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Mad computer/thinking skills

Ok, so maybe they aren't MAD computer skills, but I can still make smileys!
:0) ;) ;D :I :C :O
It took MAD thinking skills just to come up with 6!
Who else has mad computer/thinking skills?
~PAIGE!~

It looks great!

OK, fess up, Who did the banner? It looks great. Thanks.

Trying for the Grand Teton at 50

On the way home from Martin's Cove, a couple of the young men in the stake approached me on the bus and asked if I would take them up the Grand. Told them I didn't know if I could make it any more, but I thought that Ty would love the chance to go up the Grand and he would have a week between when school started and he finished working for the Forest Service. So we set if up for Aug. 22 & 23.



Watching the weather, it looked like we could skirt in on the tail end of a cold August storm, and that is what we did. Six of us, Ty, Andy Johnson, Aidrian Leavitt, Dave Pace, Greg Linton, and me left Idaho Falls early in the morning. We arrived at the climbing ranger station in Jenny Lake, just after they opened. In years gone by that wouldn't have been good (try getting teenagers up in the morning, wait most of you have teenagers and the rest of you are teenagers:), but there were only 3 groups in front of us and one of them was going backpacking. So we got the campsite that I thought we be good at the moraines at about 10,000 feet; good as in, as good as I could go in one day. And given that the winds were 70-90 mph during the night at the lower saddle, about 1,000 feet above us, it was probably better at the moraines where the wind was only 50-70 mph. At least we probably got 2-3 hours of sleep.





We were up at 3:30 AM wondering if it was worth tempting the wind, but the wind seemed to be quieting and the weather forecast was for a clearing day, so we started a little slowly, but headed up the trail at about 4:30 AM. About 5:30 we hit the head wall below the saddle and started climbing in the dark, I think it sobered up the kids a little, but they came up really well. On the saddle, the sun started to rise and I checked the thermometer, 25 F. And with the wind probably blowing 20-30 mph, my old wind chill chart said about -5 F wind chill. The cold was pushing all of our clothing. You just don't want to carry the extra weight if you don't have to and I think we were all cutting it close than comfortable in the clothing category.



From the lower saddle, you head up couloir towards the upper saddle. About half-way up, you cut over the ridge and to the base of wall street, which takes you to Exum ridge. From there it is up the ridge on the Golden Staircase, through the Windy Tunnel, up the friction pitch and the V-pitch and then up the summit block and on to the summit. We reached the the point where you cut up and over the ridge and a couple of us were moving slow in the cold. We decided it would be better to head down. Ty went on with 3 of the young men. I figured all of us could to make it to the top, but if your getting hammered going up, I know how hard getting back to the car can be.




The first time I went to the top, I was 25 years younger and it was cold like this. In fact it was so cold, we couldn't get water, it was all frozen. That time we got hammered by dehydration. And I didn't make it back to the car until after 1 AM and there wasn't anyone coming looking for me. They got back to the cars and crashed, there wasn't going to be anyone looking for anyone until morning.




Now it isn't the easiest thing to do; sending your son off on something potentially deadly. I know Ty is well qualified, climbs better than I ever did. But sometimes it isn't about climbing, but about experience. But within an hour, the wind died, the sun rose high enough in the sky to warm the air and it turned into one of the most beautiful days in the Tetons. They were able to spend an hour at the summit. In fact one of the boys even cooked up some noodles for lunch at 13,700 feet. Congratulations guys!



When you start down, you come down a different route than when you went up. So it is a new experience. And you don't go straight down, you have to work your way south and find a couple of rappel points. It isn't too bad if you can follow someone that has an idea of where they are going. They did well and found the two rappels and made it to the upper saddle. Now there are 3 couloirs coming off the upper saddle and you don't want to take two of them. The first on drops down below the face of Exum ridge, but ends in some nasty cliff bands that are very hard to get through. The middle one is the one you want, but it starts the same as the third one we drops off into Valhalla canyon and you are going to Idaho and not the trail head. Well, they dropped into the first one, but realized they weren't in the right one when they saw wall street. So the climbed over the ridge and into the correct couloir.



