Oh wait, I didn't send any. And we didn't put up a tree or hang any lights. Was I a scrooge? No, we just didn't feel like doing any of that this year, and it came and went so fast.
But backing up to Thanksgiving. We had a grand ol time enjoying the sunny, dry days in Southern Utah. My parents were vacationing in St George for the month of November and house shopping for a snowbird place, so the kids decided to meet up there for Thanksgiving. Keith did not make the trip, as Thanksgiving is too big of a holiday for his family and he couldn't bear to miss it.
Our time there was spent in a very comfortable condo to relax and recoup from our daily outings. I flew into Salt Lake where my brother, Paul, picked me up at the airport in a fully loaded Subaru (kayak and 2 bikes on top, climbing gear, skis, and every other 'just in case' piece of outdoor equipment in the back). We made the long drive, getting to St George about 10:00PM to find my parents kicked back in the condo deliberating on a house. The anguish went on for a couple days, but by the end of the weekend, they signed acceptance papers!
The next day, Paul, Mom, Dad and I did a long hike in the Zion National Park to Observation Point. Gorgeous. Cool weather in the morning, but we were down to shorts and t-shirts and stunning views by the top.
Paul and I broke from my parents early and did a side hike up to Hidden Canyon which has a short stint along Zion's famous chain-trails (trails that have chains bolted into the canyon wall so that you don't fall down the vertical cliff to your left/right).
Paul coming back from Hidden Canyon:
Looking down towards Zion canyon - it's a relatively small park, but very dramatic. Paul climbed that steep wall on the left!
We didn't catch my parents until the very end of the hike where they were waiting for us with lunch and a view.
On the way down Paul and I meandered down a small slot canyon, while Dad looked on from above.
Late, late that night Carl and Tory showed up after a grueling 10 hour drive from Denver. But that didn't slow them down. They were rearing to go do some of the much anticipated mountain biking that is plentiful in this area. So while my parents did some last minute house business we took off on a trail that conveniently starts where our condo was and ends practically in the back yard of the house they are going to buy (we think, the deal is still in progress as I type this). I did my usual weenie riding, giving the brakes of my bike (well, actually it was Heidi's bike - she couldn't make the trip, but was kind enough to let me use her very nice ride) while the other three did things like this:
They spent about 45 minutes playing on and around the "Three Fingers of Death". Yeah, I took the 'green' route around that part. At the end of the trail we met our folks at "the house" and got to look around it for ourselves. Very nice. Needs a little bit of repair work, but its backyard is that bike trail and it sits in a very nice neighborhood and is roomy, comfortable and will make a great vacation home. And they got it for a good price. Well done guys!
Paul, Carl and Tory did a repeat of the ride the next day closer to dusk and were treated to some amazing colors.
The next day was Thanksgiving and we took off in the morning to do a little rock climbing. Paul is our expert climber and was kind enough to put up with us and show us the ropes. (Groan....sorry that wasn't intentional). I know how uninteresting (not to mention unflattering) climbing photos are, so I will spare you. But I will show you our expert belay techniques. You know. Belaying. Done by the one holding the rope (aka your life) so that you don't fall 20 feet and crack your head open.
In my defense, I swear I either only glanced away for a second, or else she was resting!
In Paul's defense, "this is how the pros do it".
One more picture to give you kind of an idea of how it feels when your climbing and why it is so much scarier when you are actually up on the rock.
Mom, bless her heart, went back to the condo to cook the turkey, while Dad and I rode from the climbing site through some other trails working our way back to the condo, and while Paul, Carl and Tory did the hard core trail again.
We spent our evenings relaxing at the condo - swimming, hot tubbing, playing pool, watching TV, and of course, some Boggle.
The next day I had to leave, but had time for a nice day hike with my folks before the drive to the Las Vegas airport (much closer than Salt Lake). The 'kids' did another big mountain bike ride and the next day they all did a small canoe trip. A well-rounded vacation if I do say so myself. I have a lot more pictures here if you are interested, including an action climbing shot of each person who climbed (woo-hoo!).
For a recap and pictures of Keith' s Thanksgiving, I suggest you just re-read last years entry (and I don't mean that in a flippant way - that's what tradition is all about!), but replace the miserable, constant rain, with bright, sunny, crisp days, add a cousin, a new boyfriend and 2 or 3 new dogs, take out the Bauers, and voila! Seriously, though, they did have a great time and a great turnout of faraway relatives.
Moving onto Christmas. A quiet one for sure. I ended up working 7 days straight (and picking up lots of overtime) including Christmas and Christmas Eve. We spent Christmas Eve morning at John and Jenn's for a lovely brunch and Christmas morning at Keith's brothers place to watch excited kids open lots of presents. And that's about it - low key and quiet, but nice.
Next would be New Years. A bit more festive here, although I don't think we made it to midnight. I had that whole week off, so we spent three lovely, lazy days with Jenn and John at their beach house. Lots of walks on the beach, good meals, a nice hike through the woods, some football for the boys while the gals went walking, and game playing and good conversation at night. A very nice time as usual.
Looking back at their house:
Funny dogs.
Since then, it's been back to work. Keith's grinding away at Philomath. We keep saying we'll have it on the market by the end of the week. But the weeks keep ending and there isn't a for sale sign yet. We are getting closer though and hope to see the fruits of our labors soon. Nothing new on my job front. I am happy where I am and will probably just stay put for the next year or so before venturing into a new area. I toy with moving to day shift, but I haven't had to set an alarm clock for years, and I just can't imagine getting up at 5:30 (I know, most normal people do that every single day....), and I really like the people I work with on my shift.
We did get out for a day of recreating. I got new (sort of - long story there) snowshoes for Christmas and we had been itching to try them out, so we picked a clear, sunny Wednesday and took off for Willamette Pass. We stopped at the first Sno-Park we came to and climbed up an old forest service road to the top of Fuji Mountain where there was a shelter waiting as our destination. It was cold but clear and beautiful. Gracie did well, but was fed up with the snow balling up on her feet by the end of the hike. Next time, she'll have to wear booties.
Beginning of the trail.
Halfway up and nice views of Diamond Peak.
Finally, the shelter.
There has been so much snow this year, you have to climb down to get into the shelter. These shelters are pretty cool - completely stocked with firewood and a wood stove and a sleeping platform up above. We slept in one of these a few years back. It makes for a cold night (you know, missing the fourth wall and all), but is still kinda fun.
That is the roof Keith is holding onto.
Looking out from the shelter. Our view is majorly obstructed by the big snow drift.
We decided to break trail and take a "shortcut" down through this open forest for some adventure. We had a bet to see who would fall more. The results: Emily: 6. Keith: 0. Hmpf.
Which brings us to today. Melody and Dwayne are up here visiting (aka working) again. They like to come up and help us/Keith with the Philomath house. For some reason that we can't figure out, they just really enjoy working on it with him. No matter what the job or weather. So I went up with them yesterday and Melody and I spent the day out in some very cold rain screwing in fence boards and spreading bark, while the men worked inside on some electrical stuff for this separate outbuilding Keith's trying to fix up. Hmmmm. Granted we all were cold, but still. No matter, there help is much appreciated and will never be turned down.
And today we woke to this unexpected scene:
Check out my snowball-catching dog.
And us dorks. Yes, I have a big red dot on my big red, swollen nose, and yes, Keith has a red mark on his chin - we are pretty sure it is poison oak from his last wood-gathering excursion (I probably got some residual from his clothes) - aren't we cute. The tip of my nose?....come on...such bad reminders of the age of acne....
OK. We're caught up. To end I'm providing a link to an enlightening and funny video that I found kind of moving.
