Cabin in the woods

Friday after Thanksgiving we headed up to Island Park to see my parents. They have lived up there for a couple of years in a little 2 room cabin. They are all snug and happy there and seem to really love it. We didn't stay long, just overnight as we needed to get up and leave first thing Sunday morning to head home so we wanted to get back to Grandma Ekstrom's on Saturday.

What an awesome week!

It has been a wild and crazy few days here in our neck of the woods. Hannah and her and Hilary's friend, Chibby (Kirsten) arrived early Tuesday morning and Wednesday we headed down to Idaho to spend the holiday with our family. We headed to McCammon to Grandma and Grandpa Ekstrom's house. Emily and her family, Levi and Hilary and Ben and Sarah were all there waiting for us when we arrived! It was so fun to be together and wonderful to be with Scott's parents and his siblings and their families!! We missed Aaron, Lynze and Eli. They were spending the day with Lynze's family.

We realized when we were driving away that we never stood the entire family up together to get a picture. I don't know what we were thinking. Here are some of the pictures we did take.

The guys and their spoils

Scott and Luke just returned from a day of hunting, Washington style. Luke was so excited when they got back, he came in and practically pushed me out to the garage to see their "spoils." It is pretty exciting for them. It is Luke's very first bird hunting trip and Scott's first in many years.

Scott has had a bag of duck decoys since we were married and we have been moving them from place to place, but I have never seen him use them. He got them out a couple of weeks ago and was getting them all spruced up for the big hunt. I am not sure if they even used them as the day dawned with rain pouring from the sky. They loaded the kayaks and headed off on their adventure and as you can see from the pictures, they were successful.

Luke reported that they had a lot of fun, but the rain was "death." "Really Miserable," he added. They also got a citation which carries a fine of over a hundred dollars. It seems that the new shotguns that they bought at Sportman's Warehouse, were not equipped with plugs. (huh?) Scott says that the salesman assured them that they met all of the regulations for hunting in Washington. I guess Scott will be heading down to Sportman's Warehouse to have a chat with that fellow on Monday. You think that they will pay the fine???

Fitzwilliam accompanied the guys on the adventure today, but he wasn't allowed to help. I think he needs some serious training before he is ready for bird retrieval.

It has been fun to watch Scott and Luke bond as they have prepared for this adventure. It took quite a bit of effort from Luke for him to get his hunting license and he and Scott have spent quite a lot of time together fulfilling all of the requirements. We now have several targets to display somewhere (probably in the garage) and it has been interesting to see Luke improve with each trip to the shooting range. He actually beat Scott the other day.

Beautiful world

Living in Alaska for so long, I really forgot how beautiful Autumn could be. I actually think that I never really appreciated it before now. Here in Washington there are so many trees! I don't even know the names of most of them. Autumn has been an incredible experience. For one thing, it has lasted longer than a couple of weeks. In Alaska, we learned to enjoy it while we could because it was a fleeting time. There really aren't very many colors in Alaska either. I have always felt that there was a disturbing lack of red in the fall.

Washington has been a riot of colors for several weeks now. The drive from Richland to Yakima has been amazing with all of the shades of red and orange. I have loved walking in the crisp air amid the changing colors of fall!!

I have also discovered that I have an incredible fancy for leaves. I find myself unable to stop myself from picking them up wherever I go. I get out of my car and before I have gone a few steps, I am stooped over gathering some leaves. They are amazing in their variety of shapes and colors and there are so many perfect specimens!!

