Christmas Eve

Skiing on Christmas Eve...

Ever wondered what Santa does to relax? Ski at Schweitzer, of course!

Merry Christmas!

The Christmas Spirit

Just in case you haven't seen this yet...

The Christmas Spirit

Real Job

No matter what your current job or profession, I'm sure you remember your first real job. Along the way, I've had a few jobs*, all with glorified titles:

*Loosely defined here as acitivity lasting longer than a single day that involved me receiving money for some sort of work.

1. Professional Lawnmower - This actually was the verbatim title I listed on my 8th grade resume to describe the three summers I spent mowing ONE neighbor's lawn.

2. Fence Painter - People kept running into this fence along a farmer's field when they'd drive by at night. I was hired to paint it white. Still white, last time I checked.

3. Mink Habitat Repurposer - A neighbor had a mink farm and he was transitioning to writing online travel guides for exotic destinations. What this guy should really be writing is a guide to internet entrepeneurship for mink farmers. Enter: computer programmers. Exit: wire mink cages. Benefit: mink + internet surfers wishing they were on vacation. End result: A good friend and I spent most of that summer sitting on buckets cutting apart mink cages piece by piece. Good times Dan!

4. Gas station attendant/motel cleaner/cook's assistant/waiter/concierge/accountant/Navajo rug expert/dishwasher - All in one summer. Not just a bad string of hirings/firings, this was one of the best jobs possible, living in the middle of nowhere on the Kaibab plateau serving up four star food to Hell's Angels and Colorado City socialites in the same afternoon.

5. Ladybug Wrangler - Two and a half summers of undergrad research involving collecting ladybugs in various farmers' fields and from wooded trails near the Logan River. If the job hadn't included raising aphids (a ladybug's favorite food) in a greenhouse, this could qualify as one of the best outdoor ecology jobs ever. Oh, and the trips to collect yellow start thistle. It's as painful as it looks.


And now, 24 years after starting school, I'm signed on for a job that will last longer than a summer, won't depend on tips and has the potential to grow into whatever I make of it.



In August 2010, Molly and I will be moving with the kids to Salt Lake City, Utah where I begin work at Primary Children's Medical Center as a pediatrician in the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine. I'll split time at PCMC between the ED the Rapid Treatment Unit, where children are admitted when only a short hospital stay is needed. We'll be close to home, close to the mountains but will miss all of our good friends in the Midwest. Salt Lake City here we come!

09 Thanksgiving

Dealing with a delicious dinner.

Let's go skiing!

Is everyone ready? There is snow in the forecast.

We can't wait to go skiing!

Haloween

Halloween isn't very scary at our house, but it sure is cute.

Big lady bug, little lady bug, fairy, equestrian rider.

It was the warmest Halloween we've ever had in Sandpoint, so they didn't even have to cover up their cute little costumes too much.

Be Thankful for Your Warm Homes

Home in Southern Utah

Be Thankful for Your Schools

Humphrey, Idaho school house near Monida pass and Montana border

Hong Kong

I thought I'd post some pictures of Hong Kong. After a week long trip to Asia the company extended our stay for a couple of days. So it's back to Hong Kong for a couple of days.

One photo is of crysanthemum bonzai trees in Tokyo. The other pictures are from the market in Hong Kong. Of particular note are the dried deer tongue, the fried chicken feet, and the flattened dried ducks. Oh, and the fresh fish!

Community Newsletter

I have been working on a community newsletter for Menan. We are starting a non-profit organization to help coordinate county and city efforts and increase involvement and interest. You can see the rest of the newsletter at menan.community blogs.us.

Help!!!

I have been captured. Please help!!!!
(This picture was taken at Menan's Heritage Day on Sept. 19))

Boundary Waters 3

Kurtis walking the trail.

Dad with photographic proof that fish were caught...

and fried, in a very dramatic fashion, by C. If you look close you could see the hairs on his forearms curling.

And some very fancy-looking food was dished out, garnished with "backwoods lobster".

Boundary Waters 2

Ralph showing proof that the load was shared over our 5 portages.

And Dave, wondering why there's so much walking on a canoe trip.

And Dad making sure that we don't go hungry (fishing poles) and make it out alive (first aid kit).

We all had a chance to carry the canoe on our shoulders. Here's C doing it in style.

Boundary Waters

From 9/3-9/8 I went to the Boundary Waters (along the US/Canadian border) with Ralph Whitesides, C Whitesides, Dave Lund, Dad (that'd be Dave Johnson) and Kurtis Tucker (the other counselor in our ward young men's presidency). The trip was great. Here are a few pictures.


We camped the first night on the shores of a quiet lake just outside of Ely, MN.

This was taken from the short of the campsite on Knife Lake where we spent most of our time. The weather was clear and warm with some beautiful sunsets.

And sunrises, here on Moose Lake as we paddled out on our last morning.

Here's a shot of our campsite on the night before we paddled out (more to follow).

