Summer going strong

This summer has been a blast.  I feel like we have been having more fun than we ever have.  We have literally been having camping trips, parties, and just stuff going on every single night.  It has been a blast.
 
 For memorial day, we went to Grossmami's cabin at Mack's Inn.  We stayed in the big cabin with Christina and Curtis and our boys.  The weather was freezing cold, it snowed almost the whole weekend, but it was still fun.  We had the wood stove going full blast and we just stayed indoors and played games and ate.

Grossmami (Ruth Bishop) is a funny lady.  I took her out earlier in the day in the row boat with Adrian.  We fished under this bridge for awhile and then continued floating downstream.  When it was time to go back, I was trying to row us back, but it was extremely difficult.  Grossmami kept trying to tell me how to row and she finally just said she wanted out so I let her out at the shore and she walked back.  It was hilarious.  You had to be there, but Adrian will remember how funny this was!

Meieli and Christina Playing Cards at the cabin

Grossmami fishing off the docs at Mack's.

Meieli and the boys at long dock on memorial day 2012.

Brady Playing guitar in the cabin during Memorial Day Weekend 2012.  How could he be any cuter?

We did our annual Sawtooth Relay in Stanley/Sun Valley.  It was so fun again.  We all rode up together in the suburban.  There was Randy and Lindsay Palmer, Brenda Cude, Mamie Jorgenson, Megan Kellogg, and Meieli and James Allen.  On the way there we nearly got thrown off the road from a huge wind gust but we made in there safely.  Meieli and I ate a whole box of Ding Dongs and we all just had a good time.  When we got to Ketchum we played around, went to a few stores, ate a good dinner, and then headed to the park to try to sleep.  It was a little awkward because we were just kind of sleeping out in the middle of a park.  Mamie was cracking me up because she just hated this part.  The race was a lot of fun.

In the park.  I think Randy was the only one who could actually fall asleep.  Then the sprinklers came on and that was the last straw.

James running up the pass.

This is us.  Happy Pace!  We left a gap there because I am going to Photoshop Randy in later.  Or I stink really bad, one of the two.

Later in the summer Meieli and I and the boys hiked to the wind caves.  Brady made in easily the whole way.  He has no body fat though, so you have to stop about every hour and fill him up with food or he tuckers out.  Gibson made it about half way.  It was a gorgeous day and we had a great time.  We spent the night the night before in our new tent.  It worked really well.  Meieli and Gibson slept on the big queen air mattresses while Brady and I slept on the little pads.  Meieli slept like a princess while Brady and I suffered, but she is pregnant (because of me), so I guess that is okay.

James and Brady at the mouth of the cave at the wind caves in Darby Canyon

Just last week Jeff and Lindsay came into town from Texas.  We all met up at Teton Canyon Campground and had a great time.  Dave and Alissa couldn't make it because there are living in Boise.  That night we went on a little hike, ate good food, and sang songs around the campfire.  The next morning, Dad, Jeff, and I all hiked to the top of Table Mountain.  What a hard hike.  I think I have hiked it about 15 times in my life, and it never gets easier.  It was a tough hike but worth it at the end.  Dad is quite the mountain goat.  Jeff was still not adjusted to the altitude and he was breathing like cow in heat. 

All of the fam around the campfire at Teton Canyon Campground.

The sisters.  All very beautiful.  Especially Meieli and Ruby!

Gibson rock climbing at "The Rock" near Teton Canyon Campground.

Its spring/summer/winter depending on the day

Its spring/summer/winter depending on the day, and a lot is going on.  We seem to be so busy but we are so happy.  Here is a list of stuff that is happening:

1.  Meieli is pregnant.  With a girl.  It's all my fault:  The good news is that Meieli is pregnant and her due date is September 1st.  The bad news is that I will be at school in Seattle for two weeks; August 16th-August 31st.  The school doesn't allow to miss days without having to take the semester over again.  We are going to be cutting that close.  We are so excited to be having a baby, and we are so excited it is a girl.  We have picked out two names in different scenarios.  First if the baby has dark skin like Meieli's, then we have picked out the name Ruby.  The funny thing about that name right now is that neither of our kids can say R's.  It comes out as Wooby.  Second, if the baby has whitish pinkish skin like me, then we are thinking Evelyn.  If the baby comes out with unexpected boy parts, then we are going with Miles.  We have every scenario covered.

2.  Brady finished kindergarten and had a great year at the Monticello Montessori school.  He learned to read very well, he can tell time perfectly, he learned all about the different continents, and he is learning addition, subtraction, and multiplication.  Brady is very intelligent and picks up things very quickly.  He is such a sweet kid.

3.  Gibson is hilarious and cute.  Meieli and I can't put our finger on why, but Gibson is just so adorable.  Everything he does is either funny or cute.  We just sit there and watch him and laugh.  The other morning we woke up and heard him playing Rock Paper Scissors with himself.  He was playing his left hand against his right.  The right won most of the time.

He is also in a stage right now where he will not let us spike his hair.  It has to be parted on the side, and he tucks in his shirt.  He will then walk up and ask "Do I loot dood?"

