One More for 2007

Darn it, I thought we'd make it to 100 posts for 2007, but I guess we'll just have to be happy with 95.

It might surprise you to know that despite my scrooginess, I do like Christmas and I celebrate it every year. :-) We had a nice Christmas, although we've all been sick over the last couple of weeks. Poor little Addie was pretty miserable for Christmas. She opened her presents like a trooper, but sacked out for the rest of the day. So, without further adieu, here are my favorite Christmas highlights:

Anders' gift to me

Aani. Sweet, sweet Aani.

Santa found this totally sweet train set at Ross for a killer deal! That Santa...such a savvy shopper!

Addie was an angel in the Nativity...a Diva Angel!

Anders received this T-Rex from Santa. They were cracking me up with their little arms!

The T-Rex's name is Roary. Poor Roary. He looks so tough, but still needs a binky.

This just kills me with its cuteness. What a girl!

So, to make this the longest post ever, I thought it would be appropriate to highlight the year 2007 for us Rasmussons.

* We found our home in Saratoga Springs, remodeled, and moved in.

*Aani Sophia came into the world. What an amazing blessing she's been!

*Addie gave up the binky, moved into a big bed, and potty-trained.

*Anders started preschool and is reading. He continues his quest to dominate the universe by relentlessly asking questions.

*Nils has been plugging away at school, and now has a mere 9 credits before he graduates.

*Katrina. Hmmm. Well, you've all sort of been in my brain this year by reading this blog. So, I'd just like to tell my wonderful friends how much I love you all. I've been blessed with great friends in all stages of my life, and that brings me so much happiness. Thanks! Hope you all have a wonderful 2008.

So long, 2007!

Love

There's so much love in this boy he can hardly stand it.

Name Change

Nils started this blog one night while he was at school almost 3 years ago, and I took to it a couple months later. I didn't give the title "The Paradigm of Nils and Katrina" much thought. It's unique, so I thought it was fine. Last week Nils told me I could change the name of the blog if I wanted to. I asked him why he wanted it changed and he told me he had been reading a book by Stephen Covey when he started blogging. I guess Bro. Covey is a fan of the word paradigm. So now that Nils is out of Covey Mode (he's been listening to Tony Robbins lately), the name's changing.

Nils announced to the children and me a few months ago that we should call ourselves "The R Team", because we're a family...we're a TEAM! So there it is. He really liked The A Team and Mr. T as a kid. And since he drives some distance to and from work every day, he sees a lot of bumper stickers. His favorite bumper sticker says "Git 'er Done." Not sure what it means, but boy, is it funny!

On a totally unrelated note, we just got home from Nils' work Christmas party. It was at a Chinese buffet. Brutal. I've decided I'll be okay if I never eat at a Chinese buffet again. And I'll be okay if next Christmas, we go to a different company's Christmas party. Oh yes. Yes, I will.

Thank you if you've read this.

Calling All Math Nerds!

Hi folks. It's Nils. As many of you know, Katrina and I were born with a debilitating DNA disorder known as I-Suck-At-Math-A-Lot-itus. Our children are doomed to the same fate but state law requires that I pass College Algebra in order to receive my degree. Therein lies the dilemma. I should have had my Associates a long time ago but I could never pass the math courses. Now I find myself nearing what I hope to be my last semester of college and the elusive passing grade of College Algebra 1050 (or 1030) stands between me and that diploma for both my Associates and Bachelor's degrees. Katrina has let me know on no uncertain terms that Spring '08 will be my last semester of college whether I graduate or not. This is where you come in. I need help. I'm hoping to find a Math Tutor who will help me study for my placement test and then offer some help occasionally during the semester. I have taken Math 1050 four separate times and failed it each time. I am truly mathematically retarded. What can I say? Now, because it's been so long since my last passing grade, I have to qualify to get into the new class. I'm just not ready for that so I need help.

IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW IS WILLING TO HELP ME FIGHT TO FIND MY CURE FOR I-SUCK-AT-MATH-A-LOT-ITIS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. We're poor so I can't pay cash but I will happily teach you something in return or do some tradework for you. I'm a fairly skilled guy at a couple of things after having spent 11 years in college. I'm good with Photoshop, photography, video, audio, web design, illustration, woodworking, construction, whining, complaining- wait, those last ones aren't really skills- but anyway, we'll work something out. Also, you do not need to be a total math nerd to qualify. Remember, I am an idiot when it comes to math so if you know what polynomials or integers are, or if you have ever memorized equations and still know them, you're light years ahead of me.

