I Heart My Tent

I would not have said this statement merely two weeks ago, but I Heart My Tent!

While in Calgary we made three very important purchases:

1- a king size foam bed topper (and ply wood)

2- a few nice sized rugs and

3- a new stove!

Here’s what our place looked like before:

(This is the only picture I have of the beds. Mind you, this was the very first night so we weren’t completely settled in and we were just piling stuff on top of the cots.)

(This was after a bit more time and rearranging).

If you were to ask me if I was happy with my living situation before we had left to Calgary I probably wouldn’t have answered. Basically, you wouldn’t have liked the answer I would’ve given, so I just wouldn’t have said anything.

The stove we had was for our original 12x14 tent. When we bought it, the manufacturer said, “For use up to 16x20 size tent”. Well, that was a stretch! We all had to scoot our cots next to the fire to keep remotely warm and that was with me getting up 3-4 times at night to add more wood ( I was up anyway with as many times as I had to get up to use the restroom. It was just that cold!)

Our beds as you can see were simply cots (still are technically). We wanted to be able to move them closer to the fire each night. On top of those cots were air mattresses, covered in sleeping bags and blankets. After being here a month and a half, I had come to one conclusion: those cots and mats were made for camping as in a day or two. Not really suited for a month or two.

So while in Calgary, my brilliant husband set out to solve my three largest dilemmas, and this is what we are blessed with:

The floors we had before also added to the cold. They were simply sheets of ply wood and with all of the cracks and spaces, it let the cold air in so quickly. Chase had the idea to first tape down all of the cracks in the floor and then put plastic window sheeting over the entire floor to trap the cold down. Then we’d put the three rugs we bought over the plastic, covering ¾ of the floor.

The baby loves the floors! I had been feeling like a bit of a failure as a mother since I wasn’t able to get down on the floor and practice crawling and playing with my little man. While at Grant and Myrna’s, Baby Kurt loved playing with the toys on the floor. It was at that same time that Chase and I noticed him really come alive. He would laugh and play, toss the ball with Myrna, and he even started to give kisses and “squeezes”. Jillian said when we got home that it was like someone flipped a switch in his brain and he decided, “Yep. I think I’ll participate in this world now.” We knew then that carpets were just as important as a bed or stove. He scoots around all over the floor. He loves taking all of his toys out of the bucket (and idea I got from Grant & Myrna’s toy bucket).

He loves being IN the bucket.

He loves taking the toys out, and then putting them back in the bucket. Oh to be young again. So easily amused.

With the carpets of course comes the fact that this little one can get in to a lot more things. Every once in a while I catch him playing with something he shouldn’t. Boy my life is about to change for good! Am I ready for this?

Let’s talk about the thing that I love the most (well, besides the bigger stove that actually stays warm and prevents me from getting up frequent times during the night): My Bed.

Isn’t it grand?

If you look closely, you’ll see there are still two cots, and still two air mattresses. Chase purchased a few more pieces of ply wood and placed them (after cutting them to the right size) on top of the two cots, pushed together. Then, we added the two twin air mattresses, side by side. Our best purchase in Calgary was that of a memory foam bed topper (king size) that we then placed on top of the two twin mattresses. Yes, it feels a bit like the Princess & the Pea, but what a difference a bed makes! I think I say it every time I get up in the mornings (or at least I think it inside my head) I Love This Bed!

Plus, now with more room and me not so afraid the baby will roll right off my small twin bed, he is able to play on the bed with us. What a treat to have this little guy play with us! Who wouldn’t be happy with him rolling around?!

A Much Needed Break

People ask me how it's going. They ask, "Does time pass quickly up there, far away from civilization?" I can answer in only one way: To me, the weeks fly by like days and the days last for weeks.

Anyone else know what I mean?

Well, after a month we needed a break. I'm not sure if my husband could hear the frustration in my voice, or if it was all on his own but a few weeks ago he suggested we make a trip back to Calgary for some much needed supplies (well, he used the excuse of wanting to go to the Calgary Stampede, but I was happy to oblige).

Did I hesitate to drive the two days, over 24 hours, back to the wonderful world of Alberta? Why no, no I didn't!
What a great time we had! Coming back into town we stopped once again at our new favorite A & A Burger Bar. On our way up to the Yukon over a month ago, we had stopped there for breakfast. Originally, we had asked a gas station attendant where the best breakfast in town was. She unabashedly replied, "A & W Burgers down the street. They're the best in town". We found that hard to believe and gratefully continued on down the road.

Soon, Jillian spotted a bright neon sign that said "Breakfast Special" so we pulled over. How glad we were that we did! Our breakfast was superb! Cooked to order (right down to the three different preferences of bacon). During our meal, the owner, Janet came out to chat. What a witty, bright and intelligent woman. She knew quite a bit about the north and offered some great advice.

Part of the restaurant includes an old fashioned candy bar (which kept Phi entertained with all of the bright colors and varieties).

