Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday dear mom!

Happy Birthday to you!

Here is to someone that never grows old

because she is SO young at heart :)

Hope you have a wonderful day!

xoxo

Woody Update

After a few emails straightening me out on my woodpecker knowledge, I have come to understand that Woody is in fact a BOY!  Apparently, HE is not nesting at all but tap-tap-tapping on our roof to attract a mate.  Huh, who would have thought banging loudly on a metal roof would be considered attractive.  Zach's comment to me was "there is only room for one male pecker in our house".  I have a feeling Woody is going to need to find another way to get a date.

Mushroom Ridge

Zach and I had a great backcountry ski tour yesterday near Mushroom Ridge.  Just North of Galena Lodge (where we were married) you can hike UP an accessible mountain ridge to peaks galore.  Generally, towards the end of the season I would have found this tour somewhat easy but with the general lack of snow fall and odd avalanche conditions I tended to stick to Baldy for skiing.  Thus I was out of backcountry shape.  Zach obviously, had no problem getting out in the backcountry and seemed to float up Mushroom ridge line.  Once we made it to the top it was corn skiing to the bottom and then a roller coaster of bumps and jumps to the car.  Good times and I'm lucky I have a husband who is willing to slow down for water breaks :)

Woody Wood Pecker

Woody has been visiting our house lately.  We will be sitting down to breakfast or dinner and hear a sudden hammering noise coming down our chimney. Thwak! Thwak! Thwak! Thwak! It's Woody!  I always thought wood peckers were eating bugs with there constant pecking but apparently this one is trying to build a nest on our roof.  For awhile we would go outside and lob pieces of gravel up at Woody trying to scare him away from our house.  Hopefully he would go pick on someone else.  But he seems to be just as persistent as we are with the happenings on our roof.   

Zach borrowed Nick's BB gun this past weekend and now it's a game of whits.  Like his father, a.k.a "Elmer Fudd", Zach silently sneaks out of the house when we hear Woody at work.  He tip toes over to a spot where he can see him and then he get's into position.  Lucy and I watch from inside only to see him shouting "S*!?" after another miss, stomping his feet, promising he isn't going to miss next time.  He checks his gun for any malfunctions on it's behalf and then sulks inside swearing to get it next time. 

I was excited at first thinking this might be a good way to scare Woody off our roof.  It seemed like a harmless game.  Then Zach explained to me it wasn't like the gravel that would just bother him, that the BB would most likely stop Woody from nesting ANYWHERE.  Now I oddly find myself on Woody's side.  I don't find a need to kill him because he's doing his natural job.  Not his fault that we happen to have a good looking roof.  No, I'm thinking of other ways to help him set-up, maybe on a nearby tree.  Today, I'll be looking into fake owls to give him another clue that even if my husband keeps missing, Woody isn't wanted on our roof.  And...I think we are going to have to stop calling him a "he" because most likely if Woody is making a nest it should be, Mrs. Woody. 

Upcycled Decor in Habitat

Habitats latest magazine is out and has an article designed by White Canvas Designs featuring "Upcylced Decor" in the Wood River Valley.  It's free on newstands in the Sun Valley area or you can see it online here at 

http://ow.ly/1rowy

 Thanks to everyone who lent us items for the shoot, Paulette Phlipot for her beautiful photos, and to Habitat for featuring this necessary design style!

Running

Or should I say jogging because that's really what I'm doing.  Running seems to imply some sort of racing speed with intense performance in a short period of time.  I'm usually just plodding along in a somewhat forward motion, zoning out on the environment around me.  However, saying I went for a "jog" doesn't seem to have the importance that running entails. 

Regardless, I did my first long run of the year outside this past weekend and all I can think is "I'm getting old!"  A nine mile loop from our house to Nick & Jeans out Indian Creek and back seemed simple enough.  Never have my calves been this sore!  Some of it has to do with the running on pavement but mostly it has to do with my body telling me "your not as young as you use to be". 

