Mi Madre

My mom came to visit us this past weekend and we managed to pack as many activities in (per usual) in one weekend. Thursday my mom arrived after some interesting weather reports from Boise and went right to work with me on a job site. That night we had a lovely dinner with Zach's parents, Nick & Jean. Friday my mom and I had a great opportunity to do some skate skiing out North Fork with Lucy. My mom and sister, Erin, have both really gotten into skate skiing this past winter and I couldn't be more excited to share this great activity with them! A great lunch at Galena Lodge and then my mom and I managed to cook up a storm for the Walker family for the evening. Afterwards, we headed out to 310 Main for a DELICIOUS dinner with Zach. I can't believe this was only our first time there and we truly enjoyed Derek and Andrea's scrumptious eatery. Saturday my mom and I hiked up Quigly Mountain (thank goodness her ankle recovered) to get a great view of the snow covered towns below and the distant mountain peaks. Next we drove down to Shoshone to check out the local antique shops and then back up North for the Suns hockey game in Sun Valley, which is always a good time. So glad Willie and Jenna stopped in for a hello to my mom. Today, it was a great yoga session at Zenergy, over to Dev's studio, and then out Indian Creek to spend some QT with Zach's family. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone bye. We truly had a great visit with my mom and hope she comes back again soon :)!!!!!

Hadley Walker

7lbs, 9 ounces

Hooray for Matt & Davina and their newest addition to the family!

We are very excited for them and can't wait to get to know little Hadley.

She's adorable!

Snow Box Derby

Every year our office, Ruscitto Latham Blanton, enters a local event called the "Snow Box Derby". The race happens at Rotorun down a casually steep slope. First one down wins. The rules are as such:

• Snow Boxes can be constructed using only cardboard, paint, tape, and glue
• No metal of any kind or wax
• And so forth...

Entrants this year ranged from a cardboard dragon, a measuring tape, a flying beer bottle, and a cardboard corn dog. I would call RLB's a rocket ship. After seven years of competing, this was the first year the office had a girl "manning" the sled. Lucky me! Despite saying it was either me or a sack of potatoes...I felt honored. I decided to add some girly touches to the stellar blue rocket by painting pink racing stripes and flames on the sides. Not taking it too seriously I planned on wearing a tu-tu as well to truly flaunt the new politically correct leaf our office was turning.

When arriving we were quickly rushed up the hill to start the race even though we were early to the event. Zach and I lugged the 6' long sled up the hill as Thadd gave directions. Not knowing the race would start early I had to borrow a helmet at the top before I was shoved into place. Oddly, feeling like a coffin I heard shouts of encouragement as they threw me down the hill. My only view was a slight cardboard visor that read "Slyle don't embarrass the firm", a tradition for every sled driver.

I made it down in one piece using my cardboard gloves to slow me at the bottom. And more surprising to everyone who made the event I had won the gold for the office! Guess girls will be getting asked more often to take the wheel....either that or they will have to paint over the pink flames :)

Tucson Visit

I was lucky this past weekend to visit the LaDukes in Tucson and celebrate my niece's first birthday, which also happens to be Valentine's Day! Addie did a great job making strawberry cupcakes with homemade icing. Cameron's sister and brother stopped by along with some of their friends for a nice lunch. We sang to Avery who was very interested in her cupcake for a brief moment. Tucson was very beautiful and a lot 'greener' than I expected with thousands of types of cactus, trees and flowering plants. They have a beautiful home and family! I love my niece's and wish I got to see more of them! Thank you LaDuke's for hosting me and Callie for letting me stay in your room. Love you, Auntie Sarah

The Boulder 2009

The start:

The pro's:

The first weekend in February was the annual Boulder Mountain Tour. A skate ski race from Galena Lodge to the Sawtooth National Recreation Area Headquarters. Generally it's a race north of Ketchum that covers about 20 miles of skate ski trails and includes roughly 1000 people each year. The pro's usually complete it in just over an hour. I seem to manage just under two hours every time I've entered. This year Zach was my cheerleader and I felt a little more prepared after getting some technique lessons accomplished before hand. From a distance skate skiing to me always looks so easy but darn it every time I get out there it seems there is more ways to make it complicated then simple. At least that's how I feel when anybody over 60 is passing me by. It was however a beautiful day and the snow was generally fast for most skiers. Here's a few picks from my number one cheerleader :)

The amateur:

Weed Winter Visit 09'

Another great weekend with Erin and Gabe in Idaho! A dinner of tortilla soup with all the Lathams at MoLo to welcome the Weeds + Wanda to Idaho kicked off the weekend.

