Spanish Fork Canyon

Another hike this weekend up to the Hot Springs in Spanish Fork Canyon. It was wonderful, I love this time of year!

See the whole album here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=37151&l=2dbba&id=534954161

Weekend Hike

We did a hike this Saturday for enrichment. It was lots of fun and the weather was awesome. I LOVE fall! We meant to hike to Timpanogas Falls on the Aspen Grove trail, but started up this trail and kept going...any guesses as to what falls these are?(Briton or Robin) They're pretty well known. We had lunch at the falls...chicken kababs, stir fried peppers, potato salad and cantaloupe, it was pretty tasty.

Wanna Hear A Funny Story?

So last Sunday I went to the monthly Stake Leadership Meeting for all the presidencies(Relief Society and Elders Quorum). It's at 7:00am every 2nd Sunday, and all I have to say is it's that I struggle at times to get there sometimes especially when, like last Sunday, it was snowing outside. Anyway, I went and got there on time with the rest of the presidency...and this months meeting was actually really good.

One of the things that we talked about or was drilled into us is the growing prevalence of cell phones at church. Not really that they are at church but that they are ringing during meetings. We discussed the importance of being reverent and respectful during church etc. So when I came home from the meeting I made a point to tell Leslie that we shouldn't take our cell phones to church anymore or at least turn them off.

We got to church, again I reminded Leslie to turn her cell off. The meeting began and all was well...until... the sacrament was being passed, and guess who's cell phone went off? If you guessed Leslie's you're wrong, it was MINE! I had texted Jenny like 2 hours earlier and she was just getting back to me...thanks Jenny. I guess with all the hubbub of the day I had completely forgotten my cell phone. For the record I have always been really good at turning off my phone in church and this was the FIRST time it has ever rung in church. I can laugh(a lot) about it now, but at the time I'm sure my face was completely red. I've resolved to not take my cell to church anymore;)

The Flower Photo Phenomenon

It's seems that a lot of my best photos tend to be of flowers. I can think of two explanations for this phenomenon. #1 Taking good flower shots runs in the family. #2 Maybe flowers are just easy subjects.

My whole life my dad has been a pretty awesome photographer, capturing every moment of life with wonderful pictures. This comes in handy especially when you want to know where you ate every night on vacation when you were 9, what you received for Christmas every year, where you were standing on stage in the 3rd scene of The Sound of Music play you were in, and how beautiful the Oregon coast was the very first time you were there. My dad has always taken great pictures and this for the most part is where I got my interest in photography. Although pretty much all of my dad's pics are great he is particularly talented in taking close ups. His flower shots were always memorable. My sister Airie also claims that her best shots are flowers...so perhaps it does run in the family.

Along the easy subject line...I believe flowers are beautiful all on their own, a pretty magnificent creation in my opinion. So how can you take a bad picture of something that already looks so wonderful? And my photos of other things aren't that amazing so it can't be my talent...right? (big smile) All in all I just really like taking photos and it's nice when you can get a good shot now and then.

Silly Dreams

For a bit of silliness that goes on in my head...

So I picked up the movie Heima while at the Sigur Ros concert. After going on a world tour Sigur Ros returned home to Iceland and played a series of unannounced free shows, all over Iceland. Heima is a film about that experience. Along with the music from the wonderful live shows that were everywhere from concert halls, to mountain tops, to abandoned fish warehouses, the movie also shows a lot of Iceland and it's people. I have to say I was pretty smitten with how beautiful the country is. The Icelandic language is beautiful as well, and people seem so cute and simple. So yes, I know it's silly but now I want to learn the language and go there and live for a while, or at least visit. Hee hee. It's just so beautiful!

What are your silly dreams...everyone has them right?

Here's a music video by sigur ros: http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=doc1eqstMQQ

Sigur Ros, Phish and Ani

It was a pretty exciting week in music!!! Three awesome things happened last week in music.

First I attended the Sigur Ros Concert at Saltaire. Astounding. Pretty much the best show I've ever seen, and I've seen my share. The music was amazing and overwhelming. The energy and atmosphere exciting and magical . I was introduced to Sigur Ros this last spring and slowly have been collecting every single thing that they've done because I love their music so much. They are from Iceland, I never thought I'd get the chance to see them live. The show was incredible, visually and musically...I was so overwhelmed that I had no words for about 30 mins after the show. What an awesome experience.

...I've added a music player of Sigur Ros music, so you can get a taste of what their stuff is like, so turn your volume up! :)


Next...in case you haven't heard... PHISH IS GETTING BACK TOGETHER AND GOING ON TOUR!!!!!! Pretty much the best news for anyone who knows about them. I for one am very excited and am keeping my fingers crossed that when they announce dates and locations that Salt Lake City is on the list.

Last but definitely not least, Ani released her 20th album on the 30th of September! It's called "Red Letter Year" and it pretty much rocks. Lot's of songs about her baby, accepting who you are and being present and enjoying life for what it is.

