I'm an Aunt.......................Again!!

On Monday, July 14th, Nathan Lee Bell joined our family. His mother, Norma, more affectionately known as Smokie, delivered him via c-section. This picture is of my little nephew hours after he was born.
Little Nathan is the 45th grandchild of my parents and my 38th nephew or niece on my side. Scott's siblings have 15 children between them and so that makes me the Aunt of 53!! Whoo Hooo!!
Here is Nathan at about a day old. I can't wait to snuggle him and kiss those chubby cheeks!!
This picture was taken today. Isn't Mallory a proud big sister?? Look at the feet on that little guy!!

There's something fishy about that!!

A couple of weeks ago we traveled down to Idaho to the Ekstrom family reunion. We went to Pebble Creek. It is a beautiful place near Lava Hot Springs. Scott's family has been camping there since he was a little boy, maybe longer. He has so many wonderful memories of different idyllic moments as a child. As we drove to find a campsite, he told me of the times they camped here, or here and who was there and how many fish he caught and what fun they had together! What a treasure trove of rich family moments!!

We had a great time together. I will post more pictures of the fam later. This post is dedicated to a special family bonding experience called fishing.

I've been fishing oodles of times and I enjoy it. The only problem is that I never catch anything. Scott has patiently explained the mechanics to me on several occasions and I think that I am pretty patient so I don't get it. Fish just avoid me!!

No so at this reunion! I skunked Scott one day and the next day I caught my limit in 20 minutes. All from the same hole!! Hurray for me!!

The pictures below are from the evening that we went fishing with Em and the kids. (When I skunked Scott!!) It was fun to watch the kids excitement and delight in the wonders of this exciting sport!!

Isaac and I are fishing under Scott's excellent tutelage. You can see Esther's little head between Scott and I.


Isaac fishing with Eve looking on. Isaac forgot his hat so I let him wear mine.


Here I am reeling in one of the 3 I caught that evening. Scott is looking incredulously on.


Esther even helped me catch one of the fish. Can you see it just coming up out of the water??


Isaac showing off our spoils!

OK, I'll admit it.................Washington IS beautiful

Having lived in The Great Land, Alaska, for so many years, I think that I have become a kind of scenery snob. What can I say, Alaska is just breathtaking! I think everywhere we went over the years was beautiful. Living at the foot of the mountains produced such a sense of security and permanence.

Since moving to Washington last year, I have really been missing the beauty and majesty. I am learning to love this area, but where are the mountains and sweet smell of forests and streams??

This weekend we decided to get out of the 100+ heat and see what we could see of this new state. We headed in whatever direction Yakima is. (I still haven't developed a sense of direction as you can see!) We passed Yakima and headed toward White Pass. It wasn't long before we began to leave the vineyards and orchards behind and the temperature dropped and we began to see the evergreens and smell the crisp air! Mountains!!! We found them!! We camped in a cozy campground in the Wenatchee National Forest, Indian Creek Campground, where we were able to unwind and soak in the essence of the forest and wild, untamed water. (Well, mostly untamed as the lake we kayaked in was between 2 dams.)

The best thing is that we realized that even though it's not our beloved Alaska, Washington is actually a beautiful place to live.

Luke opted to sleep in a hammock, rather than in a tent. Isn't this a pretty spot he chose??


The next pictures were taken at peril of my life from a moving kayak. Once I almost lost my paddle while trying to zoom in on the guys. It was a beautiful morning for being out on the lake. Not too hot and not too windy. (Of course, I did get an interesting sunburn on my legs. Just the part between my shorts and where they disappeared into the kayak.)

Saturday evening after we had biked and kayaked, we decided to go for a drive and see what there was to see. We found several interesting campgrounds that we plan to try and we happened upon this waterfall. I think it is above Clear Lake.


I don't remember the name of this waterfall. We were driving along and there was a scenic pull out so we pulled out to see the scene. It was breathtaking.

This is the river below the waterfall. The combination of mountain, valley and trees was beautiful!

On Memorial Day we decided to take the bikes and find Palouse Falls. It was a pretty dreadful drive through pretty boring, monotonous scenery, but we eventually found the falls. It was quite the oasis in the middle of rambling brush and scrub covered plateaus.



It was so hot there that poor Fitzwilliam overheated and had to spend some time panting under the truck. I wanted to get under there with him!! Thank goodness for air conditioning!!



The river below Palouse Falls.

Here is poor Fitz chillin' in the shade.

How to stay young!!

Ok, so I can't stand the ticks anymore! They are sincerely creeping me out!! I have been waiting for Emily to e-mail me some pictures from last weekend, but she hasn't been feeling well and so hasn't had a chance to do it yet, so I decided to post a list that I have had around here for awhile. I really love this list. I hope that you will too!

I put in this picture of Hannah and Hilary because they are young and beautiful.

Enjoy!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Try everything twice.
On one woman's tombstone she said she wanted this epitaph:
Tried everything twice...loved it both times!

2. Keep only cheerful friends.The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning:
Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever.
Never let the brain get idle.
'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.'
And the devil's name is Alzheimer's!

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud.
Laugh until you gasp for breath.
And if you have a friend who makes you laugh,
spend lots and lots of time with HIM/HER.

6. The tears happen:
Endure, grieve, and move on.
The only person who is with us our entire life, is ourselves.
LIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love:
Whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever.
Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health:
If it is good, preserve it.
If it is unstable, improve it.
If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips.
Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county,
to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

11. Forgive now those who made you cry. You might not get a second chance.

Remember! Lost time can never be found.Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

Tell me again........Why did we move here??

We were happy in our Alaska home without many spiders, snakes and apparently, ticks. I should have gotten a clue when Fitzwilliam's vet urged me to buy flea and tick medicine before we left Alaska and counseled me to start it immediately. We followed his advice and we did not encounter a single tick last summer. No so this year.

A couple of months ago, we discovered a huge tick on Fitz a couple of weeks after we took him for a romp in the wilds. Scott and I were on bikes. We couldn't figure out where he got a tick until a week or so later when Scott took him back to Burbank for a hike. On the drive home, Scott felt something on his neck and discovered several ticks on him and a day or two later he and I pulled out at least 40 ticks from Fitz.

Wednesday night Scott invited me to accompany him on a ride to get a orienteering course set up for the Teachers group. Alas, I found that we were headed to Burbank! EEEKKK!

We did pretty good until I crashed my bike into some brush and after that I discovered about a half a dozen of the creatures trying to make their way up my leg on the inside of my pant leg! Yes, I freaked!! I practically stripped on the road trying to make sure I got them all off of me!!

So, I have been happy here in our Washington home, but now, with the addition of these creepy creatures, I am having second thoughts. Who's idea was it to move here anyway???