Run, run Rudolph

       Well we are ten days out from the grandaddy of holidays, Christmas!  Paige and I are getting very excited for the long trip, short flight, back to Ohio.  It will be a new experience for all of us and the gambit of emotions will certainly be run.  We hope everyone is enjoying, and not stressing, their Christmas preperations.  All the days that lead up to the 25th of December are what end up making it so special and the love we share, near or far, is what makes it so warm and indearing.  So, enjoy these last days and keep an appreciation for what we have in eachother as friends and families and it will indeed be very merry.

        The two of us have been keeping busy.  Paige's bball team lost a tough fought semifinal game this past Sunday.  What made it a tough loss was how close their squad came to upsetting the best team in the leauge, which has three former division 1 womens players.  The final score was a three point seperation.  The difference?  A halfcourt heave from the other teams best player, from mid court as the halftime buzzer sounded.   After the game, Paige, was awarded the "The Computer Award".....because she has a hard drive!  Seriously.

        Nothing overly exciting from me outside of daily excursions into the mountains.  The pictures tell it better than i do.

Evening light on the backside of University Mt.

                                       

Marshall Canyon

Univ, Sentinel, Jumbo from Marshall Canyon service rd

Willa takes it in before the plunge to the car

A couple of, soul nurturing, items i thought i would mention.  The frist is a very tasty brew by Lagunitas Brewing.  The second is a song from a band i am just becoming acquainted with, The Alabama Shakes.

Holiday Season!

Football Gang (Bob Ford photographer)

The holiday season is in full swing!  Paige and I kicked things off right with a very, fullfilling, 5 day trip to Oregon ( OOOOOO),  for the Turkey day celebration.  We drove into Eugene on Wednesday, after a long day on the road, and were greeted with warm hugs and smiles, as well as some very tasty pumpkin enchiladas.  Thursday saw the whole crew head over to beautiful, Black Butte to feast on Terriffic Turkey, and enjoy wonderful company.  Dinner was followed by a brisk stroll and warming cocktails.  Amidst some great card play and jovial sportsmanship, the rest of the crew arrived later in the evening, allowing enough time to plan an action packed Friday.  With full stomachs and a clear sky(we were on the sunny side of Oregon) the ambitious crew set out for a day of activity and competition.  A brief synopsis of the day included eating,  christmas tree hunting, eating, touch football(hail to the victors, Joel Ford MVP), eating, Pitch tournament(congratulations Bob and Sybil), and finally, sleeping.  One detail of the day worth mentioning was that of an all out effort.  Shannon Ford and the forty yard dash.  Currently i am having technical difficulties posting the physical evidence, but in short, Shannon went all out in an attempt, and an impressive one i might add, at besting an NFL linemans 40 yard dash time of 5.0.  When the dust settled and     

and the watch stopped it read, 5.8! While she did not achieve her goal, i do believe she is in good company, as my research shows..."....Shaq had some good zip on the ball in passing drills, he also ran the 40-yard dash in 5.8 seconds,.."(http://www.waitingfornextyear.com/2009/08/shaq-vs-entertaining-with-a-side-of-cheese/).  Yes, Shannon is as fast as Shaq. 

Sybil, Paige, Justin

Oregon's Finest Spruce

Begin forwarded message:

From: Justin Yates <sunrnr9@yahoo.com>
Date: December 6, 2011 8:29:55 PM GMT-07:00
To: "jyates0909.paigejustin@blogger.com" <jyates0909.paigejustin@blogger.com>
Subject: Holiday Season!

Sentinel at Sunset

NW Ridge

NW Ridge

Mt Jumbo from the NW Ridge

Lingering light

Champions and Winters

Champions! Tuesday nights Le Kickball Championship game was a burner! Flash forward to the top of the seventh, and final inning. With a 5-4 lead all we needed was three quick outs, but the 2TRU4Us werent going down that easy and rallied two quick kicks and a run! With a tie game and runners on Paige made the defensive play of the game, and season, with a finger tip grab along the right field foul line, sending us up to kick. Fortunately our first kicker was the should be league MVP, Matt, who kicked a dribbler to third for a single. Next up was Matt's wife, "Boom boom" Jeanne Bloom. After watching the first pitch she lined up the next one and grounded it to short forcing the shortstop to make a choice, which he took too much time doing! With two runnners on I came to the plate knowing that if i kicked it anywhere into right field, Matt's 6'5 length and aggressiveness, "no glory in third base", would go for home. I lined up the first pitch and....a tough foul ball down the right, nearly caught by the first base lady! With nerves high and the PBR buzzing i watched the next pitch in and kicked it just over the second base lady, watching Matt make the round of third and run into home for the Win! It was a great time. Later at the awards ceremony Paige would be robbed of an earned womens MVP award, but hey thats not why we play the game.

This week was also the week that Winter settled into western Montana. Blah, blah, blah. You either embrace it and meet the everyday challenge, often finding unexpected and surprising beauty in the white, grey cold, or you crawl into a hole and hibernate till April. Paige and i have taken to the former and had several great outings already. Unfortunately, Paige paid the price later this past week and came down with a debilitating little cold that forced her to stay home on Friday and even though she didnt "work" she did do quiet a bit of organizing and planning just to get a sub lined out for her class. Teach, teach, teach.

On Saturday i got out for a great run up and down Sentinel and University mountains. A beautiful day on the hills.

Summit of University Mtn.

Sentinel summit with University Mtn. ridge in the background.

Le Kickball!

After two playoff games late last night, in blizzzzzard conditions, we won our way into the, 16 team, Missoula Le Kickball League championship! Tonight is the night it goes down between us, The Ice Monkeys, and the 2Tru4Us, who we tied in regular season play. With more cold snow predicted it should be a good one!

Sperry Trail, Glacier National Park

Winter Weekend in Glacier, more photos to come!

Out the back door/Sunday 11/6/11

The First

Welcome to our blog! Keeping up, filling in the gaps, and making the most of eachday is hard work. Being soooo far from our families doesnt make it very easy to share this richness. Phone calls, texts, emails and and the occasional, in the flesh visits leave out the details of all the time in between, which can be quiet awhile, sorry. Hopefully, this format will allow us to keep up with the Jones', or in this case the Fords, Jernstedts, Sheppards, Forrests, Crosslands, Yates, Kimmels, Womacks, Browns, Irelands, Greys,.....(catching breath) and all those we call friends. We will make an effort to keep this blog up to date with our ramblings, so check back often. This is JP Livin! This is us!