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)

Over The Mountain And Through The Snow!

Springtime weather.....you've gotta love it! Wild and unpredictable. Winter holding on as tightly as it can and spring desperate to make its appearance.


That's the way it is here in Utah anyway :)


One day I'm taking a picture of Fuddrucker sunning himself on Old Blue then the next day a crazy snowstorm moves in.

Laura and I drove up to Logan yesterday. She went to decorate her sons college dorm room door for his upcoming birthday. Our church, Alpine Church, has 3 campuses ( that's what we call our church buildings ). We have one in Logan and I went to talk to the campus pastor about getting some clean teams set up for that campus. We don't pay anyone to clean our campuses. It's all volunteer from church members.


This is what we ran into going over Sardine Canyon. There were probably 6-8 cars that slid off and one fender bender.

Alpine's Logan campus is in the old Maranatha Baptist Church building and before that it was a LDS ward. It's 100 years old or so. Below is a picture of one of its beautiful old windows. So much character :)

Logan is a wonderful old town. It was incorporated as a city in January 1866. Laura and I plan on going back in May and exploring more of the shops and taking pictures of the many beautiful old buildings. I'm not sure what the building below is. I snapped the picture as we were turning a corner.

We decided to grab dinner before heading back home. We went to the Coppermill Restaurant on Main Street. The building was full of different shops like an art gallery, barber shop, antique store and the restaurant was on the upper level. We were so hungry I forgot to take a picture of the food! It was amazing! We both got the Logan River Pasta.......oh my :) Breaded chicken tenderloins, real bacon chunks, tomatoes over a bed of linguine with a mouth watering, creamy, alfredo sauce. Plus homemade dinner rolls. What more could a girl ask for? At that moment not much!!

This was the view from our table.......the Logan tabernacle.

It was a great afternoon :) These next 2 pictures I took from our front door shortly after I got home. I love the blue in the sky!

Really Mom?

In 7 weeks this sweet girl of ours will be 17! She's in the acappella choir at school. Last night they had an informal concert as a fundraiser. Wanting to capture the moment I asked Dani to stop for a picture on her way out the door. She gave me the typical response I get from my kids when I want to take their picture...."Really mom?" Do you see it in her face? I love it!

Someday they will be glad I'm a crazy picture takin' mom :) Someday when their kids roll their eyes and say "really mom (or dad)?" at the idea of getting their picture taken...again and again...I will try not to laugh to hard as moments like last night come to mind!

These moments are going so quickly.......a year from now Dani will be graduating. So I'm going to keep on capturing these moments knowing someday they will be treasured by my dear children who for now can only moan and groan when they see momma headed their way with a Canon in her hand :)

  

I love you Dani! You guys sounded awesome last night as always :)

Outlaws & North Fork

I just wanted to stop in briefly and share the last couple of days with you :)

Friday DJ and I decided to snowshoe up at Weber County's North Fork Park near Liberty, Utah. It was a beautiful day to be outside. Unseasonably warm at 70*. I wasn't really in the mood to snowshoe as I hadn't slept well the night before but that's ok. DJ doesn't get the chance to adventure as much as I do so away we went! The sky was that pretty deeper blue and it's a really nice area to explore!

Today was Bens first spring soccer game! The first half wasn't alot to be proud of...but they did much better the second half and won 3 - 0 :) We've watched alot of these boys play soccer since 2nd or 3rd grade. It's fun to watch them grow up and improve.

Can you believe it's April already? Yeah for sunny days, green grass and snow still on the mountains :)

~Determination~

Go Ben!

A brief rain storm that passed over us

So many wonderful elements ~ deep blue sky, beautiful evergreens, shadows on the pristine snow and bare branches

You never know what you'll find in the woods :)

Snow melt off running it's course

Me

Our outdoor cafe where we ate lunch 

Blessings to you today :)

Cougar Tracks?

Here in Utah our snow is melting pretty quickly. Laura and I headed out to snowshoe today with our furry boys :)
It wasn't the prettiest day. It was a bit hazy and there was a cool breeze but it was great just to be out excerising and chatting with a friend!

I always keep an eye out for moose. I've taken some pictures of moose over our years of living here but not any real great ones. I'd love to get some better ones! At a safe distance of course:)

I'm also aware that we could run into bear or cougar. Cougars are usually in the higher country and are known to avoid humans typically. So today seeing what we're almost certain were cougar tracks was a little unnerving. We were on Old Snowbasin Road adjacent to the Ice Box Canyon area. The first paw print we saw caused us to look at each other and say "What the heck is that?" It was BIG. It was way bigger than a dog print. They weren't fresh. Sadly there were bunny tracks alongside the cougar tracks for the next 1/2 mile or so. You could tell the cougar at times was walking and then you could see where he'd run. At some point we lost the trail as it merged in with the groomed road.

A good reminder to always be aware of your surroundings :)

Laura and her boy Fred

Me and my boys Koda and Max

Snow melt off and icy creations

Laura and I - the camera was sitting on a post

A bit concerning...............hey Mr. Cougar, I hope you're not still lurking about :)

A good 5" wide ( same paw print as above )

I found this picture of a cougar track online and I'd say it's a pretty good match.