Thanks for your help!
-Nizzle.

My Apologies

Addie dressed up in my clothes and decided to show off our amazing tree. Please note the many snowman ornaments.

Ashli Christmas tagged me. I read the questions, all TWENTY-TWO of them, and decided I couldn't possibly answer them without sounding like a total scrooge. So, instead of answering them, I'll just let you all in on some of my scrooge-like qualities.

1. We bought our tree at Wal-Mart 6 years ago. It was $20. That's right, I said twenty. I can't stomach the thought of spending hundreds of dollars on something that graces us with its presence for a month. We are way too poor for that. Maybe someday when we're millionaires, we'll buy a big honkin' tree.

2. Most of my Christmas decorations have been given to me through the years by my mother for...Christmas! She seems to think that I fancy snowmen. Sure, why not?

3. 5 years ago when I was 100 months pregnant with Anders, Nils and I decided not to give presents to each other for Christmas. We decided to keep our $20 tree up until he was born, and he would be our late Christmas present. We broke down and budgeted $25 dollars for gifts to each other. Anders was born January 6.

4. I really don't decorate for holidays at all- with the exception of Christmas, thanks to my mom. We've moved 9 times in the 7 1/2 years we've been married, and I just don't want to schlep around more stuff than we have to. Holiday decorations qualify as more stuff.

5. Anders let me know at Halloween time that we were the only people in the world that didn't have our house decorated. So, we got some Halloween decor. I guess now that the kids are getting older, I will do more for holidays. Mainly so we don't get turned in to DCFS.

Merry Christmas!

These Is My Words

I just finished another book, and I have to recommend it to everyone. Worry not, dear friends, this one is not trashy. It's the story of a woman in the late 1800's living in the Arizona territory. It's tragic, romantic, funny, inspirational and I LOVED IT. There are a couple of sequels which I will be obtaining soon. Probably from amazon.com since I stole yet another image from them. I did buy These Is My Words from amazon, so I don't feel too guilty this time.

Half-Eaten Apple Kinda Day

At 9:30 this morning I was surfing the web in my bathrobe when the doorbell rang. Anders and Addie were cheering, "Play group is at our house today! Yay!" Addie's part of a playgroup with 3 other little girls her age, and they're dropped off once a week at someone's house. No one told me this week it was at my house. Oy. I had to put on my bra, answer the door and entertain them for an hour and a half. Don't worry, I was wearing more than just a bra. I had socks on, too. And pants and a shirt, you sillies. Addie, however, was naked from the waist down. Except for her dress-up shoes.

After the little girls left, it was time to get Anders ready for preschool. Out to the van we went. Dead. Deader'n a doornail. I called my good friend up the street, who let me use her van to take him. Fortunately, I still have the neighbor's battery charger in my garage from when this happened last week.

I went visiting teaching while Anders was at preschool. Addie refused to wear shoes or a coat, which was perfect since it was 25 degrees outside and we didn't have a car to ride in. During the visit, she pooped her pants (she's in panties again, and now that the Prozac's kicked in I'm determined). I cleaned her up in this dear woman's bathroom, and then she wore this dear woman's daughter's pants. Once outside to leave, Addie realized her mistake of not wearing shoes, so I had to carry her, Aani, and the diaper bag home.

When it was time to get Anders from preschool, the van was charged. Halle-frickin'-luja. We got home, and the kids were of course STARVING to death. I opened the fridge to get them an apple and found this sight.


Seeing these half-eaten apples was just a perfect fit for the theme of my day.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go shower now that it's after 3:00 in the afternoon.

Love and Blessings,
Katrina

Cry Me a River

I know I have no right to complain, especially after seeing Courtney's drying rack. I just have to express my amazement at how my laundry regenerates itself. I wash, I dry, I fold. I put away. I look at the hamper, and it's full again. Amazing.

I think the laundry is magically reproducing.

I also figured out that when I tell Anders to clean his room, he puts everything made of cloth in his hamper. I think Nils does that too when he cleans.

Party in My Tummy

I just saw the expressions of my children as they watched this on Nick Jr. They had a mixture of confusion, fascination, and a wee bit of fear.