The next day we had first attempts at skate skiing on the SNRA trail. Gabe's first time EVER on any skis and he did amazingly well! It can only be completely awkward as an adult to learn a funny sport where you strap wooden planks to your feet and then try to get around on a slippery surface. Not to mention girls telling you what to do the entire time. The dogs of course did laps around us. Pretty sure Erin is addicted to a new sport.

A little home-town Sun Valley Suns hockey on Friday night landed Erin with $100 for winning the raffle prize. The Suns didn't fair so well against the BC Toolbags but we had a great time.

Then we headed North for the remainder of the weekend to get in some snowmobiling and cab-ansion time at Fisher Creek. We are so lucky to have the Nickums let us check in on there cabin from time to time. Gorgeous blue skies! Can't wait for the next Weed visit!

*Pictures courtesy of Zach and the Weed's.

Bench Yurt

See that peak in the distance? That's where we are headed.

The yurt is to the left underneath the snow. Troy dug it out when we got there. I have a whole new respect for Eskimos!

This past weekend Zach and I joined 10 of our friends on a backcountry excursion to the Bench Yurt above Redfish Lake. Geared up with backcountry gear and overnight equipment we managed to hike up to the yurt in 3 1/2hrs with temperatures dropping to -30's! Gorgeous blue skies and great mountain views kept us busy talking and moving. As soon as you stopped moving you could feel the cold creep up your spine. The yurt easily slept 12 after a pasta and whiskey dinner. Ian rightfully called it our circus tent because of the bright canvas roof and walls that need to be taken down in the summer. The floor was creaky old pine logs barely covering the ground below. But lucky us there was a sauna with a little wooden stove that heated right up when filled with splintered logs. Most of us couldn't really handle the intense heat but Willie, Michael, and David tried to out do each other, running into the snow banks to cool off every now and then. More then entertaining to the rest of us. The Sawtooth mountain range is spectacular and more then once did I hear comments on how lucky we are to live here! As usual thanks to Zach for documenting our journey! And thanks to all for a great time and hope to do it again soon!

Of course you can see more great pix on Zach's blog: http://zlatham.blogspot.com/

Holiday Season Ketchup

I know, I know, I've been procrastinating on posting for Christmas and New Years. I was kind of waiting for my computer to be back up to speed after I installed a new operating system but it looks like I have to keep working at it. So despite the lack of pictures I'm going to post as vividly as possible.

Christmas was wonderful and relaxing celebrating with the Lathams! We had a great breakfast a' la Jean of tortilla egg casserole and then managed to open gifts like we were kids for the next few hours. We got a lot of snow on Christmas day so we spent most of the morning digging out ourselves, our cars, and our driveways. Zach and I managed to do a short ride on Nick's snow machines before I found myself stuck sideways in the powder. Zach went right into action digging out the sled and getting it back into action. No time for napping so we gathered again at Nick & Jean's for a fabulous turkey dinner with Mark & Patsy. Mark was the lucky receiver of this years re-gift Hostess fruit cake. Only 4,000 calories and will last for centuries! Lucy was in puppy heaven by the end of the night with her new stuffed duck thanks to Jen Lyons and Puckett!

The week of New Years we were excited to have the Winslows from Boston visit with us. We managed to squeeze in skiing everyday and a favorite restaurant every night. The Pioneer, DeVine, CK's, Christina's, Apple's, we really got around. It was fun visiting with dear friends and we appreciate all the effort it took them to reach us in our little mountain retreat. Hope they come back soon!

