Lesa's Blog (alias: The Mom)

January Play Day

2012-01-28T14:45:00.000-08:00

It's Saturday. The sun is bright and the sky is blue. The canyons have deep beautiful snow.
We went out to play and we weren't alone. We saw people with sleds, snow boards, cross country skis and lots of fellow snowshoe fans.

Once we had to climb a steep hill:

The sun shone the whole time and kept us very comfortable:

Under a big pine tree:

I wore some brand new hiking boots that weren't broken in yet. I was so glad to pull them off when I got back to the car. I'll have to wear them a little each day until they soften up!

Winter Walk

2012-01-24T14:55:00.000-08:00

The snowstorm has passed and the sun is out again. I put on my coat, walked out the front door and headed up the road to our local park and horse trails.These are some of the sights along the way:

Above our crowded little suburb is a neighborhood that has horses and large properties:

This is a nice touch:

This is about where the regular park connects to the horse trails:

The sky was almost clear:

This is a very pleasant place to walk:

On the way home, my sense of privacy ended as I passed the Elementary school which was letting out. I walked home with a crowd of little kids. They were cute and very short.

Coyotes In The Park

2012-01-05T14:06:00.000-08:00

While on a walk this afternoon, I spotted two Coyotes trotting through the park. To see them better, click on the picture to enlarge it. Look close. They are definitely Coyotes and not dogs.

Snowshoeing With Aaron

2011-12-28T16:09:00.000-08:00

This afternoon our son, Aaron, went snowshoeing with us while his sister was at work. We walked above the ski resort in Albion basin. There's a long road that is covered with snow and it's closed to traffic.

The road:

Aaron:

We walked up the road. The road went up the mountain by making switchbacks. We walked a long distance and then we got off the road and came down the mountain the hard (fun) way. Aaron did the tough work of breaking trail. Joe was next in line and broke the trail even more for me. The snow was pretty deep.
In this snow field I fell down and thought I'd never get up again. Getting your feet back under you in these conditions is easier said than done. It was good practice, because later I fell in the snow again. I was starting to feel like a klutz. Aaron and Joe never fell at all (show offs! Just kidding).

These pine trees were so pretty. Aaron looks great too:

Just before getting back to the parking lot we passed by a long row of snow mobiles and snow tractors. I like the red ones:

The ski resort was very crowded. We could see long lines of skiers waiting for the lifts and dozens of people coming down the slopes. It looked like fun, but we have our way of having a good time too.

The Day After Christmas (2011)

2011-12-26T17:20:00.000-08:00

It's the day after Christmas and we broke in our new toys. While Sarah and Aaron chose to stay home and do other things Joe and I went up the hill to use our snowshoes.I have a new smaller pair that are easier to put on and they are quick on the trail.So now I have two pair; one pair for deep snow fields and one pair for speed.

Sometime this week we will probably go out again. Watch for pictures.

Christmas Morning

2011-12-25T14:28:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas.
This morning we attended a one hour Christmas program at the church. It was from 9:00 to 10:00. It was mostly music. It was a nice way to start the day.
It also gave us a chance to take some good pictures as soon as we got back home.
After we took these pictures it was time to make brunch. Thanks to Aaron and Sarah we had pancakes, scrambled eggs and sausage.
After a very fast kitchen clean up we opened presents. It was all very wonderful and generous.

I will mention a few of my own personal favorites.
#1. My new binoculars from mom and dad. I LOVE them!
#2. An AA Callister gift card from Aaron
#3. A wonderful book from Sarah
#4. Two fun games sent from Susan and Ben (for all of us).
#4. A new set of snowshoes and poles. These are smaller than my others and will go faster on the trails. I'll use my big ones for deep snow. I got lots more cool stuff from my hubby too.

We now have several fun games to play with together. We can do that just as soon as the gang finishes the 1000 piece puzzle which is currently being assembled on my dining room table.
I think everyone got most of what they needed and wanted.

We do know the reason for the season, but it's nice to give to each other. The rest of the year we are very frugal.

My handsome 26 year old son (Aaron):

Say Cheese:

Me and the man:

Aaron is good with the camera:

Smile:

My darling 22 year old, Sarah:

Striking a silly pose:

Aaron and Sarah:

We look forward to our married daughters blog (Susan).
Merry Christmas again. I hope all of you had a great day.

Family Christmas Party 2011

2011-12-17T20:59:00.001-08:00

This evening we went to our family Christmas party. My folks hosted it in their Salt Lake City home.
They provided large quantities of Chinese food. There was also lots of soda and a big chocolate sheet cake.

My dads cousin, Jackie, took this picture for us:

My sister Debera took this one:

Between bad lighting and busy, wiggly kids this photo didn't come out to well.
Oh well, sometimes we just take what we can get:

Mom (black top) and Jackie Davis (Dads cousin):

This is my brother, Bradly, and his family. His older boy, Tyler, wasn't there tonight:

After dinner we all went into the living room where dad shared with us some stories about a few of our ancestors. Hearing about those people is always interesting to me.
We had a fun visit with everyone and had a small gift exchange. We were all sent home with generous amounts of leftovers too. I won't be cooking tomorrow.
Many of our family members live out of state, so as usual we never have everyone at these gatherings. Even so, the house was very full, busy and loud.
Thanks mom and dad for the party and for everything else you do.

Me As A Teenager

2011-12-14T17:17:00.001-08:00

I'll have to try to count those candles to figure out my age in this picture. I'm probably about 16.

Graduation. Lakewood High. 1971.

I'm about 28 years old here and living in Utah.

Be sure to see the post before this one. It has some of my baby pictures.

I was born in Bakersfield, California in 1953.

A Few Of My Baby Pictures

2011-12-14T17:05:00.001-08:00

I just had some of my baby pictures changed from slides to DVD. I've in turn put those into my computers picture file.
I'm not showing all of them, but here are a few;

I am the third of seven children.

I have two older sisters; two younger sisters and two younger brothers.

To date I have three children and four grand children.

Christmas Luncheon 2011

2011-12-12T14:39:00.000-08:00

Today I went to a great luncheon for Employees and full time volunteers.

The lady on the left side of the picture (black pantsuit) is Christine. She is my work partner.

I am in the middle.

The lady on the right side (Red blazer) is on the shift before mine. When I come in early I may work with her for about 10-15 minutes.

I don't know the dude in this picture. My supervisor and good friend is in the middle (Dellanne). The lady on the end is also from the shift before mine.

Our leaders sang a song for us:

We sang some carols and ate a ton of food. It was very nice.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-26T09:46:00.001-08:00

My oldest daughter and her family came for Thanksgiving this year. They stayed for 6 days, but I only took a couple of pictures.

My dad, Rebecca, Jacob, Emma, and Claire held by my mom.

Emma.

She is learning about Native Americans in school and liked her gr. grandmas cool stuff:

These are the weeks highlights (minus pictures):

Saturday evening about 5:30, Susan and her family rolled in from North Peoria, Az.

Sunday: 1 hr of church, Dinner, board games.

Monday: Lots of grocery shopping, dinner and later games at the table.

Tues: Visited my parents and they took our gang to Mcdonalds.

In the evening Sarah and I tended the kids, while the others did a Temple trip.

Wednesday: Sue took the kids with her to visit a friend. They went to grade school together and later were College roommates.

That evening I tended the baby while the others went to BYU to visit a museum and see the sights. Aaron was already down there for the day (for work). He joined them for fun and pizza. Then they ALL came to the house again.

Thursday: A 5k fun run in the morning for Joe, Ben, Sue, Aaron and Emma! I tended the other kids until the runners came home. From time to time during the week, people went on little walks and runs to work off all the food.

Big Thanksgiving dinner. Everyone helped with the cooking. We stayed up late playing more games.

