Almost, But Not Quite

Today we planned to hike Mount Timpanogos and we did hike it, however, we did not make it to the top. We went with some friends and my brother and niece. My brother had hiked it years ago and he told me he had made it to the top in 3 1/2 hours. Since most websites say that it takes 4 1/2 to 5 hours to get to the top, I thought we could probably make it to the top in at least 4 hours since my brother had done it in 3 1/2. Well, we made it to Emerald Lake in 3 1/2 hours and my brother made it to Emerald Lake in 4 hours and 15 minutes. It was then as we looked at the top and the saddle that is about 45 minutes away that I found out my brother had made it to the saddle in 3 1/2 hours. I guess it is the top of the ridge however, it is not the top. Next time I will ask him to be more specific. We contemplated continuing to the top, but due to babysitting troubles and the fact that during the last ascent to the lake I hit a wall, we decided to save the trek to the top for another day. The colors are beautiful and the scenery was worth the pain, at least I think so. Although I may feel differently when I can't get out of bed in the morning.

Beautiful morning view

Vibrant reds

Three mountain goats gave us a diversion on the way up

Happy at the lake, but by the end of the hike my feet were killing me

I love the clusters of yellow leaves

New View Coming

When I first walked into what would be my house, I fell in love with the real wood paneling and the large picture windows that ran the length of the house. The windows faced an empty plot of land that we knew could eventually become a house. Well it has finally happened and my view will slowly change over the next few months. I am happy for the good friends that will be building the house, but I am sad to see my view change.

Views from various rooms

Happy

Have you ever had a day where you are just happy? Today is one of those days. For no reason, I am happy and I hope it continues for more than one day. I am happy to be a mom, I am happy to be a wife, I am happy to just be. And if I win my fantasy football game I will be really happy.

Another Farmers Market

Yesterday I took my boys to a Farmers Market that I had heard good things about. I must admit it was smaller than I imagined, but the peaches and apples I bought were excellent. I may not make the trek every week, but maybe I'll go there once more before it closes.

Local peaches, apples, and pears

Vendor booths, including the kettle corn that I did not buy for my husband

The pie I made with the peaches from last week's market

What is it With Video Games?

As I have mentioned I live in a household of boys and despite trying to postpone it, Boy #1 is in full video game mode. The latest obsession is Lego Star Wars. My husband also enjoys playing video games and one of our biggest fights was about a video game when we were dating. I got frustrated because I couldn't play it well since I do not have the hand eye coordination necessary to succeed and therefore I get frustrated easily. That is a trait that Boy #1 has inherited from me. I digress. Anyway, this is a typical afternoon or evening at our house with several neighborhood kids over to play video games. I just don't really get it.

Grapes

This is the second year in our house and last year we did not get any grapes. This year without doing anything different we have lots of grapes. Not knowing what to do with all our grapes, I decided to make juice.

Farmers Market

Today we went on an excursion to the farmers market in our town. We have been a handful of times this summer and each week there are more and more people. That is quite encouraging since last year the market in our town left a lot to be desired. Having been accustomed to the farmers market where we used to live (which was huge) we are happy to see our little market growing. Here are some pictures of the market and the food which we enjoyed there. The produce we will enjoy at home.

Vendor Booths

Yummy peaches. I sense a fresh peach pie or crumble in my future

Pretty good tamales

Cotton candy goatee

Bigger cotton candy goatee

Ouch!

Boy #2 had a run in with our coffee table and he has quite a shiner! This was a few minutes after the incident and after all the tears.

This was the morning after, nice and swollen.

Looks like he got into my 1980's purple and blue eyeshadow.

Are You Ready for Some Football?

I love fantasy football. I am way too competitive and let my emotions get the best of me sometimes, but it is so much fun. However, I am off to a bad start. Unless my defense gets 20 points on Monday night I will be 0-1. I'm hoping for a miracle, so wish me luck!


This is the QB I should have started, but didn't. I've been burned by too many QBs who won the SuperBowl the previous year and then did nothing when I picked then up the next season. (Rich Gannon, anyone?)

Rainy Day Women

Well, this was the site a few evenings ago at the Bob Dylan concert. The ticket said rain or shine and it meant it. We didn't think it could possibly rain that much and unfortunately we were wrong. It poured as we tried to make our way into the venue and we were soaked through by the time we walked 20 feet. As a result we were frozen during the concert and it was a little difficult to really enjoy the evening. It stopped raining for about 1 hour when Mr. Dylan took the stage. Then it began again. We were contemplating leaving early, but then we heard the first notes for "Thunder on the Mountain" and that revitalized us. We headed out during the first encore and we later found out there was not the usual second encore, so we didn't miss anything other than long lines of traffic. It was definitely not my favorite concert but it sure was an adventure and a lesson in preparedness.

Garden Surprises

I planted potatoes for the first time this year. I decided it was time to pull them out last week, although these little potatoes (if you can call them that) are what I pulled out. That is my pinkie finger to give you a sense of how small these things are. So I was very surprised and delighted when I pulled the potatoes pictured below out of my garden. I guess my red potatoes are doing better that the yukon golds.