This was Easter and Bethany and Ryans in Murray, UT.  Our boys had such a great time.  Meieli hid an egg up in a tree and they were attempting to get it down.

The cousins:  From left to right:  Tommy, Brady, Gibson, Eli, Gideon

Our annual picture at Temple Square

Front porch pickin' with my favorite guitar

Brady playing the xylophone during his Lets Play Music Concert.

Brady at Lets Play Music.  It was hard to get a picture where a child in the scene wasn't picking there nose.  This was on of the rare catches.

Brady and Gibson playing Hopscotch for the first time.

Brady had a little water party with his friends.  They played for hours and had a blast.

Brady and Gibson's friend

Brady and Gibson's friend

Brady's tee-ball game.  Brady is loving T-ball and their team is actually pretty good.  Brady is an excellent hitter and runner.  He is working on improving his outfield play.  He is currently afraid of the ball. 

Father and Sons outing at Wolverine Canyon outside of Idaho Falls.  It was a fun time.  I love my boys.

Brady at his Birthday party at uncle Shave's house.  We had such a fun time at Dave beautiful new home.  Thanks for making a fun vacation!

Winter time

Christmas was such a fun time this year. The boys really understood it and were very excited. In previous years they had fun, but not the can't sleep because were too excited type of excitement. This year had just that. We went in their room at about midnight and they were still awake and chatting.

Brady got some legos this year. I was a little nervous that he wouldn't get it, or that he wouldn't like them, but he really caught on and loves Legos. He also loves star wars, so a Lego Star War's ship fit the bill perfectly.


This year we had a little surprise during the holidays. Alissa had her baby Declin during the holidays so Meieli and I got to watch Rowan. He was so fun to have around. We didn't really have any presents for him because it was such late notice, but we had a box of bows that he played with the whole time. He had a bow stuck to his butt all day. It was hilarious.


Brady and Gibson have been really fun. They are at great ages. They do really funny things, and they play together all the time.



A couple of Saturdays ago, I went snowshoeing and climbed Table Rock with Todd and Kevin Lee. We had such a great time and it was absolutely gorgeous up there. The Tetons had a nice frosted look and they were clear as a bell. They almost looked like a frosted cupcake, except more jagged and rocky, and much larger, and really not cupcakey at all.

Todd told me a funny story about Jeff Neeley up on that mountain and how he couldn't find any privacy!!!! Funny stuff I tell you.

Catch up time!

I am going to play catch up with the past few months because we have really slacked on the blogging. James usually does it because he does the pictures but he is so busy lately that I am easing his burden by doing a blog post for him.

Because I am such a great mom I forgot to bring my camera during Halloween and so have no pictures of the boys in their costumes. You will just have to believe me when I say that I had the cutest Knight in Shining Armor and Spider-man in Eastern Idaho! I kept hearing about this great trick or treating think on the radio called Trick or Treat Street and it sounded like a blast. so I made plans to go with some friends of ours. Going to Trick or Treat Street was a rookie mistake and I will never go there again! We waited in line for three hours and it was super cold. The boys had a great time and were happy, but I was always on the verge of freaking out because there were so many people there and they were all dressed like spider man and I couldn't keep track which was mine! What counts is that my kids had a good time, but I will find something different next year.


We went to the coolest pumpkin patch ever and had such a great time! There was a maze for the kids to play in, train rides and thousands of pumpkins to choose from. We were there forever and now I know what I want to do when I grow up. Yes, I am going to have a ten acre farm and sell the produce in the fall to pay for me to travel around the world. And I will primarily use child labor....mwah ha ha ha!!! Now I just need ten acres......

Here are some pics of the pumpkin patch

This first picture has a mystery bum in it. Nice polka dots :)


Gibs had his birthday in Sept and he is just the joy of our lives. He is such a lover and so kind. He has such a funny, goofy side to him that is hilarious! He and Brady are such good friends and play so well together. I am definitely lucky to have such good boys. The first picture is of Gibson seeing that he got some Big League Chew (bubble gum). He was more excited for this gift than any other, it was so fun.

This was the year of the Grand! For many years Meieli and I have been dreaming of climbing the Grand Teton, but there was always something that stopped us from our dream. Some years we just weren't in shape, too many oreos or something, other years it was Meieli had to go and have a baby, and other years, we just didn't anyone that would guide us for our first trip. Then everything came together at once this year, and.........WE SUMMITED THE GRAND!

Meieli, Brenda and I started our hike on a Wednesday. We wanted to have a day head start so that we would have a leg up on Todd the mountain goat. We started on the trail head at about 7:00 p.m. and started our ascent. As we were hiking up the switchbacks, people coming down the trail kept telling us about a bear with two cubs that were very near the trail head. It was completely dark and all we had was our headlamps. I did have a bottle of pepper spray, but it was a smaller version made for humans, not bears. So were very nervous the whole hike up. Brenda stayed in back and clapped the whole way, and I was in front with the pepper spray looking everywhere for any movement. Meieli was in the middle singing songs. Were were quite the trio. We were lucky though, and avoided the bear.

