GO VOTE

It's official, I'm ADDICTED to talk radio. I can't help it I'm going CRAZY with this dang election. I say I won't listen then I won't know then I can claim ignorance but the radio keeps going back. I want to SCREAM out at the nutty people who are falling for this craziness but it's true that everyone is certainly entitled to their own opinion. I don't want to tell anyone who to vote for BUT if you think you might be on the fence listen to 840AM anytime between 9am and 5pm. I just have to do something so that is my little bit of hope thrown out there. Don't forget to VOTE next Tuesday.

GO RED!!!

QUICK BLURB

Alright here it goes.....

Wednesday Jason had the opportunity to participate in the Richard Petty Experience at the race track. He did the EOL or Experience of a Lifetime package which allowed them to have three , 10 lap periods, and in between they learned pointers to help them be a little more successful. His top speed was 144mph, glad I didn't do the ride along,they'd of had to pull my fingers out of the dash like in Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Jason had a great time and we went out to see him but only made it in time for his last two laps because Lauren had dance. I didn't get any good pics but you get the idea.

Old School trivia: Where was this train when we were growing up and what did it always smell like?

Lauren's class went on a field trip to the Heritage Museum on Thursday and I was lucky enough to experience that with her. I have to say for a town with little history it was a pretty cool little museum. I liked the little houses the best. I had that cute little group of kids up above(hope nobody minds their kids on my blog) they are such good observant students.
An old jail- looks like these girls a going in for questioning!

Lauren in a stick tee pee

Saturday night we has our ward Halloween party and it was FABULOUS!!

Jason and I were 80's rejects(my beehive fell by the end of the night)

Jace out of control with his friends Kaden and Brett
Lauren and Shelby in "Return of the Redcoats"

DONE!! Now that's what I call a five minute post!

MOTHER NATURE HAS LOST HER MIND!!

The weekend started out early and we were on the road to Cedar by noon. Lunch was put on hold for we were saving ourselves for Marv's, a little burger joint in St. George that came highly recommended. The burger was satisfactory, although a little pricey for fast food, but take a gander at the corn dog Jace is barely able to hold up. Leave it to Utah to come up with the footlong corn dog.



Check it out!! We picked up Theodore from the Chipmunks, he was hitchin' a ride to perform at the Shakespearean festival. Jason actually bought those lovelies at the antique depot for ????

The fall colors were still clinging to the trees when we arrived at our cabin on Friday. Everyone had an equal opportunity to have their photo taken on the fence post with the beautiful colors as a backdrop. The pics of the family and the one of my parents was taken on Sunday and if you notice, the clouds of Mother Nature's wrath are still looming over the mountain behind us.

On Saturday Mother Nature decided that she'd had just about enough of fall and decided to unleash the winter warriors a little prematurely. We decided to get a closer look at this nonsense and took a little drive to the top of Cedar mountain. Sure enough it was blanketed in snow, while hints of fall still struggled to be seen. We decided to take advantage of this tirade and enjoy some snowball fights, cold weather and hot chocolate.

Grandpa had some pumpkins growing in his garden in Cedar, so we all picked one out to take home for Halloween. We all enjoyed our crazy weathered weekend with some shopping, conference watching and listening, and some good food(except when we had to settle on smuggling Del Taco into the movie for dinner because there was no time to eat).

FIRST & LAST

It was just like elementary school all over again, but without the big yellow school bus. My Methods & Materials class took our first field trip Monday to Walker Zanger which has a plethora of natural stone, ceramic tile and slabs of stone such as onyx, soapstone, granite and marble. After seeing all the amazing items they have, I had the urge to redo my bathrooms, kitchen back splash, and any other place I could put these beautiful products. Then of course reality set in and I realized the cost involved and those ideas were thrown out the window. A girl can still dream though. That's why I want to be a designer then I'll have access to all of the good stuff while fulfilling my need to beautify on someone else's dime. Then I can use their leftovers to do my house!!! O.K. first pic, love the design and color- I think I would put it under a chair rail in the bathroom. Next- I'm in love with glass!! Aren't they so pretty. I want the one with those sticks in my bathroom. The brown tiles are ceramic that kinda look like wood. Last pic- definitely want the blue/green one for my kids' bathroom. Finding something to fit boy/girl that is cute can be hard, but problem solved with those super sassy ovals of cuteness.

Now on to a last. El Burrito closed it's doors on Tuesday. What the heck is El Burrito you ask? Well let me tell you a little history. It originally opened in 1969 in a little hole in the wall on Fremont street. I remember going there with my mom and my Grandma Dottie as a little girl and not really liking it too much. It was so dark inside because you walked down into it like a basement and I don't remember it having any windows. When that one shut down in the mid 80's they reopened on Decatur by the 95. Anyway what makes El Burrito so important is not the food but the memories. It's where we spent a lot of time with my Grandma Dottie before she passed away, it's where she usually wanted to go for lunch to get the chili relleno lunch special. Our aunt Pam used to come in from Pahrump and we'd meet her there for lunch too. When we went for the last time on Monday we were joking that they were both probably turning over in their grave knowing El Burrito is no more. Jason had the pleasure of joining us there for lunch one day and he didn't like it too much. I think for us the food is good because we've always eaten there and the company has always trumped the food. It was definitely a tradition for us to spend time with my mom's side of the family at El Burrito and for those memories I will grieve a little to know that "our" El Burrito is no more.