Running has been my go to exercise since I went to boarding school.  All you need is some sneakers and a get going attitude and your on your way.  I've usually thought the world over by the end of my runs and have a peaceful calm the rest of the day.  In college, running was the cheapest way to burn off the freshman fifteen.  Never needing to worry about weather, location, or distance as long as you had the will.  Living in San Francisco, running was the easy way to get around, see the city, and not have to join some totally off-the-wall gym (which I tried a few times only to leave with war stories worth repeating over cocktails).  In Idaho, I'm still running but am finding I have a lot more activities to choose from on a daily basis.  Depending on what season it is I can choose from down-hill skiing, soccer, hockey, skate skiing, mountain biking, ice skating, road biking, hiking, river rafting, snow shoeing, swimming, back country skiing....or runnning!  I've been choosing to try new things as of late and my running has been falling behind, unfortunately. 

So I got myself out there last Sunday to find my familiar friend hadn't changed a bit.  Fresh air, no equipment, no deadlines, nor worries.  Balmy 25 degree weather didn't stop me from enjoying myself.  Just me, my tennis shoes, and the road.  I think I could run forever if my body would just let me :)

Mt. McGown

With his harness and ice axe, Zach was eager to put his new gear to good use.  Zach, Willie, Matt W. and Matt M. left our house at 5:30am yesterday to climb Mt. McGown, 9,830ft, in the Sawtooth Mountain Range above Stanley Lake.  I don't know the exact climbing time but I do know when they returned home it was at 5:30pm (12 hours later).  I'm pretty sure they had a great time and are exhausted today!  Glad they made it home safely!

* All the photos are taken by Zach.  Except the picture of the lake I found on the internet to show perspective of the mountain they climbed. 

Dollar Ski Dayz

Davina and her adorable kids, Owen & Haldey, let Jenna, Kelly, and I tag along for a day of skiing at Dollar Mountain yesterday.  We had a great time trying to keep up with 3 year old Owen on skis and taking turns with 1 year old Hadley.  Dollar is a great beginner mountain in Sun Valley that caters to children.  There are toys spread out among the small snow hills to encourage kids to have fun and I'm positive the adults are having just as much fun!  It made me want to be little again :)  Not to mention they have a terrain park for the cooler crowd and a tubbing hill/course for the ridiculous.

Sorry for the fuzzy pictures!  I forgot to clean off my camera phone lens. 

Happy St. Patricks Day!

Growing up my mom always found a way to make this holiday fun at home for us girls.  We would wake up to find our milk had turned green for our breakfast cereal, along with the toilet water.  That night we would have shamrock cookies, corn-beef, hash, and boiled cabbage for dinner.  Green shamrocks would be tapped around the house for us to find.  All this fun was due to the leprechauns of course! 

One year my sister, Erin, decided she was going to catch the leprechauns before they had a chance to escape.  She built a little trap out of a cardboard box (picture the stick and string trick), only to find that the cookie she had left inside was partially eaten and little green leprechaun footprints were all over the trap the next morning.  Drat's they escaped!  Those sneaking leprechauns :)

Afraid of Heights?

Not any more!  It has been well known that my husband is an adventure seeker: skiing, kayaking, biking...but one thing he was NEVER fond of was heights!  Until recently.  It appears that if you know how to climb/rappel in the backcountry you can access more couloirs and snow palaces then if you were just to hike around.  Bingo!  Zach is no longer afraid of heights.  Last night Lucy and I caught him trying to bole (bow-lay) himself in our laundry room.   Here we go....

Gus

When calling Nick & Jean's house these days, the phone can be answered "Gus's Hotel, how may we serve you?".  Seems there is a new dog in charge.  Gus is an 8 week old yellow Labrador that happens to be Lucy's half-brother.  They have very similar white markings behind their front legs and characteristic big ears.  Gus is NOT afraid to stomp, chew, or tug his way into your heart and we are very excited to watch him grow into the little terror we know he is :) 

Happy Birthday Z!

