Spring Break 2014

WOW!

The year is just marching on more quickly than I would like it to!
How is it that we are already at Spring Break time for my boys!

Well, our Spring Break, started off with a funny flashback...
As I was searching through past photos, I came across the photo of Jade taking Ethan's stuffed bunny away from him and making him cry when he was just a baby! 
YEP, things have not changed to much in the past 11 years!
Jade still knows how to push Ethan's buttons!

We awoke Friday morning 
and went and walked around the Green Belt in Idaho Falls!
It was such a beautiful morning and it felt SO good to move!   

Our most LOVED part of Spring Break, 
was the fact that we got a snow storm
 and so that meant XC skiing!!

We were supposed to volunteer at the Jones House, but because of the storm they cancelled that obligation and so it meant we had the entire place to ourselves and it turned out to be the most adventurous winter adventure we have experienced thus far in our life!

Spring Break 2014 was SO. MUCH. FUN! 
The fact that it snowed, made it where we had the greatest winter adventure we've experienced thus far! We had the whole mountain to ourselves, breaking our own trail, (=awesome workout), postcard beauty everywhere, making a fire and warming up, melting snow for tea and loving every minute of the wonderful snow and beauty that Mother Nature gave us!

Here is our adventure in photos!

Breaking our own trail...

Look at all the snow on the trees!

 WOW!
A gorgeous Winter Wonderland!
It was so peaceful and beautiful!

 Heading up a big hill...
Tracy made a perfect set of tracks 
for us to follow and ski in!

 We took the road less traveled...

 I SPY...
The reflection of my handsome hubby
 in the pot lid of the bottom right photo! 

 What a view!

Ours was the only car in the parking lot when we got back from skiing!

I love winter and snow... 
I love sunshine and warmth...
It's all good, especially when shared 
with my three favorite people! 
Life is awesome! 

PS...
This sweet, handsome boy had cabin fever on Monday
and wanted to go into town to enjoy a little window shopping and dinner!
We ended our hurrah with Chic-Fil-A!
YUM!

FALL in Love!!

I've been feeling spoiled lately 
as Tracy and I have had more time together than usual 
I can honestly say, 
I could spend every moment of every day  
with my wonderful Tracy and never tire of him!

Tracy works in a place where not far from his office, he can be sitting on the banks of the river, watching it roll on by, watching anglers fish and enjoying the sweet birds that are abundant in this area.

He posted this on Facebook on October 10th, 2013.

He is SO amazing, 
so appreciative 
and truly enjoys all of the simple pleasures 
that really make life BIG!
(Which that in turn makes me the luckiest girl in the world!)

Today, my schedule worked out that I was in St. Anthony around lunch time
and I was lucky enough to get to go and sit with him on the banks of the river
 that he described above
while we ate leftover Chicken Pot Pie
(cold mind you, straight out of his lunch box),
delicious crisp, juicy apples hand-picked from our neighbors tree
and Snickerdoodle cookies

It was the most peaceful, picture perfect spot!

We enjoyed the most gorgeous fall colors, bright blue sky, sat and watched the river flow by, after which, we took the scenic drive back to work.
I never tire of time spent in nature, especially with sweetheart...
priceless moments!

Photos of our perfect afternoon!

We live in such a beautiful world, where every day there is something beautiful to behold, if only we take time to pause from our busy-ness to notice and enjoy it!

Thanks for a perfect Tuesday afternoon lunch date Mr. Smith! 
It's a precious memory and priceless treasure to me!

My life may not seem perfect to others, 
but it is PERFECT to me!
and YOU my love are perfect for me too!

I'm LUCKY that every day I get to
 FALL in LOVE with you, 
over and over again! 

A place where beauty overwhelms...

"Discovering this idyllic place,
we find ourselves filled with a yearning to linger here,
where time stands still and beauty overwhelms."
— Author Unknown

The thing that I love most about the high country, 
is that the higher you climb, the more beautiful things get. 
You wouldn't think it would be that way, but it is.  

The lower forests flowers die off by end of July, or, the first part of August, but, you don't have to be sad about that, because you just need to keep climbing higher and the flowers are there again.
The higher you climb
the more craggy rocks you see
and high mountain creeks and small lakes
and the VIEW of looking back where you started at,
becomes more amazing as well.

This is the first of four blog posts 
about our 2013 Backpacking Adventure.

These are my favorite photos showing the stunning and amazing beauty of nature that was so abundant on our adventure.

Flowers near the log where we sat and ate lunch.
I love that there is a bee AND a butterfly 
on the flower together!

A wonderful view of the Teton mountain range 
along the plateau after Devil's Stairs.
The Wildflower display...stunning along our path!

Amongst the rocky paths, were clumps of cheery yellow and lavender flowers. 
Flowers always make me happy!

Loved these cool trees and bark that we saw 
when we got into Alaska Basin.
That majestic mountain is Buck Mountain!

Room with a View!
(definitely one the top five prettiest views we've had on our backpacking adventures )

It was a little bit overcast when we awoke in the morning and headed towards Buck Mountain Pass...
The reflection of  Mount Meek and  Battleship Mountain in the water was just gorgeous!
The photos just don't do it justice!

Fields of wildflowers on our journey 
up toward Buck Mountain Pass.
The higher you climb, 
the more gorgeous everything becomes!
(at least according to Kimmie!)

The bright lime green mossy grass 
along with the hot pink flowers 
were beyond beautiful!

It almost doesn't look real, 
but I can attest that it really was!
I love this photo with my three favorite people
in such a beautiful spot! 

The sky was electric blue...
Buck Mountain was being lit up perfectly...
and there is our trail with little flowers growing along the sides of it.

This photo screams...
"The mountains are calling and I must go"!

Happiness...

The gorgeous reflection in the mountain lake
 right beneath our campsite!  

Happy flowers growing in the grass 
right where we set up our tent!  

Our last sunset we enjoyed in Alaska Basin...
The sky was bright blue...
The reflections were gorgeous...
We sat on some giant granite slabs and watched the sun go down!
"Heaven on Earth" 
is what this moment in time was!

We awoke to blue skies!!

As you can see from the four photos above...

it was hard to say good-bye!

Those rugged mountain reflections...

those gnarly trees...

the stunning beauty, 

was all there to enjoy all day long, for as long as wanted.

You sure don't have peace and solitude 

and views like that in your every day life!

One last stop at the little stream by our campsite to fill up water bottles to have enough water to hike out with!

(these little flowers, are my new favorite wildflower)

Fireweed, a giant rock

and that triangle jut-out at the top of the mountain

 is called "The Wedge".

This was the last view before we headed into the thick forest, down, down and down some more until we got to our car, 8 miles later.

So grateful for these moments in time,

 where we're able to leave behind society 

and enjoy fresh air, breath taking scenery, family time,

 and those much needed moments where we can "disconnect" from technology, 

with no interruptions at all, 

with nothing but our thoughts, conversations and adventures together...

Where if we just want to sit and chase butterflies for hours, we can do just that!

Grateful for photography...

where when I have a big LONGING and YEARNING

 to be back in the high country, 

I can at least "pause" life for a moment 

and visit the amazing beauty, by looking at photos 

and reading my thoughts and then I can say 

"all is right with the world again"!