First Snow

It got cold here last week. We're not talking cold for October, like 40's, we're talking 14 degrees cold. It also snowed probably 4-5 inches and it stuck around for several days. I think we got the snow on Thursday night last week and it actually just melted today when it finally got above freezing and it rained all day. They're saying it is supposed to be 65 on Saturday so we are planning a big bike ride while we still can. I do love the winters here and really enjoy the snow, but I am definitely not ready for winter to come to stay yet.

Quick Recap of our Busy Summer

I have been a terrible blogger the last 2 months and haven't updated at all, even though we've been incredibly busy around here. We had a great summer and I won't bore you with all the details, I'll just post some fun pictures of the highlights of our summer.

Backpacking trip in Idaho/Montana August 2009

We both ran our first half marathons this summer.

We took a trip to Glacier National Park and hiked to Grinnell Glacier.

Our Latest Cycling Adventures

In May this year we went to Glacier National Park for our anniversary and we rode our bikes up Going to the Sun Road (the main road that goes up the mountains and through the park) while we were there. It was great cycling- complete with many miles of steep climbing. We did this before the road was open to cars this spring, so it was nice to not have to watch for traffic. We rode almost all the way to the top before I gave up. Someone had told us that the snow was still on the road at the Weeping Wall (an awesome place along the road where the water just pours out the rocks) and when we got there the road curved and we couldn't really see how much further we would be able to go. I was pretty exhausted by that point because we hadn't though to bring any food with us, since we had read that the road was only open to bikers about 5 miles past the vehicle closure. It was definitely open a lot further and there was nowhere to stop and even get more water. We decided to turn around at that point but were pretty happy with the accomplishment and had a great time doing it.




We also did our first triathlon of the season June 21st in Kalispell. It was pretty fun, but we were both a little disappointed with how we did. The course was a lot hillier than we had anticipated, which wasn't too bad for the bike but was hard on me in the run. It was our first triathlon with an open water swim in the lake, so we got to wear our cool new triathlon wetsuits. John finished in 1h23m and I finished in 1h32m. It was an 800 meter swim, a 12.7 mile hilly bike, and a 3.1 mile hilly run. We are planning to do at least 1 more Labor Day weekend, and possibly another sprint the weekend before that in Missoula.

And finally, on July 4th we went to Idaho to ride on our favorite trail, the Trail of the Coeur D'Alenes. John had ridden it earlier this summer with some guys from the cycling club in Polson. They did 125 miles in one day. He said it was the most physically exhausting thing he's ever done because they rode it FAST and they also rode off of the nice flat trail quite a bit and rode over some mountain passes. We rode 100 miles on Saturday. We stayed on the flat trail because I wanted to be sure that I could finish. It was really not as hard as I expected. We, of course didn't ride as hard as the guys did, but we rode at a pretty good pace. We stopped at a little town on the lake and bought some lunch and rested a little bit, then headed back the same direction. On the way back we saw a cow moose with 2 calves in a little creek beside the trail. We finished 7 hours after we started, but figured only 6 of it was riding, and the rest was stops. We hurried back to St. Ignatius for a 4th of July picnic and fireworks. We were so exhausted we took our lounge chairs to the picnic so we could lay down for the fireworks!

Glacier

This summer, since I am 25 I am old enough to drive the ranch vehicles. That meant I got to drive a van to Glacier National Park this week while almost everyone else went to camp to get things set up there (which is a day I do not look forward to at all). I was a little scared about driving a 15 passenger van on that narrow, windy, steep mountain road, but it wasn't as bad as I expected. John's van did break down pretty much in the middle of the road. His group got out and pushed it enough that they got it off the road so people could at least get past it. They waited with it for about an hour and it finally started again. It was a great day at the park- beautiful weather and as always, beautiful scenery. We saw some very cute baby mountain goats, one running all over the place and calling for its mama. The summer is flying by and I can't believe camp starts in a little over a week. After camp, we are going on vacation to Indiana for 2 weeks and school starts almost immediately after we get back. I definitely haven't accomplished all that I wanted to this summer and now I only have 1 more week at home. Oh well, I guess I will still survive.

Big Sky Country

We were out on a bike ride last night around 8:00 and I just looked around and said to John "I love being outside at this time of night in the summer!" It is just so beautiful the way the sun shines on the mountains and lights up the sky, and it is almost always nice and cool in the evenings. We really do live in a great place and we never get tired of seeing the beauty of God's creation around us. I just wanted to share some of that beauty with you.

This is the area where we often ride our bikes

Lake McDonald at Glacier National Park

Running Eagle Falls at Glacier



Flathead River

What It's All About

Lately, especially the last month or so of school, we've been feeling very frustrated and stressed with everything that is going on. Being a part of this ministry is not always easy. Actually, it is almost never easy. We see so many kids fail to "get it" while they are here, or they do well here and fall on their faces when they leave. God has been reminding me recently why I am here and what this ministry is all about. That doesn't mean it gets any easier, but helps me to remember why I am here. We had our graduation ceremony May 31st and we had 10 graduates- 7 Pinehaven students and 3 staff kids. That is a lot for our school. Some of the students were able to stand up and speak and share how their lives have changed. John led the whole graduating class in singing "Walk by Faith" during the ceremony. It sounded awesome, and that is exactly what our prayer is for these kids and for us as staff- that we would remember to walk by faith everyday. Its not always easy, and sometimes we don't feel like doing it, but we have to remember to give God control and let him be the one in charge. Pray for these 10 students as they are back with they are entering the "real world" that they would remember that. They are going to face more challenges than they can imagine.
Another huge success we have had recently was a young boy who just finished his freshman year of high school here, was able to return home to his family to finish school there because this program has worked for him, and everyone felt he was ready to go back home! This is truly why we are here and what this ministry is all about. Sometimes it is easy to overlook the success and only focus on the failures.

Lately...

Several weeks ago, the bike club in Polson hosted a bike race. I wasn't brave enough to ride, but John and I did some volunteering and took some pictures. It was a tough 50 mile, very intense, hilly course. We've been out training for our triathlon, but it has been hard to get on the bike this season for some reason. John finally went up to ride with the club tonight, and we both went for a ride yesterday. We have been doing the Friday Night Time Trial faithfully this spring and are having a blast. Its a race against the clock, on a 12.1 mile loop. We went the first week after a winter of riding a handful of times on the trainer and not really doing much other physical activity. We have only been improving since, needless to say. We've both dropped over 5 minutes off of our first times over the past 4 weeks, but there are still plenty of people there WAY out in front of us (especially me). One night we got to finish in the sleet. This picture is me finishing that night- cold, wet, and tired. The other picture is the same night. I love the light.
Gardening has also been on our t0-do list lately. We've been buying flowers and plants for our new yard. We didn't really get a chance to do anything last summer because we moved in so late in the spring and then we had only a yard of mud. This year we've bought some plants to line the sidewalk and the area in front of the driveway. We're kind of holding out on planting until the weather looks a little safer. You never really know in Montana.

And last, we had to break down and give Scout a bath yesterday. He smelled awful- like he rolled in something dead. He hates baths, but he is really pretty good. Once he tries to get away once and realizes he can't, he just stands there shaking with his tail between his legs, but at least he lets us do it. Unfortunately, this bath didn't really do the job and he still stinks. I'm not really sure what to do about it.Look at that poor puppy face. He looks so sad.