A dis-jointed Fall

It's been so long since I've posted because our camera died, for real this time. We missed out on pictures of some great stuff (Mimi Lynnda's surprise birthday and Halloween mostly):( But we'll just pick up where we are; Thanksgiving, Mom's birthday and our first trip to the mountain.

While I am truly trying to embrace all phases, Nora has entered into a challenging one - the whining phase, peppered with more frequent and illogical complete melt-downs. Thank god she's so funny and she says "I love you" so much, it makes the challenges less painful.

Casey and Nora helping mom with birthday presents

Jeff and Casey hosted their 2nd stellar Thanksgiving.

Livy, Bella and Nora

The two coolest moms in town

The mountain opened on Thanksgiving with just under 3 ft. Nora does pretty well if you can actually get her to stand and weight her own legs. If she had it her way she would "take a little break" every couple of feet and eat snow for 10 minutes

Between riding the chairlift up and skiing down, the chairlift ride up continues to crush skiing down in a popularity contest.

This is the last picture the old camera took. It took this timer shot then propelled itself backwards off a rock to it's death. It landed just perfectly, or just un-perfectly right on the screen:(

Nora wanted to ride "like a little baby." Whoooo, I forgot how hard it is having all that weight out in front of you blocking the view of the ground. Man, pregnant women are tough.

Jeff and Nora displaying their new ages

Nora's first day of school

The Brandi Carlile concert

Evie and Nora at a family reunion

Summer 2011

With Nora's help, I completed my first triathlon; she trained me well for the olympic distance Deschutes Dash! 3hrs 1 min. 5th in my age group. Thanks coach!!!

Well, although the calendar suggests we should be wrapping summer up, we're just getting going. We're still banking on plenty of nice weather, outdoor adventures, and ice cream.

Plumping up our wood supply for this Winter. Nora didn't especially like the noise of the chain saw so she sat and watched the wood, then Bean decided to sit and watch Nora.

Nora leaving the Deschutes county fair with Mt. Jefferson framed in the exit.
Riding the little canoes with her new friend the purple penguin that she found on the swings ride
We're the second to the last car. I wish you could zoom in cause Nora's enthusiasm is priceless.
"Hi little guy"
Another mother daughter hiking excursion. This is the snow pack of early August! We had an exciting glissade down the mountain....whoooooo hooooooo!
Little overnight on the Deschutes

Patio progress
Nora's first fish a finished patio

April, May, June - Whoa, how did we get in a time warp?

What have we been up to over the past several months.....how to sum it all up?

Easter, great Spring skiing, the infamous pole, peddle, paddle, a trip to Kansas, the also infamous dirty half trail half marathon, outdoor concerts, wonderful sunsets and rises, Ralph to Arizona, Mom and Dad to Africa, Jeff and Casey on a climbing trip to Wyoming, and the demolition of our >1200 ft rotten deck pretty much puts it all into a nice little nutshell. Oh and trying to train for my first triathalon inbetween all the above without Ralph, mom and Dad, or Jeff and Casey home (this means Nora accompanies me to everything.)

Nora has proven to be a pretty effective little coach for me; she insists on bringing everything from stuffed animals to books to snacks to wooden frogs with us on runs and then yells "go faster" as she has me run with her in her stroller to all the parks around town. We've come up with a pretty efficient swim ritual, where she goes and plays in the play room at the fitness center while I swim as fast as my arms will pull me and my legs with propel me for my allotted 30-40 minutes. Last week I got a little red trailer called the st

agecoach off craigslist. Now we can go on some road rides together too. Yep, 3 weeks of training with coach and the race should feel like a day off (thats what I keep telling myself anyway).

Nora, Ralph and I rode up McKenzie Pass. It's not a far ride from sisters but it is a challenging climb, especially with Coach and all her nessecities.

Despite warm sun in Sisters, the weather only allowed us enough time to feed one little chipmunk before the wind and the clouds froze us out

The pass is yet to open for cars due to the snow. Road biking without cars is a wonderful thing

Not a bad snow pack for June 28th!

Second annual girls night out at the Brett Dennon Concert

Farm fresh eggs in Kansas

Midwestern sunsets

Fun on the farm

Checkin out this years wheat crop

Facials with Auntie Rena

Kiddos checking out their loot

Easter egg hunting -whoooo hoooooo!

Spring skiing at Bachelor

2.5 and looking for a major label sponsor

I'm not sure Ralph and I can keep coining Nora our shy, quiet little girl. It just doesn't seem fitting as she's zooming past us on her bike yelling "I'm fast like a rocket ship!"

While she has moments of dare-devil-ness, she's still her little intellectual self. She is very curious and quite analytical, especially for a 2 yr old (an unbiased opinion of course). She asks thoughtful questions. She often asks "why do I take naps when it's not dark outside." While looking at a waterfall fountain in Vegas she asked "how does the water get back up to the top to fall down again?" She asked me where wind came from the other day and when I asked her if it was from trees sneezing she laughed and said "Mom, trees don't have noses, Silly!" Duh.....it comes from butterflies flapping their w

ings.

Our snowy Spring has got her bewildered; while I was trying to bundle her up to go outside yesterday she said "Mama, it's Spring, I don't need so many jackets and hats." She also notices all the "new life" like the "tiny green buds on trees" (thanks mom, she told me you taught her that).

She alternates making us laugh and shocking our socks us. She memorizes books then reads them back to her stuff animals. The other day while driving to a friends house, out of the blue she informs us that "tug boats can push and pull heavy barges and super tankers have to be careful not to spill any oil." Ralph and I just loo

ked at one another, mouths agape.

Checking out the view of the strip - it's really very un-inspiring, especially during the day.

Ahhhh... now there's a better view, just 12 or so miles up the road at Red Rocks

Nora, Ralph, Jeff and I headed south towards warmer temps and met up with some of Jeff's buddies and mom and dad for a week of climbing. Mom and Dad drove what we affectionately called the "mother ship" down (their RV) and we camped in the desert for a week. Nora was a top notch little camper. She absolutely LOVED sleeping in the tent. Having her very own head lamp and sleeping bag were also topics of conversation that she was very proud of. We had a great time. Red Rocks is perfect for Ralph and I.....loads and loads of long, multi pitch, but EASY climbs......Such a key combination!

The mothership, headed into town for a buffet.

Jeff, Dad, and Nora watching Ralph and I

Ralph and I watching Jeff, Dad, and Nora

Nora, upset that we were too late to catch Mojave Max, the tortoise at the visitors center.

Wild burros at red rocks ----these guys made her forget all about missing Mojave Max.

Pink pig on one of his many red rock adventures

Don't worry it's bronze

Nora loosing interest in watching Ralph and I climb
I was the sole female spoiler of daddy day care at the mountain. Beer, Chili fries and hot chocolate, the perfect snack for little athletes and dads.

Ah ha, the recipe for a good hard nap....SKIING

She insisted on wearing her wings so she could "fly like a butterfly" on her bike.

While she can stand on her skis really well, she can't turn or stop or snowplow. She goes in whatever direction you point her and whatever way the fall line slopes. Pretend baking - oh so fun!

I know this is Nora's blog, but I couldn't resist sharing this video. This climb was so cool and this gives a little glimpse of what we were up to in Red Rocks. Nora was there too, of course. She was riding her bike around and chillin at the mother ship with mom and dad.