Mt. Olympus

This past Saturday I was finally able to get out and do some winter climbing! My ice ax has been sitting in my closet for well over a year collecting dust...needless to say, I was really exited to get out and enjoy the snow. Sarah, Jackson, and I drove down to SLC on Friday and stayed the night with Brian and Maggie. Early Saturday Brian and I got up, picked up my good friend and longtime climbing partner Ammon and headed up Mt. Olympus. It had snowed the previous day and there was a storm coming in late Saturday so we hoped to catch a break and summit in between storms. We couldn't have asked for a better day! We got some wind and clouds on the way back down, but other than that it was a beautiful day! Here are a few photos from the trip...

Ammon and Brian starting their way up the 3rd class section to the summit. Until this point the route follows a steep trail up the mountain. This is where the fun part starts.


Brian working his way up steep slope. The snow was nice and firm so ice ax's helped on the climb.


Brian and Ammon reaching the summit ridge.


It's a nice stroll along the ridge from here.


Climbing along the summit ridge. The Salt Lake valley is far below.


Dromedary, Sunrise, and Broads Fork Twin Peaks. I'm looking forward to a trip that traverses all three in the next few months.


Ammon and Brian on top of Mt. Olympus!


Brian and I on the summit.

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Wishing you a rainbow

For sunlight after showers--

Miles and miles of Irish smiles

For golden happy hours--

Shamrocks at your doorway

For luck and laughter too,

And a host of friends that never ends

Each day your whole life through! 

Fun in the Sun

A couple of weekends ago we decided that we had had enough of the Cache Valley overcast and were long overdue for some warmer temperatures and sunshine.  So, we packed our bags and headed for St. George, UT!  The forecast for the weekend was sunshine with mid-60's to low-70's for a high each day...JACKPOT!  We shopped the outlet mall, ate good food, spent some time in Snow Canyon, and went for a walk along the Virgin River trail. 

Saturday night we checked the forecast and were sad to find out that a big snow storm was headed our direction on Monday  (which was the day we were headed for home).  It was predicted to get pretty ugly, so we decided to come home Sunday night instead.  Although we were disappointed to cut our trip short, we think we made the right choice... Monday afternoon we found out part of the interstate we would have been traveling on to come home had been shut down due to poor weather conditions right about the time we would have been traveling had we waited!

All in all, we ended up with a  low-key and very relaxing weekend, which is just what we wanted/needed.  Here are some photos...

Jackson's discovery.
  I kick myself for forgetting to take a picture of the monster
pile of TP that he unrolled 5 minutes later

Sitting on the patio at Iggy's for lunch Saturday.  We seriously sat there for about 2 hours! 
The sun felt simply wonderful....we were even a little sunburned later that day

Dad and Jackson during our hike up the Cinder Cone Volcano in Snow Canyon. 
This was Jackson's first hiking experience and he LOVED it!

Mom and Jackson on top of the volcano...such a pretty view behind us

He fell asleep on the way down...hiking is hard work!

Playing at the sand dunes in Snow Canyon

Reading books....they really are two peas in a pod <3

Mr. Personality

What do you get when you take a cute baby, a lazy Sunday afternoon, and a wonderful husband who just happens to have some awesome photography skills?...

I {heart} my boys!

Since I Last Posted

Another month has come and gone! February always feels so short to me.  Isn't it strange that 2-3 days makes such a big difference? 

The weekend that we spent with Travis' family, we all went to the Kamas Pool This was Jackson's first experience with swimming (besides his bath time adventures) and he LOVED it!  He had no fear, and he about gave me a heart attack on more than one occasion when he took a nose dive into the water!

First swimming experience...watch out Michael Phelps!

 Jackson is still on the move and getting faster all the time.  His latest thing is to start heading for something he isn't supposed to have (the dog's food, plants, remote control, etc), except it's not a "bee line "head for the object...it's more of start in the direction of the object, stop and look back to see if we are watching him, get our attention if he doesn't already have it to make sure we know he is on his way to being naughty, and THEN make a dash for whatever it may be.  It is pretty hilarious!

He is now pulling up on anything he can get his hands on, cruising along furniture, walking behind toys, and crawling up the stairs (we are still teaching him the going down part).  A few weeks ago he was playing on his jungle gym (i.e. the bar stool) and got high-centered on his belly and went face first into the floor.  Of course, for me watching him it all happened in slow motion and I couldn't get to him soon enough to catch him.  Well, he landed literally on his face and just sat there for a second not moving, not crying, nothing.  Once I got to him and picked him up THEN he started to cry, but not because he was hurt, because I had interrupted his game!  Heaven forbid if I make sure he's okay!

Playing in the "jungle gym"

Since my last update, he FINALLY cut his bottom two teeth!  He had a bought of the stomach flu about a week ago and it was very sad.  He wouldn't eat or drink anything, and what he did eat or drink, he puked right back up.  All he wanted was to cuddle...which was the only nice part since when he is healthy he won't sit still for more than two seconds.  The flu went away, but he was still acting irritable and not sleeping well, so I was convinced it must be another ear infection.  We took him to the doctor and found out that it wasn't his ears....it was his teeth....again...but this time instead of two on bottom there are FOUR on top that are red and swollen and working their way down!  Needless to say, we aren't getting much sleep around our house lately.

Jackson LOVES the vacuum cleaner, you would think it would scare him, but he chases it!

As for Travis and I, it's pretty much the daily/weekly grind of work and school.  The light at the end of the school tunnel is getting brighter and brighter for Travis and he (and I) can't wait to move on to the next (schooless) chapter of our lives!  It is going to be a big change since for the entire 8+ years that we have known each other one or both of us has always been in school.  I am sure that we will have no problem filling our time! 

At the beginning of February we both started doing the Insanity Program....and it may be cliche, but they are truly insane workouts! Each workout is approximately 40 minutes long and you do one 6 days a week.  It is a 60-day program, so we are about half way through and I can already tell a difference which is encouraging!  It feels really good to be getting back into shape again!  I can't wait for spring to get here so that I can get out and start running again.

This weekend we decided to get out of town for a few days so we are heading to St George to enjoy the spring like 65-70 degree weather that is predicted for the next few days!  I will be sure to take lots of pictures and post again when we get home :)