Friday: In the morning most everyone went sledding at Spruces in the Canyon. I stayed in bed a little longer.

In the afternoon (while I was out doing my church job) most everyone went to Hogle Zoo.

After dinner we played board games, but we went to bed a little earlier this time.

Saturday; Sue and her family left here at about 6:30 a.m. They are still on the road as I type this and they recently passed through St. George.

Susan took a lot of pictures and has a fun video of some fast sledding. Watch for her blog. She does a super job.

Freezer Jam

2011-11-01T10:46:00.001-07:00

This morning I made some freezer jam and watched the snow falling outside (It was nothing major; just left a light dusting).

I got 5 jelly jars of strawberry flavored jam.

The crazy thing about this recipe is that it's made with Green tomato pulp. That sounds weird and I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but it really does taste good and it was super easy to make.

Halloween Fun

2011-10-31T15:32:00.001-07:00

I am dressed as a Halloween Cowgirl with a Davy Crockett hat.

Hey at least I'm not a witch again.

BTW, I am related to Davy Crockett.

This evening, Sarah and Aaron set the table and cooked a really nice dinner:

This is Aarons Sponge Bob Pumpkin:

Sarah made cheese/potato soup in bread bowls. For dessert Aaron made a fancy Orange Sherbet drink and decorated each glassful with a whip cream ghost. Each ghost had eyes, nose and mouth made with tiny chocolate chips.

Later tonight we are going downstairs to watch a movie.

I hope you had a little fun too!

Salsa

2011-10-24T15:51:00.001-07:00

It's definitely Fall, because the canning projects have begun. Today I canned 19 jars of Salsa.

I also filled a jar with cucumbers and spices etc.. to make refrigerator pickles. Then I baked a few wheat rolls.

Alpine Loop

2011-10-20T14:52:00.000-07:00

This morning, my mom and dad picked me up to go on a drive. On the way we stopped at Aunt Lindas house in Pleasant Grove. She joined us for our drive around the Alpine Loop.

We went into her house and saw her 'Heritage Table'. It's a table filled with memorabilia. Each item has a family story attached to it.

Hi Linda!

Tibble Fork Reservoir:

We drove through forests of trees with bright yellow leaves:

Backside of Timp:

Dad in front of Bridal Veil Falls:

Dad, Mom and Aunt Linda (Moms sister):

Me, Mom and Dad:

I like these Falls:

I only got a few pictures of the mountains and trees. The sun was shining directly into my lens almost every time I tried to get a shot. Oh well. I'm glad I could get this many.

Before dropping Linda off at her house, we stopped at Los Hermanos Restaurant in Lindon. That's a nice place with very good food!

When we got to Lindas house again, we looked into her backyard. She has some mature fruit trees. She said that she got 21 quarts from her peach tree. Her neighborhood still has a country feel to it. They still irrigate the old fashioned way.

We were commenting on the rapid loss of pastures for subdivisions. It's kind of sad.

Thanks Mom and Dad for a wonderful day!

Rocks And Leaves

2011-10-16T15:59:00.001-07:00

After lunch, Joe and I went for our regular walk. This time we explored a short side trail that took us to a boulder field:

I think this is a Mountain Ash branch hanging over the stream. I have a similar looking tree in my backyard:

The leaves are turning color now:

One of the benefits of these walks are the pretty natural things that I can use for home decor. For example I put together this centerpiece. I also filled a tall pot with branches of red leaves:

Hey, Halloween is in just one week. I'm dressing up as a cowgirl.

Aaron Doing Cement Work

2011-10-15T10:55:00.001-07:00

Aaron is helping to mix and pour cement today. This will be the landing for the deck stairs. The stairs will be a corner design, coming off the East and North corner.

It's nice of him to help us with this. He's got the energy and muscle that this job takes.

Mount Nebo Loop

2011-10-13T17:13:00.000-07:00

At 10:30 this morning, mom and dad picked me up at my house. We went on a very fun drive to Mount Nebo. Here are a few of the sights along the way.

In Payson Canyon there were cows walking in the road:

A cow strolling by the car window:

There were black cows hanging out in the Black hawk picnic area (near Mt. Nebo):

Somehow cows running loose are much more interesting than cows in a pasture. We saw cowboys and horse trailers up there. We figured it must be roundup time, since winter is coming soon.

Utah Lake in the distance:

Mom and Dad in front of Mt. Nebo :

It was a warm, beautiful day (Don't let the snow fool you):

Me with Mom:

We made a stop in Fountain Green. Mom wanted to see this lot. There was once a house here. When mom was about 10 years old, she and my grandma lived here for a winter. Her step dad brought them here to his parents home to stay while he looked for work. This was during the depression.

My dad scavenged a couple of boards from the old original fence:

I took pictures of a few old houses that she remembered and had stories about. I'm not posting them all here though.

One of the places had this date posted over the doorway (Erected 1878):

We stopped at the Fairview museum. It's a very good museum for such a small town. It has two main buildings to explore. It also has all kinds of wagons and old farm machinery on the property. Mom purchased an adorable Indian doll and I bought a dream catcher for just $3.00. It was so well made. I got a bargain:

We finished our day by having dinner at the 'In N Out Burger' in Draper. We were hungry by then and the food is so good. I love that place.

They dropped me off and headed back to their house in Salt Lake. Dad drove a long way today! Thanks for a great day!!

October Walk

2011-10-09T16:46:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was cold, wet and cloudy. We were very happy to see the sunshine today.

We had lunch on our deck. Sarah made Fettucine Alfredo and green beans for us. She's so nice to do the cooking each Sunday.

Joe was up really early this morning, so he took a little nap after lunch. Once he was rested we went for a walk.

We enjoy exploring places that are off the beaten path.

We took our time and were easy on ourselves:

On our way back we decided to climb down to this waterfall:

I love mountains and streams. They make me happy:

I have a fun and patient walking partner. He's put up with me for 30 years now:

We even collected some cute little acorns to add to our Holiday Decor.

Joe gets to take Monday off from work. He's going to do some more work on the deck. He's pouring concrete for the stairs.

Eventually a pretty colonial style railing will be installed too.

Wildflowers In Albion Basin

2011-09-26T18:36:00.000-07:00

We took an evening walk in Albion Basin. We found a little known path that wound about through trees and meadows.

The flowers were still thick through here. I gathered another vase full.

I was very careful to not get any roots.

Take a look at my Peach canning in the post before this one.

Peaches

2011-09-26T13:46:00.001-07:00

I just finished canning Peaches. I have 11 quarts and 1 pint.

I made rolls using my Great Grandma Messingers recipe.

Married 30 years

2011-09-24T14:11:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe we've been married for 30 years! That's a long time.

Our children are: Susan; age 29. She has four youngsters; Emma 6; Becca 4; Jacob 2; Claire 5 months. Our son, Aaron is 26. Sarah is 22. Everyone is doing well.

This was our fourth year going to 'our' picnic table in Big Cottonwood Canyon. It's reasonably private and it's got a view:

We explored the nearby woods:

We still get a kick out of bushwhacking like a couple of kids:

Joe was a good sport to traipse through the woods, even though he is coming down with a cold:

We cut our outing short, since Joe wasn't feeling his best. I know that we'll get out again when he's doing better. I'm glad we got to see the changing colors today.

I collected a big bunch of wildflowers before leaving the area. It's made a very nice centerpiece in my dining room.

I told Joe not to buy me flowers. The wildflowers are so nice. Instead he gave me a box of peaches, so I could do some more canning. I'm very excited to do that.

Picnic In A Meadow

2011-09-18T15:31:00.000-07:00

After church Sarah and I walked part way up Catherine Pass trail in the Albion basin area. We stopped in a large meadow for our picnic.

Sarah made some nice sub style sandwiches. We also packed chips, cookies and water. It doesn't take much to have a good day.