Yo Gabba Gabba- it's a weird show, but I sort of like it. Anyhoo, I was getting a real kick out of the Party in My Tummy song, and I love the food's faces. Please watch it. It will give you joy.

Fabulously Trashy

I don't remember the last week because I've been completely engrossed in a trashy novel. A fabulously trashy novel to say the least. And yes, I shamelessly stole this image off of amazon.com. You should definitely patronize amazon.com. Now maybe I won't get sued.

This book is historical fiction about King Henry VIII and his court. Henry was a total man-ho, so it deals with his mistresses, illegitimate children, and everyone's ambitions to win his favor. It's a fantastic story. I highly recommend it to anyone in the market for an interesting and entertaining book. Be warned: It is somewhat trashy, but I felt it was worth wading through the trash to get a picture of the craziness that surrounded this man Henry VIII. He was a trashy guy, so really, it's accurate.

I LOVED IT.

Halloween

Halloween was rip-roarin' at the Rasmussons! Anders decided he wanted to be a firetruck. Leave it to Nils to make that a reality. He wore his costume to preschool on Tuesday, and everyone thought it was a hoot.
Addie was Tigger. (We had the costume from when Anders was 2 and she doesn't know what princesses are yet.) Anders asked me what I was going to get dressed up as, and I told him a Mommy. Aani dressed up as a tired baby and went to bed.
Nils couldn't find all the pieces to his nerd costume, so he didn't dress up either. We're terrible parents. Anyhoo, the kids had fun trick-or-treating. Do you like their Easter Bunny buckets? Again...Parents of the Year, right here!
This was last week at our ward's Trunk or Treat. It was so fun!
Our tuckered out little Tigger. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

Anders asked me today how many days it is until Halloween. Only 364...unless next year's a leap year. Is next year a leap year?

Toesies

Aani found her toes a couple of weeks ago. I think this is the cutest milestone. 4-month old babies are great; they're immobile but smile and laugh all the time. It's hard to believe she's going to turn into a tantrum-throwing toddler. These are the moments to look back on when your 2-year old is throwing her breakfast at you, wouldn't you say?

I love my sweet Aani Girl.

Tagged Again

This is for Teresa, who tagged me. I'm supposed to list 6 fascinating facts about myself. I'll try to make them fascinating. Really.

1. I have a potty-mouth. Literally. I think poo is hilarious, and I love jokes about it. I love stories about it. It's the great equalizer; everybody poops.

2. I must have a clean kitchen. My mood is greatly affected by the cleanliness of my kitchen. You will nary find a dirty dish in my sink. In the same vein, I make my bed about once a month. The rest of the house can go to heck, but the kitchen must be clean.

3. I love cake with butter cream frosting. I think about cake a lot. Mmmmmm....cake.

4. I have 1 sister and 4 brothers. My sister is the oldest, I'm the youngest, and four boys are in between.

5. I watched Transformers with Nils, and I didn't hate it. In fact, I have a crush on Optimus Prime. He's so noble and transformey.

6. I don't like to vacuum.

Teresa, I hope this shows you how much I love and care for you.

Cinnalicious

I ate approximately 30 cinnamon bears today. I feel that by confessing it, it's like it never happened. The bag was full this morning.


This poor little fella was among the casualties. Before I bit his head off.

After I bit his head off, but before I ate the rest of him.


Someone stop me.

I Heart Prozac

It took a whole month and I was skeptical that it would work, but this week I feel better! I don't have nervous butterflies in my stomach for no reason and I don't feel like I'm going to hell! Isn't that great?

Hooray for Prozac!

MFEO

I was lovingly caressing Nils' forehead with my foot. He said, "Your foot smells."

"Like roses?" I asked. He responded, "Yeah, that a dog took a dump on."

We're so MFEO.

ps- I was caressing his forehead with my foot because he's lying on the floor waiting for me to get off the computer. Not because I'm a freak or anything.

Life

Since the disastrous Enrichment, I've tried to talk to as few people as possible. This has resulted in a very boring, non-blog worthy life. So, here's a brief update:

Addie decided not to be potty-trained anymore. I think she realized how much work it is. After a couple of days of changing her pants 5+ times and washing poo out of more panties than I care to remember, she's back in diapers. She's totally fine with that, and I don't have the mental prowess to deal right now. We'll try again in a couple of months.

