Aaron is 26

Today I did four hours of yard work. Joe pitched in by cutting down a very dead shrub which left a big stump.

Aaron came home this afternoon so we could do a little birthday party for him. He actually turned 26 on May 10, but we waited until today to celebrate with him. While dinner was cooking, he started digging out the stump. This was his own idea. We really didn't ask him to be our slave.

He worked hard:

It became entertaining to watch him. He's determined that this stump is 'HIS' and he'll get it out if it takes all summer. It probably will:

His dad helped with dinner (total shock). He made some kind of spicy chicken wraps.

His sister Sarah made salad and home fries.

Finally there was the birthday cake and Ice Cream. Sarah made German Chocolate Cake from scratch and her dad used our Kitchen aid attachment to make some Cinnamon Ice Cream.

Aarons main gift was an Alton Brown Cookbook.

I cleaned up the kitchen since I didn't do food prep this time around.

Happy Birthday Aaron. You're a great guy.

Farmington Creek Trail

Tomorrow is Mothers Day and all I wanted was a nice walk. I got my wish.

I've already been given two dozen roses too.

Since the high altitude locations still have snow, we went to Farmington Creek Trail.

We could always hear this big stream below us:

Water crossed the trail. I kept my feet dry getting across, but on the way back I got one foot wet. It was so hot outside that I was all dried out in no time:

Farmington and the Great Salt Lake:

At the top of the trail we got to see this 40 foot waterfall:

Above the waterfall we stopped for lunch:

Wildflowers:

Video of the waterfall:

On the way home we drove through the DQ in Bountiful for chocolate dipped Ice Cream cones. I can't believe it's 80 degrees today. Winter is ending at last!

Spring Break

Sarah is on Spring Break. She gets three weeks away from school. She still has work, but her schedule is lighter for the moment.

The good part for me, besides having the car around more, is having a walking buddy.

She gave me permission to take pictures of the back of her head:

Taking a break:

Our local reservoir is more like a mud flat right now. There were some fairly tame Geese walking around:

It's sunny and warm. Buds are on the trees and my lawn is a deep emerald green.

Alta

I used to visit mom and dad each week, until my daughter needed the car all of the time for work and school. Now they drive to my house instead.

Today we went to our favorite place to eat. It's the In N' Out Burger, in Draper. Then we went for a ride to Alta.

This is the area dad goes to ski. The season is about over now, but we all wanted to see the extra deep snow that the mountains got this year.

This is the basin where he skis. He starts from really high up.

Buildings were nearly buried:

See how the snow is piled higher than the cars?:

This pile of snow is so high . I didn't even get the whole thing in the picture:

This is on the other side of the road. The snow isn't quite as high, but deep enough:

The pictures may look cold, but it was really very warm and nice out.

Easter and a birthday party

Today is Easter Sunday. We also celebrated Joe's birthday a couple of days early.

Sarah prepared the dinner. She made Spicy buffalo chicken sandwiches (a recipe from her sister), homemade fries, asparagus and a tomato/bacon salad with a great homemade dressing.

Instead of cake, she filled her dads request for a strawberry/banana trifle dessert. It tasted like banana cream pie:

Joe's kids have ordered him a ROKU box. It's for watching online movies on T.V. At least that's the simple explanation. It will replace his big computer box.

I gave him the board game called Risk.

It took us about 45 minutes to figure out how to play.

We finally got up to speed and it was a fun game:

Aaron defeated us all:

Happy Easter to everyone and Happy birthday to Joe (alias: The Dadoo).

Foothills In April

The snow has receded from the foothills and the low trails are very dry.

I found this bridge and there was a good size stream running under it.

I can see this mountain from my backyard, but it's so much nicer up close:

The South facing mountains are always the first to lose their snow:

This is looking towards S.L.C:

Even though nobody could go walking with me this time, I had a good time. It was warm outside and I strolled around for two hours. It was great to get out of the house. It's been a long winter.

My new nephew

Today I saw my nephew for the first time. His name is Peter Robinson Smith. He's my brothers 4th child. There was a family gathering at my brothers home this afternoon. There was a big crowd from my brothers wifes family (she comes from a family of 10 children). Representing our side, there was just my parents and myself.

I discovered that my camera wasn't charged, so I took these pictures with my phone camera. They're not good quality. Oh well.

Baby Peter is very cute. He's in my lap here:

Brad, Stacy and Peters Grandpa Smith:

Some of us were visiting in Brad and Stacy's front room. Other people were in the kitchen and dining room area. There's a huge picture window behind the couch here:

I know this has a lot of glare:

Peters Grandma Smith: