Happy Birthday Chris!

We spent a beautiful birthday weekend in the backyard. Not that it was my birthday, but I couldn't ask for more than two sunny Spring days spent by the side of my husband and baby boy (well, and Hudson too) playing in the dirt, working, relaxing and celebrating. We'll have to post pictures soon of our accomplishments. Of course, it is still a work in progress.

Who is doing the best job begging? Finn? or Hudson? Everyone wanted some of the apple.

Skiing with Babies

We seem to be running at least a week behind with getting everything posted lately. Two weekends ago we spent a fabulous weekend in Driggs with Jess and Stefan and Greta.
We got in a fair number of miles cross-country skiing at Grand Teton National Park as well as out the back door of the condo, down the creek bed. Here's a brief recap in pictures.

9-Month Recap

Finn had a pretty busy ninth month! From eating beach to skiing the tetons... Here is a quick photo-montage video I put together to celebrate.

-Chris

Vertical Beach

While Erika and Finn were in Florida I took advantage of clear skies and scratched that never-ending itch to go climbing. Josh and I spent five days in the desert and had a great time. We managed to climb three desert towers (#16, 17, and 18 on my goal to 30!) and spent some time "working out the kinks" on the shorter climbs along the area's sandstone walls. Here are some photos:

Josh on the summit of Echo Pinnacle, north of moab. This tower ended up being a little more difficult than the guidebook led on. Oh well, we made it up (using lots of tricks).

The Bridger Jack Spires (click to see full size)! We climbed Hummingbird Tower and Sparkling Touch. Only one more tower to go: King of Pain.

That's me on the summit of Sparkling Touch...which overall, had really good climbing. The last few moves here are crazy - Josh took this photo on one part of the tower and you have to step over a ~3 feet wide by 100 foot deep chasm to get to the rest of it (part that I'm on).

Photos of Josh and I (self portrait) on the summit of Sparking Touch. King of Pain looms in the background...that's next on the list!

Spring Break in Cocoa Beach

Last week Finn and I traveled to Florida for a week at the beach. We had a nice balance of relaxing, cooking gourmet food, walking on the beach, swimming in the pool, and seeing the local sights.

Finn is going to be a little fish. He loved his first experience in a pool. By the end of the trip he was splashing away and didn't cry one bit when I quickly took him underwater with me. The sand on the beach was mesmerizing as well as all the other treasures buried in it (scratchy, dried seaweed, sticks, shells....). Of course, he had to try the requisite mouthful of sand. One sampling was all it took to quickly realize that it didn't taste very good. Not much later though I found him "chewing" away on a tiny shell. Thankfully I noticed that before he attempted to swallow.

What else did we do?
-We tracked down a group of manatees at the locks
-Combed the beach for sea beans, shells, Portuguese man-o-war, blue buttons, etc....
-Peered into the night sky for the returning Endeavor space shuttle. Although the clouds obscured our view, we did hear the sonic boom as it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere
-Took an airboat tour on the St. John's River. Finn was so cooperative with wearing his ear protection.
-Ventured to the Cape Canaveral National Seashore and Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. We are sure he said "apple" three times while we stopped to have a snack.
-Endured the strong winds at Jetty Park. Finn leaned forward to the edge of his stroller in excitement when he spotted a feral black cat and then subsequently for a small group of shorebirds skittering down the walk.

Despite being in a total "mom only phase", Finn warmed up to the new setting and had a great time with grandma and yaya. He refined his wave, learned to drink from a straw and became very determined that he would learn to snap his fingers like yaya. The adults were not the only ones that ate well. Finn discovered a few new favorites; quinoa, garbanzo beans and navy beans.

After all our fun in the sun, returning home to 10 inches of fresh snow was a bit of a shocker. Thankfully Spring is here so snow in the valley won't last long.

Movin' Dirt

This afternoon I took advantage of a quiet house and pushed through and finished our raised beds! All said and done, it took me a lot longer than expected, but I'm really happy with them. Hopefully our weed issues and phantom tomato snatcher problem (Hudson!) will be no longer.

