A Visit to the Teton Valley

Gary and I made a quick trip to Victor Idaho last weekend. Gary’s favorite band Donna the Buffalo was playing Friday night at the Knotty Pine. He can’t help himself anytime they are within reach his instincts kick in and we must gather with the rest of the herd and listen to Jeb and Tara’s prose. I wasn’t sure if I would be up for a 1am kind of night but once the music started I seemed to find a second wind. Although we didn’t quiet make it to the finale. The huge beautiful bed with a fluffy comforter and such back at the Fox Creek Inn was calling my name. The Fox Creek Inn by the way is a lovely place to stay if you are ever in the area. We had a very comfortable stay with a lovely breakfast and visit with other guest in the morning. We highly recommend Fox Creek Inn.

We drove to Targhee on Saturday enjoying the views of the West side of the Grand Tetons. Such crazy jagged mountains. I fall in love with them every time I see them. I had all kinds of nostalgia for the summers I spent working in Jackson. I really love that area.  We rode the chair lift up to catch a grand view of the Tetons and walked/hiked back down to the resort. It was a beautiful day there were flowers still blooming and a pleasant smell of aspen and pine. Oh how I miss being able to take off and hike.

Needless to say we are impressed with the Teton Valley and have been day dreaming of what life would be like up there. In fact I wasted about an hour today looking at real estate in Victor and Driggs.

As for Ellie she spent the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa McKenney. Sounded like she enjoyed her time too playing with her cousins Summer and Tamia. We had reports that she was on her best behavior and did very well sans Momma and Daddy.

Ellie’s New “Bike”

I found this Tricycle for Ellie last week at a thrift store in the South Valley while getting the truck window fixed. It was a steal only twenty bucks. I love it when I find a cheap treasure.  I actually looked at these tricycles on the internet a few months ago and though how perfect it would be for the Wee One. It has big rubber tires perfect for the TL roads. I actually let her ride it around in the other stores as well. She thought she was pretty cool. Even some of the other kid were envious checking her ride out.

Gary took this picture last night as we were enjoying an evening on the porch after dinner. Ellie was exploring in the yard. I like all the light in her hair. It’s a good summer time picture…

The Wee One is Two

We celebrated Ellie’s Birthday on Sunday. It was a great day! Gary and I bought a little kitchen set for her. We assembled it the night before (took 2 1/2 hours ugh) so it was all set up for her in the morning. I think she knew there was something going on because she woke  up at 5am and would not settle back.  So we brought her out and showed her what was waiting. She took to it right away trying on the chef hat and oven mit and cooking up a storm.

My parents arrived later that morning and we spent the day preping for the Birthday BBQ making cupcakes and party hats and such. We also were able to enjoy a Birthday seranade from the Frandsen’s via Skype. It was awesome to get to visit with them for a while and share Ellie’s Birthday with family on the opposite end of the world. Gotta love Skype!

this last picture shows how Ellie “helped” decorate the cupcakes when mom and I were not paying attention she had stuffed a few jelly beans into the cupcake holes. What a good helper.

Soon bunches of friends trickled in for the Birthday Bash and we had a great time visiting and enjoying the kids. Ellie was a little shy at first but didn’t take too long to warm up. She crawled into her Dad’s arms as we sang Happy Birthday to her but she understood she was supposed to blow out the candles. Then she decided help her self and taste or lick the frosting on each cupcake. She was the Birthday girl after all…

New York Part II

The second week of our time spent with the Marcoccia’s was spent at a cottage we rented with Gary’s parents on Keuka Lake. It was a cute little place tucked into a nice little community with the perfect amount of grassy lawn and a wade in beach. Jill and Larry provided a boat for a few days to play on the water with and Danielle visited a couple of time too. We also had some good visits with many Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins. It was nice to experience the sweet life of lake living for a bit. Gary and his parents have fond memories of the lake from years past and now I understand their nostalgia for it all.

