Family Photos

Right before summer camps began, Gabe and I worked on putting together one of our newsletters.  As we assembled it I realized that we didn't have any current photos of us...particularly with the newest member of our family Ruby, our dog.  So, off we went in search of someone who could take some photos of us.  Thanks to living on camp we quickly rallied Josh, from program, to take some pictures of us.  So, for your viewing enjoyment, here are some of my favorites!

Gabe

Melissa Joy

Ruby

By the river

Trying to get Ruby to sit in front of us...haha

Bear Hunting

This spring Gabe went out hunting for bear.  To be honest, many of us joined him on his hikes through the woods around the valley in a search of a bear.  One afternoon, I was informed that Gabe got his bear while I was working here at camp.  So I quickly found a ride to where he was help him clean the bear. 

Over the river and through the woods...

A few weekends ago  Gabe and I went on a short trip to Washington to visit his grandma and family.  We happened to arrive just in time to see the tulips in the Skagit Valley in full bloom.  We spent Saturday wandering through the fields and then went up Mount Erie to look down upon the valley.  It was a beautiful sight!  I didn't bring my camera with, so you can thank Gabe's father and sister, Dave and Tori for the photos.

Row after row of blooming tulips!

 

Dave and Leanne

Gabe and his parents

Cute little kid in the tulip fields

Kites being flown near the tulip fields

Gabe and I overlooking the Skagit Valley from Mount Erie

Gabe and his great aunt Esther

One year and counting...

My Goodness...my blog has been silent for quite some time!  Somewhere between traveling for the holidays and seeing everyone, I just haven't really sat down long enough to put thoughts and pictures up for y'all.

It has been a whirlwind of a year.  On the 18th of December we celebrated our first anniversary.  It was hard to believe it had been one year since our wedding.  As I was considering what pictures I wanted to post today, I realized that I never put up pictures from our wedding.  So, in celebration of our anniversary, I thought I would share some long awaited photos from our wedding.  Our pictures were taken by our good friend Mary Fox at http://www.maryfoxphotography.com/ and also by my dad, Mark Steensgard. 

Twirling in the dress

It was cold out, so between every shot I was in my down jacket!

Gabe's wonderful family

A rare picture of me with my parents

My beautiful sister-in-law, Tori

Gabe's mom and grandma

My lovely mum

Footwashing

Thanks to Nancy Zdenek for decorating!

Tori prepared amazing food!

Doing what this dress was meant for...swing dancing.

 

Backcountry Fishing

Today I was wanting to post a blog...an update or something like that, but I realized I haven't really pulled out my camera lately.  Sometimes I don't get the desire to take pictures for a while, instead I feel more like looking back at other pictures and reflecting on them.

So, I went looking through my photos and remembered I trip I took in early September with three lovely women from camp.  While the explore students were in the backcountry on the Montana/Idaho State line trail, we decided to spend the weekend out in the same area. 

The trip was to be a hike back to some lakes where we could relax.  Trina, being hardcore (she really is), carried her fishing pole and a two-person raft in along with all of her other gear.  One afternoon I went out with fishing on the lake.  I rowed around while she fished.  It was a beautiful and sunny day on a quiet lake up in the mountains.

My beautiful friend Trina

This is a really fun shot of the fish coming out of the water!

The colors and patterns on the fish were so vibrant and beautiful

Gutted fish waiting to be eaten...

Trina getting the grasshoppers out of the bag

The fish steaming as they cook in the pan

I nearly forgot, it was on this trip that I discovered I have a knack for catching grasshoppers to use for live bait.  I chuckle as I ponder these pictures, you would maybe suppose that with all the fishing pictures I have put up that I would love fish.  But, growing up I hated...I mean despised the days we would eat fish.  Now I have come to think it is all right, but the idea of eating fish and liking it is still relatively new!

Paddle like crazy

The last few months have been pretty crazy with Explore students here at camp.  Explore is the outdoor education and leadership college program from Prairie Bible Institute in Three Hills, Alberta, Canada.  The program partners with Camp Bighorn to do a variety of skills and courses here at camp for half of the school year.  On Sunday, we woke long before the sun rose to say goodbye to the forty-something students who had been here the last two months.  Gabe and I, being facilities people, checked their dorm rooms one last time, to make certain that they had cleaned and tidied their rooms.  Then we all stood in the cold, dark morning and waved goodbye to the bus pulling away.

A quietness has spread over camp in the evenings with the lack of students.  But our days, at least for operations staff, have begun more pressing projects.  One of the top priority projects is to get the snowcat and the two military trucks into working order for when the students arrive back in January.  The trucks and the snowcat allow us to transport students up to Siegel Pass where they do their winter skills such as tele-skiing, snowshoeing, survival and avalanche training.

Today I wanted to share with you all some photos I took back in September during the college students skill time.  One afternoon, I headed out with Dianna, the office manager at camp, and we took pictures of orange team canoeing and black team kayaking as they all came through Cascade rapids down the road from camp.

Graham and Dennis...I love Graham's expression

and down they roll...

Ethan and Joe followed by Josh and Katie

In my mind I envision this being Lewis and Clark on the Columbia...but, alas...

Is Joe practicing his acrobatic tricks?

Looby hitting the wave train

Megan fighting to stay upright

The aftermath