Alyssa, the photographer!

The last week of May, Alyssa used my camera to take some pictures - without me knowing it. She evidently figured out how to use the timer ... I found these pictures on my camera ... gotta love the mind of an 8 year old (almost 9 when she was taking these!). These are in the order she took them.

Hmmmm... try to take one of self.

Whoops - got the clock and door behind me instead of me.

This time, mom's dead roses (that need to be thrown away - THANKS STEVE for the roses though).

Me!!

Aren't I so cute?

Let's strike a pose this time!

And another pose with some attitude!

Funny face!! Funny face!!

BIG SMILE!

Perfect pose!!

......... not sure what she was trying to do here... Maybe afraid of getting caught on the last picture? No clue.

These pictures inspired her birthday present from us!! Yep, a new camera. I think I may even have her start a blog to share her pictures ... it will be good computer and typing skills and allow her to share with others without me having to post them on here. I'll still post a few though! When I get that setup, I'll let everyone know and you can check out her funny, crazy pics and thoughts!

The view

A hike to Timpanogas Caves without mention of the amazing views of the mountains and valley below would be almost blasphemous. So ... this post is just that ... the views!! My camera skills don't do it justice though. Its amazing. People come here on vacation from all over the world and this is our backyard!

This is a zoomed view of our neighborhood from the canyon. See the big white long building? That is northwest of us about a half mile. If you follow the road to the left of it toward the bottom of the picture, pass the trees, then go left, at the church. Go left along along that road about halfway to the edge of the picture. Then you turn toward the bottom of the picture again for 2 houses and then go to the left edge of the picture. Our house is one of the LAST houses on the edge of the picture (or maybe even cut off). :)

Hike to the Caves

Timpanogos Cave National Monument sits high in the Wasatch Mountains. The cave system consists of three spectacularly decorated caverns, Hansen Cave, Middle Cave and Timpanogas Cave. The first of the caves was discovered by Martin Hansen in 1887 while he was tracking a mountain lion - not hunting one, just tracking it. It was later mined by a company so it is highly damaged. Timpanogas Cave is credited to Vearl Manwill who was hiking around after touring Hansen Cave. Middle Cave was discovered by Martin's grandsons, and Martin was the first human to enter it - at the age of 74 in 1927. The grandsons were hunting deer across the canyon and using binoculars, they spotted the opening. They crossed the canyon, climbed the mountain and found the cave.

The steep mountainside of American Fork canyon is the setting for these limestone caves. Water, time, and rock formed the spectacular underground scenery that exists inside. Natural forces created the caves as the Wasatch Range grew 30 million years ago. Sedimentary rock was lifted and fractured along fault lines. Naturally occurring carbonic acid then dissolved the rock, leaving a hole that filled with water and later drained. The underground water dissolved rock and left mineral deposits and forming crystals of different sizes and shapes—a process that continues today.See formations called draperies, popcorn, helicites, and flowstone, as well as the more well-known stalactites and stalagmites. Water trickling down an inclined ceiling forms draperies, most less than one inch thick. Popcorn is made by water entering rock's pores or seeping down rock walls, leaving a bumpy surface. The most colorful and delicate formations in the caves, helicites, are like hollowed straws through which water traveled and left a small crystal deposit at the end. The colors of the rock are varied by iron, nickel, manganese, and other minerals.

.... So what is all this about ... Timpanogas Caves. Why am I telling you all of this? Timpanogas Mountain is virtually in our backyard and absolutely AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL! We really can't go a day without seeing it. I think, sometimes we take it for granted though. Its just part of the view seen from our county. The hike to the caves is a 1 and 1/2 mile long paved trail climbing 1,160 feet in elevation. I've hiked it twice before - once the summer before 4th or 5th grade with my parents and brother and once about 2 or 3 years ago with Steve's brother-in-law and family. We've never taken the girls because its kind of an intense hike (strenuous is the word the park system gives it). But after camping, we woke up and Steve suggested we go for it. So, we did. We packed everything up and headed. We weren't really prepared ... no snacks or backpack even, so we carried a small makeup bag with water bottles and headed up!

The girls did great! It was a little chilly at first, until the sun was up above us more.


The rocks on the side of the trail provided the perfect stopping place for a break, and enjoying the beautiful views of the mountain and the valley below.

Taylor loved these little flowers. They were mentioned in the brochure. The girls couldn't resist checking them out.

The only wildlife we saw ... he probably thought we were the wild ones.

We arrived at the caves in about 45 minutes. Pretty good for the little girls. We were even about 20 minutes early for our hike so we had some time to relax.

The little girls weren't really sure about the caves at first, but they got used to them by the end of the 45 minute tour. Its quite chilly in the caves - about 45 degrees.

This is the most widely known formation in the caves - it is called the Heart of the Caves. Its HUGE!

These are helicites - very common in these caves but VERY rare in most caves - even others that have similar formations.

Doesn't that look like a big ice cream sundae with caramel flowing down it? Hmmmm ... the name of it is something like Caramel Falls.

If you look closely, the top center of the picture, right by the trees, that's the opening to the caves.

