Wandering Aimlessly

Last weekend I completed my goal of wandering randomly for 34 years. Since Ben wasn't feeling well, we decided it would be fun to go out for a drive and have him take a nap. We had no idea where we were heading and after a while we decided to visit the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute since we happen to be heading that general direction. It's actually a nice museum with an emphasis on Native Americans of the Northwest. On our way back I noticed that the sun was going to briefly peak between the clouds off in the distance so we pulled off the main road to take pictures, yet the moment lasted about 45 seconds. I attempted to take a picture of Joey yet the sun had disappeared and immediately filled the sky with a rich magenta. Since I had lost my backlight I placed my speed light behind Joey and was excited to see how it froze the rain in mid air. I am excited to try this method once again, perhaps with an umbrella.

Mass Air

It's a bit hard to wrangle two boys at this stage. Ben is excited to go faster and higher and Joey is studying the art of standing on those feet. There's a pretty big gap in their ability and agility at this stage which requires some creativity when we play outside. During the first snow fall of this season, we took the boys to the local park to slide down the hill. I believe it took us 45 minutes just to get out the door yet it took Ben five minutes to decided that he had enough. I can't blame him though, we had acquired about 5 inches of snow that day and as Traci and him leveled at the bottom of the hill from their first ride, he was engulfed with snow. On the other hand, Joey also received a face full of snow on his first sledding trip although he gave no reaction perhaps from being shocked.

A week ago we received another snowfall. We waited till mom came home from work to begin our snow adventures and by then Joey wanted nothing but sleep. I can't blame him though, it's a hard life when you are having fun all day. So instead we made a small ramp in our backyard and Ben got to jump multiple times while Traci and I got a workout. Traci would pull Ben and I would replenish the landing with fresh snow and then switch roles. We were having too much fun that I forgot to take pictures until the very end and by then, Ben was more excited to make snow angels.

I feel fortunate to be able to live in a region where we see all four seasons. Kids view snow as adventures and adults become dull at the thought of winter. Why is it? Personally, I've enjoyed this winter. I know having kids makes this weather more worthwhile.

Adventures Await

We sold our Jeep Patriot this past June and as the year progressed we decided that our most reliable car shouldn't be a vehicle with over 300,000 miles, especially with kids. So this past October we decided that the time had come to say goodbye to my Jeep and find its replacement. We decided to find another Jeep Cherokee not because we are stuck in a rut but because Jeep's 4.0l engine has a reputation of being a long lasting engine. However, the last engine was built 10 years ago and the last Cherokee was built 15 years ago. This created a problem since they are surprisingly going up in price especially those with low miles.

A couple of months ago we mentioned to Ben our plan on selling the Jeep since we had purchased its replacement and he wasn't excited about the idea. Actually, he has brought it up on several occasions that he would prefer to not sell the Jeep. This alone, makes it even harder to sell the Jeep for myself. It's my first car and despite my love/hate relationship, I can't argue how reliable and dependable the car has been. I have abused the car more than it was intended to take and yet it keeps going. The interesting thought is that as I write this down, I'm only talking myself out of selling it. Plus, the reality is that my amazing wife will never push me to sell it.

This year we have acquired more snow than I have ever seen and I'm having a great time. We debated a Honda over a Jeep because of fuel economy but with this weather, I believe we made the right decision. A Honda would be nice at the gas pump and reliable, but a Jeep exclaims that it's dependable and that the adventures await. It will get me wherever I need to be and if I get stuck, then I shouldn't have been there in the first place, as my father in law would say.

We Need A Little Christmas

Each year during the holiday season I make an effort to play Christmas music throughout the day at home. Not only does it help us get into the more cheerful Christmas spirit, but it's nice to hear songs that bring good memories of my younger days. I first heard the song "We Need a Little Christmas" by Percy Faith and His Orchestra 3 years ago when Ben was just 5 months old and immediately became excited about the song. Now, if you know me, I sometimes enjoy dissecting elaborate musical compositions like a high school girl scrutinizing her boyfriend's free time. It's what makes Bluegrass music so amazing. It's complex. There's a level of talent and higher understanding of music to be capable of writing compositions for an orchestra especially before the arrival of computers. Anyhow, the song is cheerfully amazing from whatever instrument perspective you look at it and I won't go into it on this post.

Ben was laying on the living room floor at the time when I first heard the song and I can recall picking him up to dance to the song with him. I'm not much of a dancer, in fact, my dancing mimics a kid repetitively tripping on his shoelaces while playing jump rope. Yet he seemed to enjoy my distorted dancing techniques. From then on, each time the song played on the radio I made sure to stop everything and dance with him. He grinned happily as I spun him around and laughed when I'd tossed him in the air. By his second year, he recognized the tune and would stop playing with his toys immediately to search for me and dance to the song. It was immense fun 3 years ago and became a fun little tradition of ours each year. This year, I had to turned the radio off after the song and play it on the computer once more so Joey could also get his turn and unsurprisingly, he too enjoys dancing with dad.

I can recall wondering how I would be able to dance with him when he gets bigger and well... I'm not so sure. The song is just 2 minutes with 8 seconds and I am hurting at the end. This year has been bittersweet each time the song plays because I know that next Christmas season I won't be able to pick him up and throw him up in the air any longer. He's a big kid now and with time, dancing with dad won't be fun any longer. It's fine though, I was a kid once and I remember.

