St. Patrick's Day Celebration

Landon has always enjoyed celebrating St. Patrick's Day.  Maybe it is because he has red hair.  Maybe it is because he's part leprechaun.  Who knows.  But mom decided to surprise the family with a St. Patrick's Day meal.  No it wasn't traditional corned beef and cabbage.  Instead it was grilled pork chops, homemade drop biscuits, cream of spinach soup and pistachio pudding.  The kids got a kick out of coming to the table to find so many of their foods were "green."  It was a fun supper.

Pichincha Adventure

Yesterday, Stan, Mary, Landon and Glen Sanderson climbed up to the top of Mount Pichincha, the closest mountain range near our home.  It was a beautiful, sunny day.  From their birds'-eye view they could see several mountain/volcano ranges:  Cotopaxi, Cayambe, Antesana, Imbabura and another mountain that they couldn't identify.

They drove most of the way and then climbed another 200 feet to the top.  It is 4,776 meters at the very top.  They started the day in t-shirts and ended up in coats, hats and gloves because the temperature drops very quickly as you get to the top.

They were able to get a good view inside the crater.  It was "smoking" which is the steam vapor escaping the volcano.  In several of our pictures, the kids were jumping as if they could fly.  It must be the natural thing to do when you're that close to the heavens!