We found some big boulders to sit on while we ate and looked out at the meadow.

As usual Sarah didn't want her picture taken. Sigh...

I have a few wildflowers sitting here in a small jar. I am going to look them up in my wildflower book. I've been told that when you start looking up the names of flowers and birds, you are officially old. I'm not sure that I agree with that but it's fine with me. haha

Oh, and if you haven't seen the pictures of the moose, be sure to look at the blog just before this one.

Moose

2011-09-17T16:22:00.001-07:00

This is me Happy! Say, what's that behind me?

A young mom took this picture of me. Sarah was a little worried about the whole situation.

The two of us were on a trail behind Silver Lake. We came around a corner and this moose was right there.

I've waited all summer to see a moose. It finally happened for me.

We never approached the moose. It was just this close to the trail. Fortunately it didn't seem at all concerned with us:

This made my day:

My cute girl:

Sarah is going to think she has a crazy mountain woman for a mom. haha

Bradlys Birthday

2011-09-14T20:13:00.001-07:00

My brother is 44! Happy Birthday Brad. In honor of the occasion a few of us got together for dinner at the Olive Garden. It was a real treat. I love it when people invite me to dinner parties.

Here's the birthday boy:

Mom:

Stacy and Samantha:

Tyler:

Brian:

Somehow I neglected to get a picture of our dad! Sorry about that. I must have been distracted.

The food was great. I had salad, bread sticks, Egg Plant Parmeson and Raspberry Lemonade. For dessert we all had mini scones which could be dipped in chocolate or berry sauce.

My brothers and I were given a very special gift from our parents. They gave us a beautiful, spiral bound, Life History of our Grandmother. Thats my moms mother.

Mom and dad drove all the way from Salt Lake City to Pleasant Grove to pick up the books. They felt these were too precious to trust to the mail (I agree!).

It's a large book with stories and pictures. It clearly took an enormous amount of work to compile.

It was a collaborative effort on the part of my two Aunts and my mom. I understand that Aunt Linda did all of the final typing! It looks so professional. This will be a great keepsake. My sisters will also get a copy, then a few CDs are available for grandchildren or whomever.

Thanks Mom and dad for the dinner and the book! Thanks Brad for having a birthday!

State Fair

2011-09-13T22:06:00.001-07:00

Joe, Aaron, Sarah and I spent a couple of hours at the State Fair this evening. We stayed until closing time at 10:00.

The Dadoo:

One of the first things we saw were several Kangaroos:

Then we went through buildings to see animals, produce, jams, quilts, hunting and fishing stuff etc..

I'm dedicating the animal pictures to my grand kids.

Emu:

Baby goats (kids):

Giant Pumpkin:

896 lb pumpkin:

Calves:

Cow and Calf:

Big Bull:

Black Angus Bull:

Sheep being groomed:

Sheep with big horns:

Pig and Piglets:

We also saw lots of chickens, ducks, pigeons and rabbits. There were mobs of children around those cages and pens.

Lit up Ferris Wheel:

We didn't do any rides, but they do look nice all lit up.

This pic is when we passed back through the sheep barn on the way out to the car:

I bought two pair of Native American style Earrings at a bargain price.

While Joe and I browsed booths, the kids hung out in the food area. We finally joined them and had Lemonade.

Grand Canyon

2011-09-05T18:08:00.001-07:00

We've been on a whirlwind trip to the Grand Canyon. We got up early on Saturday morning (Sept. 3rd) and drove 6 hours to Jacob Lake (Kaibab) Campground, just about 30 minutes from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

In our car there was Joe, me and two of our adult children; Aaron and Sarah.

At the campground we were soon joined by our oldest daughter, Susan, and her little family. They also drove about 6 hours, but they came from Peoria Arizona.

It was a big task to get up three tents, build a fire in one pit and cook a dutch oven dinner with coals in the other pit. The fellows did the heavy lifting and fire building. Thanks to Sarah we had a fantastic meal. Later we roasted super-jumbo marshmallows and made 'Some-mores'.

Behind our campsite was a nice woodland area to explore:

Becca was interested in knowing about some plants and also picked wild flowers:

Our camp was directly by a large pasture and these were our neighbors which we were very willing to pet:

Sisters reunited:

Still pals:

Uncle Aaron with the kids:

On Sunday we drove to see the Grand Canyon.. Along the way we saw buffalo.

Click on the picture to enlarge it. They were really far away from the road:

At last we got our first glimpse of the canyon:

It was so big it didn't seem real:

Some of us followed a park service trail to a view point:

Susans husband, Ben, with Emma and Becca:

Aaron takes much better photos than I do. He knows what he's doing while I just point and shoot:

If you don't like heights, this place could be a bit of a problem for you:

We found a nice place to sit, look at the view and eat ice-cream cones:

Me and my girl, Susan:

Say Cheese:

Back at camp Ben made some marshmallow shooters, set up rival teams and proceeded to fill the woods with little marshmallows which the squirrels seemed to like eating later:

Susan dove behind a tree for cover:

Everyone finally tired of chasing around. I caught Aaron and Sarah resting on this wooden fence:

That evening we also went to a nearby corral.

Emma didn't seem at all scared of this big horse. She rode while the horse was led around:

Becca got to ride too (With help):

Two year old Jacob rode on a different horse with another helper, but I couldn't catch a picture of him. Maybe his mom was more successful.

I seemed to be the only adult that REALLY wanted to ride a horse. I rode for 30 minutes. I got to ride on a mountain trail through pine trees. It was very pretty. Two employees rode along with me and we had a good time chatting.

My guide grew up on a cattle ranch and does rodeo. This is his summer job. He was like a young Dave Probert.

Also riding along with me was a darling and chatty 9 year old girl (the grand daughter of the owner). Then running alongside us were two dogs.

I was very happy for the coin operated showers afterwards:

The food was great the whole time in camp. Somehow I raised some super cooks.

Ben is a very good cook too.

For two evenings we sat by a roaring campfire. On the second night we played some silly word games. I don't know where people come up with this stuff. After the kids went to bed we played some card game. I wasn't very good. My excuse was it was getting dark and I was cold.

We broke camp on Monday. I have to say that Aaron was particularly helpful and hard working. He even got everything packed into the little trunk of our car. It was quite artful.

Then he drove the entire way home! What a guy! Thanks Aaron.

Baby Claire was very good. She mostly just slept and ate.

I noticed her napping here by the fence and had to get a picture of her:

Did you know that Kaibab squirrels are kind of gray but they have big bushy white tails? They were so interesting. Susan chased one through the forest for me until she got a really good picture of it.

I must say that camping makes me appreciate my shower and washing machine!

Sunday Picnic

2011-08-21T16:08:00.001-07:00

Joe and I are empty Nester's this week. At about 2:00 this afternoon we went into the hills with our camp chairs and a little picnic.

We parked near the White Pine Trail head. We went off the beaten path and found a hidden beach along the river.

We stayed in our hide away for about 2 1/2 hours.

We moved our chairs once to stay in the shade:

It was a very quiet and secluded place:

Our only visitor was a baby squirrel. I fed him my granola bar. The picture I took of the squirrel didn't turn out well.

We came home and ate apple pie. I cut up the apples and baked it this morning.

Horseback Riding

2011-08-12T19:38:00.000-07:00

Joe got a half price horseback riding session for me at Vista Farms. It's on the west side of Bangerter.

I haven't ridden in over 30 years. It was a relief to find that I could still do this.

First I went to the outside corrals and put a halter on the horse I'd be riding.

Then I brought him into the barn and brushed him.

I brushed and brushed. There was a lot of hidden grime on this little pony.

Eventually I got him somewhat clean:

I saddled my own horse and led him into an indoor ring.

Luckily he wasn't too big and I was able to get myself into the saddle:

I'm up!

First I walked around the ring a couple of times.

