Longest Slot Canyon

Lucas Planned a hike down Buckskin Gulch which is in the Paria wilderness area about 40 miles east of Kanab. The hike was about 21 miles long and 13 miles of it is in a narrow slot canyon. It was a cool hike very pretty and pretty hard to do because you had to hike so far the first day because the camps are at the end of the canyon, and you had to wade through cold nasty mud puddles but I liked it and I got some rad pictures.

"This mud puddle is freezing my nuts off!"

Even the Paria river canyon was narrow when we got to it.

This is the best shot I got the whole time, I'm going to charge royalties for it.

Getting in touch with our Swiss-ness:)

My husband's ancestors moved from Switzerland to join the LDS Church. When they got here they were called to settle Santa Clara. With them they brought many of their traditions, although some had to be adapted to this area. Their tradition of dying Easter eggs persisted, but they used a local plant called Santa Clara Red Root to do it. I had this great idea that we should dye our eggs in the traditional way this year to make Easter more interesting.

My original plan was to go down by the river and hope I could find some. Then I had a bit of inspiration to ask my father in law about it. He told me that this is how his grandmother (the Swiss one) taught him to dye eggs.

He knew exactly where to find some. So while Logan was hiking, Ron, Anisa and her family, and I loaded up in the mini van in search of red root.

We did it using the tutorial found on You Craft Me Up. Apparently her hubby has Santa Clara roots as well:)

While we were cooking the roots they were very stinky. It smelled like we were boiling weeds. Who knew?!

And wrapping leaves on the shells was a bit tricky. Logan and Anisa did it the best:)

The end result however, was beautiful. Even if your leaf didn't work well it still turned it the most beautiful red/purple color. Much more colorful than store bought dye.

It was so much fun to get to do this and get closer to "my" Swiss heritage. I love learning about my ancestors and this was a fun way to feel more connected to them.

P.S. All these picture were stolen from my Sister in Law's blog:) She was actually smart enough to bring a camera with her... Check it out! Larcie Bird Craft Blog!

Kayenta Street Painting Festival

About a month ago while I was subbing, a woman came to the school for an assembly to tell us about something interesting that would be taking place the second weekend in April. Since it rained nearly all day yesterday, we went with Anisa's family to check it out after church today. I'm always glad to soak up a little culture when it comes my way:)

These artists are so amazing. They paint massive pictures on the asphalt using pastels. I can't believe painting so hard for so many hours and then having it all washed away.

Some paintings were very colorful and bright:)
This one was my favorite. I love Van Gogh:)

Poor Logan thought he was being tortured the whole time, but I had fun!

The Business of Spring!

Logan has been gone working in Salt Lake all week getting snowed on while I am in Sunny Santa Clara enjoying the marvelous weather! I've been puttering in the yard a little each afternoon, and although I'm not to the point of "loving" it yet, I am enjoying myself.

Here is some of the "news" from the yard.

Yesterday I watered the asparagus. Today I realized I may have made a terrible mistake because this is what I harvested..... Check out that monster on top of the pile!!!!

I bought a bare-root rosebush in January, and this is not it:) It's still lifeless looking, but this is one I bought a couple weeks ago that was not bare-root, and is definitely showing more signs of life.

And this is our sprinkling system! There are still some random dirt piles, but it looks like heaven to me! It will be so nice to water the whole lawn at the same time! I don't know how Debbie did it with a hose for 30+ years.

Well, that's the news here at the Blake's. I hope all of you in colder regions are jealous of my weather! I am getting a little worried though. I don't think I'll develop the heat tolerance I have had in previous years since I'm not working at the Dry Cleaning Inferno... That was one of the major upsides to that job. I'm not complaining though, the weather is so nice!

Spring Break!

I talked Logan into taking me to Disneyland for Spring Break. It was so much fun! We got stuck in horrible traffic on the way there (it was Sunday night and everyone was apparently heading back to LA after their weekend of debauchery in Las Vegas) it took us almost nine hours to get there:(

We bought our tickets on ebay, and now we understand that this was most likely illegal since the people told us that we were Australians who were on our 10th and 11th day in the park and if we had to sign our tickets to sign them so that they could not be read....lol. Logan had to sign them....it was funny:)

We had so much fun! We rode everything we wanted to and had a blast! Logan and I have never been to an amusement park together...EVER! It was awesome!

Our favorite ride was the Hollywood Tower of Terror. Neither of us had ever been on it before. As you can see, we both wore our Camelbacks the entire time. It was kind of a pain to hold onto them during rides. During the Tower of Terror ride, Logan was trying to hold onto his bag and hold my hand at the same time. When the "elevator" dropped us, his bag floated up and it was HILARIOUS! That is my favorite memory of the whole trip. We were laughing so hard!

We Made it!

Since Sydney, Brenner, and Myself made it to the top of the Red Mountain this last Saturday I thought I should put some pictures to show ya'll. This was Sydney and Brenner's first time and probably Sydney's last time to the top of the Red Mountain. Sydney's legs hurt and my back hurts from hefting Brenner down cliff faces but other than that and a little sun burn we did great it was a nice day and good time to check an Item of Sydney's "Bucket List." Anisa, Ryan and the other two Boys made it to the "Sugar Jar/Bowl" Rock.

The Art of Pruning with a Saws All and the Woes of Owning a Home:)

'Tis the season of pruning. Two weeks ago we pruned our grape vines, and this weekend we tackled the trees. Logan has done a lot of research on pruning trees lately, and he found that although this style of pruning is not recommended, if it has been done, it should continue to be done. It was a lot more work than we anticipated:) SURPRISE! Everything has:)

Early on Saturday morning Logan climbed into the tree with a Saws All. Many have mocked his chosen tool, but it proved to be much safer than a chain saw, thank you very much! We thought it would be finished with plenty of time to go shooting in the afternoon. Boy were we wrong!

