Chariot Skis = Wise Investment

No we didn't buy chariot skis, but I really wish we could. We rented this set-up from the ORC so that we could venture up Green Canyon this afternoon (to visit the snow rabbit and snow duck). They worked better than expected it was actually quite nice to pull (granted you don't have a pulled groin muscle, more on that later). I look forward to the day Joe jimmy rigs our chariot with some sort of under $250 home brewed ski concoction. A Skiing Chariot = Winter Freedom, for those of us who can't get our kid to stay in a sled. Twas a fine afternoon topped off with a fine pork plate from La Tormenta.

I'm Ready to be Warm

I know, the blog has been neglected. It's been a rough month. I've had a lot of work, it's cold, we had an inversion, it's cold, I wasn't feeling well, were sick of this house, I saw some movies, it's cold, we play toys, we take walks, we attempt hikes, we play in snow, we take naps...ya, it's been pretty slow around here. I was so greatly looking forward to this weekend. Since last week St.G was in the upper 60's we had plans to take a mt.bike trip down south with Claud and Brian. Those plans got snowed out so we went with plan B. We decided that instead we would head down to UT Co. to see Joe's family for the weekend, run some errands in SLC, take in the Patagonia outlet sale and visit the Dinosaurs Museum. Ari got a really bad cold on Thursday eve and we've been battling that ever since. So, here we are still in Logan. That's not to say I don't have photos of us doing our thing. Here's a few photos from the past week.

Our First Egg

We didn't expect Cheeky, Cheeks, or Mangon to start laying eggs until spring. They proved us wrong.

A Good Run!

On Saturday Claud and Brian came up equipped with their extreme sledding gear. Brian had the genius idea of hiking up Dry Canyon and sledding down. My life will never be the same. We went up past the gate and had continuous sledding clear unto the catchment basin. It was AWESOME!!!

Joe's B-Day Bash.

Well, maybe "bash" isn't the right word. Joe's b-day consisted of lots of well wishers, a walk near green canyon and lasagna. Ari had a great time, that kid LOVES birthdays; he even finally ate a cupcake. We were proud.

Train Yard

We took a trip to Brigham City today to see the trains. Ari thought it was heaven, in fact he never wanted to leave...as evidence in the last photo. Good day topped off with good food at Maddox. Yum.

PS No my arm is not broken in that 4th picture, I was trying to look suave.
PSS I know, this graffiti probably means something really blasphemous and my child is posed by it.

Creating a Monster

As I sit Joe is teaching Ari how to play games on PBSkids.org. What have we done?

One Brothers Quest to Surprise his Sister

My sisters been living in Maryland and wasn't able to come home for the holidays; she was pretty bummed. So, my brother flew out to the east coast to surprise her for her B-day last week. My parents and I were video chatting with her as my brother arrived so we got to see the surprise go down. The reaction was priceless so I had to share.



You just can't help but smile.

Bad to the Bone

Ari and his Cousins. Chillin.

Sunday

Idaho Beaches

Today we decided to spend the day at the Beach; so we headed to Bear Lake Idaho's North Shore. The beaches in Idaho are far less crowed in the winter...not sure why, it was at least in the upper 20's and not a grain of sand in site. We tried to spot wildlife from the car (Ari looked for moose, deer, elk, trucks and tractor tailors but all he saw was "the moon"). We ventured off on some side roads for a bit, climbed a dirt hill, ate snow, hit the beach, did some pic-nicking and went treat shopping at the local gas station. All in all it was a really great day. Thank you Idaho.

Crimson Trailblazing

New Years eve day Kim, Olivia, Dennis and I snowshoed up the Crimson Trail. We were the first to hit the trail after all the recent snow storms so it was quite the trail blazing experience. Highlights included Kim's backpack sliding off a cliff (something I've always wanted to secretly see happen...but not to Kim) and us sliding down mountains voluntary. The low point occurred after we had drug our super exhausted butts back to the vehicles after dark and had to spend an hour digging the out (we started the trail knowing Kim's car was stuck in the middle of the road and Olivia's jeep was buried in the parking lot). We were too beat for much New Years celebrating but we did manage to stay awake clear through Disc 1 of Tom Petty and the Heart Breakers: Runnin' Down a Dream (which I highly recommend).

