First Season Tour

Zach and I decided to take advantage of the new snowfall and headed North past Galena Summit. It was slightly overcast and very cold but once you start hiking on your skis it's amazing how quickly you warm up. Despite my slow progress Zach was a great leader. Of course we dug our avalanche pit and inspected the snow layering weakness levels. We felt good to move forward and had a nice decent through the new powder. I'll spare you the down hill photos (mostly because my form is not worth sharing) and just post of few of the hiking crew.

Snow Chicken

There is an annual competition at the architecture firm I work at in Idaho., "The Snow Chicken". Every year people pick a date when they think it will snow above the chickens head. The chicken is a 12" heigh flat iron silhouette of a rooster (chicken in our office). The competition is fierce as the guy's try to use previous years winners as guides for the upcoming snow fall. A meticulous record book is kept at one of the architects desk's along with the official rules. The chicken is placed in the neighbors yard to detour from any natural tampering that may occur, i.e. dogs peeing, snow falling from a tree, or somebody inadvertedly shoveling snow on it's head.

Today, the chicken is within an inch of being covered and you'll never guess who picked today...me! A little too soon to say for sure as the snow has subsided at the moment but it could be a good day to cover that chicken!

*You can see the chicken's head just peaking out of the snow in front of the truck....

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving seemed like yesterday and what a great time we had when Erin and Gabe came to visit us! Gabe was such a trooper and enjoyed hunting for ducks with Zach, his dad, and Kat in below freezing temperatures. He offered to throw bread out for the ducks but I think Nick and Zach has some other ideas in mind. Erin and I had fun being girls and going to look at rings and wedding dresses. A fabulous turkey dinner at Nick and Jeans on Thanksgiving. Friday night we went up to Galena Lodge and toured the site. Another great moonlight dinner! Can't wait for Erin and Gabe to visit us again!

Grand Canyon Engagment

What an amazing time in the Grand Canyon wilderness for the past 18 days! We were in remote locations with no access to roads, phones, computers, or showers and managed to survive. The rapids were intense, the surroundings were beautiful, and the food was amazing. I am lucky to have such great friends, and soon to be new family...that's right Zach and I are engaged and we couldn't be more excited! No official plans yet but hopefully next August/September in Idaho for the festivities. I want to thank Zach's family and friends for including me on this adventure of a lifetime. In the meantime here are a few pix that fail in capturing the entire adventure....

Grand Canyon Adventure

We leave this Sunday for 18 days on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. 14 people, 4 boats, 2 kayaks, and a whole lot of gear! It is a 'self-guided' expedition so no 'professional' river guides. The group I am going with has been waiting 11 years for a private permit to have the opportunity to float the Colorado on their own terms. After this year a lottery will be put in place where you can no longer apply to raft the river but instead will be randomly drawn from a large pool of contendors. So needless to say we feel very lucky to go! I'm excited to get to know this landscape better as I have only vague memories as a child when viewing it with my family briefly on a long drive from Reno to Texas. We plan on floating over 228+ miles while stopping to take hikes along the way. I have a solar charger for my digital camera battery so I hope to come home with great footage of our escipades. Ready or not, here we come!

24hours of Moab

Last weekend Zach and his friends completed a 24hr mountain bike race in Moab, UT. Interesting adventures in the dark with gear etc. where at one point Zach's headlamp went out and he only (luckily) had a light on his bike. Can you imagine riding your bike in the dark with no lights? Let alone on mountain biking trails, really fast! He definitely has a few new injuries to complain about. They had a great time!

Oktoberfest

For Rachel's 30th we celebrated German style and I learned what a drirndle is (apparently a German dress that I was convinced to wear)...That's the girls all dressed up for the fun event! Rachel is on the far right. Looking good for 30!

Ms. Lucy

Lucy is 6 months old today!

I can't believe it was 4 months ago since she entered our lives but now I can't imagine mine without her. She has grown into quite a little swimmer, retrieving sticks from far across the pond without much direction. Zach has been working hard on her bird hunting skills and I've been making sure she always has something to chew (other than our shoes). There is no doubt she is apart of the family and I look forward to seeing her when I get home tonight.

Ranch Delights

I was blown away today when a friend stopped by the office to drop off some amazing fruits and vegetables that her family had grown on their ranch in southern Idaho. Among many of the delectable goodies were gigantic spaghetti squash, sweet peaches, cucumbers, yellow and red cherry tomatoes, basil, beets, white corn, peppers, and sunflowers for the birds! Nothing tastes better than home grown produce...Wow, are we lucky to have such wonderful friends to share some! The basket is sitting below my desk and I can't wait to take it home to share with people that I love!

Castle Rock Fire

It started with lighting over 14 days ago and our little community has been literally 'under fire' ever since. Sun Valley, Ketchum, and Hailey have all been effected with the closest neighborhoods evacuated. People have had to take what they could in a few hours and then find a new place to stay. Nobody knows when the fire will be out. They can only say it will be gone when the first snow falls in a couple of months! Schools are shut down and friends/family are making lists of things that matter most when faced with the terrible possibility that their house may burn down. So far there has been no structures lost or people injured on the fire! That is the best news. There are over 1,400 fire fighters & crew on this 41,000+acre fire that has changed our lives. It is not the biggest fire currently burning or that has burned but it is so close to home it is impossible to look the other way. Current information: http://www.inciweb.org/incident/952

We know sleep with all the windows closed even though we don't have AC and it's 80 degrees when falling asleep. When looking outside it seems like it is going to rain but as soon as you open a door, a rush of smoke invades your lungs and you want to gag. Thankfully, the conversion helps lift the smoke in the afternoons so we get some relief. Working in Ketchum has been hard, knowing that our mountains are quickly changing outside.
Despite all this change and fear, I am ever more impressed with our community to stand together! Over 1,800 people were displaced in the last two weeks and the hotels were not full. This means that all these people have been absorbed back into the community with family/friends along with their pets, livestock, and belongings. I look at the mountains and feel sad because they are changing from green to gray but I am almost relieved in an odd way. I know that they will be green again and when they are the Wood River Valley will be stronger for surviving the time we thought we might lose our beloved home!
The pictures posted are curteousy of one of the local newspapers Mt. Express & two photographers Will Cook & Michael Mathewson.