Wandaroo

Gabe & Erin's dog, Wanda, is doing amazingly well after recovering from a horrible accident and losing one of her legs.  Watching this dog you don't even realize that she was close to death at one point and has survived multiple surgies.  She gives me courage for all injured animals and people.  Something can be said for the spirit of animals and their positive attitudes despite the circumstances!  

Watch this: http://gallery.me.com/eweed#100077

Gift Wrapping Advice for Men

My mother sent me this article written by Dave Barry. Very appropriate for this time of year:

Gift Wrapping Advice For Men
This is the time of year when we think back to the very first Christmas, when the Three Wise Men; Gaspar, Balthazar and Herb, went to see the baby Jesus. According to the Book of Matthew, they, "presented unto Him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

These are simple words, but if we analyze them carefully, we discover an important, yet overlooked theological fact: There is no mention of wrapping paper. If there had been wrapping paper, Matthew would have written, "And lo,the gifts were covered in 600 square cubits of papyrus which was festooned with depictions of people crafted in snow." And Joseph threw the wrapping away but Mary commandeth him, saying, "Stop dear husband! Discard notthe papyrus! It shall be useful in our later years!" And Joseph did roll his eyes. And the baby Jesus was more interested in the papyrus than the gold, frankincense or myrrh.

These words do not appear in the Bible, which means that the very first Christmas gifts were NOT wrapped. This is because the people giving those gifts had two important characteristics:
1. They were wise.
2. They were men.

Men are not big gift wrappers. Men do not understand the point of putting paper on a gift just so somebody else can tear it off. This is not just my opinion: This is a scientific fact based on a statistical survey of two guys I know. One is Rob, who said the only time he ever wraps a gift is "if it's such a poor gift that I don't want to be there when the person opens it." The other is Gene, who told me he does wrap gifts, but as a matter of principle never takes more than 15 seconds per gift. "No one ever had to wonder which presents daddy wrapped at Christmas," Gene said. "They were the ones that looked like enormous spitballs." I also wrap gifts, but because of some defect in my motor skills, I can never completely wrap them. I can take a gift the size of a deck of cards and put it the exact center of a piece of wrapping paper the size of a regulation volleyball court, but when I am done folding and taping, you can still see a sector of the gift peeking out. (Sometimes I camouflage this sector with a marking pen.) If I had been an ancient Egyptian in the field of mummies, the lower half of the Pharaoh's body would be covered only by Scotch tape.

On the other hand, if you give my wife a 12-inch square of wrapping paper, she can wrap a C-130 cargo plane. My wife, like many women, actually likes wrapping things. If she gives you a gift that requires batteries, she wraps the batteries separately, which to me is very close to being a symptom of mental illness. If it were possible, my wife would wrap each individual volt.

My point is that gift-wrapping is one of those skills like having babies that come more naturally to women than to men. That is why today I am presenting:

GIFT-WRAPPING TIPS FOR MEN:

*Whenever possible, buy gifts that are already wrapped. If, when the recipient opens the gift, neither one of you recognizes it, you can claim that it's myrrh.

*The editors of Woman's Day magazine recently ran an item on how to make your own wrapping paper by printing a design on it with an apple sliced in half horizontally and dipped in a mixture of food coloring and liquid starch. They obviously smoke crack.

*If you're giving a hard-to-wrap gift, skip the wrapping paper! Just put it inside a bag and stick one of those little adhesive bows on it. This creates a festive visual effect that is sure to delight the lucky recipient on Christmas morning. Imagine the conversation:

YOUR WIFE: Why is there a Hefty trash bag under the tree?
YOU: It's a gift! See? It has a bow!
YOUR WIFE (peering into the trash bag): It's a leaf blower.
YOU: Gas-powered! Five horsepower!
YOUR WIFE: I want a divorce.
YOU: I also got you some myrrh.

In conclusion, remember that the important thing is not what you give, or how you wrap it. The important thing, during this very special time of year, is that you save the receipt.