Anders is in preschool and LOVING it. He's learning to read and came home with his first book last week. He's very eager to learn everything about everything. Preschool is helping a lot.

Aani is growing a lot, laughing, cooing and is crying as little as possible. She is, however, not doing so hot during the night. She's still in our room and I think it's about time we separate. We're tired. Time to start boot camp. I dread it, but the rewards are so wonderful. We just have to figure out where to put everyone. For those of you who have more kids than bedrooms, how do you sleep train a baby without waking up the other kids? Seriously, I need advice.

Nils is doing well at work and in school. Next week is fall break, so he only has class one night. Hooray! He also has Thursday and Friday off of work next week, so he can work on the basement. Then over the weekend, his whole family is coming up to help work on the basement. Maybe we'll get some sheet rock hung!

Greatest of the Latest

Lickin' the bowl

Chillin' on a Sunday morning

At Nunn's Park on a Sunday afternoon

The Boy and his Baby

Thanksgiving Point

Yesterday we went to Thanksgiving Point with the Brecheisen women. It was oodles of fun!

I told the kids to look sad, since they were in jail and all. I think they did well.

The kids loved riding the ponies, although Anders was a little disappointed that they just went in circles. He asked me if he could ride the horse anywhere he wanted; I think he had visions of riding off into the sunset...

One of the employees let Anders, Eliza and Aislin inside the chicken/rooster pen while he was cleaning it out. They thought that was pretty darn cool!

So, we had a good day yesterday. Nils decided to stay home from school last night, so we got to play together and eat dinner as a family. It was great!

Nuthin' New

I feel like posting something, but I don't have anything exciting to say. Sorry. Here are some highlights from the week:

Monday: While driving home, the kids noticed a bug in the van and started to freak out. I got to a stop light, thought I stopped, and turned around to take care of the bug. Instead I rear-ended the van in front of me. Okay, it was more of a "love tap", but it sounded violent. The people inside that vehicle were none too pleased. The guy got out and looked like he might punch me. We pulled over to assess damage, give insurance info., etc. I was very apologetic. Aani was crying, Anders got out of the van and said, "MOM! I got the beetle out!" Once the guy and his wife saw my three kids, they took pity on my poor pathetic soul, and all the anger melted from their faces. And, there was no damage to their vehicle so that helped. They even told me to have a good day. Never underestimate the power of a crying baby.

Tuesday: I went to Enrichment at my mom's ward, and for some reason felt compelled to give a group of old ladies the recipe to figure out your stripper name. No, seriously. I did.

Why? Why? Why?

The response? Awkward, awkward silence. HELLO, Katrina! It was ENRICHMENT! I'm never talking at Enrichment again. No, I take that back. I'm never talking at any church function again. I shudder to think about it.

By the way, mine is Tiger Thompson. Thanks a lot, Becky.

Wednesday: Well, that's today, isn't it? Anders cleaned his room, Addie only had one accident, and Aani was fabulous as usual.

I can't wait to see what the rest of the week holds. Let's all hope there are no car accidents and no mention of the word "stripper". Ugh.

My New BFF

Ahhh, the irony.

Yesterday I was at the gym, minding my own dang business, when who should walk past me but my ob/gyn. Yes, the same ob/gyn I saw at Hallmark; the same ob/gyn that has delivered all of my babies; the same ob/gyn who not two days before gave me a box of tissues and Prozac.

Now, the Hallmark thing kind of freaked me out, but I go there once in a blue moon. I go to the gym EVERY DAY. He told me he's there a lot in the winter. Crap.

Let's stop playing these silly games and just admit that we're best friends.

My Girl, My Girl

Yesterday I had a tiny little chat with Addie about using the potty. It went something like this:

Me: Addie, do you want to wear underwear like Anders?
Addie: Yeah.
Me: So you can go pee-pee and poo-poo in the potty.
Addie: YEAH!

Fast forward 5 hours. We're at Grandma's, and Addie is complaining that her diaper is hurting her. Grandma says, "I think you need to get some panties and use the potty."

Fast forward 5 minutes. Addie is sitting on the toilet, and POOPS in the thing!

Fast forward 10 minutes. Addie starts doing the pee-pee dance, saying, "I need a diaper! I need a diaper!" Nils ran her to the bathroom, where she peed in the toilet.

Fast forward to our drive home. We stop at the store and buy the girl some underwear.