NEWS BRIEF

breaking news....

this just in... This blogger and her family are on the brink of desperation grasping at anything, anything at all to blog about.We fear there may be a lack of excitement and an over abundance of the mundane.... let's take a look


Our top story this evening takes a look at the mother of this family. On the outside she may appear to be just like you or me, but on the inside she harbors a hideous and unflattering secret- the undeniable, insatiable love that has haunted her since childhood. The deliciously fried to perfection dough topped with whatever that white frosting is then playfully topped with a festivity of sprinkles that is the Winchell's cake donut. In her defense she states that in her youth she would ride her bike to Winchell's where she would purchase this same donut as a hole for a mere 10 cents. So you see folks addictions do start out small but can grow to be quite unhealthy.
In further news, Lauren wore dangly earrings for the first time on Monday. Where's the news in that you ask? Well if you'll consider the fact that she's had her ears pierced since April 2007and has only changed her earrings once you'll appreciate this news. Her ears were slow to heal and then she was nervous about changing them, but as you can see she's turned over a new leaf and will be seen out in an array of dazzling earrings soon.
On a serious note, Jace has once again been spotted contorting his face for the camera. He is highly recognized for his ease in front of the camera, but lately his work has gone from alarmingly handsome to over the top crazy faces. When will this madness end??

Other highlights this week include a trip to the dentist for Lauren and Jace with a return visit scheduled for next month. A trip to the fabulous mall and dinner at El Jefe's on Saturday. And wow that about sums up our newscast for this evening. Remember that blogging just to blog is not lame and have a great evening.

THIS & THAT

Last Saturday we headed over the hump to Pahrump for my cousin Rachel's son, D.C.'s birthday party at the fabulous Skate Zone. If you have never been honored with making the drive to Pahrump don't feel saddened because you haven't missed a thing(unless you think the Chicken Ranch is someplace you'd like to check out). Let's just say the city has no master plan, buildings are just here and there with no landscaping to speak of. It makes you thirsty just driving through- nothing is green, just dirt and rocks, if a tumble weed started to blow you'd instinctively look to see if there was a dead cow's skull behind it. I keep telling Rachel she needs to move back here, maybe someday. Anyway my post is supposed to be about the party. At Skate Zone they have Laser Tag, so Lauren, Jace, Jake and Clark(their cousins who came with) played that for awhile, then it was time to skate. We've been to Crystal Palace before so Lauren did O.K. but the 3 boys were hilarious! The guy working there told them to walk in their skates like a penguin, which did help, but they were still falling all over the place. There were no major bruises to speak of and everyone had a fun time. Thanks for the invite Rachel.

Steph trying to help the boys!
Go Lauren Go!

- I really don't know what's going on here- maybe it's my cooking- but another tooth has escaped the mouth of Jace. This time it was the other front tooth. He's officially unable to bite into an apple. He looks super cute though!

-Forgot to mention that I started back to school too. So far so good. I'm taking Methods and Materials and History of Furniture I. Maybe someday all this info will be useful.

-On Monday when it rained Lauren went outside and saw a rainbow so she called everyone out to look at it. Jace must of been mesmerized because he walked right into the pool- fully dressed. Wish I'd have had my camera for that one!

-Since the kids had so much fun skating they asked to go to Crystal Palace again. It's a lot more fun with friends so anyone who wants to come next Tuesday it starts at 6:30pm. Tuesday is their family night so a family of four can skate for $12 or $20 with a pizza and drinks. Additional family members are $8each, but I say if you have 6 just go as 2 separate families. Hope to see some of you there Tuesday the 16th.

ZION NATIONAL PARK

" I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes. "

~e.e. cummings

Nestled amongst the towering rust mountains lies a little piece of heaven called Zion. Jason and I had been there a few times but haven't returned in twelve years. Why? I cannot explain because we both love this place. Kids would have to be our excuse, but now that they are older we will plan to visit more regularly. We stayed in Zion at the lodge in one of the quaint little cabins. Although the lodge is not the original designed in in 1925 by Gilbert Stanley Underwood, which was tragically lost to a fire in 1966, it once again resembles the vision that he had. The little cabin we stayed in was original- circa 1929. We enjoyed walking the grounds and at night the stars were beyond measure.

The first hike we tackled was Weeping Rock. Lauren and Jace enjoyed the water dripping on their heads and couldn't believe it was coming out of the rock. The views were beautiful from there and we even saw a deer taking a rest in the trees on the way down.

Next we took on the Riverside Walk, which is the gateway to The Narrows. I wouldn't mind hiking The Narrows someday, Jason did it in his youth, but for now we weren't prepared or in the mindset for it- not to mention there was a flash flood warning so they weren't allowing people that far in. Lauren and Jace were giddy about the fact that the squirrels were quite friendly and didn't run away, although they wouldn't go too close to them after seeing a flyer about someone who had gotten too close and ended up having stitches in his hand. We stopped for a snack on a huge rock banked by the river and just enjoyed the scenery.

Emerald Pools was our final hike of the day. Jace ,as with the other hikes, had to climb every big rock on the trail and of course had to get a picture on them. We saw frogs and tried to catch one but they were fast.

After lunch the kids went for a swim in the river. It was so great to be in that canyon sitting along the river and just enjoying everything surrounding you. Lauren and Jace loved playing in the river and I wasn't worried because at most spots it was only knee deep. Jason caught a frog so Jace held it, they played in the mud, and skipped rocks across the river. We even had some tubes for them to float down on. It just doesn't get any better than that!

On the way out we stopped to pose in front of the arch. I got a picture of the tunnel by way of the sunroof. It had just started to rain on our way out, so the kids were catching raindrops while we drove.

We were sad to leave such a beautiful place, but we were glad to have been there. We headed over the mountain and spent the rest of the long weekend in Cedar City.

Monday night we headed to my parents house for the annual Labor Day pool party. We enjoyed some food and family and had a great end to a fantastic weekend!