Mt. Adams photos......

Pretty little purple flowers near our camp

View of Mt. Hood from inside our tent

Mt. St Helens poking out of the clouds

There must have been something worth smiling at on Tiff's camera

Tiffany & Me

You gotta have clean teeth, even at 8000+ ft
The amazing view right before the sun slipped below the horizon
After the sun went down the colors in the sky became even more beautiful!
What a great view we had from way up there

That dang Mountain!

So the 3rd time was not a charm for Casey and I. Over this past weekend we made our 3rd attempt at summiting Washington's 2nd highest peak, Mt. Adams. It was our 2nd try this year with out best climbing companions the Newgards (Casey and I attempted it in the summer of 2002 as well). Below is a group shot at the South Spur trail head. When we were here in May we couldn't even get to this trail head which meant an extra 5 miles of snowshoeing, so glad we didn't have to do that trek again!

The first day of our 2 day ascent we hiked to our high camp about an hour or so below Lunch Counter a popular high camp site. We set up camp and were all in much better spirits than our last attempt. We ate dinner, goofed off for the camera a bit, and got some great sunset shots. Our plan was to assess the weather in the morning when we get up and decide if this was summit day or not. When the alarm went off at 0430 we looked out and saw clear skies, that meant it was time to get ready to climb!

Everyone was feeling pretty good on the way up, except me :( I head a pretty queasy stomach for the first couple hours of the climb. It finally went away and I was actually feeling great. We all climbed really well and I'm so proud of all of us. We pushed on and for me the excitement was growing as we reached Piker's Peak, I had summit fever for sure! As we approached the top of Pikers we thought were almost there, at the false summit......we were wrong! Below is a view from our campsite of the mountain. The highest peak you see here is Pikers Peak at 11,598 feet that is what we accomplished (the highest Tiffany and I had ever climbed :))

Once on top of Piker's we could see that we still had another good push to the summit at 12,276 feet and probably another hour and a half at least of climbing. We also had been keeping an eye on some clouds that had been rolling in around our high camp area and were worried about the possibility of having to descend in a storm(the weather forecast had not predicted good weather on the mountain for Sunday). At this point we all made the decision to head back down down to camp.....the fun way! We got to glissade almost all the way back to our camp, it was amazing and a bit scary at first.

Back at camp we had a snack, packed up and set out for the car. We made great time getting to the car in less than 2 hours! Once there we headed straight to the nearest place to find food, a little cafe in Trout Lake. It was interesting to say the least, the food took a long time to come out and we were starving, there was good people watching, and the food wasn't bad once we got it! Next stop was a tiny store with all sorts of random stuff. We got some snacks and firewood and left for our next destination, Takhlakh Lake Campground. We napped, started a fire, listened to the family next to us try and set up a tent for over an hour(pretty good entertainment), had some drinks and snacks and went to bed early. I had probably the worst night of camping sleep ever and was ready to go in the morning. We packed up and headed to Randle for breakfast at Mt. Adams cafe, cute and great food! After filling our bellies it was time to go home.

At home we cleaned all our gear and let it dry out in the beautiful sunshine. It was just Casey and I last night, the kids are still at his parents! We were both definitely missing them and wished they had been home. They will be home later tonight and I cannot wait!!!!!!

****More pictures of our trip to come once Casey gets some editing done****

Happy Birthday.....

......to my husband!

Happy 29th birthday to my love, my best friend,
and the best daddy we could ask for!
Me and the kids love you more than I can put into words.

Summer Happenings

This is what we've been up to this past month or so.....

Trips to the wading pool downtown

BBQ's with our besties :)

I think Jax & Nolan had more cake on them then in their bellies
Lots of playtime in the sprinkler and pool
(Nolan prefers the sprinkler, Norah the pool)

A trip to Grandma and Grandpas for a family reunion

Check out that air

Norah with Isabella (Casey's cousin's daughter)
They are only a couple months apart and clicked from the 1st time they met.
Isabella lives in CA so, they are going to become pen pals, so cute!

We sure love the rope swing at G&G's house

We took a trip to Chuck E Cheese, the kids of course loved it!

My future little gamers!
Notice Nolan's boots, it was 75 degrees out today and he just had to wear them.
Gotta love a 2 yo's sense of style!
We also took a trip to the movies to see Despicable Me, pretty good.
Just give Nolie a bucket of popcorn and we're set for a good 2 hours!
Here's how me and the kids ended our fun day, too bad Daddy wasn't there to share it with us!
He's off on an adventure with Kory climbing Mt. Stuart. Can't wait to hear the details when he gets back, I wish I was there too!
We've been keeping really busy, and I haven't been working a lot thanks to not very many sick babies! I'm getting used to it and so are the kids, it's gonna be a hard adjustment when I have to get back to the real world and actually work my scheduled FTE(#of hours per pay period). I'm just not gonna think about that now :) Coming up in the next month or so we've got a birthday camping weekend, a rematch with Mt. Adams and a half marathon to train for, yikes! It's gonna get even busier, but I love every minute of it(well most of them).

