New Tannerisms and all new Kate-isms!!

Take a look!!

Rebekah Westover is the most amazing photographer on the planet!!

Rebekah Westover took the pictures at Matt's brother's wedding a couple of weeks ago.  She always does an amazing job, so I didn't expect anything but amazing, but these three were beyond amazing.  They are copyrighted images, so please do not copy them, but I just wanted to do a little shout out to Rebekah, they are seriously awesome!!  The picture of Kate is my most favorite picture of her, EVER and Tanner is just such a stud in his little tux.  And our cute little family of 5!!  I just love, Love, LOVE them!!

(And Rebekah, if you read this, I will be ordering these prints soon).  =)

When all else fails...

I was trying to get a picture of Tanner and Kate in their Easter outfits and this was the best I could get out of them until I told them to...

...give me their best silly faces.  Then they really hammed it up for the camera!

These two make me smile.

Silly faces...

I just LOVE these two!

I can't believe how big Tanner is getting to me.  (He had just eaten a fudge popsicle by the way).

Sassy Boy!

Trying to blow the "bubbles" away.  (That's what she calls the dandelions).

Okay, so this really isn't a silly face, but I thought it was too cute not to post.  I love her little smile!

Have you heard...

We are expecting Baby #3!!!  That is why I have been such a blogging slacker.  My first trimester was awful, and then when the yucky part wore off, I felt like I had 3 months of stuff to catch up on. So, now that I feel some what caught up, I will try to get caught up on all the pictures/videos I have to document and post.

Also, we had our ultrasound yesterday, and we know what it is...a BOY!!  We are thrilled!  If I can figure out how to scan pictures (I know it can't be that hard), I will post some from his ultrasound.  He was being such a poser, both of his manly-hood (there is no doubt he's all BOY) and his adorable little profile.  We can't wait for him to join our family in September.

We leave for a week vacation tomorrow, but when I get back I will get updated, with vacation pictures and all the pictures I need to get caught up on.

Spring Lines

I'll throw another post in here for the family...
The snow keeps falling this spring, which has allowed for some outstanding trips. The best of the recent trips was skiing the North Cirque of Box Elder Peak (below). It took almost 13 hours round trip to climb and ski this beast, and it ended up being one of the best lines of my life!

Dave and I started at 6:30am at the Tibble Fork Reservoir trailhead in American Fork Canyon.

We picked our way through a maze of beaver dams.

And climbed the steep slopes to the northeast ridge of Box Elder Peak.

Hiking up the ridge.

The ridge got icy so we had to boot the upper section with skis on our backs.

Taking photos from the summit.

We had some phenomenal views of Timpanogos.

Looking down the North Cirque of Box Elder Peak. The first few turns were a bit steep, but we knew the conditions we were good so we jumped in . . .

The upper cirque was stunningly good! Perfectly stable powder snow, with the perfect amount of grip for solid turns.

The lower cirque was relaxing and endless.

Our tracks on the lower cirque.

We skied down the remainder of the mountain, walked through the beaver dams, and made it back to the car. Dead tired at 7:30pm, but fully satisfied from one of the best lines we've ever skied.

Winter 2009

I know Mary has a massive set of photos to update the blog for family and friends. In the meantime, I'll add a few photos from my luscious winter in Utah. In addition, March, April and May are excellent months in the mountains with longer days, warmer temps, and stable snow, so there will be some fun adventures on the way.

Happy Birthday Tanner!!

Wow, I can't believe Tanner turned 4 today!! He is growing up so fast. He is really into Space right now, and Matt and I got him this space toy set that had all kinds of stuff in it, a spaceship, astronauts, rockets, satellites, a moon rover, etc. I looked at one of the toys and said, "How cool, a satellite." Tanner looked at me and very seriously corrected me, "No mom, it's the Hubbell telescope that flies around space taking pictures of the planets."

Whoops, I guess I need to learn more about space. =)

Hopefully in the next day or two, when I'm not feeling so tired, I'll try to get pictures up.

WE LOVE YOU TANNER!!!

Somebody Out There...

You all know I am a HUGE David Archuleta fan. This new song of his is absolutely beautiful, and put to these pictures sheds light on those families who are separated because of the war right now. The little boy that looks like he's 4 or 5 at the end just breaks my heart. Bless these families!! Matt has to be gone a couple days a week, and Tanner, Kate and I find ourselves growing so tired of him having to leave each week. I can't imagine him having to be gone for months at a time. Let's hope 2009 will bring this war closer to an end so these families can be reunited for good.


Created by Rascal from notingdavid.org

Happy New Year's!!

May 2009 bring you all much happiness and joy! This time of year is one for goal setting, so here are some of my personal goals for the new year:

1. Put together all of my food storage, emergency essentials, and anything else I may need in case of an emergency.
2. Wake up at 6:00 a.m. and have my personal study/planning time.
3. Update blog more often. At least once a week. I know for my parents out in Texas that would mean a lot.
4. Keep running!!
5. Stick to our budget.

Matt's goals for me (we each gave each other 3 goals we'd like the other to work on):
1. Play my flute more.
2. Try to be more accepting of his passion for mountaineering, that we can work it out so it's not a liability.
3. Use my gym pass consistently.

What are your New Year's Resolutions?

A Classic Wasatch Alpine Climb: Pfeifferhorn's North Ridge

Since the early November powderfest in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, the weather has given us nothing but warm and dry conditions. It is rather depressing from a skiing perspective, yet from a climbing perspective, these conditions are wonderful! The snowpack is saddled with a thick sun/rain crust that makes backcountry approaches quite easy; and, the winter routes are in good condition for some enjoyable mixed climbing.

This weekend we hit the North Ridge of the Pfeifferhorn: a Wasatch classic (the sunlit route in the middle-left of the photo). Additional photos at Mountainalbum.com.

We traveled up the Maybird Gulch...

...and began our climb up the northeast couloir.

The couloir maxed out around 55 degrees and had some good mixed climbing.

The remainder of the ridge provided ample bare granite...



...for good hand holds.

At times, the foot holds were a little sugary and exposed...

..but protection was good and we simul-climbed the route.

Nothing like a good glissade down...

...and a nice ski home. Ah, the Wasatch!

If tomorrow's storm bares any fruit, maybe we'll be back to skiing. Pray for snow!