We waited in the lower saddle for a couple of hours enjoying the beauty of the high mountains. If you ever want to have a beautiful hike, I would highly recommend the hiking to the lower saddle in the Tetons. You have to negotiate the headwall, but there is a fixed rope there. It isn't a place you would want to take small kids, but then again, could luck on getting small kids there. When we were hiking in, there was a six-year old hiking out and I've seen eight years old kids there before. But I would recommend a serious 12 before I would take them. But if they can make it to the headwall, they can make it up the headwall. In fact when we were coming down, there was a 60-year old lady with a couple of here kids hiking up to the saddle.

And the trip out was a grind like always. It just pounds you to death or at least it does me. You've got 9 miles from the saddle to the trail head and about 4,000 vertical feet. Put a 30-40 pound pack on your back, and that is a lot of pounding on your knees and feet. The first time I did it I lost 7 toenails and probably had a dozen blisters. This time I loaded Ty up with weight and probably only carried 30 pounds instead of the 40-45 pounds I've carried before. I ended up with only 1 blister, one hot spot, and one purple toenail. And we were eating at Wendy's in Jackson at 9:00 pm and home by 11pm.

And to top it all off, Ty headed up to Moscow the next day after a couple of days of very short sleep. THANK YOU, TY!

How do u...

Hey guys how do u get music onto ur blog???? I am new at using the computer alot so i will probably need Taylor's help anyway but if u can tell me i can ask Taylor or Mark!

lee familee

Create your own glittery text at pYzam.com

lee familee

Create your own family sticker graphic at pYzam.com

How to...

Hey guys if u want to check out our pictures dont go to the leefamilee by the other people it only works if you look at posts that have been posted lately and click on it Ok!

Normal Kids?

This is for all of us who just want a normal child. (Plus I needed to see something new on this blog)

Last Wednesday:

Aiden: Mom what is oven toast?

Me: Just normal toast but it is made in the oven

Last Saturday:

Aiden: Mom have you ever had oven toast?

Me: Yes, I have.

This morning at 7:15am:

Me: Aiden what do you want for breakfast?

Aiden: Oven toast.

This morning at 7:30 am:

Me: So how is your oven toast?

Aiden: It's just like normal toast, but it takes too long.

Me: Yeah it does, so where did you hear about oven toast?

Aiden: On the Jimmy Neutron movie.

(we had watched the Jimmy Neutron movie the weekend before on the way to Tucson-go figure)

This morning at 7:55 am at the bus stop and June runs back across the street:

June: Something is funny in the top of shoe and bugging me.

Me: Well do you need me to look in your shoe?

(June takes her shoe off and looks in, pulls out a little pet shop toy)

June: Oops, it was crunching my toes.

(Do ya think? She had her shoes on for 25 minutes!)

Sometimes all you can do is laugh!

Timothy and Brett

Timothy and Brett are playing Football. They have a game on Sept. 13th in the Valley. It will be played at the Glendale Youth Sports Field next to the Cardinal Stadium at 8:00 a.m. Kelsie is the team cheerleader!!!!

Also plan on November 8th for both Timothy and Brett's Baptism. It is Stake Baptism Day - 3:00 p.m. at the Stake Center. I also have a lot of family names that need baptisms at the temple. We are contacting the Temple to see if that Morning we could do a family baptism session with all the older kids and the Dad's because we need that many Priesthood members to come also.

More details to follow

Plays and pictures

As should be known that when you are at the Hunts house all day a play will be made.   This one is a classic about a prince and princess.   The only catch is in this play the princess rescues the prince from the wicked step mother.  Kind of a mix between Sleeping Beauty and Snow White.  The poor prince in this play is always the prince in every play maybe just until Collin is old enough to follow the directors instruction.

But I would have never guessed in all the plays I have watched in the Hunt Basement Theatre and all the pictures of Hunt girls taken by Hunt girls on my Phone, Camera, and Camcorder that I would ever run across camera shy Hunts.  Emily who was the Wicked step mom and the awesome dad wouldn't even look at the camera the whole play.  I'll admit it I broke the rules.  Before the play started the rules were read and the rules where no flash cameras. (yes I do believe they must have been to real plays before) Emily refused to look but Olivia wanted her picture less.  Oddly enough my kids didn't hide from the camera.  Amazing they remembered there lines fairly well too.  Some plays haven't gone so well in the Shaws remembering their lines.  But thanks to the Hunts we had a great Labor Day while our Dad studied all day.

Yes, he has moved his NCLEX board test to Wednesday Yes Tomorrow.  If all goes well we could be done with school....again.