Spencer and Celeste Erickson

bawk bawk bawk ba-GAWK!!!

2012-02-03T15:49:00.001-07:00

Our little chickens laid their first egg today. In fact, they laid their first THREE eggs today! I found the first one this morning, on top of their coop. It was cracked and a little frozen, so it must have been laid overnight since they like to roost on the roof of their coop most nights.

We got lucky with the second egg of the day. Spencer was home for lunch and we both heard one of the hens outside making some major racket. Sure enough, when we peeked out she was sitting in a box that I put on top of their coop this morning after finding the first egg. She hopped out of the box after a minute and we immediately went out to check for an egg. BINGO!

We were not expecting eggs yet because most people say chickens need at least 12 hours of light each day in order to lay. We have installed a light in the coop to increase their daylight hours, but haven't gotten around to installing the timer and turning it on yet. I guess these little ladies were ready anyway!

After finding the first good egg in the box, Spencer went back to work and I ran a few errands. When I got back home I went out to put fresh pine shavings in the coop and found another egg! This one was mixed up in the pine shavings in their coop, next to the box we put in there for them to lay in. So three eggs in one day. Only one of them ended up in a laying box, but overall I'm pretty satisfied! We'll have to figure out how to get them to lay all their eggs in the laying boxes from now on.

On Being Pregnant

2012-01-20T17:00:00.000-07:00

I love being pregnant. I love everything about it. I love getting bigger, feeling the baby kick, and even all the little pregnancy symptoms that might seem to be a little "inconvenient." I attribute this great love for my pregnant self to the fact that for a while there, I didn't think it was going to happen. In fact, I had come to an acceptance of it not happening, and had even moved on from the sadness of it all.

So now that I am lucky enough for it to happen anyway, I am taking full advantage! I have lost track of the number of books I have read in the last few months about pregnancy, childbirth, and infant care. Here are just a few that happened to be floating around in my living room today.

I've read books from the library, free pregnancy/parent magazines from the women's center, and online articles. I am learning A LOT about pregnancy and childbirth. And one bit of knowledge that I have appreciated the most, and that appears in most of the books I've read, is that I can control quite a bit about how I feel and how I handle this new experience. And the things I choose to do now can benefit the baby and myself in the coming months. Right now I am focusing on a healthy diet and good exercise.

Healthy Diet

From day one of finding out I was pregnant, I improved my eating habits. I wouldn't say I was a terrible eater before, but there's always room for improvement. I am making a conscious effort to get more fruits and vegetables in my diet, and I am working on cutting out empty carbohydrates and replacing them with whole grains. I am also trying to get more protein every day. For me, eating more fruits and veggies is easy because I like fruits and veggies. I also like meat, yogurt, cottage cheese, and other high protein foods, so it's not too hard to get more protein. But whole grains, now that's a different story. I love me some good old fashioned white bread from Grandma Sycamore. And white rice. And pasta.

So if you're like me and looking to increase whole grains in your diet, here are some tips. Winco has great whole grain bread for a really great price (around $1.50 a loaf I think). The brand is Cascade Pride, and they make a bunch of different whole grain breads. Read the labels though, because not all "wheat" breads are whole grain. My favorite is the 100% Stoneground Whole Wheat. It makes great toast, grilled cheese sandwiches, and is good with chicken salad. I don't love it for peanut butter and jelly though.

Here are some other whole grain foods worth trying out.

With the pasta, I make it with half whole grain noodles and half regular. Using just the whole grain noodles is a little too much for me.

The whole wheat tortillas are great for enchiladas. Of course, if you put enough cheese and sauce on top, anything will taste good, right? I haven't tried the tortillas for something simple like a quesadilla yet, so I'm not sure how they would work for that.

I got the wild rice medley at Costco, and I think it makes a great side for chicken or another meat. It's heartier than white rice and has a more earthy flavor. The different textures of grains is nice too. And you can make it in a rice cooker just like you would make regular white rice. I don't know how it would work for something like fried rice. I'll have to try it out one of these nights for dinner. It's more expensive than white rice, but at least it's something worth eating. White rice seems a little like a filler food. That's probably why we had so much of it when we were poor. It's cheap, it fills you up, and it tastes good! I don't like the taste of regular brown rice, so this wild rice mixture is a good alternative for me.

Exercise

This has been a tough one for me. I've never really had the need to exercise, and that makes the motivation hard to come by. Usually what happens is I go in little spurts of exercise activity. When we were in Idaho, we joined a gym and I was really good about going on a regular basis. We did a lot of rock climbing at the time too, so I was motivated to be stronger so climbing would be easier and more enjoyable. When we moved, there was no more gym membership and not a lot of opportunities for climbing, so I slacked off. Then for a while I found some exercise DVDs that I enjoyed and could fit into my schedule, but that didn't last long. But I always imagined that if I ever got pregnant, I would be really diligent about getting in a good amount of exercise. Then came the first trimester, and I had ZERO energy. I felt like I couldn't walk the dog because since we live in the foothills, everything seemed too steep for the amount of energy I had. I didn't want to do the exercise DVDs because they weren't designed for pregnancy and were too intense.

So for the first trimester I basically did nothing. And starting the second trimester, while I did feel more energized than before, I still couldn't get myself going. But for the last little while, I have miraculously found some inner motivation again. I signed myself and Spencer up for memberships at the local rec. center, and I now go to a prenatal class every Tuesday and Thursday morning called Baby Bump Pump. The instructor is great, I feel like I am really working hard every time I go, and it's all exercises that are safe for pregnancy. It's working my muscles enough that I feel sore muscles afterward, but nothing feels strained or injured. So far the class is pretty tiny too. It's usually me and one or two other girls. I feel like I have my own personal trainer that way. I tried a beginning yoga class that I could do every Monday, but a lot of it was boring, I didn't like the instructor, and time seemed to drag on FOREVER. My plan now is to go to my class every Tuesday and Thursday, and on the off days try to walk the dog or do some walking or cycling at the gym.

I am so thankful that Spencer is working hard and doing well with his office so I can stay home and dedicate my time to enjoying the pregnancy. It's much easier to plan healthy meals and get into an exercise routine when I don't have to worry about lesson plans or annoying coworkers and don't have to spend 8 - 10 hours a day at school.

I am still trying to earn my keep around here though. Read the next post to see how I'm helping around the house.

(Disclaimer: While this post and the next one makes it sound like I am busy being productive all the time, keep in mind that I still spend way too much time on the computer, I watch a few episodes of my favorite sitcoms on Netflix every day, and I play games on my iPhone a little more than I should. But the important thing is, I am trying to do something worthwhile every day. Today's big accomplishments: I walked the dog and I updated the blog. Maybe later I'll do some vacuuming. And that's good enough for me!)

Workin' Hard for the Money

2012-01-20T15:55:00.000-07:00

This is the first year in a long time that I am not earning a paycheck. For the first few years of our marriage I was the primary income earner, so this has been a bit of an adjustment. Okay, okay, so having no work responsibilities, sleeping in, and doing what I want with my time have all been pretty easy to get used to. The only real downside is I want to feel like I am still contributing financially in some way.

So now, instead of bringing home a paycheck, I get to provide free labor for home improvements! I must admit, the house projects pretty much screeched to a halt during the first trimester of my pregnancy. Who knew pregnancy fatigue could be so exhausting?!? But recently my energy levels have picked up a little and I have set my sights on tackling some jobs around the house (while still finding the time to nap almost every day).

Project #1

First on the list, the upstairs bathroom. Here is the one picture I could find of what it looked like before. I wanted to capture the hideousness of the pink walls, but the picture does not do it justice. They were seriously the color of Pepto Bismol.

What is not shown is the wooden toilet seat lid, outdated sea shell towel fixtures, boring shower curtain, and an unstained wooden vanity with plastic drawer handles.

I first removed those disgustingly ugly brown vinyl dots and repainted the pink walls. I also repainted the trim to go from cream to white. Spencer helped me remove the old wooden toilet seat lid, and I installed a new white one.

Next, I sanded down and refinished the old vanity and replaced the plastic hardware with brushed nickel door pulls.

I added new towel racks and a toilet paper dispenser and a new shower curtain rod, shower curtain, towels, and rugs.

And the final product...

The wall and trim paint were left over from other projects, as were the wood stain and polyurethane for the vanity. The only costs were the toilet seat lid, fixtures, shower curtain, towels, and rugs. Not too shabby!

Project #2

We have a small two car garage, and Spencer is always working on auto repairs, rebuilding an old army trailer, or modifying the off-road capabilities of his 4Runner. With no built-in garage shelving, it was getting pretty messy in there. So for one of Spencer's Christmas gifts this year I had a cousin of mine help me build two 4' x 8' shelves to use in the garage. Ben (my super-helpful cousin) gave me a supply list and instructions, and even helped me for a few hours one evening to get started building the shelves. I finished up on my own the next day, and VOILA!

Total cost for supplies was around $60, which is pretty cheap considering the size of the shelves and how sturdy they are.

Project #3

The second story of our house has been pretty neglected up to this point. Since most of our main level rooms have been updated, it was now time to focus on the upstairs. After finishing the upstairs bath, I turned my attention to the master bedroom. It's a good-sized room, but every wall, the ceiling, and the trim around the doors were all painted the same creamy beige color. Blah. And the crown moulding (if you can call it that) and baseboards were just flat pine boards covered in a creamy beige whitewash.

Spencer pried off the old baseboards and crown moulding while I sifted through dozens of paint samples to try to find the slate blue-gray color I was envisioning for the room. I eventually chose a color, bought the paint, and completely painted the room - two full coats plus trim and touch-ups. I tried really hard to love the color I chose. I told myself it would work. I imagined what room accents I could get to go with it. And after about two weeks of having the color up on the walls, I turned to Spencer just before going to bed and said, "I'm repainting the bedroom." The color just was not right. Too much blue, not enough gray. Grrr.

Now while the blue color was still up on the walls in the bedroom, before I decided to change it, I bought another paint color to use as an accent in the bedroom and to paint the upstairs hallway and stairs area. I loved the way this new color looked in the hallway, so that's the color I used to repaint the bedroom. And I love it in the bedroom too! Good thing, because I did not want to have to repaint it all a third time!

Here's what the hallway and stairs look like now (the walls were a boring, dirty white before).

Spencer painted the tall parts of the walls around the stairs and helped with the trim around the stairway and hall. I didn't trust myself to climb up a ladder on stairs while pregnant. Yikes!

As for the bedroom, that is still a work in progress. We got a killer deal on some new crown moulding thanks to a friend of ours who had the inside scoop on a company going out of business. But it still needs to be installed and painted. And we need to buy, install, and paint baseboards and trim for around the window. At some point the master bath will be redone too. And new carpet in the master bedroom, hallway, and stairs. And I want to replace all the brass door knobs. Before I can get to all that, I will be replacing all the cream colored outlets in the bedroom and hallway with white ones. So no pictures of the bedroom yet.

My goal is to have the crown moulding, baseboards, and trim installed and painted by the middle of February. Spencer is in charge of installing it all and I will paint. I'd like to have the door knobs replaced by then too. In fact, if I can fit it into the budget, I may go pick up new knobs and get them installed sometime next week.

Then it will be on to the main level office (which needs wallpaper removed - UGGHH!), the upstairs office/craft room, the upstairs bonus room (nice big room, floor to ceiling wallpaper - DOUBLE UGGHH!), and then down to the basement family room, spare bedroom, and bathroom. The baby room upstairs was already painted a pretty pale yellow and has nice trim and molding, so it's basically ready to go. Good thing too, because I have a feeling I'll be working on some (or most) of these projects after the baby comes. Probably a while after the baby comes. From what I hear, pregnancy fatigue kicks in again during the third trimester. So I better get crackin' while I still can!

Boy, oh boy!

2012-01-04T11:40:00.002-07:00

We went to our 20 week ultrasound appointment on December 22nd and found out, much to our surprise, we are having a BOY!!

Spencer and I both thought it would be a girl, and we even had a name all picked out. Now we are hunting for a good boy name! We are both so excited.

So here's how the ultrasound went. The tech was very personable, and I think did a great job with everything. We saw our little baby on the monitor right away, and he sure was active! I hadn't really felt a whole lot of movement that I could recognize as the baby, so it was so reassuring to see that he was definitely moving around just fine. Everything looked good and healthy, and the shot she got of the "boy parts" was very clear. There shouldn't be any surprises on the day of his birth!

Here are the pictures from the ultrasound. We also have a DVD of the entire process. Each little picture has been labeled in the top left corner telling what the image is showing.

(click on the image to enlarge it)

My favorite is the top right picture where he is yawning with his little hand up by his face. So cute!

Our appointment was scheduled for 7 pm, and when it was all over we went into the hallway and sat on the couch for a while just soaking it all in. We called and texted family members to share the news, and then Spencer and I just sat with each other and enjoyed the moment.

Since the ultrasound, I have really wanted to get things prepared for the baby. I have spent hours on Amazon.com reading reviews and adding baby products to our registry. I have also started organizing the baby room. We've set up the crib and bought a used changing table and ordered crib bedding. We still need a crib mattress, but I'm trying to hold out on buying one in case we acquire one as a gift. Spencer's parents gave us an ADORABLE wooden rocking chair for the baby for Christmas, and my parents gave us a bag full of baby clothes, bottles, blanket, and more.

