Celebrating 100 years at Glacier National Park

My body has barely recovered from our week of hiking in the park, but the sore muscles are worth every minute we spent enjoying views like this

We celebrated the 4th with Grant's aunts in Billings, MT before driving to Glacier. And let me tell you, the people in Billings go all out for the 4th with the fireworks. They started at 7pm and did not quit until 1am (mind you, it doesn't get fully dark until about 1030 or 11pm there). And the quality of fireworks was equivalent to an organized show in Memphis. We loved it!

We drove to Glacier the next morning and spent three days hiking, totaling a whopping 30 miles! We visited the park a couple years ago, but were unable to finish most of the hikes due to the number of grizzly bear sightings causing the rangers to close the trails.

But this year we finished all 3 hikes we set out to complete and did not encounter any grizzlies (thank goodness!) but saw several deer, marmots, mountain goats, sheep, cows and one black bear. Grant spent most of his time pining for a moose but no such luck this year.

First day of hiking. Iceberg Lake.

on the way... don't even ask, i have no idea whats going on here.

stopped to admire this little guy and then finished here

due to the ever-changing climate, the icebergs are slowly disappearing each year :(

Day 2: Hidden Lake
Let me just say, I was not prepared for the amount of snow on this hike. We drove about 30 min to the trailhead and this is what was waiting for us:

less than a mile in...

the Burke men made it to the top!

and so did this cute thing

The change in altitude and steep incline presented its own challenges, but I certainly made it worse when I decided to wear New Balance shoes that morning. Reaaally old new balance with non-existing treds.

The beginning of the end...

and it only got worse from here. it was pretty hilarious the number of times I bit the dust. way too many to count!

Day 3: Grinnell Lake

We spent many nights here by the fire or on the deck and it was heaven! Its also the place where Grant's dad spent 2 summers working in college.
Many Glacier Hotel (built in 1915!)


and finally, the place we visited every morning in hopes of spotting a moose for Grant
Fishercap Lake

see you next time, glacier!

Five years ago

Grant and I were celebrating our first day of marriage here, in Belize.

(our anniversary was really a couple weeks ago, but I just couldn't get it together, as usual!)

This year, we celebrated downtown at Flight. If you've got a special occasion to celebrate or just in the mood for a splurge, this is your place. I loved everything about it- food, service, location and overall concept. The menu is designed with "fights" of every course presented in small portions.

It's perfect for someone like me who agonizes over decisions of any kind (fyi- if there's a plan to eat out, never ask me where I want to eat because most likely I'll say, "where do you want to eat?" and that will go round and round until you want to kick me. Just ask Grant!). So, instead of one entree, I had pork tenderloin, jumbo shrimp and steak. All of it was delicious. especially my 3 desserts!

After dinner we took a stroll through Harbor Town and enjoyed the sunset, which sparked a discussion of why we never thought to move downtown. I say we still can, but Grant isn't quite convinced yet!

Instead of gifts, we've always celebrated with a nice dinner, but this year Grant surprised me with this:

created in his office

and hung in our bedroom to enjoy!

He got his inspiration from this photo we took while in Rome last Fall:

I think he came pretty darn close to replicating it!

I sure do love this guy. Here's to many more years, my love!

While we were celebrating our anniversary, our backyard was going through a major overhaul. We have neglected the backyard for 3 years now and it certainly showed:

yuck!

during demo:

We knew this would be a project we couldn't do alone and I am so glad we decided to hand it over to someone with more experience.

The grass is slow-moving, but coming along! We're hoping to add a few plants/flowers soon.

But until then, we're off to this lovely place for a week of hiking!

Glacier National Park, Montana

Recent Travels

I really thought I'd do better about posting on this blog, but obviously that's not true!

Since the last post, we've entered a new year and so far it's been pretty great. In Februray, we celebrated with our favorite Griz, Zach Randolph (Z-Bo) as he was rewarded a spot to the All Star team during the annual All Star Weekend. Grant made several onesies and small t-shirts for his two girls to wear and celebrate the honor too!

