14/52

Posted on April 4, 2016 by Kristen Page

We had a joyful spring break! More to come about our adventures.

You’ve Come a Long Way, Kid!

Posted on February 2, 2016 by Kristen Page

I can’t believe how she’s grown! She’s a sweet, kind, funny, smart kid…but I’m biased! Happy Birthday to my girl!!

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016!!!

The Amazing Yellowstone Adventure!

Posted on December 26, 2015 by Kristen Page

My dream of visiting Yellowstone in the winter came true and it was beyond expectations!!! It was so beautiful AND I got to share it with my family!!!

We arrived in Bozeman the day after finals were over. Ready for rest and family time!!

We waited at the airport for Nonnie and Poppie…

It was awesome to be together!

On Saturday we headed into Yellowstone.

We stayed at Mammoth Hot Springs in a hotel built in the early 1900s

Here is a photo tour of our adventures. The pictures correspond to this map:

1. Around the hotel:

A magpie

Fort Yellowstone

The Elk love to stay near Mammoth Hot Springs. It’s easier to find grass at this lower elevation.

The sunrise was always amazing!

2. The Terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs

On Sunday, we took a snow coach to Old Faithful!

The roads are all closed for winter, and We were the first to travel in and out this season. Our guide, Wim, was awesome and of course the girl charmed the socks off of him!

I enjoyed my photography the whole day!

(Photo credit: the girl)

We followed the blue route with the snowcoach:

3. Swan Lake Flats

I thought this was one of the most beautiful places we saw. Photos do not do it justice.

This is the “road”, and I don’t need to explain why snowcoach is the only way in.

Mule Deer
4. Near Norris

Bison are perfectly adapted for this weather. Their shovel-shaped heads help them dig under the snow for grass. They are so well-insulated that the snow doesn’t even melt…no body heat escapes that thick fur.

We saw 3 eagles in one place!

Trumpeter swans are rare in Yellowstone!

This coyote was “mousing”
5. Gibbon Falls

6. Firehole Canyon

7. Fountain Paint Pots

This was a terrific stop! We saw all 4 types of thermal features: Geysers, Hot Springs, Fumeroles, and Mud Pots. We arrived just in time to see Fountain and Jet Geysers going off simultaneously.

8. Old Faithful

On Monday morning, we got up really early and went on a Lamar Valley Wildlife tour. Our guide was Kirk, and we had an incredible day of wildlife viewing!

(Photo credit: the girl)

We followed the red route into the Lamar Valley:

9. Hellroaring Mountain Overlook

10. Yellowstone River (heading towards the Lamar Valley)

(Photo credit: the girl)

This is a “nursery boulder”. The fir grows up in the microclimate of the boulder!

Supposedly, the pronghorn had left the valley for winter. We were really glad that these two did not get that message!
11. Lamar Valley

Barrow’s Goldeneye

Coyote in Soda Butte Creek

We saw these two dots far off… hoping for wolves…and upon further inspection….

….definitely WOLVES!!! Three!!! Two gray and one black!!

12. Near Barronette Peak

13. Northeast Entrance

It was an amazing trip! We made lots of friends:

This is Connie, a local photographer. She saw the girl with her camera and gave her a signed copy of her book! We enjoyed sharing the girl’s photos with her after our tours.

The Girl decided that she would like to be a ranger one day!

This is Andrea, the girl’s “favorite water pourer”. We enjoyed visiting with her and her encouraging smile!

Ms Jerene was the Volunteer host who encouraged our little “junior ranger”.

Nonnie enjoyed playing the piano in the famous Map room! All of the guests enjoyed that Nonnie played the piano for them!

This was the most amazing trip ever. THANKS MOM AND DAD!!

When it was time to leave, we were escorted by this beautiful animal…

…and we enjoyed the scenery all the way home…

Robot fun!

Posted on November 3, 2015 by Kristen Page

The girl enjoys choosing her halloween costume, and I enjoy making it! This year she wanted to be a robot!

It was fun coming up with a design to match her personality. The biggest challenge was coming up with a “classroom” version since she couldn’t sit in the full version. Here is what we came up with for the class party.

We had a lot of fun celebrating the whole day. Starting with cello classes:

Later we had a lot of fun trick or treating with friends.

It was a sweet day!

42/52

Posted on October 20, 2015 by Kristen Page

apple pickin’

Like a Dream

Posted on June 21, 2015 by Kristen Page

I took the girl on her first camping trip beyond our backyard. I wasn’t sure how it would go. There was a good chance it would rain, so I was worried two nights would be too long. It ended up being an amazing trip.

