Football’s over

It was a great season of football.  We enjoyed watching our Little Mister practice and play with his team.  He looked so cute all dressed up in his uniform.   He learned a lot about the game and his strength was his speed.  He’s a very fast runner. 

Boy, it can get pretty intense at times.    The coaches.  The parents.  The team.  Wow!

As fun as football was, we were all happy to see the season come to an end.  From August to November there was practice three nights a week with a game every Saturday.  But, we’ll probably do it all over again next year.   That’s just how it is with sports. 

Because there were several away games we traveled throughout the county and learned the lay of the land a bit more.   We didn’t mind that so much.

Now on to next year.

Merry Christmas

We are having a white Christmas in Utah.  Several inches of snow fell on Christmas Eve.  Much better than last year when we had very little snow.   It’s a dream. 

The backyard playhouse is all decorated for the season.  See the tracks?  The snow doesn’t stop the kids and their cousins from playing on Christmas Eve. 

A few weeks before Christmas we went to City Creek Mall.   One of our new favorite places.    We visited Santa inside his grand golden lantern.  The set up is beautiful.    The kids are getting too “grown up” to visit Santa, so they say.    But we did manage to get a picture anyway. 

First Snow

We woke to our first snow of the season today.   We loved it!

We knew the snow would not last long on the ground so the kids ran out as quick as they could to play, even before breakfast.

They are on their three week school break.  Lucky for them!

Little Mister is always the “gatherer” while Little Miss is always the “shaper”.   They made a great big mound to play on and later they rode their bikes through it as it melted.

On another note.

We are doing great here in Utah.  We love the mountains, the seasons and the cooler weather.  We love that there is always something to do.  Activities are abundant.

So far.  So good.

Chalk

Have you been to a “Chalk the Block” Art Festival?   We had never been.

They have a couple of them close to us so we decided we better see what it’s all about.  Last month we went to this free street festival (ours was at a mall) that benefits charity.  Anyone can purchase a parking space and create their art.  They also have professional chalk artists come to the events.  They spend hours and hours creating beautiful art on the pavement.  It’s amazing!

Children can also purchase a box of chalk and create their art on the sidewalks instead of parking spaces. 

This is one of the professionals.  This is the top of a huge eagle.  Her chalk art took up two parking spaces…one on top of the other.   Very impressive!

I’ve always loved The Little Mermaid.  See that “dinglehopper”comb in her hand! 

Remember that?

Loved this one, too.

There were so much great art.  Some of them looked so good that you just wanted to frame them and hang them right up on the wall. 

Of course, a festival just isn’t a festival without tons of booths with people selling all kinds of stuff.  They also had musicians and good food .   All the farmers were out with their booths full of fresh vegetables and fruit.  Had to get some of that!

It was a great time.

A glorious week

My sister came to visit me this past week.  Hooray!

As an added bonus, she brought her husband and children too!

We went shopping – I had to show her all the great shopping here in Salt Lake. 

We ate out.  We hung out.  We talked politics.  We stayed up late.  We cooked yummy food.  We enjoyed the cool weather.  We shopped together on ebay (a new favorite hobby…oh the deals you can get!!) We went to Provo, drove up the Canyon, viewed the Fall leaves and visited Sundance.   We went to Temple Square, LDS General Conference, etc., etc., etc.  We just had a fabulous time. 

I did not want her to leave and I miss her so much.

Here’s a few pictures from our outing at Sundance.  We took a 45 minute round trip ride on the ski lift.  It was beautiful, cold and just a little bit scary for a few seconds!  We all loved it.

It took Little Miss a little bit of time to warm up to the ride!  Once she realized she wasn’t going to fall off, she began to enjoy and smile.

Can’t wait until their next visit.

Mr. Whipple

When Grandma was visiting during the Summer, one of the things she really wanted to do was visit “This is the Place Heritage Park”.   She wanted to see her ancestors name on a plaque dedicated to the first company of pioneers to enter Salt Lake.

