Happy 17th Danielle!!

Saturday was Danielle's 17th birthday...to celebrate we hopped on the FrontRunner here in Ogden and went down to Salt Lake City to eat lunch.
Last week dad and I went to SLC for a day. We came across a wonderful restaurant called "Blue Lemon". I brought the menu home and Dani thought it sounded good so we headed there Saturday.
After a great lunch we wandered through the Planetaruim then headed to the Gateway Mall (outdoor mall ) and walked around. We sat and watched the little kids play in the water at the Olympic Legacy Plaza....that was very entertaining!
It was an enjoyable day...most importantly Dani had fun :)

Dani & Heather on the FrontRunner

Dani & Ben ~ silly :)

Ben's steak at the "Blue Lemon"

Heather, Ben & Dani

Dani & Grandpa on the BIG elevator at the Planetarium

Crazy ~ we still claim them tho!

Walking towards the Gateway Mall

Silly Siblings :)

Ben, Heather, Grandpa and Dani

Dani opening gifts

Dani & her new Bumble Bee pillow pet ~ she's wanted one of these for awhile! She always drew the cutest, fat bumblebees on all her pictures when she was little.

More gifts....

Traditional sibling picture  :)

A year from now Dani will be graduating from high school. She want to be an elementary teacher. She is a sweet girl who is very determined and hardworking. We are very proud of her!

Have a beautiful day!

~JanMarie

Thank you!

A heartfelt thank you to all who have served or are serving in the military! Your sacrifice and comittment are appreciated :) It's not an easy life but it's honorable.
Thank you!!


~JanMarie

Amazing Grace by Ben

Yesterday Ben sang "Amazing Grace" at his school's talent show. Acappela. I was so proud of him. It takes courage to stand in front of a school full of junior highers!
I was very disappointed in the fact that the audience was noisy through the whole talent show. I will be emailing the school staff about it. One of the quieter times was when Ben sang.
Some of you have already seen this video on Ben's facebook page but thought I'd share it here as well.

http://youtu.be/Yb38531TYHc      (copy and paste to watch this....sorry I couldn't get this link to take you directly to the video)


Have a beautiful day!
~JanMarie

Let's Go For A Walk :)

This post is more pictures than words....dad and I took a drive up to Ogden Valley last Thursday. We stopped along the Ogden River Pathway on the way up. We had a wonderful day :)

Love the color!

These trees are not normally under water

Looking back toward those two trees from above

I wouldn't want to stand in this rivers way......

Ogden River Pathway along Park Blvd.

Pretty blossoms :)

My dad......a wonderful man

The pop of purple is pretty amidst the rock and earth

Kind of an odd picture but the light through the leaves caught my eye

Lilac bush, green pasture & a rusty fence....love it!

The warmth & character of this bridge was appealing

A little leg of Pineview Reservoir

Oh, those reflections get me every time :)

A pretty little lane by the boat dock in Huntsville

Have a beautiful day!
~JanMarie

This and That :)

Rain, Rain Go Away!


It rained much of the day yesterday and has been raining most of today. This is the last thing our swollen rivers needed!You can't even see the mountains today ~ they are in a cloud bank.


Last night was Dani's year end concert. It lasted 2 hrs. and was worth it. The Acappella Choir she's in does an amazing job! At the end the seniors stepped forward and sang Ogden Highs hymn. I couldn't help but think that this time next year Dani will be one of those seniors singing her school hymn for the last time. That brings such mixed emotions. Sadness that these years have gone by so fast but joy at the blessing it is to watch our kids grow towards adulthood. I'm proud of all 3 of them!

Danielle before her concert

Last Saturday was a rough soccer game for Ben. He was red carded for being to aggressive. I could see it being a yellow as Ben is the fastest kid on his team and he collided hard with an opposing player. Red was not an appropriate call but what can you do? A red card means he can't play in this Saturday's game :(

He made the first goal of last Saturday's game though and it was impressive! Yeah Ben!!

Ben relaxing after a soccer game




Friday night DJ, Heather and I took a drive up to Causey Reservoir. It was a beautiful evening and it was nice to drive up in the hills again.

Causey Reservoir

Causey Reservoir

Heather & DJ at Causey Reservoir

Jan & DJ at Causey Reservoir


As I write this blog post my dad is on his way here from Oregon for a visit. No special reason. Just a visit. He loves photography as much as I do so we'll have fun over the next week taking pictures as we adventure around the area. I'm sure I'll share with you :)


Have a beautiful day!
~JanMarie

Warm Tones & Flooded Rivers

Finally!

Sunny days, blue skies and warmer temperatures are here :) Curtains are fluttering in the gentle breeze as we air out a house seemingly full of pent up cabin fever! Winter seems to have lasted extra long this year.

These first four pictures are in the 25th St. area of Ogden. I took a photography  class this week on natural light and last night our instructor took us down to 25th St. as well as other areas to practise what we learned. The light was beautiful. I love the warm tones in these pictures.

The back side of 25th St. 

Some of these pictures are crooked on purpose :)

Our ladies group that snowshoed together this winter is now walking/hiking together weekly. This week we met at Ogden Botanical Gardens and walked the pathway along the river. The river is really high.

Normally it is hoped that snow melt off will fill the reservoirs. The snow pack this year was way beyond normal. April was unusally cold and wet, not allowing the snow to start gradually melting off. Water is being released from dams to allow room for all the upcoming run off.

The pathway is flooded in a couple places

Not even 6" before the water hits the bridge at Grant or Lincoln ( I can't remember )

More pathway flooded

These beautiful flowers were growing along the river

Not at all what this river usually looks like

I love the orange and timber on this bridge

Springtime is here :)

Ogden Botanical Gardens

It's wonderful to be outdoors in the sun again! We are working on the front porch ~ we need to paint the cement steps, replace the wrought iron with wood and landscape the flower bed.

The kids are almost out of school ( 2 weeks ) and summer is around the corner! 

Have a beautiful day :)

~JanMarie

Tree, Track & Silly Girls

Yesterday I was enjoying my morning coffee in my usual spot. A comfy, oversized chair where I can look out the window at the sky and tree tops.

I'm an Oregon girl. I like my trees. Alot. ( No, I'm not a tree hugger :)

The sound of a chainsaw cranking up broke through the morning quiet. I figured they were just cleaning up the bottom limbs of the fir tree across the street.

That happens to be the fir tree I see from my comfy chair every morning. For the last 8 years.

My heart rate quickened as that chainsaw kept working it's way up that grand ole tree. Yikes, they were cutting "my" tree down. I didn't remember them knocking on my door to ask my permission!

This is the after picture....minus the trunks. I will adapt to the new view. I will miss it most in the winter when the other trees are bare. The city is cleaning that property up so hopefully they will do some nice landscaping.

Ben had a track meet last Friday. He's running the 100, 4x1, doing the high jump and shot put.

Some things never change :) How glad that makes my heart. I have pictures of the kids in their toddler years doing this very thing after I made cookies. I love that they still do it at 16 & 18!

Even when things change in our daily lives ( cut down trees and bigger life changes : ) I'm so grateful that God NEVER changes. He is exactly who He says He is!


"The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever."
                                              ~Isaiah 40:8 (NIV)