Waterfall Canyon 2013

It has been my dream for awhile to hike with the whole family up to a huge waterfall in the mountains behind our house.  This is a hike I have been doing since I was a teenager.  I took Sophie and Ian up twice when they were three and one-and-a-half.  I figured it would be an annual tradition from then on, but, by the next year when Isaac was born and my other kids were four and two-and-a-half, it became too much for me to accomplish on my own.  So, I have been waiting for the perfect time, when we could all go as a family.  Sunday evening, all planets aligned and we did it!

Sometimes, these things are a labor of love, if you know what I mean?  Not everyone was as excited as I was for this hike.  It is funny how it is easier to convince a very excited four-year-old to plug along on her tiny legs than it is to inspire an older, seemingly more capable child.  Everyone tells you that is how parenting is going to be.  "It's going to get harder," they tell you.  But, you don't believe it until it happens.  

I was ready to make this happen -- one way or the other.  But, in the end, it turned out to be a pure pleasure start to finish.  The weather even cooperated.  The extreme heat wave broke and we had delightfully cool temperatures on Saturday and Sunday.  We got a little nervous when we left that a storm was rolling in.  But, it missed us and just gave us a pleasant cloud cover instead of lightning and rain.

 

Here is a photo I took of Brian and the kids just before we reached the waterfall.  The final steps!

This is the view from the waterfall looking back over the city in the direction we just hiked in from.

Brian and the kids posed by the "waterfall."  It was just a trickle.  Some girlfriends and I did this same hike at the end of June and the waterfall was huge and flowing in full force.  I guess this is what a string of 100-degree days in July will do.  It is still a majestic cliff, and Katie and Isaac were impressed by the drizzle.  Next year, we will have to go in June for the full effect.  This photo only shows the bottom of the waterfall.  You can kind of see how high it is, off to the left in the first photo.  But, it was too tall for me to capture all of it without turning the people into specks.

We started down just as the sun was doing this.  Brian had a great idea to take a different path down so that we could walk along the ridge of the mountain and have a view of the sunset all along the way.

 This is the view I am talking about.  Breathtaking.

 And, we ended up at this perfect look-out point just as the sun made its final descent.

I love this picture of the kids.

After the sun set, we continued to head down the mountain.  The crickets began chirping and the city lights were twinkling.  It was a beautiful, perfect night for one of my favorite hikes -- waterfall canyon.

Did I mention that we walked to the trail for this hike from our house?

Thanks to my family for indulging one of my dreams.

Summer Sweets

There were the treats for the lake trip and the goodies at Lagoon.  We've taken many a side dish to cook-outs and convenience meals to eat by the pool.  Bags of chips, popcorn, candy and Cheetos.  Packages of cookies and sugared drinks.  Jars of dips and salsas.  Homemade goodies, yes -- but, truly this summer they have been mostly store bought.

Oreos, Red Vines, Junior Mints.

I feel like I have spent hundreds of dollars on empty calories this summer.  Each time I swing by the store for a few more treats -- it adds up!

The last week of school, we hosted three parties in two days.  Sophie had an end of year party that started right after school got out and Ian had an end of year party that started right after Sophie's ended.  The next day, we celebrated Katie Jane turning four.

It was actually a great idea to have Sophie and Ian's parties back-to-back.  Everything was all set up and ready to go.  I did a little clean-up and refreshed the party treats in between.  It was definitely less work than hosting them on different days.

We kept the food simple.  It looked like this:

These were taken before Sophie's party.  I added rice crispy treats for Ian's party - his special request.

The next day, we celebrated Katie's birthday.  A few weeks before, I was stressing about what the theme should be.  Then, it occurred to me to ask Katie what she wanted to do.  This is a brilliant idea, even when your child is three or four.  She gave me an idea I hadn't even thought of.

"I want to fly kites at the park," she said.

What a wonderful, simple idea.

I rolled out more party food.  I can't remember all of it, but I do know we had zebra themed plates, cups, napkins and a table cloth (she picked those out too).  I remember there were crackers and easy cheese and pink frosted cupcakes.

We celebrated at a park.  I brought several kites, giant bubble wands and pinwheels.  All those four-year-olds were darling running through the park with bubbles, colorful spinning pinwheels and soaring kites on strings.  It was a wonderful day!  What a great idea, Katie Jane.

