saying goodbye

sad day.  they're off, on their way to little rock.  life won't be the same around here without them.  but they did leave a small piece with us.  portia is living with grammy and grandpa until school starts and then she's back down to byu. 

summer catch up (working backward)

we all took our annual trip to lagoon while duane was here.  it wasn't near as hot as it has been in years past.  and this time preston brought his special friend.  it was kind of fun having her along.  at least she had portia. 

 this year i was feeling so brave that i rode wicked.  my big brother went with me, and guess what?  he's the one who got sick!!  after all of his trash talkin'. 

pacific northwest- i belong there

the lady who took our photo didn't get any of the house in the picture with us.  oh well.  washington lighthouses

home in warrenton we rented.  the 'hammond hilton.'  i could move here.  tomorrow. 

the view from the house.  that's the columbia, right as it hits the pacific.  and that's washington behind it. 

spencer's favorite part of the trip- the trees.  the rainforest and how dense it all was.

indian beach at ecola state park.  (famous place in oregon.)  this was the 'la push' beach in twilight. 

astoria

the real 'la push.'  i love this place. 

preston was literally soaked from the rain.

it really only rained hard on us once, in seattle.

at the lockes.  will and i could've stayed and watched this for hours.

cupcakes from trophys.  a famous shop in seattle.

we had a really great time.  warrenton was the best.  that's the most serene, amazing home to stay in.  i wish it wasn't so far away.  i don't know when we can go back, but hopefully soon.  Next time just Will and I though. 

still alive

without a doubt one of the most challenging, frightening things i've ever done in my life.  i think i was pushed beyond every single comfort level i have.  we scaled walls, hiked into caves, jumped from waterfalls, (swam with fish, which is only scary to me, apparently) did intense rock climbing involving ropes at times, but the worst experience of all, no question about it, was riding that STUPID HORSE out of the grand canyon.  3 hours of that dang thing running and me holding on for dear life!!!  i thought for sure i was going to get thrown off of him.  i was 100 times more sore from that ride than from any of the hiking/climbing we did.  it was a very poor choice!  and obviously, i'm not a fan of riding.  i will have nightmares for a long time of that ride,  no joke!

we did have a fun time though.  i'd call it more of an adventure than a vacation- but now that it's over- i can laugh about it and enjoy it more.  we loved the group we went with, it was a perfect balance of people.  next time though, we're renting a beach house or going on a cruise. 

mother nature's crappy garden

well, spring has yet to be, here in utah.  and my garden shows it.  i have some onions, spinach, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, radish, peas and potatoes coming up- but they are small.  lettuce should almost be ready to harvest by now- and mine are about 2 inches tall.  so i wonder what kind of 'salad' crop we'll even have this year.  my plan is to get the full garden in on saturday.  the beans, tomatoes, squash, cucumber, zucchini, melons- all of it.  then we'll just pray for warmer weather. 

i was super excited today to find (in wal-mart of all places) some heirloom tomato plants.  i've been looking all over for them.  i got some pink brandywine and yellow pear.  i hope to be able to find more, but i'll be planting plenty of hybrids also.  it goes against everything i believe in- but the fact is heirlooms are hard to grow.  and if i want to have at least a decent tomato crop, i've got to plant some hybrids. 

yay!!  goldilocks is over and done.  it was more fun than i expected it to be, and the weather was fantastic that day.  (such a blessing.)  i'd love to pretend it wasn't, but it was still a challenge for me to get up that first 3 mile hill.  i discovered i actually enjoy bike riding though.  my friend amanda is already trying to talk me into getting a road bike.  ummmm, i'm not sure i'm ready for that yet.  but it was a good experience i'm glad she pushed me into.  :)  wendy and amy were amazing.  truly. 

and this is my new sweet grandma fisher.  she is a darling woman with spunk you would never believe came from a 91 year-old.  her birthday was mother's day, and we were able to spend the day with her at my parents house.  everything is working out there so much better than we ever dreamed!  my boys absolutely love her.  especially brig.  he thinks she is the 'coolest ever"!  i have to admit, i do too.  i played zilch (the dice game) with her and my mom this morning for a little while.  she totally won.  and she was so much fun just to watch play the game.  i hope i'm that with it when i'm her age. 

we leave for havasupai in 8 days.  i feel completely unprepared.  but i'm sure it will be an experience to remember forever, one way or another. 

keep calm and ride on...

my life has been a little over-the-top lately.  it seems all of my spare time is getting sucked into so many different directions.  life is go go go.  will and i are busy on things from the moment we get up until we crash in the wee hours of the morning.  literally.  i rented young victoria and it took me three nights to watch it.  not because it wasn't really good, but because i couldn't keep myself awake for longer than 30 minutes or so each night.  (it was really good.)  preston's party went great.  it was so much work- but it turned out very much like i had pictured it.  (so that's good, i think.) 

my focus over the past few weeks has been hiking and riding.  i've gotten myself in way over my head with this bike ride on the 8th.  it should be simple- but for a girl who hasn't spent much time on a bike in (seriously) 20 years- it is kicking. my. butt.  today was the first time i made it up the massive hill on the first stretch of the ride.  it's 2 1/2 miles of uphill, then a very steep and narrow highway that climbs for what feels like forever.  then the rest of the 14 miles isn't that big of a deal.  a few areas of rough, but mostly no big deal.  it's the first 3 miles that make me want to die.  (it reminds me of childbirth- when i'm riding, i honestly feel like i'm just not going to make it.)  sad.  but true.  this whole beach cruiser ride was a ridiculously bad idea. 

and as far as the hiking goes, i can deal with it.  i am slow, but i will make it just fine.  my biggest issue there is the blisters.  i can't seem to hike downhill without them.  no matter which shoes i wear.  all i know is will owes me big time for this one!  (a whole week vacation without the kids and 10 hours of driving for some crap food, hot days, OUT-HOUSES and uncomfortable nights in the bottom of the grand canyon????  who does that?) 

we've been working on expanding our coup for the new chickens.  we put in our duck pond (which they love) but unfortunately the next day we had lost one of our new chickens because she couldn't get herself out of the water and drown.  spencer and i were devastated.  everyone else took it okay.  we're sanding down our garden boxes and re-staining the wood.  we spent all day saturday mucking out and painting the barns where our goats live.  last week we drove all over tarnation finding day-old, inexpensive bread for our pigs.  i think we ended up with roughly 300 loaves.  (the work and love that goes into raising animals.)  will is getting ready to start building his green house.  it's bigger than i want it to be- but will is stubborn about these things.  so i'll just have to deal with it.  i'm not so excited about the aquaponics, or the worms.  but the green house does sound like it's going to be a good thing to have.  we'll see.

i'll post photos of everything next time.  i'm totally beat.