Happy Birthday Tyler!

My husband had a birthday recently.  He's getting old but he'll never be as old and wise as I am - hah!

We spoiled him with a birthday cake, cream puffs, ice cream and root beer. 

In addition we got him movie treats - kettle corn, movie candy, cookies, gift certificate to Hastings, and two movie tickets.

He was feeling pretty ill at the time - I think this was the only smile we got out of him in a week.

My birthday

I recently had a birthday.  And my sweet husband had these sitting on the breakfast table when I got up in the morning.  Isn't he the sweetest thing! 

Fall leaves and General Conference

During the afternoon session of General Conference we decided to take another drive.  IT WAS A GORGEOUS DAY! And can I just start out by saying that it was just like this photo below.  Sometimes we struggle to get the eye to see what we see. When we saw what you see in this first photo we were speechless and Tyler stopped the car and got out the camera.  I added a tiny vignette but other than that I didn't do anything to the photo.  How did it turn out so great?  It's called a circular polarizer.  It allows you to cut the glare and get the sky to remain it's amazing blue color. Click on the photo to see it larger. 

Tyler took this photo.

And this one was just off the peak.  I took this photo. Gorgeous wild flowers!

We were shocked how much snow was up there.  It's amazing how much more than what we saw July 2010 and you'd think it being Oct 2011 there'd be less by now.

And Tyler took this photo too. Beautiful!

Fall Leaves and General Conference

We found out the BYU has a radio station on satellite radio so on Saturday we loaded up the Jeep at 10 a.m. and headed up into the mountains.  We went up by the ranch where the elk eat during the winter and up to Red Spur.  We ate lunch around Red Spur and enjoyed the view. 

My daughter asked to go to Ephraim's grave (a really big and dead grizzly bear).  And then down and back home. I really enjoyed conference.  Especially Elder Bednar's talk.  It was near and dear to my heart since I helped my dad go from paper to the computer with his family history.  I want to share that love for family history and the temple with my children. I started helping with family history research at the age of 9.

I got to enjoy the beautiful fall leaves and take notes about the bits of inspiration I received during conference.  Now I am reviewing those notes before I pray in the morning to help me and my family during the next 6 months.

A clean garage and the new to us old car

I don't normally share these kinds of things with others because I don't want them to take it the wrong way but please hear me out.  The car we leased for 3 years went back to the dealer in April of this year.  It was okay and got us around.  It was a toyota camry and honestly the corolla I had before it, was a much better car.  

Since then my husband has been carpooling to work and saving the $$$ that would have gone to another car. He decided since it was just something he needed to get back and forth to work in that it needed to get good gas mileage and needed to be under $10,000.  He also wanted it to be fun. Well, he found it and test drove it and wanted it but decided to keep looking.  After 2 weeks of driving a bunch of other cars he finally decided this was the one.  It is 11 years old.  No, that's not a typo.  It is 11 years old - it's a year 2000.  And that's Grandma's McQueen car my son is sitting in and her driveway and she took this cute photo.

It has 70,000 miles on it.  It's got a few dings and we spray painted part of the black area around the rag top because the paint was chipping off and well, we didn't want to replace the entire top. Tyler took it in and had synthetic oil put in.  It needs a new stereo - it has a cd player that skips and the radio barely gets a signal. That's gonna have to wait. But it's cute and fun and gets amazing gas mileage. Tyler even got it for nearly $3,000 less than it was valued at and for less than his goal you saw above. You can't assume it was expensive just because it's a red BMW. We need to take the seats apart and fix the little pieces that hold the seat belts forward.  That'll be a doozy.  Thank goodness for youtube videos. Now I just need to learn to drive it.  It's manual.  ack.

On the 24th we spent the day cleaning out the garage.  It looks so much better. It's nice to not have to worry about all the dead grasshoppers and all the dirt - oh and all the stuff I dragged in from the garden.  I like driving the Jeep and he loves his little car.  Can you hear me singing the primary song: We are a happy family!

Camping

I'm very lucky to live in a place where I can go camping during the summer.  I am even more lucky to be married to a man who is a much better photographer than I am, technically speaking. No way could I even capture an image like this - campfire, glowing tents, silhouetted trees, and yes - STARS.  Just click on the first image to see it larger.  The stars show up better.

Here is one of the lakes we hiked to.  The kiddos did great and it was a pleasant temperature.  The mosquitos loved it too.  This time the repellent only kept them 3 inches from our face - don't breath too deeply in swarms like that! But it was gorgeous.  We were there only a week before and it looked like this. That kind of melting explains why the reservoir we live near is still filled to capacity.

