west coast

I will be spending the next few days here.
Helping my little sis get settled into her new stomping grounds.
It will be fun hanging in the city by the bay
and heading down highway 101 to Santa Cruz for a day.
It was be sad to leave her behind when I come home.....boo hoo.

p.s. Thanks to Shane for taking the kids all weekend even over Father's day.
I totally spaced that one when planning the trip.
I am guilt ridden with thoughts of being the worst wife ever for this slight oversight.
He on the other hand did not even raise an eyebrow......what a guy.
I will make it up to him somehow someway.

into thin air

I have the unfortunate ability to loose important items. I wish I could say it's not so....but it is. I can still manage to find everyone else's items in the family. Like ellie says "you are a good finder mom". That is unless that item is mine and sort of important. Important items like my drivers License, bank cards, the mr.'s bank card, keys and so on and so on. I think it probably all started when I was in high school and my wallet was my back pocket. My back pocket was my wallet for so long that sometimes even in my adult years I have forgotten that maybe the back pocket is a bit overrated as a wallet . I have since advanced to a soft orange leather wallet (that I love I might add) and I try to steer clear of habits from my younger years but it is hard sometimes. I am getting better. The craziest part about my unfortunate ability is that I could swear misplacement is not the issue. More like these things just disappear into thin air or my house has a black hole. At least that is what I thought and that is what I tell the mr. when I have had to borrow his bank card and then have had to tell him I lost his too.....oops (his has only disappeared once). It was flat out mind boggling I tell you. Unitll one day randomly I remembered back to a time when I was using the bathroom at Target and somehow some mysterious way my keys wound up where no keys should really ever go. It all happened so fast but when my pants came up the keys went down...down...down. Never before have I hated those automatic flushers so much. I didn't stand a chance with that flusher because no matter my strategy when I stood up the inevitable was going to happen...and it did. In a blink of an eye my shiny keys were traveling into the dark abyss. That's when I realized the possibility that maybe all those important items ended up in the dark abyss too without me even knowing it after to much back pocket time. It was the only thing that made since. I told the Mr. He just laughed at me. Now I realize maybe he was right to laugh...and I am sad. I can't find my camera. (boo hoo) It has vanished into thin air......I am really just so sad. It can't fit down the toilet hole or fit in my back pocket so that blows my whole theory. I am keeping my fingers crossed and saying little prayers that it is waiting for me in a few places I have not been able to check yet. Now I am back to my into thin air and black hole thoeries. Maybe somehow eveything that has vanished is all in one tricky place and one magical day I will find all of it.....maybe?

vote,vote,vote

My sis in law Allison put a 12 second video together for a contest for an all expense paid trip to Italy to attend a photography workshop. She has made it to the top 4 videos and now she needs votes to win. She is a really, really amazing photographer and her video is super sweet, bay far the best out of the 4. So go here to see a really cool video Me plus Italy it's the first video. Then vote for her!!

Polls end at 5:00 tonight!!

Thanks everyone!

Here is the 12 second clip.. pretty.

me plus italy on 12seconds.tv

red rock photographs

Some of my favorite pictures of our last trip to the dessert.

Canon always climbing. It scares me a lot of the time.


Ellie totally out of character holding a tad pole. She can always surprise me.

love...love.


Signature on everything.


Canyon loves this stuff.


2009 picture in front of the old Zion tree. (lucy MIA) We take a picture of the kids in this exact spot every year.


The end.

signatures on summer toes

A serious summer habit has formed. Signatures on everything imaginable. I made her give me a pinkie promise that I would no longer find her little name on the inside of drawers, under shelves, on the wall 90% hidden by a hung picture. I guess at least she knows when to hide her signature and when she can let it shine brightly, like on her little sisters summer toes. Just look at those summer toes already telling stories about what she has been up to in the summer of 09. She's part hippie I suppose because she thinks wearing shoes outside is for the birds. I can't change her mind. I have tried.

zippidy do da

my oh my what a wonderful day.




Gotta love good old fashion summer time fun.
Everyone loves a good zip line ride......right?

a runner.....not really.

but I want to be healthy and strong to watch my children and grandchildren grow and grow.
Oh, and I also sort of need to work off all the ice cream I eat.

So I semi-torture myself with running.

And somehow when the run is over I am always glad I did it.
It feels good to know I can go further than I thought I could.

I did this little 10k run this weekend.

The trail was so beautiful and green and well..... kind of pretty hard.
It went up and up the canyon
and then went back down but the down still seemed like up sometimes.
How does that happen??
I'm not sure how this is rewarding when all is said and done.
But I guess it is.
Because there are more runs to come this summer.