Emily and Nick's Day

The day that Emily and Nick had spent so much time preparing for, dawned bright and sunny.  Although the venue had facilities to accommodate a wedding on a rainy day, it was nice to know we wouldn't need to use them.  The high temperature was in the low 80's, with low humidity and a light breeze, about the best we could expect for mid-August.  

The wedding was held at Bartram's Garden, in west Philadelphia.  It could be best described as an oasis, surrounded by a dense urban neighborhood.

These photos were taken by Emily's cousin Cory Howarth, and Uncle Tad Guski

The long, slow walk - credit Cory Howarth

Emily's Vows - credit Tad Guski

Observing Communion - credit Tad Guski

Processional - credit Tad Guski

Mohler extended family photo - credit Tad Guski

Anne (2nd from left), with cousin Diane and sisters Tammy and Penny - credit Tad Guski

Reception, and time to celebrate - credit Tad Guski

Mohler Boys with Mom, Glenn, Gary, Dale and Gerald

Three Beautiful Women

Nick and his Family

Mohler Siblings Welcoming Nick into the Family

Paige Guski and the Mohler Cousins

2013 - Year in Review

Easter 2013 - Emily, Anne, Glenn, Jacob and Sarah

2013 has been another eventful year for the Mohler family...

Emily's Messiah Graduation

In the late spring, Emily graduated from Messiah College with her degree in Public Relations. She didn't have a job lined up when she graduated, but soon found one working for Tierney, a public relations firm, in their Harrisburg office. She is enjoying the work she does there on some contracts with the State, and is also enjoying (?) the "grown-up world" of purchasing a car, securing car insurance, health insurance, etc.!

The other big news is that Emily is now engaged to Nick Hemming, a fellow Messiah '13 graduate! Their wedding is scheduled for next August in Bartram's Garden in Philadelphia.  The venue is part of the Philadelphia public park system, and was the farm of John Bartram, a 18th century Quaker, and most influential botanist in the early years of our country.





Sarah completed her freshman year at Eastern University this spring.  Her first year at College required a few adjustments, but she loves the school and has quickly made friends, usually bringing one or more of them home with her on breaks. This Fall she took on the new challenge of being a Resident Assistant on her floor in Doane Hall, where she also lived her freshman year. She has been actively involved in a number of activities, including a prison ministry.  She has applied for the Social Work program.

In late May, Sarah traveled to the Dominican Republic with a group from Eastern, partnering with Handfuls of Hope.  They helped in orphanages and with some construction needs in Catalina, among other things. Although it was difficult for her to see so many people in tough circumstances, Sarah was thankful for how she was able to help them during her time there, and would love to go back some day.

Jacob completed his Junior year by running track during the spring season.  He started off his Senior year this Fall running cross country and playing trombone in the marching band; his first season! It made for a busy schedule, but he enjoyed his involvement in both. This year he also celebrated the rites of passage of obtaining his driver's license (Anne officially retired as main chauffeur--there was much rejoicing!) and getting his braces off, revealing an unencumbered smile and a corrected bite!

Over the summer, Jacob traveled with our church's youth group to Carrefour,  Haiti, to work with Hearts United with Haiti..The group helped with Vacation Bible Schools, some construction, and spent time with some of the Haitians, playing soccer and teaching them games.  He celebrated his 17th birthday "in style" while there, being adorned with a crown-leaf-thing while the group sang to him!

Beach Vacation at Delaware Beaches

The Ephrata Firecracker Run on the 4th of July is our annual family endurance event, which we have done every year that we have lived in the area.  This year Glenn, Emily and Sarah took part.  Jacob was away at camp, and Anne took her (very important, maybe even imperative) role as family cheerleader/photographer at the event.  

We vacationed in the Rehoboth, Delaware area in July.  We stayed in Cottages at Indian River Inlet Marina.
 They look no more than 10-15 years old and are very well kept and accommodated our family well.  Unfortunately, due to the girls' work schedules, we were not able to all be there at the same time, but we made the most of it.

