New Mantle and a Christmas Tree

My in-laws were just here for a visit for Thanksgiving and my father-in-law really wanted to do some work around the house so my big project for him was to build me a new mantle. I'm glad to announce that he completed it and it looks great! I'm so excited about having somewhere to hang my stockings this year! It's just so traditional to have stockings hanging from the fireplace - I love it! He and Fogg went up to a local lumbermill and got a raw piece of wood to construct the mantle. It looks fantastic with a little bit of bark on it to represent our mountain environment. Here is an after picture for you (sorry I don't have a before, but just imagine it without the mantle and that's about what it looked like).

I also decorated for Christmas this weekend, got myself a new artificial tree to replace the little one I used to use. Now that we have a bigger house, I can fit a bigger tree. It was really fun to decorate it but it took so much more time than the small one. Here is a picture of it:

Fogg also put my lights on the house, it looks so pretty. I love the look of the front of our house, so the lights just run along the roofline.

We had a great Thanksgiving dinner with my in-laws and they took a picture of us that I plan on using for our Christmas card. It was great to have them here for our first Thanksgiving dinner in our new house. We had a great time with them while they were here, doing house projects, spending time together. Dick got a lot of projects done around the house including but not limited to: replacing a light switch with a dimmer switch, building the mantle, putting in more outlets in the basement, building Fogg a workshop, putting up pegboard, fixing a toilet, and putting up drywall on a room in the basement. He sure is a handy man! Fran made some window treatments and window cushions for me as well.



So now I'm all ready for Christmas, need to finish a little bit of shopping and do a lot of wrapping but the house is ready. Oh and to touch on the previous post, yes, I'm pregnant, we are expecting the baby on May 22nd. We are super excited and using the next six months to prepare for it. I've been feeling ok so far, I guess as good as you can feel with a human growing inside of you. If you want to know more, send me an email or leave a comment and I'll send you an invite to our private blog chronicling our pregnancy experience.

Happy Holidays!

Thanksgiving Time!

I know it's been forever, sorry I've been slacking (not that anyone probably reads my blog anyway). So I thought that I would share my excitement for the upcoming holiday season! I very excited about Thanksgiving, my in-laws are coming to visit on Saturday then staying through Turkey Day. I'm excited to catch up with them, it seems like forever since we have seen them. We are very excited about showing them our new house and having them help us with a few projects. My father-in-law is a handyman for trade so he is wanting to help us with a few projects, and we are happy to have him. So number one on my project list is a new mantle. We currently do not have one in the new house and with the fireplace being a fairly central feature in the living room, we'd like a nice mantle to surround it. Right now, it's tile going into just the wall. And it'd be great to hang some stockings this year on the fireplace! We need a couple of other small projects done too. We are also going to be taking them to Snowbasin for Sunday brunch when they arrive, and I think we are all looking forward to that.

I'm also excited about the Christmas season. Can't wait to get my lights up and my tree decorated and the house adorned in holiday cheer. I can't wait to cook my Christmas goody bags to give out and the smell of the holiday's at our house. I love the Christmas cheer and music and the time with family. I hope to again do the Christmas Eve Torchlight Parade at Snowbasin as we did last year. We had so much fun as a family doing that, we hope to do it again. They did a big Christmas Eve shindig last year, with Christmas carolers and Santa arriving on a sleigh and a torchlight parade where we skied down the main slope with torches and apparently it was quite a site. But it was a TON of fun so we'd like to do it again. Then we got to go inside and have a delicious Christmas Eve meal in the beautiful lodge. What a great time!

Oh yeah, and if you haven't heard yet, we are expecting our first baby this May! Just thought I'd through that little tidbit in there for you as a little surprise.

Day Off

For you whiner's out there - Candace - the snow has been melting quickly and is hard to find anymore. Though I enjoyed the quick glimpse into the coming winter, I'm thankful that we get a couple of more weeks in Fall.

