Jeremy Ranch exploration - October 12, 2009

For Family Home Evening we went out! We wanted to enjoy some fall weather. James wanted to go mountain biking and explore some trails near Park City. I don't have a mountain bike, so I went for a walk in the foothills to see plenty of ducks in the creek and Aspen trees with yellow leaves on the hillsides.

Our starting point was just above this golf course in Jeremy Ranch (near Park City, UT).
He's so intense! New massive tire tread and riding gloves!

Only a little bit of snow on the mountains - but it is coming!
Then home again for taco soup - warm in the crock pot! Yum! Happy Columbus Day.

Happy Halloween! - October 10, 2009

The mailbox on our anniversary was a lot of fun! We got an anniversary card & gift from James' family - THANK YOU!

And a Halloween decoration kit from mine - THANK YOU!

I LOVE looking at pictures of my nieces & nephews decked out in Halloween's finest! And THANK YOU Carter, McKayla & Tyler for decorating my little jack-o-lanterns. They're perfect!

Happy Anniversary - October 10, 2009

We started out our day with plans to go to a movie matinee and then out to lunch. We ended up wandering around historic downtown Park City and eating our lunch there. Watch out for resort prices - expensive!


I thought these street lamp signs were pretty neat - 125 year anniversary of Park City while we celebrated our 3rd anniversary!

It was a beautiful, cool fall day. While we tried to decide where to eat, we hopped on the free trolley. We rode the Main Street loop three times while looking at all the possibilities.

We finally decided on Flanagan's Irish Pub & Restaurant in honor of the McCalvy Irish heritage. James had fish & chips and I had a beef stew potato pancake. Basically a potato crepe with beef stew spooned into and over it. Yum!

After lunch we wandered around town a bit more and really enjoyed the tiny houses built onto the hillsides and historical sites. If we had an extra $15 each, we could have gone on a chairlift ride.

We ended our day at the EQ flag football game. Our team played well, but lost. James stayed an extra hour to scrimmage with another team. He even got to play quarter back for a series or two.

(To James, my Honey Bee - I'm glad we're such a good match! It has been a very happy 3 years.)

Mountain Biking - October 9, 2009

James went exploring on the foothills near our house. The Bonneville Shoreline Trail runs along the entire Wasatch Front & then some. But it can be accessed from the neighborhood just above our chapel.
Lots of nice long dirt roads

And a really great view of SLC and the mountains - not much snow - YET!

Isn't he cute!? Stylin a dirty cheek - that's nine days growth for the Backcountry.com beard contest!

General Conference - October 3-4, 2009

We had a fantastic weekend. Kathleen came down from BYU-I and we got tickets to the Saturday morning session of conference from Bishop Putnam. He told me, "These are good seats, get there early." We parked up near the state capital and walked down through City Creek Canyon. We were happy when the ushers pointed us down into the main floor of the Conference Center. Then surprised when they kept pointing us further down. Then thrilled when we had seats right of center, next to the aisle, the first row behind the super-reserved seats. We were only 12 rows from the pulpit.

Fun to see the cameras move and light up. Fun to watch "Apostle Row" to try and name the apostles and to see if anyone was snoozing. Fun to stand up and sing with the tabernacle choir during the rest hymn. Wonderful to stand with the congregation when President Monson and his counsellors entered the auditorium. Wonderful to see the speakers lit up by spotlight and feel the intensity of their messages. Wonderful to be in the room with our Prophet as he shares his love and our Heavenly Father's love for us.


We did a little clothes shopping on Saturday afternoon, made steak on the grill w/ homemade mac'n'cheese for dinner and rootbeer floats for dessert. Slept in until the thunder and rain woke us up just before conference was about to start on Sunday morning and listened in our pajamas.

Took a drive during the afternoon sesson - up to Alta to see if the snow was sticking. It is! Several 'die-hards' were out hiking with their boards. And then up to Brighton to compare snowfall in the two canyons. It's sticking in Big Cottonwood too!

(Photo taken about half-way up Big Cottonwood at the turn-out to Donut Falls)

A beautiful weekend, for so many reasons. Planning to get a copy of the Conference Ensign so we can read all the talks. Mark them up and put them into practice. Conference always makes me want to do better and be better.

Petunia - October 1, 2009

For our date this week, we went to a Utah Jazz preseason game. (Free tickets - thanks to coupons from the Miller Motorsports Park! and the Jazz won!)

As usual, it was difficult to find a FREE parking space downtown. We finally found one near Pioneer Park.

This pretty piggy was hanging out along the street just people watching. She just looks so happy!

Her sign says "This little piggy went to market... Petunia - Chris Waddell 2002 - Donations support art & music in the market."

The statue sits outside Uffen's Marketplace - some residential space and space for an indoor marketplace. I've never been by there in the daytime, so I've never been inside Uffen's Marketplace.

Perhaps a date for another day!

Backcountry Beard Contest and NEW SNOW - September 30, 2009

Backcountry is sponsoring a beard-growing contest. You have to be clean shaven and can only trim the upper lip and neck. It goes from October 1 through December 18th. There is an "over achiever" category, "under achiever" category and "weird beard" category. The prizes include skis, boards, and clothing. We'll see how I do...

First snowfall on the Utah foothills!!