Firecracker 5 Mile Finishers

Glenn started out the year by completing two of the three Frozen Foot 5 K series races at Elizabethtown College.  During the winter he was training on foot and roller ski, and maybe four or five days on actual snow skis.  In March he completed the Winona Forest Tourathon, a 50 K cross country ski race, which is exclusively a classic technique race.  During the summer he spent more time training on the bike, and completed a ride with his brother Dale from Pittsburgh to Washington DC on the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal trails.   You can read an account of that adventure at "Passage to Washington"

Anne keeps busy in various roles with all the family activities.  She continues to be an experimental, non-main stream cook, and uses the word "melange" when she's not quite sure what to call the dishes she concocts.  The rest of the family are pretty good sports in trying what appears on the table; sometimes they even enjoy it.  The ladies' investment club Anne's involved with just celebrated their 18th anniversary...when the club started, three of the founding members, including Anne were pregnant, and now our "babies" are getting ready to graduate from High School!  Anne is also involved at church as a member of the Counting Team, with Small Group/Ladies Bible Study ministries and drama.  Anne also continues part-time sales support work for Sunrise Logistics, a division of Four Seasons Produce.  She LOVES visiting the Employee Produce Market at work pretty regularly, and trying all sorts of produce from around the world (see melange comment above), along with the good 'ole standbys.

New Yawk City

The Beiber bus got us to Gotham safe and sound.  On the drive up there was Bingo and a raffle to entertain us.  As we were making the final approach on 95, we saw all the  containers stacked, waiting to be loaded to trains-for shipping.  We import a lot odd stuff.  Was able to see the newly crowned tallest building on the skyline, as we made our way into the city on the Holland tunnel approach.

The bus dropped us off at Bryant Park.   We first went to Times   Square to see about tickets for a show.  Some of the tickets were discounted 50%.  But The line was long, so we decided to head toward the high line trail.

We took the metro to the 14th st Station and then walked west toward Gansevort St. We were getting a little hungry, so we stopped at a little deli for an early lunch  We were both looking forward to having a New York bagel.  According to the menu, they had "jumbo bagels".  However, these bagels were just average sized, a bit of a let-down for these hungry travelers.

Now that we were properly fueled, we were ready to tackle the highline.  I had read about it 3 years ago, and since heard from people who had walked on it since.

Walked full length of the highline, heading north.
Performance art, heating oil
Benches on rails
Most trees still had their leaves
Lots of new construction and redevelopment going on along the trail
Parking garages
Rooms with a view

walked by Post office, sat on steps in the sun for a few minutes.

Back through Times Square, and then to 5th avenue to find Macy's Christmas window displays.  We walked through Macy's their displays were not ready.  We then went to Lord and Taylor, and their displays were up. took a photo there.

Walked to St Patricks Cathedral, in the middle of a major rennovation.

Next went to Grand Central Station, big!

Ended up getting dinner at a Pizza on Times Square

Went back to Bryant Park ice skating, small shops, and Google Winter Wonderland
Belgian hot chocolate, ginger honey tea

Boarded bus at 6:20, beautiful view of nighttime skyline while leaving the Holland tunnel.  Drive home went well arrived at Four Seasons around 9:25.

Great trip.

2012 - Year in Review

Family photo on 13th step in front of Colorado State Capital Building, exactly one mile high

It has been a normal year with many highs and lows. The winter was a huge disappointment for the snow-lovers in the Mohler household. Our annual downhill ski trip was rained out, and all the regular cross country ski races for Glenn were canceled due to no snow or poor conditions.   Finding the bright side, the heating bill was lower than normal and there was little snow to shovel.

