TIMP

For Christmas this year in Marie's family we gave each other the gift of an activity planned for the whole family. Many months ago for example you may recall that I almost killed Romney on our Merry Christmas family sledding activity and Marie considered not talking to me anymore.....but let's not dwell on that lapse in fatherly judgment.

Marie's sister Catherine gave us the gift of a family hike up Timpanogos. We each were given assignments for the hike as well. I, for example, was the "official time keeper - because everyone deserves a second chance." My assignment was a reference to one of my first attempts at a Curtis family activity which was hiking the full length of the narrows in Zion. The only problem was my alarm didn't wake me up in the morning and didn't wake up anyone else either so we were REALLY late getting to Marie's parents and siblings and her dad decided he didn't like me and I had this pit in my stomach that almost made me puke in his car which would have made him like me even less. It was not one of my finer moments.

Marie was the offical "dispenser of snacks." You see, one of Marie's jobs in life when it comes to taking care of her sister Cath is to always be sure to have snacks on hand at a moments notice. Cath needs a lot of snacks and as the parentified child, Marie feels it important to fulfill this need. She did not dissappoint on the hike.

We were so excited to have Peter and Marv on the hike with us. They are in about the same physical shape so they both had to bow out early. Peter held on a little longer than Marv but in fairness to Marv, Peter was being carried up the mountain.

This part always scares me on the way up...and the way down. (if you click on it you can see the trail switch backing along the side if the mountain)

Here we are on top. See how I'm hanging onto Marie? that is not an attempt at affectionate hand holding. That is an attempt to hold on to something, anything, that will keep me from falling off of the top because even though I'm smiling I feel like my stomach is dropping out. (author's note: I did not write the words "feel like my stomach is dropping out. I wrote something much more descriptive but my editor told me that no one wants to know what I wrote so it had to be deleted from the post. I just wanted you to know that I felt much worse than simply my stomach dropping out. thank you.){editors note: trust me. It was too much information.}

This is where we chased the mountain goats. These things can climb up into the craziest places.

On the way down we decided to ride the glacier rather than hike. We thought for sure this would save some time. It didn't. But it was more fun. And more wet. Here is Ben showing how it should be done. (notice the nice hat grab when he goes over) The rest of us went on our butts.