so long for now . . .

We packed up and said goodbye to the Tetons last week. I'll miss our (more than) daily walks to the bridge and creek (seen above). I'll miss Teewinot. I'll miss not seeing the aspens turn yellow next to our cabin. But it's only goodbye for now. 

Liesel helping us wash the cars. By "helping" I mean making a huge mess, filling her diapers with dirt and dumping over the bucket of soapy water. 

 Towards the end of summer you start to get the "Heidi Effect"-- I remember thinking it was so funny in the book how she would wear 9 dresses on top of each other and then shed the layers as the mountains warmed up throughout the day. Well, that's what we do too. All of these photos were from the same day. You start out in sweaters and tights and end up splashing in a puddle in your diaper. 

At least there are plenty of rocks at the Needles! Trading our gneiss in for sandstone. 

Liesel was very concerned about the dirt between her toes. After playing in the puddle she looked at her feet and said "OH nooooo!!! Dirty!" Um. . . just a little. 

So now we're here at the Needles, Canyonlands and I'm feeling the nesting urge. I sorted through our newborn clothes a few days ago and am feeling antsy to get our little home organized. 

Collette

This is my mom's mom. My Grandma Emmy Collette. To say I love this woman is an understatement. I admire her, laugh with her, cherish every moment in her home and want to be like her. Liesel's name comes from my grandma's homeland and her middle name is Collette. My sisters and I drove down to Idaho Falls on Sunday morning to go to her ward with her last Sunday and then lunch afterward. I love being in her home. I know where her stashes of candy are, the bobcat on the wall still freaks me out and it feels so real to look at her authentic Nazi flags, arm bands, WWII rifles and third Reich propaganda.  She lived in Austria during WWII and immigrated to Canada shortly after-- all alone. She married my grandpa shortly after and has lived in Idaho Falls ever since. 

My Aunt Karla is no less amazing. She's hilarious, an incredible conversationalist and so much fun. It was a great way to end three days of girl time with people I love and admire so much. I have a lot to live up to. 

Teton Crest Trail

I have four sisters. Anyone who reads this blog knows I love these girls like nobody's business. Remember when I went to Charleston, SC with Catherine and Emily? Well, this time I met up with the other two gals: Sarah (came from Texas) and Lindsey (who just moved to SLC-- YEAH!!!!) for some outdoor F.U.N. 

Hiked 26.5 miles in two days

traversed the Teton Crest trail 

was in desperate need of Tums

lost 1/2 our food (it was left behind by accident)

saw no bears

saw tons of stars

sang outside

laughed mucho

ate huckleberries (still on. . . can you believe it?)

argued about pace

and in true Hatch style, took 1,000 photos. 

Starting out-- a pre-trip photo before while everyone's hair is still done and the sweat has yet to fall. 

We were going to start out up Death Canyon, but the night before as we were getting ready Brian got called out to clear the area and close the road for an aggressive grizz and her three cubs. So we paid up and rode the tram all the way to the top of Rendezvous mountain. It shortened the day by one mile, but cut the elevation in half. Not too shabby.  

Since we had already cheated by taking the tram to the top of the mountain, why not split a waffle coated in brown sugar butter? Proved to be a great idea considering we were rationing our goods from here on out. Half of our food (the better 1/2 I might add) was left behind and added to the "will we make it out alive?" excitement. 

Still pregnant. When we all got dressed in the morning for our hike, we came out looking like triplets. Neon shirts and black spandex. So hott. I was never sure if people were staring at the prego lady or couldn't take their eyes of the neon lights walking down the trail. 

One of the best things about this hike is that I hadn't seen 80% of it. We actually got to consult a map at several junctions and hang out by alpine lakes. 

We set up camp on the Death Canyon Shelf, found a sink hole full of water, ate way too much broccoli cheese soup (I woke up dying of thirst with the worst heartburn ever), and chatted in our camp chairs till past 11pm. 

Lindsey, Sarah and me. What a good way to wake up in the morning!! We ate our meager ration of oatmeal and laughed about hiking 17 miles with our few cliff bars and trail mix. We packed up camp and started out toward Alaska Basin. I remember my grandpa telling me about taking horse-packing trips in this part of the park, and I had always wanted to see it myself. 

Lindsey and Sarah descending into Alaska Basin. 

We passed through tons of meadows of wildflowers, past trickling streams, clear alpine lakes, over slickrock and then up over Hurricane Pass-- the steepest part of our hike. We we crested the top we saw the peaks rise up in front of us. 

Pictures never do something like this justice. This spot was incredible. We hung out for a good hour with the Grand, Middle and South tetons right in front of us and South Fork of Cascade below. I have never been in these mountains when there has been so little snow-- even just three weeks prior when I climbed the Middle this whole basin was patchy snow!