On the next couple of 'go rounds' I was instructed to rein him in a little circle when I reached each corner of the ring (no problem):

My instructor put the horse on a lead and had me trot and gallop in circles. She needed to test me.

She made my day when she said that I was very good (hooray).

All we got for this exercise was a blurry photo. The video wasn't too hot either:

Really fun!:

Warm up:

This was an older horse with a touch of arthritis, but he was a hard worker:

I got to carry my saddle to the horse, throw it over his back and tighten the cinch. I needed a little guidance with the cinch part:

At the end of the session I led him back into the barn and took off his saddle. I'm sure he was relieved when I climbed off his back (poor little horse):

Pulling off the saddle:

Carrying the saddle back to the tack room and putting it away:

Outside after my fun time with a horse:

We stopped at Yogurtology at Jordan Landing for a treat:

Here are some video's of me walking the horse around. One sort of shows the little reining practice thing:

The Jack Hammer King

2011-08-05T07:30:00.000-07:00

As mentioned before, we are building a deck. This is going to feel like an extension to the den.

Our kitchen is next to the den and we intend to take more of our meals outside when the weather is good.

We will be able to walk straight out of the house.

My son Aaron took out the top step for us:

The Jack hammer was really too much for his dad and me, but he handled it extremely well.

We couldn't have done it without him:

He also opened two holes in our small patio slab for support posts:

My hero!:

It's a couple of days later and I wanted to add this update picture.

Aaron helped his dad with this part too.

Starting A Deck

2011-07-25T18:14:00.001-07:00

We started on our new deck today. Joe dug four deep holes for the posts (two to go).

Our son Aaron came home and started helping with the cement.

He stirred up the cement. His sister helped by adding water:

He filled the post hole molds with cement.

Then a bracket was set into the cement:

I tried my hand at using a Jack Hammer. I knocked off the first chunk of concrete. The deck will go straight out from the door.

That Jack hammer is heavy! The fellows can do the rest of it!

A funny video:

Days Of 47 Rodeo

2011-07-23T21:12:00.001-07:00

Joe, Sarah, Aaron and I went to the Days Of 47 Rodeo, out at the Maverick Center (It used to be called the E Center).

We were up in the $5. seats, on the East end of the arena. I think our seats would be called the peanut gallery or the nose bleed area. It actually wasn't bad seating. We could see right down into some pens and a cattle chute.

The show began with a long Patriotic opening and then the fun finally started.

Bronc riding:

These horses ran as a group all around the arena on their own:

Team cattle tackling (Aarons description of it):

The cowboys taking off after wild cows:

These guys chased cows all over the place until someone succeeded in milking one.

The audience was really laughing at this:

Cowboys:

Calf roping:

Women's barrel racing:

Team calf roping:

Bull riding.

The bull riding action stayed on the other side of the arena because those chutes were on the other end and all the rides were pretty short:

The show included a clown skit and ended with a couple of BMX riders. Then we left.

Out by the parking lot hundreds of loaves of bread were being handed out. We nabbed two.

Oh yeah, I also got a pink 'Days Of 47' T-shirt.

Seven Miles/Seven Mosquito Bites

2011-07-19T20:41:00.000-07:00

We walked seven miles after work this evening and I got seven mosquito bites; One per mile. Oh well.

We are battling the middle age bulge and trying diligently to exercise. At one point we both attempted a bit of a jog. It looked more like two old folks shuffling very fast. At least we try.

We do get to see cool stuff like this:

Although some parts of the river are pretty intimidating this year:

It was safe to get close in this spot. We even gathered a few neat pieces of smooth drift wood:

We might do a little fishing tomorrow night. Wish us luck.

Girls Day Out

2011-07-18T18:57:00.001-07:00

It's very rare for Sarah to have a free day, so we made the most of it. We watched a show, ate Ice-cream and went for a evening walk.

She is starting to see why I like the mountains so much:

We found a patch of snow right by the trail and I made a snowball:

We put a two hour limit on our walking time and we kept a close eye on the changing weather:

We looked at the view for a few moments and then we hurried back down the hill when we heard thunder and felt the first sprinkles of rain:

Our car was parked near this small lake. By the time we got back we were a little wet, mainly because we didn't bother using the rain ponchos that I had in my backpack. It was a brief but fun little adventure:

It's probably going to be a shorter summer season this year, so we are playing hard.

Be sure to see the post just before this one. We went walking last night too.

A Mother/Daughter Walk

2011-07-17T18:26:00.000-07:00

It was so fun to go on an evening walk with my daughter tonight.

Sarah, The tree-hugger:

She was great company this evening:

I never get tired of the mountains:

We watched a deer eating. It didn't run away, but it wasn't very close either (click on the picture to see better):

This little critter is called a Potgut. Really! Sarah looked it up:

This lone flower was growing on the side of the trail. It could be Western Trillium:

We are very lucky to have all of this in our 'backyard'. We know it's a good deal and we don't let it go to waste.

Joe on a boulder

2011-07-13T20:30:00.001-07:00

Joe climbed up this boulder, which over looks the river. I couldn't even get onto it. I would need a step stool (Sheesh):

The river is beyond it's banks right now.

Poor little pine tree:

Oxeye Daisy?:

Our forays into the woods are how we unwind and stay sane.

Ferguson Canyon

2011-07-09T14:27:00.001-07:00

Ferguson Canyon can be reached from a neighborhood just slightly south of Big Cottonwood Canyon. In fact we could see into the mouth of Big Cottonwood from part of our trail.

Once in the canyon the trail is shady and easy (at first).

We rested on some rocks here. We were by a stream and we liked this crazy natural arch:

Some of the trail:

The trail is between the stream and that big rock:

We came to an area with about four rock climbing walls. They all had metal rings hammered into them.

Some climbers using one of the walls:

The canyon brought us to a very slippery and steep bit of trail, which we went up to get close to a waterfall:

We learned from other people that there are about four more waterfalls beyond this, but without our hiking poles to get us up and down, we decided to save it for another day.

We did enjoy this one though:

I am trying to identify the wildflowers that I see on these walks now.

This was at the very start of the walk. The closest ID I can come up with is a Brown Eyed Susan (Big maybe):

Bicknell's Geranium:

Thimble berry:

I also Identified a lavender colored Spider Flower; Rocky Mtn Bee plant, but my photo was blurry. I learned that the Navajo cooked and ate this plant to save themselves from starvation at times.

I'm no botanist, but I figure if I'm going to hike all of the time, I might as well know what I'm looking at.

Reflections On Silver Lake

2011-07-06T20:16:00.001-07:00

After Joe got off work we drove up to Silver Lake to relax. The fishing was terrible, but the views were beautiful and the lake was very pretty tonight.

I loved the reflection of the clouds on the water:

Like a picture:

Here the pine trees and the mountain are reflected:

Driving through the canyon it's easy to see that the water is running very fast and high:

This video shows how unbelievably wild the rivers have gotten:

We also saw a pretty little doe on the way home, but I couldn't get a good picture of her. She was to quick for me.

Fishing On The Fourth Of July

2011-07-04T19:32:00.000-07:00

We spent a couple of hours this evening out by Little Dell Reservoir. It was overcast but it never rained on us and it was very warm.

We didn't catch anything, but it gave us our first fishing practice for the year. We liked listening to the different birds around us and watching the Grebes out on the lake. They would dive and pop back up several feet away. Obviously these birds can swim underwater.

We also watched people paddling around in canoes and Kayaks. We want a canoe!

Here we are:

Getting his line ready:

I'm working so dang hard:

I don't know if I can take all of this stress; haha:

This is Silvery Lupine:

This could be in the Arnica family (but I'm not positive yet):

I may need an Alpine Weeds book for this one (It's pretty to me though):

HAPPY JULY 4th! I hope you've all had an enjoyable day.

