Rafting in Green River

We went camping with Ben and Brittney Laidlaw, Camille and Matt Campbell, Cash and Adam over near Green River to raft the last little bit of Grey Canyon on the Green River.

It was really fun! It rained and the water was chilly, but it was still fun.

The couples (except Logan and I) left Saturday night. The other four of us stayed and got rained on.

The next morning the road was really muddy and we almost slid off the road and into the river and died. I am being a little dramatic here, but it scared me a lot. Maybe that's because my window was the one that was on the edge. It took us forever to get the mud off Logan's tires enough to drive down the freeway. They must make a killing at the one over priced carwash in town.

Fun with Uncle Logan

Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Logan with Brenner and Joren painting the trailer.

Logan reading to Legacy.

A couple of silly pictures of Legacy wearing some nerdy glasses:)

Logan is such a good uncle and all the kids just love him. Well, except for Terek, hence no pictures, but Terek doesn't like anybody;)

That's my niece!

FOR THE SPECTRUM DAILY NEWS
SALT LAKE CITY -

While many students take a break over the summer, several young women are gearing up for a unique competition.

Deaf and hard-of-hearing women from around Utah will compete in the Miss Deaf Utah Ambassadorship Program on Saturday at 6 p.m. at South Hills Middle School, 13508 S. 4000 West, Riverton.

Among the seven contestants is 19-year old Natisha Luke from St. George. Luke enjoys boating, wakeboarding, hiking, and camping with her family. She has completed phlebotomy school and is certified. This fall she plans to enroll in college to become a C.N.A. In the future she would like to work with young children as a teacher or pediatrician.

And guess what! SHE WON!

Where's Logan been all week?

He's chilling in Brian Head...literally...

...in his own Condo...

...working and enjoying the sights.

I drove up there last night and got to visit with him for a couple hours. It was nice to see him and I didn't know Brian Head was so beautiful!

MMM...Punch Bags

First one in a very long time...Gotta love 'em!

The ONE Thing I Hate About St. George

Cockroaches in my bathroom, cockroaches in my kitchen...

COCKROACHES IN MY BED!!!!!

Ranchin' it on the Arizona Strip

This morning at 6am we headed out to the Ranch on the Arizona Strip for Round-Up. Yeah, it's fun...

I really didn't take very many pictures since most of them would be gruesome photos of animals:)

I did take a couple of our nephew Tanner who can always be counted on for entertainment.

These are especially for Debbie, who is missing her first Round-Up in around twenty years. I really didn't do as well this year without her to tell me stories and keep me distracted. Melanie did an awesome job "tending" me though and was super sweet to me even when I was a big baby.

This is Tanner in all of "Grandma's Gear".

Tanner pretending he is a calf about to get branded/chopped/vaccinated/castrated.

This is everyone getting ready for the festivities...I was the counter of cows again...the easy job...until I got freaked out and nearly killed and decided to nap in the retro-chic trailer.

And this is my near-death experience. Yeah, silly me, wanting a drink of water, went to get some out of the cooler. I could only see about four inches of it's extremely fat tummy and it startled me. I didn't scream right away, but as soon as I turned to run it started to rattle and I got freaked and ran screaming to Logan. Ron killed it (THANKS RON!) and all was well, except for me, who never really recovered and was too scared to even pee anywhere.

I think I have had too many reptile experiences lately:)

Too Much Excitement

We went up to Elsinore to help my Mom decorate graves since it is a huge affair up there in Sevier and Piute Counties. It was nice to see Mom and to get a chance to help her out. It was also the first time Logan has been to the clay hill cemetary in Junction and he got a good taste of what it is like to rake/dig/pull weeds off from old graves that are my ancestors. It's always an interesting activity.

Anyway, we left around four o'clock in the afternoon on Saturday, since we were in a hurry to get home since we did round-up today. I was kind of grumpy so I slept till we were almost to Beaver when Logan woke me up to ask me if my battery light was on all the time. I told him that I didn't know. While we were having this conversation, we heard the belt snap and had to pull over.

We hadn't even been pulled off the freeway for a minute when a mini-van stopped to help us. Since there was really nothing they could do, they left. Meanwhile, the engine cooled some and we drove around another mile. this is when Logan had the idea to use one of my shoelaces instead of a belt. While we were doing this, a highway patol officer stopped to help. Again, there was nothing he could do so he left.

We were lucky enough to coast into Beaver on the next try and got to Eagle's Landing where the "mechanic" told us he only does tires. So we go to the Anytime and it's $87.00/hr labor. We finally went to the Napa and bought a belt literally seconds before they closed.

While Logan was trying to figure out how to install it (my car doesn't have a manuel) I decided to try to find internet access and get a diagram. While I was wandering around downtown Beaver, I was approached by a Highway Patrolman who asked, "Are you okay ma'am?" I said, "No, I'm not. Do you know how to change a serpintine belt?" So he gave me a ride back to the car and tried to help. He escorted us to another "mechanic" who "couldn't" fix it and wouldn't even let Logan borrow a tool. So they finally track down an actual mechanic and we had to wait for 30 minutes for him to get there.

Come to find out, I don't actually drive a Saturn SL-1, but a Saturn SL-2. Apparently the lady I bought it from is crazy. The belt didn't fit, he didn't have one and they had to have Napa open up again just for us. Three hours later we were back on the road.

