Spring in Winter

Look like what you'd expect winter in Montana to look like? Not to me either. Our winter was mild and pathetic. BUT, semi green grass in February is nice!!

Sledding Party

The makings of the sledding pyramid.

After church yetserday, we went over to the the Millers for lunch and then a boatload of us went sledding at the bowl - this GREAT, huge hill in our old neighborhood. A highlight of the day was the 18 kid sledding pyramid. On the first run, they peeled off a little at at time and just a few were left. On the second run (pictured above), almost all of them made it to the bottom. After a couple hours of sledding, and lots of photos, we went back to the Millers for hot cocoa and snacks/dinner. It was a great day.

Ice Fishing

Yesterday we went out on Flathead Lake with the kids and some friends to walk out and slide around. It was freezing - appx. 9 degrees - Brrrr! They were doing a bit of ice fishing, and although we didnt' last for long in the cold, it was great to get out on a beautiful day.

Stuck in the Snow

We got a great snowfall today and it is about time. A friend from church that lives in the neighborhood called this morning to see if we wanted to get together for dinner. Her husband wasn't going to be home until late, so we figured we'd get together for the evening. It started to really get snowing in the late afternoon, and as I drove over to her house, I figured that this might not be a good idea....it was snowing hard and the visibility was low. Their driveway is long and steep and I, being a former California girl, didn't even think that I ought not venture up, so I did.....almost at the top I started sliding down backwards. It was terrifying. I couldn't stop the car and the back slid into the ditch next to their driveway. I missed the two wooden beams in the ground, the telephone "thing", and the mailbox, but I was totally stuck. We tried for an hour and couldn't get me out. Had McGyver been there, he would've had me out in a minute - no, actually, we never would've been in that predicament, because my husband would've been hooting and hollering while sliding down that driveway as he got us to a perfect stop. Since McGyver was gone, and Angela's hubby was gone too, she called her dad. He came over and, like a champ, got me right out - over the rest of the ditch and out the back. Mike Wagner is my stand-in hero. I NEVER could have done it. Parts of my car would be missing. When Angela's hubby got home, he drove the kids and I home (I was terrified to drive at that point and the roads were awful), and then he hiked back home!!! What a guy. I am so thankful that there are wonderful people to take care of me in my hubby's absence!!

Let it Snow!

Raise your hand if you think that Montana should have freezing cold temperatures and lots of snow right now! Me too; but, THINKING we should have snow does not produce results!! We HAD snow a week ago, but for the past three days we have had nothing but........RAIN! Yep, RAIN at Christmas. Can't wait until the temperature drops and all that rain freezes - now, won't that be fun? Kind of like ice skating, except on the highway in your car. No, it won't be fun, but snow would be. So, for those of you who think Montana is sort of like Siberia - you are wrong. Maybe you were thinking of the East coast. ;)

Big Mountain Field Trip

Tree Ghosts - that 's what these are called. They are caused by the formation of rime ice on the trees. They are not snow, but are super-cooled water crystals in fog that freeze to whatever they contact. These trees can sometimes have a ton (literally) of snow on them. They bend and adapt and are able to sustain the stress and pressure through the entire season. The three older kids and I learned this, and much more, today on our Forest Service Avalanche and Safety Class field trip at Big Mountain. What a day. First of all, it was sunny, beautiful and almost 40 degrees on the mountain - perfect!

Our competent and expert-in-all-things-avalanche guide, Leah, handed out snow shoes and then headed us up the lift to the summit. She explained avalanches: what causes them, how they happen, how to look for possibly dangerous situations and how to avoid them. We were able to find some surface hoar , lovely ice crystals that form overnight and are a leading cause in approximately 85% of all avalanches. We snow shoed out and dug ice pits so that we could analyze the different layers of snow and ice pack, like avalanche experts do when determining the safety of an area. In addition, there is a new beacon field at Big Mountain where they allow kids some hands-on experience in avalanche rescue. When skiers are planning on backcountry adventures, they are advised to wear a beacon, so that they can be located if they are in a slide. The kids were able to use beacons to find the location of buried transmitters. They then used probe poles to determine the exact location of their "victim" (in this case a buried gunny sack full of saw dust and the transmitter). The view of the Flathead Valley was breathtaking from where we were. Don't you wish you could have been there?

Welcome Home to Winter

Temperatures were in the negatives and snow was a-blowing when we entered Kalispell after leaving San Diego. Although there were winter storm warnings throughout the state, we didnt' hit any real snow until 63 miles south of home. When we got here, we were amazed - what a beautiful sight. Had it not been for the Millers efforts in shovelling our driveway multiple times, we would never even had made it in. It was nice to be home....have I told you that I love Montana?

Socks

One thing that I have come to appreciate now that we live in Montana is socks!! In San Diego, I never gave a rip about socks.....I wore no show, ped-type socks; bought them at Costco and didn't care what they looked like because......they didn't show. Socks were just a necessity so that your feet didn't sweat and your shoes didn't get stinky. Not so any longer. It is ALL about socks. I write about this now, because I just got two new pairs of socks. The Army Navy store here in Columbia Falls is going out of business and everything is 30% off!! Now, you people in other states may think - Army/Navy store - big deal. Well, here in MT they sell great gear - boots, shoes, ski clothes, hats, scarves, packs, socks, long underwear, Smartwool everything. There are two other Army/Navy stores in the vicinity as well (within about a 15 mile radius), but only this one is going out of business. I went in and got two pairs of Smartwool socks. If you live in any kind of cold weather and haven't discovered Smartwool socks, you are missing out. Not all socks are created equal and these are glorious. You probably think I am a wacko, but you have to understand that Smartwool socks are between $14.99 and $19.99 A PAIR..... and worth every penny. At 30% off, that is a real bargain. These are my favorites, aren't they cute? I am so excited about my socks. I am going to miss them when it gets hot outside.

