Family Photos

We had family pictures taken in September...this is one we liked. I will post more of the BIG family when we get them back. It is scanned...so, not the best quality. But, we love our little family!

I have this picture at work and a co-worker asked what the picture was...I said, "My family." She gave a little laugh and said, "Huh...family." Sad!

This is my family and I love it!

Families are Forever...only if that includes a dog for a child, for the time being!

Ryan and Chase go for a Hike

The coolest thing about being in school right now is that I only have to work until 12:00. I don't have classes everyday, so this Thrusday I decided to take Chase on a hike. Let me tell you how much this dog loves to be outdoors. Well I can't really cause I don't really know, he can't talk, but seems like he really likes it. Whenever I get out the Camelbak without even asking if he wants to "Go Bye Bye" (and believe me he knows what that means) he starts to follow me around the house. When I start to fill it up he starts to whine and keeps going to the front door. By the time I get my boots on he really knows it's for real that we are going somewhere cool. It's funny how a dog can link things like this to fun and he knows what's going on.

I decided on going to Battle Creek Canyon in PG. For those of you in Utah, its the canyon directly north of the G on the bench. It was really awesome outside that day. Sunny, low 60's, I think, and the trees were awesome. Scenery was great. I was on the lookout for deer, but nothing. Last time I was out there with my bro Garside, a huge gobbler shot out from no where making the noise that turkeys make and needless to say I thought I peed my pants, but I didn't. But now I hate turkeys. Three reasons, they are ugly, they can scare you, and they have no respect for the right-of-way on roads. I almost hit one today on my bike on South Fork Rd. Once again it just darted out in from of me. If anyone ever wants a cool hike, go there cause there is everything: cool river, waterfalls (if you get back there far enough), sheer cliffs it's pretty cool. Anyways no one is going to read this so on with the pics.

This is the trailhead. It starts off being a gravel path, but the farther you get up there the better the trail gets and it turns into a good footpath. The bug is checking out another dog's terd in the bottom right of the pic. I don't know why he has to do that, it's gross.

Chase likes to stand in the water until I get so far that he can't see me and then he comes running up.

See he looks happy?????

There was still ice up there. It's been cold here and the ice in the shade doesn't melt.

Here are two waterfalls. They were pretty awesome. They were really flowing probably cause of all the snow melting higher up.

This picture isn't a total cliff where it drops off, but is very steep and covered in flat smooth pieces of broken shale. It's a couple hundred feet down at least 100ft. Needless to say if I were to fall down it I would not be able to get back up it. but not my dog. I was thinking of how cool it would be to throw a rock down there and see how far it would go. So I got one and threw it. As soon as I heard it hit, I hear a ton of rocks just go slidding down this drop off. First instinct was sweet a deer!!!, but duh, my dog decided to live up to his breed's name sake "retriever". I know he didn't see where it hit, cause I couldn't. But he took it upon himself to chase (now you know why he is named Chase) the rock down there. I FREAKED out. All I thought was how am I going to go get him? I won't be able to go back up let alone drag him up. At that point I almost started to swear. Mind you this all happened in 2 seconds. At this point Chase has created an avalance of sharp little jagged pieces of rocks coming at him and I start yelling "Chase stop no!!!!" He either had one of two thoughts 1. "oh my, this is steep and these rocks hurt, I had better stop." or 2. "Oh my, Master Ryan is freaking out, I better go back and help him get down this so we can go get whatever it is that he threw down there." Because as soon as I freaked out he hit the breaks with all four. But what happens when you do that in gravel? You slid. now he is slidding and turned back around looking at me with eyes that are now scared because his ears are flat against his head and his eys are bugging out to the point where I can see white all round his eyes. He has only gone down about 20ft right now. He finally got the rocks around him to stop slidding down, and found solid ground to grab hold of. Now for what amazed me. I was about to try to go grab him another, way, but to my amazment he just starts to jump up the rocks. He doesn't run, but he just calmly jumps about three times, gets to the trail, turns around to look back down and lays down for a few seconds while I just stare at him angry for doing such a stupid thing. He just looked at it for a few seconds realizing that it hadn't been a good idea to follow that rock. On our way back I was pretty confident he could make it back up that area, I threw another rock down and he watched turned his head and trotted off down the trail ignoring my calls to come back. I think he really did get himself in a pickle and got scared. No that I look back at it it was really funny. At the time I was freaking.

