Sunday, December 26, 2010

Christmas 2010

They thought they were camoflauged in the tree.


First ever panda bear at the manger.  Christmas play at Faith Lutheran Church.


Laura asked for a snowy owl, red fox, and peregrine falcon for Christmas.
 Santa could not find a falcon.

Ben was just excited about Grandma's John Deere afghan as he was his new legos.

Skiing on Christmas Day.

And Ben made it to the yurt.  Drinking hot cocoa.

Laura at the yurt, playing in the snow.





Ice skating on Christmas Eve with our best friends.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Summons to Solstice

My friend Dot and I yesterday at the yurt at Beaver Creek. 
We went to a ski-in party to celebrate the winter solstice.

Summons

Keep me from going to sleep too soon
Or if I go to sleep too soon
Come wake me up. Come any hour
Of night. Come whistling up the road.
Stomp on the porch. Bang on the door.
Make me get out of bed and come
And let you in and light a light.
Tell me the northern lights are on
And make me look. Or tell me clouds
Are doing something to the moon
They never did before, and show me.
See that I see. Talk to me till
I'm half as wide awake as you
And start to dress wondering why
I ever went to bed at all.
Tell me the walking is superb.
Not only tell me but persuade me.
You know I'm not too hard persuaded.


Robert Francis

Laura and her friend Jake built a snow tunnel at the yurt.

Wyoming kids skiing in 10 degrees with headlamps.  The
hazard was not skiing in the dark see so much as running into
a cow moose and her calf -- in the dark.


Thanks to my husband for getting
me up at midnight to see the lunar eclipse earlier
this week, and bundling the kids outside too.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Epic Journey No. 562 - Christmas Tree Search

Our family tradition of searching for the perfect Christmas tree inevitably turns into an epic journey. We always look for a tree on the north side of Sinks Canyon (i.e. the shady, subarctic side of the canyon). This involves hiking to at least the halfway point on the first switchback and then diving over one of the guardrails onto a steep slope and sliding down to where the 'best trees are'.  Scott: "Look, there's no tracks - no one looks for trees here now that they've put up the big retaining walls."  Well, go figure.  Once we finally found our tree and hauled it through deadfall and over sagebrush and boulders covered in snow, found the trail and made it back to our truck, the kids were pooped.  The picture to the right was taken only halfway through our day.

 
Scott helping Ben back up onto the Loop Road switchback because we'd hopped over the wrong guardrail to start.  The best trees are downhill of the second guardrail; if you are so inclined to cut a tree in the most impossible spot in the canyon.




Scott has Ben on his shoulders and is pulling the sled and Laura
is holding up the top of the tree.  I'm carrying the saw.
 

Back at the truck -  hot cocoa reward.

Merry Christmas!