The Boys

My snuggling Christmas kitties, Cupid & Alvin.

Christmas Flashback

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!

Thanksgiving Buck

This buck showed up in Papa & Grandma's raspberry patch on Thanksgiving day.



He gave us some nice views...



And then he started chewing on the raspberry bushes. All Corey could say was "GET AWAY FROM MY RASPBERRIES DEER!!!"

Pink Christmas Cactus

Pretty pretty flowers on my little Christmas Cactus. I guess I have a happy plant living in my house--it is covered in bright pink buds. It will be brilliant once all the blooms start to unfold at once!

Noah and Cupid Playing

Noah and my Mama came up to our house on Oct. 12th while she was babysitting him for the evening. He had a fun time following Cupid around with his straw! I think Cupid had a good time as well.

Kitties and babies are so cute!!!

October Mornings

For your viewing pleasure, a few of my shots off my balcony! Living on a hill gives me plenty of opportunities to wake up with the sun. I love watching the trees change colors everyday from the balcony even though it's getting colder. Soon I'll have to drink my morning tea just inside the glass door for fear of freezing toes.

October 13, 2009
Foggy Morning

7:45am
Fingers of fog drape over the fall trees in Moscow.

8:00 a.m.
BAM! All of a sudden, you can only see the trees in front of our balcony. Fog is misting everything outside with a cold, wet layer.

Our view of campus...where?!?

8:15 a.m.
There is the UI campus! This was a fast moving fog, it pirouetted through Moscow in a flash.

I love the look of fog settled among the hills. It reminds me of driving along "The Shadowy St. Joe" River late at night and seeing the fog roll in the river valley. A few minutes after this there was no fog in sight!

8:30 a.m.
No fog! Just sunshine. It turned out to be a lovely sunny fall day.


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October 17, 2009
Sunrise

Sometimes I am lucky enough to be awakened by the early morning sun through our bedroom window and see a sight like this above Paradise Ridge. Beautiful pink! I ran for my camera when I saw the pink sky as I woke up on Saturday morning at 6:40 a.m.

Tomer Butte peaks over the 'A' Street hill with the brilliant cloud display for only those who are awake at sunrise. I think I learned to be this crazy in Australia (thanks MAMA! hehe).

Pink Palouse. Perfect for Breast Cancer Awareness month!

A few minutes later the pink rays of sun vanished and only the wispy clouds remained.


Good morning sun!

Now back to bed....it was SATURDAY after all! :)

UI Vandals v. UH Warriors in the Kibbe Dome!

23-35

Wow!

UI Marching Band plays the Vandal Fight Song!


Vandals are now 6-1!!! This hasn't happened in a LONG time...before I graduated from high school! Playing against Hawaii was especially fun for us because Ryan's parents were watching the game at home on the islands. We went to the game with Ricky, Kerry, Charlie, Andy, and Jaina; Corey and Jeffrey met us there. It's been a long time since I went to a home game (I think the last time was when Hawaii more than tripled the score against UI). It was great to go with a group and enjoy the game.

Noah and I hanging out before the game. We made hot dogs and sausages for lunch!! Then Grandmas Paula and Becky came to babysit Noah so we could walk over to the Dome for the game.

Andy and Ryan grilling the cheese dogs (NOM NOM) and smoked sausages. It was a good lunch to get us ready to cheer on the Vandals!

Warriors warming up on the field.

Vandal dog of the game from the Humane Society of the Palouse!

Molly was the vandal dog of the game at the UI v UH game, you can view her and other animals at HSoP at www.petfinder.com!
http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=14699920&mtf=1

Molly
Breed: Saint Bernard St. Bernard [Mix] Sex: Female Age: Senior Size: Large
About Me: Molly needs a loving home that she can enjoy the rest of her years in. She has been passed around and pretty much hasn't had the care she deserves. She is a sweet dog, but when she came to us she was about 25 pounds under weight and was loosing her hair because her fleas were so bad. She is on her way to recovery but still has a long way to go on the the weight gain and hair growth. If you have a nice comfortable home that needs a big couch potato then this dog is for you.

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And now back to the game......

The players & Coach Rob Akey enter the Kibbe Dome with pride and lots of smoke!