Glenn, Emily and Jacob ran and finished the 5 mile Ephrata Firecracker Run this Fourth of July. One of the tragedies of this year was the death of our friend Jim Naumann.  Glenn assisted a group of friends and family that organized a 5K run in memory of Jim to benefit his wife and children.  The event took place on Thanksgiving morning and participation was well beyond anticipated, with about 500 finishers, including four Mohlers.

We took our long-talked-about trip to Colorado in August, visiting some of Anne's family, and spending some time touring the Rocky Mountain region.  Starting and ending in the Denver, CO area, we traversed 3,100 miles in 11 days, visiting 8 National Parks, a few cities and seeing a lot of dramatic scenery in between.  We enjoyed a lot of natural scenery along the way, but also were able to appreciate the cultural landscape, historic architecture, tourist attractions and even a few Olympic venues that we found in our path. The trip was a lot like life, as some parts lived up to our expectations, and others didn't, but we were also pleasantly surprised by a lot of our experiences along the way.  If you would like to read more about the trip and see some selected photos, go to the Western Trip Page

Emily returned to Messiah College for her senior year as a Communications/Public Relations major, adding an internship at a Public Relations agency to her resume.  In September, she was awarded a PA Public Relations Society scholarship at a PPRS dinner meeting which featured the builders from a recent "Extreme Home Makeover" episode.  In the summer of 2011, she spent a day in the onsite Media Tent during the filming of the Makeover. Emily spent her spring semester at Messiah's Temple campus in Philadelphia, serving as an RA and getting a taste of city living.  She ran in the Broad Street Run with Glenn and 30,000+ other runners. She enjoyed her final summer as Head Coach of the East Cocalico Swim Team, ending her 14-year involvement with the Dolphins!  Emily also served as the Assistant Manager of the East Cocalico pool and was sporting her killer tan by about mid-June.  One of Emily's trademarks is creating beautiful crafts and designs, often using natural, recycled and low-cost materials.  She wowed us on New Year's Eve with a gourmet dinner...our dinning room was transformed to a white-and-gold candlelit wonderland!

Sarah graduated from Cocalico High School this past June, an event she looked forward to for quite some time! She ran track during the spring season, spent lots and lots of time with many friends, and also logged many hours as a hostess at Applebees. The summer found her once again enjoying time at the Creation Music Festival, plus heading up the drama portion of the kids summer program at church with her equally dramatic friends Angela and Kara, and her willing brother [who shall remain nameless].  Sarah started her freshman year at Eastern University, in Saint Davids, PA, and is loving college so far (except for the Dining Hall food, that is!).  She really appreciates the school's emphasis on social justice, and loves the campus, the suburban setting and the proximity to Philadelphia.  Sarah has already jumped into a prison ministry and other extra-curricular activities, all of which involve helping people.  Her desire to serve others, especially those in need, will most likely drive her decisions about her college major and her future vocation.

Jacob is now a junior at Cocalico High School and has managed to grow taller than everyone else in the house!  Unfortunately, his back has started curving again in the process, so he's dealing with wearing a back brace once again, not to mention the braces on his teeth.  He's looking forward to getting rid of all this extra apparatus in the not-too-distant future!  Jacob ran track and cross country with the school team and played trombone in Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble.  He is also involved in an after-school mentoring program with middle school students, the weekly High School Bible Study, and the Aevidum club http://aevidum.com/.  Jacob has an aptitude for math and computer science, and has a huge curiosity for things, all sorts of things.  He teaches us a lot when he shares some of the many tidbits he has stored in his head!  In late July, Jacob went on a youth group wilderness adventure trip to Algonquin Provincial Park in northern Ontario.  They canoed for 4 days on lakes and rivers, connected by many portages where they had to carry canoes and equipment.  Jacob plans to take his driving test soon, which will relieve us of chauffeuring duties!  It is hard to believe that our youngest will be a licensed driver soon, and has already started his college search.  Time keeps on ticking, into the future...