Seaside in San Diego

Zach and I traveled to La Jolla this past weekend to partake in the wedding of good friends, Jon & Regina. What a beautiful location at the University of San Diego chapel and then down to the beach for cocktails and dancing! It was great to see the ocean, eat some outstanding fish, and witness the joining of this wonderful couple! We only wish we could have stayed longer and spent more time with our friends...

Weed's in Idaho

Erin, Gabe, Nick & Sally made the journey up north to Idaho this past weekend. Zach and I had a blast entertaining them! A big BBQ kicked things off at MoLo which proved to be a good introduction to Idaho in the summer. Lot's of friends and family came out to welcome Erin and Gabe. Fresh local lamb, pork, watermelon, tomatoes, and home-made goodies filled the tables. Then the outdoor activites began. Over the next four days we took a chair-lift up to the top of Mt. Baldy, spent some time at our dear friends 'caban-sion' near Stanely- playing horseshoes and yes, BBQ-ing. Thanks Megan! Then we were off for our 4hr hike up into the Sawtooth Mountains to Shangri-la lake. Beautiful razor sharp mountain ridges with emerald green and blue lakes. Half the fun was getting to the trailhead where you have to take a boat ride across Red Fish Lake, named once for the millions of salmon that literally made the lake red. Nick, the dog, earned the 'billie-goat' award for trudging through a rugged hike for a 9yr old dog. Despite the horrible fire that overtook Warm Springs this past weekend we had a wonderful time biking, hiking, eating, watching the dogs swim, and catching up. We look forward to our next visit with the Weeds! Thanks to Kat for sharing her room over the long visit! And of course everyone who made my sister and brother-in-law feel so welcome!

Zach's Photos

Zach is passionate about his photography and is hoping to start a website or blog, but when... I don't know. So until he does I wanted to share some of his amazing photos with everyone because there is a LOT!

Seattle

It's been over 10 years since I have visited this beautiful city. I have always felt like it is a 'cleaner' San Francisco because it rains so often. We were lucky to not have ANY rain while we were there for four days. Jean (Zach's mother) and I spent our time in the furniture showrooms, furniture stores, shopping, and attending wedding festivites for a friend. There is a lot of great resources for 'green' furniture in Seattle and I was happy to make those connections. We had time to visit the new public library (very contemporary in design), the SAM (Seattle Art Museum), Pioneer Square, and Pike's Market (which had amazing flowers and produce for even more amazingly cheap prices). I had a hard time not bringing home bundles of flowers on the plane. Thanks to Jean for making it such a wonderful experience! Looking forward to my next visit to Seattle!

Indian Creek Fire

Nick and Jean (Zach's parents) are happy to see there house of over 28 years still standing after a lighting strick started a fire Tuesday morning. The blaze moved quickly along the hillside threatening homes. The local fire & rescue had an amazing response and battled it through the night until early morning when helicopters and crop dusters could get into the area to drop water and retardent on the burning hills. There are some great pictures but here are a few from the local paper.

Birch Chair

Going to grad school so far has been a lot of work (big surprise!) but it does has it's benefits. I had to design and build a chair recently and my concept involved using recycled, natural, and renewable materials around my home. We had to cut down an old birch tree when we moved into our house because it had died so I was happy to reuse the gorgeous white wood for a good cause.

Pre-Birthday Fun

Davina was sweet to throw a little get together for my upcoming birthday at her house. Owen (her 1o month old son) entertained us for the evening while we had treats and drinks. Thanks girls for a fun evening! Megan LOVE the earrings, and Jenna you nailed me with the Chai....

Donner Lake Tri

The Donner Lake Triathlon proved to be a challenging and rewarding experience for the crew of- Erin, Cameron, and I. Cameron decided to sign up at the last minute and proved to be a great contender for his first sprint triathlon (1/4 mile swim, 6 mile bike, 2 mile run). Erin also completed her first triathlon in the international distance (1 mile swim, 24.8 mile road bike, and 6.8 mile run). Donner Pass was not an easy climb on the bike for anyone (straight up for 1,000ft +) so it's great that Cameron, Erin, and I toppled defeat and pushed through anyways. I had a great time and felt challenged and happy for completing my 2nd full distance triathlon. I bumped into Amanda Hicks (now married with new last name but can't remember it) the day before the triathlon and discovered she was also competing in this event. I squeezed into the finish line with a completion time of 2hrs 55mins and taking 6th place for women under 35. Shannon Rahlves (the Olympic skier Daron Rahlves sister) not only competed in the sprint triathlon beating almost everyone (even men) but got right back in the water and did the international triathlon in our women's group!!!! Talk about tenacity! She was serious and I noticed men feeling a little smaller when standing next to her. That a girl!

Thanks to everyone for coming out and supporting us!!! We couldn't have done it without your support!

Debbie

My cousin Debbie...she was only 50 and was loved by all! We will miss her and know that her children will carry on her laughter, light, and love! This picture shows 5 generations of her family.