the continuation

Apparently some people are still checking this periodically, so I guess I'll continue to update with the pertinent stories of what's happening. The last post occurred three months ago while we were still in South America. Here's a quick recap of what has happened since then: we all returned home safely and enjoyed some well deserved rest with family and friends. Toren and I have been working on my father's farm and dreaming of mountains. We did a lot of pruning in the orchard and found my mom's old tipi, which we have set up and are currently sleeping in it. The garden is almost all planted and we've got baby turkeys and pigs everywhere. On the adventure side of life, we survived Braden's big birthday party over Memorial Day weekend and promptly headed into the North Cascades. We reached the summit of Mt. Shuksan at 5:30 a.m. and made it back to Seattle in time for all-you-can-eat sushi. Rainier was next, but we had some friends coming to round out the team. We rested and did garden work, anxious to be in the mountains again. Ben and Meryl finally made it to Seattle and we piled into the car and drove to Mount Rainier National Park. Meryl had to drop her summit attempt early due to a bout of sickness, but Ben, Toren, and I continued to camp at 8,800 ft. We awoke to a sea of clouds and stars and began our ascent of Mt. Rainier via the Fuhrer Finger. The summit was reached at 2 p.m. and we descend via Disappointment Clever to Ingrahm Flats. We returned to the clouds below the Muir snowfield and found Meryl waiting, happy to see us. A quick stop in Seattle and now we're back in Montana. Posts will occur as the story unfolds. Until then, enjoy the summer weather!