I also grabbed the solar balloon that I bought from Stevespanglerscience.com years ago and never took out of the package.  You have to have the perfect weather conditions, 70 degrees and not too windy, to make it fly.  This day was perfect.  And, the kids LOVED it!

It is kind of like a giant (GIANT) black plastic garbage bag that is long like a huge hot dog.  When you spread it out, it inflates itself and then you can run around guiding it by a string.  It was a hit.  I am so glad I bought it three years ago and held onto it for the perfect occasion.  Sometimes things work out that way.

Tonight, the kids are having another party.  Sophie and Ian are always asking for a late over.  I decided to let them have one.  This time, on the same night, and at the same time.  The treats are popcorn, Doritos, pretzels with nutella, an assortment of Shasta, cookies, Skittles and M&Ms.  It took a little creative planning on their parts, but in the end they came to an agreement that they can watch a movie (Rise of the Guardians) -gasp- in the same room at the same time together.  This wouldn't have worked out initially, but in the end, they each only had four friends who could make it.  Then, they have agreed for one group to take the front yard and the other group the back for night games.  I wonder if they will end up doing that together too with the smaller group sizes than they were expecting?

In two weeks, we will have another party.  A big one.  Isaac is turning eight.  EIGHT!  I can't believe he is going to be eight.  What a big year for him.

I agreed to take twelve of his friends to Classic Fun Center.

I am sure it will be a great time.  Right?

I hope that someday my kids look back and appreciate the treats and the goodies and the willingness to open our home to all of their friends.  The way that I will pick up a movie or a special treat for their gatherings at the drop of a hat.  I guess that is the way I was raised.  My friends were always welcome, and my parents did little things to make it special.

My parents were always the ones to drive me and my friends wherever we needed to go.

Always.

That is the kind of parent I want to be.  A fly on the wall while we drive here and there, listening to what they talk about.  Discovering what is important to them and who they are when their friends are around.  And, I would just as soon that they be here with all of their friends where I know what they are doing.

I am grateful for the amazing friends my kids have and that we have the space in this new house to accommodate these gatherings.

This is the life I always dreamed of.

Even if the summer involves a lot of junk food.

Vegas Baby!

Today, I went to the Farmer's Market.  This is an annual tradition that I cherish every July through September.  I bought the most beautiful tomatoes, a loaf of artisan sourdough bread, freshly dug potatoes, sweet corn on the cob and other yummies.

I made these BLTs for lunch for the family

And, we ate these fresh berries for dessert

Ah, the Farmer's Market.  There is nothing like it. The nicest people you've ever met showing up on a Saturday morning to sell their organic fruits and veggies at great prices.  And, then there are all of the unique items -- the homemade spreads, the bath products and arts and crafts galore.  But, I usually stick to the produce.  It is what makes me happy.

This morning, it rained a little.  Hallelujah!  It is 1 p.m. and my phone says it is 73-degrees outside.  It feels like it has been 100-degrees (or, close to that) every day for a long time.  What a hot hot summer we have had.  

The heat really started to make an impression on me during my trip to Vegas and I haven't been able to cool off since.  

Back in June, my mom mentioned that her annual trip to Vegas with her best friend was canceled because her friend couldn't go.  They have been heading to Vegas to shop every summer for at least ten years now and my mom loves it.  I mentioned one night that maybe I could go with her, and within an hour we had booked the hotels and we were headed to Vegas!!!

While I was in Vegas, Brian took the kids camping in the Uintahs with his extended family.  Next month, I get to take them camping in Idaho with my side of the family while he stays in Utah to run a marathon. 

They were in the mountains having fun fishing and eating a new treat made over the fire called "wolf'ems" and my mom and I were having the time of our lives in beautiful Las Vegas.

My mom and I left on the last Saturday in June.  We shopped at Station Park and made our way down to St. George -- where we did more shopping.  When we arrived in St. George, the reading on her car thermometer of the exterior temperature was 120-degrees.  But, I think the actual reported high was 112-degrees.  Whew!  

We cooled off with a pecan and cherry shake at the Iceberg Drive Inn.