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Gary, Ellie, and I also took a morning to go explore the Garrett Memorial Chapel on the tip of the Keuka Lake Bluff.  It’s a beautiful wee church set in the the wood with lovely views of the lake. Ellie had a good time exploring all the paths, stairways, and surroundings.

Once we were back at the Marcoccia residence Gary took Ellie and I to his favorite park as a kid.  It’s a great little place up on a hillside overlooking Horseheads and the surrounding area. There is a family run small amusement park with rides for toddlers, mini golf, go carts, and such. The rides are apparently the same rides Gary experienced when he was Ellie’s age and even Bada and Papa remember them from their youth. In fact as a youngster Gary’s Mom had a recurring dream about the tug boats on Harris Hill.

Finally, we were able to celebrate Aunt Danielle’s birthday. She was gracious enough to share the occasion with Ellie and let her do some practice rounds of blowing out the candles on the cake and singing Happy Birthday. Thank you Danielle for sharing your day and involving Ellie in such a sweet way. She has been singing Happy Birthday all week and last night she knew exactly what to do with those candles.

New York Part I

We are back from our two and a half week NY visit and are settled back into home. It is good to be home again but Ellie is missing all the extra special attention she received while visiting Gary’s parents. Bada and Papa and her Aunts spoiled her and now I think she just doesn’t know what to do with herself. We were all very happy to reunite with Chip and Adah as well. We got home at about 10:30pm on Wednesday and Ellie stayed up until 12:30 reacquainting herself with the dogs and the house.

Our first week in New York was spent at the Marcoccia home catching up with Bada and Papa and all the Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins. We took it easy. Spent one day in Ithaca with Kevin, Sarah, Bada, and Papa visiting the nature center and the science center. Enjoying highlights such as a penny roller, outdoor bubble games, outdoor drum session, a six story tree house, and a butterfly garden…

Next up we spent some time in Bada and Papa’s swimming pool. It was a little chilly at first so it took some coaxing to get Ellie in but once she got used to it she became a little firecracker in the water kicking her legs and “swimming” around. She also showed her diva side lounging on Bada’s floating mat. In the middle of her swimming frenzy Aunt Danielle showed up and Ellie got so excited she yelled out “I swimming in the pool!!!”

Next up we spent one morning picking Blueberries just down the road from the Marcoccia Homestead. I seriously could not believe the size of these berries. Some were literally the size of grapes. We all ate our share as we picked and we came home with copious amounts of blueberries. Ellie was very good and interested in the berries. She ate her fair share as well and was good about picking the ripe berries she even helped fill up a few buckets.

We attended Gary’s 20th High School Reunion the first weekend. I didn’t break out the camera for this although I should have. My bad. We had a good time and it was nice to meet some people from his past. I think Gary had a really good time catching up with some good friends. Many people kept telling me what a good guy Gary is and quite a few said he is so genuine and sincere. It was nice to hear all that rather than the “remember when we blah blah blah…” They are all right he is a good guy and he is genuine. A one of a kind if you will.

Ellie has become very vocal about her needs. Telling us all the time “I need milky” or “I need apple juice” and so on.  Bada and Papa watched Ellie over night while we attended Gary’s reunion. That morning she woke up and was ok for a little while, but I guess she soon relized we were not around so she went up to Papa and with a sad little voice said, “Papa, I need Mommy and Daddy.”  Oh Ellie.

Summer Time and the Livin’ is Easy

We have been thoroughly enjoying the summer these past few weeks. Thus the lack of posts… Much to my disappointment I have neglected to pull out my camera but I do have a few fun pictures to share.

Gary and I enjoyed a weekend sans the Wee One. Thanks to my parents who so graciously volunteered to babysit and watch over the granddogs. We took the opportunity to stay in our old stomping grounds Little Cottonwood Canyon. We stayed at the Iron Blossom in Snowbird and treated ourselves to some good Mountain Music and a lovely dinner at the Shallow Shaft in Alta.  The next morning we met up with our friends Jesse and JJ and other fellow mountain bikers to ride the Crest Trail. The Crest Trail is a Utah classic. We made it 26 miles total from the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon all the way down to Mill Creek Canyon and out of Mill Creek via the Pipeline Trail. I took a little spill as though I was sliding into home plate and banged up my elbow and hip. Other than that it was an excellent day spent in a beautiful place with good people.

