Housng Update/Portland

This past week we saw a lot of progress on our house. It is almost completely sided and they have started to sheetrock the inside. The only thing left on the outside is a little stucco and rock work. Chris also got the opportunity to travel to Portland for his career and was able to snap a few pictures that didn't involve electricity production. Overall, we are doing well and are finally enjoying summer. It was in the 90's for most of this weekend and we are both recovering from sun over indulgence.

It says it all...

The back of the house.

The beginning of the living room.

Our loft above the garage.

Garage

Our kitchen and dining room.

The front...Obviously.

Downtown Portland

Oregon has a lot of Wind Turbines.

The green Oregon Hills.

Chris at Bonneville Dam.

Backpacking in the Mountains

Last weekend we decided to get out and do some camping in the Sawtooths. We hiked all the way up to where we wanted to go, but were forced to come all the way back down. The reason was that there was still too much snow to camp. However, we were still able to pitch a tent at a lower elevation. We enjoyed the amazing weather and scenery and also got see how far we can really go with all that extra weight on our backs. We had a great time and hopefully we will be back again in a couple of weeks (when the snow is gone).

Us in the mountains.

Chris enjoying the view.

Taking a break.

Sliding in the snow.

A couple of elk we encountered near our campsite.

Mandi stopping for a picture.

Chris on the trail.

Mandi's backpack... 27 lbs, don't underestimate.

Norton Lake, elevation 9000 ft.

Our view on our way home.

Our Trip to Rapid

This Memorial Day weekend we took an 1800 mile round trip car ride to Rapid City, SD to meet Chris's family at his sister's house. The first day we made it as far as Yellowstone and spent the night in our tent where we surprisingly kept warm, even though the temperature dipped below freezing. The next day we made it to Rapid and had a fun rest of the weekend visiting with the family and seeing some of the local sites. As always, the vacation was too short but worth every minute.

The morning after our Yellowstone sleepover.

Part of the drive through Yellowstone.

Two of the nine bighorn sheep that we saw.

Emmie and Papa eating applesauce.

Emmie and Grandma having fun.

Ellie was obviously enjoying her root beer.

Emmie

Katie and Amanda engrossed in their puzzles.

Kevin, Ellie, Katie, Amanda and Chris

The family enjoying food and the outdoors from Steve and Shari's deck.

Emmie's been watching her uncle Kevin too long.

Emmie

Katie relaxing in the sun.

Amanda at the Cosmos

Chris, Katie and Ellie trying to get out of the Cosmos.

Ellie had just done a presentation on Peter Norbeck, so she needed her picture taken by his sign.

We celebrated Amanda's and Steve's Birthdays.

No more toe-jam.

Us somewhere in the Black Hills.

When we arrived back in Twin Falls, our house was just getting started.

Two and a half more months and we should be moved in.

When the Stens came to Visit

Sorry we haven't posted in a long while. Our camera finally died on us we decided it was time to buy a new one. For the last month we have had a visitor come and live with us. He is an old friend and he was actually working for Idaho Fish and Game. As of yesterday, he has moved on to greener pastures in North Dakota. But in that time frame we enjoyed showing him Idaho and managed to snap a few pictures while we were at it.

The Salmon River

Steve showing off his rock climbing skills.

Amanda looking out on top of Galena Summit.

All of us on the ice at Little Redfish Lake.

Lois say ..... huuuhhhhh

A gray fox that we encountered in the Sawtooths.

Chris unloading some bikes for a ride near Shoshone Falls.

Us near the town of Stanley.

Amanda loves Ice Cream.

Steve gives the thumbs up to bike riding in the South Hills.

Rich giving his dogs a water break.

Steve and Chris at Sun Valley.