Edson Whipple is grandma’s grandfather a ways back.  Grandma is really into family history.  She also loves seeing the replica of the Eagle Gate.  It means a lot to her to be able to see these things.

Ralph Ramsay is grandma’s great grandfather.

We’ve been to this park before and I have probably already blogged about it.  But, we love it and still haven’t seen the whole thing!  We are glad we got to take Grandma.

#11

Birthday Breakfast request: Cinnamon Rolls.  Always.  I don’t even have to ask anymore.  I just know!  I make cinnamon rolls once a year and it’s always right around September 16th.  I made them last Thursday.  She always wants a whole bunch so I can freeze them and she can have them for several weeks. 

Lunch:  I took Arby’s curly fries and Mozzarella sticks (healthy, right?)to school on the day Little Miss took in treats for her class (Paradise bakery mini sugar cookies and mini cupcakes.) 

Sunday Dinner on her birthday:  Little Miss requested I make Turkey Lettuce Wraps.  They are yummy.

Dessert:  Zebra cake with lime green and blue icing.  See here. 

Gifts:  a new owl iPod case, a Utah Utes shirt (boo Utes, go BYU), a CTR ring from Little Mister and cash for her to buy what she wants.  Maybe we can take a trip to the outlet mall! 

Eleven fun facts about Little Miss:

1)  She has recently started to text on her iPod.  She can only text inside the house where there is an internet connection.  I have to really watch her! 

2) She has requested an iPhone for Christmas.  Ha!  No phone until she is at least 12…maybe not even then and not an iPhone.   (Let’s see, how old was I when I got my first cell phone?  Thirty something! )  I hate the pressure of keeping up with peers.

3)  She really wants a Guinea Pig.  I don’t.  Yuck.  (is that mean?)

4)  She was just moved up a level in gymnastics and can’t wait for her new costume and next performance.

5) Little Miss hates to practice piano, but she does it.  She’s coming along pretty well and likes it better now that she can play some “real” songs.

I totally get it.  When I was learning to play, my piano teacher lived really close to the school.  I would walk to her house after school once a week for my lesson.   Lots of times I would “accidentally” take the bus and forget to go to my lesson.  Oops!   I’m sure my mom knew exactly what was up.

6) She loves, loves, loves shaved ice.  Any flavor will do, but the pinks are her favorites.

7)  Little Miss claims she is a vegetarian.  “I’m a vegetarian, aren’t I mom”, she says.  However, she loves sloppy joes, bacon, tacos and my turkey lettuce wraps.  Sometimes she’ll eat a bit of chicken or roast, but not much.  She will not eat eggs!

8)  It’s probably no surprise how much she loves shopping, makeup, jewelry, fingernail polish, clothes, cute hairstyles, purses, bags and shoes.   Oh no!

9)  Little Miss is a big time reader.  She’ll read for an hour or two at night and finally fall asleep.

10)  We are happy that Little Miss still loves her cuddle time. Her favorite is to have her back scratched.   She loves to have Big Mister lay in bed with her for a little while at night and sing a song or tell a quick story. 

11)  Little Miss loves her friends and is doing well here in Utah.  She still misses her friends in Arizona, however, and speaks of them often.

Happy Birthday Little Miss.  We love you very much.

Labor Day…Day Trip

We are still getting to know this beautiful state in which we live!

On Labor Day we took a day trip traveling the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway that starts just outside of Park City and goes all the way to Evanston, Wyoming.   The colors of Fall are just beginning, something we LOVE to see.  The drive is just beautiful in the high mountains.

The air was cool and crisp, but not too cold.  

First stop was Provo River Falls which is sits at about 9400 feet elevation.  Oh my, it is gorgeous.  It is most definitely worth the drive.

We had fun walking all around the rocks and wading in the cool water.  Little Miss has her jacket on, but it soon came off once she got hiking around the falls.

Little Mister brought his remote control boat and had plenty of fun driving it around.

I grabbed this picture from the internet…the Falls have a bit more water.  Professional pictures are much more accurate of its beauty. 

Next stop, Mirror Lake which is at about 10,000 feet elevation.  You can see from the picture why it is called Mirror Lake.  

