How Sweet It Was!

Yesterday's action-packed day began with at least two hours of raking leaves and admiring the new feel to the front of our house.  I was so moved by the sight at one moment that I tracked in a whole bunch of mulched up leaf deposits all over the carpet to grab my cell phone.  Just had to get a photo and send it to someone.
So, I did.  Sent it to Annie, just in case she didn't already know how much I love the new look to our home and the opportunities it promises.
Today we're going to figure out a spot for the barbecue grill, and I'm betting it will get some use over the winter months.  To say we appreciate this addition to our home is an understatement.  
In between my moments of admiration, I hauled away at least 6-8 cartloads of wet leaves, and those evil poplars just kept dropping some more.  Still, I'm staying ahead of the game, even if my knees and arms ache from all that raking.

Later, we met up with most of the Laumatia clan.  I heard that Sefo stayed home to rake leaves.  I think rakes were busy all over the Inland Northwest yesterday.  While Sefo toiled away, his and Laura's triplets plus one enjoyed an outing at the Nature Conservancy's Ball Creek Ranch.  The hike took us through a little snow at the beginning and a whole lot of juicy. fresh cowpies.  Fortunately, after going through the gate, we saw no more cowpies---just cushiony green grass and a pretty river. 
Jacob, above, started out with some of his gymnastics, but his mom (and everyone else) didn't think those body flips along the incline from the trail were too safe, so he found other ways to keep that young body active.  Jacob told us he saw a muskrat.

Barbara, Laurie and I couldn't wait to get our cameras going, so we took a quick stop at the Kootenai River boat launch next to the National Wildlife Refuge.  As usual, the Kootenai River was bursting with beauty.  Barbara used her big lens to track a blue heron flying along the opposite shoreline.  The Kootenai offers so many spots of total serenity and exhilarating escape.

Okay, let's line up for the group shot!  And they all did, very nicely, in fact.  Even the pups appreciated the importance of the moment of freezing a most delightul and fun memory for all of us.

This simple but lovely scene was one of hundreds we witnessed yesterday.

And, Miss Justine proclaimed that she's not in to all that nature, but we reminded her of her Aunt Annie who used to complain rather vigorously on family hikes.  Now Annie takes the lead in urging people to the tops of the world's mountains.  So, I'm thinking Miss Justine probably enjoyed herself a lot more than she'd like to let on AND I love this shot of her wonderful smile.



Another of the simple but stunning scenes along our hike.  That's Canada behind Laurie, Debbie, Barbara and Miss Grace.  The buildings from the old Ball Creek Ranch show our starting point. 

I think we walked about 3 miles total yesterday.  We could not waste a moment because horses had to be fed and the Gonzaga game was gonna start at 4 p.m., regardless of how much fun we were having in the Kootenai Valley.  So, we sadly turned around, hurried home, cooked and devoured hamburgers and Jacob's favorite Wood's German sausage among other goodies while watching Gonzaga score 100 points, second time in two games, while overpowering Bryant University. 

Great start for the ZAGS season and a most wonderful day for all of us who had the opportunity to enjoy a fantastic family outing.