Peter and I went to Molena, GA this past weekend for my Hamlett family Christmas party – only it was the whole extended family! It was a lot of fun taking Peter to the South…the deep south for him. We flew into Asheville and spent a night at my parent’s cabin in Franklin, NC. It rained all day, so we relaxed and caught up on our sleep since we took a red-eye flight. On Friday, we started our trek down towards South Atlanta. I took Peter to the tallest peak in Georgia – Bald Mountain at 4,500 ft or so. It was really cold with the humid air! Then, we continued on to Helen GA that looks like a Swiss village with gift shops, etc. We had a great time on our drive down and Peter got to experience the “friendliness” of the South. We both realized being there, that Utah definitely misses a “community” type feel. It’s awesome in the Bible-belt because there’s Christian churches everywhere you go, but in Utah you find mostly ward churches.
Our family party was on Saturday and Peter got to experience the many flavors of southern casseroles. When you see a casserole, you know you’re in the south. Then, of course, you’ve got the southern accents. I introduced Peter to my dad’s 4 siblings (he has 5 – 1 sibling has passed) and my first and second cousins. It was quite a gathering. The best part was seeing…finally….my own husband playing the traditional Hamlett football game after lunch out in the field. When I was a young girl, all my cousins were boys and all my uncles got us out on the field to play football. I wanted to get out there too (having no girl cousins to play with), so I became the official hupper. I hupped the ball to the quarterback and then ran as fast as I could out of the way! My uncles were huge to me then and even though it was touch football, it could get rough! I’m glad Peter got to experience that. It was great seeing my parents and Brian and Lauren….especially Grandmother, who is 89 this year and witty as ever! She told us with a straight face as we were all sitting around opening a few presents, that the economy does affect some things and that her card list was getting really long this year, so she had to shorten her list….so Merry Christmas to you all, she said! It was really funny. It was a great trip and now we are looking forward to our trip to Washington to spend time with Peter’s family for Christmas.
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Well – it’s now dark by 5pm so Peter and I have been getting more rest and staying put. For Turkey day we’ll have a few friends over, and then maybe go on a day trip somewhere to hike. We are both off for 4 days! The following weekend is our first anniversary weekend, so we’ll be up at Lava Hot Springs, Idaho soaking up some hot water and maybe snowshoeing if it will ever snow again! Then, the weekend of December 13th is my extended Hamlett family Christmas party in Atlanta, GA. Peter and I will be heading into Asheville, NC on the 11th so we can go hiking and stay at my parent’s cabin in Franklin, NC. Peter will finally meet the rest of the Hamlett side….and I mean, third cousins, Great Aunt’s, etc, as well as, my dad’s other 4 siblings and families (only two uncles were at the wedding). I’m very excited to take him into the South again….maybe he’ll come back with a slight southern accent after hanging out with my folks in Georgia! When we return, we’ll have a weekend at home and then we fly to Seattle for a 4 day Christmas break. I love this time of year!
Hope you guys have a great Turkey Day and we’ll see you all soon! Peter and Lisa
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I’m so happy that ski show season is finally over for me! It’s the busy season for my work, which is great, but this year I traveled to several shows: Ft Lauderdale, Seattle, Calgary and Minnesota. Calgary ski show wasn’t so bad since my boss offered to let my coworker and I stay an extra day so we could drive over to Banff. It was absolutely amazing! We checked out Bow Falls, Banff downtown, Lake Louise and wildlife! We saw a white wolf and a ram.
My collection of National Park magnets gained one in Canada – whoo hoo! I also took several photos:
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Late September, we drove an hour west of SLC to the Stansbury Mountains. They are the range past the first range of mountains you see from SLC looking West. Beautiful! We tried to complete the hike last September, but a snow storm hit as we were half way up and my toes about froze off due to the snow soaking my socks. This year, we beat the snow and took in a beautiful 360 degree view of mountains. Check out our photos. This will probably be our last hike for awhile. We are getting snow today in the mountains and it’s sooooo cold! Hope you’re enjoying those warm temps in Charlotte, NC, Brian and Lauren!
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On Sept 14th, Ifinally turned 30! Peter had a great surprise bday here at the house for his in May (I’ll have to find those pics), but for mine…we kept it low key. Peter took me to see the musical CATS in town and to dinner. It was an awesome evening of fun. I totally don’t feel like anything has changed, so I guess that’s good! They say the 30’s are the new 20’s!
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In September, we hiked one of the tallest peaks in Utah at 11,000 ft. It was a beautiful day…which made up for the fact that we had 6 miles of uphill trail before reaching the peak. There were several switchback sections that you’ll notice in the photos and at the peak we could see down into Provo (the large lake is Provo Lake with the city next to it). We also could see East into the mountainous regions that make up the Uintas.
We started at 8am and finished up around 5:30pm…it was a long day and Peter will tell you my legs could feel it! Honestly, by the last 4 miles, I thought I might break a leg. I think my legs had enough…it was awesome to do this hike and I would highly recommend it to friends, but I never want to do it again! 
) Once is truly enough.
Timp 4 miles up
Timpanogas East
Provo
Timp Peak
Peter hiking
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I am finally getting around to posting a few pictures from our Oregon, WA loop trip. We had an awesome time visiting Crater Lake National Park (which was my favorite scenic spot on the trip!) and touring through central Oregon on our way to Portland. Peter took me on a hike up Eagle Creek Trail just east of where we viewed Multonomah Falls (spelling?) which was fun seeing all the green trees and creek below! Peter told me this trail is where the Pacific Crest Trail ends on the Oregon side before crossing the WA border. He hiked the PCT a few years ago! We also saw a few lava rock areas around Three Sisters, OR where the PCT also cuts through. I can’t imagine hiking this area after already hiking 100’s of miles! I’m sure his tennis shoes were in shreds after that section.
Then, we moved on into Washington to visit Tammie and Tobin (Peter’s bro) in Seattle. We had a great time catching up with them and then we all spent a few days in Anacortes WA visiting Peter’s folks. Before we continued on our loop trip, the whole Springs family caravanned with us through the Cascade National Park where we stopped to hike Easy Pass Trail. Funny now that I think about it…the trail wasn’t exactly “Easy”…it was a long 3 miles uphill, but a lot of fun and we enjoyed the nice scenic view from the top!
We were able to drive as far as Spokane, WA that afternoon and the next day we planned to be home! That meant driving for almost 12 hours back to SLC. We ran into bad weather in Butte, Montana with a huge hailstorm and then it rained the remaining way home. Luckily, we were able to sleep in Monday (Labor Day) before going back to work Tuesday. It was a nice rainy morning…. lazy morning.
After about a week and a half at home we got a call from Tobin and Tammie who announced they are expecting! Congrats to the Spring’s family first grandchild! How exciting! Stay tuned…for our remaining trips this summer/fall season. Winter hits this weekend with snow showers!
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