Monarch Butterfly Update!

So, after a little worry...our egg, Alex, hatched today! Yeah! I always have a little anxiety wondering if they will hatch or not...and you know what...they almost always do. I guess I should stop worrying. And today is significant for us...well...my sister! Happy Birthday, Jess! We sure do love you! (One of these days I will post Hannah's Person of the Year assignment from school. It is sooo cute. She chose Jessica! In fact, if I had been more on the ball, today would have been very appropriate. Oh, well! I won't give it all away now, though.) Anyway, Happy Birthday, Alex! Here are a few pictures! Oh, another caterpillar side note-Hannah called me at work yesterday to inform me that she, and the cute gal that "watches" her on Tuesdays, found 6 caterpillars! Oh my! I love them, and we don't want them to die, but WOW! I was a little concerned about keeping these little creatures alive and happy for the next few weeks. But, she was so proud of herself! (As amazing and fun as this process is, it can get a little nerve racking...anyone who has done this knows! Fortunately, we found the last one a home tonight!) Without further adieu...

This shows the eggs just about 12 hours or so before hatching...it turns dark...I took this picture last night.

If you look close, you can see Alex...right next to the hatched egg. I took this at 9:30 this morning...This is a big as I can get the picture on my blog, but if you can open it up larger, it is a pretty good picture of him/her! This is one of the caterpillars that we adopted out (I think yours, Bethany)...I don't like to handle them when they are this little(in fact, you shouldn't), but since I had to take it off the milkweed to put it on another to be adopted out, I took this...This little one is about 3 or 4 days old...they grow sooo fast...really! You wouldn't believe it!

Bees Baseball

Dad, Hannah and I went to a Bees Baseball game Monday night. We had a great time! My dad summed it up by saying "cheap entertainment". It really is. We'll go do it again. And Hannah & I tried Dippin' Dots for the first time...hmmmm...not all what it's cracked up to be. Our opinion? We're stickin' with just regular old fashioned ice cream! We also stayed after and had the entire team sign her poster of the team. This part wasn't as bad as it sounds. And I want my dad to know how much I love him...we love being with him! Thanks Dad! We really do love you!

Here is Hannah getting Bumble's autograph...she was funny. She followed him around for awhile before he/or she realized she was following him/her.

Here she is with her souvenir bat...which, by the way she traded. She had a gold one, but after thinking about it, she went and found the concessions guy and asked to trade. Again, she's funny. She is definitely not afraid.

Two of my very favorite people in the whooooole world.

The First Monarch Eggs

Monarch Butterfly season is upon us...here are the first pictures of the egg. Hopefully you can see them. We will keep you posted upon the hatching. This is truly one of the most amazing things to watch. We get pretty "crazy" about this! Bear with us...me. This goes fast, so there will be many posts in a short time about our little "Alex". Hannah wanted to name "it" something that could be boy/girl. And yes, you can tell the sex, but not til it morphs to a butterfly.

We found this egg late Friday night. I am posting this on Sunday. No caterpillar yet, but any day...average is about 5 days.

North Rim of the Grand Canyon

After our short trip to St. George, Hannah and I meandered over to the North Rim of The Grand Canyon. I love this place! For those of you who don't know, I worked there for a couple of seasons...and a friend of mine-who worked there with me-reminded me how long ago that was. I have been back a few times, but I haven't ever taken Hannah...I really can't believe it either. Anyway, we had such a great time! We weren't ready to come home...in fact, we talked about going back this next week. Anyway...a few things have changed and a lot hasn't. The canyon is still as awe inspiring as always, the wait staff still looks like they are wearing EXACTLY what I wore when I worked there, and the gas station is still Full Service. But, they have upgraded the restrooms. And, gas was cheaper there. Hmmmm...go figure! We had a great time camping and hiking...again, Hannah is so great...I'm glad she loves it as much as I do. A few bummers...we misplaced our souvenirs for a short time, we never did find an Alabama license plate, and we didn't ever see a Kaibab Squirrel. There is always next time! (Although we have found Alabama now-Thanks Anna!) Here are the pictures...and watch for the one with Hannah, a Ute hoodie and a hummingbird...super cool! They must have been really hungry! GO UTES!