Anne continues working part-time in Sales Support at Sunrise Logistics, a division of Four Seasons Produce.  She helps coordinate transportation, storage, ripening, and other services relating to moving produce [and other items] from Point A to B.  She loves her one-minute commute [or ten, if she walks], her part-time schedule, and the Employee Produce Market from which our family feasts very regularly!  Anne is also involved with helping to lead our couples' Small Group at church, serves on the Counting Team, and fills in other places/spaces as needed.  She pretends to be an herb gardener (just look at our weeds in the summer time), but does enjoy rescuing some from amongst the weeds to mix with the aforementioned produce to create the many non-mainstream dinners that pop up at the Mohlers' house.  Fortunately, her bread baking ventures are usually moderately successful, providing life sustenance in cases where the main dish does not!

Glenn continued his work at GIS Division of Lancaster County Information Technology.  Lancaster County was able to work cooperatively with 2 Federal Agencies to capture new aerial photography in spring.  We have also selected a contractor to perform data updates using this aerial photography as a primary source.  GIS staff also completed a another major project updating pavement feature data.  During the year, he also continued in his role as field maintenance coordinator for the Cocalico Youth Soccer Club.  At Cocalico Community Chapel, he continued as a sound technician, small group leader and website administrator.

As we look back on the past year, we have a lot to be thankful for.  As we strive to grow in faith every year, we see that we fall short in so many ways.  Nevertheless, our God has been faithful, even when we have missed the mark.  It is our desire to apply the lessons of life that He brings our way each day, so that we can grow in many areas of our life.

We hope that your year was good, and that coming year would be even better than the last.

Glenn, Anne, Emily, Sarah and Jacob

Family photo with Bryce Canyon backdrop

Return to Denver2

During this trip we covered a lot of miles, so we were ready for the final drive back to Denver.

Before breakfast Jacob and I took a run on the Wyoming Heritage Trail , which is a rail trail from Riverton to Shoshoni.  We were not on a particularly scenic part of the trail, but it was a nice way to avoid traffic.  As we left town we saw landmarks in the distance that we tried to reach.  However, we were not able to judge distances too well because of not being accustomed to the wide open spaces.  So we never reached that big tree in the distance.

When we were leaving the parking lot from the hike in Idaho, I drove too close to some brush and put some light scratches on the passenger side of the rental van.  To try to avoid being charged for the "damage" to the van, I washed the van since the dust was highlighting the scratches.  I also picked up some rubbing compound at an auto parts store.

The morning drive was uneventful and the weather was sunny and warm as we headed east on 20/26.  We were driving through high desert chaparral and we saw lots of pronghorn along the road.  Lots of wide open space with very large ranches, where you could see small herds of cattle roaming the sparse land with lots of space between them. Occasionally there would be a windmill with a watering trough, and every now and then there was a small cluster of ranch buildings.  Rural Wyoming living must be hard and lonely, but I'm sure it has it's rewards too.

We stopped Casper for lunch and gas, no correlation.  Here we connected with Interstate 25 which continued east while we were flanked on the south by the Laramie Mountains.  Later 25 turned south toward Cheyenne and Fort Collins.  The afternoon was cloudy, windy and quite cool due to our altitude.

We had another wonderful dinner with the Witonsky's, such gracious hosts despite all their busy schedules.  I was able to buff most of the scratches out of the rental van with the rubbing compound.

The second part of the Denver² equation was the return trip to PA, which went as well as air travel with a family can go.  This leg of our journey was much less stressful than the trip out.  BTW, the rental car intake person did not notice the scratches, so either he chose to ignore them or the "elbow grease" worked.

Grand Teton Hike and Jackson

We had a good breakfast at TWR Grill in Driggs which was next to our hotel.  Our objective for the day was to take a nice hike in the Tetons.  We had seen recommendations from a number of sources to have bear spray with us for our hike, in case we had a bear encounter along the trail.  Although I like to take my chances, I thought everybody would be a little more comfortable on the trail if we had some spray along.  So we went to the corner drug store to buy our expensive "bear insurance" policy.