And now we are on our way home ... after touring the cold caves (which gradually leads you down from the entrance), we had to climb back up a few switchbacks to get to the bathroom ...

The girls did GREAT! Jess was pretty done by the time we got to the bottom, but overall, a very good experience. That night they told Karianna about it - headache rock, the heart, the chocolate and they had the funniest name for the cave. Wish I could remember it. Something like Timpanosagy. Oh well. Should have blogged it back then!

Camping

The last weekend in May, right after school got out, we decided to go camping. Keep in mind while reading this that in almost 13 years of married life, Steve and I have actaully only camped one night, when Alyssa was a baby. I camped with the girls in a camper trailer for a few nights a few years ago, but the trailer had water and we could use the bathroom and be inside closed doors at night with beds. And Steve considers a cabin in the woods with no flushing toilet roughing it. For that matter, a Motel 6 is kind of roughing it for us too. We just haven't been the outdoorsy type. But we were invited to go camping with a bunch of neighbors in August for 3 nights so we decided we better at least try out 1 night first.

We live just a few minutes from American Fork Canyon which has some beautiful camping areas. So, as soon as the girls were out of school, the girls and I headed up to get a camp site (many are first come first serve) but only 2 areas were open so we were limited on choice! Oh well, it worked out. We set up our tent - quite an adventure for me and 3 little girls who had never put up a tent! Its my parents old tent from when I was a kid - tent stakes, two rooms, big tent! Sleeps 6 very spaciously but I think we slept like 9 or 10 girls in it once on a camping trip to the beach when I was 12. We managed to get it set up, put in our bags and pillows and then came back down to get the rest of our stuff and wait for Steve.

Before we came back down though, Jess had to try out the tent!!

Taylor had to CLEAN our campsite ... yes, she's sweeping the cement pad BEFORE we made a mess. The tent in the background is the site next to us - shows you how close we were... not the perfect spots, but we made do.

When she started sweeping the dirt I got a little worried!

Time to put the flaps up on the windows...

Taylor actually did well camping ... all except the bathroom. We had a fairly nice outhouse not far from us. Taylor told me she had to go potty so off we went. She flipped out. Not a chance. She sat on it, but REFUSED to go. I said ok, but reminded her what happened when we went hiking last October and she refused to use an outhouse or the woods (she went in her jeans and it was sticky and cold and miserable!). Back to the camp we went. A little while later she told me she needed to go so we went to try again. STILL no luck. Crying, screaming ... but refused to go. A 3rd time ... same results. At this point, she's BEGGING to just go home and go potty and then come back (keep in mind, it is only about a 15 minute drive home, but still too far to go). A 4th time ... less crying, less screaming, but still no chance. Our friends' little girl came and went - we let Tay stay in with her to see if that would help... NOPE. Not happening. We're now going on about 3 hours since Tay first mentioned needing to go and she's still holding it. Finally about 30 minutes later she says she has to go so we head to the outhouse AGAIN. She sits down and goes, just like that! Wahoo!!! She was so proud of herself and I was SO glad! We want to go camping for 3 days in August and I knew we couldn't go if she couldn't handle the outhouse!

Sitting around the campfire is always the best part. We forgot to take pictures at night while our friends Matt and Sonya Reynolds and their two kids were there. But we enjoyed dinner, Dutch Oven peach cobbler and Smore's with them before they headed home when the gates to the campground were closing. Then we crashed ... only to be woken up about 5 times by the 1-2 year old in the campground near us SCREAMING in the night. Otherwise, we actually would have had a good sleep. The girls slept through it though so all was good for them. Breakfast while camping is Steve's FAVORITE part of camping!

Jessi loved the hot chocolate on the cold morning.

Taylor snuggled up with me to keep warm ... and yes, she is using a Hawaiian wrap-around skirt as a blanket for us. She loves that skirt! She got to use the blue one for her Hawaiian dance at school the last week of school and she was NOT willing to leave them at home.

I'm still alive...

Other than my "drama" post, I know its been awhile since I've blogged. Just had a lot going on. But this morning, I'm in the mood - despite the fact that I don't have time! So, I thought I'd make a list for myself of all the things I need to blog!! Here's what we've been up to:

• Our block party went GREAT! Lots of pics to come! About 300-350 people here is our guess! No injuries in the races, which was great (usually at least some skinned knees)! Great food! Lots of friends! Great band! Amazing fireworks! The weather was tentative all day, thought it was going to rain on us, but the wind stopped and the rain went around us so it was cool and perfect all night!! What more could we ask for!
• July 3rd we went boating all day with some friends! TONS of fun! My girls can't wait to go again! It was our first time as a family. I'd been once back in college, but it was pretty chilly so it wasn't the same at all!
• July 4th we saw the hotair balloon races, HS bands (drums) warming up and the Parade all before noon, then after a nap, we BBQd and swam with friends in the afternoon and evening with another round of fireworks!
• The girls started swim lessons - Tay and Jess are loving their semi-private lesson, and Alyssa is learning a ton in her private lesson. Alyssa is working on techniques to get legal times (not get disqualified for improper technique) and improve her times on backstroke and freestyle.
• Alyssa got legal times in breaststroke, butterfly and IM medley this weekend at her swim meet! SO PROUD OF HER! This means she gets a trophy at the end of the year - a HUGE deal to her! One more swim meet and then the county meet!
• and there is still all those old posts I need to do!! Been making some cards at night instead of blogging. Sorry! Some are for a client some are for me! Almost done with them though so I'll get back to blogging soon! And then beware! There will be posts out of control for a few days! I still have stuff from early June to blog!!