Take 2

Seafair
Benaroya Research Institute
Sprint distance triathlon
Completed by me this morning!

This is just after the start of my wave (purple swim caps).

Coming out of the water with a big smile, glad to be onto the bike!

Almost finished with the bike here,
just a few more minutes until the start of the run.

In the transition area just about to start my run, the last task!

Coming across the finish line feels so incredibly good!

I had the best prize waiting for me at the finish line, my babies!

Here is my finishers medal and bib # :)

*****
The morning started bright at early at 430am, I washed my face ate a quick bowl of oatmeal and half a banana and was heading out to load up the car! My wonderful hubby accompanied me to my event today even though he too had to get up at the crack of dawn!

Upon arrival to the race we walked about a 1/2 mile to the start where I set my bike up in the transition area and managed to loose Casey. Then I waited in line for 20 minute to go pee and by the time I was done the announcer was calling for everyone to clear the transition area and head to the water. I found Casey, he wished me luck and got a quick kiss and made my way down to the water.

My wave started 25 minutes after the 1st wave, and it was chilly! It should not be this cold in July!!!! My wave started and I battled 84 other swimmers to get into a position and into a good rhythm. After a few good kicks to the face and shoulders and someone smacking my feet with their hands several times I found my place, and pace and was feeling great!

Once out of the water it was to the transition area to get my clothes, shoes and bike. I started the bike feeling amazing and was doing great until getting on the I-90 bridge! It was WINDY. I completed this same tri last summer and there wasn't one little tiny bit of wind to worry about, I was not prepared for that! I made my way through it and waiting for me at the end of the bike with Casey was my sis and the kids! Yay, they made it!!! It was so nice to see them and just the inspiration I needed to tackle the run and finish the race!

I remembered it from last year but still didn't anticipate how wobbly and tired my legs would feel after getting off the bike and starting the run! It took about a 1/2 mile to work through it but then I once again was feeling great! I came across the finish line to my family cheering me on, how great! Crossing the finish line really does feel amazing! Thanks to my sis who stayed the night at my house and brought the kids up to the race! Norah is going to try it next year, it's gonna be super cute :)

The Numbers
In case anyone is interested....

My official race time : 1:31:35 (4 min better than last year)
My place: 31 out of 85 for my age group
Overall place: 586 out of 1104

1/2 mile swim: 17:21
12 mile bike: 41:20
5K run: 28:58

I am happy

5 is Fun!

3 days before Norah's birthday we celebrated her big day at our house, with lots of friends and family! She decided on a Tinkerbell theme and I made a cake and cupcakes and put up a few decorations, nothing fancy. I purchased lots of backyard games, had the 2 swing sets up, a wadding pool full of water toys and a bounce house for jumping. It was a hot afternoon and a few of the kiddos ended up inside watching TV to cool off, but most endured the heat, or played in the shade and had a great time. A big thanks to everyone who came to help celebrate my baby girls birthday, she had a fabulous time!!!

Here are some pictures from her party......

Norah and Nolan starting the party off with a dip in the kiddie pool

Even birthday princess has gotta have her squirt gun!

Norah and her bestie Alissa having some food in the shade

There was swinging!
My cute nephew Dylan

And there was bubble making and tiara wearing :)
Little Miss Avery knows every girls gotta have their tiara too!

Norah's Auntie/babysitter since she was 3 mo old!
We ♥ our Alesia!

♥ Family ♥
My 2 cousins and there 3 daughters,
& our dog Abby snuck in the pic too.

More family
Norah's Auntie Shelly, having a snack on the swing!
She's 22 weeks prego and expecting a baby girl, exciting!

And still more family, this is Zoe, Casey's niece!
It was our very first time meeting her.
She and Norah share the same exact birthday, 2 years apart!

Next there was gift opening, she truly was spoiled.
Now I have to make room for all her new toys :)

Mommy & Daddy got her a bigger bike!
I have a feeling she won't be needing those training wheels for long.

Here is the cake and cupcakes I made.

Tink and all her fairy friends were the spotlight of the cake!

Make a wish baby girl, I hope it comes true!

My Birthday Girl

Happy 5th Birthday to my very sweet little Norah! 5 years ago today you changed mommy and daddy's lives like nothing else could! You have made us better people because you are in our lives, and we LOVE you for it ♥

You are full of energy, and love being outside every chance you get! Your most favorite thing to do right now is the monkey bars, and you're pretty dang good at them. Mommy loves watching you play outside with brother and showing him cool new things. He looks up to you SO much and wants to do and say everything his big sissy does! YOU are a fabulous big sister and mommy and daddy couldn't have hand picked a better one!

You are stating kindergarten in the fall and I cannot believe it! You are excited beyond words! You are growing into quite the little girl and I love seeing the changes in you that each day, week and month bring us. I hope you get everything you want on your special day and in this life. Mommy and Daddy love our 1st born SO much and hope you have the best day :)