Wow, the sky is ablaze with fireworks tonight! There must have been a big sell on Rockets.

Birthday Party

2011-07-02T22:07:00.001-07:00

Tonight some of our family got together at Mom and Dads house for a big birthday bash. We celebrated 5 birthdays!; Dad is 84; my brother Brian is 48, my sister Debera is turning 61? and my nephew, Shawn is 37. I'm 58 now! Yikes!! That sounds like a big number.

These first pictures need a little explanation. When I was a very little girl I wore a Davy Crockett hat for play. Well, tonight I was presented with a Davy Crockett hat, along with some genealogy to prove I am related to him! Apparently this is a new discovery that mom made.

Some of the fellows were good sports and took turns wearing it.

Brian:

My nephew, Shawn:

Another nephew, Tyler:

A brother in law, Dave:

There were a lot of little people there tonight:

Left to right; Nephew, Scott and his wife (Amanda?). They came up from Nevada.

In orange shirt is my brother Bradly and then his wife, Stacy, and two of their kids:

A patio shot:

Dad got a nautical clock:

My oldest sister, Deb, and her husband Dave:

Our family is really growing:

Shawns wife; Lilly. She's a fantastic marathon runner:

My birthday is being kind of spread out, since I have a son and daughter that went to the 'Stadium of Fire' show tonight in Provo. My sons company sponsored the show and gave their employees and guests the tickets for free. If they had paid it would have cost $130. each.

So, on Sunday we get to have a nice dinner together and then on Monday we may do a picnic and some hiking and fishing. We just renewed our fishing licenses this morning.

Happy Birthday all of you June and July people.

Thanks Mom and Dad for the party.

A Summer Social

2011-06-27T19:17:00.001-07:00

This evening we attended a summer social with some church associates. This is hosted each year by a couple that live in Draper.

I got to visit with moms friend; Eileen Buckway. She told me more about the adventures she and mom shared on the Hopi Reservation;

Tables were set in the side yard:

There were two long tables set up to hold the food. Our hosts provided Dutch Oven Chicken. The rest of the food was pot luck. There were lots and lots of salads and desserts.

These people live on 6 acres. They have two ponds with ducks and geese. They also have goats, horses, chickens, peacocks and dogs. They have a small orchard and 60 huge Cottonwood trees. It was a neat place.

Little Dell to Big Mtn

2011-06-25T18:21:00.001-07:00

We walked 19.2 miles.

We went from Little Dell Reservoir to the top of Big Mountain. We hadn't intended to start there, but we couldn't drive very far up the canyon. The gate was closed. We assumed it was to benefit all the guys on bikes, because there wasn't any snow at all. Fortunately most of them stayed out on the road while we followed the dirt trail.

The trail had a lot of shade. It had plenty of level spots and it wasn't rocky. That enabled us to walk far without too much trouble. We definitely slowed down on the actual climb up Big Mountain though.

This sign is posted at the top of the trail and is where we ended our walk. To be more accurate; this was our turn around point.

Here's a marker that is up there too. Our hike last week, went up Little Emigration Canyon (starting near Jeremy Ranch), and connects to this spot. All of last weeks water obstacles and fallen logs kept us from reaching the top. This time we went up the the North side of the Mountain.

Even the climb up Big Mountain had some welcome shady places, like this:

This little section of trail is just below Afflick Campground. There were lots of yellow flowers. On the return walk we stopped in the campground where I soaked my hot feet in the river. We also sat at a picnic table and ate apples. The campground isn't opened yet:

A little view along the way (also below Afflick):

As we approached the Reservoir, we went through an area with very tall grass:

There were acres of grass:

At last we were back to the Reservoir. By this point our feet were very tired:

My walking companion:

Later this summer we will probably come back to the Reservoir with our fishing poles and lawn chairs. Instead of hiking we will try the relaxing old people thing.

Birthday Boots!

2011-06-20T18:48:00.001-07:00

My birthday isn't until July 2nd , but I was taken on a special shopping trip tonight.

I'm so very excited and happy about my gift. I have some brand new Harness Boots from A.A. Callister.

They are a simple style of cowboy/cowgirl boots. I love them!

This is me in front of the store. By the way, this store is huge and so fun. They even sell saddles etc..

You know I'm excited when I willing put boots on top of my dining room table:

I also got a butter dish with a barbed wire pattern on it; a cookie cutter shaped like a boot, and a mouse pad with a picture of some 1950's TV show. It's one of the old horsey shows. Haha.

HAPPY EARLY B-DAY TO ME!! Thank you a hundred times to Joe!!!

124 Water Crossings!

2011-06-18T18:27:00.001-07:00

Today we hiked up Little Emigration Canyon. We made 124 water crossings! Twenty of the crossings were major. We walked about 8 wet miles.

It all started innocently enough at this bridge:

The scenery was pastoral:

A mere 5 minutes into our walk we came to a decision point. The trail was flooded. So, do we go forward or retreat? We chose to go forward.

This is what that looked like:

From there we crossed water 123 more times:

Surprisingly, once we decided that getting soaked was part of the game plan, it was no big deal:

It was even fun:

You didn't think I had it in me, did you?

Joe may seem the better dressed for this, but he got scratched up pretty good when we had to climb over logs:

This marker said; California trail, Mormon Pioneer trail, and Pony express trail.:

We saw a few of these Beaver houses:

So fun getting our feet wet:

A Beaver pond:

We completely gave up on any ideas about dry feet:

It was a crazy day for sure:

Our day ended with huge cold drinks from the McDonalds in Park City and later hot soapy showers. It sure feels good to be in dry, clean, clothes again!

It was a fun and insane outing. I'm glad that we went forward and didn't retreat! haha

Reservoir

2011-06-16T18:35:00.000-07:00

We did our usual evening walk. This time we went up our trail to the local Reservoir. We wanted to see if it was getting full now that the rivers are running.

It's been a sunny day, but it got cloudy just before we went out:

A month ago this was a mud flat. It looks so much better now:

This is the stream that's filling it:

The snow is melting fast:

We are planning to do a brand new trail on Saturday. Hopefully that will work out and I will post some pictures.

Flag Day; Mountain Style

2011-06-14T20:04:00.001-07:00

I didn't know why the boy scouts had put a flag in our yard today. I have a neat Native American calendar that is apparently missing some of our Government Holidays. I finally figured it out though.

So, this is how we celebrate anything and everything in our 'neck of the woods':

We walked along our favorite river:

It's raging!:

Here's a sample of the river in action:

HAPPY FLAG DAY.

Aarons Office

2011-06-14T13:10:00.001-07:00

Aarons dad has a bunch of gift cards for Chillis Restaurant. He got them for some work he did.

So Aarons dad, mom and little sister drove down to Aarons office and picked him up for lunch.

I've learned that one good way to get a picture of a person is to wait until they are securely buckled into a seat belt (captive, in other words).

This is the view from his office parking lot:

This is the building he works in:

The lunch was good and Aaron is fun to visit with.

This is a weird blog posting, but now Aarons fans can see where he spends much of his time making the big bucks.

Railroad Tunnels (Part 1 of our trip)

2011-06-12T22:57:00.001-07:00

I traveled with Joe to the Las Vegas area on Monday, so he could go to a convention. We stayed in a hotel in the Henderson area. It was smoke free, casino free, good for business people and families, and it had a pool, hot tub and exercise room.

We got there in the afternoon which left us some playtime. We had dinner at a nearby Chillis. Then we drove a little further to Lake Mead. We went on the Railroad Tunnel hike.

It was so neat!

In 1931 a rail line was built to haul materials for the construction of the Hoover Dam. The only thing there now is the Tunnels.

There were 6 tunnels. In most cases we could see from one end to the other, but there were at least two that were so long and dark. One was curved so we didn't know for awhile how long we would be in the dark.