The next day, we rolled in to Vegas and me oh my -- it was HOT!  On the news that night, they said we tied the all time daily high temperature in Vegas of 117-degrees.  It has only gotten that hot one other time, in 1942, since they started recording the weather.  I thought it would have been even higher, but that is the truth and if you don't believe me -- google it.  June 30, 2013.  I was there and I lived to tell about it.

This time, my mom's car thermometer read the exterior temperature at 131-degrees.  Hello radiant blacktop.  And, when we would go to bed at 1 a.m., my phone would show that the temperature outside was still 106-degrees.  Past midnight!

Okay, I know I am going on a little.  But, it was amazing.

We stayed at The Orleans, an older property off the strip that was very nice and had a delicious buffet.  Yes, it really was delicious and there was lots of made-to-order stuff like omlets and Mongolian BBQ.  

On our first day, we saw the gardens and beautiful decor at the Bellagio and took a dip in the outdoor pool.  

After that, the next three days were a blur of shopping, shopping and more shopping.  We shopped at a 2-story Ross and another Ross.  There was an outlet mall and the Miracle Mile of shops.  There were shops at The Venetian and shops everywhere in between.

If shopping were an Olympic sport, my mom would have a gold medal.  That girl can shop!  She is a pro.  It never makes her tired and she always finds just the right thing.  She gets lots of good deals too.  

I found this gorgeous vase for my mantle

I never take the time to go out an look around.  So, it was nice to just look.  And, try things on.  And, think about fashion and home decor for just a few minutes.  I bought gym clothes and dresses and shoes and clothes for the children and trinkets at the specialty stores like Coca-Cola and M&Ms world.  It was a shopping extravaganza.

At night, when we were done shopping, we looked at things.  We went to all the big properties we could possibly fit in and marveled at their architecture, the decor, the curtains, the tiles in the floors, the sculptures, the photo galleries, the never ending strings of diamond beads, the lights that changed colors, the most exquisite flower arrangements, even the ornate bathrooms -- all of it was just too amazing to be true.  But, it was true.  And, that is something special about Vegas.

We caught some of the fountain shows at the Bellagio and bought water from every street vendor we passed to keep from evaporating in that heat.  

Did I mention the heat?

One night my mom took me to a buffet she and her friend discovered called The Spice Market inside Planet Hollywood.  We had to wait in line for an hour or more to get in and this couple behind us erupted into a very heated argument.  I was so uncomfortable.  I didn't know if someone was going to start swinging punches, they sounded so angry.  After a few minutes, they just kept repeating the same irritated things to each other and it was like it was never going to stop so I turned around and said firmly, "You are bothering other people in line."  Can you believe I did that?  

Luckily for me, it ended well and the husband (at least) kept his mouth shut for the rest of the time.  I was glad.  I wasn't sure how they would react, but I knew one thing -- I couldn't listen to that while waiting in that long line.  

We dined on all sorts of delicacies including crab legs and creme brulee.  

On July 4th, we drove home.  I arrived in time take the family to a fireworks show.  The boys wore the shirts my mom bought them that light up with sound activation.  Very cool.  I don't know when I have seen them so happy and getting along so perfectly.

I have been wanting to blog about my trip to Vegas and so many other things.  I was so grateful to get to spend that time with my mom.

Thanks mom.

I love my mom so much.

And, now I have a story about work.

I have spent the past 18-months doing everything required to become and stay licensed for in-home daycare.  I took CPR, got my food handler's permit and even earned my Child Development Associates.  After everything was childproofed and secured, I organized my mountain of toys into labeled bins and had Brian build a custom shelf to store them all on.

In between watching all the kids -- the daycare kids plus my own -- I wrote the weekly restaurant features for the newspaper.  And, occasionally, my editor would call me to write other features.  I had a love/hate relationship with the writing.  I loved it.  I love to write.  And, I love the interesting people I meet and the things that I learn from writing for a newspaper.  But, I hated it because it was so unbelievably stressful to have deadlines and to try to create something that was high quality in between all of the other things I was suppose to do.

I would finish a story and feel good about that, but then see that my house was a disaster zone and not feel so good about that.  I would rush to finish a story so I could read to my kids at bedtime and I would feel good about the quality time, but then I would find out I made a stupid error that I could have avoided if I had taken more time and been more careful and I would not feel so good about that.  

