A Winter Walk

Amy and I have been walking on Tuesday and Thursday mornings with Dex whenever the weather is good enough to go outside. (Once she walked with me at the church when it was snowing, but was overwhelmed by the sociality--it was the Relief Society walking group. It must indeed be weird to have ladies you don't know at all ask you about your life--'Mom, what have you been telling them about me?' Nothing, really, I'm actually quite careful.)

The other day we walked to the cemetery above our house. From somewhere came a low soft whistling--finally we realized it was the man ahead of us--maybe the caretaker--who was calling the bunnies and feeding them rabbit food. This was all extremely interesting to Dex. Isn't he being very good? (in the photo above)


Another bunny below:

It's some view, and as pretty at night as in the daytime. Sunsets are awesome.

Here is our Edgemont neighborhood. You can't actually see our house--it's hidden behind the Lovelesses, the Nielsons, and then the Slagowskis, but I think you could see the west half of the garage if you zoomed in.
We live in a gorgeous valley. 'Course it's hard in the wintertime because the mountains trap the bad air from cars and industry during an inversion and we can't go outside to exercise, unless we drive to Sundance or Heber. We haven't had too many bad days so far this season--not nearly as many as Cache Valley to the north.

PS: Dex was naughty on the way home. The road down is through a little uninhabited, open, but protected valley, so she let him off leash to run. We were fine until we passed another darling little bunny warming in the sun under a leafless bush--and he was off like a shot. Since then he's been on leash.

So We Went to Hawaii Again...

...Rob got Chris a buddy pass and off we went in three separate groups. John and Chris flew to LA on Thursday and on to Honolulu Friday, where they rented a car and visited the North Shore. They climbed Temple Hill, ate at the Seasider, walked out to Goat Island, visited John's old office. Our old house from 18 years ago is torn down! John took photos of everything, and I'll try to get copies up on the blog.

Nicolle, the kids and I tried for the direct flight to Honolulu Friday morning but ended up traveling via LA, and were about 4 hours later getting there than we'd planned. Rob got off work early and came 2 hours after us. We rode the bus to Waikiki from the airport and went straight to bed. Above is the view from our hotel lanai. The next morning, John, Chris, and Rob climbed Diamond Head while Nicolle, the kids, and I went to the beach. Nicolle was working on a paper for her class so I had the babies and didn't take photos.

Colette was very impressed with her mom's beautiful beach dress and wore it Saturday while we rested back at the hotel.

We totally skipped lunch but had an early dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.

Chris practices his suave look:

John, Chris and I took the kids to the beach so Rob and Nicolle could go off on their own. It was brightly lit and beautiful. The water was warm. Sort of warm--by the end they were freezing of course.



Sand fight! This can only end badly.

John found a green inner tube abandoned on the beach. And an orange one. And two beach mats. And then we had to carry them back to the hotel along with the sandy, shivering children.

Mermaid Colette:

The next morning while Nicolle worked on her paper at the hotel, the rest of us went back to the beach.

Chris worked on his tan.

Everybody else used sunscreen.

Little clam Colette:



After showers and lunch we checked out and rode the bus around the island to Sea Life Park.


The coral tank was the most interesting and beautiful part of the park. We watched the rays and other fish.

We watched them feed the turtles.

We saw the dolphins and sea lions.




We saw a few birds as well.


Colette found a hibiscus blossom.

We rode the bus to the Ala Moana Mall for dinner, and some of us shopped while the rest waited.

The flight was not bad coming back--there were enough empty seats to stretch out and get some sleep. Even so, Chris and I were pretty useless the next day. However, John went straight back to school and Rob to work, dedicated souls that they are. I tried that last time and was grateful this time for a day to recover.

Below, feeding the rays at Sea Life Park:

The West Desert

John and I have been planning a three-day, two-night trip west through the desert into Nevada by pickup to do research for our respective writing projects (mine is a novel about fundamentalist Mormon werewolves with a commune in eastern Juab County, and his is a 19th Century polygamist murder mystery), but alas, we shredded a tire on the gravel road between Lookout Pass and Simpson Springs and didn't feel confident enough of our spare to continue west.

It was a beautiful night, full moon, only a little cool. We decided to go on the five miles or so to Simpson Springs to camp and then come back home the next morning.

John, competent as always, changed the tire and we went on our way. You can't tell in the pix, but the moon was like a spotlight and the desert was magical.

Here he starts supper--corn on the cob, fresh peaches and tomatoes, hot chocolate, cheesy potato soup. He cut up a can of spam into the soup, a true desert-rat touch. Yum!

We slept on our cots under the juniper tree.


John told me stories about cattle drives between Greenjacket and Riverbed from when he was a kid. They would often camp at Simpson Springs, which had a pony express station and a glass-bottomed pond for swimming (glass-bottomed with broken beer bottles, and filled in now).

Here's John and Table Mountain:

We went for a short walk back up to the foothills. Here's a higher view of Table Mountain:

Yes! I was there!

Pretty rocks for the waterfall garden:

Driving out this morning, we saw 25-30 antelope:


John at Lookout:

From Lookout you can see Mt. Nebo in the farthest distance. The three peaks are always recognizable, north, south, east, or west, even by air as you're flying home:

Near Vernon we saw a golden eagle on a power line. What a beauty.

At home again, we're bottling tomato juice and peaches, so the day is not wasted. We'll make the longer trip later.

Days of 47

I drove with Johnathan and Colette to SLC last night so that we could go to the parade this morning (Rob switched his shift to p.m.). We were right at the very start, at South Temple and State, sitting in the street directly beneath the Eagle Gate. Rob lent me the hat and sunscreen. I've never been to the Days of 47 Parade before.

The kids only got tired of it during the last five minutes or so. The lady next to me said, "I've never seen little kids behave so well at a parade."


Then we walked over to Temple Square, splashing in every fountain on the way. Here Colette points to where she's planning to walk:

Above, Johnathan worries and calls her back. She's OK, Johnathan!

Well, maybe.

Rob and Johnathan at the reflecting pool.

We saw the new fountain across the street south of Temple Square, and then walked a circuitous path via the pioneer log cabin by the Family History Center to the Trax station by Abravanel Hall.

We rode Trax to the Gallivan Center and had lunch under the big arbor/fountain to the west of the stage. I think I got the wettest.

Adults and kids still had energy and time, so we went to the zoo. First stop, the train. Two train rides in one day--Johnathan was in heaven.



We visited the elephants,


rhinos, crocodiles, tigers, snakes, birds, etc.


Then it was time for Rob to go to work and the kids immediately went to sleep in the car on the way back. A great day!

The kids were very glad to see their dad. Johnathan wouldn't hold my hand or sit on my lap--it had to be Rob. He cried when we parted at the zoo, but seemed OK when I said Rob would be down to go to church with us tomorrow.