This is one of the short tunnels:

Joe saw a bat in this tunnel:

A couple of them were braced up with heavy lumber near the entrances:

We were just above the Lake Mead Marina:

See how the water has dropped:

Me:

Spooky:

Light at the end of the tunnel has real meaning here:

See the big horn sheep along the ridge?:

It was a very interesting walk. We broke our own hiking rule and did this one without carrying any water with us. Lets just say we were excited to find a Hires Rootbeer place on the way back to our hotel. We guzzled big cups full of diet Rootbeer with ice. What a relief.

Back at the hotel, we used the pool and hot tub. Well, I mostly just used the hot tub. The pool water seemed cold. I got a little way in, but Joe submerged himself; brrr.

On Tuesday, Joe went to his convention while I used the hotel exercise equipment and read a book. It was a good day.

On Wednesday we drove to our daughters house in Arizona to see a new grand baby. We stayed there through Saturday. We left on Sunday morning See the next post for Part 2 of our trip.

Our New Grand baby (Part 2 of our trip)

2011-06-12T22:14:00.000-07:00

The morning after our Business trip to Las Vegas, Nevada (Wed.) we drove to Peoria Arizona to see our new Grand daughter (#4).

Our daughters house:

Playing at a little park that was close enough to walk to:

We also walked to where Emma gets on the school bus (School is out for summer now).

The kids posed on these rocks for me:

Here's the star of the show. This is three week old Claire.

Bath time:

Tiny and sweet:

Most of the time she was asleep, but here she has her eyes open:

We visited a couple of local splash parks. These are a big thing in AZ because of the extreme heat.

The Mommy playing with her kids (She's fun). Just for the record, the water is just at a drizzle here. When it gets turned back on the water will be pretty forceful.

Our daughter went to her public library really early on Friday morning. She got there a whole hour early just to be sure she got a culture pass to the Science Center in Phoenix for us.

Her patience paid off and she got four adults and two children into the Center for Free! The baby was automatically free and all we had to pay was $8. for one child. That was a super deal!

There were many interesting areas in the Science center. The only pictures I took were here in some little kids play area (Oh well):

On the way home from the Science center we stopped at the neatest place for Ice Cream. It was a 'hole in the wall' kind of place that combined the sale of food, ice cream and Antiques! The waitresses were dressed in 1950's costumes.

It was a very full week. Today we drove for 12 hours to get back to Utah. We went over Lees Ferry.

We saw 6 river rafts below us:

While crossing the Navajo lands I got some great jewelry. On the trip I also got a great Western style purse. I feel just a bit spoiled.

We stopped for lunch at Jacob Lake. It's one of our routine stops.

Behind the restaurant are little cabins that people can rent. This is a somewhat popular stop along the road and it's not too far from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

I'm proud to admit that I did most of the driving. I like to drive.

Meeting an Author

2011-06-04T14:05:00.000-07:00

Jane Kirkpatrick is a best selling author of 20 books. She lives in a remote part of Oregon called Starvation point.

She wrote a three part series about Marie Dorion. The book titles are: A Name Of Her Own, Every Fixed Star, and Hold Tight The Thread.

She is here in Utah promoting her latest book; 'The Daughters Walk'. She expressed an interest in meeting descendants of Marie Dorion.

We are a few descendants.

From left to right in above picture are; myself-Lesa, Mom-Patricia (White Buffalo Woman), Aunt Linda, Aunt Karen, and Jane Kirkpatrick on the right.

Jane K. is holding the Mandella that mom gave to her as a gift.

Jane Kirkpatrick signing copies of 'The Daughters Walk' for us. Mom and dad bought several copies from her.

Jane Kirkpatrick and Mom chatting:

She wrote in my book; To Lesa- Who is the descendant of a woman who walked far far.

Jane Kirkpatrick 6.4.11

Here is a very brief explanation of who Marie Dorion is;

Six years after Sacagawea made her trek, a 21 yr old Iowa Indian woman named Marie Dorion went with the expedition that made the second such crossing to the same destination-the mouth of the Columbia river. The stories of Sacagaweas trials, courage and endurance during her 1805-1806 journey are well known. But Marie Dorions nearly forgotten trials were even more difficult.

She was the only woman on the 1811-12 overland expedition financed by John Jacob Astor, to establish a fur trading post at the mouth of the Columbia river.

Moms 80th birthday

2011-06-02T21:16:00.001-07:00

This evening some of our family got together for Moms 80th birthday.

Look at her neat cake. It was decorated so cute and it was yummy chocolate:

Mom is so pretty. She has never looked her age:

My oldest sister and one of her grand kids:

Mom and Dad:

A brother:

A brother in law:

Another brother, Dad and Mom:

A nephew:

A sister in law and two of her kids:

Two of my kids:

A niece:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM. WE ARE LUCKY TO HAVE SUCH A WONDERFUL MOTHER.

Playtime Sequel

2011-06-01T19:27:00.002-07:00

This is a sequel to the blog called Playtime. Not long ago I was walking in this river bed.

Now look at it:

Little steams like this help fill the river:

See the snake grass in my backpack? I like to fill vases with it :

I think I need a wildflower book. I never know what anything is:

The Quarry park is getting green. I took this picture late in the evening and it was a little cloudy, but you get the idea:

This was just one of our regular little, after work, walks. Soon we will do something good.

Samantha

2011-05-29T19:15:00.001-07:00

Tonight my niece, Samantha, was Baptised by her dad (my brother).

Here she is:

Chocolate cake and cheese cake for dessert:

My brother is the one on the left (white shirt and blue tie):

My brother and Mom:

The proud mom:

Mom/Grandma was so proud of her family tonight:

Brad is a good daddy:

Thanks for inviting us!

Hidden Valley Park and Trails

2011-05-28T11:56:00.001-07:00

It's the beginning of Memorial weekend. If the weather holds, we are planning a great outing for Monday. For today (Saturday) we played a little too.

There's a great park on Wasatch Blvd. which is very close to our home. From this park there is access into two canyons.

We went into the Southern canyon first. The clouds were low hanging at first, but it cleared right up and was quite sunny.

We found a bridge:

This whole canyon is surprisingly green:

We really didn't get very far up this canyon, because a waterfall was sending a heavy load of water onto the trail and our way was blocked.

We came out of the canyon and got on a section of Bonneville Shoreline trail and crossed to the Northern canyon.

We walked up a fire road until we came to this trail sign:

This trail went up, up, up. We came to our first lookout point:

Looking at treetops:

A valley view (somewhere along the way):

After our walk we sat in this Gazebo and had Peanut butter sandwiches, chips and apples.

During lunch I heard a coyote:

I hope the weather is good on Memorial Day, because the pictures from that hike will be quite interesting!

Aaron is 26

2011-05-14T18:13:00.000-07:00

Today I did four hours of yard work. Joe pitched in by cutting down a very dead shrub which left a big stump.

Aaron came home this afternoon so we could do a little birthday party for him. He actually turned 26 on May 10, but we waited until today to celebrate with him. While dinner was cooking, he started digging out the stump. This was his own idea. We really didn't ask him to be our slave.

He worked hard:

It became entertaining to watch him. He's determined that this stump is 'HIS' and he'll get it out if it takes all summer. It probably will:

His dad helped with dinner (total shock). He made some kind of spicy chicken wraps.

His sister Sarah made salad and home fries.

Finally there was the birthday cake and Ice Cream. Sarah made German Chocolate Cake from scratch and her dad used our Kitchen aid attachment to make some Cinnamon Ice Cream.

Aarons main gift was an Alton Brown Cookbook.

I cleaned up the kitchen since I didn't do food prep this time around.

Happy Birthday Aaron. You're a great guy.

Farmington Creek Trail

2011-05-07T15:44:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is Mothers Day and all I wanted was a nice walk. I got my wish.