Whitefish Lake in Winter

We have had four glorious days of sun. Not good for the snow, but great for the mind and the great outdoors. This Flathed Valley that we call home is beautiful no matter which way you slice it, but with sun - it is almost too much to behold. We took a drive to Whitefish Lake the other day and this is what we found. Ever walked on a lake when it is frozen? I was a little freaked out - must have watched too many movies as a kid where people fell through the ice and either drowned or ALMOST drowned. I have visions of Meg in Little Women - or was it Amy?? And of Henry Hoodini trying to breathe under the ice as he drifted downstream. Shiver!!!

But I digress. The ice that we were on was quite thick - EXCEPT where people had recently been ice fishing. Those are the places that you have to look out for I've been told - and so you can bet I did.

Weekend in Hamilton

This past weekend, we went to Hamilton to stay with the Nelsons for Rachel's 6th birthday. We met at Costco in Missoula for dinner and went ice skating at the Fairgrounds. Then we drove to their house in Hamilton for cake and ice cream and a good night's sleep. Their house is GREAT - really interesting design and perfect for the kids. They, of course, have art everywhere. My favorite is a VERY large painting in Doug's office of George Washington and Nathan Hale; discussing the upcoming Culper Spy Ring going ons, no doubt. I cannot remember who painted it - shame on me. They also have lovely bronzes all about. Saturday morning, we got up bright and early and headed out for a day of skiing at Lost Trail Powder Mountain where both Karen and Doug are ski instructors over the winter (they had passes for us all!!). We had a great day skiing with our own personal instructors. Karen's daughter, Michelle, is 13 and assists Doug teaching his classes. But on Saturday, she devoted herself completely to the kids and us. Brad has snow boarded, but never skied. I had not skied for about 18 years. I thought it would be like learning all over again, but after a few minutes, it all came back to me. Brad decided that he is done snowboarding - skiing is the way to go. And the kids - WOW. After and hour and a half, they were up on the lifts ( all except for Micah). After lunch, Karen (Nelson) was done in the kitchen (she somehow got recruited to bake 80 - yep, 80 - pizzas for the last day of ski school) and took the kids (and us) up the mountain for some more instruction. The Nelsons have a baby - sweet Baby Lauren - who has already skied more mountains than I have in my life....she is not quite a year old. I wish I had my camera with me up there, because it is quite a sight seeing Karen skiing with Lauren in a backpack. They don't take her on hard runs, but they do ski with her regularly. Brad and I took turns on the bunny run with Micah who was doing GREAT. She got tired of us trying to help her real quick and just said she wanted to go down alone....and she did. She couldn't figure out the snow plow thing, but could turn and did pretty good stopping. She loved it and even rode the tow rope all by herself. The Nelsons' kids - whose last name is Cassens - are hot dog skiers. They have been skiing for years. Weston, who is 9, has no problem with double black diamonds.




The Nelsons park their 5th wheel up at the resort. We were planning on staying in the trailer and a SNOW CAVE that we were going to build but decided the night before that it would just be too crazy getting all of our food and gear ready to be able to stay. The kids were so dissappointed about NOT building a snow cave, that we decided to go ahead and do it. So, at the end of the day, we went back to the 5th wheel and started digging. We figured out that there was no way we would be finished in time to sleep in it (shew!). The kids snow shoed and sledded a bit and then Brad and Doug stayed with a group of them (Michelle, Jessica, Weston, one of their friends, Josiah, and Isaiah) at the trailer for the night (still all wearing their ski clothes since we didn't realize that we were staying) and scrounging what food we all had left from lunch. Karen and I went back to the house with Rachel, Elisha, Micah and Elias. The kids were plowed!!! Elias slept the whole hour home. The next morning, Karen took food to everyone on the mountain and their family all stayed to ski. Brad brought our kids back to the house and we left to head home. We had a great weekend and are trying to figure out how we can buy pre-season ski passes for Big Mountain here in Whitefish for next year. See photos here.

It's About Time

We finally have had snow in Montana. This past week, we got some good snow -all together about 10 inches maybe? We have had fun out in it playing around. Shaun built a big mound and a ramp off the side deck and snowboarded it. I took some photos and videos. We went sledding for our first times this week. We went twice to a GREAT, BIG hill in our pastor's neighborhood. They have been going there for the past couple of years. It is this great bowl in a public park. The powder was deep the first day so that every time you slid down, you ended up with snow all over your face and head (and everywhere else). Great fun. more photos and videos. Have a look. So after all that great snow, yesterday it warmed up and started to RAIN!! Today most of the snow is gone and everything is mushy. Except when it gets colder at night and then all that mush turns to ice. :)

First Snow

The snow started yesterday just after church and continued all day long. We went to the Miller Family's (our pastor) Christmas Open House last night and the kids were so excited when we left to see snow accumulating. When we woke this morning, we had about 4 1/2 inches!! Not tons, but everything was covered and it was so beautiful. The kids were thrilled. It was really sparkly, dry and the most airy snow I have ever seen. It almost looked fake. Wish we had hills here at our house. I need to find a good place to sled, but I am not really comfortable driving in the snow yet. We need to get snow tires or studded tires, I guess (duh, we live in MT and it gets kind of snowy here!!). We were starting to worry that we wouldn't get snow this year....they haven't had a really big snow year since 1996. Danny Ullibarri, a friend of mine from San Diego, moved out here that year. He woke up one morning and they and had gotten 13 FEET of snow..... overnight! He had to tunnel out of his house. Welcome to Montana! I guess we don't need that kind of welcome, but we cannot wait to have more snow....lots more. See photos here.