Here's some pics from the day and a video that I'm pretty sure you had to be there to enjoy...but I'm posting it anyway as per Kim's request (this is both mine and Olivia's footage).

PS My favorite photo if of Kim looking like the Lady of Shalott, I'm pretty sure you'll be able to pick it out:)

PPS Happy New Year.

Assessment of My 2008 Resolutions

I learned a few things about resolutions this year.
A. It helps to share them. 2008 was the first year I posted mine publicly, turned out to be a good idea, I had support!
B. You need to look at them often. Some of my resolutions I totally forgot about, this year they will hang by my desk.
C. They can be really quite enjoyable, as long as you pick things you really WANT to do.

Here's my year end report.

1. Climb, Kayak, Backpack and Mt.Bike twice as many days as I did last year.
ACCOMPLISHED. Thanks primarily to Joe, Lacey, Claudia, Kim and Brian I nailed this one!

2. Wear Sunglasses more often.
SORT OF. I did wear them more often than usual however I didn’t wear them as often as I had envisioned. I can’t help it, I just get too disoriented, I will continue to try.

3. Do Five pull-ups.
ALMOST. I can do 4, and I got up to 4 without trying so maybe next year I will be up to five, also without trying. I thought about it a lot so maybe you really can you things if you just put your mind to it.

4. Gain 2 pounds…of muscle.
SHOOT. I weigh the same; I guess it could be worse.

5. Take Ari backpacking.
MY BIGGEST FAILURE. It was not for lack of trying! We tried this several times and things always feel apart last minute. I’m so ashamed.

7. Journal more consistently and more often.
YES…ISH. I did journal more by way of my blog, which is now sort of my journal, sort of. The rest of it is in a big pile waiting for me to do something with it.

8. Make a Budget and keep it, or at least come close.
I TRIED. It’s hard to have a budget when you don’t have any money to budget.

9. Discover 10 new hikes.
CLOSE. Did I really say 10? Wow. Lets see I could count Antelope Island, I found a new fork to Spring Hollow, Babylon, Card Canyon Loop, Lone Peak, ventured further up Cottonwood (aka Lost Kenny), part of White Pine lake, and my backpacking trip with Kim could technically count for several different hikes…right, and I did wander around some cool new places? I would say I got pretty close.

10. Take a solo trip.
FAILED. I’m ok with failing on this one because I took several non-solo trips that were just as rejuvenating.

11. Go to an Opera.
NOPE. Maybe next year.

12. Write more thank-you’s, remember birthdays, and act on impulses…
I DID OK. I liked this one, gave me added intensive to do nice things. Yes, there is room for improvement I will definitely continue to do this. If I forgot your birthday you better let me know when it is.

13. Help Olivia get her deposit back.
OOH THE SHAME. I talked to a lawyer AND even showed up on her landlords doorstep but still was not able to accomplish this. I would have taken this farther but by doing so may have drove Olivia crazy.

14. Do something really great for my 30th Birthday.
NAILED IT! Spent the day in the Valley of the Gods with good folks, good food and good scenery. Thanks to this trip and my birthday gifters I have to admit it was the best birthday ever.

15. Consider Dreads.
THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN GREAT. Thanks to Lauren’s experience with dreads I now know that while dreds can look quite becoming (especially on Lauren) they can actually be quite a pain in the butt.

16. Enjoy being a Mom.
100%. It was a great year.

17. Take 20 photos that I would deem “portfolio” worthy.
Ehhh. I would say I have maybe…5ish, maybe even 10.

18. Spend time with my camera (and Photoshop) every week.
YES AND NO. I did accomplish this…just didn’t really get the results I wanted, still working on that.

19. Get ready to start my own photo business in 2009.
I DID PRETTY WELL. I own a website now. My brother designed it and Joe’s brother hosted it, advised me greatly and actually got it up and running for Christmas this year (so that I would have it by the time this resolution was due). Jon and Travis helped me so much; I really can’t thank them enough. Not sure that 2009 is “the year” but I’m really happy at where I’m at with this. I’ve learned a lot this year and will continue to asses the situation and work on the website.

2009 Resolutions coming soon!