Home Again

I just got back from a bicycle run to SuperTarget... on New Year's Eve in Minnesota!  This continuing warm weather might be a sign that I'm not meant to stop exercising.  It felt great after the 19+ hours we just spent in the car.  It's always hard to leave my sister and the mountains of Montana and watch our vacation come to an end.  We rarely roadtrip in the winter, so we were very thankful for the exceptional weather both on the way out and on the way back.  As my dad says, "It would be bad to have to white-knuckle it that far."  After we left light fog and rain in the western mountains of Montana, we had dry, warm weather the rest of the trip.  Billings was the warmest at 57 degrees! My dad remarked, "Pretty soon we'll have to stop to scrape bugs off the windshield."

Sun Setting in the Badlands of Eastern Montana

We stopped for dinner at Montana's Rib & Chop House in Miles City, MT.  We lucked out and got a table before the Friday night rush began, but even at 5:30, it was busy.  The tables were covered in paper the kids could color on. I lost count of how many games of tic-tac-toe we played, but just as we switched to hangman, the food arrived. My charbroiled burger was amazing, the kids menu food was great, and the prices were reasonable.  One of the best roadtrip dinners I've ever had!

After dinner we headed into North Dakota.   My sister laments that so many good people have left Montana (even far western Montana) to find work in North Dakota.  I was curious about the changes from the recent oil boom, but we crossed the entire state in the dark of night.  All I know is that when we were in Montana, gas was $2.99/gallon, but went right up to $3.29/gallon when we crossed into North Dakota.  I wonder if there is a gas tax difference or if it's just that demand is high with the huge influx of workers needed for fracking. 

Well, back to life in Minnesota!  Happy New Year!

Flat Anna

Anna's Kindergarten teacher has been reading Flat Stanley to the kids.  Each kid made a flat version of himself or herself.  The flat version was to go on an adventure (usually by mail) to somewhere far away.  We took Flat Anna to Montana with us.  Here she is with cousin Elsie.

Flat Anna has a lot to tell the class about her Montana adventure.  I wonder where all the other Flat kids went?  It will be fun to see the photos and learn about the places they traveled when they are all posted at school in March!

Sledding Come Snow, Sleet or... Rain?

We had so much fun the first time we went sledding that despite mist and sleet, we decided to do it one more time.  Up to the mountains we headed.

And down the hills we sledded.

Or in some cases,  flew.

Christian about to crash

Super Anna

It was warm snowman-making weather. 
Christian made this cute baby snowman to give to Anna.

We got out the kids' snowmobile for a few rides.

But alas, when the mist

turned to rain, we decided it was time to go.

Wetting a Line

Food with Friends

On Christmas Day evening, my sister gathered family and friends for a special dinner.  We started  with oysters, some raw on half shell and some grilled.

The table is set.

Electrical work was traded for a huge prime rib, and we family and friends reaped the benefits. 

Family and friends filled the dining room.

After dinner we had a little fun marking our heights on the unfinished beam in the new kitchen.  Notice Elsie is just below Gail.  I wonder where she'll be next year?

Don't Underestimate This Kid

The last day we were at my sister's, everyone was ready to spend a relaxing day on the water.  I left the dock for awhile to check out a big auction at the nearby Mennonite church and school (that experience deserves a post of its own, but I have no photos).  To my great surprise, I returned to a seasoned, five-year-old water skier!  I was in shock.  First, I didn't even know my sister had any kid-sized water skis.  Second, I had no idea anyone was thinking about having the kids try to ski.  Third, Anna just turned five!  My sister and I both love to water ski (she's the better skier by far), but my parents had to nearly drown me several times during my childhood before I could actually ski.  I remember vividly all their unsuccessful attempts to teach me.  I finally learned at age 11, and then I loved it.  But really, FIVE?

Apparently, Anna popped right out of the water on her second try.  She skied several more times and loved it -- quite the little pro.  She was skiing by the dock smiling and waving at her adoring fans.  Anna seems to be so athletically gifted while her brothers struggle with sports.  I sometimes wonder, "What is God planning for this family?"  How will this work out for the boys -- having such a sporty little sister when they struggle?

