Last hike of 2006

We met at the trailhead at nine thirty and started up the trail a little before 10 AM. Babies in slings and camel backs with water on many backs. Trail mix (m&ms, reeses pieces, raisins, mixed nuts and fresh pecans), jerky, granola bars, pop tarts, and many other delicious treats in back packs and fanny packs.

4.5 miles from the trailhead to the top of Fremont Saddle, overlooking Weaver's Needle in the Superstition Wilderness. Although the sun was out, it is amazing how cold it was sitting and eating our trail snacks.

Here is a picture of the three biggest kids with Weaver's Needle in the background. The air wasn't as clear as it could be due to fog that was rolling in.

The kids made it all the way up and most of the way down. Both babies were carried by everyone and both took a nap during the four hours of our hike. By the end they were done and wanted to walk so they got to walk a little.

Hiking has been something we have enjoyed so much through the years. The first time we did this hike we were badly out of shape and it was so much further and steeper than it seemed this time. Years ago LVH and Alex's Human hiked this trail with me. It was much warmer that day. The trail is well worn and is one of the favorite hikes for the locals. Unfortuantely that means that there are always a lot of other hikers along the trail. You have to stop and let the faster people pass.

It was so much fun getting to hike with all of our kids - minus the bear- Not too much complaining although G'rat did tell us that he expended all his energy as a child and doesn't have any left. But even though his fingers are strong from WOW, he and his couch potato self did a really good job making it to the top. It was a good way to end this year.

Ready for Christmas?

Abe put the star on top of the tree, but this year we sang We Three Kings, instead of our traditional Oh Christmas Tree, simply because we really don't know the words.

Our bear was home and helped put the lights up, he was also there to add some great Bass to our song. I doubt if we are ready for any grand choir, but we sound better than I thought we might.

This wonderful addition to our front yard was given to our bear in Texas when they greeted the troops. We are hoping that the tomb raider's on the other side of town don't decide it would look better in their front yard.

Are we ready for Christmas? Tomorrow night we will read the Christmas Story and bake some cookies. Hopefully on Sunday we can take a few things around to some of our friends. The gifts will happen, they always do, but what I really want this year is that feeling on Christmas, the one you feel so much love for everyone around you. When you follow through on those thoughts of giving and sharing with others.

I hope this year we are truly ready for Christmas.

Bear News

According to G'rat, da bear called from Iraq on Friday to let us know that he had made it back safely. I was working on the beginnings of a cold and had taken some medicine. So I was asleep most of the day so I don't really remember the phone call. I sure hope that I spoke nicely to him!

Some pics

Here are a couple of pictures of Connie Mitchell and me on our trip to the ACTE Convention in Atlanta.

Six weird things

THE RULES: Each player of this game starts with the '6 weird things about you.' People who get tagged need to write a blog post of their own 6 weird things as well as state these rules clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says 'you are tagged' in their comments and tell them to read your blog. I'm not so sure what the definition of weird is so here goes:

1. I can't say simple words like Butt, and Fart so I use other words like Bum and Fluff.
2. I like to eat in the bathtub - okay, maybe not weird, but really gross if you think about food in the bathroom.
3. I don't like it when my kids say anything bad about each other or their spouses.
4. I would rather eat dessert than food so if I go to a restaurant I often get a small salad and then dessert instead of a meal. Here is a picture of some creme brulee that we had in Atlanta.
5. I only listen to music at Christmas time- starting in mid-November, the rest of the year I listen to talk radio.
6. Since socks seems to be a family thing, my weirdness is that most of my "dress" socks are seasonal - Fall, Christmas, Valentine's Day, etc. I noticed that the pair I had on the other day actually aren't a pair, they are just two similarly colored snowmen socks.

It was hard only choosing six things because I have so many weird things to list.....Okay, this isn't fair tif-do as I can't tag anyone- will something bad happen to me?????