Pound Out

The Malibu survived. I hope the deer did, too.

Spencer did an admiral pound-out job.

Replace Me in Master Bedroom

At 5 a.m., the fire alarm in our bedroom goes off:

Alarm: BEEP, BEEP, ALERT! SMOKE IN MASTER BEDROOM!

Spencer: I'm going to throw that across the street. (gets up and dismantles fire alarm, chucks it in kitchen)

Alarm, 2 minutes later: REPLACE ME IN MASTER BEDROOM! REPLACE ME IN MASTER BEDROOM!

Spencer: It's your turn to get up with the baby. This is good practice for you.

Me: It's detected CO2. (gets up to sleep on the couch)(in my defense, I am sleep walking here)

Spencer gets ready for work. Brittany is still paranoid about CO2.

Spencer, bending to scoop Brittany off couch: (in robo voice) REPLACE BRITTANY IN MASTER BEDROOM.

Three Years

Happy Anniversary to us.

I'm Goin' to Jackson

The scene on our drive when we were somewhere in the vicinity of, say it with us, Kemmerer. This is before we hit the deer.


Despite the traumatic roadkill events of the night before, there's no summer day better-spent than kayaking Lake Jackson.


We also rafted the Snake River, where we saw two bald eagles, a moose, and umpteen beavers. To liven up a raft full of accountants, we antagonized our guide, a lifelong resident of the Jackson Lodge, with the following statement: "Isn't the skiing at Targhee better than Jackson?"

Fighting words, yes, but we do not take responsibility for the 2-ton raft getting stuck in the middle of the river while he was on his soap box. It took him and his partner (and their boss, three boats behind us) 20 minutes to unlodge us.

We also hiked up and camped at the back of Cascade Canyon, then continued on up Avalanche Divide. I have never hiked another mountain to a scene more stunning than the backside of the Grand, South, and Middle Tetons. Unfortunately, we didn't bring our camera up to Avalanche Divide, so no photos to prove it.



We woke up to this guy's claws under the rain-fly of our tent. He was eating my shoe. We chased him away once, but he came back to chew Spence's pack.


Just as infommercial Charlie Amoratti—Jackson Lodge activity guide—promised, we saw some of the six bull moose up Cascade Canyon. "All my guests are seeing 'em—YOU WILL TOO!"

We did miss the wolf kill that everyone else and their dog saw on our last day, which leaves the wildlife checklist at:

Moose: 4
Bear: 0
Cougar: 0
Wolf: 0
Elk: 500
Beaver: Umpteen
Bald Eagles: 4
Marmot: 2
Buffalo: 2
Porcupine: 1

A Repost Is in Order

Jenn already put this up, but I must prove to others that I have the cutest niece (well, nieces) in the world.

Catch a Cougar

New magazine day came and went. If you like a challenge, there's an error in the news section. And the title of this post is a hint. Yeah . . . we did that on purpose . . . .

Niels on Wheels

Remember when we used to call him that?



Nice missionary face, Niels. Pictures courtesy of member in San Jose.