We went to Harrington Beach State Park. It’s North of Milwaukee. The campground is about a mile from Lake Michigan, and there are tons of trails for hiking. Our campsite had lots of trees!

By the time we arrived, the rain was past and we set up camp quickly!

After we had everything set, we set out for the beach. The trail takes you through a bottomland forest. The ferns were amazing and there were tons of flowers!

The beach was very quiet and closed to swimming, but there was sand to play in and shells to pick up.

After our hike we set up our hammock and enjoyed some swinging.

Then we were ready for dinner. We cooked everything on the campfire. First we had sausages (and some raw veggies).

And of course, marshmallows…

We tried banana boats. The girl loved the melted chocolate, but neither of us really liked the resulting mushy banana.

We sat by the fire and then played a little light-sabre before bed.

Our first night was good, but we were up pretty early. We had a good breakfast and I made coffee before the rain started. It wasn’t too bad, but we just hung out in the tent for a while with the rainbow loom and Trumpet of the Swan.

Finally the rain was just a sprinkle, so we headed to the beach! All the way there we explored and looked at flowers and critters.

We took the muddiest trail ever, and it was Awesome!!!

The purple phlox was beautiful and the wildlife didn’t disappoint.

We eventually got to the beach and discovered it was still closed to swimming.

We still had a blast, and once again we had the beach to ourselves!

We spent most of the day on the beach. The girl dug in the sand, and I enjoyed looking at all of the beetles!

We had a very long hike back to camp, so the girl was promised a trip to Port Washington for some ice cream! She deserved it.

We got back to camp and started dinner just in time for a pretty intense thunderstorm.

The storm was short and we had a nice evening that once again included marshmallows.

Our last morning we got up early for the sunrise on the beach. It was spectacular. The girl told me many times that she “felt like she was in a dream.” I felt the same way!!!

Loving neighbors

Posted on May 28, 2015 by Kristen Page

Our girl is an extrovert! She loves to meet new people, and boy does she turn on the charm when she does. She has been begging to have a garage sale for a long time. I imagine she saw this as the perfect opportunity to meet new people.

The girl is also kind, so she was happy with the idea that the garage sale would benefit an organization that she would choose. The girl chose Shalom Delhi.

Shalom is a faith based organization that provides home based, palliative, and critical care to people living with HIV/AIDS in Delhi, India.

Once we decided to support Shalom, we started collecting items for our sale. The girl picked toys and books, and we added a lot of things that had collected over the years. We also invited our friends to help! Six families contributed to the sale, and several friends helped me get it organized.

The girl’s good friend had a lemonade stand (and made the awesome signs with info about Shalom), and the girl had an art/art lessons sale.

The sale was a huge success!!! We were very excited to be able to make a large contribution to Shalom because they are trying to work through big funding cuts. Last year, Shalom admitted 306 critical patients, and saw 1141 outpatients (760 HIV+). Shalom also made 984 home based care visits. This organization makes a big difference in the lives of people who are suffering with HIV. I’ve seen it. They reflect Christ’s love and truly love their neighbors. We are privileged to respond to the needs of our neighbors by helping Shalom. It costs $250 per patient admission. If you would like to help Shalom in their work, please email me. Kristenpage@gmail.com.

19/52 – kind hearted

Posted on May 11, 2015 by Kristen Page

This girl is really excited about her new pets. While she is certainly kind-hearted, she gets it honestly. I can’t turn away an animal in need. Just ask the girl’s Nonnie. I’ve brought home rabbits, a turtle, a snake, and a bat. I’ve also been known to help stunned songbirds- and had a ruby-crowned kinglet flying around my office for a day. Last week I came across a couple of homeless animals…and even though most people wouldn’t want these particular animals as pets, we’ve grown fond of them!

Amos is the only one who objects!

Tied in Knots

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Kristen Page

The girl and I celebrated Presidents Day by hanging out in sweat pants, watching an extra episode (or two) of Curious George, and just goofing off. It was perfect! We didn’t goof off the whole day, though. I decided that I must teach her something!!! Every six year old needs to be able to blow spit bubbles! So, we set to work.

Just as she started getting the hang of it, she got distracted…this happens a lot when you’re six! She noticed a “new” pair of hand-me-down sneakers and decided that I should teach her to tie shoes instead of how to blow spit bubbles (always the practical child). And that’s just what I did.