16 March 2014 - Spring Joys

By now you're probably used to me posting beautiful pictures of nature that simply don't do justice to the real thing.  We were night skiing the other night, and while the sun was still up in the west, the full moon rose in the east.  It was so big and so bright, I just had to take a picture.

As the evening waned, the sunset was gorgeous.

Since winter is giving way to spring, I decided it was time (Kawasaki Vulcan 900 v-twin). (Super happy).

The flower beds are coming along.  More photos will come in the next few weeks.

9 March 2014 - Yard work already?

Emily had a choir concert this week.  Her grade did five songs and they sounded great.

With warmer temperatures, we passed on skiing this weekend (hoohoo, a tear) and started working on our yard.  Because the bank had taken it from the previous owners, it was pretty out of control and overgrown.  We made a really good start on it, and should have some nice plants in place this spring.

We even took some time to take our Christmas tree over to Eric and Lara's house and get it planted.  We're excited to see it live a long and healthy life.  We haven't bought a plant-able Christmas tree every year, but I like to do it when we can.

2 March 2014 - Madeline's Birthday

So Madeline is a whole decade old!  On Friday night she had a sleep over with two friends from school.  Joanne had the girls decorate cupcakes.

Then on Sunday, we got together for a dinner at Aunt Kathy's house.  Eric and Lara came over.  The girls made a Pineapple cake for this one.

Turned out nice, don't you think?

Madeline loves it when the birthday attention falls on here.

And finally, after years of waiting, she has her own phone.  I won't post her phone number on the blog for the whole world to see.  If you want her number, give her a call and ask for it.  Just kidding. Joanne or I can text it to you if you would like it.

23 February 2014 - Winter Olympics Inspirations

OK, so you can call me cheesy, or the highly suggestible type or whatever, but every two years when the Olympics roll around, I'm hooked.  I'm a total sucker, and I'm particularly fond of the Winter games.  So you all know we've been going skiing a lot this winter, but I'm still including a couple of photos anyway.  Here Jessica took a wreck on a black diamond run.  It's hard to see, but one of her skis is propped up in the bushes.  She was OK.

We lost Madeline on one of our runs, and her emotions were a little close to the surface after we found her.  We let her ride the lift with mommy, and she rested her helmet on Joanne's shoulder for comfort.

In harmony with the Olympic theme, I found out that there is actually a Boise Curling club.  I've actually developed quite an interest in the "activity" (not sport), so I signed us up for an experience curling night.  Here's Joanne in full slide.

Emily took a toss here...SVEEEEEEEEEEEP!

Here's Madeline with a slide.  It's a lot harder than they make it look on TV.  Emily is a mad sweeper!

We decided not to try playing hockey and just went to watch instead.  Boise has an ECHL minor league team -- the Idaho Steelheads.  They play in the same league as the Utah Grizzlies, which I used to go watch all the time.  I found a game when the Grizzlies were in town and took the girls for a night out. At first I wasn't sure who I'd cheer for, but I wasn't there long before my old Grizzlies allegiances came back, so I was happy when Utah won in a shootout.