Love This

Found this and loved it.
Its like my love for photo booth pictures
and my love for time laps photography
got married and gave birth to this lovely gem.

Its that time again....

Its that time again....to wake up early, pass the

still fresh dew on the leaves in the garden,

and watch the sunrise over Mt. Timp on the

drive to teach class in orem. Those colored clouds will

never get old. Heres to another school year,

may it be a blast.

Just returned...

Just returned from an excursion to the imaginative

world of Jules Vern

I started out on my journey to "The Mysterious Island"

solo, but after sharing all that I had read,

chapter by chapter,

with my husband he soon wanted to tag along.

So we finished the last half

together. I would read aloud all

the adventures, sometimes

getting so into it I would catch myself

shouting...

Ahhh, so much fun!

Escaping from from war on a hot air balloon,

then landing on an isolated Island, establishing

a settlement complete with crops, domesticated animals,

and an ape servant, where all settlers become:

iron smiths, potters, sailers, ship builders,

hunters, felters, and candlestick makers,

Then Pirates, monkeys, and diamonds.

Cant wait till the next adventure.

Merci, Monsieur Vern.

Summer Garden

My front garden bloomed its heart out

this summer, but now its looking a little.....tired.

(actually....weedy, dry, twiggy, and mainly

bloomless)

Just remembering what it used to look like

last month....

# 340 is ALL mine!

Reece did his 1st triathlon at the beginning of

August, and did awesome!

I was supposed to do it with him and it

was supposed to be a trail run for our big

event at the end of September, but I was

overly exhausted from the birthday party I threw

the night before.... so I took a raincheck and

showed up in my PJ's to be the best

cheerleader ever for my very handsome triathlete.

GO REECE!!!! WOOT!

Back on the horse again...

Always loved making bread with my dad, but since Ive

flown the nest I havent been able to get things to turn

out the way they should. Years have past that I have yet

to get my dads greek crown loaves to work out. Its

been so frustrating. Then my sister introduced me to a

new easy "fool-proof" bread recipe and I got so stoked,

but then I went ahead and tried it.... I broke my bread

mixer and the whole batch was ruined. My reaction was

very close to Julie's in "Julie and Julia" (the incident with

stuffing that hen), my sweet husband was so sweet and

supportive through it all (it was so pathetic, me sobbing

on his shoulder). So I called a few people and discussed

what the problem could have been. The next day I set out

yet again determined to not be deterred. After trying a few

things that I had discussed I finally got my first batch of

perfect dough! Im so glad that I didnt give up.

We have now been rolling in the bread...wheat loaves,

cinnamon swirl loaves, dessert braids, stuffed crust

herb chicken pizza....yummy. I hope now that I can get

those greek crown loaves perfected before the holidays.

Sounds of Summer

Went to a couple of lovely concerts on the grassy

hills of Deer Valley this summer.

The 1st was the songs of Abba sung

by the best Swedish Abba cover band Waterloo,

backed by the Utah Symphony.

Husband and I went with my fam.

We enjoyed the tastes of one of my favorite

restaurants before, The Grappa, then we boogied

to disco music all evening. The performers were all

dolled up to look like the original band members

(still wondering if the one guy's hair was a wig,

had to be dang it!)

The costumes were awesome, they would

change about every 4 songs. Kitch and I really loved

the red and green ones, we would want a fox on both

of ours though. We got to learn the Swedish finger

dance, we totally rocked out and boogied to every song.

We weren't alone, plenty of other people were

dancing too, but only......they were drunk.

Not even worried, we had a blast.

I always have a good time with my fam.

Then a few weeks after I got to go with my

culture club to hear Mozart's 3rd. loved it.

Things were cooling off a bit but I didnt mind,

snuggling under blankets and sipping

hot chocolate. I always have a ball at the symphony,

every time I try to concentrate on the performers and

try to make sense of the conductors movements, but I

always seem to drift into a movie in my mind inspired

by the music in which Im listening to

but which also acts as the soundtrack.

Asian Festival

Went to an Asian Festival awhile back

my favorite parts were the Japanese Drums

and this little girl. I was a little worn out that

day from another festival that I had gone to

in the morning. So many festivals

so little energy.

Goblins and Aztecs

My man and I escaped for a weekend to go camping

down south. I have never seen goblin valley so that was our

first stop. But because we love it and because we could,

we decided to be spontaneous and add a few more

adventures to the trip before we came home.

Our fist night was spent in the campgrounds at

Goblin Valley state park, I cooked some steaks and we

ate in the company of some giant beetles and dragonflies.

The night was sooo hot and it only cooled down to 93

around 3 in the morning. We were so uncomfortable

we drove up to green river where it was generally

20 degrees cooler to sleep the rest of the night.

The next day we took a hike up a slot canyon just outside

of Goblin Valley state park. I love slot canyons because

you hike a majority in shade. This was an awesome hike.

We were surrounded by the most fascinating rocks.

I wanted to take home more than my little sample....

maybe enough to tile a fireplace would do the trick:)

Painting petroglyphs with water. love it.

Then to the valley of the goblins. I wanted to photograph

them in the golden light of sunset but the clouds were too

thick. There goes star trails as well. But the cloud

cover did make for an interesting ethereal atmosphere

though.....not bad.

Dinner in goblin valley, breakfast in Green river.

Im getting better and better at cooking over a fire or on

our Coleman stove.

We then decided to drive down past Moab to

take a hike to see some famous Aztec Ruins.

The hike was delightful, it had just rained in the area

the night before so the ground was still moist and

the air much cooler. I loved seeing all the Indian

Paintbrush that lined the trail. It reminded me of a

book that was read to me as a child that

taught me the flowers name and the

legend around it. I will never forget it.

The main house in the ruins is called house on fire,

can you see why?

We got a late start because the trail head

was further away then we thought so the lighting

wasn't the best when we got to the ruins. But I did

the best I could.

Sorry there are at ton of pictures if me...

Reece got sick with a bad cold because of our late nights

dealing with how hot it was,

so he didn't feel like a photo shoot. (It is so strange

to think of someone getting a cold when where

we were was sooo hot, but the poor guy got one)

On the way back to Moab we stopped off at recapture lake

where we took a dip to cool off and have a little cookout/

picnic for dinner while watching the sunset.

A storm was rolling in that would drop its rain the next

day.

We decided to relax and stay the night in Moab and not

push though the night to get home. So we got a

banana split then a motel room with air conditioning

and cable. We watched dog shows till we passed out.

Yes dog shows, whenever I have the remote we end up

watching animal planet. Its how it is, and Im glad that

Im with someone who will enjoy it with me.

The next morning we had the most scrumptious breakfast

at the Jailhouse Cafe. I had a pesto, roasted tomato,

mozzarella cheese omelette with a ginger pancake and apple

butter on the side, Reece had the eggs Benedict like usual.

All very tasty. The rain was starting while we were

dining and it made for pure joy. Feeling the cool

breeze as we sat on the covered porch, smelling the

rain..... I was in heaven.

Thanks sweetie for the adventurous

weekend. There were some tougher spots

but there were also some splendid

splendid moments, and I couldn't think of

anyone else that I would want to spend them with

more than you.