Erika is in Florida for the week. This morning (5:15 am) was rough for all three of us, but we made it to the airport OK, and E reported that Finn survived the flights without too many squeals! Wednesday I'm off for southern Utah to enjoy the spring weather and climb with an old friend...

Chris
Next on the list is getting grass to grow!

View out the 2nd bedroom window...much improved! The wavyness is from the 80 year old glass, which needs to be replaced, err actually the whole window needs to be replaced.

The best "before" photo I could find.

Nap? I'd Rather Play

Finn is getting proficient enough at crawling and standing that he prefers to pull himself up with the faucet to stand rather than soak in the bathtub, roll and crawl in bed at odd hours of the night when he should be sleeping and play in his crib instead of nap (and as of today he is actually cruising along the railing), ....... Here's a fun little clip of our playful boy.

9th Inning Stretch

9th inning stretch: Hudson glad that winter and a treacherous mine-field of a backyard are (almost) officially over. Although I had almost fully written off winter, it did snow this weekend and I couldn't resist sneaking in one more "powder day" with our friends Andy and Ann.

Saturday Erika and I filled these two beds with weedy soil between layers of old maps from work and then topped them off with some rich composted soil from Realms. They're now just about ready for planting! We're looking forward to garden greens, beans, tomatoes...and best of all - just relaxing outside.


Requisite Finn shot. Here he is learning to stand up on his own. He's now "learning" to do this in the tub (cast iron) -- yikes! It's amazing how mobile he is now. His latest fascination is Hudson's tennis ball, which obviously drives Hudson nuts. So far Hudson has been pretty good about getting it back...

Finn Asher. Growing up so fast!

Energy

Yesterday morning I ran around in a frenzy getting ready for work after a poor night sleep (up too much with Finn) and got out the door without breakfast. I came home with added inspiration to come up with some good, healthy snacks to have on hand. The end result was these tasty energy bars. The backbone of this recipe originated from Big Sur Energy Bars, on one of my favorite online recipe journals 101 Cookbooks, but ultimately morphed based on what I had in the cupboards. The options are endless for tweaking this one and it will surely reappear in my kitchen in one form or another.

Yard Work is Hard work

Another weekend of amazing weather. We were out in the back yard both days working at getting the garden space ready for another season. Chris meticulously drew up the designs for what will soon be three of the most amazing 4'x5' raised beds, all 22" deep - in hopes of keeping Hudson from marauding. As you can see from the photo, we got as far as setting all the corner posts. These are going to be some solid garden beds! Next step: figure out where to get enough weed free soil to fill them.

Two Days in a Row

I'm delayed in getting this post out....but Monday was another ski day. This time Finn and I went out with the girls and babies. Although I was still behind the camera most of the time, I managed to get in front of the lens for a few shots too (just for you mom).

Look Out Below!

Hudson waiting for dropped cheerios and about to get a surprise!

Finn loves pushing things off of his tray (food, toys) when he's "done" with them - or just for fun to watch one of us pick them up.

Off Trail

I think the last time I cross-country skied was in 1989 in Ohio - on my grandfather's community golf course. So it was fitting that Erika, Finn, and I traveled up to a nearby golf course in the Wasatch to test out our new XC gear. Amazing how things have changed. Although I almost ate it a few times (with Finn on my back!) the gear served us well.

Finn - checking out our new gear.

Thanks to Chip and Stefan for the advice (they're professionals).

OK, so we weren't getting first tracks and face shots in "pow" or turning heli's off wicked bumps, but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Although the signs said to stay on trail - I couldn't help myself (our skis are meant for off-trail adventures as well you know). Finn enjoyed about half an hours worth and then dozed off for a mid-trail nap. I'd hear his "mmmmm's" as I'd work my way up the small hills.


Finn and I (and E behind the lens), glad to be free from the Sunday "What do you want to do's."

Afternoon in the Park

The weather outside has been so unbelievably spring-like this week. Finn was lucky enough to get outside for a little bit nearly every day. Here he is playing in the park with Harper, who is only 10 days older than him. They both enjoyed swinging and playing on the small section of turf. Finn was a little too interested in eating the small bark chips that had made their way from the playground to the turf. He has that pincer grip and coordination of the hand to the mouth down pat, which is exciting when it is cheerios, tofu or bananas but a little frightening when it is small inedible object.

