Have you missed me?

Long time no see from me-eh! So much has been going on. Who ever said summer is a time to rest? It's been non-stop action around here. SO I will make a list and you can all say WHEEW at the end.
1. At the beginning of May we all went up to Edmonton for a trip to the West Ed mall and indoor water slide and amusement park. It was amusing. Roman went on every ride, Finn not so much. We did coax him onto the train, but he was very serious. We had also gone to attend Paige's graduation. Poor Paigie pooh (heavy on the pooh part) got food poisoning and ended up in the hospital, so she and Eric missed the water park. The waterslides were a blast. Finn liked it a bit more than the roller coaster stuff. Paige actually pulled it together enough to go to her graduation. She was in a 2 year, very intense court reporting and closed captioning course which only 5 of the 24 people finished in the 2 years. Paige was the 5th to finish- on her last testing she passed her last speed on the LAST day! Nothing like cutting it close! She said her new motto is just enough just in time. I like it!
2. Two weeks before we went to the Lake(you will hear me talk about "the lake" alot so explanation's are in order: Lake Five is where we have camped and water skied all summer for about 16 years. It's by West Glacier National Park so if you are in that area, drop by!) Anyway- 2 weeks before we went for the first time I was madly trying to get as much work done as possible so I could play all summer. I got a request from an art licenser to illustrate a children's Christmas music book- piece of cake...NOT. Well I actually did it and had the files sent to them the morning we left for the lake- just enough just in time again! Unfortunately, it rained for 8 days straight! I skied but man it was chilly! We had 2 good days and then the rain came back. I called it quits and we came home because.......
3. Eric got baptized! Huzzah and hurray! On Stewart's birthday, we got an email from Paige and Eric . They had drawn a picture of Eric in a blue box and Paige at the side clapping her hands and saying hallelujah. I didn't get it at first but Stewart did. You could hear us scream all the way to West Glacier! We attended Eric's baptism, then helped move and clean Eric and Paige's apartment. They will be living with us for the summer and then moving to Vancouver BC where Paige has a job(or 2 or 4 )lined up. She is quite in demand there!
4. We went back to the lake in July and played there for 2 weeks. I also trained for the super sprint Raymond Triathlon, which I actually finished on July 30. Hurray for me! Whitney and I did it together and it was really fun(except the run part) How a former soccer player could let herself get so far gone is a mystery to me...I am talking about myself. Whitney kicked my trash! I did quite well in the swim and on the bike but oh my grock, the run about killed me. I was out of gas! But I have a nifty tee shirt to prove I did it and I won my age division...there were only two of us old fogies, but hey, a win is a win!
5. I have been working the last 2 weeks and on Thursday last, I almost died....for real. I am happy to report I am still alive but just barely. My hiking club-The Mountain Mamas- well I should explain us. We have been hiking every Thursday for 15 years. These 15 or so women are my closest, dearest friends. We have drug each other up and down mountains, through many of the hardest storms life can throw at you: cancer, wayward children, weddings, church callings, bike crashes, aging parents and death, stupid children, grand children and yes, rain, hail, snow, dark, wind, bears, moose, sun and heat. We have laughed, cried and panted across Waterton peeks and Glacier trails. If I did not have these women in my life, I would not be a happy person, and I think I may not have made it through life's most challenging times. We are famous in these parts, and impressive in our own minds! But sometimes we take on a bit more than we can chew...like last Thursday. We thought we would toddle our way up Sofa Mountain. The word Mountain should have tipped us off- I can honestly say this is the scariest thing I have ever done in my life and the only thing that got me up that rock cliff was fear. I only went UP because down was even worse! I will try to post some pictures- you know me and technology- but the pictures do not do it justice. Suffice it to say that when I showed the pictures to my son Kurt, his eyes got big, he paused for a moment and then said "Mom, you guys are so stupid!" YUP!
This is just a part of the mountain- the part we had to come down...

This is the part we had to go up!

I look happy, eh! NOT! I freely admit I was soooo scared that when I got to a spot where I could stop clinging to the rocks, I was almost in tears and shaking so bad that Norma made me eat a chocolate mint bar. I said I am not hungry, she said eat it anyway- it will calm your nerves. Bear in mind that we have already climbed 2000 feet up to this point and there is nothing below us but air...and sharp rocks...and fear of having to look down!

This is not the top- there were 3 more sets of this stuff to climb. You can just make out the river clear down there in the top corner of the picture. hhhmmm Kurt was right, very prophetic of him. BUT you should see what we had to come DOWN!

ummmhummm this is down. A good time was had by...none. Well some of these silly women liked this stuff, but we have all decided that walking the next day was almost more painful than the actual hike, and going down stairs...forget it! See that rock lump in the top left hand corner- that was the up cliff.

One last picture to stop your heart. What goes up must come down, dang it!

Well enough of that. We are headed back to the Lake tomorrow for the rest of the summer. We will all be there for 8 days. My entire family together. It just doesn't get any better than that. The summer of 2011 will be one of the most memorable in my life. Great family, great adventures, great times. I LOVE MY LIFE...and I love it even more since I almost lost it on that mountain.

A fond farewell from all of us on top of the world!

side note: It took us a few minutes to actually stand up after this picture. OOOOOF!