While going to the bathroom, I passed a large piano near the counter. I told Janet that Dax played and he should play as sort of a "tip". She smiled and said, "I sing. I'll sing if he'll play". Together they played a beautiful rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". We promised to stop in again on our next trip (as Prince George has the closest Walmart, Home Deopt and Costco).

Here we were over a month later and right away Janet spotted us again. She recognized Chase as the "Matt Damon" once again and then asked us how life was way up in the North. We chatted some more, talked "gold" and once again enjoyed a delicious breakfast. Even today, on our way once again back home, she immediately spotted the baby and said, "Hello Kurt". How impressed I am that not only do they live up to the standard of food that so many restaurants seem to skip, but the hospitality, generosity, and extra effort is not lost on them. To us, it's like coming home. Thanks again, Tim and Janet. We'll be seeing you soon.

We then traveled to Grant and Myrna's once again for some much needed rest, TLC, warm beds, and hot showers. How happy we were to see them! Baby Kurt sadly left a lot of family when we left Utah and I was afraid he'd miss out on some pivotal face time with grandmas, cousins, aunts and friends. Luckily, that's where the Pitchers come in.
Myrna is everything you could ever want in a grandma. She takes Kurt for walks around the block, picks pansies in the yard, plays toss with the ball, and even sings him tunes on the piano.


Needless to say, she and Grant were a godsend to us! We felt so comfortable, happy and welcomed in their home. Grant and Chase studied maps, played with compasses and talked geology for most of the weekend. We were graced by Grant's knowledge of the gospel, received some wonderful advice, revelation, and fantastic reading material from him that is more priceless to us than all of the gold we find up here. You can tell by the way Baby Kurt acts around him, that he wants to be just like Great-Grandpa when he grows up!
Our favorite treat in Calgary was also getting to spend time with the wonderful-witty-and-always-beautiful Cousin Katie. Katie is truly a one in a million! To me she too is a godsend. She is 50% my best friend Joni, 25% of my adorable sister Jenn, and 25% of the amazingly witty Jillian King. All of those wrapped into one makes a deadly (but fantastic) combination.

We were lucky to spend not one, not two, but three separate nights with them that were filled with laughter, good food and better company. We went on one “triple date” with them and Grant and Myrna, as well as a dinner and a movie date with just the four of us.

Not only does Katie keep you laughing, she also has a heart of gold (shhh! Don’t tell!). She adored Baby Kurt and he is simply enamored by her.

She loves on him like he’s the best thing ever (and I just so happen to agree!). She even brought him some wheelie-animal toys that he can’t get enough of. How thoughtful! We spent the entire time together with Katie and Mike trying to convince them to move down our way to St. George. Keep your fingers crossed! I think we may have planted the seed.

We love you Katie (and Mike!)

We also enjoyed time at the Calgary Stampede. I’ve been to a number of rodeos in my time, but let me just say that this was like none other! If you’ve never seen a chuckwagon race (a western Canadian thing I gather), then you haven’t fully lived.

All in all, it was a wonderful, too-short mini vacation. We are right now on our way back to the back woods and will be in our tent sleeping tonight. I'm gearing up for the cold nights, the pesky mosquitoes and the day to day frustrations.

We'll be in touch when we can.

We love you all and miss you! Thanks for checking in.

Love, Us.

Grandpa's Claims

Well it was another exciting day of mining excitement up here in the great white north.

We have been working on our friend's claims and been devoting our time to him since we've been here. He has been very gracious to allow us to have jobs this summer and work for him, and train us while we're up here.

We're camped in a nice place and got approval from the owner of the claims on which we are camping to camp there. Grandpa's claims are an hour boat ride north so we haven't been able to get to them until today.
Grandpa's claims are very difficult to find as the creek doesn't actually feed to the lake, so we had to do some serious navigating and bush whacking to find it. It is about 6 inches across where we finally found it so we started heading up the creek through thorns and briers and all kinds of gnarly stuff. An hour later (and many open wounds) we found the tools that the guy who owned it before had left behind.



Once we found that, we decided to head up to the falls to see what they looked like. Basically, it is a giant rock wedged between bed rock. We continued hiking around to look at a couple of points but the GPS doesn't work on those claims so we had to guess a lot. Unfortunately, because of the time we need to devote to training and working with our friend, we weren't able to prospect Grandpa's claims right now. We will probably try some time in late August, but we'll have to see.

Anyway, we had a good time on Grandpa's claims and it was nice to see them for the first time. Here are a few pictures of what we saw:

Chase

For the Grandmas

This post is for Grandma "Skeet", Grandma Juile, G-3 (G'ma Karen) and Grandma Shepherd.

Here is proof that your kiddos are fine,


Happy,

Fed,



Warm,

and Thriving!



There is even time for Baths



Play Time

and reading books.




Plus, good sleep makes for growing, happy babies!

And don't worry, Chauncho is taking good care of them both.

Love you all and miss you terribly!

Click here for video of Phi playing "Peek-a-Boo" with Baby Kurt