Tuacahn/St. George

This last week we were able to travel to St. George and to participate in a little "tour". Our cloggers got to be the pre-show entertainment for two nights at Tuacahn. In return, we got to see both shows at Tuacahn. For those of you not familiar, Tuacahn is an outdoor amphitheater in Snow Canyon just outside of St. George. This place is awesome! They also have a performing arts high school there. Each year we get to participate in a little workshop-last year, Hip-hop, this year, Broadway song and dance style. Super fun! The shows this year were "The Sound of Music" and "Les Miserables". Hannah and I have a difference of opinion as to which was "better". She was partial to "S of M", and I, "Les Mis". In fact, I thought "Les Mis" was incredible. We had a difference of opinion last year too. But, regardless, we had a great time. Lots of swimming and clogging and laughing and "tag" and show tunes and food...even a fire! This has been a super fun thing to look forward to each summer. Here are some pictures.

Skydiving

I know this blog is "dedicated" to Emery memories, BUT...I think this is just too cool for me not to mention. Not much to say other than my sister, Jennie, went skydiving over the weekend. She probably has A LOT to say actually. 13,000 feet. Holy Jiboly! Super awesome! And thanks to Sugi who put her safely on the ground. (I mentioned, in the presence of my mother, that maybe I would go and got "it's not responsible". Secretly Jodi and I are going to go...maybe for Mother's Day next year. Who else is in? Love ya mom! And you can come too!) Anyway, here are some pics.

Jennie and Sugi...

Jennie is holding her breath right here..

Flying Thumbs Up!

Horsetail Falls...Revisited Twice+...and a Bear?!

1010Beware, this is a long and somewhat hard-to-follow post. I realize that. But, I feel compelled to write all of this. Remember, you don't have to read it! :-)

We have done a bit a hiking the last few weeks. We have hiked up to Horsetail twice more with friends, so rather than posted two different posts, I am combining them into two.

The first time we went back up with mom, Jessica & most of the kids and The Spencers & and their kids. Wow...did we have a great time! We caught cicadas and grasshoppers, found wild onions, and one of the kids even ate a grasshopper! Thanks to those who went with us...it's always more fun with friends and family!

The second time we went with a friend from work, Shelly, and her 5 year-old daughter. And again, we had a great time! We didn't see as many cicadas, but the grasshoppers were plentiful. Little Ada was a real trooper. She is so into horses. I feel bad we didn't get to see any this trip.

So, the "plus" and the bear is like this...
Hannah decided to take her dad back up the next day. That's the plus. Too funny! She loves this hike...still not her favorite, but she loves it. I was at work. :-( About 10am they call me to tell me they had just seen a bear cub. For those of you who don't know my ex-husband...quite the jokester. I really thought they were kidding. But after a few seconds, I could tell he wasn't. Anyway, long story short, they did come back down. They didn't want to come between momma and cub. Brad also remembered that I am a little hypersensitive about the bear thing...

Most of you will remember the bear attack we had up American Fork canyon last year. My family and I were up the canyon during that whole thing. I have never been afraid of sleeping in my tent. In fact, we actually prefer it...at least we did. The following night after the attack, I knew would be a little hard for me...I'll admit, I was a little spooked. And I knew better, but...
So after not sleeping very great, I knew that I would sleep better that second night. (I still went to bed with my mace...) I hadn't been in my tent for more that 1/2 hour when I could hear something rummaging around. My sister, whom shall remain nameless...JODI...left her cooler out...by OUR tent. I got my mace ready and my flashlight and quietly unzipped my tent. Sure enough, little beady eyes staring right at me! I know you all think this is silly, and my smart side said is was too, but I think I had my first and hopefully last panic attack. Anyway, I woke mom, who was also in a tent, and we found my brother -in-law, who we knew had a gun. Long story short, it was a raccoon. We slept in my parents van the rest of the "camping" trip.

Side note: I don't often talk about my "singleness"....it seems to be a source of jokes for my family and co-workers, so why give them any more ammo. I have prided myself in knowing that we have been camping by ourselves before and been just fine. (Although, I know it bothers mom.) But I did return to work and let them know what I had learned-one, I needed a man, and two, I needed a man WITH A TRAILER! They are still looking!

Anyway, here are the pictures from the hikes! Thanks for all of those who we have gone with...it really is one of our favorite things to do!

Horsetail Falls Video Clip

Here is a short clip of Horsetail Falls. It took til the 3rd trip up, but finally. And, again, the quality isn't that great, but hopefully you can see why it's called Horsetail Falls.

3 Baby Birds

My mom has a nest of 3 baby birds hanging in her planter on her front porch. I'm not sure what kind of birds they are. Not robins. The magpies got those...dang them! Sorry the picture isn't great. Obviousely, momma bird doesn't like us to come out and bother her. We have been limiting our visits, so this is probably the only picture we'll get. Anyway, here they are. Too cute...well, sorta!

Frogsitting

Hannah has been frogsitting for her friend, A. Meet Streak, the tree frog. So named for the white streaks he has running down his sides. Streak has been very well-behaved. We would love to have him come visit again!

