Nora is 6!

Time is flying and Nora is already 6!  We had a nice family dinner with Bonnie on the big day and a kids party at the Wings Gymnastics Center on the 9th with a bunch of her friends. Nora had a wonderful birthday, got spoiled with lots of awesome presents, and was one very happy 6 year old all weekend!

When it comes to birthday cake, she chose ice cream cake for her actual birthday, and a pirate ship (with not-mean pirates) for her kids party - both good choices! The gymnastics party was a blast, as always (we've had more than a couple of birthday parties there over the years!). The kids had fun doing obstacle courses, jumping into foam pits and racing around - Nora even got to go flying like a circus performer, which was the highlight of the party for her!

It's hard to believe that Nora's already 6 years old - how did that happen?? We're so excited to see what exciting challenges and fun experience this year brings for her!

Nora is 6 Photos!

Christmas 2019!

We decided to spend Christmas 2019 with our family in Vancouver.  We opted for a road trip and left Boise on the afternoon of the 20th.  The first day's drive to Richland, WA, was uneventful and we made it there in time for dinner at Hubby's.  On the morning of the 21st it was 60 degrees in Richland and it did not feel like winter at all!  With the mild conditions, finishing the drive to Vancouver was no problem.

Our week in Vancouver was a whirlwind!  We watched a Canucks game the night we arrived.  It was a great time and the Canucks won handily.  The girls got to spend lots of time with their cousins, including their first time ice skating!  We continued our standard traditions, such as the Christmas Eve church service, Christmas Day brunch, Christmas turkey dinner, and the wacky gift exchange.

After a busy week, we headed home on the 28th.  We again stayed the night in Richland and ate dinner at Barley's Brew Pub, a nice restaurant which was once visited by Guy Fieri.  It was great to see many of our Vancouver family & friends - we had a wonderful (too short!) visit!

Christmas 2019 Pictures!

Minsk Business Trip

Since I started my current job in 2016, we have worked with a team located in Belarus (mostly in Minsk).  Over time, we have developed a deeper technical relationship with the team there however sadly we have generally neglected to visit and develop personal connections.  Since taking over my team about a year ago, I became convinced that a trip to better understand the team and improve our personal relationships was appropriate.  My manager agreed and it was approved.  The timing came together so that I could visit before winter sets in.

On the morning of Friday the 15th I was off.  My itinerary took me to Chicago, Frankfurt, and Vienna before landing in Minsk on Saturday afternoon.  The flights went well and I met two of my team members (Michael and Volha) at the airport.  Together we went into Minsk and Michael and I got checked into our Airbnbs.  Volha helped us greatly during this process and it was very much appreciated!

After getting checked in, we had tickets for a KHL game so we were immediately off to the arena.  On the way we met Dmitry and the three of us (myself, Michael, Dmitry) watched the game.  The rules were quite similar to the NHL but the crowd was rowdier and more passionate than any I've seen at a NHL game.  Sadly, Dinamo Minsk allowed a late goal in the 3rd which led to overtime.  In overtime, Dinamo lost to Avangard in a shootout.  Around midnight I got back to my Airbnb for some sleep!

On Sunday, Michael, Volha, and I visited the highest point in Belarus.  While not an impressive summit, it was interesting to see the countryside and collective farms just outside of Minsk.  There we met Val (a former coworker) and after summiting we then spent some time at the National Library of Belarus.  The library is a very unique building with an observation deck whose views were sadly limited by the weather.  We spend some time catching at the library cafe before retiring for the evening.

The week was mostly focused on work and team meetings.  This was very productive and justified the expense of the trip.  In the mornings before work I ran along the river, which was good for some sightseeing.  We did have a team event at an escape room one night - it was a unique experience and the three of managed to escape in 45 minutes!

On the following Saturday and Sunday I spent some time at a cubing competition held at one of the universities in town.  The cubing competition was enjoyable the but the language barrier was more of a problem than I expected.  While not cubing I did some more sightseeing and collected a few souvenirs for the trip home.  On the morning of Monday the 25th I flew home through Vienna, Frankfurt, and Denver.  I just barely missed a snowstorm in Denver and was happy to be home Monday evening!  Jet lag after getting home was a little bit of a problem and it took me several days to recover.

