Weekly Update

After a hard day of being a 2 year old

Ethan doing his thing

Ethan's kindergarten class performed an assortment of "train" songs this week. As you can see in the video clip he can be a bit animated while performing with the other kids but he does enjoy the singing too.



This week Madeline moved up a class at her daycare. She is now a full-on toddler who is starting potty training. We'll see if the old saying that "girls are easier than boys" really holds true when it comes to using the white throne. She is also getting very independent in her ways. She always insists on doing things herself (which I think she gets from following her big brother around so much).

She had a rough weekend last week and ended up with a nasty cut on her tongue and a fat lip from 2 separate incidents. Sometimes I think she forgets that she's not Ethan's age and overdoes it. But she's a tough cookie and can hold her own.

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Adios 2008…

The Westside TeNgaio's survived yet another holiday season. We managed to actually enjoy Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Eve without killing each other, (close, but no cigar).

Thanksgiving saw warm weather here in Idaho. We spent the day at Britt's grandparents in Pocatello. They do an annual Thanksgiving and a separate Christmas dinner...which the later is notoriously jammed packed in their humble abode. Thanksgiving however, is mellow and sees fewer folks, which in turn makes for a much more relaxing atmosphere. Good people + good food = good times.

Christmas, on the other hand, was a blur of blizzards and family/work parties. I like the holidays and all that they encompass but damn, after seeing Santa about 4 or 5 times it kind of losses it's appeal, although the kdis don't seem to mind. More Santa means more gifts. Right on. I know Britt is somewhat happy it is over too. She has the lovely assignment of coordinating her Christmas work party which is held at Dave Kingston's lavish estate outside of Rexburg. They need to pay her more. Plus, that fact that I was down for the count for a couple of days during Christmas only compounded all the work she toiled through. God bless that woman.

Christmas Eve for myself was spent in bed with the damn stomach flu. Brittany came back from my parents house with the kids that night telling me of all the tasty morsels I missed. Plus, to have the kitchen counter piled with holidays treats and none an appetite to enjoy them confirmed the fact that sometimes life can be cruel.

The kids had an awesome Christmas morning ransacking through their loot. Madeline got her baby dolls that she loves to play with, (it must be an instinctual-mother-thing that girls are born with or something), plus books and other goodies. Ethan got usual Christmas fare plus some sweet Hulk hands and a Wii game system. He's already bowling 200.

Winter dolldrums are starting to set in and we're already planning for a spring getaway to southern Utah to camp, hike, explore and be warm. Brittany and I haven't been back to Arches National Park/ Moab since we were engaged, (circa '98), so it's due time. Southern Utah has such a unique landscape, it's literally like a playground for kids and adults. Plus, Edward Abbey sure loved the hell out of it.

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Happy Birthday Madeline!

Our sweet Madi-Cakes turned 2 on Sat., Nov. 8! She soaked up the fun and attention and had a blast. Thanks to all who were able to make it and thanks to Uncle Clayton for taking all these pictures.

For more pics see Madeline's birthday shindig.

We love you Madeline Ruby Lane Tengaio!

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A Whole Lotta Nada

A rare moment.

Madeline, Ethan, Alexa & Mason

Not much to post about so we thought we'd just post some pictures Britt took this past weekend. We FINALLY got a few good shots of the kids. It always seems like one of them won't cooperate once they get in front of the lens but Britt was able to capture a few peaceful moments on the camera.

We ran into our friends Derick and Janece Moore on Saturday and ended up having them over for dinner that night. Madi and Ethan were stoked to have their kids, Alexa and Mason, over to play with. They don't get a lot of people their size over to the house much, so when they do – whoa! Plus, it was awesome to hang out with the Moores, they are such good people.

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Happy Birthday Brittany!!!

The ad says it all…

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Ahh…Fall in Idaho

The fam at Palisades Creek.

Britt giving dad a break going up Palisades Cr.

Lunch at the reservoir in the gentle Fall sunshine.

"Free at last…" Palisades Reservoir.

Beautiful Madeline Ruby Lane TeNgaio.

We've been blessed with incredible fall weather lately and this past weekend was no exception. We know the inevitable is coming (winter) so we decided to ditch doing family stuff in town and headed out into the hills to see the fall colors and get one more hike in before it's too cold.

Lunchtime on Saturday found us on the shoreline of the Palisades Reservoir eating cold cuts whilebasking in the mellow fall sunshine. The foliage on the surrounding hillsides is just barely starting to turn colors so we didn't get the full-meal-deal. I think it's been a bit too warm and the temps at night aren't getting as cold yet to make the trees go into their winter dormancy. The scenery was still cool though.

Afterward, we hiked up Palisades Creek. Many hikers and fisherpeople were out on the trail. This is by far the best local hike to do in the fall due to the abundance of trees and bushes that turn color this time of year – and it's also the busiest. It's a trail we've kind of avoided before we had kids due to that fact but now that things have changed, we're all for it.

The trail is pretty mellow and fast going. Horseback riders use this trail too and it can get a bit stinky along the way. Just make sure the kids know the diference between mud and horse poo and they'll be alright. I'm gald we opted to leave Izzy (dog) at home because she looooooves horse poop. Both Madeline and Ethan took their mandatory wipe-outs alog the trail but they survived (stupid rocks in the trial anyway). Despite the spills we all had fun and made it farther than we have before on this trail.

