Foto Friday (slight delay)

Well on Friday I was on my way down to Orderville to see family. And they are few years behind down there. So lets just say its like I came back to Friday.

On the way down we stopped in Glendale because my sister Keeley had the honor of running the grill that night at the Buffalo Bistro where she is working part time. Along with my sister Alex. And soon to be Keeley's husband Will.

The boss was out of town and I think Kee should be very honored that she was left in charge. They were so busy when we stopped by at 8 p.m. that they had to go put out the closed sign, they couldn't take any more business that night. So Kee didn't have an easy initiation. And she even impressed two picky European visitors with her steak cooking skills. Way to go Kee. And Alex for helping work the behind the scenes.

Foto Friday

I'm still awake, so its still Friday. My sister Maiken and I took the kids to the county fair today. It was not as fun as last year. One reason was that it was close to 100 today and that just is never good. And they only had about half the carnival rides that they did last year and I of course noticed that after I bought tickets. Anyone going, I have some left if you want them!

My camera also wouldn't turn on. I really wish I did more environmentally friendly things, but I have to say rechargeable batteries suck. Luckily Maiken had her camera with her but I wasn't familiar with hers and some of the pictures are definitely lacking. But I think you will still get the idea of the joy of small town america.

Going on one of the rides with Will because he was scared

According to the tag this is "Bunny Bread". Ummm, ok. Maiken and I are going to look into having Will and Lucia submit something next year for the fair. I think they have a good chance.

Need something to do with that pile of old newspaper? How about a gun

Or maybe a replica of the twin towers and a plane flying into them. This was more than disturbing. And so was the fact that it got a blue ribbon.

There were also several displays of Legos that Will was in heaven over. Nothing compared to last year, but he was still walking around saying "I just can't handle it!" I need to get this kid to Lego Land. He might pass out from excitement though.

And a visit to the Swat van.

I didn't end up taking any pics of the animals. Because it was hot. And smelly. And I just wanted to leave. But here is a memory from last year of the Lets Get Physical rejects which did make another appearance this year.

I never thought I would say this, but I was a little disappointed that Will was not interested in going to the demolition derby this year. He said it was too long. Guess I need to find another way to get my hick on fully for the year.

The Hills Are Alive...

I really should be in bed. 6 a.m. is gonna come quickly. But I'm on a high and can't sleep right now. So instead first I'm gonna send out a little friend love. About 20 years ago Becky and I both took the pipe band class in jr. high. I don't remember exactly when we started hanging out, but we were inseparable in high school.

We moved on to be college roommates for one semester till Becky decided Weber wasn't for her. Life took over. I got married, she went and did really cool things like move to Russia. Neither of us are exactly the best about staying in touch and have gone through stretches of up to two years without talking. And then we do, usually thanks to Becky. And its like we never stopped. Because we are those kind of friends. The kind that you will always be friends with.

We have laughed, fought, cried and talked all night. And sometimes you just really need those friends. The kind you don't have to be "on" around. The kind you can just relax around and be yourself. Becky is one of those friends for me. And I need those kind of friends even more right now. Becky shares my love for all things Great Britain. And men in kilts. I wonder if that's because we were both in the pipe band, or if that love was something that drove us to the pipe band.

One thing that Becky knows about me is my love for hippie guitar music. So I didn't even question when she asked if I wanted to go see a concert with her tonight. It was the group Swell Season who you may know from the movie Once. Which I never actually saw, but definitely need to. Especially now. You may have heard their song Falling Slowly which won an Oscar.



The concert was part of the Outdoor Concert Series at Red Butte Gardens in Salt Lake. We are both too cheap to have actually bought tickets so we sat on the free loading hill up above. Not the best view of the stage, but still close enough to hear and enjoy.

The paying people

Us

But a great view of the entire Salt Lake valley

And it was especially beautiful at night

The band was awesome even if the wind messed with our sound quality a bit and then the people around us got a bit too chatty, but it was a fun night and a new band added to my music rotation. I commented to Becky a bit of my music snobbery during the concert. I think that there is too much music today that is over-produced, over-studioed, over-recorded type stuff. Now don't get me wrong there are plenty of pop songs that I will blare on the radio. But if you can't perform it live, well....but if you can stand on a stage with just a guitar and a microphone and touch my inner being, that my friend is the sign of a musician.

And I had a great night with a friend, listening to musicians.

Foto Friday

In case you just stumbled across this and don't know a thing about me, I have a thing for the mountains around here. They are my church and they replenish my soul. I needed some soul replenishing and made sure to get some this past week.

On Saturday it was too cold to take the kids swimming so we took them up to Devil's Kitchen. Maybe the shortest "hike" ever. But its along the Nebo Loop so worth the drive.



Will at Devil's Kitchen with his favorite new toy, binoculars from aunt M.
Love me some aspen trees. I wish my camera could have accurately captured the beauty of the white trunks mixed with the dark green of the pine. I really want an awesome camera. And some skills to go with it.

After the drive we stopped for lunch at the Family Tree. I wanted a scone. Some other hands were eager too.

On Sunday after I dropped Will off I went back up to another local canyon for some more.



This is my little look out meditation spot. Again wish I could capture the beauty here. Guess you'll just have to go visit for yourself. Except I kinda don't want to share this particular spot.



On the drive down the canyon I spotted this little trail off to the side up to a meadow.


This is the location for my new home. The forest service will let you just build on their property right?

The drive to my new home.

Found a beautiful little waterfall.

Which led me to something not so beautiful. And if you are in the mountains this is why they say not to drink the water without knowing whats upstream.

But not to end on something sad (and I decided to not post the close up of the maggots), here is a happy, although scary looking, mountain cow.

Be Warned

I love diet coke. I'm trying not to drink as much of it, but there is no question what is the best soda. Ok diet ginger ale is up there, but there is nothing quite like a good fresh from the fountain cup of diet coke. Always prefer it to the bottled. And I know places that have the best mix. Cafe Rio. Subway. And I have it on authority that Subway has a great mix across the nation. Well ok, so here and in Chicago, but that counts as across the nation right?

Most of the time if a restaurant has only pepsi I shrug it off and just drink it. And its ok. Its just not good. Well I have decided tonight that Arbys has by far, the worst diet pepsi. And it should be avoided. Now there was that time that I got something from KFC and had to stop drinking the diet pepsi because the combo of the soda with the chicken made the chicken taste rotten. But Arbys even surpassed that.

Have you ever been in a porta-potty right after they change the chemical? I know, stick with me. Because of the camp my dad works at in the summer I am familiar with this smell. Its an oddly sweet smell. And not sweet in a I want a cookie way. But in a I can feel my insulin rising and feel ill kinda way. Anyone familiar? Well Arbys diet pepsi tastes the way porta-potty chemicals smell.

So there ya have it taste test. Diet coke. It doesn't taste like the chemicals used to cover up the smell of your crap. Bottoms up!

Foto Friday

Ta da! "angels sing" Utah has finally been graced with diet ginger ale. And the good stuff. Yes it is the little things.

I'm not really feeling the Utah love lately. But one of the things that will always make me smile is the mountains. They just don't get better than this.

Sometimes work sucks. And sometimes its this. Entertaining kids at the park. And no one knows how to entertain kids better than my boss.