Well, that was our big adventure for the day. The boys came home and have been semi passed out the rest of the day. They run hard up and down the hills and through the trees when we're out.

It's like a little slice of heaven for them and I pretty much agree :)

Snowboarding and Goodnight Moon

Ben has been taking snowboarding lessons up at Powder Mountain these past few weeks. He loves it as we knew he would! I've been taking him up there and sitting on the outdoor deck or in the cafetria watching him and enjoying the mountain atmosphere.

The base elevation for Powder Mountain is 6,900 ft. and the top elevation is 9,100 ft. There are over 7,000 acres of skiable acreage and over 500" of yearly "real snow".
The only road going up to Powder Mountain is very steep with several grades exceeding 13%. It can be a dangerous and sometimes deadly road for people unfamiliar with the area. Your goal should be to use your brakes as little as possible while going back down. Downshifting is your best friend on that road :) Tap lightly if you need to slow down. If you ride your brakes you'll either lose them or be smokin' by the time you get to the bottom.

Yikes!....Now that I've scared you from driving up to Powder Mountain.....it's really worth the drive. It's very pretty and come May/June time the rushing creek on the side of the road from the snow melt off is worth the drive :) A little common sense goes a long way!

Sunday was Ben's last lesson and DJ was able to join us up there after he got off work. Almost a year later I am still so, so happy he is home for good and able to share in everyday life with us!! Dani works just down from Powder Mountain and was also able to come up for a little bit. Her and I left before the guys did so I could take pictures down around Pineview Reservoir before it got dark. She was in the van following me and we pulled into a parking lot off the road where the van got stuck! We had to call DJ and Ben, who were already on their way home, to come back and help. They were very sweet about it and we pushed the van out in no time!

Dani and I sipped hot coffee from Maverick (they have great coffee)and chatted while we were waiting for the guys to come help :)

It's so easy to take things for granted isn't it? I try very hard to cherish the everyday ordinary moments. These fun, sometimes crazy, and yes, even frusterating moments are going to quickly and then these wonderful gifts from God (our children) will be living their own lives.

Powder Mountain Snow School

Still loving the shadows on the snow!

Ben

I love this picture :) Where did my little boy go?

Ben

Peaceful Evening Light at Pineview Reservoir

My camera was drawn to this beautiful tree :)

My very favorite picture of the day.......I couldn't help but capture all this color and texture! It feels like home.

This is Snowbasin from our backyard. (zoomed in a bit) The sun was setting, bathing the mountains in a rosy hue. There were a few wispy darker clouds rolling along the ridge of the mountains. They almost look like smudges on the picture.

Not bad for a backyard view :)

This is looking north towards Ben Lomond Peak - standing by our side door. I zoomed in just enough to cut out the houses on our street.

Good Night Moon.......that was Dani's favorite book when she was little. We about wore a copy of that book out we read it so often!
This was last nights moon from our yard as the sun was setting. That's as far as I could zoom in.

I need to finish this post and go make Cinnamon Nut Biscotti and do laundry :) Blessings!

Love At First Sight and Snowshoeing :)

Sometimes love comes unexpectedly.........in furry bundles.........and hits you smack dab in your heart!

Such a thing happened to us this week :)

Saturday night DJ and Ben were running some errands when Ben called..........

"Mom, you guys need to come to Petsmart right now."

"Why?"

"You just need to come.......there's this dog"

As we drove to Petsmart I already knew it was a done deal. I had no idea what kind of dog it was but the girls and I looked at each other and said "We're bringing this dog home."

Walking into Petsmart I caught sight of the dog Ben had on a leash and it was all I could do to keep my heart from melting all over the floor!

I said "We'll take him!"

Ben said " His name is Max"

I said "We'll really take him"

Ben said "If he doesn't get adopted this weekend he's going to the pound"

I said "Well, for crying out loud, where's the paperwork? Let's get this show on the road!"

We are all in love with Max. He's a cuddler and he adores Koda :) I wouldn't say Koda adores Max but he tolerates him nicely. Max is just under a year old and is a terrier mix.

Heather, Erin and I went snowshoeing yesterday and Max loves the snow just like Koda does. He kept up with Koda all day. They both crashed hard when we got home!

His name is.........MAX!

Max and Koda taking a little break

Koda and Max running through the trees

Max.........SO loveable :)

Over the side of the road.....looks like a piece of art

A closer view

I love Snowbasin

Pretty from any view

And this view

A little breezy at the top

Majestic......plain and simple

I'm always fascinated with the shadows on the snow :)

Heather, Max, Koda and Erin


What a beautiful day up at Snowbasin yesterday! The snow is melting fast though. I have mixed feelings about that. I love spring and all the beauty it brings here to the Wasatch Mountains but I've really enjoyed snowshoeing too.

Our group of ladies has decided to keep our Thursday outings going year round. When we can't snowshoe anymore we'll hike, bike or canoe/kayak. It's been such a blessing to have this group of girlfriends who all love to be out in nature as much as I do!! God's handiwork is so evident as we wander these beautiful mountains!

"Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!"
~Psalm 8:1