Our First Hike

Today I dragged Rick on our first hike together. That's right, we live next to the mountains and in 3 1/2 years we have never gone for a hike. At first I thought it would be good to go up Big Cottonwood to Lakes Mary, Martha and Catherine. After some googling I saw that some boulder climbing was necessary. This is not an option with Rick's knees. So I did some more googling and decided that we would go to Cascade Springs up American Fork Canyon as it has some boardwalks and other things which make it an easy hike/walk for people with kids.
We picked up some lunch from Harmon's (yes I had my wrap again!) and headed towards the canyon. I asked for a map at the entrance of the trails and up we went. After driving for a bit and trying to read the map I couldn't really figure out our bearings. Once I thought I had, I decided we were going the wrong way. So we turned around and went back to the fork in the road and headed up a different way. Up and up we went...until I realized, I was right the first time. We decided to just park and head up any ol' trail. The map did not mention the difficulty of any trails. We picked one and it started out just fine. Some water off to the side was nice. Then it started to get steeper and steeper. We all know that I am not in the best shape. I was breathing pretty darn heavy by 20 min into this. We kept going and going but after about 10 min I threw in the towel.
We turned around off the totally steep hill and "pulled over" to a little area to eat our lunch in the shade. Rick noticed that there were a lot of bees by me...I was sitting on a rock that seemed to house a bees'/wasps' nest under neath. Fortunately I didn't get stung.
Down we went...my legs felt like jelly. Once we were back in the car I talked Rick into trying to find the original place. After driving for almost an hour we arrived at Cascade Springs. It was a gorgeous drive. The back of Timpanogos is currently green and there are still spots of snow.
Cascade Springs was exactly what I had been hoping for in a hike today. Enough of a climb to get the heart going, beautiful nature and no loose rocks to mess with Rick's knees.
I don't think Rick and I will be hiking any time soon, but it was a great adventure to know what lies in the mountains between Timpanogos and Heber.

Harmon's Wraps

Last night I went to the store to pick up a few things like milk and something for Rick's lunch. Harmon's (local grocery store) opened recently by our house and has all sorts of cool things. They have a salad bar, potato bar, fresh made to order stir fry, a carving station, etc. It is amazing. So I decided to get him something pre-made so I wouldn't have to get up and make it for him this morning. I bought him an awesome looking Cobb Salad. I decided to check out what else was available and found out that they make sandwiches right there and had some pre-made. I decided that the ham and turkey wrap looked pretty good so I bought it for my lunch today. I am eating it right now and it is WONDERFUL. It has ham, turkey, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers and cream cheese. I have never been able to eat more than a bite of a pre-made sandwich before.
For those of you that are in Utah and have a newer Harmon's, I highly recommend checking out their "deli".

Seattle Visit - Proposed Itinerary

Alright I have been doing some thinking and here is my proposed itinerary for Seattle
Arrive in the afternoon of Thursday...hang out, whatever Laurie wants to do
Friday - Hang out maybe drive around, see the Temple, whatever
Friday night - Go to Baseball with McKenzie and who ever else wants to go (Maddy and Drew will arrive this night)
Saturday - Go to Pike's Place and the Space Needle with Maddy, Drew, Wayne and his family.
Saturday night - Have a BBQ or whatever Dad wants with family
Sunday Morning - Drive to Bremerton with Maddy and Drew - Take the ferry back to Seattle
Sunday night - Maddy and Drew head home
Monday - Go to the water front, aquarium or one of the museums like the air one with Wayne and his family.
Tuesday - Come home

I think that hits most of the things one should see in Seattle and also time for resting. Rick is too look over a list of things to do there and tell me what he wants to see and do but I figure I need to at least propose something now. Maybe with Maddy and Drew do Pike's Place, cause Maddy loves it and the water front that day and do the Space Needle on Monday with Wayne's family and have dinner there while discussing next year's holiday.
I jsut remember really liking Pike's Place, the Aqaurium and I really don't think I have been up the Space Needle in many years...cause I don't remember it at all. I do remember buying an awesome totem pole though at a store on the waterfront and we all know that I LOVE aquariums!
I shall update once I have feedback from those who will be attending this grand gala.

Jim's 30th Birthday

Tomorrow, July 22nd, is my younger brother Jimmy's 30th birthday. We went out to dinner with him and his family along with other friends and family last Saturday to start the celebrations. We went to Jimmy's favorite Chinese restaurant where all he has to say is, the usual. I had sesame chicken which was awesome.