In all, I really enjoyed my time in Minsk.  My team was great to spend time with and the city itself has a lot to do in a very different cultural environment than I have experienced.  The only negative was the language barrier but the people were always friendly and accommodating of my poor Russian language skills.  There is a chance I will return in 2020 and I am looking forward to it happening!

Minsk 2019 Photos!

Claire is 8!

Time really seems to be flying - in September, Claire turned 8!  She had a great day painting pottery with her friends at Ceramica and enjoying frozen yogurt.  Later, we had a family birthday dinner with Bonnie featuring Claire's request:  burgers with roasted potatoes and caesar salad.  Of course, Katie also made a beautiful cake in the form of a toadstool fairy garden!  Claire really enjoyed her presents - thank you everyone for thinking of her.  Happy Birthday Claire!

Claire Turns 8 Pictures!

Florida Trip 2019

It has been way too long since our whole family visited Nana, Papa, and Great Grandma in Florida.  With the kids in school these days we chose to visit at the peak of summer.  We knew the weather would be hot but that also means it would be great pool weather!  We flew to Florida on August 7.  The flight was uneventful except for the technical delay on the soon-to-be-retired MD-80 flying from DFW-JAX.  We are blessed that our children are such great travelers!

Once in Florida, we had a great time catching up with family, eating yummy food, and spending time in the bathwater-temperature pool in Nana and Papa's neighborhood.  The water was almost too warm to stay in too long!  For something unique, we decided to experience the dolphin encounter at Marineland.  We spent about 30 minutes in the water with a trainer and a dolphin named Dazzle.  Dazzle performed tricks, swam by all of us, and even allowed each person to come in for a kiss and a dance.  We all had a great time and I'm very glad we went!

While in town we also visited the St. Augustine Alligator Farm, which is my favorite zoo anywhere.  It was crazy hot but we were able to see all of the exhibits (and the alligator feeding!) before we needed to head home and cool down.  We also took the girls to the beach one morning.  It wasn't too hot at first and things were going well until Claire got sand in her bathing suit - then it was over!  We enjoyed our time at the beach but we learned that Claire is a pool person!

Katie and I also celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary while in Florida!  We had a delicious family dinner at Enza's to jointly celebrate both my parents' 43rd anniversary (belated from July) and our 15th.  On the 12th, Katie and I had a "date night" and enjoyed a round of drinks in town before a nice seafood dinner at Schooner's.  We would have liked to further experience the town on foot but opted to avoid the stifling evening heat!

It was a great trip and a true vacation.  We were sad to leave on the 14th but we had a smooth flight back home.  Thank you for the great times and hospitality Nana, Papa, and Great Grandma!

Florida Trip 2019 Pictures!

North King Mountain Climb

For a long time, North King Mountain, or "The King's Crown" has been on my list of peaks to climb.  It is accessed from a high elevation hang glider launch site which makes it more accessible than most peaks of its stature.  Sadly, the direct road from Moore, ID, washed out in 2018.  Instead I took the back road from Arco over Beaverland Pass to the upper launch site.  This drive was uneventful but does include some 4WD sections.

Once at the upper launch site, I checked out the launch ramp.  After about two seconds I became convinced that hang gliding looks terrifying and it will not be added to my bucket list!  The hike from the launch site follows a very steep use trail up a ridge directly to King Mountain, an intermediate point before reaching North King Mountain.  The trail is easy to follow and eventually leads you onto some class 3 terrain to bypass a tower near the top of the ridge.  After about 2500' of elevation gain up a veritable staircase, the climb to King Mountain is over!  King Mountain offers great views of the surrounding area and a good place to take a breather before continuing the quest.

The ridge to North King Mountain is much more moderate and makes for enjoyable hiking.  A small class 3 section adds some interest to the traverse.  On top of North King Mountain, there is an infrequently signed summit register (only three other parties signed this year) and even better views of the numerous surrounding mountain ranges and valleys.

