Winter

The end of Fall

Fall is over. Halloween is this week and the snow is here to stay.  I feel it's in my blood to resist winter. My mother openly despises the cold and snow and anything winter related! My father is in a constant state of delusion wearing Jimmy Buffet t-shirts everyday of the week all year round. If he could he would live on the beach.  In spite of both of my blood lines I have come to not only love but embrace winter. Particularly the snow. I never thought I would come to enjoy the frosty white flakes as much as the extreme heat of the desert sun that I worshiped as a teenager in Arizona.  Thankfully I came to my senses when I met the most intriguing and handsome man that I never new existed.  Nordic Nate taught me how to cross country ski and made me fall in love with the snowy mountains.  We had the first snow here in the mountains, now my permanent home, and I had an urge to resist it. As he always does the Ranger pushed me out the door, even put some wax on my skis, and made me fall in love with winter and him all over again.  There isn't anything better than the feeling of a good ski or walk in the snow. I'm so grateful for my wonderful husband for helping me to use all my senses and get out and enjoy all seasons of nature.

               A photo from our wedding day, just a few minutes before we were husband & wife. 2008

Fall in the mountains

  We have had lots of visitors lately including our good friends Josh, Christy & baby Diddy. 

He and Alfie are just three weeks apart, and they are so cute together. Diddy is a bit more advanced with his movement. Alfie has not expressed much desire to move and Diddy is all over the place. We sure love having our good friends come to visit. Hope to get lots more visitors this winter! Above is Diddy practicing his walking skills. 

9 months

Alf is 9 months today. Happy 9 months baby! I couldn't have asked for a better baby. He is such a happy sweet boy. He was growing a lovely patch of hair that was much longer than the rest. I finally cut it. Here are some photos to document the occasion. To my surprise, he enjoyed his haircut. Thanks to Ranger Nate for snapping these darling pics. 

Hanging in the clouds

                       This summer is flying by, and we are loving every minute of it. Looks like Alfie is working on beefing up for this winter. What a smart boy he is.  Millie loves playing outside and I am so grateful to have such amazing kiddos. I'm also grateful for a sweet husband. I've been "giving" (chucking) gently placing Alfie next to or on top of him in the morning so that I can get a little more sleep and he can take him out and play. Thanks babe! I feel like I need a bit more sleep these days. Look at this handsome bunch. Aren't they a dainty dish to set before the King?

Ranger Days

Sometimes Ranger Nate goes to do a simple task and disappears for much longer than expected. This happened a few days ago when he went to meet a young lady at our gate. I thought he would be about 20 minutes. I was adding in a few minutes just in case he got chatty. After about 40 minutes I started to wonder, but figured he just started fixing something or was back and just hadn't come home. 

Upon arriving home he tells me that he was oiling the gate when a parasailor landed by him.  Being the nice guy that he is he decided to give the man a ride to the top of Guardsman Pass. Of course that's where he was! Why didn't I think of that?! 

Love this picture! I'm missing this mans long hair. 

6 months

 I snapped a few pictures of Alf to document his 6 month milestone. Sometimes I call him Alf because it reminds me of my grandpa. I sure do miss him. 

Scary Mommy

I'm reading this book, Confessions of a Scary Mommy by Jill Smokler.  It's full of hilarious stories about the secrets of motherhood.  It's also full of the not so glamorous moments of being a mom.  Which leads me to my next bit; I didn't want to forget my own not so glamorous moments in motherhood.  A few days ago I was reading the above mentioned book while I "cooked' Millie some lunch.  Okay, it was Ramen noodles.  I poured some boiling water over the noodles and put foil on it as I didn't have a clean pan.  I probably should have done dishes but instead decided to read!  Anyway I was having a grand time with my book laughing out loud and before I knew it 20 mins had passed.  Oops!  Totally spaced her noodles!  Lucky for me my three year old doesn't mind overcooked Ramen. 

Later that day we arrived home from a trip to town with loads of groceries and a starving baby.  I knew the baby needed to eat soon and rather then nurse him (which I should have done) I decided to make rice cereal.  In a hurry digging through my cupboards, I dropped a few things.  The counter onto which the items fell was not clean. A can of beef consommé went all over me and my counter, oven and drawers.  Lovely!  The baby was frantic by this point so in an effort to hurry I removed my clothes and used them to clean up the mess.  So here I am in my underwear heating up rice cereal in the world’s messiest kitchen.  Motherhood doesn't get much more glamorous than this.

Just a reminder about how glamorous birth can be. 

Mountain fun in July

 July has been great here in the mountains. We have had lots of family around and I must say I'm sure it is the highlight of Millie's summer.  She is CRAZY about her cousins.  She asks about them daily and if I even mention going to "town" she thinks it must be to play with her cousins.  Alfie is officially 6 months old.  He is such a fun baby. I could sit and smile at him for hours, in fact I often find my face hurting after being around him. 

Millie with the cousins. Pure heaven for this girl. 

It's been fun to be in the kitchen here @ camp and I'm learning a lot about what it takes to feed a group of hungry girls. No easy task I might add and the kitchen staff here is awesome! 

 Millie always asking for an oil to enhance her mood.

 S'mores from the kitchen, about 150 of them. By far my biggest achievement in the camp kitchen.

Driving to work the "Midway way" I always give Ranger Nate a hard time for taking photos and driving, so this one's for him. XO

I recently had a Beef Consomme accident... that story for next time. 

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Saturday, almost the 4th of July

 It's been a fun week here at camp and we are sad to see the first batch of girls leave, but we are super excited for a weekend of fun and family! Millie asks me almost everyday if we are going to see some cousins. Well my dear, today is the day! Yay cousins here we come.

 A few photos from last summer on the 4th of July. We did sparklers and watched fireworks from our house, we had the best view of Stadium of Fire! We ate at Ihop often as I was pregnant and always wanted pancakes! Millie always had a great time, as you can see. I'm excited to get some Red White & Blue on the Alfasnalf and celebrate his first Independence day.

Nine thousand feet

The mountains are treating us well. We are loving life and enjoy having a new adventure.  Millie is loving the Girl Scouts, watching and chatting with them, today she was able to do some art with them. She was on cloud nine! Alfie is getting teeth, just today they are breaking through the surface. He can also roll over.  Ranger Nate has more work than hours in the day, but he is enjoying it and learning lots of new skills. I just celebrated my 28th birthday, and started helping out in the Girl Scout kitchen. We have been on a few little family walks and have enjoyed seeing moose and lots of butterflies. The dogs seem to be loving the mountain life as well! 
I am also getting to be a pro at removing slivers!

The adventures of Nan & Nate

A new cabin life for our family has begun. I believe it has been 17 days since we moved. Utah county treated us well, but I'm excited for a new adventure. I started this new blog and intended to blog often.  I figured living in the mountains would allow my creative juices to flow and I'd have more exciting things to write about.  So far, it's been a whole lot of unpacking and lots of cleaning and puppy training.  More exciting stories to come! In the mean time here are a few photos of the last couple weeks, & a happy five months to our darling Alfie!