I've already been given two dozen roses too.

Since the high altitude locations still have snow, we went to Farmington Creek Trail.

We could always hear this big stream below us:

Water crossed the trail. I kept my feet dry getting across, but on the way back I got one foot wet. It was so hot outside that I was all dried out in no time:

Farmington and the Great Salt Lake:

At the top of the trail we got to see this 40 foot waterfall:

Above the waterfall we stopped for lunch:

Wildflowers:

Video of the waterfall:

On the way home we drove through the DQ in Bountiful for chocolate dipped Ice Cream cones. I can't believe it's 80 degrees today. Winter is ending at last!

Spring Break

2011-05-04T14:33:00.000-07:00

Sarah is on Spring Break. She gets three weeks away from school. She still has work, but her schedule is lighter for the moment.

The good part for me, besides having the car around more, is having a walking buddy.

She gave me permission to take pictures of the back of her head:

Taking a break:

Our local reservoir is more like a mud flat right now. There were some fairly tame Geese walking around:

It's sunny and warm. Buds are on the trees and my lawn is a deep emerald green.

Alta

2011-04-28T15:12:00.001-07:00

I used to visit mom and dad each week, until my daughter needed the car all of the time for work and school. Now they drive to my house instead.

Today we went to our favorite place to eat. It's the In N' Out Burger, in Draper. Then we went for a ride to Alta.

This is the area dad goes to ski. The season is about over now, but we all wanted to see the extra deep snow that the mountains got this year.

This is the basin where he skis. He starts from really high up.

Buildings were nearly buried:

See how the snow is piled higher than the cars?:

This pile of snow is so high . I didn't even get the whole thing in the picture:

This is on the other side of the road. The snow isn't quite as high, but deep enough:

The pictures may look cold, but it was really very warm and nice out.

Easter and a birthday party

2011-04-24T21:27:00.001-07:00

Today is Easter Sunday. We also celebrated Joe's birthday a couple of days early.

Sarah prepared the dinner. She made Spicy buffalo chicken sandwiches (a recipe from her sister), homemade fries, asparagus and a tomato/bacon salad with a great homemade dressing.

Instead of cake, she filled her dads request for a strawberry/banana trifle dessert. It tasted like banana cream pie:

Joe's kids have ordered him a ROKU box. It's for watching online movies on T.V. At least that's the simple explanation. It will replace his big computer box.

I gave him the board game called Risk.

It took us about 45 minutes to figure out how to play.

We finally got up to speed and it was a fun game:

Aaron defeated us all:

Happy Easter to everyone and Happy birthday to Joe (alias: The Dadoo).

Foothills In April

2011-04-16T17:49:00.001-07:00

The snow has receded from the foothills and the low trails are very dry.

I found this bridge and there was a good size stream running under it.

I can see this mountain from my backyard, but it's so much nicer up close:

The South facing mountains are always the first to lose their snow:

This is looking towards S.L.C:

Even though nobody could go walking with me this time, I had a good time. It was warm outside and I strolled around for two hours. It was great to get out of the house. It's been a long winter.

My new nephew

2011-04-10T15:03:00.000-07:00

Today I saw my nephew for the first time. His name is Peter Robinson Smith. He's my brothers 4th child. There was a family gathering at my brothers home this afternoon. There was a big crowd from my brothers wifes family (she comes from a family of 10 children). Representing our side, there was just my parents and myself.

I discovered that my camera wasn't charged, so I took these pictures with my phone camera. They're not good quality. Oh well.

Baby Peter is very cute. He's in my lap here:

Brad, Stacy and Peters Grandpa Smith:

Some of us were visiting in Brad and Stacy's front room. Other people were in the kitchen and dining room area. There's a huge picture window behind the couch here:

I know this has a lot of glare:

Peters Grandma Smith:

Porter Rockwell Trail

2011-03-23T18:43:00.000-07:00

We tried a new place to ride our bikes this evening. It's called the Porter Rockwell Trail in Draper.

It's paved for 3 1/2 miles. Walkers, joggers and bikers can go here. There's an equestrian trail that runs along side it.

Much of it was easy, but there were some spots really made us work:

We saw some horses (we also saw a deer):

Putting the bikes back on the rear car rack:

You're never to old to play.

Silly Bird

2011-03-20T18:29:00.000-07:00

Tonight, Joe, Sarah and I played 'multi-player connect four'. Sarah's bird started out sitting on her shoulder but soon became part of the game.

He began stealing our pieces:

One by one the bird dropped our game pieces onto the floor until we had almost nothing left to play with.

We will never again play connect four with this bird around.

BTW, Sarah won (and yes, I'm going to wash the table cloth now).

Garden Box #3

2011-03-19T17:08:00.001-07:00

Joe built our third garden box.

He had to kneel on the hard concrete floor, but he got the job done:

Later he removed sod, leveled the ground and put a liner down.

Sarah helped us haul wheel barrows of dirt and also helped with the filling of the box.

She was a cheerful and willing helper:

Look at that! Three boxes for growing vegetables. We do need to stain them, so they are better protected from the weather though :

It was safe to plant the spinach and kale, but nothing else. Theres already a bit of parsley growing, which survived over winter.

We have the beginnings of a backyard mini-farm.

Biking

2011-03-15T19:58:00.001-07:00

This is unusual, but I am posting two blogs today. I didn't expect that we would go biking this evening. This is our first time using our rear bike rack.

We parked at Gardner Village and got on the Jordan River Parkway from there.

Joe took this picture with his Droid. Click on the picture to make it bigger:

Right when we were turning around to head back, Joes bike chain broke. At that point, his bike became more of a scooter than a bike. By walking his bike, scooting it along with his foot and coasting down hills he got back to the car. Sometimes I walked along with him and sometimes I waited for him to catch up to me. We finished our bike ride in the dark.

In the future we should probably carry a spare chain and maybe a little tire repair kit.

Fleece blanket project

2011-03-15T15:15:00.001-07:00

I'm just showing the fleece blanket that I tied today. Fleece was 50% off. Works for me!

So, that's my little afternoon project. I also bought my garden seeds. Spring is coming!

Visiting with Aaron

2011-03-14T14:14:00.000-07:00

Today I went with Joe to visit our son, Aaron, in Provo. He works and attends BYU.

He lives in Carriage Cove Apts. now:

It's a big complex:

He lives one floor up. The lower deck with the bike and blue chair is his apt:

This is just along the way to lunch:

We ate at Iggys Restaurant.

My cute boy:

The man himself:

We learned that Aaron has an A- in his Calculus Two class. He's also making employment decisions:

Now I am home, Joe has gone back to the office and I'm waiting for Sarah to get home from her work.

Trail Blazers

2011-02-21T15:15:00.001-08:00

Joe didn't work today (Presidents Day). So this afternoon we did some snow shoeing. We were out in the snow for a couple of hours.

Here we are just looking around:

Over hill and over dale:

Through some trees:

Snowy river:

We followed a trail that was only partly tromped and the snow was a little deep, so it was a bit tough. Joe's snow shoe and shoe came off along the way. Since he was having issues, I ended up blazing the trail. My muscles were burning with the effort when I had to go up hills. I didn't really mind. I like a good work out.

Catching up:

Back on the level and groomed trail (Much better):

Did you get your exercise today? We definitely did:

Sarah is 22

2011-02-12T22:15:00.001-08:00

Sarah is my youngest and today she is officially 22!! That's so weird because I'm not getting any older.

Sarah is a really great person and I am proud of the way she is living her life.

So, she mostly got money because that is what she wanted. Previously we did help her with some school supplies for her college classes though.

Here she is blowing out candles on a chocolate cake:

It took her awhile to get them all out. I think she was toying with us:

For dinner, her brother made all of us Tacos. He even purchased all the food himself. That was really nice of him.