Drama with Girls!

There is always a lot of drama around our house - 3 girls!! But today is one I have to blog about. I WISH I had video or even audio of the event, but I don't ... so you'll have to imagine. The girls all have Barbie dolls. Taylor and Jess play with them A LOT, Alyssa once in awhile. They share well SOMETIMES! But then they get on this arguing kick of "Its mine, you can't play with it!" Or "you made the mess so you have to clean it up" even though often they both made the mess. It is usually Alyssa and Taylor. Jess is a lot easier going usually. This week has been a week where we've had several battles about things. I've warned them that if they can't stop arguing I'm going to take it all away. And if they can't help each other clean up then I'm going to take it all away. So, this morning, they argue over a Gabriella HS Musical doll. Taylor claims its hers (and it has her name on it). But Alyssa claims Taylor has to give it to her because Taylor broke Alyssa's doll. My thought is WHO CARES? You've all got at least a dozen more dolls. I try to work it out with them and they won't. So I take her away. I tell them to share and clean up their messes and send them back upstairs.

The drama continues and intensifies!! A few minutes later, Taylor says Alyssa is stealing something of Jessica's. Well, I've had it!! I walk calmly to the kitchen, get a big trashbag. Alyssa screams at Taylor that I'm going to throw it all away and its Taylor's fault. I go upstairs as Jessica is SCREAMING "NOOOOOOOOOO! No mommy, no! We'll clean up!" Alyssa is also screaming at the top of her lungs "no, please mommy, no." She flops down in the hall, on top of the pile of her Barbies that she has confiscated from her sister's room. Taylor and Jessica are both crying and screaming, "please no" as they FRANTICALLY shove dolls into the drawers where they store them. Taylor has her favorite doll tucked under her arm, protecting it from me. I calmly pick Alyssa up off the floor and load all of the dolls into the trash bag as she sobs and screams. Then I go into the play room where the little girls play and proceed to bag up all the dolls still on the floor. I open the drawers and bag every Barbie they own. Taylor and Jessica and Alyssa are all SCREAMING, BEGGING me to stop. Begging me to not throw them away. I quietly respond they need to share, that I have warned them and they can have them back in a week and continue bagging every last doll, including the one Taylor had tucked under her arm. At this point, they are all still screaming intermittently with sobs in between. Then I go to the other rooms and pick up every Barbie I can find, including all of Alyssa's in her drawer. They are absolutely HOWLING.

I put the dolls in my room (an ENTIRE BIG TRASH BAG FULL). Karianna is here working and she and I are both trying to not LAUGH. They honestly sounded like I was killing them. I've never heard such a racket from them. Good times, good times!

After I had my laugh, I went back upstairs and demanded that all three of them sit on the couch. Alyssa had called Taylor stupid and blamed it all on her and was absolutely fuming mad. Jessica was just plain sad at this point. Taylor just frustrated and sad. They sat on the couch and I then let them have it - gave them a lecture about sharing and getting along as long as they live in this house ... the lecture about being sisters and loving and helping each other. I warned them that any other toys not picked up by swim lessons today would also be bagged and taken away for a week then sent Jessica to go get busy cleaning. Taylor and Alyssa needed to give each other a hug and apologize for not sharing or they could sit on the couch. Taylor softened and tried to give Alyssa a hug a few minutes later and apologized, but NOT Alyssa. Taylor and Jessica are now cleaning. Alyssa on the other hand probably will lose more toys today and probably miss her swim lesson and maybe even a party tonight all because she won't say I'm sorry for not sharing and admit that she was wrong too. She's definitely got my stubborn personality!! I hope she learns to control it better than I did and learns to be nicer to others so she is happier growing up. I hurt a lot of people and was mean to a lot of people because of my stubborn and often bad attitude. I hope she can learn to not be that way so she doesn't regret her actions like I often do. When I told Karianna that I wished I had a video or audio of the event, she laughed and commented about how funny it would be to show a boyfriend that one when the girls get old enough to date! So true! I don't remember drama like this when I was little - at least not between me and my siblings because I was so much younger than them. I do remember a lot of drama with my older siblings in high school though so oh the joys that are ahead of me, (and you too if you have kids!). Gotta love them (if we don't strangle them!). :)

Block Party tomorrow!!

I'm so excited! How can I not be when I have a 16 x20 foot stage on my front lawn? :) And they'll be adding 4 more feet tonight to make it 16x24. That's for Steve's band to perform on. Everything is coming together great! Hope MANY of you will be attending. If you don't live in our neighborhood, that's ok. Just check out the blog so you know all the details about donations, pot luck, etc!

www.utahhighlands.blogspot.com

Hope to see lots of you there!