I took the day off yesterday, a well deserved rest, and got so much done I had to share! I got up and took London to the vet, got new tires for my car, went to the bank, washed my car, went to a doctor's appointment, met a friend for lunch, changed my oil, cleaned my whole house, and did 3 loads of laundry. Though many of you probably do that much on a daily basis, I find this to be quite an accomplishment mostly because I did everything that was on my list - everything. I love when a plan comes together like that.

First Snow

All day Saturday and today it has been dumping snow! We have a nice layer at our house and I'm sure that the mountains have even more. Good thing I got my new skis last week! Won't be skiing quite yet cause it's not quite thick enough to cover all the rocks and sticks and you wouldn't want to get hurt this early! It feels so much like Christmas time that it's hard to believe that it's still two more weeks before Halloween let alone Thanksgiving! I'm drinking some hot choco as we speak and have been pulling out all of my sweaters and down coats. I'm full on ready for this time of the year though I feel like the 2 weeks of fall wasn't quite enough. I'm sure we'll get a little of the fall back but I'm not sure I've seen such a big early season snow since I've lived here.

My new skis! The Volkl Kiku, can't wait to ride them!

We went by Pep Boys earlier today to get new wiper blades for my car. Fogg went in and asked the sales clerk to show him the best windshield wipers that they carried. The clerks response was "for like snow and rain?" Um, seriously? What else do you use windshield wipers for? Anyway, Fogg got me hooked up with some great new wipers that work like a charm. Now it's off to the tire place for some good all weather tires.


London is also soaking up the winter spirit as well, he's curled up in front of the fire...

Scotland

Well, my brother just arrived in Scotland on Tuesday, well maybe Wednesday, who knows what time zones he's gone through, for a two month travel around the country of our ancestors. My mom is mostly Scottish, my grandmother traveling over here when she was 6 in 1922 because of the potato famine. We still can't understand most of what she says and it's been a few years. Anyway, our childhood was full of Scottish tradition, Scotch meat pies, English tea with milk no sugar and as hot as a boiling pot of water, kilts and funny Scottish sayings. But as my brother shows in his first posting of his new blog, it's the Wally Dogs that kill us the most. My mother got some from who knows where and put them proudly in the living room on either side of the fireplace. They could possibly be the ugliest things we'd ever seen. My mom's defense every time of our insults was that they are "antiques" but my complaint is that this particular antique is ugly and that I never wanted to inherit them from her. In fact, my brother and I told her that if she does pass them along to us, we'll proudly sell them for the supposed "loads of cash" that they are worth. But my brother found them in a museum on day one of his adventure in Scotland. He should start a Wally Dog count...

Bring on the fall

I love the fall. I love how the landscape around you changes, the colors, the temperature, the mood. Let's get this straight, I hate the summer. I don't like how hot it is outside and how cold people keep it inside. I don't like feeling draggy all the time from how hot it is. I'm not really a fan of the sun because of my complexion. I don't like sweating all the time. But I love the fall. I love the way that the mountains look when the trees are yellow, orange and red. I love the smell of morning chill and frost and fires burning. I like pulling out all my sweaters and jeans and bundling up with a cup of cider. I like the smell of pumpkin and apple. The best part of the fall is that it means we are closer to winter. We get to go skiing and play in the snow and all that fun stuff. I have so much more fun in the winter than in the summer. I spend more time outside during the winter months than I do during the summer months. So I'm ready for the changing of the seasons, it's a time to refresh, reprioritize, renew, and rethink.

LOTOJA - 5317

Translation? LOgan TO JAckson. Yes, riding a bike from Logan, Utah to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It's 206 miles in one long day. 5317 was Fogg's racing number.

Three friends raced the LOTOJA on Saturday, September 6. They started in Logan at 6:58, which meant getting up at about 4:30 to leave to drive up there and get ready. The three riders were Michael Hart, Andrew Branaum and Mike Fogg. Here they are at the start


As you can see, it was early in the morning and they were sort of bundled up, it was pretty chilly as they got ready in front of the port-o-potty.

There were two feed zones before we saw them again. The temperature was just about right, sort of sunny with a slight breeze to keep the heat off. The first FZ was in Preston Idaho, 34 miles in. One of our support guys, the mechanic, went to that FZ to check in. The rest of us skipped to the third FZ. The second FZ was called a neutral feed zone, meaning that outside support was not allowed to go there. So we saw them at FZ3, in Montpelier Idaho, 80 miles in and after one major mountain pass.

