Yesterday we went down to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house.

And when we got home got to have fresh raspberries for a treat and swung on the swing!

orchid bloom

when we got home tonight I noticed that this Phal is finally blooming! This was my first orchid and has been quite a reliable bloomer for me, with the flowers typically lasting from 4 -6 months. One year they stayed on from early June till after Thanksgiving!

Tubing

Tubing is going to become one of our favorite things to do, I think. Today our same group plus a couple more decided to go somewhere a little wilder than the concrete irrigation canal. We went to a place called the Oneida Narrows. It offers a little bit of everything for everyone; calm, peaceful slow spots and a few places that will jiggle your jello. It was really fun! Only one person got dumped out, and that's because she was in this small inflatable boat thing that wasn't very stable.

Picture

I just had to put this picture of Callie up from tonight! Who gave her permision to grow up!!???

More Summer fun!

( Read this in the most adventurous voice you can muster)

With only our wits and a few sticks to defend ourselves, our small band of safarians embarked upon a trip into the wilderness. We braved searing heat, raging rapids, sheer rock faces on both sides, dangerous undercurrents, towering waterfalls, hungry, ferocious animals staring down at us from the cliffs above with their beady little eyes! Indeed it was a treacherous journey, but we knew that the conditions were just right for this type of expedition. So we made the necessary preparations and set out on our voyage. . . .

(Dramatic pause)

Yes, our intention was to... (gasp!) Float the canal!

Aaah! Defend yourselves from the wild beasts!

Those ferocious animals are saying, "Just you wait... You may have escaped this time, but we will get you next time!"

Of course many of the most perilous aspects of our trek that were described at the beginning could not be captured on film because they were so dangerous, but trust me - we feared for our very lives throughout most of our passage through that uncharted territory!!

~Keep checking in for more adventures!~

Summertime!

Here are a couple great shots of Callie going to town on a ginormous hunk of watermelon tonight. VERY cute, in my opinion...

Food! Glorious food!

While Deb was out pitting a "chair of Bowlies" on the steps, I went out to the garden to grab these loverly things. It's amazing how fast they grow! That is an 18 inch ruler, by the way. We didn't get the garden planted until the middle of May!!

In fact, this before pic was taken on May 8 when I had just began to redefine and refurbish the plot. We didn't actually plant until later than that because of weather and I started school and stuff.

This is July 9th... Our zuchini plants are waist-high, our tallest corn is head high and has the flowers starting to come out. One stalk has three ears starting on it already. There are tomatoes in there somewhere that are just out of control too. we've got a few pepper plants mingled in between that are doing great, and onions galore! I found those three Zukes lurking, with even more on the way! We decided we are going to let this guy grow to see how big it will get though.We'll keep you updated on it's progress!

Will you post your photos?

Those of you who were able to come to the wedding, will you please email your pictures to us or post them up here? We're still waiting to get ours from the photographer and we're dying to see how it all turned out from another perspective than our own (which was very busy and barely had time to take very much in). Thank you,
Zach & Deb

Our first Camping trip

We went on our first camp out from yesterday till this afternoon. It was so much fun! This morning we went on a hike just to see where the trail went. It lead us around mant interesting turns and bends, always ascending higher and higher. We didn't run into any ferocious beasts while we were up there, except this menacing butterfly. It even has wiskers by it's "nose" !

We saw a couple more like these below!

And here are some samples of the flora we passed along the way too. This plue and purple one is Penstemon.

This is a wild Delphinium, just like the cultured ones we had at the wedding.

And here's a close-up view of the flower to show all the fine details of it

Columbine; white ones and yellow ones...

Paintbrush

I don't know what this little white one is, but it was so dainty and cute I had to take a picture of it. The breeze was blowing enough that it wouldn't stay still!!! Grrr!

These guys were much more vivid in real life...

Here are a few pictures of our surroundings

A little catching up

I was a little preoccupied the entire last weekend to get any pictures of the wedding, so I'm depending on you all who were there to put some up until we get ours from the photographer. Here are a few I did get.

I am a genius!

I've had this plant that has been giving me grief for years. It's a Ponytail palm and it has these long grass-like leaves that hang down way past the bottom of it's pot so anywhere it gets put, like on a table for example, theres these twisty things that go everywhere and they are in the way. I can't bear to cut them off because it has taken so many years for them to grow that long and that's part of the uniqueness of the plant!!

The other day as I was cleaning my apartment in preparation to move, I saw my tall floor lamp that we won't be needing in Deb's place and then lightning just struck my brain. I knew that it was destined to become the perfect plant stand for the palm! It needed just a little Johnson tweaking to make it work, but i knew I could do it. I disassembled the lightbulb/switch assembly and removed the cord. Then I unscrewed the tall post part and removed the center section to make it shorter and put it back together. I attached the saucer to the stand itself with the existing washer and nut, put the pot onto it's saucer and it was good to go!

I added some rubber cement to he area on and around the nut to keep water from leaking when the plant gets a drink. I also thought it was cool how the shape of the ball on the stand is a reflection of the shape of the trunk of the palm. This whole thing was meant to be. . . . .

Hair day

Today Deb went to a friend's to get her hair done , kind of a pre-style thing before the wedding. She gave Callie a quick trim too, since it has never been cut.













While Debbie was having her turn, Callie and I went for a walkabout. We chased some ducks, went to the playground and had fun for a couple hours.

This last one is probably my favorite one of the day. It was very candid. I had to hold the camera out over the water, so I couldn't even see exactly where it was aimed. Then I called her name, pushed the button and it worked out!

161

That's how much I weighed in at today. After being at a static 145 for the past however many years, I've finally started to put on the poundage. All of you who have said I need some meat on my bones can thank (blame) Debbie for this.

Also I have an update on my job at the Sprinkler store. I finally started back there about two and a half weeks ago. This year they have me working on an on-call basis under contract, which means I'll only go in when they have plans for me to draw. I'm not happy about that because it has been raining all week and no one thinks about doing sprnklers when its pouring down, so they haven't called me in. grrr... I'm also not happy because I know that it is their easy way out of having to pay unemployment or have me on their taxes or anything. They are quite weasel-ly that way

So soon!?!?

Less than three weeks until Zach and I get married. Wow!!

We are so looking forward to those of you who will be able to come celebrate with us; and I'm looking forward to meeting all of you, if not on our wedding weekend, then at a family reunion or otherwise.

I truly feel like I'm the luckiest girl ever - Zach has affected so much positive change in my life, and I hope that we will both perpetually experience positive change and a growing love for life and for each other.

Peaches Galore!

After a non-productive year last year, my peach tree is going to favor us with a bountiful harvest in a coupe months. This is only one branch, but the whole thing is covered with nearly the same ratio of peachlets per branch. I took this last night.