Downclimbing was uneventful but the steepness of the ridge descent was tiring and led to sore knees and sore feet.  When I got back to the vehicle, I knew I had to time to visit nearby Peak 8150 which is accessed from Beaverland Pass.  A road leads most of the way up the peak.  I followed the road until I felt like I abused the XTerra enough.  I then hiked the last 500' of gain to the top.  Peak 8150' has great views of King Mountain, the Arco Hills, and the Lost River Valley.  I wanted to continue further to Peak 8082 but sore feet and a sinking sun caused me to head back to the vehicle so I could drive the 4WD road back to town in daylight.

In short, this was a great day in the mountains and a highly recommended climb.  I saw two pronghorn and no other people!

North King Mountain Photos!
North King Mountain GPS Track
Peak 8150 GPS Track

Family Camping at Herald Provincial Park

In mid-July, we embarked on another camping trip, this one to Herald Provincial Park, near a town called Salmon Arm, BC.  We left Boise on Saturday, July 13, and drove up to Osoyoos, BC, a lovely little resort town on Osoyoos Lake which is known for being the warmest freshwater lake in Canada. We stayed in a hotel suite that had a separate (bunk bed) room for the girls, so they were happy, and we enjoyed a beautiful view of the lake from our balcony.  The girls splashed in the hotel pool the following morning and then we were on our way for the final leg of the drive to the Provincial Park.

Unfortunately for us, it was the Penticton Gran Fondo weekend...which means that for miles and miles and kilometres and kilometres, we were stuck inching along behind approximately 459,347 cyclists making their way up the hilly highway.  After what felt like our entire lives, we parted ways with the interminable clusters of bikers in Pentincton!! We stopped in Kelowna, BC for lunch at White Spot because that's just what you do when you're in BC.  Unsurprisingly, it was delicious.

We got to the campground and said hi to the crew - Liz, Cathy, Margaret Wells, Megan, Ben, Matt & Emily, Dave, Greg & Kristy. And Sydney & Kona, of course! We knew that the weather might not be awesome...but we didn't realize that meant thunderstorms and 2 hour long downpours! We were all a little worried that the tents would wash away at one point, or that we be sleeping on soaking wet sleeping bags, but luckily our tents all stood the test throughout the whole week of on again/off again rain.

We definitely made the most of the sunnier times, hanging out at the beach and swimming in the lake whenever there was a break in the weather. Dave & Ben got some fishing done and Zach took Claire to check out a big totem pole near the campground. We ventured into the town of Salmon Arm and spent some time at a cute little farm stand & petting zoo! We stocked up on some necessary rain gear, and tarped down our tent to protect against the rain showers. The kids had a great time hanging out with their cousins, swimming, smore-making & eating, reading and hanging out in Grandma's trailer! We got to hang with the family and really, truly catch up, which is always fantastic, even if it's raining!

On Saturday, July 20, we packed up the sites under threat of rain, but luckily it missed us! Everyone else headed back to the Lower Mainland, and we headed south to Richland, WA. We stayed at the Homewood Suites hotel, which is always great, and were all happy for showers and actual beds!  On Sunday we finished the drive to Boise with a lunch stop at Nells-N-Out in La Grande, OR.  We didn't get home until almost 6pm MT - it was great to be home!

We all had a wonderful visit with the Shepherd side of the family, and the rain this year just means that next year will be beautifully sunny and blue-skied! 

We're about to head off on our next (last) summer adventure - we're going to visit Jan, Ron & Grandma Dow in St. Augustine, FL for a week! We'll check in with an update when we get back, in the meantime, here are some pictures from our trip!

BC Camping 2019 Pictures!

Oregon Camping 2019

For the 10th time, we met our friends the Pilons for a summer camping trip.  This time we chose Prineville Reservoir just outside of Prineville, OR.  This turned out to be a great choice as the weather, campground, and lake combined to offer a great camping experience!  We arrived on Friday after a lunch in John Day at the Outpost Pizza Pub & Grill and quickly set up camp.  Despite not seeing each other for two years, our girls hit it off immediately with Cecelia (10) and Mallory (7) and they were quickly playing in the tents and exploring the woods near our sites.  We had a great night making smores around the campfire and enjoying each other's company!

