The rest of the story...

So after leaving our beloved Missoula, we wound our way up to Kalispell. The drive was so gorgeous with views like this abounding...

Of course, arriving in Kalispell we had an even better view waiting for us...

Our friends Tom and Cristy(hi guys!) graciously welcomed us and provided us with great conversation, wonderful entertainment from their boys,yummy burgers for dinner and a hearty breakfast in the morning, and even sent us off with a bag of their fabulous homemade soap--thanks again guys for such a wonderful time! We are so impressed with Tom and Cristy making their dream of living in Montana a reality and it was so fun to experience it in person.

We then drove about an hour to Glacier National Park. WOW!! We really just did a drive through this time...but we must go back to explore and hike in that most beautiful place!!





From Glacier we headed to...





We drove away with a glimpse of the Grand Tetons before sunset and then worked our way back to SLC. What an amazing, creative God we have! Now I must go and study a not so creative Teachers Manual titled, "Focus on Grammar: An integrated skills approach". Does that sound fun or what?!? I think Modals are on the menu for tonight:) Jen

A walk in the woods...

We had a great hike today. It was one of those times where I just wanted to belt out , "THE HILLS ARE ALIVE WITH THE SOUND OF MUUUSIC!!!" I refrained, though, as I had already embarrassed myself by putting flowers in my hair and humming the tune as another couple snuck up on us:) Anyway, it was good to get the exercise, to be in the outdoors, and to have uninterrupted conversation time with Joelie. We talked about everything from homeschooling/unschooling to firefighting(long story) to natural birth (yeah, that was mostly me)to family happenings(happy engagement to my dear bub, happy touring w/ Sheryl Crow to John Mike, yippie for moving to wimberly to my parents, we miss and love you to Jim and Shari sharing love with orphans in the Ukraine, and love you too to Shanny, who is living life and holding down the family fort in TX while the rest of us are spread out all over the world:)to Hawaii hiking memories and beyond. Good times...







What a crazy experience to hike in snow with sandals! Other weekend festivities included breakfast Sat. morning at the coffee shop down the street, laughing heartily at Jack Black in "Nacho Libre" and grilling on driveway/patio. Here's a picture of Joelie and our yummy dinner...


Of course, today was also Father's day. I was thinking about dad on our hike and trying to think of a way to sum up his love for us.
My favorite picture of him is one on Christmas day in about 1992. John Mike was about 8 and dad gave him a Michael Jordan rookie card--which, of course, is every 8 year old's dream. The picture is of John Mike, in shock, hugging dad tightly. If you look closely you can see a single tear running down dad's cheek. That to me is the perfect picture of him. Joy in the giving. Thanks dad, for giving us your time and encouragement and love always. For hours of shooting baskets, catching softballs, reading poems, listening to dreams...words are not enough to express my thankfulness.

Hope you all had a great weekend too, Jen

On the road again...

We decided to go on a weekend road trip before the madness of school begins for Joelie in less than a week now! We left Friday morning and returned on Monday night having visited Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, Flagstaff AZ, and the Grand Canyon!!! It was a wonderful time to say the least.Here is a little pictoral journal of the weekend, and you can click on the Flickr link to see many more pictures.


Here we are...Sammy all packed up and ready to head out on his first big adventure! We took full advantage of having our first in-car CD player and were accompanied on our trip by wonderful folks like Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Jack Johnson, the Dixie Chicks,Roger Miller and lots of others--we love having good tunes along for the ride!

Our first stop was Bryce Canyon. We were amazed at this beautiful national park in southern Utah. It is famous for its "Hoodoos", which are those tall rock formations you see everywhere.


We went on a great 3 mile hike down into the canyon. By the time we got back up we were starving and devoured a 2 slices/1.00 pizza special the Camper Store was having as it had been sitting there all day long and it was now 8:00! It tasted delightful and we headed back to our campsite to settle in for the night.

The weather was getting a little chilly as we set up the tent-- I think it was about 39 degrees when we got into our sleeping bags. We warmed our bodies with hot chocolate and I snuggled in to read my People magazine(hey, have I ever claimed to be a hard core outdoorsman?!). We turned out the lantern and I begged my body to stop having to use the bathroom and stop shivering. No luck. Then I heard Joel start to snore!! Amazing:) It was a long night for me, and yet still I woke up invigorated by the fresh air and was ready to get on the road to our next destination. After breakfast, finally going to the bathroom and getting warm in snuggly Sammy, I quickly passed out until we reached Zion:)


Zion was really crowded and we decided not to stay long. It was amazingly beautiful,though, the canyon was majestic. We will definitely go back, hopefully on a weekday.

