infamous

in·fa·mous adj.

1. Having an exceedingly bad reputation; notorious.
2. Causing or deserving infamy; heinous: an infamous deed.

Our cute little canyon has became quite dangerous.

• Bells Canyon waterfalls: great view, dangerous hike, police say - Deseret news June, 2010
• Man falls from waterfall in Bells Canyon -The Salt Lake Tribune June, 2010
• Sandy man arrested after stabbing hiker with makeshift spear, Bells Canyon - Deseret news June 2010
• BELLS CANYON SEARCH: Body of woman found at Bells Canyon - KSTU July 2010 

Then a friend sends me this photo with the subject as:

"damn, your neighborhood is going to hell"

Photo of a man passed out, Bells Canyon. Beer cans litter the trail. It is noon.

 

So, of course, we had to go and see what it was all about. 

Lower Bells Falls

View of the SL Valley

Tanner, resting 

Family picture. This one is frame worthy....?

Lower Bells Falls

I just like this tree/ bush

Bells Canyon Lower Falls,  Stats
   Destination — Lower falls
   Difficulty — Strenuous
   Round trip — 4.6 miles
   Hiking time — 4 to 5 hours
   Elevation gain — 1,310 ft.

Antelope Island; fall Bush-tit birding day trip

Have I told you that I am deeply in love with this place?

Antelope Island Causeway looking North

Red Fox; almost in focus. This little red fox ran across the road; stopping us and two other cars. The wildlife on the island has that effect.

As we left the island, I stopped to take a photo of the causeway, while there Beth noticed these spiders. Their webs were attached to the sage bushes along the roadside. They were EVERYWHERE. I heard an estimate of a hundred billion; after standing there I believe it.  We watched as a grasshopper jumped into a web. A spider, the size of a nickle, raced to the grasshopper wrapping it in seconds. 


I would like to know what kind of spider it was but, you need to know their eye patterns. Apparently spiders have so many eyes that they have options on how they arrange them; depending on the species. So, I will guess, that they are Orb weavers due to the pattern of the web. Its a generalization but it will have to do.

Antelope Island looking North from the north west side of the island. The straight line running through the Great Salt Lake is the Causeway.

Weekly Inspiration

As I drive to work, or the kids to school, or the grocery store, or even if I just walk out my home or look out a window I am inspired by the area I live in. The clouds, the storms, the changing of the leaves, the seasons, the wildlife, and the mountains all play a part; always changing and always inspiring.


From the comments section: "When I look at this photo, I am reminded of the song "My Front Porch Lookin' In" by Lonestar. How fantastic to live in a place where you like the view both within and without."

Dusk at our back deck

The anti-hammock

How do you hammock?

Casi, Anti-hammock-ing - no relaxation found here.

Note: after sanding a deck you have to clean the tub.

"This mess is too big and too deep and to tall. We can't clean it up! We can't clean it up at all!"
— Dr. Seuss (The Cat in the Hat)

Fight response earns children hugs

"btw when your parents say "Today we are going to sand all the paint of[f] the deck, it will only take half of the day and then you can play." RUN AWAY AS FAST AS POSSIBLE!""

~Casi; Facebook 8/8/2010

What can I say... sometimes the kids are right. I think Casi may have nailed the issue on the head. In the whole "fight or flight" response to our deck sanding project, I think flight may have been the right choice.


Last weekend, Nate and I got this great idea to sand the deck. The previous owners painted it this lovely reddish-purpley color. And even though that sounds like a pretty  bad color, it looked pretty darn good. I would go as far to say that the color looked natural. But, it was starting to peal and we did not want the deck to become damaged over the winter months. Which meant refinishing the deck.

Admittedly, we could have just repainted it. BUT, Nate and I tend to like things that not only LOOK natural but ARE natural and so we decided to remove the paint. Via, sandpaper. Ugh!

The deck turned out to be in great condition. Which brings up the question....Why anyone would paint a redwood deck in great condition? But, oh well. What was done was done.
I think the biggest surprise in this whole day was our kids. Yes, we gave promises of afternoon freedoms that were never fulfilled. We asked that they work hard. We barked orders. Gave only a couple short breaks. Made them wear face masks. I took pictures of them in this dirty state of messy hair, PJ's, dirty face masks, with underwear peaking out and yes, I am posting these said pictures on this blog.

But guess what? Even with all these reasons for revolt.

(This still just amazes me)....

They NEVER complained. They worked hard. Had great attitudes. Which made me feel like taking pictures of them to work and bragging them up at the water cooler. No worries, I refrained. But, I do have awesome kids and they do deserve such said bragging.

The problem is.... I am lousy at sharing my feelings. So here is a video that represents what the kids did for Nate and I.

After watching that... did you sense that I gave the kids many levels of hugs? Because, that is EXACTLY what I did. Oh yea, and the deck looks pretty dam good! BBQ anyone?

Joes Valley:(Almost) Wordless

Camping

The Group, except for Utah Grandma and Myself, eating lunch tacos. Those unattended tacos are mine!

Camp Pet

Utah Grandma

Emaleigh; avoiding photo opportunities

Boldering

ATV-ing

Me, Nate, Emaleigh, and Casi at "the meadow".

View of Joes Vally from the meadow. This picture, sadly, does not do justice to the view.

Casi and Emaleigh

Mountain Biking

Me, Emily, and Tanner.
Emily talked the entire 10 miles down the canyon.

Hammocking

Emily and Tanner

  

Emily reading to Grandpa.

Playing in the lake

Tanner sitting on "the big fat president"

Sailing with Grandpa

Fishing

Potters Ponds