We ate our picnic lunch while we enjoyed relaxing in the peace and quiet of nature. This lake does not allow any motorized water sports.  There were a few inflatable boats, canoes and kayaks out on the water and that’s it. 

Little Mister was trying to catch some fish.  He actually found a dead fish and got it out of the water with two sticks and was really investigating it.  Yuck!    It stunk so bad we had him throw it back in the water.    There was plenty of live fish to try and catch.

There’s also a one mile scenic path that goes all around the lake which makes for a nice little walk.   They have several picnic tables close to the water and a bunch of camping areas.

We want to go back and explore other places!  There are many, many lakes and camp grounds in this area.

As we left Mirror Lake we decided we might as well take the Bypass the rest of the way into Evanston, Wyoming. 

Driving into Evanston reminds me of driving from the pines of Heber, Arizona into the valley of Snowflake and St. Johns. 

As we we got closer to Evanston the beautiful pine trees just stop!   Then there are flat lands, a few hills and a bunch of farms and ranches, so it seems.   We’ve heard that Evanston is the place for the Utah folks to go and purchase fireworks that are illegal to set off in Utah.  (We’ve never done that!)

We took the interstate back to Salt Lake and it was a quick drive.  As we neared Park City we felt the need for some shopping!  The Park City outlets were calling my name so we made a stop.  Being Labor Day, there were some great sidewalk sales.  I want to go back there, too.

Glad we took the time for our day trip to explore another part of Utah.

Scenes of Summer

Playing with cousins

Playing the Wii with Grandma.

Now that was something to watch!

After school treat to celebrate their first day back.

Little Miss – 6th Grade, Little Mister – 5th Grade

Football!

Little Miss watching her brothers football game.

She is now wanting to wear a bit of sparkles on her eyes!

Little Mister took this photo from our back deck early one morning.

He’s pretty proud of it!

Playing in the falls. 

Even though it’s hot outside, the water is always cold.

Going camping.

The Lamb and Wool Festival.

Watching a professional shear a sheep.

Feeding the horses.

Watching one of Little Mister’s football games in the early season.

That’s the Jordan River Temple spire right behind my shoulder.

****

It was a short summer for us.

The kids were out of school the end of June and went back August 20th. 

Fine with me!

We packed the summer full. 

Had a few quick trips and lots of visitors.

We made many great memories in the

Summer of 2012.

It’s so Moab

We took a weekend trip to Moab a few weeks ago. 

Saturday evening we went with Grandma and her sister, Aunt Grace, on a Colorado River Cruise called Canyonlands by Night.   We were served a yummy Cowboy Style Dutch Oven dinner before the cruise.   

The picture above is a quilt that was hanging on the wall in the big room where everyone eats.

We loved spending time with Grandma and were sad to leave her in Moab with her sister.   Aunt Grace we very excited that it was here turn to have Grandma stay!  Moab is Grandma’s last stop after being gone from Mesa for three months.   She spent three weeks with us here in South Jordan and we enjoyed every minute of it.

Little Mister loved the food and went back for seconds of barbeque beef. 

The hosts had a lot of fun with the kids.  Notice their extra big helping of whipped cream with their apple pie. 

Grandma and Aunt Grace getting ready to board the boat.

The red rocks are beautiful. 

This man was our host.  He was really fun and very knowledgable about the area.  He had lots of fun stories to tell.

He’s not the only one with stories, however.   Aunt Grace has lived in Moab practically her entire adult life.  She knows lots of people and tells great stories about how Moab has changed (and not changed) through the years.  She served as the Grand County Treasurer for several years.

Last summer when we were in Moab, Aunt Grace took us on a tour of Arches National Park.  She knows more than the tour guides!

It was fun to be on the river when it was really dark and watch the narrated light show. 

Pulling back into the dock.  The building where we ate dinner is all lit up.

It was a great evening on the river.

Before we left Moab we stopped for brunch at Milt’s.  It’s off the main road and looks like a dive.  The food is good and we were relaxed eating outside under a huge shade tree.