Happy birthday Chloe..

Well, as usual, I am posting about two weeks behind what is going on in my life (there is just never enough to time to do everything I have to do and everything I want to do) but Memorial Day weekend marked my friend Nancy's daughters first birthday. It seemed like a good time to head to California and take part in the festivities. It was pretty chaotic that morning, trying to get the flowers planted outside, get everything picked up (only to find out after we got back from the bakery that they had spelled Chloe's name wrong on the cake), and get prepared for the guest but in the end it all worked out great and I think that fun was had by all. There were a lot of people, a lot of food, and a lot of chaos but isn't that what a party is for? Here are just a few pictures of the festivities.

The next day we had to spend in recovery mode, having a nice barbeque and then heading off to the drive in to see Indiana Jones (a sad disappointment after comparing it to my fond memories of the first three movies). For Memorial Day we took a trip up to the top of Mt. Diablo. It's funny how the mountain isn't that tall by Utah standards (only 3,550 ft) you can see really far on a clear day due to the fact that you start out at sea level. We unfortunately had a hazy day (thanks to the fires burning to the south and some good ole San Francisco fog) but you could see some of the bridges and the 360 degree view was still impressive. The road up (and down) wound around so much that I think Jarrod was the only one that wasn't about to throw up by the time we reached the bottom! I don't often get car sick but man that was a tough one. Once again I didn't car so much what I was doing, it was just nice to get away and to visit with old friends.

Time for a little R & R

Due to the fickle nature of Spring this year, and it's inablitity to stick around, I decided it was time to head for a little rest and relaxation in the sun. My friend Carrie and I took the last week of April, with her ending of the school semester and my work load easing up, as an opportunity to do a little pampering. We headed down to Mesquite, NV for some warmth and relaxation at the spa. I loved it! The weather was perfect and I spent the whole first day just sitting out at the pool listening to my I-pod, reading a book, and just enjoying being out in the fresh air. It was so nice to be warm and to see the sun...I could have done that all day (well actually I pretty much did). The next day we both had spa appointments. I'd never done a spa thing before, but now I am all for it. I'd signed up for a facial and then a body scrub, massage and it was so soothing. Really it was just nice to spend four hours in the quiet and to come out feeling all jello like from the pampering. Truth be told, I wanted to move in and live at the Oasis rather than come back to real life...but Carrie made me return anyway. Well it was fun while it lasted! ;)


And what trip isn't made better by a fun pedicure? My friend Ali turned me on to this lady down in Spanish Fork who will hand paint your toes for just $10. So cute aren't they?

Happy 83rd and 88th!

With Grandma and Grandpa's birthdays being only 2 weeks apart it gives us an opportunity to really celebrate. This year we did it with a trip to the Olive Garden for those who could make it. I feel so fortunate to be able to have had such a close relationship with my grandparents. We were talking at work the other day about family and counting off how many great and regular grandparents we had memories of. I was happy to know that out of eight great grandparents I have memories of six of them, some all the way up to past college graduation. I've only lost one grandparent so far in my life....makes me feel very fortunate. Anyway, it was fun to get together as a family and get caught up on everyone's busy lives.

Ode to the digital darkroom...

So I just had to add this note about how grateful I am for digital! As I was uploading the pictures I put in my last post I noticed something terrible. Ever since I got my new camera a year ago I've developed this bad habit of not holding it straight. Well that's not a good thing when you're taking pictures that involve a horizon. And today I just discovered a way to fix that with one of the programs I have for picture enhancement. Just thought I'd share since I'm so happy about it. Here's an example :)

As you can see there is a bit of a slanting problem with picture number one. If the world was really on an angle like that wouldn't that suck. Makes me really happy to have solved my dilema since almost every picture I took at this location looked like picture one.

Getting Away

It seems lately that all my life is either taken up by work, or if I'm not there then it is my calling. The last month and a half has been really exhausting, to say the very least, but I did manage to get away for a little fun the first weekend of April. In search of warmer weather my mom and I headed down to Moab for my birthday. It was nice to get outside and get a little exercise (or really a lot since I've been such a slug this past year). Actually we hiked about seven miles in the two days we were down there. Needless to say when I rolled out of bed that Sunday morning I could barely walk (good thing it was conference and I just had to sit on my couch and watch ). The first day we were there we headed off to Arches NP and hiked up to Delicate Arch. I'd done the hike once before with my friend Nancy, but my mom never had. It's kind of exhausting just because you are going at a steady climb the whole time. That rock we were climbing there was a beast :)



The next day we didn't really want to go back to the park (we had been there back in October as well) so we decided to explore up the Colorado River. At the visitors center we found a little brochure of hikes and decided that the Negro Bill Canyon sounded fun.


I really enjoyed the hike. It wasn't too tough, which was nice after the day before, and it gave me lots of things to take pictures of. The trail ended at a natural bridge, the sixth largest in the country I think. All along the way we were following a pretty little creek, and it got nice and roasty hot so I could take off the sweatshirt and get some color. Spring had already come down there and all the trees were leafing out.






You can see the bridge here at the end of the canyon. When you got down under it it was nice and cool and there were a lot of trees, even poison ivy.










We decided to make one last stop on the way home and run out to Dead Horse Point. I say stop of but really it was a 60 mile round trip detour that was completely in the wrong direction but it was so worth it. In fact for me it was the best part of the trip. I've never been to the Grand Canyon or anything, but I think the views would be equally impressive as the view off the point.