More from the Beav.

We usually take the dogs up there with us, and in between every few runs we ski to the car and let them out to play. These pics are from the end of the day during the last high pressure system we had. Currently we are experiencing a bunch of fresh snow, a welcome change, but I don't think Joe is as into the face shots. Yesterday we went out, and since it was a little colder I may have over bundled him. He got really upset on the chair, and once we were going he was fine, until the snow went over our head on a turn. I think he may have inhaled some, that is a strange feeling and probably is what triggered the final frustration. We went inside, and with the exception of his cheeks he was toasty. In fact he felt almost too warm, pretty sure that was the problem. I know how he feels though, too often i am way too warm rather than cold. Lesson learned.


Joe tells the dogs it's time to go.....amazingly enough they continued digging!

Throwing snow over the ledge!

Snow Sumo

Uneven snow is tough to walk on....but who cares when you have good gear.

Snow in the face is not so cool, but it goes away quickly! Especially when it is 40 degrees F.

Lately Joe has really been enjoying listening to music and making it too. When I pull the guitar out to play he wants to play. Usually I just give him a pick and let him go, the other day he was determined to wear the guitar, so I obliged him.

With things finally calmed down after the holidays Papa decided it was time to get Joe out to the ski hill. It was unclear how much he would like it, but Papa was hopeful. Joe LOVED IT! Both being on skis himself and riding in the pack. We started his first day with Joe on his skis. That went well, lots of laughter but he started to get tired so we switched to him riding in the pack. That was a huge hit, but on the way up for the second run he fell a sleep on the chair. He slept the entire run down, so we went into the lodge and he slept in the pack for an hour or so. After the nap we headed back out for some more runs.

Since then we have been out 3 other times, each one he gets more excited with the process of gearing up to go, which I can only assume means he really enjoys the activity. The last time out he was actually closing the flap on by boots before I could get them buckled. The reverse is also true, when we load up to leave he now pitches a fit! I am not complaining at all. One of the first rules of youth sport is to finish the activity with them still wanting more, that has not been a problem yet skiing. Here's to that trend continuing.

On our third straight day there one of the mountain personnel asked if he could snap Joe's photo, we said yes and you can see it here.

We got a little new snow the morning after everyone left. Joe of course took it upon himself to do some snow removal. Later that day Papa decided to see what Joe thought of the helmet, apparently he liked it because he decided to do some vacuuming with it on.

So, we left G and G Shirley's house to go meet up with the rest of the Shirley clan in Idylwild, CA. Of course Papa left the camera at G and G's house. So there are no photos of that stop. On the way home we spent a night in Las Vegas and got to see some old friends from Moscow, Rick and Lindsay, who recently had a baby.

A day after getting home Lindsey's Aunt Beth from Chicago came with her husband Tom and their two kids, Ethan and Sophia. In addition Lindsey's grandma Chaldy came in from Cinncinati. Also here were G and G Litchfield, and Uncle Charlie. A day later Lindsey's G and G Pearson flew in from Iowa. They all stayed with us until Jan 30 (one of those nights was spent in Salt Lake City) A few of the days were spent skiing with one of the days spent sledding. Again my camera was still in California so there are very few pictures.

We had a really good visit with family and they all (with the exception of Charlie) left on Dec 30. The next evening some of our friends from Moscow rolled into town to spend New Years with us. Simba, Koi, Guitari, and Makena showed up first. Later that evening Avi, Moran, Ophek and Lakota rolled in. It was so great having them here and the kids had a really good time. While they were here another old friend from Moscow, Joy, who now lives in Salt Lake came up too along with her dog Everest.

My camera showed up the last day everyone was here so there are a few pics from their time here. First is Koi with Makena and Ophek. The others are all of Everest with Makena, Joey, and Ophek playing on him.

While at G and G Shirley's house we celebrated Christmas with a little family gift exchange. Of course Joe got a tractor from Grandpa, and yes, it was green only the finest for this boy.....it even says John Deere.

Joe really got into opening gifts for the first time, so much so he helped everyone open their gifts. Grandma also helped him play the piano.

The next stop was Grandpa and Grandma Shirley's house in Southern California. We spent 10 days with them. It was a really nice time with family. Aunt Joellen, Aunt Bethany, and Uncle Micheal were there as well. We got to see all of Papa's aunts and uncles, as well as Papa's grandparents. In fact we saw all of Papa's cousins with the exception of Tim, who was just married this summer and has had to start juggling the family holidays.....

Of course one of the first things to happen at Grandma Shirley's house was for Joe to dig into her kitchen. They always have plenty of toys for him, but none can rival the tupperware container typically used for chex mix.

I realized as I went through our pics I really do not have any of Avi, Moran, or Lakota so here is a link to their page. Lots of photos there both from our visit there, and thier's here.

Here are some of our photos from the hike in Sedona.

Since we had left the main highway to go to Southern Utah we realized it was not much further to add another stop we had wanted to make for some time. Flagstaff, AZ. Why another sprawling Western city you ask? Our friends Avi, Moran, Ophek, and Lakota live there, that's why. We had actually never seen Ophek outside of the womb, and it had been more than two years since we had seen the others. So we headed out across the desert on two lane roads and found our way to Flag. We had a great albeit too short visit complete with a trip down to Sedona to do some hiking and lots of playing with the kids.

So while Lindsey did here extension presentations the boys (Joe, Diesel, Denver, and Papa) went for a hike. As posted before National parks are horrible places to hike with dogs, so we went to the national forest and found a ridge to hike.

Joe rode in the backpack the entire way, the photos were taken from the highest point we could reach before the ridge cliffed out. The last photo was taken back down at the bottom with the ridge in the background. You can see the cliffed out part of the ridge where papa did not feel comfortable scrambling with Joe in the pack. The dogs loved this hike as they got to run free and not sit in the hotel room or car all day.

So we started our Christmas travels a bit early this year. We decided to drive to Southern California, about a 16 hour drive under normal circumstances. However, Lindsey had extension work to do in Southern Utah so we choose to start the trip with a slight detour. The place she had to do the work was near Capitol Reef National Park. Our first night there we went on a short road hike. National Parks do not allow dogs anywhere except roads and then only on a leash. Interesting though they will pave the crap out of these beautiful places and all kinds of developments to encourage massive number so people.....sorry I digress. This was a beautiful place and Joe loved the opportunity to stretch his legs and run around, the dogs did not.

The very last night before we left on the road trip Joey and papa got to playing on the floor, so papa grabbed the camera and shot some photos.