tracie stier-johnson » lake owen

wordless wednesday :: morning mist

tracie — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 04:10:20 +0000

a visit to the lake

tracie — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 09:41:35 +0000

We spent last week at the lake house in Wisconsin. Went from one lake view to a new one … although a much colder climate! We needed to switch out our swim suits, tank tops + flip-flops for much warmer gear!

Anyway … summer was definitely on the verge and the trees were blossomed and green. I found much solace and peace during my time there. Well … actually, I take that back a bit. There were definitely a multitude of internal struggles, but it was a good place to be to work through some of them. And if you’ve seen me back on twitter and facebook … you’ll see that “Tracie got her groove back.” Well … trying anyway … :)

The girls were beyond excited to be back to their old adventures of trunk riding + suburban surfing …

We spent an afternoon picnicing at a cabin in the woods …

Creature hunting …

Fishing …

And we even made some new friends! We had a bucket of worms ready to feed them, but they were rarely awake. When we came back from this afternoon at the cabin all their little heads were poking out of the nest with hungry mouths open. But by the time I got up on the ladder to take a photo, they were zzzzzz …

And yes. this is a real bear! It must’ve been just a year or so old, cuz mommy was long gone. But this little guy hung around all weekend. At one point, while we were eating dinner, he was on our patio with his nose against the glass trying to get in! Thrill of the week for my adventuresome gals … actually no, I take that back, suburban surfing was numero uno!

my adventurous girls

tracie — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:40:28 +0000

I love that my girls are so adventurous. Don’t get me wrong … some of the things they do scare the beegeezes out of me! Like this … this is them. on the roof of the SUV. as CJ drives them through the northwoods. {p.s. I was no where around when this was being done!}

And this is them enjoying some water sports this weekend in 60 degree weather!

Can you believe Hunter’s jumped from the balcony already too? Crazy.

And … one last scary adventure we had … the girls have been begging to go night tubing. So last night we had them out on the tube all ready to take off. CJ guns the motor, there’s a large wave in front of the tube as it hit the water. And then … nothing. That’s what I saw behind the boat. Nothing.

No tube. No kids. Nothing.

I started screaming. And after what felt like minutes … the tube reemerged and finally behind it the two girls.

Hope your holiday weekend was a tad less adventurous! ;)

:: subscribe to {tsj} photography ::

dad’s annual boating accident

tracie — Mon, 04 May 2009 14:58:02 +0000

That was the subject line of an email CJ sent Saturday afternoon.

He had taken the girls up to the lake this weekend while I was at the workshop. I’m thankful for that, but oh my word!

My phone was out of service and battery most of the day, but I was finally able to charge it before we headed back to the hotel Saturday night. So all I can see is the subject line and the words “just sitting there in the bay and she leaned over too much.” I had no service, knew there was an attachment, but couldn’t open it.

It was too late to call and a very long 45 minute car ride back to the hotel!

Poor Wynter!

I think I’ve mentioned before how these things always seem to happen on dad’s watch? I’m not sure why or how … they just do …

A couple of years ago, he had Wynter and Piper sitting on the back of the boat and the piece they were sitting on collapsed! Into the water they went. Wynter didn’t know how to swim at the time … so Piper pulls Wynter up out of the water and is treading water holding Wynter in one hand and a shoe in the other. Ay-yi-yi!

i’m so glad i didn’t miss this …

tracie — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 19:35:00 +0000

At Christmas this past year, Curt played a movie he’d put together of videos he taped throughout the year. A sad realization came over me as I watched it … I wasn’t with during any of the moments that were taped.

They’d been trips he’d taken up here, at the lake. Moments on their little camping adventures and hikes in the yard. Waterparks when I was busy. Moment’s I’d missed out on.

But not this time.

I’ve had an amazing weekend with my family and I’m so glad I didn’t miss it. First off … CJ cooked every meal … and cleaned up afterwards! He’d shoo me out of the kitchen and I’d spend time with the girls.

And then there’s spending time with the girls. Snuggled up watching a movie. Connect Four with Hunter. Apples to Apples with Taylor and Ana. Constant amazement at how big Hunter is getting. And you know that secret glance you give your hubby when no one else in the world’s hearts are swelled with love as large as yours, over something your child just did … I had many of those glances with CJ this weekend.