Both teams on the field just before the start of the game.

Jaina, Mandie, & Corey on the field after the game.

The University of Idaho marching band doing the Michael Jackson "Thriller" dance after the game. Good job guys!

Thriller dance continued.....

After we watched the marching band, we ran down onto the field to see if Jeffrey and Ryan could find a football. Alas, none were found. On the bright side Ryan did get a picture with Warrior #23, running back Leon Wright-Jackson, a senior from Pasco, WA! It was also just fun to walk about on the turf. We saw a few people we knew--gave hugs and hellos--then said aloha to Corey & Jeffrey as Ryan, Andy, Jaina and I walked home to our house on the hill to hang out and have strawberry margaritas!

What a fun filled day. I'm so thankful for days like this with my family and friends.

Ryan and UH player #23, what a nice guy!
Oh, look! There's Jeffrey too, haha. You guys are silly.

What an awesome day we had; two great teams will meet once again. I can't wait for next time.

Great game!
GO VANDALS!! GO WARRIORS!!

Grandma Doris' Flowers

These photos are from a few weeks ago...before it started to be below freezing at night (say it ain't so!). Frost and chilly mornings are upon us.

Flower photos remind me that it will one day be warm again! Grandma has now safely tucked her begonias in the house to wait out the winter.

Enjoy!


My mama's favorite flower...the purple pansy!

White begonia. Grandma loves tubular begonias in every color. This year she found white, red, light pink and dark pink.

The red begonia.

Purple ruffled petunia. Say that three times fast!

A single clematis flower picked out from the herd.

The dark pink begonia. Notice the flower's friend in the background? I did not when I took this picture; I was too focused on the flower!

I love pansies too, Mama! The look so soft and inviting...the perfect kind of fairyland home for one of my childhood stories.

Light pink tubular begonias.

The cascades of purple clematis adorn either side of the tool shed door. I love them! The tool shed looks like it's been painted when these beauties bloom.

Grandma Doris and I hanging out among the flowers when it was still warm and sunny. Wait...I should not be dwelling on the freeze...keep looking at flower photos...pretend winter is not creeping up on me...just keep looking at the flowers...hmmm.


Until next time!

Heart Lake Backpacking Trip 2009

For the past four years Ryan and I have spent our Labor Day hiking to Heart Lake in the Mallard Larkins Wilderness of Idaho.

In two posts and one video post I've shared our fun weekend, enjoy!



Here is a satellite view of our Labor Day backpacking destination of the last four years. On this map you can't see Sawtooth Saddle trail head where we park our cars and then hike 8 miles up the mountain to Heart Lake. On the way we pass Northbound Lake. From there we climb 700 feet in 2 miles up to Heart Lake. You can also see Crag Lake to the left of Heart Lake in the pic above. Ryan proposed at the look out above Crag lake one year ago!!

This year Ryan, George, Brittany, and I decided to hike to our favorite spot again.

This photo makes it easier to see the topography of the hike. Northbound lake is on the left and Heart lake is on the right. We climb switchbacks up Northbound lake's drainage creeks and then up around the back of the mountain top towering above Heart lake. Then we drop into Heart lake from trail 65 in the Mallard-Larkins Wilderness.

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The Beginning.

Field burning on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation.


The St. Joe River!!
I could stare into the crystal clear water for hours....


I'm from Idaho. I like clouds.

Beaver Creek Bridge.
This is where we leave the Red Ives Ranger Road and head up...to huckleberry country!


Beaver Creek bridge before we start the 26 mile drive up to Sawtooth Saddle trail head, from where we take trail 111 down to Sawtooth Creek the next morning. At this point we are usually driving in the dark. Ryan and I got here early and waited for George & Brittany to catch up. We left to drive to the trail head about 45 minutes before they showed up...but that turned out to be a good move on our part.

Luckily we got ahead of the horse trailers that they got stuck behind. Some guy's truck obviously couldn't pull his horse trailer up the inclines and stopped in the middle of the road while they had to wait for a half hour for him to move (George said his dash looked like "Christmas Lights" because there were so many warning lights blinking). About an hour after they made it past the horse trailers to Sawtooth Saddle the horse trailers arrived and shone their headlights right into both our pick ups where we were sleeping. They were drunk and rude. The next morning they were more civil because they weren't intoxicated but still uppity because they had horses and we just had our packs. We were glad to leave them behind at the saddle.