Summer Pedicures with Aunt Mimi

My sister Jessica's number 6, Margaret, doesn't say a whole lot. BUT, you definitely know what she wants. The other day she looked down at my feet and noticed my silver-painted toenails. "Mimi?", she said with a tap...and then a point toward my feet and I knew. "Oooohh, do you want to paint your toenails?" So, a few days later, Margaret, Katherine, and Eleanore came over for a mini pedicure of their mini feet. Margaret wanted her toenails painted white, Katherine wanted one foot painted pink and one painted red, and Eleanore wanted two different reds. They are funny-I love them! Here are their tootsies!

Smokin Utah Blaze!

Hannah & I were lucky enough to go see the Utah Blaze play on Monday night. For those of you not familiar, Utah Blaze is our Arena (Indoor) Football team. Super fun! Hannah is usually up for anything. But I will admit I was a little worried that, even as patient as Hannah is, we were not going to make it through the entire game. It's football. And the few Utes (GO UTES) football games we have been to, well...it was a struggle to make it the whole game. But, boy did she surprise me! She became an instant Blaze fan! She made it the whole 3 hours and she was cheering louder than I was! She was attentive and kept asking questions...mostly what "numbers" were making the great plays because that's whose jersey she wanted. It also helped that orange is her favorite color. Maybe next year! The regular season is over, but if any of you have a chance to go(even next year), DO! And there is always the playoffs...which it looks like the Blaze will be playing in! Yeah! Between TRAX and the game, it made for a long evening, but very fun! The game moves quite a bit faster than outdoor, so I think it the kids have an easier time staying "into it"...at least the older ones. AND...a super-oopider BIG THANK YOU to Leon for the tickets. We owe you....again!

Timp Cave and Cookie/Muffin/Lemonade Stands

One of the things I look forward to during the summer is early morning hikes up to Timp Cave. And occasionally Hannah will come with me. I love it that I have a daughter that loves to hike. What 4th/5th grader wants to get up at 5am to hike up the trail (too early for the cave to be open) with a bunch of old..er ladies the Monday after school is out?! Hannah! Here is a picture of her touching "the rock" at the top.

One of the things that Hannah (and pretty much the whole neighborhood) looks forward to is the Cookie/Muffin/Lemonade Stand. They can spend hours planning and selling. They do have a great time! And secretly, I think I love it too!

The Last Day of School!

So school has officially been out for 5 days now, but I am just getting around to posting about it...I am sooooo glad school is out! Maybe even more so than Hannah. We had a super fab year, but there is just something about no school and SUMMER! Anyway, there are a few traditions that go on around here on the last day of school. Our neighbor down the road sets up an ice cream stand. ALL, I mean, ALL the kids hope off buses and head on over to Paula's for ice cream. Then Mom does a slip-n-slide/hot dog party at her house. For those of you who don't know, Mom has a pretty good hill in the back and she really knows how to do slip-n-slide! I really is so fun! (I had to work...bummer. But thanks to Brad, Robyn and others that took pictures of Hannah. Brad took a video clip, but it was little too long. And I don't know how all the parents would feel about having their kids in swimsuits on my blog. I wish it would have worked though. I gives you a better sense of how fast those kids can get going down the hill!)

Hannah likes to tease everyone that she didn't graduate on to 5th grade. She did. Straight A's...even an outstanding award in Gerbil Catching! I am so glad that she loves school. I am super glad that she has had teachers that have helped her love school. Ms. Howard has been SOOOOOOO awesome at teaching her kids how to love life, love each other(and animals), and school! She taught them sooo much more that reading and writing. We have joked all year that I wanted some discipline for Hannah, you know...Boot Camp. ;-) Then when Hannah came home that first day and yelled, "Mom, guess what? Ms. Howard is a professional clown! She went to clown school...she even TAUGHT clown school!", well, what was I going to do. Joke was on me. But we have had a truly remarkable year. I get emotional thinking about it. She has left such an impression on Hannah! Hannah has said more than once that she will never forget her. Neither will I! We love her. We are sad that she is leaving Alpine to go to another school. They are sooo lucky to have her, but we are lucky to have known her. Teachers are wonderful things, especially great ones!

This picture is of Hannah and A just before getting on the bus that last day. They are so funny. Hannah had two pair of shorts that were the same and gave a pair to A. They wanted to match on the last day. My little tomboy. I guess like mother, like daughter. I had a friend (who I grew up with and don't see much of anymore) email me, and she reminded me how big of tomboys we were. Funny. This is for you, Jen.