I'm a little antsy about getting a bassinet, but it has been hard finding a good one for a reasonable price. I have to keep telling myself I still have MONTHS left to go before the baby comes, but I just want everything in place NOW! And Amazon.com's baby registry isn't helping. Have I mentioned the hours I've spent on there? And it's not like I am adding tons of things to our registry, it's just that each item has to be carefully scrutinized and compared and the reviews have to be read...

So as of tomorrow I will be 22 weeks along, or about 5 months. I'll post a belly picture tomorrow or Friday. Today for the first time I can visibly see my tummy being kicked around by the baby. It is pretty amazing.

Lucky Dog

2011-12-23T11:00:00.001-07:00

I gave Jack an empty jar of peanut butter the other day. It kept him busy for quite a while.

I think he liked it.

18 Weeks

2011-12-08T15:54:00.001-07:00

I'm 18 weeks along today. Everything is still going well, and it's about time for a belly picture. At my last prenatal appointment I was measuring a little high and a little big. We'll see if the trend continues at my next appointment.

In case you were wondering, those are maternity jeans I'm wearing. That's right folks! Spencer and I took a trip up to Park City last Saturday to do some shopping, and he convinced me to go into the Motherhood Maternity store to try a few things on. Mostly because I couldn't button up any of my pants anymore.

Okay, so I know I am pregnant. But I am still experiencing these little moments where I don't really believe it's happening. Maybe because I didn't think it ever would happen. Anyway, I think because of that I have not been wanting to try on any maternity clothes. I have passed by those stores for years now, and it has never been a relevant place for me to shop. So why should now be any different? Plus, I'm really not that far along yet. Would anything even fit me?

We walked into the store and I just looked around, all dazed and confused. Where do I even start? What do I do? Luckily there was a very kind sales associate ready to help. Apparently the maternity jeans are labeled according to your pre-pregnancy jean size. So if you've always been a size 2, then you try on the size 2 maternity jeans. Fabulous!!! And the way they're made, I can wear them now even though I'm not that big yet, and they will stretch throughout the pregnancy. They are pretty comfortable too. Much better than using an elastic to hold together the top button of my old jeans!

I ended up with a pair of jeans, a pair of dress slacks, and a long sleeve white shirt. And another great moment validating the fact that I am really, truly pregnant.

Timeline

2011-11-27T09:06:00.001-07:00

Early spring 2004 Spencer and I meet in our Ogden singles ward. Sparks fly immediately.

June 4, 2004 Spencer proposes at Snowbird resort at the top of the tram.

August 6, 2004 Spencer and I are married for time and all eternity in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. We move to Murray, Utah.

February 2005 Spencer gets an associate position in Idaho Falls and moves up to begin work. I stay in Utah to finish the school year at Cottonwood Elementary in Holladay. We visit every weekend and decide to never live apart again.

May/June 2005 We buy our first house, in Ammon, Idaho, and I move up to join Spencer.

Late summer/early fall 2005 We decide to go off birth control. I start teaching at Falls Valley Elementary in Idaho Falls.

2006 Take several pregnancy tests over several months, always negative. I transfer to Rimrock Elementary in Ammon for the 2006-07 school year.

2007 Worry about ability to get pregnant. Try different natural supplements that are supposed to help with fertility.

January/February 2007 Spencer finds a partner position in Salt Lake City and moves down to work. I stay in Idaho Falls to finish the school year and try to sell our house. We visit every weekend. I thought we weren't going to live apart ever again??

June 2007 I move down to Salt Lake with Spencer. House has not sold.

August 2007 I start teaching at Edgemont Elementary in Sandy, Utah.

Early spring 2008 House finally sells! We move to a condo in Cottonwood Heights, Spencer opens his own office after the previous partnership dissolves.

Summer 2008 Doctor appointments. Little to no help in coming up with a diagnosis for our infertility. Eventually do three rounds of Clomid, a drug which aids in ovulation. No luck.

2008 I accept the fact that I may never be pregnant.

Late summer/fall 2009 We take the foster care course, hoping to become foster parents with the chance of adopting. We finish the course, and then Spencer's work status changes again. With my income still necessary, foster care is put on hold until I can stay at home.

Early 2010 Spencer starts working as an associate again, this time in Sandy. We are living in the Suncrest area of Draper.

Fall 2010 Spencer starts his own business in Orem. It takes off right away and continues to grow steadily. Finally!!

Spring 2011 We start looking for homes to buy, and find one in Pleasant Grove. The contract is signed in April and we move in. I am teaching in Sandy, so my commute just lengthened considerably. Spencer's business continues to thrive, and I decide not to return to teaching after this school year.

June 2011 My final days teaching at Edgemont Elementary in Sandy.

July 2011 More doctor appointments, this time at a different clinic. Doctors are more willing to help and are proactive in reaching a diagnosis. Results: I finally find out that I have PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome). Blood tests also show that I am anemic. A treatment plan is put in place.

September 7, 2011 I take a home pregnancy test after Spencer leaves for work. I then drive to the clinic and get another test taken.

lunchtime, September 7, 2011 I call Spencer to see if he wants to go to lunch. After meeting him at the office, we get in the car to go to lunch and I show him the results of the test from the clinic--I am pregnant!!! (This lunch meeting was preceded and followed by many tears of joy.)

September 13, 2011 First intake appointment at the clinic. Blood work is taken, which comes back normal except for a slight anemia, which has improved since my last blood test. After the appointment we drive past a birthing center and get information about a more natural birth setting.

September 19, 2011 Meet with a midwife from the birthing center to discuss treatment options.

September 2011 I read magazines and books about pregnancy, natural birthing, fetal development, etc. Lots of books, lots of information to process, lots of excitement.

September 30 - October 2, 2011 We decide to take a trip while we still can, just the two of us. We fly in to Portland, Oregon and drive down to Bend for the weekend. The drive back to Portland on Sunday is my first and only bout of "morning sickness." I throw up on the side of the road. Spencer takes a picture.

October 17, 2011 First prenatal appointment with my midwife. I get to hear the heartbeat briefly. I finally feel like I really am pregnant, and the doubts disappear. I really love that sound.

September 7 - November 24, 2011 Spencer and I keep our exciting pregnancy secret to ourselves. The first couple of weeks are easy and fun. It's nice to have such a great secret that only the two of us know. But by the end of October and through most of November, it's tougher for me not to say anything to family and friends. Spencer and I make a deal that if I spill the beans before Thanksgiving, he gets to buy a motorcycle. My lips are sealed!

November 16, 2011 Second prenatal appointment. Spencer got to hear the heartbeat for the first time. Everything looks good, I am measuring a little high and a little big.

November 24, 2011 Thanksgiving dinner with Spencer's family. The family did a new game where we all wrote down something we were thankful for on a piece of paper and then rolled them up into crescent rolls, like a fortune cookie. During the meal we all opened our rolls and read the random paper we received. The first note that was read was what Spencer had written: "I am thankful that Celeste is 16 weeks pregnant." The news was out! We all cheered, some of us cried, and I got a lot of hugs. It was wonderful! It did sort of ruin the rest of the note-reading, but oh well, right?

November 25, 2011 Thanksgiving dinner with my family. Every year we play a family flag football game before the meal. It was not easy backing out of the game without looking suspicious. My excuses?? Well, I had to put the ham in the oven, fix the sweet potatoes, my rib hurt, and I wanted to check out my new Black Friday purchase (that will be its own post). Plus, somebody needed to take pictures of the game. I showed up late to the field with my camera, snapped a few pictures, and managed to get out of playing. So no football for me this year.

I wanted to break the news during our usual tradition of going around the table to tell what we are thankful for. However, this year nobody seemed to be in the mood for that. We were all sitting at the table starting to eat and I suggested we say what we're thankful for. That was met with groans and complaints. I did NOT want to wait until after dinner for the announcement, so I just bullied my way into doing it anyway, and volunteered Spencer to go first. Of course, he was thankful that I was 16 weeks pregnant, everyone celebrated, and we got to end the thankful game. Now both families knew, and it was time to tell the world via Facebook.

Overall my first trimester was really easy. I was really tired all the time and had to take a nap every day, but the nausea was pretty limited and I didn't have any weird cravings (except for a couple of days when all I wanted was a big warm pretzel with cheese sauce). I was usually bloated in the evenings, but it was not too bad. It's just so nice to have this experience after thinking that it would never happen! I am appreciating each little part of being pregnant. I love the little bump that is showing up now and am so glad I don't have to try hiding it anymore. I've improved my eating habits and am eating more whole grains and fruits and veggies. I'm limiting sugar more than before. I need to exercise more than I do, especially since the initial fatigue is starting to wear off. And I will soon be shopping for pants that I can button up without having to suck in my belly. We will have an ultrasound on December 22nd to find out if we are having a little boy or girl. We have a little girl's name that we both like, but haven't really thought of a boy's name yet. There is just so much to look forward to!

I really feel so blessed to be able to have this experience. It has been a long journey, but the Lord knows what is best for us and I feel like this journey was all part of the plan for us. Getting pregnant right now is absolutely perfect timing. We are in a house that we love, Spencer's business is doing so well, and I get to stay home and relax without all the stress of teaching. As hard as it was during those first six years of trying to get pregnant, looking back now I know that it was worth the wait.

So the next big milestone in our timeline will be December 22nd when we get our ultrasound. Boy or girl??? We shall see!

Today I learned...

2011-11-22T18:27:00.001-07:00

The weather was pretty good today, so I went out to the backyard to rake the leaves that have been calling my name for the past week or so. Halfway through the job, I stopped to take a break and realized we really had A LOT of trees in our backyard. In fact, today I learned that we have exactly 24 trees back there. That makes for A LOT of leaves! So my workout for the day was leaf-raking. I may have broken a sweat.

Today I learned that Spencer is a genius. Okay, maybe I knew that already, but he proved it yet again today. This morning the car's check engine light came on just as we were driving to the office (I help out there on Tuesday mornings). We turned around and switched the car for the 4Runner to be safe and headed to work. During lunch Spencer looked the car over, checked a few websites, drove down to a parts store and picked up a new ignition coil for about $50, installed it, and in less than an hour the problem was solved. Genius!

We've had this little problem with our chickens where they keep kicking leaves and other junk into their water container. I've seen other chicken owners hang their waterers a few inches off the ground to prevent this, so today I decided to give it a try. Today I learned that our chicken waterer leaks when it is hung above the ground. I'm probably just doing something wrong, but every time I lifted it to attach it to the chain I bought, water poured over the edges without stopping or slowing down. Since Spencer is the fix-it genius of the family, I gave up and just put the waterer on top of an old oil pan. It lifts the water about 3-4 inches off the ground, so it should work until Spencer can get out there and do it properly.

So what did you learn today? Besides the fact that two of the most notable moments of my day involved raking leaves and messing with the chickens' water (exciting life, I know).

Green Thumb

2011-11-04T15:38:00.005-06:00

In the past month, I have planted ...

10 perennial lilies

3 lady ferns

20 Alpine rosy bells

10 early stardrifts

10 King Edward tulips

3 bleeding hearts

6 lily of the valleys

12 iris

15 Spanish bluebells

10 mixed tulips

20 grape hyacinths

8 giant daffodils

And I still have 3 widow's tears to plant, as soon as I find a place for them.

Oh man, I can't WAIT for spring!!!

Seize the Day!

2011-10-29T12:36:00.001-06:00

My Grandma donated her old box of Halloween costumes to me last year. I was rifling through it the other day trying to come up with costumes for Spencer and me to wear to our neigbors' Halloween party. The homemade brown pants kept sticking out to me, and then inspiration hit me! A trip to K-Mart for suspenders and hats, followed by a search through Savers for a vest, and we had the perfect costumes.

Newsies!

I sort of threw the outfits together last minute (the party was Friday evening and I bought the hats, suspenders, and vest Friday morning) so we ended up not having any newspapers to carry to the party. Lucky for us, there were two newspapers on the porch of the neighbors who hosted the party, so we "borrowed" them for the evening. I even downloaded "King of New York" onto my phone so we could have our own theme music!

Thanks Spencer for being such a good sport and letting me dress you up once a year!

The Narrows

2011-10-29T12:24:00.001-06:00

I live in an awesome ward. There is a group of ladies in the ward who get together once a year for a big women's adventure. In the past they have hiked Mt. Timpanogos and done the Rim to Rim hike at the Grand Canyon. This year the ladies planned a trip to hike the Narrows in Zion National Park, and I was invited to come along!

So the plan was to hike from the top of the Narrows down to the bottom, a 16 mile hike through the river which required a back country permit. Average hiking time: 13 hours. However, a few days before our scheduled adventure the temperatures plummeted and the area got a downpour of rain. This meant rising water levels and dropping temperatures in the canyon. But we hoped for the best and drove down to Zion Friday evening to get our gear and prepare for the day ahead.

Side note: The ladies make shirts every year to wear on the adventure. Here is the shirt for this year.

So cute, right?