I learned that it pays to have a hot single sister hiking with you. We ran into a friend of hers randomly on the trail at this very spot and after a few minutes of chit-chat I shamelessly asked if he had any extra food that he was weighing him down. He hooked us up with some Pop-Tarts.  

South Fork of Cascade Canyon is the most beautiful spot in the park. 

And how can I post all of this without acknowledging Brian who took two days off to watch Liesel so I could pull this off? And of course I was expecting a tear-filled greeting from my little girl who missed me like crazy and spends every waking moment with me. . . and of course all I got was a glance up from her while she was eating her dinner. She had a great time with dad. And I might as well throw in that the house was clean and BLTs and potato fries were waiting. What a man! 

that time of year again

Our family is getting ready to say goodbye to the Tetons for the summer and migrate south for the winter along with the ungulates and birds in the area. There's a bite in the air and fall is on its way. Our annual migration is a little earlier than usual and taking us a little further south than our usual. By the end of the week we'll be living in the Needles in Canyonlands. 1.5hrs from groceries, pool, library, hospital (hello laboring in the car again!) and amigos. I'm having a little harder time feeling jazzed about  this one, but I definitely feel grateful that Brian has a job that he loves and has been able to work in both parks so far. 

He's out doing the Cathedral Traverse today (Teewinot, Owen and the N. Ridge of the Grand all in a day) for his last hoorah--I had mine last weekend with my sisters (pictures to come) on the Crest Trail. 

Any ideas for surviving the loneliness? Long drives with little kids/babies who are nursing? Husbands who are working full time and taking classes at night? Avoiding postpartum depression with no one around to hang out with? 

31 weeks

My lack of baby-bump photos this pregnancy leaves me feeling a little guilty. Already I'm documenting less of little baby Hays #2. It's not that I'm less excited, it's that either a) B is gone and Liesel isn't that good with the camera b) I look terrible and wouldn't want to remember looking terrible or c) when I think of doing it something (okay, just one thing-- but she's a very demanding one thing) comes along before I get a chance.  But on the up side, instead of just one baby bump photo at 31 weeks, you get three semi-awkward-stomach-clutching-baby-bump photos at 31 weeks. Enjoy. 

Brian and Liesel taking a peak at the helicopter flying into Lupine/ Liesel refusing to look at the camera despite Brian's attempts at singing Baah Baah Black sheep . . . 

A few words, four to be exact, about this pregnancy: it has been easy. I gagged and threw-up a bajillion times more my first pregnancy. With L I couldn't touch lettuce or tomatoes but this time, bring on the salad! I feel better, less anxious (about being a mom, but more anxious when it comes to L&D) and less preoccupied with being pregnant. Maybe it was standing behind a Visitor Center desk for 10 hrs a day with nothing but a computer to distract me during lulls when I was prego with L, but this time around I have no idea if my baby is the size of a crenshaw melon or a spaghetti squash. 

I am measuring bigger this time around (at least I feel like I am) but I guess what has been stretched once is easier to stretch the asecond time around. Should that be encouraging or depressing?  I've learned that a double bed is too small for three people. . . I need the entire thing for just me and baby + 5 pillows and yes, I'm going to breath heavy and toss and turn all. night. long. She kicks and moves a ton these days which keeps me very entertained during boring church meetings. And I'm always hot. I am the only one making fans out of the program at church and I'm still taking a dip in the creek just about every afternoon when B gets home. It's become a family ritual to walk to the bridge and down the steps to the eddy. 

We pray for our little one every night (Liesel included) and are excited to welcome her into our growing family. 

Island Park, Idaho

I went to Island Park this week to photograph Brian's aunt's family reunion. Best part of the whole thing was driving the 2.5 hours each way with B. I feel like we haven't had too much date time lately (when he's not working on grad school, it's usually b/c something has happened in the park. . . like last night getting short-hauled up Teewinot).   It was so nice to just talk. And talk. And talk. Oh, and stop in Ashton for a little Frostop Rootbeer and burger. It's pretty amazing to drive for almost 3 hours through 6 towns and not pass a single chain fast food place. But I'll tell you what we did pass-- that grain truck going about 10mph, 1,000 potato fields, a drive-in with a 10 foot potato out front called "The Spud" and lots and lots of hay. 

our little girl

Liesel's domain-- her little world-- is our front porch. We have it gated, so every morning after breakfast she drags her stuffed animals and doll outside and proceeds to buckle all the buckles on both strollers and give her animals "rides" while I listen to a stream of the cutest little words and phrases as I clean up and do the dishes. She likes to bring her books out here too and flip through the pages or sit in the chairs. My favorite thing is to hear her sing. I recognized a song for the first time this week! "Ashes, Ashes fall down!" and "Sunbeam, Sunbeam, Sunbeam. . ." (she doesn't really know how to end this one). melt.melt.melt.melt. 