Later he beat us all at a game of Scrabble. He had a score of 204! He made 51 points on a single stunning play. Good grief!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH!! AND MANY MORE!!!

Trip to Arizona

2011-02-09T19:03:00.000-08:00

On Friday, Feb. 4th, Joe and I drove to Peoria (North Phoenix) to visit our oldest daughter and her family. Today is Wednesday, Feb. 9th and we just got home this evening.

So here's a brief overview of the week, minus all the details.

The drive takes about 12 hours. At least the way we do it.

Here we stopped in St. George, Utah:

We also walked near Lake Mead. This is just before going over the new bridge that crosses Hoover Dam:

This is Susan with Jacob. We are playing in one of the many parks near her home.

Her house is modern, beautiful and awesome:

On Monday we went to the Phoenix Zoo. We all got in free.

Sue and the kids rode on the carousel:

Goats:

McCaw:

Long Horn Steer:

Obviously there are tons of animals in a zoo, but I didn't take pictures of all of them.

On Tuesday morning, Sue and I escaped for a little mother/daughter hike up a hill very close to her house. It was covered in huge cactus, little barrel cactus and a large variety of things that can poke and scratch. The rule was; don't touch anything!

Even though Sue is 'expecting' she can climb a hill very well!

Looking down on her neighborhood:

Later that day we went to the Heard Museum in Phoenix. It features Native American art and culture. It was pretty big, so I'll just show a sampling of what was in there:

Me, Sue and kids:

Hanging out with the folks:

Me, Joe Emma and Becca:

Sue kept us well fed and entertained. For her version of things, go to her blog.

For a change of scenery Joe and I traveled home a different way. Instead of going over Hoover Dam and through Vegas, we went through some reservation lands and crossed over Lees Ferry.

Along the way I bought some Native American Jewelry from a roadside stand. Seriously, there are some rickety looking stands with the best Jewelry and unbelievable prices. I ended up with two pair earrings, a silver and turqoise ring, plus a beautiful necklace that I could never afford otherwise.

I never buy things like this in 'normal' life. This was a very rare splurge.

Lees Ferry:

We stopped for lunch at Jacobs Lake. This is where we crossed through pine covered mountains.

We also passed through Flagstaff much earlier.

After crossing the mountains, we were back down in arid and somewhat warm areas:

On our way home I collected a few dark red rocks for my yard. I found them not to far from Hurricane.

That's a very brief report on our trip. On the way home I developed a small cold, but that's life, right?

Another Saturday

2011-01-08T17:12:00.001-08:00

Our Saturday started with three hours of snow shoeing. We get out of the inversions by going up the canyons. The sun did pop out about three times up there.

I liked this cabin. It seems like a fantastic get away place:

(Remember to click on the pictures. They look best enlarged)

Just trudging along and enjoying the surroundings:

Big ol' pine trees:

After our morning of exercise, we caught a movie at the Mega Plex. I had a movie gift card from Christmas, so we went to see True Grit. That was a really good show. If it comes out on DVD I just might get it.

Family visit

2011-01-01T12:28:00.000-08:00

Susan and her family drove from Peoria Arizona and got to our house on Monday night (Dec. 27, 2010).

The kids were interested in Aunt Sarahs new bird (a baby Cockatielle):

On Tuesday I took Sue's family on a Christmas shopping trip while everyone else was at work.

Then on Wednesday we all got together with grandma and grandpa Smith. They took our entire mob to McDonalds:

Thursday evening we went Ice Skating at the Gallivan Center:

I spent most of my time hanging onto the railing:

Emma was great!! She was such a good skater!

Joe, Ben, Sarah and Aaron all showed some skill, but Emma out shined us all!:

After skating we drank hot chocolate at Star Bucks which was right next door. After warming up we walked about three blocks to see the Temple lights:

On Friday we went to the Dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving point. We have a season pass, so Joe and I get in with that and all of our guests get in 1/2 price. I didn't take any pictures of that outing, but Susan did, so watch for her next post.

This morning (Saturday) we went to our nearby park to use the sleds. I've got three sleds now:

Emma went down alone and 'caught some air' Yikes. She looked like she was flying for a bit there. Way to go Emma!:

Susan is expecting her fourth child (a girl) so she can't actively participate in the outdoor stuff. She's a good sport though and works really hard to help her kids have a good time.

I just realized that I may have to buy more sleds:

The siblings:

Sue's family needs to leave Sunday morning (Jan. 2, 2011) Her girls have Kindergarten and Pre-school and Ben needs to get back to work at the hospital (He's a young doctor).

Joe, Aaron and Sarah have to get back to work too.

It's nice that we get together as often as we do.

Christmas morning

2010-12-25T10:48:00.001-08:00

It's finally Christmas day! Everyone had sugar plums dancing in their heads last night. We heard reports of people who were too excited to sleep (haha).

For breakfast, Sarah made German pancakes and Aaron made hot chocolate. I love having grown up kids who want to cook:

I made lots of fleece blankets this year and my family seemed to like them (thank goodness):

Aaron wanted a Kindle. He can load thousands of books and periodicals onto it. He won't have to worry about carrying or moving books from one apartment to another:

Sarah gets to pick out a Cockatielle (bird) this week. The cage is huge and quite pretty:

I got my wish too! This is the first bike of my own since I was a teenager! It's a pink and white ladies Schwinn. I think it's called a LuLu. It has 7 speeds and is very retro.

I also have a raspberry-pink and black helmet. I must say it's bad for the hair:

I have to show this adorable pony that mom and dad gave to me. My grandkids are going to love it. When you press on one ear it neighs, and when you press on the other ear it makes galloping sounds.

It holds 250 pounds! We all sat on it and it's as sturdy as concrete.

Even though it's been another tough year we have managed to have a most amazing Christmas.

Joe got clothes and a Jack La Lane Power Juicer. We also now have a 'soda stream' to make our own soft drinks and a very nice Cuisinart. It's a kitchen aid brand, so over the years attachments can be added if we want.

The best thing is that my daughter and her family will be coming to visit us very soon!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! It may not be about the gifts, but it sure is fun.

Family Christmas Party 2010

2010-12-18T20:00:00.001-08:00

It really isn't Christmas until the family gets together at Mom and Dads house in Salt Lake City.

For several years now we've enjoyed the tradition of dining on large trays of Chinese take out. It's great.

This year Mom and Dad took the time to share with us some personal and family history stories.

We have ancestors to be proud of and I never get tired of learning about them.

Our family is so large and crazy. We may have 20 people at a party and that's still only about half of us.

Following are some pics;

Aaron:

Dad:

Mom:

Sarah with her grandma:

Bradly and son, Tyler:

Debera:

Me (Lesa):

Brian:

Dallin and his folks: Shawn and Lilly:

Three of Shawn and Lillys kids (they have 4):

Stacy (Her baby boy is due in January):

Sarah and Aaron:

Lots of little Cousins:

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all of our missing family members.

Luncheon

2010-12-13T14:07:00.001-08:00

Today I went to a luncheon for certain workers; office, engineering, laundry.

I've worked on two different shifts, so I know a few people.

This picture has most of our Friday shift. We work 2:00-6:00. One lady is missing.

From left to right: me, Marlene (she helps us part time-about an hour each week), Heather (center) is in training right now. She's a young return missionary. Delanne (In purple) is our supervisor and was my missionary companion about 35 years ago. Cathlene is in the red vest.

Gathering:

Heather and Marlene:

This shows two of the ladies from when I did the Thursday shift.

Left to right: Delanne, Kathy, Maureen, me:

Nice ladies:

Basically the program was; eat food, listen to a light hearted Christmas story (read by the Recorder), sing a few carols,then listen to nice talks from the Temple President and the 1st Councilor. It was a very nice get together.