We're all a little Nutty

I keep waiting for summer to slow down! This week, though seemingly uneventful, was filled with endless appointments and things to do. We started having fun on Friday, though when I finally gave in and let the kids have a Sno Cone sale. I woke up early Saturday morning to see the partial lunar eclipse (I know it's a bad picture...but it was the best I could do at 4am, trying not to wake everyone up). Then I took Mckay, with binoculars and breakfast, to see the turkey vultures that we just found out about. They live in the trees above the apartment we lived in as newlyweds. Lee and I had seen them on Friday night while on our date, so I thought Mckay would enjoy going with me. We were a little disappointed to see that there were only about 5 of them in the trees and they soon flew west another block and we began gathering our stuff to leave. But, then one by one, they took off and before we knew it there were 30 of them circling overhead. Totally cool. That also answers my ...

It is no secret that one of our family's favorite spots is Zion National Park, so we were delighted when my Dad reserved several spots at the campground there for our first ever family reunion. It was windy and hot and we were unlucky in that the spots that we reserved were practically the only ones without shade, but everyone had a fun time being together. Here are some of my favorite pictures from our adventure last week: Ian loved throwing rocks in the river...especially big, splashy ones. What a good looking family. We had fun on our REALLY LONG ALL DAY 10 mile+ canyoneering adventure with Katie and Fish! As Fish went over this really high cliff, he said, "I'm actually quite afraid of heights." Never would have expected that from someone who jumps out of airplanes for a living! Good thing he got over his fear, because we couldn't have survived our adventure without him. This is Mckay going down the same rappel as Fish, above. It was a LONG way down. T...

Sorry...I couldn't resist the pun. I say it practically every time I pass a peony because my mother-in-law says it and it strikes me as funny. Not a Marjorie Hinckley thing, of course... But, the point of this post is to show you my beautiful peonies! I planted them after I received them from said mother-in-law 4 or 5 years ago and they have come up each year, but usually very small (each year getting bigger). This year, they finally grew big buds which opened up on Sunday to these perfectly pink blossoms. I think half the joy I get from them is because it took so long and I'm so happy they are finally here! I took the kids on an adventure today to see the runoff pouring down the canyon. It only happens for about a week every summer, so we had to catch it while it was happening. We picnicked for lunch and then spied a perfect spot to wade and throw rocks. Ian was in HEAVEN, and we even got Grandma and Grandpa to come along. And, thanks to the cold water...well,...see t...

It's not often that I get a good idea, so I have to share this one. In an effort to meet our neighbors, we decided to have a one mile fun run/walk followed by a BBQ. We took flyers to everyone on our street and behind us and spread the word to others who may be interested. We didn't know whether to plan for 10 people or 80, so we planned for a crowd. And a crowd came. Ready for the crowds to arrive. Waiting for the race to start. (Wow! People actually came!) The starting gun was a water gun. We had a stopwatch attached to the mailbox so people could know their time when they finished. And I had to direct traffic at the street crossing (because the city required it for an event on public property). Lucky for me I had a traffic safety vest from my parents a few years ago. At the crossing...you can see the backsides of the last walkers at the crosswalk, and off to the distant right; and the first place runners almost to the crossing coming back up (legs visible beneath the tree). ...