if mine was just a dud, but it really
had no flavor at all))

12.27.17
(good mornin')

12.27.17
(my dad invited us to the Kiwanis Club's kid lunch at the Logan
Country Club - we used to go to these with him as kids and always
looked forward to them, and now the grandkids get to come along,
too)

12.27.17
(after lunch we played in the snow at Grandma
and Grandpa's house)

12.27.17
(the next few photos show a rather funny/goofy
progression of Evy - I just had to leave them all)

12.27.17

12.27.17

12.27.17
(a bunch of cuties, snowman included!)

12.29.17
(every morning looks something like this)

12.29.17
(sledding with friends, and dad came along, too!)

12.29.17
(Erin and Charlie have a good run)

12.29.17
(sledding at the Larsen's complex in Wolf Lodge)

12.29.17
(weeeee!)

12.29.17
(after the hill by the condos, we moved over to the
golf course next door and tried out those runs)

12.29.17
(snowy fun)

12.31.17
(the last bit of Christmas before we take it all down tomorrow)

12.31.17
(I just like to document where everyone gets
placed since I'm sure it won't always be this
haphazard and random and I'll miss it)

Every other round up here (whew!):
2017: Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2016: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2015: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2014: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2013: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June