Easter

This year we had Easter dinner at my house. My parents were in town and Andy and Nate both came over with their families. It was pretty fun and it was pretty darn good too! Which means we ate it all and were cleaning up before I realized I hadn't taken any pictures of us all sitting around the feast. None of the kids hunting eggs in my front yard either. Oh well. We did some other stuff over the weekend that I did manage to get a few shots of. These were the "twilight zone" eggs. We thought the first one I cut open was so cool but as each one I sliced through was again double yolked Andy freaked out and said it was like the Twilight Zone. I don't know what's so scary about double yolks but apparently they rank up there with zombies and time travel. I hear they're good luck so I can't wait to see what great things are going to happen to me after this. While I cooked the sides and Andy turned all creative on the salad and Nate smoked the brisket, Emily and the grandparents kept the kids occupied with Easter egg crafts.

And it looks like Sarah has rubbed off on her little sister because they are now both obsessed with reading the little tiny books on my bookshelf. It was so cute I had to take a picture...or two...or three... ok I took about 25 but I'll only post 3. (I just noticed how big this picture makes my chair and my plant look) Monday was so nice we took a short little hike in Draper to a waterfall. I hit my head on a tree and Emily hit her head on a rock but the kids managed to get out of it safe. Usually it's the other way around.

Random Bits of Fun

Here's what I did yesterday. It's me and Doug Grigsby holding some baby chickens. How random and fun can you get?

Pictures of Simon with Cake

I'm not sure why I find taking pictures of my nephew Simon with his birthday cake so much fun, but I must have come home from his party with well over 50 on my camera.

I thought I got all I'd ever need last year when he turned one... ...but this year turning two seemed just as much fun (and more chocolaty!).

Mastering the skill of Self Portraits

I wonder how old a kid has to be before they get the concept of taking your own picture together? I was trying to get a picture of me and my niece Samantha but she just didn't get it. The more I tried the worse it got. She better learn this skill if she ever plans on going anywhere with less than three people.

Then this happened and I decided I must have severe ADD because even though I was taking my own picture, somehow in that fraction of a second between pressing the button and the picture taking I was distracted.

It wasn't even something big or startling that got my attention, I just got distracted. I guess I shouldn't give Samantha a hard time till I can master taking my own picture first. Simon didn't do much better but at least he wasn't trying to grab the camera.

Two very different things I dream of...

Back to the whole Katie and Suzanne split personality thing... maybe Candi was right... maybe I do have a split personality because I don't know that the same person should be craving both of these things so badly. I wonder which side of me is Katie and which is Suzanne and who is craving which item? Oh well, it doesn't matter, they're just dreams...

but maybe someday...

...if I'm lucky...

...I can have them both

Weekend in Zion

Well at the last minute Jake decided he wanted to spend his birthday away from the cold and that I should join him on a trip South. I've gotten a hang of this not saying no to trips thing so after we got home from the climbing gym on Thursday we started packing things up for a weekend of camping, climbing, and hiking in Zion National Park. I left early from work on Friday and we were on our way. It was the first long trip my car has taken since being fixed and it worked wonderfully. It was nice to have a CD player too since the one in his car is broken and since I'd made him a few CDs for his birthday it was a good way to enjoy them. Saturday we did climbing. The trams weren't running yet so we drove up and down the loop looking for a nice short easy crack to try out our skills on... well... try out Jake's skills. I have no crack climbing skills unless you count the 6 feet of crack I climbed with Gina at the gym earlier that week. I wouldn't recommend Zion as a place to learn how either. Everything there is so big! We put on our packs...(it'd been awhile since I'd had a heavy pack on my back and it kind of felt good) and found our way to a nice spot with a view of the canyon to the left and weeping rock on our right. I could tell by Jake's very brief explanation of how to clean a route that I probably wasn't going to be needing his instructions that day. I was right. I belayed him for about an hour and a half as he set the route... I got some good sun... watched families going to weeping rock and pointing at us for their kids... enjoyed the view... took a few pictures (but never let go of the rope of course!) You don't mind just standing around doing that when you have such a nice view.

I watched Jake climb with all the gear and decided I'm not too interested in someday leading a trad climb. I don't know if I could carry all that weight up behind me.

