Bells Canyon

This morning I baked two loaves of bread, a pan of chocolate chip bars and a pan of chicken and rice. I did some other household tasks and went to the bank. The day started out quite cold. We couldn't even see the mountains because the clouds were so low. Eventually we noticed that the clouds had lifted, so Joe and I dashed out for a little walk.

This trail wraps around the front of the mountain and stays well below the snow line this time of year. It leads to a reservoir.

The starting point:

Bells Canyon reservoir; which is quickly reached:

In a hidden area on the back side of reservoir we found a huge patch of snake grass. We picked a bunch and filled two vases with it when we got home:

We made our way across the stream which feeds the reservoir:

I look a bit tired here because we ended up bushwhacking our way out and we also went through some squishy mud:

Going back down the hill:

We were almost down the hill when it started to lightly snow again. Fortunately it only lasted a few minutes:

I hadn't taken my camera because of the weather. Joe was carrying his Droid and snapped these pictures with it.

Joes birthday

Joe's birthday is officially on April 26, but what fun is a Monday (a work day). Two of his children cooked all of the dinner. They cooked Steaks, asparagus, rice, and mushrooms.

I challenged myself and made a cake from scratch. It's similar to pound cake, with a strawberry/pineapple filling and a Meringue frosting. We put additional fruit on top of the cake.

Here's the birthday boy;

The cake:

My son the photographer:

What more can I say, other than HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOE!

Canyon walk

After two days of rain and clouds, it was nice to wake up to sun and blue sky. Since it's also a Saturday we made the most of the situation and escaped to our nearby canyon.

Each year we toughen up gradually. By the end of summer we are all over the mountains and into the high country.

Today we walked a little over three hours. We took an easy trail that follows the river.

Along the trail:

The rivers are running again. This is good news for hikers, but sad news for skiiers:

As we got deeper into the canyon, we came across large patches of snow on the trail. We forged ahead for a long way before turning back:

Hopefully, by the time the trails in the higher elevations loose their snow, we will be ready.

Later today I get to make a birthday cake for Joe. I'm doing it from scratch. His big day is on Monday, but we'll have a nice dinner for him on Sunday instead.

Flowers in bloom

We have a season pass for everything at Thanksgiving Point. It's a nice place for walks and entertaining grand children when they visit.

First we strolled around the large gardens. Here are a few examples of what was blooming:

Then we went to the nearby Dinosaur Museum. We have a really good museum here:

After going through that we went to the Farm area behind the museum:

In the farm area people can put their children on the free pony ride. The other free option is a wagon ride that the adults can go on too. We got on this wagon with a 4 year olds birthday party.

The kids were being very good:

Before leaving for home we explored the art building where we watched a glass blower. By then we were tired and our feet were done with the walking thing.

Our splurge was to drive through 'In N' Out Burger' in Draper. It's been many years since I went to one. That was in California. The food is good. There was a really long line of cars in the drive through. We drove to a park and ate our late lunch.

Be sure to view the post before this one. We went somewhere Friday night too! Believe me, thats a record to have two outings in two days. We rarely eat out and mostly we just work, and then hang out at home.

March Visit

On March 18, 2010, Sue's dad flew to Phoenix and spent a couple of days at her house. On Saturday, March 20, he helped her drive to Utah, along with her three children. She visited with us in Utah for a week.

This morning, Saturday,March 27, she left for her return trip to Arizona. Her sister, Sarah, went along to help with the kids in the car. She will stay in her sisters home for a couple of days, then return home on March 31 by airplane.

It's always quite a feat to get Sue and our grandkids here safely, but it's worth it. Her husband is usually working long hours at the hospital these days as a resident doctor.

Here are a few random pics of their visit.

Aunt Sarah with Emma and Becca. This is at Tracy Aviary in Liberty Park.

Pelicans:

Coloring pictures in the Tracy Aviary building:

Feeding ducks at Liberty Park:

Playing at Granite View Park on a windy morning:

Jacob will turn one on Monday, March 29. Just so that we could be a part of this milestone we tried to do a little party last night. We gave him a little clothing for a present. His mommy made him a cupcake and lit a candle for him. He made a huge mess of his frosted cupcake. He needed a bath afterwards.

I would describe this party as very brief and very messy.

I'm sure that Sue's blog will be more complete. She took pictures of their visit to the Dinosaur museum and other things.

Sarah is 21

Friday, February 12 was Sarahs official birthday. She turned 21. That was a work day so we postponed her little party until tonight (Saturday).
This morning we did some girl shopping. I love birthdays just because it's a rare time to loosen the purse strings and have a bit of fun.
I think these are the things she got; pajamas, long sleeve black shirt, necklace, earrings, lotion, an I.K.E.A gift card, money from grandparents and a really interesting houseplant from her brother.
She asked for a big chocolate cake from Costco. We'll never eat it all fast enough, so most of it will go in the freezer. We've done this before and that cake lasted about 4 months.
I only had 19 candles, so Sarahs brother used 5 candles and lit them to represent binary numbers. Don't ask me to explain that, ask the college student.





Believe me it's not easy to get a cooperative picture of this girl. She's so self conscious.



Getting set to blow out her binary lit candles (whatever)


Happy Birthday Sarah. You are a neat girl.

Symphony night

Last night (Friday) Joe and I rode Trax (light rail) up to Salt Lake to attend the Symphony. Mom and Dad gave us their tickets since mom is still in a cast.
We got up there an hour early and used the time to browse in the Church History museum which is a short walk from where Trax let us off.





The Symphony played some lively music, including some Glen Miller and others. After intermission a group called 'Big Bad Voodoo Daddy' carried the rest of the program. The Symphony continued as background support.

Here is the program:
Hungarian Dance no. 5 in G Minor
Sabre Dance from Gayane
Dance of the Comedians from The Bartered Bride
On the Beautiful blue Danube Waltz
Big Band Sounds

Intermission

Come on with the "Come On"
Calloway Boogie
Hey Now, Hey Now
Mr. Pinstripe Suit
Minnie The Moocher
You & Me & The Bottle Make Three
The Jumpin' Jive
The Reefer Man
The Old Man Of The Mountain
Jumpin' Jack
'I Wanna Be Like You' from the Jungle Book
Go Daddy- O

So that was our Friday night and now it's back to a regular old day. At least the sun is shining.