Pretty exciting stuff and I just wanted to share.

Summer Highlights

The Fall

Just a quick plug for an amazing movie that I was fortunate enough to find out about. I saw in the theatre but it was a limited release so it was only showing in one theatre in all of Utah. It's out on DVD now which is great because now everyone can see it.

I think it's sad that a lot of widely released films are pretty lame and the really good ones are always limited (ie. The Savages, Smart People, Brick, Triplets of Belleville etc.) On the other hand independent films are very much a hit or miss in my book. Movies like "Broken Flowers" and "The Squid and the Whale" come to mind as really horrible films.

The Fall is a beautiful film with incredible art direction, great music and amazing locations. The story is creative, engaging, moving, contemplative, light hearted but also heart wrenching. The acting is well and done and the characters are wonderful and dynamic. It was filmed in 18 different countries over four years and is very Baraka -ish(for those of you who have seen that movie) in several parts.

I don't quite know how to explain the story so here's what it says on the back of the DVD: In 1920's Los Angeles, Alexandria, a five year old girl who is hospitalized from a fall, strikes up a friendship with Roy who is shattered by a nearly fatal accident and a betrayal by his girl friend. To pass time, Roy tells Alexandria the epic story of Governor Odious and the five remarkable heros determined to defeat him. It's a dazzling world of magic and myth. Only when the line between reality and fantasy begins to dissolve does Alexandria realize how much is truly at stake.

It's a start but it doesn't really cover how deep the store really is. Anyway I really love is film and recommend it to everyone. On a side note, this movie is rated R, and I'm still struggling to understand why. There is one swear word and about 2 minutes of violence where people die, but it is not graphic. The only thing that I can think of is that it deals with some mature themes like death and finding meaning in life...but still in my opinion this movie could almost be rated PG, what with all the crap I see in most PG-13 rated films. The rating system is all out of whack for me, which is why I believe we should really judge movies by content not the rating that is given them because most of the time there's more offensive things in PG-13 movies. My favorite site to find out exactly what is in movies is www.kids-in-mind.com. They don't give anything in the movie away and they list everything that is in the movie, from how many low cut dresses to how many and which swear words and also insults such as jerk. It's a really good site.

I forgot my favorite one!

One more by Brie

Kind of looks like art doesn't it?

Brie's photos of everyone at the shindig! ...plus one her

Idaho and Geocaching

A few weekends ago I made a short trip up to Idaho, saw lots of potatoes and a few geocaches.

I know, I know, you're all jealous!

I know it sounds crazy but all the fields of potatoes are really beautiful. I even moved some sprinkler pipes!

We visited the Otto's in Pocatello...it was so fun to see them again. We took the girls out geocaching and we found 5 caches, which were all in pine trees. I think the good people of Pocatello need to "branch" out a bit.(Leslie's line)

This is our last cache, we didn't even check the GPS after we pulled up to the park, we just walked straight to the pine tree.

The Otto girls: Miedke, Alme and Rochelle

And of course we revisited Maki's old stomping grounds. This is exactly the spot that I caught her.

Farmington Festival Fizzle?

... Yes, they are still using the same parachute from 20 years ago.

I finally got around to cleaning my car's air filter a few weekends ago, but cleaning my filter means that my car was out of commission for a whole day. My timing being terrible, my roommate graciously drove me up to Bountiful on Saturday the 12th of July, to attend...get this...my ten year high school reunion picnic. It was also coincidentally the same weekend as Farmington Festival Days! We dropped in with mom for a minute for old times sake. I have to say that it left something to be desired. I remember the days of the Big Wheel Races, "Bumper Car" and "Lollipop Tree" booths...those days are over. The updated 2008 festival only had about 8 booths which were all selling commercial products such as hydration towels, factory made purses, Scentsy potpourri, and insurance companies etc. Even the food was lacking with only 2 options for lunch, hot dogs or Peruvian. There were a few blowup jungle gymish things (see mom's blog). In about 5 minutes we had seen everything and I have to say we were somewhat disappointed. Oh well, "we can't all" -right?

Last Saturday afternoon I had the fun experience of going to see "Wall-e" at Jordan Landing with Colby and Brie. I enjoyed the movie although I think it was a little hard for the youngans to grasp all of it. Afterwards we went to grab a bite to eat at Carl's Jr at which point I got a few shots of the kids in the play gym. They are growing up so fast... and Colby's smile is SO cute!

It's Been a Whole Year

A year ago today is the day that I found a tiny starving kitty in a bush in Pocatello and brought her home. She remained nameless for the first two weeks, until we finally settled on Maki. As with just about anything I name she now has too many nicknames to keep up with, ie Maks, Minky, inkers, caboose, fuzzy buns etc. She has way too much "personality" for her own good, and is slightly spoiled, but she's been a lot of fun to have around. It's been a good year.