I went to the Senior center in Pasco for the Rolling Hills chorus rehearsal last week and when I started into the building there were the most amazing leaves I have seen yet. They were enormous!! They were as big as dinner plates! I looked around to see what kind of tree they fell from, but did not see any trees with similar leaves. Of course, I collected a few to take home. A few days later I stopped by the post office and on my way into the building I couldn't resist picking up a beautiful leaf and as I was completing my transaction with the postal worker, the worker noticed the leaf I was holding and asked if I picked it up outside. I sheepishly said that, yes, I had. That opened an interesting dialogue with her and the worker at the next window. She, the one at the other window, mentioned that there are some amazing Oak leaves outside and I confessed that I had taken several home with me the last time I stopped there (I didn't know that they were Oak leaves though.) and she said that she too had taken some home. I mentioned the huge leaves I had collected from the Senior center and she told me that they are Sycamore leaves. She said that she can't resist collecting leaves as well. It was nice to learn that I am not alone in my obsession!

Today I found a beautiful leaf right outside our front door. I had gone out to sweep the leaves off the front walk and there it was. I had to bring it in and add it to my collection.

Scott and Luke have been very patient with me and my fancy for leaves. They don't make fun of me too often. As a matter of fact, when Scott came into the house after work today, he snuck up on me and presented me with a beautiful leaf that he had found on the front walk just where I had found the other one this morning.

I am so grateful for this beautiful world we live in. We are so blessed!!

Brother and Sisters

Smokie, Roy and Me. I think I look the oldest. :p(

Last week I drove down to Idaho for a few days. Yes, I drove all alone for 8+ hours. It was awesome!! I actually got somewhere at the end of the driving. In Alaska, you drive for 8 hours and you are in the middle of the wilderness!!

I spent some time at my sister, JoAnn's, in Idaho Falls where we quilted the quilt I pieced together and then I went to St. Anthony with Smokie, Paul and Lora. We met Mom and Dad for lunch and then we went to check out Paul and Lora's brand spankin new house. (It is awesome, by the way! Absolutely beautiful!!) Friday I headed down to Smokie's house and Saturday my brother, Roy, made us Spanish Eggs for breakfast.

Hilary, Ben and Sarah joined me at Smokie's and we made a trip to McCammon to see Grandma and Grandpa Ekstrom. After dinner at Smokies with Steve and his family, they headed back down to Utah. I headed home first thing Sunday morning.

It was an awesome trip! I really love being close to family. I love hanging out with them and visiting and just being together! It is still a long drive, but 8 or 9 hours is a lot closer than the 5 days it used to take me to get there from Alaska!

4 Generations of Ekstrom Men

When Grant and Edna and Aaron and his family were here last weekend, we took the opportunity to take a picture or two of the guys. 4 generations of Ekstrom men sitting there in a row. Aren't they handsome???!!?

I see some themes running through the generations. One is the nose. I am not sure if Grant has the same nose, but Scott sure passed his on to his sons and since Eli looks a LOT like his Grandpa, I would say that he has it too!! I didn't realize how much Aaron and Luke look alike either.

It is such a blessing to have such an awesome heritage and to see the torch being passed and carried by the upcoming generations!!

Boys and dogs

What is it with boys and dogs? I think that they are just attracted to each other! This weekend we have company! Whoo Hooo!! We LOVE to have company and for the last 16 years, we haven't really had much because Alaska is so far for everyone to go to visit us. Well, this weekend, Grant and Edna came up and so Aaron and Lynze and Eli came down from Spokane to stay as well. It was incredible!! It was so much fun to have them here and we enjoyed being together and watching conference together.

Eli loves Fitzwilliam, but he is afraid of him at the same time because he is so big and trollops around like a bull in a china shop and so for most of Saturday he kept his distance. Sunday he was starting to get closer and closer to Fitzwilliam. In the bottom picture they are sizing each other up. Fitz is so good with the kids. He is very protective of them actually. (He just can't seem to control his tail and has been known to knock the little ones down while wagging his enthusiam!)

The top picture is of Aaron, Eli and Fitzwilliam. Aaron is using Fitz for a pillow while cradling Eli on his chest and Fitz is lying his head on Aaron's shoulder, almost nuzzling Eli. It was really sweet to watch them interacting with each other.

Boys and dogs. You gotta love em!!