Wyoming Roundup Blog story

Another write-up I did for the Wyoming Roundup Blog:

(funny how she didn't publish any of the wintery, cold, miserable looking photos I had sent along.  These photos were from the first, trip, in 2007!)

Portrait # 10 :: Grammy and Pop pop

All work and no play.  Or...all playing and no time to work.

Sit still for crying out loud!  At least Grammy looks good.

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Brrr....cold again

Had to get out of the house so we drove up to the Bighorns to see how far we could get.

Road Closed!  Not plowed.  This is where all the snowmobilers take off from.

Unprepared for playing in snow...but Tyler wanted to build a snowman.  Next year, we told him.

This morning they needed fresh air so I kicked them outside.  The wind blew them back inside about 20 minutes later.

Portrait #9

I have not been doing very well with the portrait series.  

This morning I made the boys some trail mix for a snack and they were sitting so pleasantly together that I thought I should get a photo.  

Yesterday we bought a new toy for them using money from Grammy and Pop pop (the John Deere tractor on the right).

They have been fighting over the older yellow tractor from cousins Matthew and Greg, and now that the weather is better and they spend hours outside in the dirt we figured they should each have one.

A portrait of each of my kids every week for 2013

I went on a bike ride in Yellowstone...

We took off on a bike ride where we would ride 50 miles through Yellowstone, spend the night, and then ride back home the next day.  It began innocently, with the sun peeking out now and then.  

I was hoping to have kicked my cold, but my nostrils were filled with sinus goo, and my body was sooo sluggish.  

The clouds kept getting darker and every time we stopped to shove food into our mouths, I kept thinking "I really don't know if I can ride 50 miles today, and then turn around and ride 50 miles tomorrow."

Courtnay and Meg just kept plugging along and I started to feel like the clouds were swallowing up my head.

This is where I told them I needed to turn around.  My goal was to make it 10 miles and I went 12.  They convinced me I could make it 40 (FORTY!) more.  So I went for it...

And then at mile 14 I bailed out.  My nose hurt from so much wiping and my lungs were burning.  They kept on and I turned around to go back to the car.  It was eerie riding on the road where there were no sounds and no signs of humans.  A car passed and didn't slow down, and eventually I made it back through the wind and cold back to the parking lot.

Right before my car, this buffalo was in the road, ignoring me.

I ended up driving several hours around the closed roads to meet back up with the girls.  They were grateful, because the return trip back on a bike the next day was going to be even colder and icier.  

On the back of my car, my bike seemed content to just gather ice as I finally pulled into the hotel.

Spring Vacation Photos

Cash in his new Easter sunglasses

Haircut in the mountains

Tractors and rocks and kids

An evening walk behind the house

Meeting up with friends

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Easter weekend

We are back from an extra long weekend with the Grandparents.  It was so wonderful to be back in swampy Montana, and be with family in the mountains and sunshine.

Tyler has become an egg coloring expert

A not-scary Easter bunny at the park.

Practicing the hunt beforehand

Tyler was awesome at running around and finding eggs

some of the loot--candy and a kite

Easter buddies