We did find something humorous while stranded at the Chevron/Dairy Queen. Look closely at the picture below...

Oh Man, I Love D.I.!

75 Cents

Folliculitis

As many of you may know, I have had a rash on my legs off and on for around two years. Yes, two YEARS! Well, today I finally had it and went to the doctor. It turns out that I have Folliculitis. It is an infection of the hair follicles. It is caused by Staph infection which I have had very severely twice before. I am so excited to finally know what is wrong. I just popped my first antibiotic pill and hopefully it will be clearing up permanently in the next few days. Hooray!

Surprised by a Lizard

Tonight, we were on our way to drive by some houses my brother is thinking about buying when I noticed this:

It was on the window just outside our front door, and behind our shrubery. When we got back, it was still there so I decided to try to get a better picture of it, but it freaked out and jumped down and scared me to death! I went running through our parking lot thinking that it was going to attack me. Logan just laughed and had to talk me into walking past the shrub to get into our house. This lizard was seriously HUGE! Everyone from St.George will probably laugh at me because you are all used to them, but it really freaked me out!!!

Halo: The Song Re-Written

This song was co-written by Logan and myself. It is to Beyonce's "Halo".

Halo
Remember those plans we made?
Remember we’re going out?
Would you please shut off that annoying game?
Cuz I can’t stand that shooting sound.
You found a way to sneak one in,
and now I’m really starting to doubt
That you’ll ever stop playing Halo
You can’t stop playing now.

Bridge:
I’m tired of bein’ awakened
by the sound of armor drainin’
All this crap that I been takin’
Are you ever gonna cut it out?
Everywhere I’m looking now
all I see is Master Chief’s face
Baby all you do is play Halo
and I need some saving grace
You’re everything I need and more
but it’s written all over your face
You’ll never stop playin’ Halo
I pray you will someday

Chorus:
You’ re still playing Halo Halo Halo
You’ re still playing Halo Halo Halo
You’ re still playing Halo Halo Halo
You’ re still playing Halo Halo Halo

Laying on the couch again
You’re playin’ it through the night
You’re the only thing that I want
but you’re addicted to the fight
I hear “I hate this map” again
You swear this one will be your last game
But you will soon forget
So I lay here on the couch again

Bridge:
I’m tired of bein’ awakened
by the sound of armor drainin’
All this crap that I been takin’
Are you ever gonna cut it out?
Everywhere I’m looking now
all I see is Master Chief’s face
Baby all you do is play Halo
and I need some saving grace
You’re everything I need and more
but it’s written all over your face
You’ll never stop playin’ Halo
I pray you will someday

Chorus:
You’re still playing Halo Halo Halo
You’re still playing Halo Halo Halo
You’ re still playing Halo Halo Halo
You’ re still playing Halo Halo Halo
You’ re still playing Halo Halo Halo
You’ re still playing Halo Halo Halo
You’ re still playing Halo Halo Halo
You’ re still playing Halo Halo Halo
Halooooo ouuuu Halooooo ouuuu
Halooooo ouuuu Ouuuuu ouuuuu ouuuuu

Bridge/Chorus Ending:
Everywhere I’m looking now
all I see is Master Chief’s face
Baby all you do is play Halo
and I need some saving grace
You’re everything I need and more
but it’s written all over your face
You’ll never stop playin’ Halo
I pray you will someday
You’ re still playing Halo Halo Halo
You’ re still playing Halo Halo Halo
You’ re still playing Halo Halo Halo
You’ re still playing Halo Halo Halo
You’ re still playing Halo Halo Halo
You’ re still playing Halo Halo Halo
You’ re still playing Halo Halo Halo
You’ re still playing Halo Halo Halo

A Loss in the Family

We now only have three gold fish.

Rest in peace little un-named fishy.

The Jam Adventure

Today I have the day off, so what did I do with all my spare time? Did I craft, sew, or scrapbook? Guess again....

Every once in a while I decide that being domestic can't be that hard afterall...and I try again.

Today I decided to make my Grandma Gene's famous homemade rolls and strawberry jam. I started the rolls around 10 am. I waited 'til they were rising in the bowl the second time and started to cut up the strawberries. At this point I was feeling pretty good about myself. I've successfully made the rolls before and I've seen the jam made about a million times, so I'm good, right? Think again.

Everything went smoothly until I was stirring my boiling jam in the pan and I see floating black chunks...yep, you're right...my spoon melted. So while I was feverishly trying to fish out the black chunks, it's time to start the timed boil.

I finally decide that we and whoever, if anyone, that we share this with will just have to look out for the chunks.

At last my poor little burnt fingers have the last ring screwed on, and I notice something...what did I notice? THIS IS WHAT I NOTICE:

I have never seen, let alone made a mess this big...

There is jam in all the usual places like stove, counter, etc...but there is also jam in many unexpected places like floor, fridge (splatter) and me. Not a pretty sight.

So this is my final product. Eight itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny half-pints of strawberry jam, complete with melted spoon chunks.

Was it worth it? I don't know, I haven't tasted it. Will it even set up? Only time will tell. Will I make this again? Ask me next week.

Meanwhile...the rolls are going great. Wouldn't Grandma be proud?

I went to Disneyland

And it was the most exhausting day of my life. We left St. George at midnight Friday and got there at 7 Saturday morning. We stayed at the park till midnight and I got home at 8 this morning.