My life was definitely out of balance.

In May (oh May -- the busiest month of the year besides December when you have kids), I wrote a story on the Six Sisters.  They are a group of sisters living in Utah who made it big with a recipe and craft blog, published a cookbook, started recipemagic.com, hired 20 full-time employees, and basically have a sweet life financially and creatively now.  

I loved the story.  I loved interviewing the sisters.  I loved it!  I felt inspired.  Except, I also felt like it ruined my life for a week.  Every day, after watching kids for hours, I would send them home and instead of making dinner and spending a little quality time with my own children it was, "Off with you!  Mommy is busy!  Mommy has to work!"  And, I hate that.

So, as hard as it was, I said to myself that I would no longer take extra stories when my editor called.

This was a huge resolve.  I never tell her "no."  I rationalize that we need the money and I always say "yes."  For 14-years, I have never said "no."  But, I made up my mind.  The extra money wasn't worth the toll it was taking on me or my family.  Something had to give and the daycare is the bread and butter since the writing was more sporadic.

But, the next phone call I got from my editor was not what I was expecting.

She called to say that one of her full-time staff members was taken away in a re-organization and rather than replacing him, she had to find two freelancers to cover the work he had done.  So, she basically asked me to be a part-time worker, but still as a freelancer.  She needed someone to cover the theatre (not movie theater) beat and she wanted it to be me.  I was very familiar with theatre stories since I had done back-up for the regular guy for years.

I spent the weekend thinking about it and I came up with a plan.  As soon as school was out, I hired a helper.  She comes to my house for three-hours every day.  During that time, she takes care of all the kids (my kids and the daycare kids), and I sit in my office (mostly) undisturbed conducting phone interviews and writing my heart out.  

It is working great.  It turns out that doing more writing is actually better because I can plan for it and get the help that I need to cover my other responsibilities so that I can focus and get it done.  I am the happiest I have been in a long time.  I feel like such a burden of stress has been lifted from my shoulders.  

It's funny how life works out.  I only wanted to really quit writing one other time.  We had just returned home from China and my column about living with kids in China was canceled.  I was kind of sulky because I wanted them to at least finish out the series rather than end it so abruptly.  I said to myself, "I am done."  And, it was a good time to end because there wasn't any specific beat I was covering anymore.  

The next phone call I got was my editor asking me to cover restaurant features.  It is the only thing I would have said "yes" to.  It was a dream come true.  It was what I had wanted to write.

So, things are pretty good right now.

I don't think I ever blogged about how Brian was laid off from the Deseret News as the Spanish speaking photographer last February.  

That was stinky.

And scary.

They laid off the whole Spanish speaking department.  What are you going to do?  He had three great years with them.  He is now looking for a full-time job, but in the meantime, things haven't been the worst with freelance.  In fact, he's been busy.

And, the Standard Examiner decided to let him cover all of my restaurant and theatre stories.  So, it's not the worst.  

In fact, life it pretty sweet.

Summer is a blur of swimming, waterslides, hikes, trampoline parks, lakes, fun centers and other excursions geared toward the kids.  We got to spend the 23rd of July with some of our best friends at Bountiful's Handcart Days.  There was the parade (it was hot), and a BBQ (it was perfect) and a fireworks show (the BEST one we've ever seen) while sampling over 30 flavors of homemade ice-cream.

Yes, life is good.  I can't complain.  There have been free outdoor movies at the amphitheater downtown (why is it so fun to watch a movie outside?).  There was drama camp, Astrocamp, kid's camp and girl's camp.  

Our kids were in a bike parade on July 13th.  That was the other time it cooled to below 100-degrees.  Right when the parade started, the sky ripped open and dumped rain on all of those kids!  It was memorable.  They got free tickets to opening night of the rodeo for participating. 

We went to the rodeo on July 19th and I think it was the first rodeo I have really enjoyed and appreciated.  Isaac was practically skipping on air he was so excited about all of it.  Some days I want that boy to grow up just a little, but other days I am glad that he is still young enough to skip when he is happy.  

We are just soaking in the summer as much as we can.  Even if it is hot, it is still a magical time of year.