We made it up to the saddle around 9:45 p.m., so the first pictures I got were early the next morning as the sun slowly crept up over the mountain tops. This photo is looking in the general direction of Heart Lake.


Sawtooth Creek, the first of four river crossings until we start up the mountain toward Northbound lake. It was FREEZING cold. We had our river shoes to walk across and every one of us could not feel our feet by the time we got to the other side. It took a minute of stamping your feet to get the numb feeling to go away. That's what you call Idaho mountain water!


Sawtooth creek was so cold that we tried hopping from rock to rock at the other three creek crossings. Sometimes that is more difficult than it seems...especially if you have the shortest legs. (Sorry Britty, I had to. hehe.) We all made it with only a few more cold toes to deal with.


A moth landed on my arm, so it was time for super macro mode! It stayed there long enough for me to get the camera out, change the mode and take a few pictures. When I was done I had to blow the moth away...it liked me too much!


This year, more than any other I remember, there were mushrooms of every shape and size all over the forest and trail. It must have been a wet year?


Fawn Lake.
The "little" hike to a beautiful lake that Daddy took Gail, Jodi, Trevor, Tyler, Telynn, Corey and I on several years ago.
Shall we go back?
:)


Ryan and George pumping cold water through the water filter to drink as we climb. The next time we will pump water will be at Northbound lake.


We follow Heart Pass Trail no. 65 from Northbound Creek Trail no. 111. My Daddy gets to be looking at these signs (maybe not these exact ones, but similair) in a week while he's up in the Mallards hunting for Elk. I am jealous. :)


Awesome orange mushrooms along the trail.


Thimbleberries! Sort of like wild raspberries.


The BEST mushrooms we found along the trail. They look as if they are from a Mario video game! The colors were bright and vibrant.


Northbound Lake.


It started drizzling while we rested at Northbound so we decided it was time to solider on up the last 2 miles to Heart Lake. This photo was taken as we climb the switchbacks up to trail 65.


Heart Pass Trail marker, still on the ground after the snow pulled it down a few years ago.

Can you see Mr. Marmot? He blends in so well with the rocks! Marmots burrow among the rocks (also where they hibernate through the winter) and love to sun bath on the rocks. He sits around all day eating all the lovely vegetation around him. I envy his home in this beautiful forest.

Mr. Marmot froze as we passed on the trail. Perfect for a zoomed in photo! His coloring matches the granite rocks that make up the whole mountain, he can blend in just about anywhere.

Northbound Lake.
This year our trip was accompanied by lots of grey rain clouds. For a moment the sun was shining down at Northbound while we were getting misted by the mountain rain.

The trail up to the Heart Lake cutoff. One year it was acting as a stream, at least this year it was mostly dry. The big rocks are loose so navigating it is always interesting.

We met some donkey/horse packers right before the cutoff trail. It's always best (if you have the chance) to take off the packs and move away from the trail so as not to startle the stock. One time a few years ago another horse packer told us the protocol very nicely. He said the packs tend to make you look like an alien to the horses and they immediately assume you are a predator. If you take your backpack off and give the horse some room to walk by they do just fine.

Horse packing a human. This group was headed to the rock/stream trail you saw above. I could not imagine riding a horse down that rocky slope, that would be one scary ride!!

Heart Lake water is so beautiful. It was rippling just right the night we arrived to our favorite camp site. We were the only ones at the lake for quite awhile so we got the best camping spot at the lake. Later on in the afternoon another backpacking group set up camp down the shoreline.

Last year everything was green. This year it looks more like it has in the past. The fall colors of the mountain brush reflect on the lake and paint a watercolor. Because of the clouds and occasional rain drop my pictures do not do the lake justice this year.

Happy feet.

Our camp on night one (the only night we stayed at the lake), of our Labor Day backpacking trip. The four of us have matching tents! Our tent is about four years old now so in the next couple years we hope to get an awesome (aka, bigger) backpacking tent. This one works perfect for now though.

Heart Lake Trip to be continued...