Deathvalley 2

figure 1

I finally guilted my mother and sis. to visit us. While they we here we took a side trip to deathvalley ... my second time this year. I am really intrigued by its harshness. We took a different road in this time and made it up to the sand dunes (figure 1)... which I thought were fabulous. Mom was a trooper and Michelle complained the whole time and talked about yellowstone and how many animals there were to see. Speaking of animals, we did spot a few crawling things in mud hole but that was about it... besides the crows circling in the distance and a lizard running into a bush before anyone else could see him. Of course, I redid the sundial... with two people I think it gets interesting... (figure 2) It was only two weeks ago when Sara and I visited but now it was already sweltering hot and the wind was blowing sand everywhere... which I caught on film (figure 3). We also made our way to a some ruins which really weren't worth the 100 yard detour (figure 4) but besides that and our stop at badwater (figure 5) we really didn't get out of the car... it was miserable out there. Well, it always makes you appreciate the good life we left at home... eating Sara's chicken lime enchiladas (not picture) and playing croquet (figure 6) or laying around inside with little Cooper and Cousin Jenna (figure 7) or sitting out in our little patio (figure 8) enjoying our plants that we've been able to keep alive ever since discovering miracle grow (plants not pictured).

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figure 8

Update

I've been a poor blogger lately. Life's been so busy and when I get home from work at the end of the day I'm so wiped out that blogging just doesn't happen. This weekend I had to work on Saturday which then leaves today to recoop. Luckily we had our friend Jessica and her daughter Ana over for dinner last night so I got cleaning and grocery shopping done on Friday night. It was SO NICE to come home from work on Saturday to a clean house. And then it was fun to eat with such great people. We also played crochet which we've been into lately because we just bought a crochet set. If anyone wants to play come on over...we're always up for a game.

After our friends left we put a movie on. About 2 weeks ago Stanford ordered Netflix. I was really opposed to the idea but once we signed up and the movies started coming we were hooked. It's seriously a highlight of our day when a new movie comes. Sad, I know. But when you don't have cable (or tv channels in general) movie's are a big source of entertainment, let alone a great way to unwind after a long day. We watched The Lake House - not a movie I would recommend to anyone. It was terrible. Hopefully the next one coming won't be so bad.

Well my day is almost over and there's still some phone calls I want to make and a few letters I want to write. I hope you all enjoyed your weekend.

BYU Baseball

As many of you know, my brother Blake pitches for BYU. His team was in town this past weekend playing against UNLV. It was so fun to watch the three games BYU played and to watch my brother pitch on Saturday's game. Stanford and I were able to have a lot of my family stay at our place and enjoy the games too. Here are some pictures from the fun weekend!

Blake during Thursday nights game where BYU beat UNLV!


Mom, Paige & Tasha enjoying time at our place before heading to the game on Saturday


Uncle Dick, Aunt Chris, Mom, Paige, Tanner, me, Tasha & Brayden


Tasha and Brayden - my sister made these shirts to show their support for Blake "Torg" #32. They were searching for him during warm ups before the game on Saturday.


Bradyen



My brother on the mound



Tanner paying close attention to the game. He really knew what was going on!


Tanner playing with two baseballs someone had given him & Brayden. He had been searching with Uncle Stanford for a baseball most of the game and was thrilled when he finally got one.


Blake chearing on his team as yet another run was scored. BYU won UNLV 21-12!!


Blake looking up at us. Tanner would yell and yell for Blake until he looked up at us and smiled or waved. It was great!


After the game Tanner would jump into Blake's arms. He loves watching his Uncle Blake play ball.


Blake, dad, and Tanner


Great job Blake on pitching. We had so much fun watching you play and being able to spend time with you. We loved having a "party" (as Tanner called it) at our house - with my Aunt Chris, Uncle Dick, mom, dad, sisters - Paige & Tasha - and two nephews Tanner & Brayden who stayed with us. We were sad to say goodbye and have the good times end. It was such a great weekend and we loved it all!