Christmas tree hunting 2009

The day of the big hunt!! It started off at 5 degrees with a little wind.  The dogs were to run along behind but they had other ideas.

Abby & Dubblin are hunting dogs... right?  They had no intentions of getting out of the sled and letting the kids ride.  Retrevers.. ha ha, the only thing they wanted to get was a blanket to make the trip more enjoyable.

Don't let the 14 layers fool you.  She had a great time and it was great to just have her along.  For those who have not met Christina yet,  this is the girl I have been dating for the past year and half.  The kids think she is the greatest thing since sliced bread,  and I may like her as well..

Cold?  Make a Walker fire!  All you need is a some pine needles, an entire pine tree and a hole lot of lighter fluid and you can melt steel!

Munchie was just sure she was going to freeze down right in place.

This would be the "Starter" fire.  This should not be confused with the large barn burner that almost took the tree behind us.

Flathead Lake 2009 at the Martel's

We spent the last week of July at the Martel's hanging out and playing in Flathead Lake. This has been a summer highlight for the kids for a number of years. After wake boarding, the Munchie had to have a little "warm up" time before we could hit it again. Dad really would have liked to just nap for the afternoon.

Munchie and her brother Zac.  Note the special attention they both are paying to where they are headed!  No they do not get thier driving skills just from me.

Renn on the far North end of Flathead.  She is not having any fun at all.

Who needs sun glasses???  You are just going to get wet anyway and you can never be to prepared!

My baby girl is not shy about letting me take her picture.

Livi wake boarding.  We have 6 days of near perfect weather this year.  We only wish that we could have stayed all summer.

We even got Patrick White out doing some wild trick riding for the chicks.  "Patti man" is a bit shy about letting it all hang lose in front of a crowd. 

Keep-em guessing Patrick!!

Sitka Alaska spring 2009

I am not sure but that "White Hair" looks alot like Old Saint Nick!

Wake up..... You have a fish on!

This past Spring Zac went with his Uncle Larry and Grandpa Ken to Sitka for salmon fishing. Fishing was So, So but i believe by the size of the smile it was a really good time.

Renn was soooooo excited to be a cheerleader for the bobcats!! it was their first home game and the won aginst dixie state 23 to 20!!! She was ready and dressed by 8:30 Saturday mornig GAME DAY!!!

I was informed that this was the way that the REAL cheerleaders posed for the pictures! We got tickets for the end zone and got the from row so renn could see how they cheered!

She was so cute and later that evening she told avery her cousin that the only real cheer that the cheerleaders did was the M-S-U! i think that later when she crawled into bed she chanted herself to sleep!

This is nate at his first midget tackle football practice. He got on the the team that he wanted (The Ravens) and got two of his friends Holt and Si. Nate enjoys this alot and the last time that he practiced he got a sprained wrist. he has just wanting to get back out there but the doctor told him that he couldn't play until he could do push-ups with out any pain.

First Day of School 2009

It is Renn's first day of Kindergarten and Olivia's first day of high school. I think that they are going to love it. How could you not when you look so Cute.

I can't believe that it is time to go back to school already, but these kids sure do it in style.

Holland lake

In late June we traveled to Holland Lake. We hiked to the falls.

Blankster made it out of the camper only a few times.
Renn and Nate went fishing and both caught several.
The action in the "BARBIE UGLY STICK" was incredible. Eat your heart out uncle travi!!!

This is Renn's first fish caught on a three pound test. The fight was incredible.



Yank-n the lips off !!

We could not have asked for better weather. Could have had a few less horse flies.

Holland Falls was a great spot. Nate had all kinds of rocks to climb on and Renn chased squirrels.

Weekend at the Cabin

To all that read this: Please understand that i am a rookie and didn't know that the pictures load backwards. Oops

Unlce Travi & Aunt Julie teaching the kids the finer points of pitch. Of course, one can only assume that poker must be next!












My girls had to cross more than one creek. We also had to wade through 2 feet of very course crusty snow once we broke over the ridge into Bufflo Horn for about a 1/2 mile. Oh they loved me then!! I keep telling the Bean that "Fat kids don't hike"! But when they do it is always to the exsterm. All told we went about 9 miles that day. Not bad for a fat kid i would say.










On the hike we had a "Friend" that was also out for a stroll. This was a female griz, but we also had a track that was twice this size. Completely freaked the girls out! Tepee Creek is known for its bear activity and even though we never saw the bear it keep us on our toes.
























Livi made it her personal mission to step, wade and jump into every stream, puddle or spring. We were all covered with mud by the time the hike was done.













Day 2: The Bean & Livi wanted to go for a hike which is now refer too as "THE DEATH MARCH". We started at the head of Tepee Creek about 1mile west of YNP and headed in to the ridge line of Buffulo Horn.

Renn & Ione had a great time. They were searching out mouse poop. The girls had a great time listening for wolves and getting spring water with Grandpa.

The excitement was just killer her. It was after 8PM you know which means Bean was looking for her "blanky".

We ventured to the cabin for a weekend of hiking and motorcycling. The "Bean" was well relaxed by the river.

My girl just suckin it all in!

This weekend was quite an adventure. Zac, Bret and I headed out to Moab, UT on Friday after work to meet up with Dave, Kara and the two munchkins.

I decided we need to try out the camping / hiking experience on Bret. Zac wanted to try out his Birthday hamack with a bug net and rain cover. Everything started off great, I set up the tent with a little help from Bret, while Zac tide his hamach to a couple juniper trees on a slope that led straight into the rushing Colorado River. Dave and Kara are professional campers so their tent went up fast, they just needed a babysitter. After we were set up we went to Moab for dinner and got back to camp after dark. Zac proceeded to try out the Hamack but the two junipers were not as strong as originally thought. Zac ended up in the car instead of the Colorado, to my relief.

On Saturday morning we headed ou for our first hike to Corona Arch. It was about 80 degrees when we started and by the time we got there it was about 90. Needless to say the boys were sooooo hot. The Arch was amazing and provided some much needed shade. The Key was that we Finished the first hike and everyone was still alive. This was to be the only arch we saw in the daylight.

Our next hike was into Delicate Arch. One of the most famous of the many in Moab. It is the one that you see on the Utah Licence plate. We Got a late start so we missed the sunset but decided to still do the hike. The darkness helped disguise the fact that we were gaining a lot of elevation. Bret was a good sport and even when he wanted to just go back he kept walking. When we finally arrived at the arch we could only see it by shining our head lamps on it. when laying under it the sky was so full of stars that you could make out the Arch because it was the darkness in the sea of twinkling stars. So Beautiful. Anna stayed awake for the entire hike but James did not make it all the way.