 And I love this photo with the moon in it.  That is why the sky was so light in the first image and even some bright light on the trunks of trees. But the first photo takes the cake!

Blonde Brownies ... with marshmallows

My husband loves all things S'mores.  So he took this family recipe for blonde brownies and added marshmallows.  He was in heaven.  I can't eat them because I'm allergic to wheat in all forms including white flour.  I admit that they make me drool a little. 

Just a little.

Hiking

Tyler wanted to get out of the house and so we went for a hike, in the snow, again.  After we drove to Burrr Lake and got milk shakes.  Then we drove to T grove to see if the snow had melted.  It had.

If you decide to go hiking here (hopefully the snow will be gone next week), bring mosquito repellent.  They are in swarms here even with snow still on the ground.  It was disgusting.  But if you ran fast enough you could almost enjoy the view.  

Mostly a winter playground

There's a few feet of snow left up at Tony Grove.  We drove up the other day and hiked about 1.5 miles into the lake from where we parked the Jeep.  Tyler and I took the kids along too and they were good sports.  We even had a little snowball fight on the way back down just before 2 snowmobilers passed us.   You can see the road is part river right now.  

 Doubt anyone will get their coveted 4th of July camping spots this year.  As you can see, it's going to have to melt really fast.  Although tomorrow will be 91 in the valley so who knows.  It warmed up quick.  New gardening photos soon.  It's so behind because it was so wet this spring. 

Father's Day in Park City

We wanted to make this trip for memorial weekend but felt like we should wait for Father's day instead.  So glad  we did because our home would have burned down because of a faulty switch in our fridge that led to some cooked food on the top two shelves. Fridge has been fixed and Sears payed for it.  It all worked out and it was wonderful.

 Ten Things that made me laugh while we were in Park City.

1. My daughter's laughter on the Alpine Slide with daddy and her blood curdling screams on the Alpine Coaster with me.

2. The look on our faces when the host opened the door to our upgrade room - from a 2 queen bedroom with a kitchenette to a two bedroom suite, 2 bathrooms, 1 powder room, full kitchen, and two porches.

3. My son standing in water up to his knees in the wading pool and sticking his face in the water to test out his new green TYR googles.

4. The fact that my husband can't go anywhere without bumping into someone from our valley that he knows.  Tyler had the privilege of saying the opening prayer during the Visitor's Sacrament Meeting in the Park City Chapel.

5. The ski lift operator that looked just like my friend B. from Vancouver BC.  In the 30 seconds I was there I actually looked around for Sarah McLachlan t-shirts.

6. My kids jumping on the trampoline training set up.  My daughter did two back flips and my son did a dozen forward flips.  Their smiles made me smile.

7. The poor lady freaking out on the payday lift as she and her companion rode back down to the base - she was scared to death. She even complimented our children for being brave.

8.The wedding guests in front of  us in line at the alpine slide were in short frilly dresses.  They thought that wrapping a sweater around their legs was a good way to remain modest.  And the boyfriends that took off so they could arrive at the base first.

9. The $575,000 half acre lot for sale in Deer Valley.  Great View but wow!

10. The four young business men who looked like they had just stepped out of an issue of Esquire magazine who were racing each other down the alpine slide.  I'm glad they chose that over the coaster.  They would have damaged their expensive suits. 

click on the photos to see then larger.  

Local Happenings

We drove up the Canyon with my in-laws and my husband jumped out and took a photo of this.  They haven't seen the spillway like this since 1983 when all of the floods happened. I was either in Panama (the country) or Alabama at the time but I am too lazy to try and figure it out right now. It's been much warmer since this photo and I'd like to see it again.  

At least one this is for sure, they have learned from 1983 and they built up the sides of the river banks in town. And they sand bagged.  It's seeping out into the fields now and they are having to sand bag homes farther away from the river now but at least its happening slowly.  It's amazing to watch and I am grateful we live up on the hill and that the snow near us melted slowly so that we didn't get mudslides. It's been a crazy spring.

Happy Birthday little Monkey!

My little boy recently had a birthday.  This birthday is a big milestone for both of us.  We are both blessed to be here.  You see, I was full of cancer when he was born.  To give you an idea, a large tumor is the size of a quarter.  My tumor was almost 14 inches long and 3 inches wide.  It's been 5 years.  He had his "Well Child" check up and he has the green light for school.  It's all very exciting.  One more kindergarten prep class and he'll be ready to go.  

My son helped me design the monkey on his invitations.  We then made Pin the Banana on the Monkey and also wall decor. Oh and we can't forget the masks.  Every child went home with a mask and a balloon.  

 The day before his party we found this cute monkey balloon at the grocery store.