I was feeling a little nervous already, mostly because the water temps were supposed to be in the 40's and air temps in the canyon in the 50's. Brrr. But as we drove down, I started to learn a bit more about the women I would be hiking with and my nervousness greatly increased. Most had run marathons or half marathons, a few even qualifying and competing in the Boston Marathon. How was I supposed to keep up with these women?!?

Saturday morning we left our hotel bright and early to catch the 6:30 am shuttle bus that would take us to the top of the Narrows. It's about an hour and a half drive, with the last half hour on dirt roads. Because of the rain earlier in the week, the dirt road was too muddy for us to drive through, so we had to turn around and come back. Time for Plan B. We would start at the bottom of the Narrows and hike up as far as we could, and then turn around and come back.

Because of the cold temperatures we all rented dry suits, which ended up being a life saver (though not the most attractive outfit)!

Yes, two of these people are men. A couple of husbands tagged along. It was comforting to have a little priesthood authority, just in case.

We started up the river around 9 am, and hiked/swam/floated our way up through the river as far as we could go. It was amazing. I really had to push myself to fight against the current, and I got really tired as we began making our way back down, but I did it! And I had fun! And I didn't slow anybody down! We ended up finishing in 3 different groups. Two ladies turned around a little early, followed by the group I was in, and a few die hards followed about an hour later. My group got out of the river around 6 pm. I was exhausted! Luckily we planned to stay one more night in the hotel, so we just showered, ate dinner, and crashed. Sunday morning we drove back home. I wasn't even sore the next day! Probably because of the cold water I was in for the majority of the hike.

All in all, it was an excellent trip. I got to know some amazing women, and was able to really challenge myself and feel empowered for succeeding. Next year I will have to take Spencer, but we'll plan to go in August instead of October.

Oregon Day 1

2011-10-05T15:48:00.002-06:00

Spencer and I haven't taken a vacation for a while. Unless you count little camping trips within driving distance, which I do not. So we figured now was the perfect time to go. If you've ever used Groupon, you might have seen their vacation deals. Spencer and I sat down one evening and searched through all their vacation destinations. They had a couple of different offerings in Oregon. Spencer went there for chiropractic college and loved it. He has always wanted to take me up there.

We settled on a mountain resort in Bend, Oregon. Then we had to figure out flights. We could have flown in to Portland and then taken a connecting flight to Redmond, which would put us just a short drive from Bend. Or we could fly into Portland and drive three and a half hours to get to Bend. But it wouldn't be like driving down the I-15 corridor, with nothing but sage brush and junipers. This was Oregon, after all! So we decided on a shorter flight and longer drive. And I am glad we did.

Friday. Our flight left SLC at 8:30 am, and because of the time zone difference, we arrived in Oregon just after 9 am. We had the whole day ahead of us! First stop - checking out where Spencer lived during school.

Spencer had a pretty sweet set-up for housing during school. He lived in an apartment above the Multnomah County Medical Examiner's Office (aka the morgue) free of rent. All he had to do was answer phone calls after hours. How cool to say you've lived in a morgue!

Here is Spencer outside the old morgue building. It has actually been converted into a dermatology clinic now. The windows at the top are part of the apartment where he used to live.

From there we drove out to see the college(no pictures, sorry!) and then headed towards Multnomah Falls. We took the scenic byway to get there, and it was amazing! Along the way we stopped at the Vista House. It is a small dome-shaped building that was constructed in the early 1900's to be used as a resting place for travelers.

Here's a view of the inside.

It's hard to tell, but all the windows were stained glass. It looked very much like a cathedral.

The views around the Vista House were pretty spectacular.

I think that's the Columbia River. Pretty sure.

Now to Multnomah Falls. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

This picture reminds me of Star Wars when Luke Skywalker meets Yoda in the swamp.

view looking down from the top of the Falls

The hike up to the top of the falls was pretty steep, but not much more than a mile in distance. There were signs along the way telling what number switchback we were on. There were eleven total.

We left the Falls and headed toward Bend. We stopped off at Smith Rock for a minute along the way. It's an incredible area for rock climbing. There are tall sheer cliff faces all along the perimeter of the 'Rock.' If we could have checked luggage at the airport without paying such a ridiculous fee, we would have brought our climbing gear and gone climbing. Oh well, maybe another time!

After arriving in Bend, we found our resort and checked in. You may notice the complimentary bottle of wine on the counter. How thoughtful of them. We left it for the cleaning ladies the day we checked out.

Since our room came complete with a kitchen and everything, we decided to run to the grocery store to pick up some food. Finding a grocery store in Bend was ... tricky. I don't know why. But it was. We finally found one after driving in circles for an eternity. Then it was back to the resort to relax and rest up for tomorrow.

Oregon Day 2

2011-10-05T14:54:00.001-06:00

Saturday. I have a total of two pictures taken of today. Not because we didn't do anything though! In the morning we took a little walk along some nature trails at the resort. The trails twisted and turned and split off into little offshoots. And they were well used by the locals! Every few minutes a group of runners or bikers would pass by, always with a friendly hello.

We took the trail right from the back door of our room and down around a small lake.

Once past the lake we saw some lava formations before heading back through the trees.

After lunch we drove over to the Old Mill District, which is a quaint shopping center along the river. Most of our afternoon was spent walking around all the shops. We also drove through downtown Bend.

Then it was back to the resort.

We ate dinner at the resort's bar and grill. Then we tried out their three different hot tubs and pools. It was around 9 pm when we went to the pools, and the air was COLD! So I stuck mostly to the hot tubs. But I did try one of the pools for a few minutes. Those hot tubs were a nice way to end the day.

Oregon Day 3

2011-10-05T14:40:00.002-06:00

Sunday. We slept in, listened to the morning session of General Conference online, and then checked out of the resort. It was time to begin the drive back to Portland. We stopped along the way now and then at scenic overlooks. Most of the drive was so green and lush, but of course I didn't take pictures!

Spencer managed to take a picture at one of the (less stunning) scenic overlooks.

This area must have had a fire burn out many of the trees not too long ago. But it was still pretty, and we saw a nice little lake in the distance.

Our flight was not until 6:30, so we had a little bit of time to spend in Portland. First stop - the Portland Temple.

I loved how it was just tucked away right in the middle of a forest of trees.

After walking around the temple grounds, I asked Spencer if we could pick some blackberries. There are wild blackberry bushes growing EVERYWHERE in Oregon! It was near the end of berry season, but we still managed to find some good ones.

The berries were a tasty appetizer, and it was time to head to downtown Portland for a bite to eat. After some soup and sandwiches at a sidewalk cafe, and with just a few extra minutes to spare before needing to head to the airport, Spencer remembered the Rose Gardens and wanted to take me there. Oh man, I could have spent all day at this place! But as luck would have it, we had about 5 minutes to look before we needed to speed off to the airport. I did manage a few snapshots before we left.

It was sprinkling a little, so all the flowers were covered in perfect little water droplets..

We parked right next to the public restroom. I just HAD to get a picture.

That has got to be the cutest little bathroom building ever!

Now all we had to do was fill the rental car with gas and get to the airport. This proved to be a little complicated however. We could not find a gas station anywhere near the airport! We were a bit frantic for a few minutes as we drove aimlessly down various streets. Would we miss our flight???

Finally we spotted a Costco gas station! Did you know that you cannot pump your own gas in Oregon? It has to be pumped by an attendant. Spencer said that's so people will have jobs. Interesting.

We ended up making it to the airport with time to spare before boarding our plane for the flight back home. An hour and twenty minutes after take off, we were in Salt Lake City. Home again, home again, jiggity jig.

Chickens and stuff

2011-09-06T15:29:00.001-06:00

These little chicks are growing every day, and today I decided they were big enough to move from our garage to their outside chicken run and coop. They love to scratch around for tasty tidbits.

We are slowly coming up with names for our cheery chickens.

Cleopatra

Oprah

??? (any suggestions?)

Umm..., I forget. But she does have a name...

Spencer will be thrilled to have the chicks out of the garage.

In other news, I have been baking up a storm lately! In the last week, I have made about 90 red velvet cupcakes (one practice batch followed by two more batches for a wedding open house), a mini red velvet heart cake, zucchini bread, and banana bread -- all from scratch.

I've also done two batches of fresh salsa.

Here's one batch of salsa and the red velvet cake with homemade cream cheese frosting.

Yesterday I picked a box of peaches (courtesy of a lady in my grandma's ward).

They should be ready for canning in a day or two. I have never canned anything by myself, but it sounds like peaches are fairly easy to do. We'll see.

There is NO WAY I could have done all this if I had been teaching right now. I even have time to play spider solitaire and update my blog!

Did you know it is still summer?

2011-08-30T13:35:00.001-06:00

For the last eight years, my summer has ended right around the beginning of August, when it is time to get set up for the next school year. But this year, I am taking a break! That's right, for those who don't already know, I am not teaching this school year. Spencer's office is doing well, so I am staying home. It is quite nice. And it means that I can enjoy my summer straight through August and even into September!

Since the school year has started, I have...

...built a chicken run with Spencer...

...purchased four little chickies...

...harvested a plethora of veggies from our garden...

These were all picked on the same day, by the way!

...and gone climbing with friends.

Yes, I like this continual summer. I like it a lot.

Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner!

2011-07-29T17:31:00.000-06:00

I am on a roll - two blog posts in two days!

A couple of months ago I entered a photo contest held by Utah Senator Mike Lee. He was looking for photographs of Utah to put on his website, and one of my entries was chosen! If you go to his website here and scroll over Constituent Services, you'll see my photo of a sego lily plant (Utah's state flower). Or you can just look below to see the photo.

It's about time!!!!!

2011-07-27T19:55:00.000-06:00

Sooo......, you'd think since I've been out of school for over a month and a half, I would have found the time to blog before now. I am way behind on posting all the fun things we've been up to, but for now I am just going to post a few projects we've been working on at the house.

Let's start in the front.

BEFORE

DURING

The trees were dead, and now they're a stack of firewood in the backyard thanks to a chainsaw and Spencer's new winch.

AFTER

The next area is the east side of the front yard.

BEFORE

AFTER

crookneck yellow squash, pear tomatoes, goliath tomatoes, zucchini, acorn squash, bell peppers, and two types of lettuce

And now let's venture inside the house, shall we? Starting with the family room.

BEFORE

Sorry for the lame photo - I couldn't find another one. The walls had blue wallpaper under the chair rail (which was painted navy blue) and a border just above it. It was gross.

AFTER

And finally, the kitchen! This is my favorite interior project so far, and it was also the most work.

BEFORE

Yum, shredded carrots!

DURING

cabinet doors removed

sanding

painting (our garage was unusable for a while)

tearing out the drop ceiling

It took Spencer a while to figure out how to push all these wires into the newly raised ceiling. He had to extend some of them, put in a few junction boxes, drill holes through the floorboards, and more, but he did it!

After painting cabinets, raising the ceiling, installing canned lighting, painting walls, and getting new counters...

AFTER

My favorite part is the granite countertop.

It's also the easiest part because we didn't have to do any of it ourselves! We hired out the countertops and the drywall on the raised ceiling, but everything else was done by us--with the help of our families.

We've done a lot in the backyard too, but you'll have to wait a little while to see those pictures.

Last Night

2011-05-13T17:58:00.000-06:00

We're slowly settling into our home in Pleasant Grove. Overall, we LOVE it! There's just so much to do, and my commute is about 45 minutes each way now, so our free time is pretty limited. But last night we took a little break from the unpacking, cleaning, weeding, etc. to have a little fun.

My brother Michael and his wife Jessica came over to help us get our new fridge moved in, but we got a little "distracted." Michael and I recently both got new cameras which just happen to be the exact same model. So we thought we would practice using them.

First, we admired the sunset:

But I must admit, that was a little boring. As the night grew darker, we moved to the backyard to mess with the exposure settings. Here's what we got:

The red name was done with my headlamp's red light. An LED flashlight was used to create Spencer's name. I turned the flashlight on and off to separate the letters in the image above.

It was so much fun, we all wanted to take turns. Then we thought - why take turns? We can all play at the same time! Here is what two flashlights and two headlamps can create in a 20 second exposure:

As we were about to call it a night, I glanced over at a tree in the corner of our yard and just had to take a few more pictures. Here's my favorite:

I love my new camera. Spencer bought it for me and surprised me with it a few days after my brother got his. Spencer is the best.

Stay tuned for some pictures of our trip to southern Utah to check out the pioneer trail, "Hole in the Rock."

More Manly by the Minute

2011-05-01T09:35:00.001-06:00

Well, It's been a while since I blogged, but I'm excited about my day yesterday. Through work, Michael (my brother-in-law and business partner) and I have arranged to come up with performance incentives. The first incentive that I received was a welder; a Hobart Handler 140, seen here:

I have rock sliders on my 4Runner for off-road armor so I don't turn my nice car into a scratch & dent. Sliders are the tubes under the doors, and they are generally used for two purposes:

and

You can see the shape of the sliders (if you can look away from my cute wife)

When I initially built them (or had them built, I just put plastic end caps on, and they were getting all rusty on the inside, and filling up with dirt. I decided to cut off the ends and use my new welder! I ultimately thought they looked pretty terrible anyway.