We then made our way to Kanab, Utah. Joel may be doing a rotation there in his second year of school and so we were curious to see what it was like. It was a small, touristy town with a lot of potential. The employees in every place we went in the town were exceedingly grumpy,but we're hoping it was just a really bad day for everyone and not always like that. The town was having a greyhound dog parade and so greyhounds were Everywhere-- that was fun to see. We were happy for all of those dogs that they were saved from death after their racing career was over.

After spending Sat. night in Kanab we drove to Flagstaff, AZ. What a fun town! I wish I would have taken more pictures but I didn't:( Sometimes you just get so into an experience that pictures almost take away from it. That was the case in Flagstaff. We didn't have long there and wanted to soak it up. We went on a hike right outside of town and then enjoyed all of the cool, earthy shops and art galleries and then spent the night in a very clean and comfortable Super 8.

On to the Grand Canyon we flew!This was Joel's first trip and it was fun to see him see the canyon for the first time. You get to see it too...

Walking up to the edge...

Peering over...

Disbelief at the enormity:)


After our time at the Grand Canyon, we started the long trip back up to SLC. We were entertained by Aron Ralston book on CD called "Between a rock and a hard place", the story of his climbing trip to southern Utah that ended with him being trapped by a boulder and having to amputate his own arm to get out of the canyon! Thankfully, our trip to the canyons wasn't nearly as dramatic.This weekend was one of those times where all you can see in life is the sun, no darkness looming. Being a realist, I know that these times in life are pretty rare and so I'm thankful each time I experience one. This weekend I was thankful for a healthy body to enjoy the outdoors with, an adventurous soulmate to explore with, and the sun shining down on our faces. Oh, we were also thankful to get to see all of these little guys...
...so,so cute!

That's all for now guys!

"Thank God for the Earth" Day

For the beauty of the earth,
For the glory of the skies.
For the fields which from our birth,
Over and around us lie.
Lord of all to the we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

This is one of my favorite hymns of all times—so simple and pure. It was in my head all day yesterday as we celebrated “Earth day”. By celebrate, I mean that we joined in the festivities going on at Liberty Park and the library for Earth Day 2006. At the park we watched some Brazilian martial arts that was pretty fascinating, we mingled with the local hippies and looked at their artwork and jewelry and listened to them sing and read their literature on alternative schools and bio fuel and we even signed up to pay for some wind generated electricity each month. We then rode our bikes to the library and watched a recycled clothing fashion show, watched a pretty funny band, and returned some movies.

Such a cute puppy!


A capri-sun recycled skirt


Joelie loved this guys hair and took lotsa pictures of it:)

It was a warm, clear day and as we rode around and walked through the throngs of earthy people with their activism booths and veggie burgers, my eyes kept averting to the mountains and the hymn would again play itself in my mind.

We do, as Christians, need to be so much more mindful of the earth God has placed us on. We need to cherish and appreciate it and be good stewards of it to the best of our ability. And yet, beyond the importance of conservation, earth day reminded me that God’s incredible creation is supposed to be, most of all, a reflection of the Creator. And as I looked up at those incredible mountains, my heart was glad and humbled and truly thankful for the opportunity to live in this manifestation of His creativity. And so on “Thank God for the earth day”, and every day, I hope to lift a hymn of grateful praise for all that He is and for those little glimpses into His character we get when we spend time in His creation.

First Impression

Beautiful, earthy goodness. That's my first impression of Utah. The kind of place that makes you feel quite silly for staying inside when there is so much adventure just outside your doorstep. Unless, of course, you are sitting inside a wonderfully warm coffee shop looking outside the window at snow falling heavily on the sidewalks. Either way:)

What a wonderful first day in this soon-to-be-our-new-home state. We are staying in Moab until the snow clears off the roads so we can head on to SLC to look for housing. We hiked, we shopped, we drank coffee and chai and read books and watched people. We were surrounded by unbelievable rock formations and I saw Joel come alive in this outdoor mecca that is literally heaven on earth for him. That makes me happy. I'll give another update soon.