Well, of course I didn't want Anna lording this over her brothers, so I convinced Ehren to give it a try.  He tried once:  no go.  He tried twice:  got a lot of water up the nose.  He tried a third time:  that was enough already!  I was disappointed, but not surprised {not surprised that he tried it -- he's a champ like that, but not surprised that he failed -- again, not gifted in sports}.

Afterwards, Anna was clamoring for another turn.  We let her ski around behind the little fishing boat for a long time.  When we returned to the dock, I was amazed to find Christian asking to water ski.  He has to come to things on his own terms.  There's no point in trying to convince him to try something, so I was glad (and surprised) that he decided on his own.  Truthfully, I was not hopeful about the outcome.  I don't think Dan was either.  But guess what?  On his second try, that kid popped right out of the water and skied for over four minutes!  He skied through rough water, made it through several turns, and was all around amazing!  I was almost in tears.  Here's short clip from his run on skis.  I had to edit out the sound because I was screaming in encouragement and excitement throughout the video.  Why do I underestimate this kid?  He's apparently a better skier than I was.

Cruisin' with Captain Christian

Photo Challenge: White

Here's Christian inspecting a crayfish skeleton found on a dried up river bottom in Montana.  This is my entry to this week's I Heart Faces Photo Challenge: White.  Read the rest of the story in my earlier post.

Huckleberries!

We managed to hit huckleberry season perfectly two years in a row.  Just returned from our second trip up Graves Creek to pick huckleberries.  We hit the jackpot today.  Just look at these loaded bushes!

Today's huckleberry team consisted of my niece Elsie,

Christian, Anna and me.

Found this beautiful mountain spring along the way.

Elsie, Anna and I made a delicious pie from the huckleberries we picked on Tuesday.  I'm thinking about making some jam with the ones we picked today.

Elsie's Simple Sweets: Chilled Fresh Huckleberry Pie

On Tuesday, our huckleberry-picking crew (Ehren, Christian, Anna, Elsie, Ethan and I) picked plenty of berries for a pie.  Elsie and I found this absolutely delicious blueberry pie recipe in an old Betty Crocker cookbook and made it with our fresh Montana huckleberries.  I don't even like blueberry pie, but I loved this recipe!

Chilled Fresh Huckleberry Pie

1 empty 9-inch pie crust (bottom crust only) baked
2 c fresh huckleberries (or blueberries)
1/2 c sugar
3/4 c water
1 Tbsp plus 2 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 c grenadine syrup
whipped cream

Pour the fresh, cleaned huckleberries into the empty pre-baked pie crust.  In a saucepan, mix together the sugar, water, cornstarch, cinnamon and salt.  Boil for one minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice and grenadine syrup.  Pour the mixture over the blueberries and chill for one hour.  Top with whipped cream and serve.

Did I forget the most important step? 

Sneaking a few berries before you make the pie.

While baking, Elsie and I were discussing the fictional bakeshop called "Nellie's Simple Sweets" from the Courtship of Nellie Fischer, a series of books by Beverly Lewis.  We both recently read this series.

Rising Waters

Not long after we arrived at my sister's, the river water started rising. We were lounging at the "beach" with our chairs half in the water while the kids played. We noticed our chairs seemed to be "sinking." "Do you think the river's going up?" someone asked. We planted a stick in the water to see if the water was rising. It was, and fast.  It took just over 24 hours to return to normal. Good-bye river-bottom explorations, easy-to-catch fish, and sandbar beaches. Hello dock, boat and water skiing.

August 21, 5:35 pm

August 22, 8:56 am

August 22, 6:23 pm

August 23, 5:07 pm

As you can imagine, there was a lot of debris making its way downstream after the water rose so quickly -- like this giant stump picked up by the rising waters. So while the dock could go in immediately, the water skiing had to wait a few days...

The Beach

While the river ran low, some nice new beaches appeared.

And some wells were dug.

Or were they mud baths?

Little girls were buried in the sand.

And so were some big girls.

Reaping the Bounty

While the river waters were down, the fishing was up.

Here are Ethan and Ehren with one of the four-pound Northern Pike caught today.