So I made the first incision:

Ground the paint off:

Made my first official weld ever!

Cleaned it up a little bit (not too shabby, I say):

Ground it smooth:

Primed and painted!

It's basically a custom set that would cost over $300 that I made for under $100 total. Plus I learned to do something new! I like the way they look much better now too. I only ruined 2 jackets and started one small fire (oops!). I've got the bug now, so I'm probably going to be spending some more quality time with my welder soon. Any suggestions about what to build?

Top Five

2011-04-15T18:26:00.001-06:00

The top five reasons why I have been such a slacker about updating our blog:

Number 5: Time - more specifically, the lack thereof.

Number 4: I lost my camera. I am very sad about this, in fact you might say I am in mourning. I really loved that little camera. Maybe I will find it some day. Maybe. Fingers crossed.

Number 3: I lost my motivation. It must be with my camera somewhere. Ha ha!

Number 2: I'm gonna say time again, just because I can't think of anything else and I really wanted to have a "Top Five" list. Actually, maybe I could say I've lost my creativity, since I can't even think of five simple excuses!

And the Number 1 reason for lack of blogging is...

...drumroll please...

(by the way, no - I'm not pregnant!)

...we are moving!

It's all happened so fast, I feel like I've been in a whirlwind with everything. A few weeks ago, Spencer and I decided we should check to see if we could qualify for a home loan. Spencer contacted a lender, and sure enough, we were in business! So for the next few days we looked for homes online in our neighborhood and surrounding areas. We found ourselves looking further and further south, until we ended up looking in Pleasant Grove.

So that Saturday (March 26 I think) we made appointments to walk through some of the homes we liked in Pleasant Grove. We found a great house way up on the east side that already had an offer in. Actually, it was the first house we looked at. Before we toured the house I had a great feeling about it, but when we walked through the first time I wasn't so sure. After seeing a few more homes that day, I couldn't get the first one out of my mind. We ended up going back and walking through a second time, and we both fell in love with the potential this house possesses. So we had to act fast! We submitted our offer on Monday morning, and by Tuesday or Wednesday we found out our offer had been accepted! The difference between our offer and the other was $80. Can you believe it!?

Since then, we have been scanning documents, signing papers, looking up old forms, and sending and receiving emails, faxes, and phone calls between our real estate agent, insurance agent, and lender. The home has been inspected and appraised. And today, FINALLY, we have final loan approval, homeowner's insurance is all set up, and we are basically good to go!

Spencer has been SUPER busy at the office, trying to deal with a huge influx of new patients thanks to some great marketing through Groupon. So I have tried to handle most of the work of securing the loan and getting everything squared away to move. And it has all been well worth it! My spring break starts today and I have all next week to pack up and move.

I have made several lists of things to do and have been able to check off A LOT of stuff! And now, I can check one more thing off my list - updating our blog!

Don't Be Jealous

2011-03-12T11:42:00.000-07:00

My family started its own university. That's right folks -- the Jolley University held its first session in January with Pie Crusts 101 and Introduction to Website Design.

The pie making class was hosted at our house. My mom was the instructor, and she made all the women in the class our own cute aprons. Thanks to her great teaching, I was able to make a delicious cream pie.

Here I am with the crust...

...and here's the finished product. Looks good enough to eat!

My younger brother Michael taught the website course at my grandma's house.

I created a website for my first grade class, but need to tweak a few things before I make it available to parents. If I'm being honest, I probably won't get around to it this school year. Oh well!

Drama Queen

2011-02-02T18:24:00.001-07:00

I have this girl in my class this year who is really something else! She's smart, sassy, always wants to help. She is also very emotional and demands a lot of attention. I just have to share two funny things that came from her - one from today and one happened last week.

Story #1:

This morning I was in the middle of reading a story to the class and suddenly she interrupts, out of nowhere, "We're not matching today!" It took me about 5 seconds to realize what she was talking about.

A few days ago she and I wore a similar pink v-neck shirt and I commented that we were matching, and that I had noticed we wore the same shirt on the same day a couple of other times before. So today she wore the pink v-neck shirt, and I did not.

After she interrupted the class to proclaim that we were no longer shirt twins, I told her that I thought about wearing the shirt this morning, but changed my mind. She said, very matter-of-fact, "Well, I prayed that we would wear the same shirt today. Jesus probably told you to wear the shirt this morning, but YOU didn't listen to the Spirit."

How could I have ignored such an important prompting from the Spirit? I will be praying for forgiveness tonight...

Story #2:

Last week my "shirt twin" brought me her math homework right when she came into the classroom in the morning. The procedure is to put homework papers in the homework box, so when she handed it to me I pointed over to the box. She then pointed to her paper, in the top corner, where she had written "go that way" with an arrow pointing to look at the back of the paper. I turned the paper over and read the following note:

Mrs. Erickson (picture of a tear) I (more tear drawings) I I I I (tears drawn between each capital I) I lied to my mom so now my mom dusint (doesn't) believe me so I have to do everything in frunt (front) of her. I want a hug.

After reading the emotional plea, I glanced over the paper to her, standing in front of me with her arms outstretched and the saddest expression on her face, tears welling up in her eyes. I gave her a hug, handed her the math paper, and she put it in the homework box and started her school day.

Later that day she told me a little more about the note. I guess her mom asked if she had brushed her teeth before going to bed, and she lied and said yes when she hadn't really brushed her teeth. So now she has to brush her teeth in her mom's bathroom so her mom can see. She also has to get dressed, etc, in front of her mom to earn her trust back. What a great idea! Good for mom! I think it's safe to say that my sassy little shirt twin has learned a valuable lesson about honesty.

Free Day

2011-01-17T08:25:00.001-07:00

I have a Free Day today. What is a Free Day? Well, let me tell you, they are amazing! A Free Day is a day when I would normally be at school, but have been given the day off. Today it's all because of Martin Luther King, Jr. Three cheers for that great man!

My Free Days can spent spent in all kinds of ways. Sometimes I do nothing all day, or clean the house, or visit Spencer at the office. I usually like to run errands on my Free Days too. There is nothing better than going grocery shopping in the late morning on a weekday! So much better than 5:30 or 6:00 pm after a long day of work!

Today my Free Day will go something like this:

7:25 am - rolled out of bed.

7:30 - 8:30 am - checking facebook, reading blogs, and updating my own blog!

8:30 am - shower, eat breakfast, and get ready for the day.

10:00 am - shopping for clothes (I have some Christmas money that is just burning a hole in my pockets!)

Noon - home for lunch.

Afternoon - Take care of some much-needed house cleaning. Also, read a book. And..., whatever I feel like!

6:00 pm - start on dinner and anxiously await Spencer's arrival home.

...Did I mention that I LOVE Free Days?

Guess what we've been doing...

2010-12-31T09:44:00.001-07:00

If you guessed shoveling our driveway NONSTOP - you're right! We may not have had much snow for Christmas, but this last storm has definitely made up for it. Wednesday morning (before 7 am), Spencer shoveled a few inches of snow off his side of the driveway so he could make it to work. I left the house around 9 am and got stuck at the bottom of our driveway in the snowplow pile! After digging around the tires and with a push from my neighbor, I was on my way.

I got home from running my errands around 3 pm, and there was no way my car was going to make it up the driveway and into the garage without some serious snow removal first! So I "parked" the car on the street and shoveled several inches off my side of the driveway. I thought about leaving the rest of the driveway for Spencer to do when he got home, but when I looked outside at 5 pm, I knew I had to get to work. I spent over an hour shoveling snow while Spencer crawled home (he said he was driving 'walking speed' for part of the time!) on the slick roads. I got the driveway cleared in time for Spencer to pull right in when he finally made it home.

The picture is a little blurry because my camera lens kept fogging up.

Thursday morning (Spencer's dayoff, thank goodness!), we spent the late morning shoveling another foot of snow off the driveway.

We had to shovel again later in the day. Now today, Friday, we have a couple more inches of fresh powder waiting to be taken care of. Are you kidding me?!?

Sometime during all the shoveling, I managed to throw a rib out of place, due to the strain and twisting as I tried to throw snow over the ever-growing snowbanks lining our driveway.

Here's a shot of me trying to get a shovel full of snow up and over the snowbank.

Luckily, I happen to know a great chiropractor, and he has taken good care of me and my rib!

So, what do I think of all this snow? Okay, okay, the shoveling became pretty tedious after a while.

But overall, I LOVE it! Here are a few reasons why:
1. Shoveling is great exercise!
2. The snow is so pretty. It's a fluffy powder, all sparkly and clean and fresh.
3. I got to try out my new Christmas present -snowshoes- to check the mail. They work great!
4. It's fun to play in! Just ask Spencer and Jack.

Here, Spencer is coaxing Jack up the driveway pile. Poor dog kept slipping down again. Spencer eventually had to pull him up by the scruff of his neck!

Well, enough blogging. I've got to get busy -- you guessed it! -- shoveling our snowy driveway!

Thanks babe!

2010-12-27T16:00:00.000-07:00

I'm having a hard time kicking this cold I got a couple weeks ago, and yesterday I was feeling particularly worn out. So, while I laid on the couch wrapped up in my snuggly soft comforter, Spencer went to work whipping up a delicious gourmet dinner!

We were out of town for Christmas and hadn't been shopping for a while, so our cupboards were a little bare. Still, Super Spencer managed to pull together homemade chicken parmesan and battered fried red potatoes. Maybe not the typical combination, but he really wanted to use the deep fryer he got for Christmas the day before. Both dishes were a-m-a-z-ing! Thanks for taking care of me, husband of mine!

Traditions

2010-12-23T21:16:00.000-07:00

Every year around Christmas time I make chocolate truffles. I've been doing this since before Spencer and I were married, so it's been at least 7 years. They're delicious, but it takes a lot of time and can be a little tedious. That's why I only do it once a year.

Here's the tedious part:

Each little truffle has to be spooned onto a cookie sheet, and then they have to be shaped into round balls. After that, I dip half of them in a melted chocolate coating.

The other half get coated in chopped pecans. I didn't get pictures of the pecan-coated truffles. In total, there are about 75 delicious chocolaty truffles.

From start to finish, these bad boys take a little over 3 hours to make. Totally worth it though!

Another tradition that just started last year is taking a trip to Temple Square to see the lights with a couple of my old college friends. We don't really look too closely at the lights, as we spend most of our time talking. I did manage to get one picture of the lights.

The night is complete after a quick trip to the nearby Village Inn for some tasty hot cocoa.

I hope these and other traditions continue on for a long time to come.

Christmas Card

2010-12-20T11:54:00.002-07:00

I didn't have the time or energy to create, print, and mail Christmas cards last week. So this year, we're going digital. Enjoy!

You know you live in an inversion zone when...

2010-11-30T17:31:00.001-07:00

... you hear something like this.

In PE today, the kids were all running around and a boy came up to me, all out of breath. Huffing and puffing, he said, "I guess the air quality in here is pretty bad. I can hardly breathe!"

Rock Star

2010-11-22T07:14:00.000-07:00

Spencer is a rock star.

He's in a band with some of his buddies, and just last week they performed at the wedding reception of the band's lead guitarist. This will be the band's last performance for a while, as the guitarist who just got hitched is moving to Texas. They all did a great job on their farewell performance. Spencer sang "Guardian Angel" during the bride and groom's first dance together.

He then played bass for the remainder of the songs.

The reception had an 80's rock theme, so I wore my most rockin' outfit - black skirt, black and grey top, leopard print scarf, fishnet stockings, and my red high heels. Thank goodness for the stockings and heels because my wardrobe just does not lend itself to rock and roll! Spencer wore a disheveled white button up shirt, jeans, and a blue swirly-patterned tie.

Here we are with the rest of the band and all the wives.

We look pretty good, right?

Now, back to the fishnet stockings.

While the band was performing, there were lots of little kids dancing around to the music. A curly-haired three year old boy was dancing past me, then stopped and walked over. Rubbing his hands on my leg, he said, "You have nets."

"Yep," I replied.

Rubbing further up and down my leg, he said, "Why do you have nets?"

"Because they're cool. Do you like them?"

"Yeah," he answered. Then, after another rub up and down my leg, he was off to dance the night away.

yummy.

2010-11-14T11:42:00.000-07:00

My brother Adam made fried bananas during our trip to Zion National Park a few weeks ago,and they were so good I had to try making them myself.

These are delicious, and super easy. Just buy some egg roll wraps.

(These are found in the refrigerated produce section of the grocery store.)

Wrap half or 1/3 of a banana in a wrap and deep fry until brown. Immediately dip them in a cinnamon sugar mix. Serve with chocolate sauce. We happened to have caramel and whipped cream, so we added that to the mix.

Since we had the wraps, we made some cream cheese chicken rolls for dinner. They were okay. I just threw some veggies in with shredded chicken, cream cheese, and seasonings.

Dora? Not quite...