Waterfall just below Wind Cave

The original plan was to drive over the pass between Victor, ID and Jackson, WY and take a hike on a trail near Jenny Lake in Grand Teton Park.  However, after reading more information about the trail-heads the previous night, it became clear that we would probably have trouble finding parking near a trail-head  especially if we got a late start.  We went to the ranger station for Grand Targhee National Forest to get some ideas about hikes from the Idaho side in the National Forest.  The 2 rangers at the station were very helpful, and the provided a lot of good information about possible hikes, along with maps and descriptions. I also asked about the persistent haze in the sky, and they said it was smoke from the forest fires upwind in central and western Idaho.  They estimated the visibility at about 10-12 miles.

We drove south from Driggs a few miles and headed east to Darby Canyon Rd, which was a narrow dirt road that followed a stream about 5 miles into Darby Canyon.  The road eventually ended at a parking lot and trail-head in a clearing next to the stream.  With bear spray, water and other day-hike provisions, we headed out on the Trail toWind Cave

Wind Cave, worth the hike

The trail initially headed east, climbing gently along that stream and the bottom of Darby Canyon. After a short distance, it turned south and began climbing more steeply along the eastern flank of a side canyon. Our destination was Wind Cave, which the rangers said would be enjoyable destination for our family.  Along the way, the trail wound through many switchbacks and initially through a thick forest.  The trees began to thin and were shorter as we gained altitude.  There were also a many rock outcrops or small cliffs along the way. As we gained more elevation, we eventually started hiking through more open, alpine meadows with a beautiful mix of scrub brush, grasses  and wildflowers.  As the trail opened up, we were able see wider vistas of the ridge behind us and to the north, and the ridge across the canyon to our west.  Along the way we met a few groups of hikers either heading toward or returning from Wind Cave.

As the morning wore on, we scanned the canyon wall to our west looking for signs of Wind Cave, and eventually saw a small black spot a few hunded feet below the ridge, through the haze.  Although it was hard to judge distances, we now had it in our sights, and we realized we could make it.  As we approached, the trail crossed the bottom of the drainage feature and began to climb steeply toward the Cave.  Along the way and before the cave, the trail became very steep, even with rock steps and steep sections of trail that required grabbing trees, roots or anything you could find to pull yourself up.  Then we came alongside a waterfall
which had been eroded under the overhang, allowing us to walk behind the falls.

The cave had a huge entrance , about 50 feet tall by 20 ft wide, and the cave floor angled upward toward the flat roof, as you moved into its depths.  The walls curved in a parallel fashion.
 There was a stiff flow of cool air coming out of the cave, which was refreshing on a hot day such as this.  We explored the cave, but only to a reasonalble depth, where we still had plenty of natural light.  After finding a nice spot to eat lunch on the way back we had an uneventful hike back.  The bear spray worked much like an umbrella prevents you from seeing any rain.

Someone in Jackson must have been real bored.

Our evening destination was Riverton WY.  To get there, we headed back over the Teton Pass and into Jackson WY for some late afternoon shopping.  Jackson is a cowboy town, turned ski town with an active art community.  There were plenty of boutique shops with lots of unique, and very expensive items for sale.  One art shop had a dinosaur scull selling for $45,000.  It was too big to bring home so we chose not to buy it.  There is a small park in the middle of town.  At each entrance there is an arch made up of elk antlers, not something you see everywhere.  It was a hot day in town, so after a couple of hours we were "shopped out"

On the way out of town, we had to drive northeast before heading toward Riverton.  Alon the road, we got one last look at beautiful granite peaks of the Grand Tetons throught the haze.  We also did a drive-by view of  Jackson Lake.

Our best view of the Tetons in 2 days, through the haze.