On Saturday we woke up early (thank you to the chattering birds!) and enjoyed a nice breakfast.  I went on a short kayak trip and hike to the nearby island while the girls watched a ranger presentation about hiking safety for kids.  The camp host and Park Rangers had an amazing amount of activities for the kids to do all weekend, which was fantastic! Afterwards, we met up on the beach, where the girls went swimming for several hours.  They had a great time other than Claire getting a fish hook in her foot.  Luckily it was easily removed and she recovered after 30 minutes or so.  After swimming, we had a relaxing evening until Nora crashed her scooter in the evening.  Despite injuries to her head, lip, both elbows, and a knee, she recovered quickly and was cracking jokes about "Knee-asporin".  But it was an early bedtime for the kids after a busy day filled with injuries!

Sunday was our day to depart and we had an uneventful drive home.  We stopped in Burns for a late lunch and let the kids play at an old-school playground in nearby Hines.  They had a great time and it was a great end to a great weekend!

Oregon Camping 2019 Photos!

On Turning 41

Back on June 18th, I celebrated yet another birthday! I was lucky to wake up to a beautiful sunny day, and I got to spend the morning watching the girls' swimming lessons, and end the day by having a great dinner with Zach and the girls, as well as some delicious cake. For dinner, I chose one of our favourite restaurants - Gramercy Park Pizza Grill - and then we went home for cake and presents! The girls chose the cake & they did an excellent job - white cake with raspberry filling, and it was a big hit with the whole family.
All in all, it was a wonderful 41st birthday, and I'm glad I got to spend it with 3 of my very favourite people!

Here are some pictures of the cake, because as we all know, that's the main event!

Birthday Cake & Silly Kids!

Learning to Ride a Bike

I don't know why, but learning to ride a bike without training wheels feels like a major life milestone.  Nora has been riding a bike for awhile but she wasn't ready when we took the training wheels off her bike in the past.  On May 14, Nora and I were walking to pick up Claire from school.  She asked to try riding her bike without training wheels so I took them off once we got home.  Sure enough, she had figured it out and no longer needed them!

Since then, she's been zooming all over the place on her bike with few incidents.  She even completed a six mile ride on the Boise Greenbelt without issue just a couple of weeks later!

Also included is a video from when Claire achieved the same milestone on February 11, 2017!

Girls Learning to Ride Videos!

Florida Visit

As part of getting old, I decided it would be good to run my hometown running race, the Gate River Run 15K, before I fall apart.  I arranged a trip to do this and also see my parents and grandmother in Florida, who I don't see enough of!

I had a great visit catching up with family, eating delicious food, celebrating birthdays, visiting the World Golf Hall of Fame, and putting in a decent performance in the River Run (1:22:02, for an 8:48/mile pace).  The heat was a bigger factor than I expected - I can't train for that in Idaho in the winter!  Overall I really enjoyed the race - it had a great route over two of Jacksonville's signature bridges and through some very nice neighborhoods.  It was very well organized and featured unlimited free beer after the race.  I may very well return next year!

Florida Visit 2019 Photos!
Gate River Run GPS Track

The Year That Was: 2015

We didn't blog in 2015 but here are some photos and videos to help remember this awesome year!

The Year That Was: 2015 Photos and Videos

Becoming an Old Man

This year I had a "major birthday".  I pondered arranging some kind of humdinger of a celebration.  But with a winter birthday and kids in school it's hard to get motivated to do anything too ambitious.  I instead opted for a relaxing day with some snowshoeing and family time!

After a late morning start I snowshoed two small peaks (Peak 5443, Little Camas Peak) off of US-20 east of Mountain Home.  This is all part of a grand scheme to summit 40 peaks this year (I'm already at 9!).  Snow conditions were good with a few inches of powder over a supportive base.  However conditions were brisk with temperatures around 20℉ and a steady wind.  Views were pretty good however some low clouds were swirling around and the higher peaks were mostly shrouded.  After about two hours of snowshoeing, I was ready to warm up and get home!