It was heavy enough just carrying half of it up there in my backpack. I did attempt the climb myself and though I fell a lot and sat on the rope quite a bit I made it up about half way. I surprised myself even by how far I got and how satisfying it was. At least I got to leave all the gear at the bottom. Afterwards we went over to weeping rock where I took this picture which I think is my favorite from the whole trip. It looks better when you see it bigger than a little blog picture. We then spent the evening going around watching all the climbers on the big walls with the binoculars. Other than that the highlight of the day was seeing a California Condor. The idea of extinction really kills me so to see one of those birds out in the wild after knowing they were down to just 5 was really awesome to me. I could hardly believe it at first. We also saw some wild turkeys. Sadly this was the only shot I got of our amazing birding experiences that day... a turkey's butt. The next day was Jake's birthday... ...after pancakes with cookie bits stirred in we packed up for a hike. He wanted to do two... (In my head I said yeah right but said ok anyway) We hiked up the trail head at Weeping Rock and took a detour about a mile up Hidden Canyon. We knew it'd still have snow at the top so we turned back when we came to a spot where we knew it'd be hard to come back down. It reminded me just enough of the Orderville hike that it whetted my appetite for coming back to it when the weather gets warmer... Back at the fork in the trail we went along Echo Canyon and all the way up to Observation Point. What a great trail!

There were slot canyon parts, ledges cut out of the cliffs, trails below huge walls, and sandy spots across long flat plateaus, and amazing views around every bend in the trail. There were even a few wildflowers out.

There was hardly anyone on the trail and even at the top there were only a couple of Italian ladies to share it with. (How come foreigners use our parks more than we do? What a shame) The view at the top was incredible looking up and down both sides of the canyon and down onto Angel's Landing. The wind had been getting stronger and stronger all day and we were up there enjoying some snacks and the view when we noticed a whole front of gray clouds blowing in behind us. We decided the very top of that cliff wasn't a good place to be... but neither was the flood path halfway down the trail... so I pulled out my trekking poles to help with my aching knees and we were back to the car just as the first drops started to fall and watched as the waterfalls started coming off the top of the canyon walls. We didn't do the second hike up Angel's Landing that day but I don't think nearly 10 miles of Zion hiking is too shabby for one day. (I'm going to leave the story behind this picture out for legal reasons... moving on...)Back at camp the celebration dinner consisted of steaks with potatoes and mushrooms with a little Martinelli's followed by birthday cake. Problem was that the only thing we forgot to bring was utensils. We brought our wooden spoons that Jake made along with one knife but spoons don't work so well for steaks (of for the noodles we had the night before for that matter)

They were delicious T-Bones...

...which we ate with our hands sitting in the dirt.

What a great way to spend a birthday weekend! (Today's my dad's birthday... I bet he wishes he could spend it in Zion too but you'll have to retire first.) I'm glad Jake invited me along.

The end.

Appointment with April

I can't believe the first day of April came and went without my mom sending me this story. It seems she sends it every year. The story also always reminds me of Beth in college pointing to the yellow bushes and repeating in an authoritative voice her text book description of Forsythia, "It announces..the arrival..of spring!" So anyways since my mom didn't send it to me I had to look it up myself and I thought I may as well post it for others to enjoy as well...

George Santayana's last day in the classroom at Harvard. The philosopher had received a sizable legacy and decided to retire from the faculty. The room was packed for his final appearance and the lecture went very well. During his concluding remarks, he glanced through the window at a forsythia that was beginning to blossom in a patch of muddy snow. He stopped abruptly, picked up his hat, gloves and walking stick, and made for the door. Then he turned and softly said, "Gentlemen, I shall not be able to finish that sentence. I have just discovered that I have an appointment with April."

From: The Little, Brown Book of Anecdotes

I know my parents springtime in California has already come and is on it's way out but since it was a snow storm here yesterday I can assure you ours in Utah is taking it's sweet time getting here. (I wonder if there is a construction detour or an accident. I'm guessing it just slept in, that's why I'm usually late.) I have some early tulips blooming in my front yard now, though they won't open up in the cold weather and the leaves are budding on the trees but no blossoms yet. I've already had my first camping trip of the year along with a hike or two and I was even able to turn my heater off for a whole week at one point and wear flip flops to work so I know spring has to be just around the corner once this snow stops... and when it finally comes I say we just drop everything and walk out the door to greet it.