This is Michael Hart coming into FZ3.

Andrew looking a bit grumpy at FZ3.

Fogg is eating a PB&J at FZ3.

Then they were off again for two more mountain passes. FZ4 was another neutral, so we saw them again on the road climbing up the last mountain pass.

This is Andrew climbing up the last mountain pass.

Andrew cresting the final climb!

Fogg topping out!

We caught up with them again at FZ5, in Afton Wyoming, 125 miles in with 81 miles to go. They were all feeling pretty good but also pretty tired. We took off again and caught up with Michael Hart at FZ6 in Alpine, Wyoming. Michael had for fitted his attempt at the finish there in Alpine because he neglected to put his sunglasses on and actually sunburned his corneas. He couldn't see a thing and felt that it was unsafe to continue to the finish. By the time we got there, he was a couple of beers in and was feeling fine. We motivated Andrew and Fogg cause they had only 47 miles to go and had already completed 159 miles.

Fogg and Michael at FZ6.

Andrew getting stocked up in the pockets by Greer at FZ6.

Andrew, Michael and Fogg at FZ6 watching more riders come in.

If I do say so myself, the beautiful support crew. Greer (Andrew's girlfriend), me, and Patti (Michael's girlfriend). We had a lot of fun supporting and watching.

The boys had one more neutral feed zone before the finish. We skipped all the way to Teton Village (the official finish and where we were staying). We quickly checking into our beautiful hotel only steps from the finish line, got some warm clothes for both ourselves and the boys, stocked up with snacks and beer then headed to the finish. We waited about 30 minutes before they showed up to the finish.

We headed back to our sweet three bedroom suite at Teton Mountain Lodge (thanks to Greer's amazing negotiating skills) and ordered in room service for dinner. We got to just hang out and tell good stories the rest of the evening.

This is the kitchen in the condo, Fogg is making coffee on Sunday morning.

View of the living room from the loft bedroom.

This is the view from the living room in our condo. Not too shabby!

I'll let Fogg post his thoughts, I can't speak for his part of the experience. I'm very proud of all three of them, it was much harder than it even looks. It is a huge accomplishment to finish LOTOJA!

Here are a few more pics from the trip!

This is Fogg prepping his feed zone bags ahead of time. See London in the back "helping"? Fogg was starting to get nervous about Wednesday night before the race, the day he started doing his prep.

Here is Fogg at the start. Pretty dark at 6:30 in the morning.

Patti and Greer waiting for the riders to reach FZ3.

This is Mimi (Greer's sister) and Greer at the top of the last mountain pass. Mimi did a relay for the race, she rode the first 80 miles and the last 47. Both Mimi and Greer are all but signed up to do the full race next year!

This is John Thomas, a coworker for all of us at backcountry.com.

City of Rocks

Well, we didn't make it to Moab this year but we did go up to the City of Rocks in southern Idaho. It's on the border between Idaho and Utah basically and it's a quick 2 1/2 hour drive up there. We met up with a few old friends and a few new friends. We stayed in the best campsite in the park. The "city", as it is commonly referred, is basically a rock version of New York (of course on a much smaller scale). It's just a big field full of rocks that resemble a city. Really cool place, a rock climbers paradise. It is outside the city of Almo, a tiny little place with one tiny grocery store, two (yes, two) restaurants and a visitor's center. In recent years, they have built up a hot spring to be a great place to hang out in it's pool like atmosphere (and incredibly hot springs, 111 is what one of the pools is).

We drove up on Saturday morning because Mike needed to ride his bike to prepare for LOTOJA (explanation of this in a previous post). We also got called out for search and rescue at about 9 on Friday night, resulting in a quick and successful evacuation of an ill hiker by a Lifeflight helicopter. We got there around noon and hung out, took a nap, then did a quick climb before meeting up with everyone at the pizza joint. We had a great time at the hot spring then back to the campsite for some yummy S'mores and fellowship with friends. Sunday morning yielded a nice sunny outlook and a little bit of sleeping in. After breakfast, the crew of 8 headed up to Swiss Cheese and String Cheese, two climbs next to each other with a great place to hang out. Mike lead up both of the climbs to set top ropes for everyone else to have fun on. Right as the last people are finishing up the climbs, the weather dropped about 20 degrees very very quickly and within about 10 minutes we were feeling rain drops. We quickly packed up and headed off to the campsite so that we were not in danger of lightening while on the rock. We ate a quick lunch then headed to town to hang out inside during the rain storm. We killed some time eating pie, visiting the visitor's center, exploring a few touristy places around the city then headed back to camp. Since it was still quite cold and the weather forecast looking even more grim for Monday, Mike and I decided to head home after a few hours hanging out around the campfire. We made our quick trip home Sunday night to arrive to our house which the power had gone out on. No worries, cause we just crashed.

Part of the group watching the climbers, from left to right, Brent, Amanda, Michelle and Emmy.

London, the crazy climber dog. He loved the city, he could just wander and climb rocks. Apparently, he is really into rock climbing, he loved it!

Fogg is belaying James, the climber. Thought this was a cool shot.

This is Scotty, a new friend.

We spent today just bumming around, sleeping in, watching TV and generally just relaxing on Labor Day. Mike did some work around the yard after the rain stopped.

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend as well, wish it could be just a few days longer...

Happy Birthday Gabby

Yesterday, August 26th, was Gabby's fourth birthday. Our beautiful niece was born the same year as Mike and I were married so it's sort of easy to remember how old she is. We bought her her yearly winter jacket again, a cute Patagonia Down Sweater. We called and said happy birthday but I think she was more interested in putting on the nail polish and lipstick that we also sent her.

Home

We finally feel like it's home. Well, at least I do. When I get home, I don't see a list of projects still left to complete but I see my house. I can relax and chill now that everything is done. It's great to take bike rides straight from the house and to just hang out there.

Sorry to everyone that missed the party, we know how Saturdays and summers can be. No worries, we have full faith that all of you will be there there sometime soon. We had a good time, lots of food, lots of dogs running around.

Now that life has seemed to settle down, at least for a couple of weeks, we are ramping up our plans for the fall. We are heading to Moab over Labor day so we can absolutely fry ourselves. But it'll be fun as always, anyone else wanna come? Then it's off to LOTOJA (that's Logan to Jackson, a 200+ mile road bike race for those of you who don't know) on September 6th for Mike. I'm his support vehicle while he rides. Then a friend's wedding, search and rescue training at the City of Rocks in Idaho, and mom and dad visiting at some point. We love chaos don't we! Soon it'll be full blown fall and then the snow falls!

We'll keep you updated on our adventures!

Finally, pictures!

It's been a long time coming, but we've finally finished setting up the house! All the pictures are hung and the boxes unpacked. It's really starting to feel like home. London is being such a great dog, very adaptable to the new space. Last night he was just laying on the floor like he always does without great concern. He never had any problems during the move, in fact, he is better behaved and seems to genuinely be happy. He hasn't lashed out, chewed anything up, had accidents in the house, or other typical dog stress responses. Maybe he is more tired from following us around every day and night as we finish getting everything set up. If we walk anywhere, so does he. And we've been walking a lot. So, without further ado, here is the house! Though you can't truly appreciate it unless you are actually there (hint, hint, come visit!)

This is the front of the house. Kinda plain right now, but I think we will put some skis on top of the garage.

Living room. It's so nice and open that I can't take a picture of the whole thing. But anyway, to the far right is another couch and you can see on the side of the picture, there is a fireplace.

This is the view from the living room into the kitchen. It's basically one big room, which we love.

Here is a picture from the kitchen back into the living room.

Master Bedroom, can't see through the windows in this picture but there are mountains right outside!

Master closet. If you can see, it's freaking huge. The bathroom is off to the right, which is also freaking huge.

Guest Bedroom. Also known as April's room. But anyone else can stay there too.

Office. Nothing special here, a bunch of books and a desk. You can see the big rock retaining wall out the windows.