Liesel is also on an affectionate kick. She asks me to hug and kiss almost everything. Her nickels? Yep, I have to hug them (it's pretty hard to hug nickels, btw). Her elk? Yep. A feather, rock, a glass of water? Yes to all of the above. And as I was kneading the bread the other morning, she insisted that she hug and kiss it several times (I don't mind my bread with a little PB, honey and Liesel spit-- do you?). 

Another favorite word is "touch it?" or "hold it?" She says this even while reading books-- she puts her chubby little hand in a scoop and asks to "hold it" (like a duckling or picture of grapes) as she proceeds to pick it out of the page. It has never worked, yet she seems determined. Maybe 3D vision is her superpower?

Her biggest advancements lately are definitely verbal. She is talking constantly these days. Our alarm clock is usually Liesel in a stream of words. She is using short two or three word sentences more and more. Here are a few examples:

"hapo up high." (helicopter up high-- she is SO obsessed with helicopters)

"daddy working"

"mommy's soup"

"I sleepy."

"I want more wa-wa." 

"buckle up Doe" (doe is her bear's name)

and the list could go on forever. She is seriously always talking and will surprise us with words or things she knows. Like the other week we were hiking and she starting counting 1-8! (omitting the number 4 which she will not say). . . and the other day she drew a circle and said, "circle." Say wha. . .?

One of my favorite things is watching her during nursery through the glass. She is hilarious! She was getting rocked in a cradle by three 3-yr-olds today and she always seems to be eating (since she doesn't get goldfish or animal crackers at our house, she goes a little nuts there). She still seems social and plays really well with other kids for the most part. 

Her nature vocab is off the hook. She pretty much showed up a 20-yr-old girl a month ago at church when the girl pointed to a picture of a buffalo and said, "guys, look at this whooly mammoth!" to which Liesel walked by, pointed and said, "Bison!" Everyone started cracking up. She knows all sorts of animals, their sounds and their habitats (pika, moose, elk, bison, squirrel, fish, manatee, dolphin. . . you name it). 

There is tons more I could write about this little one and all she's learning. As a matter of fact she's looking at this right now and just said, "cute!" But alas, we have to leave for church #2 in a few minutes and so I'm cut short. Here are a few more Liesel photos for your enjoyment: 

2nd half to rival the first [climbing the middle teton pregnant]

Wednesday night Allison, Sarah and Matt arrived in time to play a mad game of Word Origin. The next morning we were up and at it making huckleberry pancakes (thanks to all the berries we'd picked that week) and bacon. Had to fuel up because the rest of the day was spent on the Snake River: 

I think the best part of this entire trip was that I didn't have to organize any of it. Brian did it all. I just packed food and for Liesel. So easy. We brought the kids with us for an 8 mile flat water section down that ended at the put in for the rapids.It was beautiful and perfect for all of us. 

We saw tons of birds (an immature golden eagle and a few bald eagles included). Liesel loved being on the boat and preferred to stand over sit and proved she has killer balance. . . I wouldn't be surprised if she dominates the slackline in a year.  We pulled out at the beginning of the rapids section and dropped of the kids and Allison-- who very graciously agreed to watch them while the rest of us went on down. 

The rapids section was SO. MUCH. FUN. I was kind of nervous for the rapids-- the last time I had been down it was high water (almost 5x what it was this time) and the rapids were ginormous. Turned out to be not scary, just really really really fun. You can see the pictures HERE (were are the first six photos in the orange boat). 

The next day the Allred's left for home and we went to see the bison, went to the thrift store and got frozen yogurt. Ahhh. Rest day. Which was needed b/c on Saturday Matt and I woke up at 4:00am to head for the summit of the Middle Teton. I know I had just done it, but Brian was scheduled to do a rock climbing route on the Middle that day with one of his co-workers and wasn't able to go with Matt like they originally planned. Matt wanted to get up in the peaks. . . so I went. 

We made great time. We started from the trailhead at 4:45am (ran into a bear along the way before it was light outside) and made it to the summit of the Middle at 9:45am. 

Matt coming up the snowfield and Food. Glorious food. . . like the song from Oliver? I'm pretty sure my bro Kevin used to sing that if something good was in the house. 

I'll be honest, I didn't really think I was going to go all the way up. I thought I'd get to the meadows and we'd run into a few parties heading up and he'd tag along with them-- but ended up feeling good and kept going. Matt was a total animal-- I had no idea he could rival his brother in speed and I literally don't think I heard him breathe heavy once. . . whereas I breath heavy these days sitting on the sofa. We passed a few parties on the way up who thought they were going for the Grand. . . I wonder how many people summit the Middle and think they're on the grand? 

We got home and had a few hours with the Hays family before they took off back down to California. I love Brian's family. I really lucked out in the in-law department. They are amazing. They are always sacrificing time, money and a lot of energy to make sure they come and see us-- and they've been to every home/apartment/cabin we've ever lived in. And this was the last time we got to see Sarah before she goes into the MTC in three weeks. We are so going to miss her!!