2010-10-31T10:36:00.000-06:00

Every year at the beginning of October, I start stressing about what to be for Halloween. As a first grade teacher, I pretty much have to dress up every year. This year, my costume ended up being one of the easiest ever - thanks to a dress I purchased for my birthday this summer and a hat I borrowed from my dad. Throw on some knee-high boots and a pair of binoculars, and VOILA! -

I called myself an explorer, and even thought of wearing a "My name is..." sticker with Dora written on it. Then I could be Dora the Explorer. But I decided against that at the last minute. At school, I was called a variety of fun names - zoologist, ranger, safari-er, Africa hunter, someone who looks for animals, and more.

Spencer and I did not go to any Halloween parties this year, so he didn't have a costume. If we had gone somewhere, I wanted to wrap him up in a roll of butcher paper and he could be my map. Maybe next year.

We stayed home on Saturday night to pass out candy to the trick-or-treaters, and I couldn't believe how many kids came by! Our neighborhood is pretty small, and full of young families. Also, the ward didn't do a trunk or treat. So if kids wanted to dress up and get candy, they would have to work for it! It was nice to know that some of the traditions I remember best about Halloween as a child are still going strong. Even the rain we got early in the evening did not deter the trick-or-treaters. We ran out of candy around 6:30 or 7:00, so while Spencer drove down to the store for more I passed out hot cocoa packets. Whatever works, right?

Zion

2010-10-24T12:06:00.000-06:00

Three cheers for fall break! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip HOORAY! Last weekend I did not have school on Thursday or Friday, so I went with my parents, my brother Michael, wife Jessica, and baby Asher, and my uncle David to Zion National Park. My brother Adam met us there from St. George with his friend Brittany and her son. Poor Spencer had to stay home and work. Don't feel too sorry for him though. The previous weekend he went camping with his buddies for the elk hunt. But I did miss him a lot.

Michael made a great video compilation of our trip.

Untitled from Michael Jolley on Vimeo.

I took tons of pictures. Here are a few of my favorites.

If you want to see more, click here.

Kids Say...

2010-10-13T17:36:00.000-06:00

...the darndest things! Here's a conversation that happened at school a few days ago.

One of my students said, “So, you’re just a mom who comes in and teaches us stuff.” I said no, I wasn’t a mom, I was a teacher. He said, “Yes you are a mom, I saw it.” I was confused about what he meant, then he explained by pointing at my purse by my desk. “You have a purse, so you’re a mom.” Trying not to laugh, I said, yes I had a purse, but that didn’t mean I was a mom. He looked at me for a minute, then said, “So you’re a gramma then.”

And then yesterday a girl in my class wrote the following story:

Translation: "I know a teacher that teached students. The students were happy that they were at school."

Too cute.

Head in the clouds?

2010-10-06T19:47:00.000-06:00

We live about 1000 feet above the valley, and today on the way home I got to drive through the clouds. It was nice.

The end.

Food, Glorious FOOD!

2010-09-07T20:40:00.000-06:00

Aww, summer. I love you so. But alas, you have come to a sudden end. Okay, so summer doesn't officially end until later this month, but the start of each school year cuts all my summer spare time down to nothing. Hence the lack of blogging these last few weeks.

I really had fun this summer. There always seemed to be something to keep me busy, which is nice. I also had lots of time to work on my cooking skills. Many new recipes were tried these last couple of months, and most turned out to be quite tasty!

The main reason for my new cooking adventures is probably the produce co-op we've been participating in. We get a good mix of fruits and veggies that we wouldn't normally try. I love it!

Eggplant parmesan - yum! Who knew eggplant could be so delicious?

Pluot cake. (Pluots are a plum/apricot hybrid)

Okay, these pluots sat in our fridge for over a week, until finally I found a recipe to use them in. Then, as I started preparing the pluots to go in the cake, I realized how tasty they are fresh. For a minute I worried that I would be ruining them by putting them all in a cake, but the end result was great.

Thanks to my family, I've also done some major bottling lately. I worked with some of my extended family to bottle 35 jars of pickles at my uncle's house ...

...and my parents, brother and sister-in-law all bottled between 35-40 jars of salsa at our house.

During the big salsa canning party, I whipped up a batch of fresh salsa to enjoy with lunch.

Oh, and Michael and Spencer were a LOT of help that day too, as you can see.

Michael found some FIFA demo for PS3, and apparently it was tons of fun. I tried to play a game or two with them, but didn't really catch the fever I guess.

Unfortunately, I've fallen back into a bit of a cooking rut now that school has started up again. It just seems easier after a long day of work to come home and revert back to a quick and easy recipe that I've made a bunch of times before. Like tonight, it was just chicken and mashed potatoes. We have some corn on the cob from Spencer's parents which would have gone really well with tonight's dinner, but did I cook them? No. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

Baby Shower

2010-08-15T12:26:00.000-06:00

I threw a baby shower for my cousin Sarah yesterday. I went to Zurcher's earlier in the week to find some goodies for the party. Every time I walk into that wonderful store I think, "if I had tons of spare time and loads of extra money, I think I would host parties all the time!" If you have never been in that store and you're a girl, you should go. Just be sure to leave the men at home. Spencer would be bored out of his mind in about 2 minutes.

Lately I've been really bad at taking pictures, so here are the only shots I have from the shower. During the shower I didn't even think about pulling out the camera, so these shots were taken right after everyone had left.

Reunion

2010-08-15T11:16:00.001-06:00

We drove up to Idaho for a family reunion a couple weekends ago. My brother Michael, his wife Jessica, and baby rode with us.

Michael had been throwing up earlier that morning and still didn't feel very well.

The reunion was held in Swan Valley at the Pine Basin Lodge.

It's a beautiful area, and we had a lot of fun visiting with family that we hadn't seen in many years.

Here are a few random photos from the trip. I took barely any photos. Oh well!

"Fill 'er up!"

driving along the Snake River

view from the lodge (behind me) at our tent after taking it down

AMAZING

2010-08-02T09:59:00.000-06:00

Spencer and I took the dog for a walk last night, just in time for this aMaZiNg sunset! The whole sky, from west to east, was spectacular.

When we finished our walk, Jack and I sat in the backyard watching the colors spill across the sky.

Successes!

2010-07-30T17:32:00.001-06:00

Our second day of camping at City of Rocks started off at Elephant Rock, where we planned to climb a route rated 5.9. This number probably means nothing to most of you, so I'll quickly explain. Rock climbing ranges in difficulty from 5.0 (basically hiking up a steep trail) to 5.14 (CRAZY hard, like climbing up a sheet of metal that has been rubbed with cooking oil - okay, maybe not THAT hard!). If we are top-roping (see Climbing 101 post for more info), I can do a 5.9 pretty well, but it's about as challenging as I would like. I could do a 5.10, but probably not without some hanging on the rope. Until this day, I had never lead-climbed a 5.9. That has always been Spencer's job.

But today was a strange day, and Spencer was not feeling up to it. So after attempts at leading the climb by Spencer and Ski, they had only managed to clip into 2 bolts before coming back down. We were ready to throw in the towel and call it quits, when I said, "I think I'll give it a try." Spencer was shocked, but I harnessed up, put on my shoes, chalked up my hands, and I was off.

I made it up to the first couple of bolts, where the rope was already clipped in. That was the easy part. Then I started making my way further up the cliff face. I had to keep telling myself I was safe, and if I fell, the rope would eventually tighten on the previously bolted spot and catch me. Soon I had made it to the next bolt and clipped in.

I kept climbing up until I found myself in a spot where I couldn't quite find the right hold and I slipped. 4-5 feet to the previous bolt, and another 4-5 feet after that, and the rope stopped me. It was not nearly as scary as I thought it would be! I regained my composure and climbed upward, eventually reaching the 4th bolt.

I was pretty close to the top of the climb by this point, but I was also pretty worn out. I decided that was as far as I needed to go, and I didn't feel bad about not finishing the climb. It was a successful failure! Even though I didn't make it all the way to the top, I did clip into two bolts all on my own, and I had my first fall on a lead-climb!

By this point, the sun was beating down on the cliff where we were climbing, and our little spot of shade was shrinking fast.

So we decided to head up to another spot to do some bouldering.

Now another lesson for you - bouldering! Bouldering is like climbing, but without a rope. Usually bouldering is done on really low cliffs, with a pad at the bottom so if/when you fall, you don't fall too far and you have a pad to land on. Some people consider bouldering a climb with an easy enough difficulty that you don't need a rope, no matter how high you go. Kristi and Ski, our climbing buddies, believed in the second definition of bouldering.

A quick drive up the road took us to Bath Rock. Following the persuasions of our climbing friends, we "bouldered" up Bath Rock.

I am no expert, but I would have rated the difficulty around a 5.6, maybe even 5.7. During and after that experience, I decided that I would rather climb a 5.10 with ropes any day over a 5.6 unprotected climb. I like to be challenged, but I don't like to be risky.

It was, however, a great view from the top!

Wow, this post is getting long, so I am going to skip a few of the day's events and go right to Spencer's big accomplishment.

Evening was closing in, and I for one was getting a little worn out. But Spencer wanted to redeem himself from the first climb of the day, so we hiked down into a valley to do one last climb. It was on a west-facing cliff, with the heat of the late afternoon sun beating heavily upon the rock. But more importantly, it was a tall cliff. Really tall. I think it was rated a 5.8. Spencer loaded all of our quickdraws (what is used to hook the rope onto bolts in the rock as you lead climb) and all our friends' quickdraws onto his climbing harness. 14 in all. We figured it would be enough to get to the top. Little did we know...

Spencer climbed and climbed up this rock, clipping into bolts as he went. The bolts were placed really closely together, so he even skipped a couple of unnecessary bolts.

I belayed him from the bottom of the cliff. I felt like I was melting in the sun, and all I was doing was standing there feeding the rope up to Spencer and being ready to pull tight if he fell. I can't imagine how hot Spencer was as he climbed!

I wish the picture did a better job of showing how tall this cliff was. Kristi and Ski took the pictures for us, and they couldn't even back up far enough to fit it all in the frame!

After 40 minutes of intense climbing, Spencer made it to the top. Success! He had used almost the entire length of our friends' 60 meter rope, and all of the quickdraws! With most of the rope length used to get to the top, coming back down was going to be a little tricky. But don't worry, we were prepared! Our friends brought along their knot-tying book, and they had been practicing the knot used to tie two ropes together. So we tied our 50 meter rope onto the end of the first one, and after some tricky finagling, Spencer was able to rappel safely back to the ground. We were all exhausted by this point, so the hike out was not much fun. I did manage to snap a few pictures of the pretty cactus flowers that were blooming all over, and some of the scenery as well.

Here is something that I learned at the end of this day. I love rock climbing, and I love camping. But when the two are combined, and it's a hot day, and there are no showers, and I'm covered with sweat and dust, I would give just about anything for a nice cool shower and a soft bed with clean sheets.

City of Rocks

2010-07-27T14:56:00.002-06:00

We took a weekend trip to City of Rocks for some rock climbing last weekend. City of Rocks is a huge rock climbing mecca in the West, with hundreds of climbing routes all over. It is located in southern Idaho, near the small town of Almo.

It's basically in the middle of nowhere.

The City of Rocks has all these huge granite boulders and cliffs popping out of the valley floor, giving an appearance of a city made of rocks, hence the name.

Spencer and I left Jack with my uncle Rob and drove up early Friday afternoon. If you have never driven on I-84 north of Tremonton, you are missing out on a whole bunch of NOTHING! Talk about a boring drive!

This view went on for many miles

Anyway, the plan was to meet a former roommate of mine, Kristi (and her husband Ski) at the campsite we reserved at City of Rocks. After a quick stop at the visitor's center, ...

... we arrived early and set up camp.

This boulder was right next to our campsite. The perfect place to scout out the area!

After setting up the tent trailer, we decided to drive around and look at some potential climbing spots.

We stopped at a few different cliff areas and walked around.

I love how colorful this rock is, with the red and yellow moss all over!

At one particular place, we got back in the 4Runner, and the engine wouldn't start! Not even a little rumble! All that we could get was a tiny little click. Great.

Fortunately, this particular parking area was being shared by a group of Vietnam vets and their wives who had come up to the City to "drink beer and camp." Three or four men came over to look at the car and offer their advice.

Spencer - always prepared - had a spare battery in the back of the 4Runner which we tried to use to jump start the engine. No luck. So one of the Vietnam vets brought his truck over and tried jump starting off of his battery. Still no luck. We were so worried that it might be the starter, which would be much more expensive and time-consuming to fix than a dead battery. But those men kept trying different things. They cleaned off the battery terminals, took the old battery out and tried the spare, then finally used some sandpaper and a metal file to clean off ... well, I don't know the name of it! ... some part of the battery that connects something to something else. Anyway, that worked! The engine started right up, and everyone cheered!

After many thank yous and a quick goodbye photo, we headed back to our campsite, where Kristi and Ski were waiting for us. Steak dinner with dutch oven potatoes and some board games in the tent trailer made for a perfect way to end the day. No time to climb the first day, but that was what Saturday was for. And I will tell you all about that later!

Cilantro, anyone?

2010-07-16T20:01:00.000-06:00

I planted a tiny little cilantro start in our front flower bed, and the thing will not stop growing! Not that I'm complaining. I LOVE cilantro! But seriously, I will not be able to use it all. Not even close. So if you're in the area and want some fresh grown cilantro, let me know.

