snapshot of a birthday party

@ Nolan's 5th birthday bash.  

s'mores on the deck

backyard antics

 {Pill bugs.  An obsession of late.}

 {Sun bathing.}

 {Suddenly spring!}

 {A pretty decent view.}

 {A roman soldier and a red eyed tree frog go hunting for pill bugs.}

 {River walks as often as possible.}

 {Why not go in costume?}

 {This poor girl had two molars pulled out this week.}

 {About 7 feet up.  No exaggeration.}

 {Come on brother!}

 {Contemplative climber.}

 {Evidence of last year's wild climbing roses on the river banks.}

 {Self discovered.}

 {Sap hands.}

 {Straight to the bath.}

{We like to be "fresh".}

2 ski weeks in review

Instagram for iPhone is so much fun and makes documenting life seem even more artistic and nostalgic than it really is...
Our past two weeks of skiing.  Full of fun and friends and family time.  Love it.

weekending...

Life in Bend: skiing in the morning, hiking in the afternoon.  Nice.

 Those walking sticks have certainly gotten more use than I expected at Christmas!  

Fritz: "It's a beaver house.  No, it's a raccoon house.  No, it's a bobcat house.  No, I think definitely a beaver."  

 My sweetie and me.

 Happy dog.  "PLEASE throw it again!!"

 Adventurers.  

grammie's hats

Fishermans' cable knit hats made by my Grammie (Lois Baker) circa 1980.  Still stylin'.  

RETRACTION:  When I posted this I got the story wrong.  My grammie did make sweaters very similar to these hats.  However, these hats came from my parent's trip to Belfast for my Uncle Doug's wedding.  

summit in april

hunting

At 3/4 of an acre, with 95% of the land in the backyard, the Bend house clearly has more space to roam than any home we've had before.  However, since it does not include a lawn and manicured landscaping, Wally tells everyone "Since we don't have a garden, the Easter Bunny hid our eggs in the wild!  Can you believe it???"  What a clever bunny.

Easter dinner

We were lucky enough to spend Easter dinner with our Bend family (Matt's step-cousins), who have kindly adopted us and are quickly becoming great friends.  And boy can they cook!