By the time we were heading home the sun had lowered itself on the horizon illuminating the aspen and cottonwood trees along the south fork of the Snake River. Simply put: splendid.

Ahhh…fall in Idaho is blessedly sweet.

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Gettin' High in Idaho

The north face route of Mt. Borah.

Jerry gettin' after it.

Rewi enjoying the firm neve snow and ice.

Havin' fun at altitude.

2 tired, yet, elated climbers on the roof of Idaho.

I don't normally post my climbing antics on our family site but this last trip I did is worthy of the 'ol blog.

My friend Jerry and I climbed the north face of Mt. Borah this past Saturday. It's a route we've been wanting to do for years, but every year it seems that something always comes up. So it was with great excitement that we headed out and tackled this classic alpine route on the seldom visited side of Idaho's highest peak, (12,664'), this past weekend.

To get to the start of the route required a 4 a.m. start from the trailhead, then 5 hours of slogging uphill guided by headlights. 8 a.m. found us at the base of the massive north face where we donned crampons and ice axes and got after it – this is what we came for. Overall the ice was comfortable enough for both us to solo (no ropes) but the higher we got the harder the ice grew and there was a moment that made us both think about if our life insurance policies were up to date. After that we geared up – rope and all.

At 2:30 p.m. we reached the top of the west ridge and welcomed the sunshine, (we were in the shadow of the north face all day). We basked in the sun for a while seeing how we were making such good time. We've been told that this route could take us anywhere from 12 hours to 24 hours car-to-car – so we were well ahead of schedule.

We summited at 3 p.m. among a group of fellow Borahites and then quickly made the God-forsaken 3 hour descent down the standard route on the southwest ridge of the mountain passing all the hikers that hiked up the standard route. We got a lot of looks with all our climbing gear on us and questions like "Whoa, you guys must be professionals!". It was kind of amusing.

6:00 p.m. back at the car. 14 hours on the go and my dogs are barking. I'm wupped, but smiling.

6:30 p.m. enjoying well-earned cheeseburger and fries in Mackay.

8:30 p.m. home, hug the kids, hug the wife, shower, bed.

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Crazy Hair Day

OMG! It's Crazy Hair Day at the daycare.

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Aliens, Astronauts and Nacho Cheese

Last Saturday night the kids and I were taking our evening walk, sans Britt, (she's going to kill me for putting this on our blog page but she was rocking out at the Poison concert at the state fair!), when Ethan looked up at the stars and asked me "Where do the aliens sleep when they're up there?". I asked him "Do you mean the astronauts?", "Yeah.", he replied. I said "They sleep in their spaceships." He thought about if for a second then turned and looked at me and said "Well, they better close their doors at night because the aliens might come and take their cheesey nachos."

Classic.

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Labor Day Weekend

Look out! It's the crazy net headed bush children!

Labor day weekend found the West Side TeNgaio's amongst the masses at Heise Campground. Good ol' Heise – you gotta love it. Our original plan was to make the 5 hour drive down to Maple Canyon, Utah to hook up with my friend Troy and his commrades for a weekend of camping, climbing, hiking and other wacky outdoor pursuits. But alas, the weather forecast changed our plans and we whimped-out and opted for Heise. We had already told the kids that we were going camping that weekend and there's no way we could of backed out of it – so Heise it was.

On Saturday we hiked a little ways up Blacks Canyon at the end of the river road along the south fork of the Snake River. This stretch of river is world class. I don't fish, (but love to eat them!), but it's easy to see why fisherpeople love this section of the Snake – it is truly world class and b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l, especially in the fall, (think many, many cottonwood trees and quaking aspens that turn gold). The hike was mellow yet good for the kids. Madi took her standard 1-2 good spills trying to navigate the rocks on the trail and Ethan kept his quota on how fast he can get his shoes muddy wet plus almost poke Madeline's eye out with a stick. Kids, you gotta love 'em. Oh, and Izzy did her part in rolling in dried cow dung and then gettig all nasty wet and muddy in the creek. At least she went in the water AFTER the poop rolling.

That evening as we sat around the campfire, a boy from a few tents down decided that we were his new friends and hung out with us all night. He and Ethan had fun with hot burn-the-side-your-face sticks. Madi kept up with them for a bit then decided it was bed time – she had enough of their mayhem.

Sunday morning we headed to Heise Rock for some climbing. Ethan was totally stoked to climb outside – and it showed. He did two runs up the wall and almost got to the top on his second turn, which is pretty impressive due to the fact that he's about 4' and the cliff is about 50' – that's pretty damn big for a 5 year old. Brittany took a turn and did good too. She hasn't climbed in a few years but she made it up most of the way. I'm still working on convincing her that climbing is fun, not scary. Madi hung out at the base of the cliff with a group of neighboring camping kids. I overheard one saying to his buddy that "my dad would never do this, he's too scared", and "ah man, that kid is good!" They were all impressed with Ethan making it up so far. Pretty cool for him, I could tell.

All in all it was a good, relaxing camp weekend that everyone enjoyed – even the dog.

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