Today I picked some to put in a black bean corn salsa. Yummy!

The chips and salsa went perfectly with the fresh lime Sprite I made for myself.

Aww, summer. I love it so much. Even the boring days.

Oh, and on a side note, did you know that cilantro is another name for coriander? That little tidbit is brought to you by my dad. I even verified it on wikipedia!

Climbing 101

2010-07-15T22:59:00.001-06:00

We love rock climbing. We did a LOT of climbing when we lived up in Idaho, but for some reason have found it much more difficult to get around to it here. Last summer I think we only went once. Sad.

We are getting back into it now though, thanks in part to my friend and former college roommate Kristi, and her husband Ski.

Last time we went, a little visitor came by to check Spencer out.

Can you see the squirrel by his left foot?

Spencer is the brave one of the bunch, and usually takes on the responsibility of leading out the climbs. For you non-climbers out there, let me give you a quick lesson.

We do two types of climbing (though there are more) - top-roping and lead climbing. Top-roping is the safest form of rock climbing. You place the rope at the top of the climb, get everything hooked up and secure, and then climb from the bottom up to the top. While one person is climbing, another is "belaying," or holding on to the other end of the rope. That way, if the climber falls, the belayer holds tight to the rope and the climber can safely dangle next to the cliff.

Sometimes the only way to access the top of a climb is by climbing up the cliff. If there is no way to walk around safely to place ropes before climbing, bolts may be added to the cliff face for climbers to use for lead climbing, aka sport climbing.

Lead climbing is a little more dangerous, so we have a helmet when we lead climb. Instead of initially placing the rope at the top of the climb, a climber will place the rope onto pre-drilled bolts as he/she climbs up the cliff. If the climber falls just short of placing the rope into the bolt, he will fall until the rope catches the previous bolt and the rope takes all the slack. You MUST pay close attention when belaying a lead climb so if the climber falls you can immediately pull the rope tight and take up as much slack as possible. That will prevent the climber from falling as far.

Here's a shot of Spencer and me just before his attempt to lead climb a route we had never done before, and which was near the top of his ability level.

The gloves are a tad big for me!

And here is Spencer climbing the new route, with me intently belaying. Good thing too, because he fell not too long after the picture was taken!

Don't worry though, he only fell a few feet before stopping. It was his first real fall during a lead climb. Pretty exciting!

Perhaps more exciting was the hike back to the picnic area when Spencer almost walked right into a rattlesnake.

Thank goodness for that warning rattle! He was able to jump out of the way just in time.

After this particular day of climbing, we planned to stay for a while at a nearby picnic site and eat tin foil dinners with our friends. When the sun started setting, the temperature dropped considerably, and I did not come prepared. The only thing I could find to keep me warm was a scarf we had in the trunk of the car.

"I'm cold!"

We are planning a trip to City of Rocks next weekend for some more climbing and camping. Should be fun! I just hope I remember to pack a jacket next time...

USA!

2010-07-06T10:57:00.002-06:00

I hope everyone had a great Independence Day weekend. I sure did!

Friday night I attended my 10 year high school reunion. It may not look like much of a turnout, but with 107 total in the graduating class, I guess it was not too bad.

This shot doesn't include any spouses - just alumni.

Spencer had to work, so I rode down to Fillmore with my brother and his wife and went to the reunion by myself. Spencer drove down Saturday morning in time to watch the end of the parade.

My dad is in charge of the Fillmore Freedom Mile, a race he started over 20 years ago and continues to do every year in conjunction with the parade. The First Annual FFM (Fillmore Freedom Mile) had just two participants - my uncle and my oldest brother. It has grown a lot since then, and I always look forward to helping at the finish line.

After the race and parade, we all headed back to my parents' house to spend the rest of the day eating and playing games.

Doesn't it look so patriotic?

At dusk we headed to the ball park with our paper bags full of homemade popcorn to watch the fireworks.

Fillmore puts on a great fireworks show. I love this fun tradition!

Camping Day 3

2010-07-02T09:29:00.000-06:00

Our final day. We woke up Saturday morning to a beautiful blue sky and decided to take one more hike before heading back to reality. Look at this amazing view!

This is a view of Mineral Basin. Did you know American Fork Canyon is the back side of Snowbird Resort?

If you look closely, your can see a couple of ski lifts at the top of that snowy peak in the distance.

Here are a couple more shots of the scenery.

And here is Jack trying one last time to catch a squirrel.

No luck this time, dog! I guess we'll have to come back soon and let him try again.

Now I'm off to get ready for my trip to Fillmore. I have my 10 year high school reunion tonight, and then 4th of July celebrations tomorrow. I can't wait!

Camping Day 2

2010-06-29T17:33:00.000-06:00

Day two of our camping trip started bright and early for Spencer, who had to drive back down to the city for a full day of work at the office.

That left me alone for the day, with the dog and Spencer's gun to keep me safe. The night before, Spencer had me practice taking off the safety and pretend to shoot the gun at the door of the trailer - where the intruder would be. Luckily, I never had to put that training to use.

I spent most of the day rotating between three activities - hiking, reading, and playing Quiddler solitaire.

Quiddler solitaire is fun the first couple of times you play. By game 7 or 8, it gets a little old.

Hiking, on the other hand, never gets old! I love the exercise, fresh air, and beautiful scenery!

Jack loved chasing squirrels - and anything else that moved.

"Now where did that squirrel run off to?"

"This may not be a squirrel, but I do love these bubbly white waves!"

I started reading The 5,000 Year Leap by Cleon Skousen in between hikes. Every American should read this book. I haven't finished yet, but already I am learning so much about the founding of our country.

While I spent my time reading, Jack investigated all the best spots for lying around the campsite.

Every time I looked up from my book, Jack was lying in a new spot.

Silly dog!

Eventually, though, Jack must have become a little bored. After glancing up from my book and realizing he was nowhere to be seen, I started to get a little panicked. I called and called his name. I walked up and down the road and trails by our campsite. I checked down by the river. I imagined him getting swept down the current or being bitten by a rattlesnake.

After more than half an hour of searching, I even said a prayer that he would be found. Finally, after coming back to the trailer after another search along the river, I saw Jack walk out from behind some bushes. His ears were down, his tail between his legs, and all he wanted was to go lay down in the trailer. And that was fine with me. Who knows what kind of adventure he had!

Spencer showed up back at camp just after 7:00 pm, and after another delicious tin foil dinner we sat around the fire for a while.

Soon the flames died down and all that was left was a pile of glowing red coals.

It was time to wind down now with a game of Quiddler and some hot cocoa with sliced strawberries.

I must say, the strawberries were a great addition to our steamy cups of cocoa.

Then it was off to bed again, to prepare for the final day of our camping excursion.

Camping Day 1

2010-06-28T17:54:00.001-06:00

We packed up the trailer and headed up American Fork Canyon last Thursday for a weekend camping trip. After setting up camp, Spencer thought it might be fun to do a little off-roading in the 4Runner.

He has done a lot of modifications to improve the 4Runner's capabilities off-road, and I think that has given him the confidence to try obstacles that he would have avoided otherwise. Great. (can you sense the sarcasm?)

We had a couple of close calls in the 'rock garden.'

The picture here just doesn't do justice to what was actually happening. That back tire was at least 3-4 feet off the ground! Yikes!!

Spencer finally admitted defeat and decided to head back to camp. Unfortunately, now we had to go back down the trail we had just crawled up, only this time we had to do most of it in reverse! The decision was made for me to drive and Spencer to be the spotter and guide me down the trail. Wait! Me? Drive?!? That's right!

By the time this photo was taken I was able to get turned around, and it became slightly easier than driving in reverse. I think Spencer and I were both a little too nervous to think about taking photos while I was going backward.

Okay, I admit, I was not happy to do this at first. I did not want to be responsible for ruining our car on a huge boulder. But Spencer gave great instructions, I went very slowly, and we made it out of the rock garden with no body damage! Zippee!

Back at camp, it was time for a campfire. I was in charge of starting the fire and did it on the first match!

And just to brag a little more, when I started our fire the next day, I did it with just one match again! No lighter fluid, no tricks, just good old-fashioned fire-building skills (and some really dry wood).

Tin foil dinners. Yum.

Double yum.

Stay tuned for Day 2!

GOAL!!

2010-06-21T19:07:00.000-06:00

Way back in May, Spencer and I went to our first Real Salt Lake soccer game. If you have never been, you need to go! I have never had so much fun at a sports event!

We will be going back again soon. I have plenty more cheering and yelling at the refs left in me!

Repeat

2010-06-17T16:43:00.000-06:00

I know I just posted about this hike, but I really don't care! We did my favorite hike again, this time bringing along my brother and his wife and son and my uncle.

We used the campfire at the beginning of the hike to cook our tin foil lunches.

It was a perfect day for a hike - not a cloud in the sky!

father and son

Spencer is checking out the water levels - still too high to cross!

Is it over already? But I was having so much fun!

Joseph

2010-06-14T11:20:00.000-06:00

My family just had a reunion in - of all places - Joseph, Utah.
There is an old church in the tiny farm town that has been converted into a vacation rental with bedrooms, kitchen, a great room, etc. It was a great place to spend time with extended family where we could all be together.

We drove down Friday night and left Sunday morning. As we were driving along I-70 toward Joseph, I thought it would be great fun to start the photos off with some shots of the freeway signs leading to Joseph. That is when my camera's battery warning came on, and I did not bring my charger.

Therefore, I have just one picture of the weekend. Ariel and I were battling it out in a game of bean bag toss.

The rest of our time was spent eating, playing kickball and wiffle ball, eating, some extreme see-sawing (don't ask!), eating, ping pong, movies, eating, visiting, and of course more eating!

The games were fun, the company was great, and the food was delicious!

Jack was happy to be back home Sunday afternoon. Spencer left an empty box of dog treats within reach, and it didn't take long for Jack to find it. Lucky dog!

Best Ever?

2010-06-11T10:58:00.001-06:00

Spencer and I like to hike. Well, I guess I should say I love to hike, and Spencer comes with me (he would much rather ride his mountain bike). Every summer we go on many hikes and see lots of great landscape. Well, yesterday we may just have found my favorite hike ever! Do you know that SpongeBob song, "The Best Day Ever"? I do (because I teach first grade), and that song comes to mind when I think of this trail. Perhaps the pictures will speak for themselves.

Here is a view of Tibble Fork Reservoir in American Fork Canyon

Notice how the trunk of this tree is growing completely horizontal above Spencer's head, and then grows straight up from there. CRAZY!

Jack loved romping in the lush green meadows.

"Oh look! Another weird tree!"

I know I am posting a lot of pictures, but can you blame me?

We came to a river crossing, with the trail continuing on the other side. But the water levels are crazy high right now, and the raging river was too dangerous to attempt a crossing. So this is where we turned around. Don't worry though, I'll be back!

We were able to experience a mountain thunderstorm on the way back to the car. Great big drops of rain, booming thunder, but not too cold. AMAZING! (And thank goodness I brought my hoodie!)

We made it to the car safe and sound, and a little wet. The wet dog smell in the back of the car was less than pleasing, but definitely a price worth paying!

Wildflowers

2010-06-08T18:59:00.000-06:00

I guess I was feeling a little guilty about the post I did earlier today. There were no pictures. Well, until you click on the links, then there are plenty of great pictures and video.

But still, this blog could use some pictures to cheer things up a bit. And I just so happen to have some from the walk I just went on with the dog. So, enjoy!

This is one of those caterpillars that dangles from a little web. Sometimes if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, there can be hundreds of these guys hanging from the trees.

This is our destination place when we go for a walk. It's like my own Sacred Grove. So peaceful!

All the flowers in this post are growing wild along the path I take to walk the dog. I love living here!

Drumroll please.....

2010-06-08T09:12:00.000-06:00

Wow, I think that is the longest I have gone between posts! But let me just say, I have all kinds of excuses. May was a super busy month, with school projects going late into the evening and events happening every weekend, there was no time to blog. But don't worry. In case you were not aware, SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER!!! I am a little excited about that. I have already made a big list of things to do during my "time off," and on that list is catching up the blog. You can expect a post every couple of days. Some will be for current events, others will be reliving events from last month that were missed. Since it has been a while since I last posted, and I am a little rusty, I am going to start off easy. Thanks to my great cousin Rachel, my first blog is already taken care of. We had our annual Family Outdoor Games competition on Memorial Day weekend, and trust me, when you read about this event you will be extremely jealous and wish you were in our family. Since Rachel did such a great job explaining the event on her blog, here is the link to read all about the fun. Enjoy!

And while I'm at it, enjoy this link that will take you to a movie preview my brother put together for the Games.

There, that was easy!

New Post

2010-04-07T18:28:00.000-06:00

Every day I think, hmmm, maybe I should update the blog? Well, today I'm actually going to do it!

A lot has happened lately. Biggest news - we moved! Our previous landlord was going through foreclosure on our house so we've been looking around for a more stable place. We ended up in a home four houses away from the old one, with the exact same floor plan! The carpets, cabinets, and landscaping are different, but it's basically the same house. I like the new one more. The moving part was no fun, but it's mostly over now.

