There are moose in them thar hills

One of our favorite things to do when we don't have a lot of time but are still aching for an outdoor-fix is to take a drive in the mountains. Now, for us that inherently means going, at some point in the drive, past the pavement and into the dust. We had one such mini-adventure last night, as a Family Home Evening activity. Yes, during the Summer and Fall months we tend to have a lot of "The Natural World is a Beautiful Place Heavenly Father Created for Us"-FHE lessons, with the appropriate family drive as an activity. It may be repetitive, but at least we're doing it.

Last night we started out driving the Alpine Loop (paved, through the mountains between Sundance and American Fork Canyon). Our requisite dusty detour led us down an at times quite rough dirt road that winds around Timp, through aspen groves, pine forests, an old avalanche path now nothing more than a huge swath of crumbling rock (on either side of the still intact road--don't want to scare the grandparents) and flattened forest, and meadows.

This kind of trip you expect great scenery, but your wild life experience is generally rather limited (the sounds of birds being the most likely). But not last night. About halfway through our ramble we came around a bend and there were two enormous moose (plural is the same as the singular, there are no "meese" around here) about 15 feet ahead of us on the road. We waited as they stared at us a bit and walked out of the road and across a meadow to our right. Then we drove on, found a neat hill that overlooked this cascade of alpine meadow, and got out to take in the view. As we were looking around we saw the moose again, on the other side of the road, making their way down the hills below us. They kept stopping and looking at us, we kept quiet and respected their space, enjoying the opportunity to see such beautiful, enormous creatures. They can be dangerous if provoked, they are just so big and so fast--I think it was that grace of movement in such a large animal that is often portrayed as being so awkward, that is what captured me and why I so enjoyed just watching them move over the meadows for so long.

Last night we were reminded of not only a particular species which inhabits these mountains, but through that we were further reminded of the fact that the world is a huge place and even with a loud car bounding over ruts and shale we are a small thing in it, though one with a huge impact for good or ill--luckily that choice is up to us, whether it be environmentally or in our families or communities.

My Beloved

On Wednesday we celebrated 9 years of marriage--it sounds like a long time, but we're still silly and in love, so we still feel like kids together; still in that stage where just being in the same room can be enough to make us smile. I think that nine years and four kids later that says something special about our fit together. Through the surprises (good and bad) of life, we're always brought closer together and we always encourage one another in our endeavors and support one another in our struggles. I couldn't be the woman I am or the woman I'm working to become without him.

I guess this is just a chance to take a moment and say, Justin is my beloved, and I know that I am his, and how lucky we are to have each other.

We celebrated with our favorite meal--sushi, and a quiet evening alone together.

Who needs The Incredibles? We're all Super

We have decided that the kids each have super powers, the oldest two announced their's to Justin and me, and we figured out Aspen's and Ronan's ourselves.

Ilana: hugging and creating worlds (i.e. story telling).

Forester: throwing invisible Pokemons and, when he has the blue goggles, shooting water with his eyes, or, when he has the orange goggles, shooting fire with his eyes.

Ronan: (he has quite a system) primary super power is destruction, but the trick is, when you try and thwart the efforts of his primary super power he hits you with his secondary super power, a disarming smile, and you are helpless in the face of it.

Aspen: crying (we're hoping she'll grow into a better super power sometime soon--but she has slept through the night since she was 2 mo. old, so she does have some redeeming qualities and we still love her).

Home of the Maniacs

No, not our house, that would be Orofino, Idaho, home of the Maniacs (the high school mascot--a little politically incorrect, given that they got the name because the state mental hospital is there in town), and also home to Grammy and Grandpa Chapman and the Konkolville Motel.

We spent two days driving (there and back) and four days visiting them last week and it was wonderful. We also got to visit with uncle Jason, which was great, the kids loved swimming with him. You know it's a good vacation when even the 13 hour drive there is bizarrely fun with 4 kids. Of course, the 11 hour drive back home was alright, but not quite as fun (I guess an hour+ stop at Borders in Boise is what makes all the difference).

Anyway, our time there was wonderful. We went swimming every day, went for gorgeous drives, slept in, played games, and converted our tiny old kitchen table into a computer desk, thanks to Grandpa's woodworking talents. The motel is totally fun. Especially the part about the three oldest sleeping in Grammy and Grandpa's second bedroom and Justin and I and Aspen across the courtyard in our own room. My kids may have woken up between 6:30 and 7, but we woke up when Aspen woke up--7:30 or 8 or even 9. :) (Thank you for that not so little gift, Mom and Dad.)

Ilana, the helper, really got into the idea of "customers." She was spotted going into the courtyard as a group finished their steak dinner (a motel specialty--grill your own) and offering to clear their plates. Grandpa also caught her refilling the basket with little packages of butter one morning during breakfast--shocking! She looked sheepish, thinking somehow that she was in trouble (kids are so weird sometimes) and then explained that, "you CAN'T run out of butter, Grandpa."

Let me just take a moment more to explain some things about the pictures above. In the first we're standing on a big stump as we took a drive through the mountains. Forester is ready for swimming the moment we get back to the motel. In the second, you can see that Ronan, as were all the kids, is fascinated with the fountain and pond--hoping to see the cool goldfish that call it home (well, sometimes, apparently they keep dying...have to sort that out still).

We just had a great time, and we're thinking we'll try and spend Christmas there this year. I wonder what we can build then? :)