What Baby Doesn't Love Paper?

Monday and/or Tuesday is the day that all the junk mail arrives; coupons, fliers, etc..
Finn and Hudson both decided to help sort the mail. They loved tearing up the junk pile, so after a little mess making I stashed it all in a nearby laundry basket. Finn managed to tip the basket over so that he could peruse the grocery store specials and then crawl in for some deluxe play time.

Drummer Boy

OK, it's been way too long since we posted anything about Finn (about 2 days!), so here's a video collage that Erika and I put together this afternoon. Although the video doesn't show it - Finn is officially crawling!

More to See Straight Ahead

As Erika mentioned - my morning routine at work was a little different this Thursday: 7:15 am - settle in, check email, sip some coffee, feel office building shake (mildly) from a magnitude 6 earthquake originating 200 miles away! As an "earthquake" geologist I was more than a little excited.

Since Salt Lake City is closer to the epicenter than Reno, where the Nevada earthquake folk reside, my co-worker Greg and our new X-new boss (long story; in a nutshell, he was hired, left after 7 days, rehired 7 days later!) were dispatched to go look for geologic evidence of strong ground shaking (e.g., ground cracks, fault rupture, shattered ground)....basically a "scientific" emergency response. We hit the road by 1 pm. We didn't find much geologic evidence for the shaking due to snow fall overnight on Thursday, but we did get to witness the real emergency response (and media frenzy) and review the incredible damage. Here are a few photos. Certainly a wake-up call to all of us who live in unreinforced masonry buildings, which were hit pretty hard. More photos here.

Where's Da Da?

Well, Chris finally felt his first earthquake this morning. It's about time seeing that he studies seismic hazards! His office shook and swayed but we weren't feeling a thing when he called home to check on Finn and I at 7:19AM. The earthquake originated over 250 miles away, just across the Nevada border, in a small town called Wells. Currently Chris has been sent there for work to see if he can find any surface ruptures or sand blows which is pretty exciting! He'll have to tell the story when he returns (maybe tomorrow) and possibly share a few photos.

Busy Growing

How did that happen?
We didn't take a single photo this entire weekend.

Thursday we headed down the road towards Missoula for a good friend's (Scott Barnett's) wedding. Chris and I were again inundated with nostalgia and the desire to pick up and move back to the place that still feels like "home" after all these years. The cogs started spinning as we began scheming over the one obstacle that always holds us back, "Where would we work?" What is the draw to Missoula? What is it about the landscape, the community, the way of life...? Despite the fact that Salt Lake is a pretty fantastic place to call home we can't help but wonder, "Is the grass greener back on the other side?"
Most significantly though, was the meaningful time spent catching up with many close friends.

Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same.-- Anonymous

Now that we are back in Salt Lake I have to document a few of Finn's recent big changes. He got his first haircut Friday morning in the hotel room. Chris got out the clippers and buzzed away. He did a great job, especially considering the fact that Finn didn't hold very still. He was too interested in checking out where the buzzing noise was coming from. I can't believe how he instantly looked so much older. After getting his hair cut we went downstairs for a buffet breakfast where Chris fed him his first few Cheerios. They were an instant hit. We snagged a small Tupperware full and fed him Cheerios throughout the weekend.

Driving home from Missoula yesterday I noticed two white spots on Finn's bottom gums. Today his two teeth officially popped through. I guess he was a little fussy yesterday in the car but being in a car seat for 8 hours is a long time so I don't blame him. His other new weekend developments include mimicking; repeatedly saying "da da" and starting to wave goodbye.

Finn Again

Thankfully Finn managed to remain happy and healthy while the flu continued to move through the house, incapacitating Chris, over the weekend.


He's not on the move yet like his cousins but he is getting so strong that it undoubtedly won't be long. Currently, Finn is very focused on the fine details of things within his proximity: feathers on the carpet, water droplets in the tub, crumbs on his exersaucer tray, tags and eyeballs on stuffed animals, etc. He has one fine tuned pincer grip.