Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park is amazingly beautiful! No matter where you drive, or to wherever you hike, the landscape is breathtaking. Mountains, waterfalls, lakes, wildlife, flowers and interesting plants--all these things make this place a wonderland for exploring and discovery. Come look at this beautiful scenery:

"Redrock Falls"

"Redrock Lake"

"Scenic Stop Along Hidden Lake Trail"

"Going-To-The-Sun-Road"

"Avalanche Gorge"

"Avalanche Lake"

"Logan Pass"

"Running Eagle Falls"


"Standing Arrow on Hidden Lake Trail"


"Goose Island"

"Weeping Woman Falls"


"Hidden Meadow"

Our first two days, we stayed at Fish Creek campsite on the west side of the park. We explored the west side of the park, hiked to "Hidden Meadow", as well as drove the "Going to the Sun Road" and hiked the "Trail of Ceders", "Avalanche Gorge" and "Avalanche Lake" trails.

Our last two days we stayed at Many Glacier campsite and explored "Red Rock Falls" trail. There we saw a mother moose and her two babies, a porcupine, several pretty birds, and a grizzly bear along the ridge line of the distant mountains.

We also spent time in the "Two Medicine" area. We took a boat ride across the lake and hiked to "Twin Falls." During our trip we enjoyed ranger talks about moose and beaver, and loved listening to an evening of Black Feet culture and stories. Now the kids know all about how beaver got his flat tail, why the Black Feet Indians don't hunt bear, and how valuable the woman are to their tribe.

Our last day, we hiked to "Hidden Lake" up a snowy path and saw a herd of mountain goats with even a little baby, as well as big horn sheep.

The kids set up and took down camp, played at the campsite, built lots of fires, ate lots of s'mores and outdoor meals, hiked between 4-7 miles each day, read books, took care of and played with each other, helped with cooking and cleaning up, climbed and slid down rocks, posed for lots of pictures, found beauty in grasses, flowers and bugs, stayed up late talking around the campfire, and made the most of every stream bed and lake. What a fun family trip to a beautiful area!

Book Club

For the past two years I've attended the Fort Lewis Relief Society Enrichment Book Club. Although not everyone who regularly comes is pictured here, this represents my treasured circle of friends. Top Row, from L to R: Heather Robertson, Esther Swasey, Sarah Arnett, Rachel Smith, Heather Shelton, myself. Bottom Row, from L to R: Priscilla Baker, Robbie Gale, Laurie Layer, Jamie Waite and Rebekah.

Joshua's First Day at Cherry Dale Preschool

Joshua was very excited to begin school today! He qualified for some speech services to help him with his speech articulation and will attend Cherry Dale's early intervention preschool program in Lakewood. He left this morning at 7:40 am with a great big smile and returned home at 12:15 pm with the same great big grin. He gets to ride on a bus like his older brothers and sisters and loved sporting his new black tarantula backpack that just came in the mail. He had a super day and told me all about circle and story time, snack, playing with a big tractor in the sand, and the other fun things he did.

Karin's Berkeley, CA Trip

I had such a great time visiting my brother, niece and nephew on my trip to Berkeley this past weekend! We explored the downtown, saw where my brother works as a Math teacher at Berkeley HS, ate yummy pizza and homemade Butternut Squash Thai food, visited the UC--Berkeley Campus, played with toys, read books, watched movies, took lots of walks (even splashed in puddles in the rain), talked about life and politics, and had a really fun time catching up.

Max and Lola played with Rebekah and came to really love her. Rebekah loved all the attention and the great care her counsins showed her when they fed her O's and shared their toys with her.




Rain or shine, Max and Lola know how to have fun! They have lots of energy, are creative, loving, sweet, smart, and so adorably cute! I love them so much and am so happy to be their Aunt Karin.




Max and Lola love to draw, paint and color. They loved having me sit by them so we could draw together. They sent home lots of amazing pictures for me and my kids.







While Lola was at a birthday party, Max got to play with Rebekah exclusive-ly. They played in a little fort they put together and Max did such a great job sharing and keeping Rebekah happy. They became best buddies!



Eatin' pizza is the bomb! Pizza, Pizza, Pizza, Pizza! The Cheese Board was awesome with their one choice of pizza of the day; our day, as is every day, was especially good! Also every Saturday the kids go out for pizza with their dad. Sundays are for Italian gelatto.



Sunday was a very rainy day so we spent most of our time inside. However, we took a little walk...for the kids it was a sprint...out in the rain to enjoy the pure joy of jumping in and running through puddles. The laughter and smiles that came from their enjoyment was priceless.

All of Us Taking Advantage of a Beautiful February Day

It was a beautiful day and I just had to get the kids to the park. It turned out to be so awesome because so many of our friends had the same idea. The kids played at the playground, climbed the fallen tree, and ran around playing kickball and tag.





Some of our best friends--The Bakers, Arnetts, Hardins, Waites, Spears, Robertsons and Gales--met up with us to play on the playground.



Rachel and Ellie & Levi and Cameron climbing on the enormous tree.



Hunter and Micah playing kickball. Miles, Micah, Hunter and Levi had a great time playing tag in the big field too.

Adam Playing Soccer Goalie

I love my camera that has great shutter speed! I was able to capture one of Adam's saves from one of our Saturday morning games.






Ruff-u-ree was there to make all the calls or should I say barks!?!

Clay Dragons

Hunter, Levi and their friend Chase made some great dragons the other day out of clay you mold and then bake. These boys are always using their imaginations and making cool creations.

Karin's Baby Shower Diaper Cake

I made this fun diaper cake for a friend's baby shower the other day. It is made out of ribbon, baby diapers and some fake flowers. I was a little pessimistic about how it might turn out but it actually transformed itself into something presentable and was quite fun to work on.

Chastain Mist Horse Camp

Rachel loves horses and she got to attend the "I Love Horses" day camp for a special Valentine's Day treat. She played horse trivia, decorated her horse with paint, had a riding lesson, did barrel and other races, and had a very fun time. Her horse for the day was named Jasper and she looks forward to her future riding lessons at the Chastain Mist horse stables. She just joined their "Saddle Club" which meets weekly for an hour of horse care training and an hour of horseback riding lesson.

Here are some pictures of the winter stables (which houses the indoor arena) and the beautiful landscape of the surrounding area. This facility is located in Lacey/Olympia, WA.