After doing just that I opened my awesome birthday gifts.  Thank you everyone for thinking of me!  Dinner was at the Homestead Bar and Grill and consisted of a Buffalo Chicken Sandwich and some Old Rasputin on Nitro (which was part of my last "major birthday" as well!).  At home, we all enjoyed the lovely vanilla and chocolate cake that Katie made.  Unsurprisingly, it was delicious!!

A final detail is that my birthday is also National Drink Wine Day.  To honor this occasion Katie and I shared a tasty White Burgundy I happened to have.  While getting old is no fun, I had a great time doing it!

Zach Turns 40 Photos!
Peak 5443 GPS Track
Peak 5740 GPS Track

Nora Turns 5!

It's hard to believe, but on Thursday February 7th, Nora turned 5 years old! We have no idea where the past 5 years have gone, but suddenly our little baby is a big kid who will be starting kindergarten in a few months!

The day of Nora's birthday was a busy one - Zach & I got to attend a birthday celebration at her preschool and share birthday brownies with Nora and her teachers and classmates. When Nora got home from preschool, we were surprised by my aunt, Cathy, arriving completely unexpectedly! She drove 2.5 days from Miami, Manitoba to Boise to celebrate Nora's birthday with us! She got to pick Claire up from school that day, and Claire very nearly walked right past her because she wasn't expecting her Great Aunt from Canada to be at school!! That night, Bonnie came over & we all had a great  birthday dinner of Nora's favourite - spaghetti, garlic bread and salad, and then cake and ice cream! After dinner, Claire & Bonnie hung out at the house & made pick-up-sticks, and Zach, Cathy, Nora & I all went over to Nora's school for Parent Open House, and Nora showed us some of what she's been working on at school - she started learning piano that day, so she showed us what she'd learned so far. She's very excited to get piano lessons at school!

Sunday afternoon was Nora's kids birthday party at a gymnastics club with a bunch of her friends, and everyone enjoyed running, jumping, tumbling and rope-swinging all over the place...and then eating cupcakes. Nora had a great birthday long weekend, and loved every minute of the celebrations! We're looking forward to the next year with this funny, goofy, super smart and sweet kid!

Here are a few pictures from all the celebrations, and a bonus picture of the girls with AC. Thank you again for the visit, AC!

Nora's 5th Birthday Weekend Photos!! 

Cervidae Peak Hike

I just climbed Cervidae Peak for the 27th time.  In late 2017 I decided to climb this peak once per month as part of a goal to get outside and hike more.  I've managed to accomplish that and it's been enjoyable getting to know a single peak so well.  Since climbing this peak regularly I've made a number of observations:

• Cervidae sightings are very rare now.  I believe I've only seen animals on 3 out of 17 recent trips.  10+ years ago such sightings were almost guaranteed.
• Some days the trail is very busy.  In April I saw 43 people on the trail during a 90 minute hike.
• Only once (a Fall evening) have I been the only person on the peak.
• The Mormon crickets show up in July and make a hot hike even more unpleasant.  Later in the summer they get more lethargic and are less bothersome.
• A brush fire from ID-21 burned the west slopes of the peak in July.  Red fire retardant was dropped all over the upper slopes of the peak and is still visible.
• Certain people like to write messages all over the rocks at the summit.  They are apparently not fans of the Leave No Trace Principles.
• People hiking "up and over" the peak (climbing it twice on one trip) is pretty common.
• My favorite time to climb the peak is just before sunset during the warmer months.
• Snowshoeing the peak under a full moon is pretty great too!

This time around I was able to enjoy Spring conditions in early February with mild temperatures and minimal snow.  Green shoots of grass were popping up everywhere.  I saw three other people on the trail, two dogs, one boat on the lake, and no cervidae.

In summary, this is a great local hike that can be done in under four hours from the time I leave the house.  I'll try to keep up the habit of climbing it as long as I can!

Cervidae Peak #27 Photos
GPS Track

Cervidae Peak #6 Trip Report
Cervidae Peak #5 Photos
Cervidae Peak #4 Trip Report
Cervidae Peak #3 Trip Report