And finally this is a pretty cool campsite we found about an hour up the trail. We will be staying there some day.

And that was our hike. It was really fun. If anyone wants to do some fall hiking let me know, it's awesome out right now.

Happy Birthday to ME!

So...29 huh? It was my birthday on the 9th I don't mind getting older but it bites when your husband is 27 and constantly reminds you that you are almost 30!

I had a big party with my family on Saturday that started at 9:30 am where we all wore our jammies and had a super yummy breakfast of pumpkin pancakes, orange french toast, and this sausage/apple mixture that made its debut....and it was a hit! It was a great day!

What did I get you might ask...well, a super cool watch (thanks honey), Sleeping Beauty, mixing bowls (if all else fails--I love kitchen stuff!!!), flowers...oh and CRUISE in 3 weeks!!! Yes, it is coming up. 1 year in the making and it is almost here....I can't wait!

I am bummed because I didn't get any pictures. I went to use the new camera that we just bought and it was busted...it might be because it is close to the size of a credit card and I have dropped it about 5 times. Don't let me near small objects--including babies! I am not real sure what would happen...maybe I should just use the camera sitting down! :) Well, that day we went and replaced it (Costco has a 90 day return policy...no questions asked (good thing!).)

Good news...we got a new camera and of course took the first 20 of random pics of us :)...So, did you ever think..."I wonder what I will look like at 29?...My last year before the 30's?"

Well, wonder no further--this is me at 29...

I have 1 whole year to prepare myself to be 30...I did just fine with the 20's, I am not so sure about the 30's!

Oh and this sweet jacket...Ryan's grandparents sent me birthday money back in August with Ryan's birthday money and I bought this...But now that it is colder I have finally had a chance to wear my sweet present! Thanks Grammy and Grampy!

A Good Bad Day!

So this past weekend we hiked up Lone Peak to Hardy Lake. All I have to say is that my husband and I are super Hard Core!!! But don't think we are hard core without almost having tears, blistered feet, and aching muscles every where!!! Ryan mapped out this hike, he looked on maps read about it in book and planned it all for us...well it was in the "Difficult" category. Well, the hike we did in Zion was "Strenuous"...for any of you who don't think that there is a difference you are wrong! We hiked about 10 miles round trip...not too bad the bad part is that it is up hill both ways! (well it felt like it) I realized that sometimes I like up hill better than down! Trust me the up hill sucked and I was happy to stop and camp...it was so up hill I didn't think that I was going to be able to take another step! But we stopped and camped. In the morning..yea..down hill! So I thought! I learned that the steeper the up hill the worse the down hill! I thought that we were both going to cry! I worry about mountain lions when we camp that high but luckily no encounters yet but on the way down I was actually thinking that I would not mind being attacked by a mountain lion right then because it would mean that I did not have to walk down the rest of the mountain! That is ow great it was! Ry was planning a way to break my leg so that we could get life flighted off the mountain... I suggested it would be better if I broke his leg because I am the sugar mama now. But because of insurance purposes logically it would have to be me! Anyway, we made it down! Besides the intense hike it was Awesome! We had the best view from our camp site...I would camp there every weekend if I had a helicopter!, I was with Ryan which is always fun, and we have the best camp dog ever! Chase did not stop running...sometimes I wanted to break his leg just so that he had slow down a little bit. But once he was in the car he zonked out for two days...but we are expecting a full recovery...for all of us!

Carins: These stacked rocks mark the trail when there is none! Life Savers!

Even Chase carries his own pack...no free rides around here!

The view from the front of our tent!

Our camp site...luckily no mountial lions!

The Champion Pup! Look at his smile--super cute!

Our little family....half puppy

I'm A Nut!

Is it true? Is this really like me?

You Are a Banana

You are mellow, easy going, and a total softie on the inside. People find it really easy to get along with you. You suit most tastes. And while you're very sweet, you're not boring or ordinary. You have an attraction to the exotic, and you could show up anywhere... doing almost anything! You are spirited, energetic, and a total kick to be around. You're also quite funny. Your sense of humor is on the goofy side, and it fits you well.

What Type of Fruit Are You?

You Are Gummy Bears

You may be smooshie and taste unnatural, but you're so darn cute.

What Kind of Candy Are You?