It's a common saying among many grandparents that having grand kids is even greater than having kids because you get to spoil them and send them home at the end of the day. Yes, I can see what they are trying to say and I'm sorry your kids were a burden because the responsibility of raising my two boys day after day, after day, after day, after weeks... etc. well, I would do it all again if I could only go back in time. This year I strained my wrist and threw my back out twice after swinging Ben around in our living room from dancing with him. Despite the pain, I did it all over again the following day because after all, it won't be like this for long. Maybe my two boys will have kids in the future and maybe they won't. Who knows? Yet it's the spontaneous moments like dancing to a song, that making parenting all the better. Personally, parenting is exhausting but only because my two boys want to have fun all the time and frankly... that sounds fun. Next year I'll have to get creative when dancing with Ben and in 10 years the song will relive the memories. As for right now, I have 3 more seasons that I can enjoy with Joey and I'm looking forward to that.

Where's your playground?

I haven't been off-roading in quite a while now. This hobby of pushing your vehicle to it's limits begins to burn a hole in your wallet as parts begin to fail after repetitive abuse up in the hills. I still enjoy it though and it's more enjoyable when the whole town becomes your playground. This past weekend we received several inches of snow which is something I always look forward to. It's a great feeling to leave my Jeep on 2WD and fishtail around town as I play with the throttle. I'm not reckless though, I only play on the wide and empty streets. Yet it's nice to know that my jeep will take me wherever I need to be and if I get stuck then I probably shouldn't be there in the first place.

On Saturday morning we got up early to take Ben on his first sledding adventure, however after sinking down on the fluffy snow I decided to just pull Traci and Ben around. Ben seemed rather confused at the meaning of this activity as his nose became more red with every minute. He did great, he even got to taste snow although he didn't enjoy that much. It sure would be nice if we could get a few more weeks of snow because we just started having fun.

7 Months Later

Yesterday we awoke to a thin blanket of snow. It was nice to see everything covered with white puffy snow since the past two winters have been relatively dry. Ben woke up early around 5 am, perhaps in the anticipation that we would celebrate his birthday but we explained we were saving our farthings for his one year birthday. To which he responded "Cupcakes?" Amazing, his first words.

Each morning Ben wakes up and is excited to spend time with us, sometimes he goes back to sleep before Traci heads to work, other times we sit by the window and wave goodbye to Traci as she drives away. We spend several hours a week sitting on that chair; me facing the living room and him resting his head on my shoulder watching out the window as the cars and pedestrian pass by. 8am and 3pm are the best times to watch the activity on our street with children walking to and from school. Ben enjoys paying close attention to any activity outside our window, he leans his body forward, holds as still as he can and watches till the person is out of his view. Yesterday we sat by window as Traci headed to work. Once again his head leaning on my shoulder yet as Traci drove down the drive way, he pushed himself up with an effort to get closer to her. His legs kicked and his arms extended towards mom as he knew who was in that car, perhaps he wanted one last hug or kiss before she went off to work. I leaned him towards the window as he began to whimper, his head like a magnet following the car as it drove off. He bumped his head on the cold hard glass yet that was the least of his concerns because most importantly, when will mom be back? Lunch time, Ben. I miss her too.

Ben's 1st Christmas

Since Traci and I began dating we have alternated holidays with our family. This past Thanksgiving was spent with my mom then Christmas with Traci's folks, next year it switches. For Christmas we packed up our bags, loaded the jeep, picked up my mom and sister and headed east to enjoy a white Christmas. The first night was spent in Kellogg, ID where the hotel had several poster of the area throughout the hotel. It appears that there is plenty to do in Kellogg besides kicking tires although the Jeep section at Dave Smith's seems to be quite exciting for myself. Anyhow, we got up early on Monday morning and despite a small snowfall, the roads were in great conditions for traveling. We didn't get too sidetracked on our drive although since Ben did not have any holiday outfits, we had to make a quick stop in Missoula for a little shopping.

On Christmas Eve, I got a chance to take a helicopter tour around Bozeman and the Bridger Mountains. I was not in the mood to fly since I had traveled the day before but was eventually glad I took this opportunity of a life time. We took off from the airport towards the Bridger Mountains and flew over Ross Pass where we immediately took on some turbulence. Bridger Ski Resort looked busy with skiers and snowboarders trying to make it down the mountain in one piece. We flew over Mt. Ellis Academy where we took a few photos of the grandparents home then headed back to the airport. It was great to see Bozeman from above and fly in a Bell Jet Ranger.

Cliff and Evelyn Starkebaum were married on Christmas Eve and so began a tradition to open gifts on their anniversary. Three generation later we are still opening gifts on Christmas Eve. This year I received a few neat gifts all around, my in-laws bought me a new set of leaf springs for the Chevy to replace the two pogo sticks in the rear. I received a CD of Alison Krauss and Union Station, an architectural ruler and a interactive book of the Corps of Discovery. However my number of gifts did not compare to the amount of gifts that Ben got although he was more intrigued on the wrapping paper than the actual gifts. He opened two gifts but had to leave the rest for Christmas Day after becoming over stimulated by all the unwrapping.

A while ago Traci and I bought a 1980 Cherokee Chief in Montana to use as a parts car. My intentions were to resale the car later that year but three years later it was still sitting on the campus of Mt. Ellis Academy. A couple from Pony, MT bought the jeep and needed us to deliver it so we spent our Christmas Day afternoon trying to load the Jeep on the trailer. I had never visited Pony so it was quite neat to see this old mining town left as relic of prosperous times for miners.

Recently I have been captivated by the history of the Milwaukee Railroad also known as the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad. Quite a long name don't you think? Anyhow, It was electrified in Washington, Idaho and Montana and remnants of the old railroad can still be seen today. In Deer lodge there are two locomotives, a E-9 MILW 36A and a E70 ‘Little Joe’ (it's electric). I won't go into the history of the Milwaukee Railroad since this post is about Christmas and not trains. However, this past trip to Montana became a personal 'I Spy Game' of where can I spot old remnants of the Milwaukee Railroad. Somehow history that is just outside my backdoor highly triggers my interest.