And I marvel at how great it is to not be consumed with ‘busyness’ so that I’m able to connect with my hubby through a glance.

Granted, I’ve logged some computer time as well. I’ve been working on editing the last maternity session I did … and I’m excited to share some with you soon.

But back to our weekend … CJ took the girls out snowmobiling. I’m embarrassed to say, in the past, I usually stay in the house {most likely napping, or locked to my computer}, but not this time. Things are a changin’ I tell you!

So he’s got a toboggan hooked up to the back of the snowmobile {and today, a small sled to the back of the toboggan} and we took the girls {and dogs} around and around the long driveway circle.

I sat backwards on the snowmobile smiling from ear-to-ear. The girls were having the times of their lives. Even little Huntie. Even miss teenager and friend!

We took Taylor & Ana out onto the golf course {shhh …}. Curt does not take it easy on them. His ultimate challenge and joy is to whip them off that toboggan. It took a lot of effort, but he finally managed it a few times.

We’re packing up to head home soon. Back to the grind, back to the everyday.

My prayer is to remember the feeling in my heart right now and strive for that in the midst of the tempting ‘busyness’ jungle.

a weekend with friends

tracie — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 03:03:00 +0000

This is has been my view all weekend. Peaceful, no? Even though we were in the midst of a deep freeze … I’m talking 20 below zero … before the windchill!

I’m blessed to have access to a beautiful place in northern wisconsin where I holed up with my girlfriends for a much needed girly-girl weekend. Our husbands absolutely did. not. understand what we were doing. What could we possibly be doing?

Did you go outside? Did you snowmobile? Go for a walk? What then? What did you do?

“You talked?” ”About what?”

Men don’t understand, do they?

We were literally in our jammies the entire weekend. We joked that we played musical chairs … we moved from this chair, to that chair, to the sofa, to the chair … and we listened to music.

We played games, we read, we facebooked, we talked … about every topic under the sun {I’ll spare you the details}. Isn’t it awesome to have a group of ladies you can go away with, and feel complete peace with? We didn’t need to do anything. We didn’t want to do anything.

Oh! Wait! I failed to mention … we ate. We ate, and we ate, and we ate … and none of us will need to eat for a week. Honest.

I am blessed to have these ladies in my life. Thank you friends.

And, as always … as great as it is to get away, it’s even greater to return. I am so in love with my family. With us being at Mayo, I hadn’t seen the girls since Tuesday night. Is it not the greatest feeling in the world to feel the love of a child who hasn’t seen you in almost a week?

Pure excitement. Little arms wrapped tightly around your legs … coming at me from every direction. Even Taylor came running when she saw me, “mommy!” … can I ask for anything more from a thirteen year old? Sigh.

As I was sitting with the girls tonight watching TV before bed, I studied each of them and wanted to record each memory. Every single detail …

Wynter needed my scarf the minute I walked in the door … she wrapped it around her neck like she was the Red Barron and added a matching headband to complete her ensemble. She’s such a tactile little creature … she’s loving, touching, squeezing, smelling. Yeah … she smells me.

Piper has strep right now … she’s such a sick little girl. So she’s laying on me, all stuffed up which means she needs to breath out of her mouth … that really awesome infectious-dragon-breath-that-only-a-mother-could-love smell …

And then little Hunter … who’s somehow grown up so fast. She’s potty trained now. I didn’t want to potty train her. Not because I didn’t want to do the work. But because I want her to be a baby … forever … and ever. Is that wrong? Anyway. She sees Piper laying with me, so she comes over and tries to squeeze in too. My ‘baby’ in her silky, summer pajama dress {that she insisted on wearing} with red polka dotted Christmas pj bottoms and her sister’s hand-me-down pink Uggs, that she thinks are slippers.

And then of course there’s miss teenager. I love her so. Every complicated, moody, emotional, temperamental, sulky ounce of her. We just finished watching The Bachelor {gotta love DVR} and as we’re sitting there I’m realizing just how quickly this little girl has grown up … and even better … just how cool she really is.

I am blessed.