Most of my time has been spent teaching, as usual. One thing I love most about teaching first graders is that they are at an age where they want to act more mature (by that I mean they want to act like their bratty older siblings - full of attitude), but they can't help being sweet innocent children most of the time. Case in point - today a boy in my class said to me, "I think I'll draw some thugs..., or you and me playing in the park. I don't know."

Too cute.

Grandpa

2010-02-25T18:10:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my brother Michael and his wife Jessica, my parents are now grandparents. When Asher was born in November, we all had a hard time figuring out who he looked like.

Well, now I think we have an answer.

Michael and Jessica planned the plaid shirt to match my dad.

The argyle sweaters were a total coincidence!

New Record

2010-02-06T11:27:00.000-07:00

I have never been good at taking care of house plants. I have managed to slowly kill off everything from ivy to peace lilies in a matter of months. Every time I am given a new houseplant as a gift I think, okay, this time it is going to survive - I just know it! But every time, I watch as the plant slowly loses its will to live until it eventually ends up in the trash.

My latest gift was no exception. It was, however, a new record for me! I was given this plant at the beginning of January, and just one month later, it gave up the ghost. I tried to water it, I kept it in the room with the most sunlight, I even kept the blinds open during the day. But it was to no avail.

Poor little guy!

I have only found one plant that I can handle - bamboo. I now love bamboo, because it just stays alive! No matter what I do!

Maybe I'll start decorating the house with an Asian flare, and then I can fill the room with bamboo plants. Real, alive, healthy, indoor bamboo plants. We'll see.

Jack's Cold Bath

2010-01-14T17:14:00.002-07:00

Well, it's me, Spencer. I've had a lot of time on my hands lately, and I've been spending some of that time with the dog. Today I was feeling especially ambitious, and took him up American Fork Canyon to get out of the smog. I took the road up toward Tibble Fork reservoir. The road was closed right at the reservoir, so we went on a little walk. Here are a couple of pictures of the lake.

You'll notice in the next picture four ducks (click the picture to see them circled in red) in the water. Jack certainly noticed them.

He tried to go after them a couple of times, but I was able to call him back without any trouble. As we walked around the perimeter of the lake (toward the outlet in the picture above, we got a little closer to the ducks. In fact, they were right about.....(click on the picture again - this was taken after the fact so the ducks are long gone in this picture).

We were down on the path you can see on the bottom of the above picture, and he took off like he was shot out of a canon. He almost stopped once as I yelled for him, but he could already taste the feathery goodness, and he kept going. I had several things run through my mind as he was barreling toward inevitability. I wondered if I was going to be able to get close enough to get him out of the water, and if I was going to get a surprise bath today as well. Mostly I wondered if I'd be dragging a dead dog out of this frigid water.
Well, by the time he realized he was on ice, it was far too late for the brakes. He planted every claw he could into the ice, and leaned back so far that he went in the water upside down and backwards. I'm glad he came up again, and didn't end up under the ice. I ran as far as I felt was safe, and kept yelling for him to come. He worked hard to get on that ice, but that was an impossible struggle. He pulled himself up onto his chest once or twice, but the ice kept braking under his weight and he couldn't progress. The water he was in was jet black, and I couldn't see how deep it was. I kept calling to him to keep trying, but he just couldn't get out of the water. His eyes were bulging, and he was panicking to get out. He doesn't like to swim at all, much less sliding into a frozen lake. Once or twice, he let himself slip down to his collar in the water, and I was starting to think that he was a goner. I kept looking at the ice under me, and I knew that I could be treading water myself if it wasn't good and thick. I found myself inching toward him, and I got down on all fours to spread out my weight The ice under me looked hearty and didn't budge when I pushed down on it. Before I knew it, I was only a few feet from him. Finally, he dropped his front legs back into the water and tilted his head to the left to support himself on the ice - he looked tired. I said "Come on!" one more time, and he splashed his front paws back onto the ice. I leaned as far as I could to him and just reached his scruff, right behind his ears. He pulled out of the water like a wet rag, and he was suddenly safe. I moved away from the edge, and we started back to the car.

On the way back, I got a couple of pictures of the dog and the spot he went in:

Here is a close-up of the spot where he went in. You can see the footprints on the right side of the picture

Here is Jack drying off the best way he knows how (no, he's not dead)

and in the car after the ordeal

I don't know if or how this experience affected him, but this is a picture of him on the way home while I was stopped at a light. Maybe it's just me, but that doesn't look like his usual expression in the back of the car.

Well, after all is said and done, he's home and dry now. I suppose there's an allegory in all of this about obedience. We can try to understand why it's important to be obedient, but sometimes we have no way of knowing what dangers there truly are ahead of our poor choices. Jack had no idea he was going to slide into the water, but he knew that he was running where he shouldn't be. Hopefully we all end up like Jack after we make our mistakes: warm and dry at home.

Keeping Busy

2010-01-01T12:09:00.000-07:00

I only have a couple days left of my Christmas break (cry, pout, sigh), but so far I have really taken advantage of the time off!

Spencer, Jack and I took a walk after the first big snowfall.

Of course, where there's snow, there's shoveling! We inherited a snow blower at the end of the season last winter, but still pull the shovels out now and then for the exercise.

Jack helped by eating down some of the huge snow piles on either side of the driveway.

My parents gave us some delicious frozen meats for Christmas, and it has been so much easier to plan meals with a freezer full of meat!

I think on this day I was making some homemade fried chicken. Yum!

I got a new camera for Christmas (hooray!), and Jack was lucky enough to be my model for the first few pictures.

Aren't you finished yet?

I don't think he likes being in the spotlight for too long!

Of course, we also spent time celebrating Christmas and New Years, which you can read more about below. For now, I'm off to get ready for a matinee showing of Avatar. I love staying in my pajamas until noon, but I guess it's time to get dressed! Maybe tomorrow I'll stay in my pajamas all day, just because I can!

Christmas Celebrations

2010-01-01T11:48:00.000-07:00

I love Christmas! It's so nice to take a break from all the stress in the real world and remember the more important parts of life - the gospel and family. This year we had a great family Christmas program on my side of the family. Keeping with tradition, we acted out the Nativity together. Michael, Jessica, and Asher played the main characters.

Spencer was a true angel that night!

Spencer's family had two Christmas parties, one a couple weeks beforehand with extended family (here is the only picture I have of the Hollingshead family Christmas party)...

... where Spencer's musically gifted family shared their talents and ended the party with a group sing of "O Holy Night."

We also got together in Springville for Christmas Eve, where we had a great dinner and opened gifts together.

We drove down to Fillmore late Christmas Eve and opened presents with my family Christmas morning.

We stayed a couple of days down there and just relaxed. Adam's dog Kapuni found a sunny spot in the kitchen and showed us how to really relax.

Even Jack was in on the Christmas fun! He loved his Christmas gift - a new bone to chew on!

I hope everyone was able to enjoy Christmas as much as we did!

New Year's Eve

2010-01-01T11:20:00.001-07:00

We hosted a New Year's game party with some of my extended family. We played everything from Monopoly...

...to some old-school Nintendo 64...

...and of course, our family favorite, JEOPARDY!

The little ones watched a movie in the other room...

...and most of us made it to midnight.

Overall, a great night filled with family, fun, and lots of food. Happy New Year!

O Tannenbaum

2009-12-11T16:43:00.000-07:00

Behold, our glorious 12 foot Christmas tree!

I love it. It is so fragrant! I feel like we have a little forest in our living room. It reminds me of the children's book "Harold and the Purple Crayon." There's a part in that book where Harold draws a forest, but he only draws one tree so he won't get lost. That's the type of forest we have in our living room. (There's the 1st grade teacher coming out in me, relating my life to children's books!)

We drove down to Fillmore last weekend and cut it down with the help of my dad (who found the tree) and my sister-in-law Jessica (who kept me company in the car when we got too cold to walk around hunting for trees).

As soon as we put the tree up, I felt like the Christmas season had begun. Now I just need to get my Christmas cards ready to send out!

New baby

2009-11-18T18:24:00.003-07:00

My little brother and his wife just had their first baby, and luckily we live so close and could go visit them at the hospital the day little Asher was born.

What a cute little boy! He will be so spoiled as the first grandchild on both his parents' sides of the family!

Congratulations Michael and Jessica!

I have an excuse...

2009-11-06T17:28:00.004-07:00

Actually, I have a few excuses for waiting this long to post our Halloween fun. The morning after Halloween I took a shower and was about to get ready for stake conference, when I immediately started feeling really sick. I was nauseous, achey, tired, the whole bit. I laid on the couch all day and even called in sick for school on Monday (which I almost NEVER do, sub plans are the worst!)

By Tuesday morning I was feeling well enough to go to school, which was a very good thing since I had Parent Teacher Conferences to get ready for on Wednesday and Thursday evening. Unfortunately, staying at school from 7:00 in the morning to after 7:00 in the evening two days in a row leaves very little time for blogging.

As if two excuses are not enough, during my final parent conference yesterday (Thursday), I started to feel sick again. By the time I made the drive home, I could barely walk from the car to the couch to lay down. And of course, it's a different sick than last time. Now it's my throat mostly, I'm guessing strep. Luckily I did not have school on Friday because of conferences, so I have been laying on the couch all day again. I'm starting to be bored out of my mind right now, and feeling just well enough to prop up the laptop and get these photos on the blog before Thanksgiving. So here you go.

Spencer and I went as Thing 1 and Thing 2 for Halloween. It was a good costume to wear for school and for Spencer's Halloween band party.

Speaking of the band, Spencer and his buddies have a little rock band and they planned a great Halloween concert/party to show off their skills. They played a variety of music, from Poison to Bon Jovi, and even a little number from the movie Music and Lyrics.

The party was on Halloween eve. On Halloween day we helped Michael and Jessica move into their new place, and then drove up American Fork Canyon with some of the family to enjoy the sights. Most of the leaves were gone, but the scenery was still amazing.

Same Ol'

2009-10-17T11:09:00.005-06:00

I think this is the longest I've gone between blog posts! I can't tell if it's because we haven't had anything exciting going on or if we've been too busy to blog. Maybe it's a little bit of both. But since today is Saturday and I have some spare time on my hands, let me share a few pictures that I just downloaded from my camera to the computer.

Let's start with a delicious dinner Spencer cooked for me a while ago.

bacon-wrapped tenderloin, potatoes, and green beans -- yummy!

We traveled out to the golf course near Grantsville to play 9 holes with Jeff and Cristian, our brother and sister-in-law. Not the prettiest course ever, but we had a lot of fun!

For some reason, I did not get any pictures on the course, so enjoy the great parking lot view!

And, of course, more pictures of American Fork Canyon. We drove up for an evening and went on a quick little hike.

Jack almost caught a squirrel! (not really, but he sure loves to try!)

There, I've updated my blog. That wasn't so hard!

More Camping

2009-09-06T09:34:00.007-06:00

I've noticed that many of our blog posts are about camping. Here's another one!

We went up American Fork Canyon for Friday night and Saturday of Labor Day weekend. Just like before, I am just amazed at how beautiful the scenery is! I have decided that we need to live in a cabin in the woods somewhere. Maybe someday...

Spencer found a great camp spot off the main road and tucked between a few tall trees. It was very secluded and sheltered from potential wind and rain.

The trailer is to the right of the 4Runner. You can see the top of it over the bushes.

We did end up getting some rain on Saturday, but that's pretty typical when we go camping. Luckily we were able to go an a nice hike before the rain started. Then we took a nap during the rainstorm.

We came across this sign during our hike. We were just 2 miles from Deer Creek, and could see it at one spot of the trail.

On Friday evening, we were walking around near our camp spot and heard an owl hooting. The owl never made itself visible, but we did see some wildlife here and there (mostly bugs!).

I think these were both dead. Weird that they died together!

busy bumblebee

What a strange-looking caterpillar!

We also saw some deer, a raptor of some sort (the bird, not the dinosaur), and plenty of squirrels and chipmunks. Jack loved chasing the squirrels when we were on our hike!

"Is that another squirrel I hear?"

One of my favorite parts of the trip was eating Cheetohs. I'm so addicted to Cheetohs, we can never buy them except for special occasions because I will eat the entire bag in one sitting! But we got Cheetohs for the trip, and I managed not to eat the whole bag at once.

I always designate two fingers for eating Cheetohs, so not all of my fingers end up with the delicious orange cheese dust.

I took a lot of pictures of the scenery.

I hope we can get out at least one more time before the weather gets too cold.

Bath Time

2009-08-24T20:35:00.006-06:00

"I don't like to be wet."

"But I have to say, my hair looks pretty cool..."

"They tried to dry me off a little after that horrible bath."

"But they didn't do a very good job."

"Aaahhh, that's better!"

American Fork Canyon

2009-08-18T14:22:00.007-06:00

We finally got around to buying a year pass to American Fork Canyon (well, not so much 'we' as Spencer) and I just wish we would have done this sooner! Even though we're in Draper, this canyon is really close to us. And it is beautiful up there! The road was definitely bumpy at times, but well worth it to see some amazing scenery.

We followed a rough dirt road for a while until finally coming across this grave plot. If you click on the picture you can read the sign.