We finally got to our campsite at the "Platforms". It was a nice campsite and we slept very well. The next morning we got up early and got ready for the big day. Todd met us at about 7:30 a.m. and we started up the trail. The day couldn't have been any more gorgeous with weather hovering around 65 and sunny. From that point on Todd, our amazing guide, led the way.

We could see the lower saddle and that was our first goal to reach. It looked so close, and I kept thinking we would be there in a half hour, but those half hours turned into 4 hours. We finally arrived at the lower saddle. The lower saddle is interesting because it has some semi-permanent housing units for the Exum Guides and the Exum guests. This is also were the guides for Grand Teton National Park stay. We decided to rest at the saddle and eat some much needed food. As were eating, a park ranger came up to us and starting talking about our trek. He warned us that summitting the Grand is extremely dangerous. He said that we looked like we might not be experienced, and the we should probably not attempt to summit due to the danger and the fact that some of the chimneys had ice in them. This was very discouraging as were only a couple thousand feet from the summit.

With the rangers advice gnawing at our brains, we put our climbing gear on (helmet, harness, etc.) and started our final ascent. This last 2000 feet was exciting. There is no dirt, only rock, and you basically have to scramble the whole time, but nothing to extreme. It wasn't until we reached the belly roll that my stomach started to turn. It is hard to explain how exposed it is without being there, but basically you have to rock climb across a rock that has nothing below you but a 2000 foot cliff. There are excellent handholds, but still, one trip up or false move, and you would fall to your death. Watching Meieli cross the belly roll was about as much as I could take. I started getting light headed and feeling sick. Meieli made it across fine as well as the rest of us.

The remaining portions of the climb had several other high risk exposed areas, but nothing as scary as the belly roll. The belly crawl is exposed as well, but you have the luxury of having half of your body in a rock crevasse.

When we reached the summit, there was a certain feeling of accomplishment and adrenaline that combined together to form an unforgettable experience. The view from up top is also amazing. Mt. Borah also has a good view, but this is different. It is like a view I have never seen. I felt on top of the world. We didn't stay too long on the summit because of time constraints and altitude sickness, so we headed back down.

Going down wasn't nearly as bad as I was thinking. I actually thought it would be worse than ascending, but it turned out to be easier, and felt safer. The total round trip was 18 miles, elevation gain of 6,530' and took us 17 hours. By the end, I have never felt so tired. The last mile seemed to last forever, but we made it. I will never forget stopping in at the little gas station after the hike. It was 11:00 at night, Meieli, Brenda, and I all walked in starving to death, looking and smelling to high heaven. We of course were completely dirty and sweaty, limping because of blisters and soreness, and we bought at least $40 of food combined!

All I can say is: What a trip. Thanks Todd, for taking us, and Brenda for coming with us!!

Meieli and I on the summit

Summer Thus Far

Summer has been a blast so far. This Spring was extremely windy and we were afraid that we had moved to a wind farm, then we realized that their really is a wind farm just about 5 miles from us! Luckily, the wind has calmed down a little bit and has let us have a great summer.

Brady turned 5 this June. He had such a fun day. All day he kept saying "I just can't believe I am 5. This is so awesome". For many months we have been trying to get him to start reading simple words. He kept telling us that he wasn't going to learn until he was 5. The day after his birthday he said he was reading to start learning to read. He picked up the books we had bought him and started reading!

Brady got embarrassed with everyone watching and didn't want to blow out the candles to Gibson came to the rescue.


Kurt jumping like a friggin mountain goat!

Brady, Gibson, Eli, Tommy




Meieli and I ran a relay race with a bunch of our friends. This relay race is near Sun Valley and it was such a fun time. Our race started at 12:30 a.m. (yeah that is 12:30 in the morning when normal people are sleeping). The total race was around 80 miles so each person had to run approximately 10 miles. We all loaded in the suburban and followed eachother around and cheered for the runner. The day before the race we played around Sun Valley and shopped and ate.


Meieli and I and the kids decided at the last minute to go the Freedom Celebration in Driggs. This was such an awesome event. Their was an air show, pig races (which were very lame), tons of blow up castles for the kids, and then Glen Beck spoke. After Glen, there was the most amazing firework show I have ever seen. Meieli and I kept looking at each other in dis-belief at how amazing it was.


Brady and Gibson drinking a soda at the 6-12.



Christina, Meieli, and I singing at the 4th of July party in the park. Dave is also on the stage playing drums but whoever took the picture didn't include him for some reason. Luckily it wasn't me and I can prove it. Anyway, what a blast that was. We had all our groupies (our aunts, uncles, parents, bros and sisters, grandparents) plus a lot of people from Ashton. We had a great time and Meieli sang like an angel. She sang God Bless America completely a cappella and it gave everyone goose bumps.


Meieli, the boys and I all went on an 8 mile hike through Palisades. Brady walked about 5 or 6 of the 8 miles, he is such a stud. Gibson did really well too. We hiked to the lower palisades lake.



Here is Brady and Gibson hiking. They basically sang the whole time.