Final Days of Summer

            My word, where did I leave off?! So much has happened in the past 6 weeks I can hardly remember! Ahhh yes, I believe last time we spoke I was in the middle of what I refer to as Apricot Madness!! Not long after Jason left Patrick came back for a second visit (I guess he just didn’t get enough mountain air the first time!).  With his expert pitting help we finished canning the rest of the apricots. Over 100 jars in total consisting of 3 different varieties of apricots (spiced, jammed, and chutney). Whew! Jumping straight from one enormous project to the next, no sooner had we canned everything we were moving the last of the furniture out of Mom’s old house and officially handed over the keys July 30^th! Yahoo! The movers were awesome and the house is officially SOLD! Way to go Mama! 

The following weekend while Mom enjoyed some peace of mind, Patrick and I loaded the car and headed to Stanley again! We attended the Stanley Soiree with my Aunt and Uncle where we enjoyed delicious food and listened to a great live auction take place where people competed for high end prizes such as beach houses in Mexico and rafting trip in Morocco! The following day we took a nice rafting trip down the river, where our guide turned out to be an old high school colleague of mine! What a surprise! He did a marvelous job and we spent a few hours floating along, catching up, enjoying the sunshine, and were met at the pull out with warm homemade oatmeal cookies! Thanks so much Ian and the whole crew at the River Company! What a blast!! 

            Upon returning to McCall we filled our days with swimming in Payette Lake, hiking to Grassy Mountain Lake, attending Taste of McCall, bonfire cooking, visiting the annual wooden boat show, and making soap.  We were very busy little people! In between all this I was able to meet my dear friend Kyler for lunch and see his new motorcycle (Oh my!) and meet my friend Weston from Texas for an afternoon of paddle boarding. After I had drug poor Patrick to every corner of McCall huckleberry picking, strawberry picking, and attending all above events I was very sad to see him leave town (more so that he I bet! ;). Farewell my beloved activity buddy!

            After his departure I managed to squeeze in a few more outdoor adventures before heading overseas. My new friend Samuel and I camped a night at Chinook Campground before heading out early the next morning for Loon Lake. It was a perfect day and we had a great hike. Sadly for Mr. Charlie, we underestimated the total distance of the treck and Charlie had to be carried (for the first time ever!) after 10 ½ miles. He was so tired and dirty I could barley recognize the little guy! Thanks Samuel for being such a fabulous hiking buddy and helping to carry Mr. Charlie Pants!

            The following Sunday Mom and I took the dogs and the kayaks out for one last cruise up the river and I hosted a small farewell BBQ for all my friends in town which was great! It was so nice to see everyone and say goodbye (again). Thank you all so much for coming out!!! Then on Monday the packing got serious… Bags were loaded and weighed, Charlie got stressed, I got panicked, and just like that we were on our way! Mom drove us to the airport where I caught the plane to Hartford, CT for my cousin Ross’ wedding that weekend.  I got to spend a few days prior to the ceremony with my Grandparents and brother catching up and relaxing which was fab, and of course the wedding itself was a huge success!! It was a nice day, with good food, fun ceremony, great company, and we all danced the night away! Congratulations to the best couple ever! 

            After the festivities I spent 3 days with my Aunt in Boston just kicking around with her before Charlie and I boarded our next flight to Paris! It was so wonderful to see everyone and I cannot wait to see how everything goes! Ta-ta for now! xoxo