And I made the cake.  Really it's off balance and I piped on the icing with a plastic bag because I'm too cheap to buy the real stuff that I know I would rarely use.  But decorating like this and making the cake for my child's birthday was a dream come true.  And I finally had the energy to do it. 

We even drew and cut out the monkeys for the cups. We served banana shakes in the cups.  My Dad loved the shakes! He kept commenting about how well everything was going which made me relax because I felt like the pizza was late and I was making a mess.  

You can see the masks on the wall waiting to be chosen by a lucky preschooler.

Here's a cousin taking his turn at pin the banana on the monkey. We liked it so much my husband suggested we laminate it.

 This balloon is almost as big as my son.

Grandma and Grandpa P drove up.

And Grandma V walked over.

I love this photo with my sweet boy.  He cuddled up on me at the Dr.'s office today - no shots - he finished them last year.  He was so happy about that. He got to hop around and share his coordination.  He has 20/20 vision.  We are truly blessed.

Brother and Sister 

And Daddy!

We had a room full of preschoolers but I decided to honor their privacy and not share those photos.  We did take a photo of my son with each friend and each gift so we'll be using those as Thank You cards.

Fall Family Photos 2010

We photographed a cute family here and then the next night we ran over for our own.

Sorry Melynda but I couldn't resist. At least we live far enough apart.

Tyler set up the tripod and Grandma made the kids laugh and look in the right direction.

I love my daughter's joy in this photo.  She is so fun of life and loves to have fun.

She amazes me all the time.  She just looks like she is having so much more fun than the rest of us.

We can learn from our children all the time if we just watch them.

And of course this is the new 20x30 for our mantle this year. Hopefully it will not look as red as it looks on my other monitor. I was thinking about making it a 30x40 but we used the smaller camera.  So I am on the look out for something to replace that 30x40 -maybe a family photo, maybe a piece of art.

Blown Glass - Oregon Coast - Seal Rock - Vacation Photos

One of the last things we did before heading to Boise on our way home was to visit a glass blowing shop along the coast.  This shop is a husband and wife partnership with an employee or two.  He creates the vases, glass bowls, and sea floats.  She creates the jewelry, decorations, and other small glass items. They make a great team.

He constantly has to roll this.

Turning it into a vase

He is shaping the bottom and using that little tube to blow air into the vase.

He is changing the color of the glass here.  It has an iridescent coating of glass on it and this makes it really show up too.

These are decorative floats

And I would still love one of the short glass pumpkins with the swirly tops.

Believe it or not, my 4 year old son didn't want to leave.

And he loved the safety glasses. He watched him make 2 vases.

I purchased this and need to get a silk cord so I can wear it.

At first I wondered why glass blowing is so popular along the Oregon Coast.  It's a hot business.  There is no need for a/c here.  Just open the doors for a cool breeze year round.

So that's about it! Our one week vacation.  Now I just need to scrapbook it so we can enjoy it over and over again!

Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, Oregon

Click on any of the images to see them larger.

PASSAGES OF THE DEEP

How cool is this? Wouldn't this make an incredible boys bedroom? All they needed were benches along one side so you could lay down and watch the sharks, fish, bat sting rays, etc. My kids avoided the glass floor in here.

For a lot of this trip I felt like a little kid!  I was so amazed at the aquarium. Part of it was indoor and part of it was outdoor.  If you go, bring a jacket or sweater.  We went on the warmest day of the year and it was chilly in the shade. 

The look of this one was  my favorite. You can see my children walked right on the glass floor here.

Broadnosed Sevengill

Bat Ray

Not as cool as the wide angle lens, but I had to get Tyler in there.

This ray of sunlight was filtering through and this shark swam through just as I clicked the shutter.

HAPPY HAPPY ECOSYSTEM - SWAMPLAND

We stood inside the piranha tank. There were so many things in this area that I photographed but here is my favorite photo Tyler took of us.

COASTAL WATERS

Sea Nettle

Moon Jelly

You can see how little the moon jellies actually are.

ROCKY SHORES

Basket Star

The sweet volunteer here was wonderful and talked to us about all the animals in this section.

My daughter said the sea urchin felt like toothpicks. Here it is giving her finger a hug.  

The Sea Stars and Bat Stars were all sort of hard on the outside.  They looked like they could be slimy but the were not at all.  The sunflower star was as soft as those new microfiber fleece blankets.  It's not as pretty but it was my favorite sea star. 

We also attended some feedings while we were there.

First the Sea Otters - they hid their food and rolled over to pull a piece or two out and eat it.

Then the sea lions.

I love a fun silhouette too!

And last the aviary - this one was 2 feet away and quite the show off!