I think Zach did exactly what he wanted for his birthday this year: skiing, friends, beer, family, and food.  But mostly skiing :)  We had a great morning on Baldy skiing in the sunshine with Nick & Jean.  I have to admit I was a little exhausted from the bowl runs we did the day before so I was doing my best to keep up with the 31 year old.   We watched the Lane Parrish race and Zach relived his glory days of when he won the race in 2004.  A lady on the chair lift even recognized him from winning the race and I thought he might have to autograph something for her, which would have been perfect on his birthday!

Later we had a pot roast dinner with Nick, Jean, Kat and six Labradors at Mother Lode Loop (a.k.a. MoLo).  Gus, the new puppy provided the entertainment for the evening.  He showed us his chewing techniques and despite being ridiculously cute his teeth are sharper than s*?#! 

Happy Birthday to the love of my life,

a wonderful husband, an amazing skier, and my best friend!

Lucy and I are lucky to have you!

Lucy's 2nd Knee Surgery

Lucy had her 2nd knee surgery yesterday at the Sun Valley Animal Center.  We are very lucky to have a pioneer in veterinary orthopedic surgery in our valley, Randy Acker.  And now we are on the long (3 months) road to recovery but at least she is on her way :) 

She seems to be a lot more tolerant of things this time, knowing what to expect and is refusing to use any of the ramps we made for her during her first knee surgery.  Good thing she can hobble around on 3 legs just fine on her own because 77lbs of yellow lab is not easy to pick up.  We lovingly nick-named her new shaven leg "turkey leg" (just like the last one).  She likes to let her turkey leg stick out behind her when she sits down like a directional arrow leading the way.  Let's hope it points the way to a speedy recovery! 

The Great Race

I had a great weekend!  I'm still trying to wake up from all the fun we had...

Jenna, Willie, Zach, and I headed south from Idaho this past weekend for the annual Great Race from Tahoe City to Truckee, CA in a 30k skate ski race.  My sister, Erin, joined up with us in Reno at Ben & Jeannie's house to take part in the race as well.  My mom and Ben kindly hosted our "race team" for the weekend.

The day before the race we visited my aunt Carolyn and uncle Bob who are new parents of two adorable husky puppies, Sochi and Baba-Kahn.  Nothing like a puppy to brighten your day :)  

The day of the race was warm with blue skies.  On the course we had a great time laughing at each other and maneuvering up and down hills despite our hesitations or the course conditions.  And regardless of what Jenna says about skate skiing and the race, she did it!  It was not easy!  Up for about 10k and then almost straight down for the rest of the course, I think everyone felt like they were in a roller derby competition. We ran into old Reno friends, the Fairchild brothers, and enjoyed catching up throughout the course. 

Jeannie & Ben were in the stadium to cheer us across the finish line.  Willie's finale was by far the best!  He took a tuck position and pointed his skis straight down on the final steep hill across the finish line.  He entered the stadium faster then anyone would dare and demonstrated a perfect yard sale.  Hat, glasses, poles, and skis went flying everywhere.  The crowd went wild!  We had a blast!

Afterwards, we did a brief tour of Kings Beach, and Incline Village, of course stopping at my favorite, T's for a bite to eat.  Then we treated the boy's to haircuts in Reno while the girls did a little shopping.  My mom cooked up delicious meal after meal of food for the crew throughout the weekend.  My only regret is that we couldn't stay longer...

Thanks everyone for coming, for keeping us, feeding us, and taking part in the Great Race!  Hope to do it again!

Mellow Back Country

 

 

February feels like April lately in Idaho!  Zach and I headed out for a little back country skiing this past Sunday to soak up what we could before the season is over.  Borrowing Nick & Jean's snowmobiles made it a lot easier to access the good spots still fluffy with powder.  Unfortunately, I forgot my skins so we couldn't hike up some great slopes!  Good thing I have such a nice husband and he just laughed it off with me.  We did manage to make some turns and luckily could use the snowmobiles to get us back up and out.

It's been a very mild winter in our neck of the woods.  Doesn't make it easy to here that the east coast and the southern US have been getting hammered with winter weather.  Must have been Vancouver sending the Olympic pressure our way :)