Family Portraits 2017

We were due for some updated family photos, since Hadley asks why our framed one by the table features her with a "boy haircut". (She was 2 and that was all the hair she'd ever had in her life.) This time we had a photographer friend take the pictures, and I'm very happy with how they came out. And for the record, this is a cranberry/grey color scheme! The best ones are the kids', but we posed in a few for completeness.

Football Phenom

We finally wrapped up Owen's flag football season. A friend captured and shared some great pictures of him running the ball! He got to play quarterback, running back, receiver, and was pretty good at grabbing flags on defense, too. I might be a little biased, but he really is pretty fast and scored a touchdown in nearly every game. He loves it and wants to go pro some day! Good luck with that, Buddy! 

This league doesn't take team pictures, but here's the team huddle from the last game. Even in 'feels like 24 degrees' temps, Coach Jim is in shorts! Owen was bundled up (in the navy hoodie) and even wore some gardening gloves to keep his hands warm. Glad to be done and moving inside with Hadley's soccer team next.

First Snow

We woke up Saturday morning to a lot of snow! About 4-7 inches of snow, depending on who you ask. It's way too early for that much snow. We had a few flurries a couple of other times, but this is the first white stuff to stick around for a while. (At least it's mostly gone now!)

The kids were enjoying being lazy inside until a neighbor friend came to ask them to play outside. Then they were gone for two hours! They even broke out the sleds, in addition to making a snow fort, having a snow ball fight, and playing fetch with the neighbors' dog. Yea for good, clean childhood fun!

This will be our look for the next six months...

Here's my artistic take on the early snow: Winter pooped all over fall!

But the forecast was good enough for Sunday that we decided to venture to Jackson and Grand Teton NP (always a gorgeous spot in the fall), before fall was over.

Although it was supposed to be 50 degrees that day, there was still quite a bit of snow on the ground. Hiking in the snow was new for us. And we didn't think to bring our snow boots, so the kids feet got pretty wet! 

If the trail wasn't snow, it was slushy mud. Yuck! Between cold toes and a muddy slip she had on our last hike, Hadley wasn't very excited about this muddy trek, so she got some help from Dad over some of the more treacherous parts.

While the trail wasn't in the best shape, the scenery was still spectacular, even highlighted by the dusting of snow, and the crowds were pretty thin.

So we pressed on from String Lake to Jenny Lake in the muck.

Made it! Our reward was a beautiful view!

We turned around and then decided to cross the creek for a different path back to the car. Luckily, it was an uneventful crossing!

Another stunning view of Jenny Lake, from the official overlook, on our way out of the park.

And one more artistic shot for this post: our delicious post-hike beers (fun to say - Dunkeldorf and Dortmunder) at our favorite brewpub in Jackson with Snow King's newly dusted ski runs in the background. Perfect day!

Pumpkin Patch

We took advantage of the sun's return by visiting our local pumpkin patch. The kids were very excited to pick out their pumpkins! (and costumes, and house decorations inside and out... They love Halloween!)

The patch has really upped their extras this year, and it's all free. The kids loved the dried corn pit, straw maze, slide, and pedal cars. I had to pry them out of here!

A Tale of Two Creeks

With fall making an appearance, we just had to get out one last time to Cress Creek with friends. I think we were a little early on most of the color there, but we did get a nice view with minimal effort. The kids were occupied with a nature scavenger hunt where they competed to collect the most different kinds of leaves on the hike. Their favorites were the cattails (aka corn dogs)!

 But I think they had the most fun throwing pebbles into the river at the end.

A couple of days later, I took the kids to Pocatello to check out City Creek. Fall was there in a big way! It was like a fairy tale, which is hard to translate in pictures. Suffice it to say, it was gorgeous, magical, and chilly.

The trail meandered next to and criss-crossed City Creek on these picturesque bridges. The kids had fun kicking leaves off into the creek and seeing how many flowed past the obstacles down stream.

I really liked the variety of colors in the trees and the way that parts of the trail felt like going through a tree tunnel.

The kids enjoyed posing for many pictures, though the second one here is not a pose! 

Here's the chilly part! It snowed on us a little bit shortly after we started. We found more snow down the trail. Hold on winter, you'll get your time soon enough. Let us enjoy another week or two of fall first!

Eventually we had to turn around. Sadly, the kids wanted to head back by the road rather than back through the creekside wonderland. But it made them so happy!