A Snowy Visit to the Davidson's

Way back in December we took Charlie out of school a week and a half early to head west for a big Temus family  Christmas get-together. To keep things interesting we broke the trip up by heading over the mountains a few days after arriving in Puyallup to visit my sister and her little family. We played in the snow, Keith shoveled the snow, I was introduced to Poldark, the kids played in a box fort... basically it was an all around good time. (Minus the few very minor seizures that broke my seizure-free streak. But I haven't had any since, so things are looking good in that department.)

One night Liz, Keith and I (Cory slipped and rolled his ankle pretty badly just before we got there so he wasn't able to join in most of the festivities) took the kids to an indoor carousel. It was a HUGE hit. Next to the carousel there was this little nook set up for pictures. We tried to bribe the kids into sitting nicely for a picture by promising them one more ride if they cooperated. This was the best we got... There were also two reindeer outside that you could pet but only Jane was willing to brave the cold to go see them (twice actually). I account for that by figuring that she spent the majority of her life in Fargo.

 Liz took me to dinner and a Gentry concert while we were there. Which means that Cory and Keith got left with the kids. They made gingerbread houses while we were gone. According to Keith, Jane spent most of the time putting the rows of round candies on the roof of the house on the right, one by one.

Slick slide combined with a slick snow suit equals one fast ride. Or rather, several fast rides.

 And every time she would catch air at the end and plop down in the snow with a huge grin on her face.

 Charlie had been wanting to make snow angels for months.

 According to Liz, swings have always been Cooper's happy place. He sat there pretty much the entire time we were in the backyard.

Liz: aka "Super Mom."

Big Happy News

Liz is getting married!!!

On a double date to a Jazz game with Keith and I.
Keith and Cory bonded over their memories of Stockton and Malone. Liz and I bonded over our ignorance of such things (don't they just sell cars?)

His name is Cory. We think he is great. And he will be my newest brother in September!

Cory graduated from BYU this last April as well. He graduated from the law school though.

He is from Logan, Utah and that is where the big event will be held (in the Logan temple to be exact).
Congrats you two! We are so excited!

A Liz List

Liz is so encouraging when I need it. She also knows when to just forget the pep talk and pop in some Anne of Green Gables.

She makes amazingly good brownies. Seriously, you have no idea how good brownies can be until you have eaten these.

She knows how to work hard and play harder.
She rocks at the oars. (I used to be insanely afraid of white water rafting. Not now, and a big part of that is due to Liz).

And in a kayak too.

She is super smart and can organize ANYTHING (no joke).

She is always up for new adventures and invites her little sister along for them. (How cool is that!?!) She hears about neat places and instead of just saying "we should go there or do that" she goes and does.

And again, she invites me along.

She comes up with random ideas like taking bubbles to the Grand Canyon that turn out to be more fun than I could have thought possible.

She is stylin', always.

It is her birthday today.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Liz

My dear sister Liz moved back down to Provo this fall to conquer business school. And I love it. She is always calling us up to see if we want to go climbing, ride bikes, explore a new trail she found, help her eat peanut M&Ms, and other delightful things. She tells me that I am cute, fun, and smart (I can never have to many sources of those kinds of comments). Every time we meet up she makes me feel like I am the greatest thing that walked into her life that day.

Case and point: Last Thursday was Liz's birthday, for which a party was thrown at her apartment. Liz planned the menu complete with sugar-snap peas, peppers, hummus, and peanut M&Ms. She invited over 50 friends. The place was filled with people whom I had never met, but who all thought Liz was one awesome lady (I agree). When they found out that I was her sister they would tell me how much they liked her. They told me that she was nice, fun, and adventurous. But mostly they told me that she was great.

And for the record, I completely agree.

The week's grab bag

Guys, there is some girlie wedding stuff in here. You have been warned.

I have been so bad at taking photos lately; and there has been so much photo worthy stuff!

Beautiful snow! Especially at 7:45am when I am scurrying madly down 9th east in order to make it to my oh so boring animal nutrition class. BUT, Timp is just starting to turn pink on the top and it makes the cold morning walk all worth while.

Liz came and visited which created several photo worthy events. Including:

Rock climbing at the Quarry, where I conquered a fun overhang and I felt oh so awesome for a long time after that. In fact, I still feel awesome about that. Kudos to my belayer, Keith, who caught my fall and let me swing back for another go at it.

Wedding dress shopping! Oh yes! That is right, I found THE ONE. Deb, Liz, and I buckled down and got it done. We entered the store, grabbed dresses, and tried them on super speed style. Liz helped me climb in and out of the towers of white puff as the nice assistant got the next one ready. We flew through them one after another. Nope, nope, no, you have got to be joking... NO, and then... perfect. We found it. Well, Deb found it. It was the last one in stock and was on a mannequin, but Deb had them get it for me anyway. It needs a few alterations but I love it. Here is a sneak peak. I love the buttons going all the way down the back. You can't really see them, but they are there, and I love them. (Guys, stop rolling your eyes, you were warned up front). And yes, the train bustles. The front is great too, but this is a sneak peak; one photo only. Thanks to Liz for taking her camera.
Liz kept up her Provo tradition and took me out to Cafe Rio. Mmmmm, delightful. Liz, feel free to visit anytime.

Now it is raining. Steady and grey. Platter, platter, platter. Hmmmm, feels like home.

Spring in the Desert

What better to do on a three-day weekend than to put on a pack and get walkin'? Nothin'. Liz was heading to Utah anyway to raft Cataract Canyon so she just came down a little early and we, along with three of my friends, spent four days in Canyonlands. Possibly the best time I have had on a backpacking trip. It was fantastic! (Which means there are lots of pictures as well).

We spent our last night in Chesler Park. It is a gorgeous meadow surrounded by needles. Our first night on the trail we had a permit for backcountry camping. We had a great site up on some rocks with great views. Lots of shooting stars!
Above our camp the first night were some pot hole pools. These form in rock depressions after rain. They are great for finding water to drink and for a foot spa treatment while watching the sun set. Blissful.

Druid Arch, a few miles from Chesler Park.
A small section of the trail went through a slot canyon, but that was just the beginning. One slot canyon led to another, and another, and another... For me exploring the slot canyons was the highlight of the trip. So much fun!
The great group from top to bottom: Heber, Ben, Melinda, and Liz.
The trail itself was fun outside of the slots as well. It crawled up and down rocks leading from one great view to the next.
The confluence. This is where the Green and Colorado Rivers meet and rush into Cataract Canyon. Needless to say, seeing this was Liz's favorite part of the trip.

The slot canyon that the trail went through was chock full of creative cairns. This was one of my favorites.
We also saw a couple of Anasazi (or "ancestral puebloean") ruins and rock art.
Another highlight of the trip (for me at least). Was laying on my tummy and looking for tiny lifeforms in the potholes. This is actually a lot funner than some of you may think.
The desert was in full bloom so I had to add some boring flower pictures.

I forgot the name of this one, but it was all over the place and gorgeous.

Desert primrose.
Okay, so not a flower, but it warmed my nerdy heart to see so many native grasses. This is another shot of Chesler Park (and Indian Rice Grass).
Utah's state flower: Sego Lily.

The cacti were in bloom as well.
Yucca at our first camp.

Globe mallow at dusk.