She just peed in the potty again this morning. And she's wearing her underwear.

After Anders being nearly 3 1/2 and pretty difficult to potty train, this is the best thing that's happened to me since Prozac. (Aren't I hilarious?)

Happy Pills

Last week I felt like the world was caving in on me. It was very strange and scary. I felt joyless and hopeless, and incapable of doing anything. I'm feeling better now, but still a little cloudy. So my big news is my happy pills. In hindsight, I probably should have been on them a while ago. I guess I've been able to distract myself from the cloudiness, but I think when Nils started school it served as the catalyst for an emotional breakdown. I've never felt that way, and hope to never feel that way again. So, here's to Prozac! If anyone has any experience with this, feel free to share. I'm really looking forward to feeling like me again. nilsandkatrina@gmail.com

Hairy Ribs

Are your dates out with your spouse pathetic like ours?

We had a big night out tonight at the Ruby River restaurant. Yeeeee-Haaaaww! We hate that place. We've always hated it, but when you have a $25 gift certificate, you suffer through it to the tune of free food. We ordered a full rack (I feel so naughty saying "full rack"-hee hee!) of ribs to share. Cost: $18.99. When said ribs were brought to us, there was a huge hair intertwined between them. Now, Nils and I aren't the type to complain superfluously at restaurants, but seriously. We needed to be compensated for our pain and suffering. They brought us a new plate, and took $15.00 off our bill. Pretty good, Ruby River, but please...keep the change. The waiter got to keep the remaining balance of the gift certificate. It would be too much mental stress for us to go back.

After Ruby River, we went to Deseret Book so I could buy New Moon and Eclipse. Yes, I too have jumped on the vampire bandwagon. But wait....it gets wilder.

We then went to Target and bought pants for our kids. Nils also got himself a hat that says "Dirtball". We're not even sure what that's supposed to mean.

So, we've had it confirmed once again that we are boring, tired, pathetic parents who haven't the energy to think of something cool or creative to do for 3 hours without our children. However, we're home now and feel somewhat renewed. Especially since we didn't have to put the little critters to bed.

Miracles

Miracle #1: Let me wipe away the tears. The internet is working at the Rasmusson's! I just spent the last half hour scanning everyone's blogs. How I've missed you all! It's amazing how dependent we've become on this so-called Information Super Highway.

Miracle #2: We signed up for Aflac insurance a year ago, anticipating the arrival of another child. The stipulation of this insurance is that the policy has to be in effect for at least 10 months in order to qualify. Long story short: You invest a certain amount every month and when the baby is born you get that much back plus a little extra. When Aani was born the policy had been in effect for 9 months and 3 weeks. We filed a claim anyway, but have been expecting to get a letter saying the claim was denied.

The last couple of months have been pretty brutal with doctor's bills and hospital bills and the added expense of another kid. Nils and I decided on Friday to take $1200 from our precious basement fund, pay off the hospital, doctor and anesthesiologist and be done. It was a painful choice, and we joked that if we didn't have to pay tithing, we would be a lot richer and could afford to pay these bills a lot more easily. Hilarious, I know. OF COURSE we paid our tithing. We're too scared of hell to not pay it. Friday when I got the mail, lo and behold...a check from Aflac for $1200. Exactly the amount we needed to pay our bills. Isn't that amazing? It was one of those moments when we had no doubt that Heavenly Father blessed us for having faith.

Miracles 3, 4 & 5: We've had a few little miracles around the house- the hot water in the kids' bathroom, which hasn't worked since we moved in, mysteriously repaired itself. The automatic sliding doors on our van stopped working the day Aani was born; they fixed themselves last week. And, I got two cans of formula in the mail from Enfamil. And these weren't the lame little sample cans- full sized cans, baby!

Aren't these totally sweet miracles?

We're Not Dead.