We connected with 287/26 and headed toward Riverton.  There was major construction along the way as we gained altitude on the way to the Togwotee Pass in the Absaroka Range.  We had to stop 4 different times, where there was only one lane of traffic at a time.  Near the top of the pass, we passed two women cyclists climbing the pass with full touring gear, working real hard on a gravel section of road that was under construction.  Kudos to them.  I have heard this pass is on some more northern cross country bike routes.

After ascending from the pass we could see the Wind River range to the south.  For dinner, we stopped for Pizza at Paya' Deli along the main drag in the small town of Dubois WY.  It was a small town deli, with the local crowd.  We left town around dark and entered the Wind River Reservation.  There was very little development along the road, and saw few cars till we were within 5 miles of Riverton.

Yellowstone In a Day

We started with a hearty American breakfast at O'Rourkes in the middle of Driggs.

Buffalo lounging along the road in Yellwstone Park

When we left Driggs we headed north on route 33, and then continued north on route 32.  On 32 the road began a slow climb, after about 700 of elevation we began to see snow stakes along the highway, so there must be significant snowfall at the highest elevations.  There were even some gates along the road that are probably used to closed the road when drifting snow makes them impassable.  The landscape was open prairie with a mix of wheat, grazing land and small patches of woodland.

We connected with route 20 in Ashton Idaho.  After leaving town, we saw a crop dusting plane spraying a field along the road, flying real low with steeply banked turns...looks real dangerous.  The skies were very hazy again today as we traveled toward the town of West Yellowstone, and the park entrance.  There was construction on Route 20, with sections of one way traffic again.  We also saw large areas of replanted lodge pole pine before entrance, interspersed with high desert vegetation and large cattle ranches.  We also began seeing evidence of the devastating forest fires that hit the park in 1988.  Most of the park was covered by regrowth that sprung up after that fire.

Old Faithful

On the way in we stopped at the Madison Information Station.  The park rangers were real helpful with the geyser schedule, and pointed out some of the geysers we should try to see, and the approximate schedules for that day. We arrived at Old Faithful about 10 minutes before the expected eruption.  Parking looked to be a real problem, so Glenn dropped off the family and drove to a spot.  He got real lucky and was able to park and run to view it along with quite a large crowd.  Due to the dry summer, it was not as spectacular as it would be with a high water table.  For more information see Geothermal areas of Yellowstone

We then visited many other hot springs and geysers, in that area. Microorganisms that thrive in the hot water affect that light that hits the water and creates a beautiful spectrum of colors.  We just missed Daisy and Riverside, but got to see Castle from a distance and quite a few other smaller geysers and spouts.  Later we drove back to Paint Pots, where thermal activity causes bubbling mud and lots of other oddities.  In all these areas there is a strong smell of sulpher.

Smaller geyser/spout

There are only a few other places in the world with these types of hydro thermal features, and Yellowstone has the largest number and highest concentration of any place in the world.  In fact it has 60% of the worlds geysers.

We stopped at the Continental Divide to take a picture.  Another family from Iowa pulled up, so we offered to take a picture with their camera.  After making small talk, one of them wanted to know what the Continental Divide actually was.  Geography literacy is really lacking.

Hot pool with characteristic color spectrum

We continued east to Yellowtone Lake, and then south on 89, and exited the south entrance toYellowstone.  We entered Grand Tetons National Park.  In one of the large meadows we saw a herd of about 20 buffalo, and joked about needing to see some deer and antelope on the range.  A couple of miles later we saw two antelope (pronghorn?) along the road.  We also passed a large elk preserve along the road.

On the great divide

On the way back to our lodging at Driggs, we drove through the town of Jackson Hole.  It looked like a good town to visit on the next day.  To return to Idaho, we had to climb over the Teton Pass on 22.  It was very long and steep, probably averaging about 10 %.

After returning to Driggs, we had dinner at Teton Thai .  It was very good food cooked by Thai staff, and we highly recommend it if you ever happen to visit the Teton region in Idaho.