The next morning while Gary and I were still recouping from the ride and had cloudy heads we had an incident with Ellie, keys, and truck. I was watching her play in the back seat as I sat in the front seat. I got out to join her in the back and closed the door and right away realized the doors were locked and my bag with the keys was on the floor. Gary’s keys were inside the truck as well. So, Gary had to break the back window and I had to crawl in and unlock the door. It didn’t scare Ellie I think she thought we were playing a game with her. At any rate it was a mess but our daughter was safe.

Ellie and I also took a trip up to Cache Valley to spend some time with my parents and my brother’s family. We took a little hike on the Logan River trail and enjoyed a picnic at First Dam. Then went to Grandma’s to run in the sprinklers and swim.

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In between all this we have been visiting the Farmer’s Markets in Heber and PC. We have also been enjoying the Park Silly Sunday Market too. I love this stuff and wish it could last all year. Gary picked up a little charcoal grill and we have been enjoying his cooking as well.

Finally, yesterday Ellie and I met some friends at East Canyon Reservoir. It was a beautiful hot day and we all got our fair share of the sunshine vitamin. Our neighbor Jen and Zack joined us as well. Zack and Ellie are only a few months apart and they are becoming good buddies at one point as Zack was enjoying lounging in the water with his Mom while Ellie stood at the shore waving and saying “Hay Zack!” and he would answer back “Hi Ellie”. Oh the simple little things that please us Moms.

Our little swimming/beach adventure is just a little warm up for what lies ahead as we are headed to NY on Saturday to visit all the Marcoccia’s, and attend Gary’s 20th High School reunion. We have rented a cottage on Keuka Lake for one week with Gary’s parents and we are absolutely looking forward to this vacation. Hopefully I will be able to put up a post while we are there but until then keep up the easy Summer livin’.

Perks of Timbucktoo

We have a new family in the neighborhood. Gary was lucky enough to get some pictures of them yesterday.

So Sweet

Weekend in Logan

We had a surprise party for my Grandpa Jackson last Saturday. He just turned 89 years young. I think he did get a bit of a surprise. Gary took these pictures as everyone greeted him singing Happy Birthday. I love the last one…

My parents hosted the party at their home. It was an excellent party with a really good turn out. We had a good time catching up with our cousins. Seeing all the great grandchildren together was awesome. My how we have grown. Mom had all the great grand kids paint rocks for Grandpa’s flower garden. Ellie enjoyed herself and was caught “touching up” a few rocks a little while later. (Ahem, our apologies to the other Artist’s)

On Sunday Gary and I biked the Jardine Juniper trail in Logan Canyon. I love this trail although it is quiet a climb. 1850 vertical feet to be exact and about 11 miles round trip.  Gary was impressed I think. He has been doing a lot of biking in Park City on his single speed 29’er.  I think this ride challenged him a little. As for me, well, I did it. I didn’t walk my bike. I couldn’t stay awake on the way home and I was cranky on Monday because I was still tired and a little sore. I did enjoy myself though and hey what is to be expected after a two year hiatus. I really should be on my bike more.

The 3,200 year old tree was impressive and majestic as it always is. Gary had to walk down and touch it. I must say it is pretty incredible to think that this crazy tree has been alive for over 3000 years.

I also wanted to share some photos of a hike Ellie and I did a few weeks ago in Dutch Hollow. It has been really nice in the Hollow the last few weeks with all the rain and such.  A lot of flowers have been making their appearance for the summer. I was happy to see the state flower in full force putting on a show. I think it might be my new favorite. It really is a gem of a flower…