The fish were concentrated into a significantly-reduced volume of water, and the boat launch was closed.  If you were fishing from the banks or if you were creative enough to get a small boat into the water, the bounty was yours for the taking.

Ethan had ample opportunity to practice his newly acquired skill: filleting fish.  He's pretty talented for a guy who just turned ten.

Exploring the Remains

This spring, the water on the river near my sister's house was so high, they literally had to "break" the nearby dam to move enough water through.  This left the reservoir above the dam nearly empty all summer while they worked to repair the dam.  The water was at its natural level, not seen for nearly 100 years.

When we arrived, it was fun to explore never-before-seen {by us} river bottom.  The gray rocky slope is the area that is normally underwater.

Crayfish skeletons were abundant.

Ancient tree stumps protruded from the original banks of the river.  Trees grew here before the dam was built nearly 100 years ago.

A drop of pine sap glittered like a diamond against the dusty dry river bottom.

Crazy Road Trip Talking

I wish I had a tape recorder for all the funny road trip conversations overheard on our road trip.  I can't make this stuff up.  Here are a couple of examples.

While driving through a mountain pass east of Missoula on I-90:

Anna:  "I call those the Hair Mountains".

Me:  Why do you call them the Hair Mountains?

Anna:  Because they have a lot of trees and plants and weeds and even grass.

Ehren:  Well I call them the crazy hair mountains.  {Ehren loved that there was a mountain range named "The Crazy Mountains."  Dad pointed them out while we were near Bozeman.}

Bossy Anna:  I decide what they're called.  I decide because they're my mountains {pause to reconsider}.  Ok, maybe we'll call them Anna and Ehren's Crazy Hair Mountains and be done with it.

And later... a different conversation with Christian:

Christian:  Mom are we going to be in Montana all summer?

Me:  No, just for a week, but that's almost the rest of the summer.  When we get home, there will only be one week left before school starts.

Christian:  Well, ok.  How about two weeks then?

Me:  Well you'd have to talk to my boss and Dad's boss about that.

Christian:  How come you're not the boss?

Me:  Because if I were the boss, I'd have less time to spend with you.  I'd rather be your boss.

Christian:  Mom, I still want to be a farmer.

Me:  Well that's good because then you'll be your own boss.  You'll have to wake up in the morning and tell yourself, "Christian, you need to work harder.  Christian, you're going to to have to water today.  Christian, there are a lot of weeds out in that field.  You're going to have to do something about that..."

He was totally laughing.  But I haven't deterred him from his farming dream.

Day 11 - Glacier National Park

Tuesday, August 24
Woke up and hiked the Avalanche Lake trail, right from our campsite.  We left about 9:30 am.  This was one of the hikes that Dan and I did on the way home from our wedding in 2002.  Avalanche Gorge is so amazing!  When we reached Avalanche Lake, there were a lot of people, but the weather was sunny and spectacularly beautiful.  All the kids did a good job hiking except Anna, who was a little whiny and tired out.






After finishing our hike, we ate lunch and packed up the campsite.  We did some more sightseeing from the car while driving to Many Glacier.  There we did some grizzly bear watching on a grassy mountain slope directly across Swiftcurrent Lake from the lodge.  All together, we saw 6 grizzlies and one black bear on that slope.  There was a mother grizzly with two 2-year old cubs and another mother with two yearling cubs.  The black bear was alone.  A  little further down the same road, we saw the black bear again, even a little closer to the road.  That's definitely the most bears I've ever seen!  There was obviously something tasty eat on that slope.

Finally, after our big gawker slow-down at the bear slope, we got on the road home. I drastically underpacked in the food area, so with empty cooler and empty stomachs, we started searching the navigator for a pizza place on the way home. After a stop at the delicious Mackenzie River Pizza in Kalispell, we rolled on towards T Falls with full bellies. Since we had eight in the van (am I going to jail for posting this?), we buckled Elsie and Ethan together in one seat, and it was a long, tired trip home for them. To add to the fun, there was still road work near Hot Springs at 11 at night. We waited impatiently for the a pilot car (twice) to lead us through the construction zone. When we finally piled into our beds, it was well after midnight.