[lost the onesie pictures, but trust me, they are so cute]

Unfortunately, we didn't see the Tigers in March Madness, but we thoroughly enjoyed watching two certain teams in the MidSouth lose in the Elite Eight! (don't act like you didn't either!).

In March, we won a contest at a Grizzlies game that involved writing your name on a piece of paper, folding it into your best make-shift airplane and launching it to center court in hopes of reaching the very center, or closest to.
And the prize? Free airfare to Orlando, tickets to Griz/Magic game and one night stay in the team hotel!

I thought I crafted the perfect plane, but it didn't even reach 3 rows in front me. So, you can imagine my surprise when the lady announced, "Grant Burke" as the winner. As it turned out, our dear friends placed our name on several planes and made a perfect throw. So very sweet!

So, we spent our first Easter away from home and in Orlando and had a great little getaway! We were able to extend the trip to 3 days and spent one day in Disney World at Magic Kingdom, a few hours at the outlet stores, a lovely easter service at church downtown and of course, the game.

Grant's good luck ran out when a bird pooped on him.

But then came back after Disney gave him a voucher for clean clothes!
[I almost didn't believe the sweet lady that walked up to us and said, " Sir, are you okay? Can we get you some new clothes?" Grant certainly wasn't going to say no!]

seriously, not another picture.
Space Mountain

The Grizzlies lost their game Sunday night, but we still had a great trip and are thankful to our friends who helped us get there!

And a couple of days after Orlando, I met my friend, Emily and her precious daughter, Sadie in Little Rock for a quick trip to see our dear friend, Melissa and her two children in Monroe, LA. The trip down and back was short-lived but so worth it!

Nora and Sadie
[if only you could see the things we did to get them to look into the camera!]

sweet, Ethan. He's so cuddly. I love him!

Loved seeing both of you and your precious children!

Now, I think I'll stay put for a little while. And maybe update before 4 months goes by again!

30th Burkday

This past Friday we celebrated Grant's 30th birthday with the Grizzlies, no doubt. Thanks to one generous friend, we were given a party suite at the Forum and 14 tickets, for free. All we had to do was take care of the food!

Believe it or not, Grant used pliers to turn this:


into this:

and with my help, this:




MVP's with Z-Bo in the starting line-up

another gb creation for everyone to enjoy and take home


To my sweet, hilarious and immensely talented husband, I wish you (again)
Happy 30th Birthday!
Love you.

{In other unrelated news, someone hacked into my facebook account over the weekend, told everyone grant and I were in London, mugged and needed money. So, I dont exist right now on FB, as they shut me down. not sure when that will be worked out!}

so many projects...

most of which have involved me spending time in the kitchen with my trusty 1970 whirlpool oven. As you know, this time of year is filled with all kind of festive gatherings which require a baked good or two. And most of the time, I can't just sign up for one thing. I can't help it. I LOVE potlucks.

But as much as I love potlucks, I'd have to say that the annual cookie exchange with our Sunday school class is by far my favorite gathering. There's just something about the anticipation of each girl's cookie, the overwhelming nauseous feeling after tasting 23 cookies, the lovely fellowship and the oh-so friendly competition! I mean, this thing is serious, people. And this year was no disappointment. This is my third year to participate and still without a solid win, but its all about the process, right?!

I'm a sucker for cookies with frosting, so I guess it's only fitting that this is what made the exchange this year:

packaged like this:

I knew Grant's endless supply of CD cases would come in handy one day.

I didn't take any pictures of the winning cookies (there were five categories) but they were all delicious! Thank you, Stacey for opening your home once again!

When I haven't been in the kitchen, I've been in the bathroom trying to complete the project we started before our vacation a couple months ago. We are two months late from my personal deadline, but it is finally done. Thanks to my wonderful husband for all the time spent in design and manual labor!

Let me remind you of the bathroom when we bought the house.


And after a little TLC


we removed the closet for more open storage

and added a few pictures of Italy to always remind of us our trip

We are officially on break from home projects for awhile and ready to enjoy the holiday season!

As busy as we've been lately with projects and such, there's always time for this sweet friend

Jim and Maria's golden, Maisy. Oh my I love this puppy.