The Hike

The Hike. This. Was. A. Hike.

"Hey you guys want to go on a nice hike today?" My brother-in-law is the ultimate outdoorsman. A very talented climber, hiker, snowshoer.....you name it, he does it. Yes, we did want to go on a hike and enjoy the chilly crisp air today. My Mom quickly opted out and offered to stay home with our daughter. They spent a cozy morning inside coloring and working on Thanksgiving preparations. And the rest of us put on our cold weather gear and headed out to what would quite possibly be the hike of our lives.

Hiking never really thrilled me in the past. I always said that I would rather enjoy the scenery from my mountain bike or some other high adrenaline sport. But now that I have my fancy camera, I love to hike. Because hiking means photography. And photography means passion so do that means that I am now passionate about hiking? That's a stretch but I definitely have a new found respect for walking the paths instead of always choosing to bike them.

And this hike was a treacherous one. Top three hardest hikes I've ever been on in my life. And we have hiked many areas. This one was all up hill. Switch back after switch back. And my son and nephew enjoyed most of it from up on the shoulders of their Daddys. Snowy path and narrow but the scenery....wow, the scenery made me forget how hard my heart was pounding. Because the higher we got, the more amazing our surroundings got. This is the hike that my brother-in-law took my sister on when he proposed to her. They hiked all the way to the top and then he got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. As we neared the top of this mountain, I jokingly said to him, "It is a DARN GOOD THING that my sister said yes to you after a hike like this". He just laughed.

This is the view from the top of the rocky mountain. A view that can't even be explained with words. Can't even be summed up with one photo. But this is the photo that means the most to me. A special rock structure that seemed to be staring at us as we admired its beauty. It think that it would be fair to say that this might be one of the most spectacular sights in the world. The mountains in the distance, the river below, the stunning rock formations and the endless view of snow covered farm land below. Absolutely beautiful.

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Thanksgiving. Today is Thanksgiving and we enjoyed one of the best Thanksgiving meals that I have ever had. Turkey, stuffing (vegetarian and sausage), green bean casserole, sauteed kale, home made cranberry sauce (and one made with horseradish), mashed potatoes, homemade bread, rolls, wine, pumpkin pies, apple pie, and a deep dark chocolate cake. I know that I am missing something but really, the variety of delicious food was just impressive. And the best part, we all sat around the table together. It took two table leafs but there we all were enjoying a wonderful meal together. The kids had a decorated kiddy table (thanks to my Mom for the arts and craft activity that we all did the day before). We had so many laughs. Really. Everyone was just so relaxed and festive and the day was filled with so many blessings and long lasting memories.

I love our families so much. And I appreciate all of our relationships so much. The light and carefree. The deep and analytical. The loving and the generous. There is something for everyone. Special traits that we all possess. And this is what makes a holiday like thanksgiving so very special. A day to celebrate everything and everyone that we are thankful for. My in laws were hugely missed this weekend but their presence was not forgotten. We will have many many more special family holidays together. A special thanks to my sister for being the hostess with the mostess.