Ah! The last limb! What a wonderful moment for us both, but mostly for poor Logan. Although my job was to haul the limbs away, I slacked off a bit and took a nap:) No judging please, it was exhausting and I am not a Blake who can work all day long without stopping!
And there he is, my triumphant hubby:) Approximately 9 hours later. Yep. NINE!
And finally, the climax of our story. THE LIMB PILE! Just to give you some prospective, that pole is about 10 feet high... See why I wussed out now???

Having a home may be ridiculously difficult, but it's so nice to know our kids will have a yard to play in and that we aren't just throwing our money away each month as we rent. We'll adjust, it's just more than we bargained for:)

SGU Grand Opening

As many of you know, Logan has been working on the new St. George Airport off and on (mostly on) since it began around 50 months ago. So when it opened last week, we decided to go to the grand opening to see the terminal and all of the other exciting things they had advertised.

The airport is a LONG way from town. Around 15 miles one way (Logan will have to correct me if I'm wrong). So we left about 30 minutes early, but we got stopped by traffic about 4 miles from the airport. It was stop and go all the way. It took more than two hours. Another disappointment was all the cool stuff they had advertised, like the Blue Angels and getting to see inside the new SkyWest jet. The truth was that some random planes from Nellis flew over a couple of time in normal boring formations (we were still on the Southern Parkway at the time), and only dignitaries could see inside the planes or even go out on the tarmac.

Basically, the grand opening was a disappointment. We did see Governor Herbert, Orrin Hatch, Pres. Uchtdorf's head, and Fields Mosely from channel 2. But the best part was the scissors:)

We were standing there pretty bored and lamenting the lameness when some giant ceremonial scissors caught my eye. So I grabbed them and told Logan to take my picture. Then Logan wanted a picture. Then everyone wanted to touch the golden scissors. I can't believe they had been sitting there for hours with nobody bothering them...

Dungeon Chic

This is how it started.

and this is how it ended I think it turned out rather well, but we have to remember it is just a "Hobby" room.

LOL

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Graduation Celebration:)

Sorry that my graduation was private. It's because it is in the middle of the year, I will technically be walking in May, but I am officially finished with my studies and will receive my license to teach before Christmas... If I pay a ridiculous amount of money to print it out. Yep, I print it myself. Better buy some nice paper I guess:)

These are the people I graduated with. And the best part is, I still like most of them:) I guess spending six hours a day three days a week with the same people for 2 years can wear on a person, but it can also help you make best friends. Mine are the two closest to me, Moe and Jessica!
And this is Dr. Sandy Petersen. I want to be her when I grow up:) Seriously, she is AMAZING! And I may sometimes still find myself on the couch in her office "therapizing"... Hope she's prepared for that!
Me and Moe. Again I say that Moe and Jessica have saved my life on way more than one occasion! They have got me through the past two years and I KNOW that they will be my friends for life! I love them SO MUCH!
And finally me and Rory, Moe's precious baby girl! Poor baby, I have been naming her since I found out she existed. Some of the very clever names include: Moe-be, Moe-b-won-kanobe, Moe-zilla, Geroni-moe, Moe-seph, and really countless others. I was sure that she should be named after her momma (she wasn't). But anyway, I digress, I think she is a wonderful accessory though, don't you?

Anyway, I graduated and it was fun!

Joren's Song

Goes to the Tune of Poker Face by Lady GAGA

Mom mom mom ma
Mom mom mom ma
I wanna eat em’ like we do at Siney’s Place
Microwave em’ and I’ll cut em’ on my plastic plate (I love it)
Fun and some nutrition then play time begins to start
And after we have eaten we’ll play meat ball in the dark.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, ohhhh, oh-oh-e-oh-oh-oh
I’ll eat a lot ,if it’s not to hot
Oh, oh, oh, oh, ohhhh, oh-oh-e-oh-oh-oh
I’ll eat a lot ,if it’s not to hot

[Chorus:]
I put my,
I put my,
I put my ketchup on Joker’s face
(so I can eat my hot dog)
I put my,
I put my,
I put my ketchup on Joker’s face
(so I can eat my hot dog)

J-j-j-joker’s face, j-j-joker’s face
(Mom mom mom ma)
J-j-j-joker’s face, j-j-joker’s face
(Mom mom mom ma)

some day I'll figure out a way to put these to music but for now you'll have to use your imagination.

It all comes down to this

4 1/2 years, 9 semesters, 2 colleges, countless hours and tears (just ask Logan) and it all comes down to this.

1 binder, 59 pages, and 1 chance achieve the goal.

Tomorrow I officially end my bittersweet relationship with Dixie State College.

Tomorrow I officially complete my Bachelor's of Elementary Education.

Tomorrow I become a "grown-up".

YAY ME! I am finally going to GRADUATE!!!

It's Been a Long Time!

Since about 2001 to be exact. Yep, that's right. I haven't had all naturally colored hair since I was in 7th grade. A couple years ago, Brittney did a great job matching my natural hair color and I was able to grow it out. Then a few weeks ago she cut off the remaining dyed ends. It was an exciting day! Now I'll probably start going grey and have to dye it again:)

A Child at Heart

Logan calls it childish, I prefer childlike. Apparently it's a condition many elementary school teachers suffer from, and I guess I'm no exception...

Look at my new toy!

The Fisher Price Little People Nativity! I think it's AWESOME! Now we have a big people and a little people nativity to enjoy! Merry Christmas!