Gran Comes To Town!

Picking up where I left off with the summer family visits . . . Mom came out for a week in July!  We had a wonderful time together.  It was her first trip to Pinedale, and it was fun to share our life here with her.  The week included lots of play, a little cultural enlightenment, some work, and just hanging at home.  Thanks for coming out, Mom!! We cherish the memories we made with you.

At the beach

Fremont Lake and the Winds

Emma

At Home

"Cheeeeeeeeeese toast"

Stories with Gran

 Happy Hour at Lakeside

checking out the boats

Shakespeare in the Park

Dinner with the Irrgangs

picking plums

all the great kids -- Isaac, Charlie, Jack

Big Sandy Hike

We went for a great hike in the southern Winds.  It is an area I had not yet explored and loved checking it out.  The hike was gorgeous.  We had perfect weather and enjoyed meandering along the creek, soaking up mountain views, fishing, and even going for a little dip.  We managed to spend the whole day out on the trail and yet only covered a few miles.  It was a nice kind of hiking!

pronghorn antelope spotted on the way to the trailhead

Duhgus loves it when Gran visits

our little climber

Isaac's little hiking legs were on fire! Steady and determined, he hiked at least two miles on his own feet that day.  We were so proud.

the bend where we hung out for a long lunch, rock-throwing, and fishing

two of my very favorite people

16-week baby bump starting to emerge

back on the trail after lunch

didn't hike for long before stopping again, this time for a little swim

and more fishing

all tuckered out

Working at Home
Mom loves to work outside.  In fact, she's unstoppable.  She worked with us and also without us when we weren't even home.  Somehow she just finds projects and tasks to do.  It's pretty inspiring, really. She was a huge help in getting our yard whipped into a little better shape and getting our wood shed project started. Thank you, thank you, Mother!!

first post of the wood shed going into place

fourth and final post going in

she was borderline giddy to be armed with a weed-eater

Without a "before" picture, it's hard to appreciate, but Mom improved the look and feel of our yard immensely.  She weeded the entire fence line around the house, trimmed shrubs and bushes, and tended to dead plants and flowers, to name a few things.

some of Mom's handy work--a clean fence line and tidy shrubs

and she didn't stop there

still going

what is she doing now??? seriously, unstoppable.

sadly, time to bid Gran farewell at the airport

Here are a couple of videos from Gran's time with us.  The first one shows just how excited Isaac was about hiking that day.  He had something so important to tell all of us, he could barely walk and talk fast enough.  And it went on for a long time.  The second video is just goofing off at home.

Big Sandy Hike from Julie Anderson on Vimeo.

Run Jump from Julie Anderson on Vimeo.

Thanks so much for visiting, Mom.  We sure did love our time with you and can't wait for the next trip!!!

Wood Gathering

Going to the woods to cut firewood is a common way of life in Wyoming.  Since we heat our home with wood through a long, cold winter, there is a lot of it to be done.  Matt has already made several trips to the woods in the last few weeks and will make several more.  This past weekend, Isaac and I joined him for our first wood gathering trip.  Not only was it a fun day in the woods, but I was glad to get to help at least a little with the stockpiling effort.  I mostly kept track of a two-year-old (and kept him out of harm's way), but I was able to load the wood once it was cut.

 Matt is enjoying falling trees and is grateful for the intensive chainsaw training he received through the Forest Service earlier this fall.  He'll be an expert before we know it!

After falling the tree, he delimbs it and then cuts it into rounds.

There's something about a man with a chainsaw.

My dear friend Kari and her family were also with us collecting wood.  While the men worked hard, Kari and I played with the kids. They're pretty great kids.

Isaac and Arabella

Rockstar in the woods.

Sweet baby Emma.

Just driving backwards down the road to go check on Roy.  It's how things are done in Wyoming.

And why bother strapping in the babies?

Picnic lunch.

My sweet boy.

The day's haul.

Hot and sweaty at the end of a work day.

And very tired.

Yard Transformed

Our backyard has seen many exciting improvements this summer.  

Isaac's favorite addition is the super-cool swing set that Nana and Grandpa built:

He loves to slide, swing, and climb.

Kind of outdoes the old slide, huh?

My favorite addition is the wood shed that Matt built:

And it's almost half-full!  Already time to prepare for winter.

 Matt is going to add siding to this windward side to keep out blowing snow.

Retrieving wood from here . . .

will be a much more pleasant experience than wrestling with a tattered tarp and a frozen pile of wood, as we did last winter.  That large pile of wood in the middle of the yard was our former stockpile, and that's what it looked like after going through most of it.  Imagine the mountain that was there at the beginning of the winter!

Mom helped get the project started when she was visiting.

We are reclaiming our yard--the wood pile is almost cleaned up!  This pleases Duhgus immensely.

It's hard to tell in this picture, but our house now dons 3 different roofs--shingle, brown metal, and bright green metal.  Though this roof mosaic has some character, we plan to spare our neighbors the eye sore and paint the shed roof to match the brown metal roof.

The final yard improvement--the garden:

We are growing spinach, kale, lettuce, squash, potatoes, carrots, radishes, and onions, with varying degrees of success.  The lettuce, radishes, and kale are delicious! We still have to wait for carrots, onions, and potatoes.

First Look

Happy to be on the trail again!

We have lived at the base of the impressive Wind River Mountains for more than a year now, and yet, our knowledge of them has been limited to what we can discover from distant views and short, family-friendly hikes.  Ever since moving here last June, Matt and I have been anxious to hike further into the mountains to get a better taste of their beauty and grandeur.  We finally got the chance to do so!  While Nana and Grandpa were in town (photos from their visit coming soon!), they encouraged us to leave the little one with them and get out for an overnight hike.  We said, "Hmm, well, OKAY!"  With a toddler in tow, it's been 3 years since we've been able to backpack, and with another one on the way, we know it might be another few before we get to do it again.  We couldn't pass up this opportunity.  Thank you for making it possible, Nana and Grandpa!!!!

We decided to hike into the Cirque of the Towers, a popular backpacking destination in the Winds.  We knew it was a feasible 2-day hike that would allow us to enjoy awesome peaks and high country lakes.  We were not disappointed!

Big Sandy Lake

Cirque of the Towers peeking out from behind Jackass Pass

How I love grippy granite trail.

Filling up on water before the final push up Jackass Pass.

Granite peaks towering above.

Cirque of the Towers

Doogie was pretty pleased with the weekend's outing.

Awe, such a pretty pup.

Looking back towards Sandy from the Pass.

4-month-old little Yossi on board.

Black Joe Lake, home for the night.

Camp spot.

Clear Lake, the next morning.

Duhgus, always a faithful companion.

How long before we get to do this again?  Next summer might be out since I'll be a nursing Mama . . . Several summers after that will once again require child care . . . Then there will be two young boys with short legs who will prefer shorter hikes (but possibly overnight?!) . . . and finally, maybe, eventually, we'll all backpack for real as a family.  Of course, by then Matt and I might be too feeble.  Good thing we did it while we could!