6 years/Whistler

John and I celebrated our 6 yr. wedding anniversary last month. We went out to eat at a French restaurant called Fleur de Sel. It was tasty. I feel so blessed to married to John. He is a wonderful man, husband and father. He is also perfect for me.

The following week, we extended our anniversary celebration by heading out to Whistler, B.C. with the people that we always celebrate our anniversary with....The Evans (a little bit of an inside joke). The boys usually go on their yearly mountain biking trips without the ladies, but this year we all tagged along and brought our bikes with us!

Our accommodations were....small, as evident from the loft area in the pic below where the Evans slept. However, the location of our condos could NOT be beat. We were right in the village with views of the Olympic park.

Part of the view from our balcony.

It was coooold. 60 as a high and teeth chattering at night while we walked around in our light jackets and sweaters. It was also VERY beautiful.

The Olympic rings were right outside our condo.

The whole gang below. The Gatten, Wilson, Calderwood, Evans, Dance, Neilsen & Schofield couples.

John had SO much fun downhill biking. It was his first time and said it was the highlight of his trip. Luckily, for me, there isn't a downhill mountain in our immediate vicinity, so he will be sticking with his regular cross country hobby.

The girls all headed out together one day (minus Nichole, since she was 6 months pregnant), and had a lot of fun riding the green trails. A few of the more adventurous girls even tried some blue trails. I am not the biggest fan of anything downhill. A little scary for me, especially since I am just learning how to use a bike with gears! But other than that, it was fun and I will continue to go out with John from time to time to do a little cross country. Can't wait for next year! Maybe, Moab??

BUSY AS A BEE!

Our little bumblebee has had a fun September. She started preschool! She goes twice a week for 2.5 hours and loves it so far. I think one of her favorite things about it is her new backpack. She hates taking it off. She is learning so many new things, she seems bigger and bigger each week.

Kelsi also started swim lessons. This season, we switched to a new teacher. Kelsi has embraced it and is doing so much better than she was in the summer. Her new teacher has a very different approach to teaching, and it is really working for Kelsi even if it isn't my preferred technique. Kelsi asks her after each lesson, "Can I come back?". In my opinion, she can go back as long as she needs to.

Her favorite thing to do so far, is to wall walk. She also loves climbing out (BY HERSELF) and jumping in and turning to grab the wall.

Here she is practicing her kicking.

Kelsi has also started Ballet/Tap. I think that this is by far her favorite activity. Today after class, she ran over to her teacher and asked if she could come back next time. When her teacher said "Yes", Kelsi said "Thank you" and gave her a BIG hug.

If anyone ever needs some extra joy in their lives...go watch a 3-4 year old dance class. Too cute for words.

We love mud!

John and I...along with 17 other friends decided to run the dirty dash together. It was SOO much fun. To be honest, I was a little nervous because I had never run over 6 miles before. I actually have only been running just over 3 miles so I thought that I would be holding people back, but it was just so laid back and I was happy with my performance.

These our the manly men of the race. Jean cut offs and wife beater tanks. Awesome.

Here is a pic of the whole CLEAN gang (minus late Lizzie) before we headed over to Spokane.

We didn't want to take our camera on the race since we knew it would get trashed, but towards the end of the race, the path led us right by our car, so John ran out and grabbed it for a few shots. Overall, here is how our day went:

We arrived in time for our wave at 9:40am, but we were chatting and not paying attention when our wave started, so we were a little late out of the gate. We jogged about .25 mile till we got to the tires and then another .25 mile when we got to our first mud pit. Some of the boys didn't waste ANY time, and cannon balled RIGHT in. Then we ran for another .5 or so until we got to another mud pit and some mud tubes (which hurt btw - pebbles scraping your knees). Then it was just a run for the next mile or so when they had a pit stop of water and then another .5 mile or so until the lake where we could rinse off, clean out our shoes, rest if you wanted or just keep going. Then we crossed higher balance beams with another water pit stop at mile 3 and then another run until mile 4 or so where they had a beer/rootbeer chug. Then it was just a series of multiple bales of hay, more running, more balance beams, more mud pits, more mud tunnels until after mile 5 they had the most awesome water slide! Followed by half a dozen wall climbs and bales of hay and a final mud pit.

Our group had a lot of fun together. We walked, jogged, laughed and had a muddy good time.

Here is Kim and I going over one bale of straw.

After the race.

We are so hot.

After the race, we got to shower in freezing cold water with our friends.

I would do it again in a heartbeat. Bring it on Dirty Dash 2012!

My Parents/ Trash Can dinner anyone?

My parents came up to visit us the first week of August. We had a great time even though my poor mom had a bad cold and my Dad had a pinched nerve in his shoulder.

The Griffitts clan invited us to a Trash Can dinner. I had never heard of this before...it actually made me a little sick to my stomach to think about it...but we went! This is what we saw when we walked up to the house.

Mom, me & Tamar (and baby Zach of course)

My Dad his SIL's.

We are a classy bunch up here in Northern ID and only treat our guests to the best of dining.

The kids all had a great time. There was roughly about 30 to 35 people there.

The house was on Fernan Lake. It was a beautiful set up. There were games set up and plenty of seating for everyone.

Here is the final product. Potatoes, carrots, cabbage, sausage & onions. Normally, they dump the food on a tarp on the ground, but there was a dog around, so they had to dump it high.

In other news during their trip, Grandpa taught Kelsi everything there is to know about iphones.

They paddled around Lake CDA.

They found Mudgy.

We went to the lake a couple times.

We all hiked Tubbs hill...until we were too hot and then went and ate some gooeys.

This little girl was in heaven with all the attention she was getting.

Kelsi loved spending time with her "other" grandma and grandpa.

I feel so blessed to have my family come visit me. I love them so much.

My sister Shayla

My sister Shayla came to visit us and the question really is...what DIDN'T we do?

Shayla and I tried wakeboarding. We were both unsuccessful (stop laughing), but had fun trying until my wrist and Shayla's hands started hurting.

Shayla even tried the Slolam ski. I was a bit chicken to try that. The water felt GREAT!

She played with her cute niece.

We went on boat rides (I promise that I am tanned...her camera has issues).

We ate yummy "personal sized" gooeys.

We played in the lake (we missed you Kaylee!)

We jumped in the lake...

We laid out....

Shayla made Kelsi brave...now I can't keep Kelsi OUT of the water...all the way up to her neck. Thank goodness for life jackets!

We went horseback riding. It was beautiful and we both got a little saddle sore.

This is Cowboy...he was the most considerate horse ever.

We shopped, kayaked (still waiting for pics - Shayla), hiked Tubbs hill. It was so much fun. I can't wait for Shayla to come back and visit again! Love you!

Tamar & kids

My sister Tamar, and her 4 kids stayed with us the last week of July. Sadly, I didn't take too many pics. We had a BBQ at my in-laws house let all the kids take a spin on the four wheelers...

Don't let that face fool you, Abby had a great time.

Even Baby Zach got a turn!

Kyle LOOOVED them and was very sad when his turn was over.

Emma was VERY excited because John actually let her drive!

We had fun going to the Park/Splash pad, eating at yummy Cafe Carambola, playing card games, shopping and eating giant cookies. I love my sister and am so excited that she will be moving up to the Northwest in 3 years.