We got some rain and hail while we were camping. Jack does not like being wet, so it was funny for us to see him with his slick, spiky, wet fur. He also found a bunch of little burrs to stick in his new hairstyle. He loves being in the mountains!

Here are all the pictures from our trip. Even though I'm not in any of the pictures, I was on the trip. Trust me.

5 Years

2009-08-08T15:06:00.003-06:00

We just celebrated our 5th Anniversary. That's right, number five! I can't believe we've been married for five years! In honor of our anniversary, I want to share five things I love about Spencer.

5. He can fix almost anything! From cars to electronics to furniture, Spencer is so persistent and knowledgeable about getting things to work well.

4. He doesn't give up and helps me push myself further than I would otherwise.

3. He cares about his and my health. He exercises, and without being pushy, motivates me to exercise.

2. He is great with kids. Nieces and nephews love to be around him. His patients' children are excited to have him come over and sad to see him leave. He can relate to children and make them feel comfortable.

1. He supports me spiritually, emotionally, and physically.

We have had our share of trials in these first five years of marriage, but with each trial that we have come across, we have been able to lift each other up and rely on one another for strength and support. We have grown closer together. And I don't worry about what might happen in the future, because I know that we will always have each other. It's cheesy, I know. But it's true.

Now to share a brief view of our fifth anniversary celebration!

I surprised Spencer by planning a trip to the Johnson Mill Bed and Breakfast in Midway, UT. We stayed here for the first two nights of our honeymoon, so it was nice to go back. We drove up early Thursday afternoon and left the next morning. It is such a peaceful place to go and relax and enjoy being married. Hopefully this will not be our last trip to the Johnson Mill.

We took a little canoe ride on the pond in the afternoon.

I loved the little touches that made everything seem more personal and special.

This is a view from the balcony attached to our room.

Back to the Beginning

2009-08-03T15:18:00.005-06:00

The first real post on our blog was about our trip to the Uintahs last summer. Well, I guess it's been a whole year, and now you get to endure another post about our annual camping trip.

I probably should have gone over the post we did last year so I'm not just repeating myself, but I'm not gonna! So here goes...

The drive out to our camp spot is so pretty! Here are some shots taken from out the window as we drove along.

As per tradition, we must always stop at the last available toilet before making our way into primitive camping. If I could change one thing about the trip, it would be to have some sort of toilet available where we camp. Oh well.

There was a big turn-out this year for the family reunion. Spencer and I are not technically a part of this wonderful family, but they let us come along anyway.

We're on the far right kneeling in the front.

We found a spot a little bit away from everyone else to set up our trailer.

Jack loved to run around in the field chasing "pot-guts." I had never heard of pot-guts before. I guess they're sort of like ground hogs or something.

Here is how Spencer spent most of his time:

deep thinker

guns, guns, guns!

discussing the best strategies to catch fish

And here's how I spent my time:

helping the little ones

taking pictures (those guns are LOUD!!)

so many pretty wildflowers

We drove up to camp on Thursday evening and came home Saturday. As we packed up camp, both of us felt like we weren't quite ready to get back to civilized life, so we stopped at the top of Elizabeth Ridge for one final hike.

So long, until next year!

Maybe Next Time...

2009-07-29T21:44:00.002-06:00

As we left the house and headed down the block, I thought for a second, hmmm, maybe we should bring our camera in case we see something cool. But since we've taken this little trail by our house many times, why would this time be any different?

So we (Spencer, Jack the dog, and I) continued on our evening walk. We made it out of the neighborhood and were heading down the wilderness trail, when Spencer and I noticed something laying on the trail ahead. It was fairly large, and at first I thought it might be a dead deer. We walked a little closer until the thing started moving. It was a porcupine! A big one! We called Jack over to us and put his leash on while the porcupine slowly walked off the trail and into the bushes.

I should have brought the camera.

We continued walking along and were joined by about a million dragonflies! Okay, maybe not a million, but they sure seemed to be everywhere! On the way back down, three F-16's flew overhead. Right above us in the blue evening sky.

I really should have brought the camera.

"So, ... what do you DO all summer?"

2009-07-22T22:17:00.006-06:00

As a teacher, I get asked this question a lot. I may not wake up early every morning and spend the day teaching a bunch of six and seven year olds, but I do stay pretty busy.

Here is a quick sampling of how I have been spending some of my time.

First, I love going for walks with my dog Jack.

I can walk from our house, down a couple neighborhood streets, and right onto a great single track trail. It is mostly shaded with trees and has a bunch of wildflowers everywhere.

After about two and a half miles the trail leads to this little bridge.

It's a great way for me to get a little exercise, and of course Jack LOVES it!

A good portion of Spencer's and my time has been spent running from one family event to the next. We spent the 4th of July in Fillmore with my family. What a great small-town parade!

My cousing surprised us on the way home from the parade festivities. He was perched on my parents porch like a gargoyle! I was very impressed with how long he stayed there, motionless and with that gargoyle expression on his face!

Speaking of family, we had a surprise party for my Grandma's birthday in mid-July. I even made a cake!

Spencer's side of the family has kept us busy too. We went with his brother's family and parents to a Salt Lake Bees game a few days ago. It was my first professional baseball game. It was fun!

Sometimes I spend my time "supervising" Spencer. He has been working a lot on the cars. He washed, waxed, and buffed my car the other day while I watched. Okay, I did help a little.

And just now, Spencer and I got back from a quick walk around the neighborhood with the dog. Waiting for us on the front porch was this huge, disgusting bug.

I didn't want to get close to it, so Spencer put his foot there to get a size comparison while I took the picture. Yuck!

Now we're planning our next adventure, which you will here about in a few days. I love summer vacation. I really love summer vacation. A lot.

Happy Birthday to Me!!

2009-07-02T11:23:00.004-06:00

I'm another year older. Zippee! I just turned 27 on June 30th, and while I have heard from some (okay, most) people that I am now in my late 20's, I have to say that 27 should still be considered mid 20's. It's just as close to 25 as it is to 29, right?

Anyway, Spencer planned a great birthday surprise for me. He is always so thoughtful with his gifts, and this time was no exception! He took me up to Park City for the day to ride the zip-line at Olympic Park and shop at the outlet malls.

Here are a couple shots while riding up the ski lift to the top of the zip-line.

And here we are getting ready to go on the zip-line.

It was so fun, we had to ride it twice! The second time, Spencer took video on the way down.

Thank you Spencer for the great birthday!

Road Trip Part 4

2009-06-26T12:53:00.005-06:00

*Editor's Note: For some reason I cannot switch the order of my posts to put Part 1 of our trip at the beginning, so it might be worthwhile to scroll down a little and start at the beginning with the first Road Trip post. Sorry!

Day three of our journey, and it was time to pack up and make the drive back home! We loaded up the goodies Reuben gave us from Bookman's (a great bookstore/entertainment store where he works) and we were off!

We soaked in the Arizona desert scenery one last time.

Anyone who has ever driven into Arizona has probably seen all the little Navajo jewelry stands set up along the highway on the reservations. Well, with my birthday a little less than a week away, I convinced my parents to get me some "authentic" Indian jewelry! (It didn't take much convincing--they asked what I wanted, I told them, they said okay!)

Our next stop was at the Glen Canyon Dam (Lake Powell) where we stretched our legs and took a few more photos.

Jack was happy for any chance he got to get out of the car!

We stopped in Page, AZ for a quick lunch. Then it was on to Moqui Cave! This was another quick stop since we didn't want to pay the $5 admission to the museum. We got a couple pictures at least!

Our final stop before reaching our destination was a little drive-in in Panguitch, UT. When I was working at Panguitch Lake a few years ago, I would drive into town every now and then and get an ice cream sundae at Henrie's Drive In.

To this day, it is still the best ice cream sundae I've had!

By the end of our trip we had spent a good portion of our time in the car, but we still had a great time. I can't wait for our next summer adventure!

Road Trip Part 3

2009-06-26T12:41:00.004-06:00

Sedona! It's not too far away from Flagstaff, so we drove down in the afternoon of our second day of the trip. The red rocks and extreme heat made it a much different experience than Flagstaff. It was also very touristy! We stopped for ice cream in town, and then drove up to a Catholic cathedral that was built right into the red cliffs. Pretty amazing!

We left the cathedral and stopped in another spot for some photo ops of the landscape.

It was so pretty, but the heat sent us quickly on our way back to Flagstaff for our final night of the trip!

Road Trip Part 2

2009-06-26T11:55:00.007-06:00

After a fun drive through southern Utah and into Arizona, we made it to Flagstaff. I can see why my brother Reuben likes living here. It's a beautiful mountain forest town stuck right in the middle of the Arizona desert!

We met up with the family and walked around downtown on our first night in Flagstaff. My parents, my three brothers, my sister-in-law, and Spencer and I were all together for the first time.

After a great dinner of tacos, tamales, and burritos, it was game time at our hotel rooms. We can't have a family gathering without playing games! It was also time to relax and rest for our big day tomorrow.

Day two started out with our main goal of the trip - to take a family photo. The last family photo we had taken was at the SLC airport when my younger brother got home from his mission. It was not a great photo, so we were all glad to take a new one!

We drove up to a beautiful meadow outside Flagstaff to find a spot for the picture.

After a few different tries, we ended up with a great family portrait!

Once our mission was accomplished we took a short hike on one of the trails.

We hadn't gone very far when we decided to turn around and get some lunch. Jack was not happy about this decision and laid down in the middle of the trail when we started walking back down. He did not want to leave. It was so funny!

We ate lunch at a cute little creperie, mostly because the sign told us to. (And also because we LOVE crepes, thanks to my dad and his French influence!)

We saw a little more of downtown Flagstaff, where I happened to run across a very brave butterfly! I think I could have just picked it up and taken it home, it let me get so close!

Of course, a trip to Flagstaff wouldn't be complete without a picture of a train! The train tracks run right through the city, and trains are coming and going all the time. Choo choo!

Road Trip Part 1

2009-06-26T11:30:00.005-06:00

We just got back from a family trip to Flagstaff, AZ to visit my oldest brother, Reuben. I took a bunch of pictures throughout the trip, so prepare yourself for an extremely lengthy blog post!

Let's start with the drive down to Flagstaff. My younger brother and his wife Jessica carpooled down with us for the 8 hour drive.

We kept ourselves busy by eating snacks and playing games like Jeopardy and a guessing game using our atlas to guess distances between cities. We also listened to some great music and comedy CD's. Brian Regan had us blithering, it was so funny!

We were having such a fun time that we missed one of our exits (oops!), and ended up taking the scenic route past Brian Head and Cedar Breaks National Monument to get to Hwy 89 from I-15. It was well worth the extra time!

Since we were in the area, we thought we would take one more little detour and drive past the BearPaw Lakeview Resort by Panguitch Lake, where I worked one summer as a waitress/housekeeper. I didn't take any photos, but it sure brought back some memories!

The scenery was really amazing on the drive down.

Even Jack appreciated the great views, and loved to stick his head out the back window when we slowed down for road construction!

Hooray for road trips!

Keeping Busy with the Rain

2009-06-22T09:20:00.004-06:00

So, it's been a little rainy lately. Anyone else notice this? But don't worry, we have found ways to stay busy despite the wet weather.

Spencer has been spending a lot of time as a wannabe mechanic. I don't know all the specifics of what he has been fixing, but I seem to remember hearing "sway bar" and "ball joints." I know there were many other things. I'll have him post about all the repairs.

Poor Jack can't wait to go for a nice long walk! He has been cooped up inside with us because of his intense hatred of all things wet. Here he is with his favorite ugly little toy.

This weird looking stuffed animal has been very durable, but he is actually starting to pull the stuffing out a little. Sad.

And what have I been doing? Well, I spent a couple of days being sick, and then made some yummy cupcakes, and our friends the Oliphants came over for game night.

Now for the most exciting part -- drum roll please! .....(no pun intended)

I got 100% on drums playing RockBand! That's right, an 810 note streak! And Spencer got 100% on vocals for the same song! I was playing as Adam's character, and Spencer was playing as my character Wes. I guess it's time to move from medium to hard. We'll see!

What have YOU been doing in all this rain?

Play-Doh

2009-06-11T20:37:00.003-06:00

It hasn't quite been a full week yet since school has been out, but already I am LOVING my free time! I have some Play-Doh from school that miraculously did not dry out by the end of the year. So, while Spencer was out treating patients, I got in touch with my artistic side! Although I don't know how artistic Play-Doh can be really.

It was getting close to dinner time, which may explain why I chose to do food. Next week I might convince Spencer to do some Play-Doh sculpturing with me!

Thank You Alice Cooper...

2009-06-05T22:19:00.002-06:00

...for writing my favorite song of the season, "School's Out for Summer!"

If you haven't heard this song before, you need to. It's a good one.

Show and Tell

2009-06-01T17:36:00.002-06:00

Here is a conversation that took place during Show and Tell today at school.

Billy*: I made this lizard out of beads.

Susie*: Wow!! How did you do that??

Tommy*: It takes skill and determination, right Billy?

Oh how funny. But I am still excited for school to end in 4 days!

*Names changed for privacy, blah blah blah