You Are an Oatmeal Raisin Cookie

On the surface, you're a little plain - but you have many subtle dimensions to your personality. Sometimes you're down to earth and crunchy. Other times, you're sweet and a little gooey.

What Kind of Cookie Are You?

You Are a Chocolate Cheesecake

Rich and greedy, you're attracted to the dark side of life. Nothing ever quite satisfies your inner beast. And somehow, people find that sexy.

What Kind of Cheesecake Are You?

You Are Coffee Ice Cream

Energetic and lively, you are always on the go. You're doing a million things at once and doing them well. You tend to motivate others and raise spirits. You are most compatible with chocolate ice cream.

What Flavor Ice Cream Are You?

Happy 27 To My Bunny!

Feliz Annversario! Voce e meu preferido! Te amo muito!

Zion National Park

Ryan's little (in age) brother, Nick, came to visit for two weeks in July. The last week he was here we went to Zion with my parents on a camping trip. We had a great time. We were there for 5 days. One night Ryan, Nick and me all went on an over night hike. We actually had reservations to hike the narrows but due to storms in Bryce Canyon the risk was too high. So we did the East Rim Trail instead. We hiked in about 8 miles and then camped under the stars. Then in the morning we hiked back out 5 miles. It was so much fun! I loved it. Earlier this year I got a pack and haven't used it until now. In fact this was my first overnight back packing experience. And I loved it!

My parents walked the first mile with is...my mom wanted to try my pack. They want to go on an overnight with us next year when we go to the Grand Tetons and Yellow stone.

We were told that when we hiked in our 8 miles there would be a "spring" to get more water to purify for the rest of the trip...when we reached it this was our spring:

We camped close to the spring to have water in the morning. We ate dinner as you can see Ryan is a very good cook with his little camp stove...mac & cheese and chicken & rice:

Here are just some pictures from the awesome surroundings:

Here are some of the trails: This is the side of the mountain. After we hiked the side of the mountain I turned around and took a picture. Also the others are to show the steepness of the last couple hours...It was rough

looking down looking back from where we came.

And then of course our favorite camping game...which my dad refuses to play...BOGGLE

Viewmont High Class of 1998

Last Saturday I attended my 10 year high school reunion! Awesome! Sitting in that room with all those familiar faces who once had names attached to them set me back in time about 10 years. Where many scenes took place very similar to that one...with those same people in that same place. It made me want to go back and look through my old scrap book and WOW, WOW! :) Looking back 10 years later I was able to recognize some things about me that I could not see back then...let me share!
Please bare with me as we travel back to 1998!
And the list of things noticed:
#1: my friends and I wore overalls way too much...
(this is one example but trust me there were MANY!! and the overalls were usually accompanied my candy necklaces...YEA!)

(Typical weekend night)
Along with the first picture comes #2: we posed for the camera way too much!


(Christmas Dance senior year)
Pretty much my high school experience revolved around boys, friends, and softball (not in any particular order).
This is where I realized #3: when it came to softball I was not very humble...

The "Back" this article is referring to was this one...Nici Back (wow--who says stuff like that?)


All the seniors on the team
#4: all dance picture are awkward.
This my Homecoming my senior year--it was with my good friends, Chuck but picture after picture of dances...they look so uncomfortable, awkward, and...young!

Those are my lessons learned--here are just some funny things we did-
My boy best friend in high school was my back door neighbor Chris...This was the Valentine's Day dance we went to together-we made our own shirts:

Not really sure why or how it happened but I would draw on Chris' back...cool Viking stuff--Again wow, who does this?

There were a couple trips to Lake Powell with friends families:

I don't care who you are Powder Puff will always be cool as long as you put black lines under your eyes!

And after all that fun and foolishness--we still managed to go to class, get good grades, and graduate!

I can't believe it has been 10 years! I think the comment I got the most at the reunion was "When did you go dark?" (meaning my hair) My hair has been dark for so long I didn't realize it had been any other color but after going down memory lane I realized...
lesson #5: it is ok not to bleach dark hair blond and constantly have dark brown roots--maybe my friends should have let me know...10 years ago! :)
Two final words: GOOD TIMES!

10 inches

And the Winner is... NUMBER 1
As number 2 and 3 got votes off I took that as a sign...

BEFORE...Usually straight, sometimes curely--but mostly a ponytail!




Minus 10 Inches later...

So, Ryan does not know how to hold a camara straight...we are working on that :)

I love it--Thanks Summer!