Based on the lack of recent posts you might think we had died or something but only our internet has. I'm writing from work right now. We use Saratoga Cable at home and the internet has been almost completely out for over a MONTH now. It's totally ridiculous. Every day when we call to complain they say "Oh, did it just go out?", as if this is a recent development. Then they tell us everyday that it will be working tomorrow. They've said that for 32 days now. There's a little bit of bandwidth in the wee hours of the night on occasion so once in a while we'll get an email or two but that's about it. We've reached our patience limit so Katrina signed us up for Qwest and we'll see if that's any better. It's got to be better than this.
School has started and I'm going full time, so that's a barrel of fun. I'm only gone four nights a week so it's not like I miss my family or anything- I mean, I still get almost 2.25 days to spend with them (and get everything else in life done). Katrina's not loving this schedule but she's one tough mama so she's hanging in there. I graduate next spring, in my 12th year of college. OK, so I went on a mission and took a couple of semesters off, too.
My neighbor, Rob, and I have been getting up at 5 for the last two weeks to go running. We only run about two miles- half downhill and half uphill. I'm pathetically weak and slow but Rob's not much faster so it works out well. It's great to get an early start on the day but it really slows me down around 11 or 12 PM, when I'm usually doing websites or homework. Oh well. I'll adjust.

That's it for now. We should have the internet hooked up in the next week or so.
Rock On. -Nils

Wallet Update

Some man called me on Friday and told me he found my wallet. He works for Geneva Rock and was working on the freeway picking up the orange construction barrels. He said the contents of my wallet were scattered all over the freeway. He found my phone number on a Home Depot receipt! When I realized I had lost my wallet, I said a prayer that someone honest would find it. Not only did someone honest find it, but he really went out of his way to find everything he could. So how do you thank someone like that? Well, I made a batch of Holly's cookies (with milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, and butterscotch chips), so tomorrow when I go to pick it up, I'll leave some cookies and a note saying thanks.

And thank you, Holly Lesue, for helping cure me of crappy-chocolate-chip-cookie syndrome. Your recipe and method really are the best. Props to you. And to Wallet Man.

Good Times!

I gained 5 pounds. In 5 days. That means I would've had to have consumed 17,500 calories. Is that even possible? That baby weight is just melting off! Sheesh!

Also, I was pumping gas the other day and left my wallet on top of the van. Then I drove away. We canceled our credit and debit cards, so now we literally have no access to money. Well, I could go to the bank to get cash...oh wait! I have no ID! I bought eggs last night with quarters from our "emergency coin tin". Thank goodness for the wee little tin. It's gotten us through many an emergency.

Go Nilsy, It's Your Birthday

Nils is 29 today. Without getting too gag-a-riffic, I'd just like to let him know that I love him, and I'm very grateful to have him as my husband and best friend.
Cute kid, huh?

This was when we lived in CT- he tried to catch the attic door pull-down string with his teeth. Why, you ask? We shall never know. He lost a tooth in the process and it cost $1400 for a new tooth. He looked like a totally sweet hillbilly, though.

And of course, my favorite. This picture was taken by Nils himself. This is one of the reasons I love him so much- he cracks me up!

Happy Birthday, Nils!

Ahh, Guilt.

Yesterday we sent Anders to his room for time out. While there, he created this little masterpiece. When we let him out, he presented us with it. He said, "This is for you, Mommy. You can keep it." He's laying it on pretty thick, don't you think?

Blessing Day

Today was Aani's blessing day. We're so thankful for this sweet little girl. She's going to be our little peacemaker. Her disposition is so calm and happy. We're all in love with her. I heard it put nicely the other day: "They come with love." I'm very thankful for the blessing of my three beautiful children.

Timpanogos: 5th Time's a Charm

Last weekend was my fifth venture up the most hiked trail in Utah- Mount Timpanogos. Aside from last year when we had to stop because the snow was past our knees, I've been able to reach the top of Timp for the last four years. Katrina and I first hiked it ten years ago and I love going up every time. Coming down makes me want to swear because it always feels like it's three times longer than on the way up, but that's another story. This was probably the most breath-taking year yet. The flowers were in full bloom, the wildlife was out and about, the sunrise was spectacular and I have a great camera that actually captures it well. So here are some of the 200 photos I shot during my hike this year.

The sunrise lit up the flowers and grasses, turning them into their most vibrant colors.Like a true dork, the second I saw this Mountain Goat, I grabbed my camera and literally went running after it like a crazed stalker. It was worth it because as I came near it, it didn't seem to mind and even crossed the path in front of me, coming within about 4 feet of me. Very cool.
I thought I'd employ Photoshop's Cutout filter on this one.We had finally made it to the top after six hours of hiking. It normally takes about four and a half but we had a couple of extra people with us that weren't really ready for the hike. After about 1/3 of the way they turned back and headed home. All in all it was yet another fantastic hike- one that I look forward to doing again next year.