Catchup part two

Quinn on his first day of preschool at the YMCA. Backpack? Check. Folder? Check. Not exactly the exhaustive supply list the Davidson's needed to start school (I wasn't quite sure what a Pee Chee folder was until I found it on wikipedia) but Quinn was super excited.

We managed to finish a project that Quinn and I started last summer - a mountain for cars. Quinn was constantly bunching up blankets to make mountains to drive his cars on. We made a wood frame, covered it with chicken wire and paper mache. The kids did the landscape painting and I put on the roads the night before we took this video.

Catchup

This is a quick recap of the last few weeks. Summer blurred quickly into winter with a dusting of snow a few nights ago. We picked our pumpkins and finally gave in to buying a leaf blower as the leaves came raining down from our neighborhood trees. As the trees loose their leaves, the grass finally sees some sun but the front yard is barely visible underneath the fallen ash leaves.

Aunt Hil and Gran visited while I was at the Boundary Waters with C and Ralph. Thanks for some great pictures (courtesy of Hil and Gran) of the last few days of summer. Here are Quinn and Max riding up our street.

And Mae catching the sunlight.

Max, Mae, Quinn and I rode bikes (well, I pulled them in our long-haul bike trailer) to a nearby nature center for a fall festival. Decorating cookies (and eating the frosting) was a favorite.

Parker's Eagle Scout Project

This week the city called and needed some trees planted. Parker was able to us it for an Eagle Scout project. It worked out well and now all he has to finish is some merit badges. We had a good amount of boys come and Kurt and Thomas also came to help. It's nice to have an Eagle project just fall into your lap.

Halloween Quilts

Here are some Halloween quilts I'm posting for Mom. Anyone interested in hosting these lovely wall hangings in their home? Contact Mom.

Now and Then

Friends from High school. I am not the only one with grey hair.

Family History Trip

Cousins at Nine Mile School where Hannah Molland Byington was a teacher.

First Day of School

Ready or not, school is in session. Here's what it took to get everyone there:

8 spiral notebooks

60 #2 pencils

3 boxes of colored pencils

3 boxes of crayons

3 pink pearl erasers

2 bottles of white school glue

1 pair Fiskar's scissors

2 pair of Gym shoes

3 back packs

4 boxes of Kleenexes

4 bottles of hand sanitizer

4 reams white copy paper

1 each yellow, pink, and green highlighters

2 fine tip black sharpies

1 water bottle

1 ruler

1 water color paint set

1 set markers

9 pee chee type folders

1 sharpener

1 package wide-ruled notebook paper

1 teddy bear

It is a quiet house this morning with everyone gone. Izzy and I don't quite know what to do with ourselves. But I'm sure we'll think of something.

Today's Must See Video

It will make you feel good about living on Earth... and kind of the same feeling I get each time I step into my classroom with my students!

Onto Great Heights

On his way to more challenges and a stopover in Utah. A. heads for the Y.

Summer on the Lake

Here's Hannah and Maren water skiing. The girls have all been learning to water ski on our lake this summer with their friends. It is so fun to watch those little bodies skiing across the water. For more photos, check out my blog at http://www.kirknkirsten.blogspot.com/

Isaac's Description of WICKED at Lagoon

Harvest Fun

Summer recipes that have been a success at our house:

Green Beans with Hazelnut-Lemon Butter
1 lb. fresh green beans
1/4 c. butter
1/2 toasted chopped hazelnuts or almonds
1 Tbs. lemon juice
1 Tbs. minced fresh parsley
1/2 tsp. dried basil or 1 Tbs fresh
1/2 tsp. salt

Boil green beans until crisp tender. Brown butter in separate saucepan, add hazelnuts, lemon juice, parsley, basil, and salt; and heat through.Drain beans ; add the butter mixture and toss to coat. Gourmet!!!


Molasses Pork
4 boneless pork chops
2 Tbs. Molasses
2 tsp. garlic
2 tsp coarse salt
2 tsp. pepper

Marinate pork in molasses, salt and pepper 1 hour to 24 hours; and grill.


Grilled Zucchini
Quarter zucchini lengthwise; put in plastic gallon bag; drizzle with 1 Tbs olive oil; sprinkle with kosher salt or sea salt; let sit 1 hour and grill or broil.


Here are some pictures: from Tad's birthday, Isaac coming home from a mini pioneer trek and huckleberry picking.



While Porter babysat Davis, we picked an amazing 3 gallons of giant huckleberries on Saturday. We picked for over 6 hours.





Tad had a great birthday. We picked Tad's friend, Trevor, went to the movies, ate pizza the park, then went home and had sushi and homemade ice cream with the missionaries. It was a day complete with jedi fighting and Legos from Grandma.




Isaac went on a mini pioneer trek with the stake on Saturday. He chose Charles Smithies to walk for because he was musical. Isaac is thinking about getting a accordion.