We are here in MN and it appears that winter is here. It is about 1 degree right now and like every winter my mind starts to go elsewhere. I think it is a defense mechanism more than anything else, but I dream about being places like this along the Elwha River in the middle of August. I could see myself staying in a cabin like this without a care in the world.

A view from the Cat Creek Way Trail

















Appleton pass is a nice place to go on short notice. If you only have time for
one night, you can reach this pass in just a few hours with out much trouble.
There are plenty of places to pitch your tent. Near a little tarn named Oyster Lake
a little stream trickling out of the hillside provides an excellent source of water.
At 5050 ft, Appleton pass is not that daunting, but it provides access to the
"Cat Creek Way Trail" and many tremendous views including Mt. Olympus and
Mt. Carrie. Watch for the Marmots!
I took this photograph as I sat out side of my tent watching the sun go down,
my beautiful little children ever on my mind. During this trip, I wrote a letter
to my 8 year old daughter, and after the sun fell behind the horizon I wrote
the following little verse:

I have lit a candle in the window of my soul
And come what may, it will remain bright & true.
The years may come, The years may go.
The tides will rise and fall.
But the candle will remain in the window of my soul.















Nice little stream along the trail to stop and rest

This past weekend I had an experience that I thoroughly enjoyed. A couple of years ago, my family and I moved to MN to live in the area where I served my mission 19 years ago. It has been a good experience but has been a challenge in many ways. One good thing has been connecting with members of the church that I knew and worked with while on my mission. On Friday I was able to attend the temple with a member of the church I knew while I was a missionary. This was her first time attending the temple. She has gone through quite a bit since I was here last and her membership in the church was affected. She in now remarried and starting over in the church and now she was able to go through the temple this past weekend and I felt truly humbled to have that opportunity to take part in that occasion. During this visit I really had the impression that I had been taking my blessings for granted. I realize that every day I need to remember that I am fortunate to have all that I do. Our Stake president challenged us at our last stake conference to journal daily about what we have been blessed with that day. I have not followed that challenge. I am as I have mentioned a terrible journal keeper and need to repent of this weakness. So in that spirit of recognizing my blessings I would like to mention the greatest blessing I have - that is the stewardship of my children:
This past Wednesday I attended parent-teacher conferences. I was impressed at how different each of my children are but what great kids they all are. Our oldest daughter is in the 8th grade and has struggled socially with this move to MN. This year is going much better for her than last year. She is so much smarter than I ever was at her age and she is doing very well in school. Her language arts teacher is giving her extra work to do because she finishes early with everything and then gets bored in class. She loves to read – we go to the library at least once a week and she checks out as many books as she can carry and then reads them all before the next trip. She borrows books from my collection as well. She loves history and in general enjoys most subjects in school.



















My middle daughter is in the 6th grade and struggles academically in many ways, she has some auditory processing problems and her performance suffers because of it. She is very kind and sensitive. She loves animals and while behind in school, all of her teachers report that she is a pleasant child and a joy to work with.



















My youngest is in the 1st grade and is small for her age. She is very social and loves school. She still has some pretty severe temper tantrums at times and struggles to get along with her sisters sometimes, mostly I think she gets frustrated that she cannot keep up and participate in everything that they do. She gets her way much of the time due mostly to her “cuteness.” As she matures and develops, I find myself surprised by something new she says or does almost daily.



















So I am truly blessed and though I tend to focus my mind on my weaknesses and deficits, I need to focus more on what I have to be grateful for.

Here is one of my favorite places in the whole wide world. This is Heart Lake in the Lacrosse Basin. Heart Lake is set just below O'Neil Pass in the heart of the Olympic mountains. Lacrosse Basin includes three lakes: Heart, Marmot (pictured here with the tent), and lake lacrosse. I will post more pictures of this beautiful area and a poem I wrote about it. The other of these three pictures is looking out the opposite direction at Heart Lake. So, Turning around from where I took this picture of Heart Lake comes a view of Mount Duckabush.

Those of you familiar with the Olympic mountains will find it curious that there are two "Heart Lakes" in the Olympics. The other is much smaller and lies on the other side of the Olympics near the Seven Lakes Basin on the Sol-Duc and Bogechiel trails.

Ok, welcome to my blog. I am going to try to post my thoughts here on a regular basis. I will also share my hiking photos. I will also share some creative writing from time to time and would appreciate any feedback. I have been a notoriously inconsistent journal keeper but thought that this medium might help me write more often. My profile is incomplete at the moment but will update that as time goes on.