Not much else has happened in the last week. Maddy is really sick in Mexico - and if you are reading this and don't know who Maddy is...she is my middle (younger) sister who is in Mexico for the summer with her husband to learn Spanish.

We had 9 children in our class on Sunday and they were all really good. Usually when we have visitors we have "problems" of kids wanting all the attention. I am so proud of them for all acting so well. On the drive home from church I told Rick, I really had a fun time today. I was just so proud of them! Which reminds me...I made cookies that morning before church and only cooked a dozen. That means I have cake batter cookie dough in the fridge I had forgotten about. YAY for an evening snack.

The Power of Many

THE POWER OF MANY....

Sarah Nielson turned herself in to Youth Services this afternoon. After a massive time of love and prayers she went from wherever she was to the TRAX station and went right back to a safe place. All I can say is that there is such an amazing power in a group of people around the world who love and support each other.

Thank you.

Wendy and Sarah

A Friend is Missing

Have you seen me?

Sarah ran away on Tuesday July 15th 2008. She was last seen in the area of West Temple and 3600 South in Salt Lake City. She was last seen wearing a black shirt and grey pants. She has a keloid (scar) on her chest.

Please contact the Salt Lake County Sheriff's department at 801-743-7000 with any information

Sarah happens to be the daughter of my aunt's best friend. She was at my wedding helping with the food and there to try and catch my bouquet. She is a very sweet girl who was adopted in her early teens. (Ten or 11 I think.) She is now about 17 and is struggling with going off drugs, adoption and other issues many of us have never had to deal with in our lives.

Please keep an eye out for her and in your prayers that she will be found/come home safely.

If you could be any character from any TV show, who would you be and why?

I saw this as a help for writer's block on live journal. I thought it would be fun to answer. I am going to answer this with the first 2 answers that come to mind and try not to over-think it.

#1 Kelly Kapowski - That's right, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen on Saved by the Bell. Why her I bet you are thinking...well duh! She is all hooked up with Mark-Paul Gosselaar. Yes I was totally in love with him back in the early 90's. I watch Saved by the Bell most every night on the N channel now. Yeah I know I am a total dork. But seriously, he even grew up to be hot.

As for my second choice...well here is the deal...I have a crush on George Eads
Here is the problem with picking who to be to be able to kiss him...he seems to only date hookers who die in CSI so that won't work. I would just have to get the writers to write a new story line for me.
In all reality, yes I love watching CSI for him but since Rick came into my life, well I don't watch it like I used to. I even have the season finale waiting in my DVR to watch and it is months old now.


I guess I am just a teeny bopper at heart! *SIGH*

Old Friends - An Update

I think it was last month I posted a blog about my friend Katrina. Last night we were able to get together. It was great!
I told Maddy sometime in the afternoon that she was coming over last night with her family for dinner and swimming. I admitted to Maddy that I was a bit nervous. Not reason why I should but other than that I hadn't see her since I was 13 years old. That's right, 19 years ago. (I am not old enough to have friends I haven't seen for 19 years!)
So Katrina came over and it was great. We talked and talked and talked. It was better than old times. She has 2 beautiful daughters. One who even looks just like her. They were quite the little fishes too.
I had my camera with us at the pool but I was so into the discussion that I didn't get any photos. That just means that I will have to get together again. She told me about her 9 siblings and how they are all doing in life. I told her what an impact their family had on me. Since there were so many of them, there was almost always someone to play with. Jimmy and I spent MANY hours at their house growing up.
They lived across the street and down the alley from us in the aves. I never again had friends live to close.
I am truly grateful to have Katrina as a friend and back in my life.

The Draper Temple

Last week Moroni was placed atop the Draper Temple. Some of these are mine some of these are offical photos. You can check out more photos at http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/draper/construction/
Just days later, 2 I think, Moroni was placed atop the Oquirrh Mountain Temple as well. Rick drives past this Temple on his way to and from work every day. Photos of it can be found at http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/oquirrhmountain/construction/

As many of you know, Rick and I live near the Draper Temple. It has been so much fun watching it being built. For some of our primary activities we have been able to go up there and take photos. Seeing the kiddies bring money to put in the Temple jar at church has been a blessing to us as well. It is so neat to see how willing they are to give of their money to help the Temple be built. I remember when I was 6 years old, a dollar was a lot of money!

As we were getting ready to leave Rick pointed out a guy just sitting there looking at the Temple while drinking something. I said, wow that is really cool. We left the parking lot and drove around to get some photos without the sun behind the Temple. That is when we noticed the same guy walking towards the Temple. When we had been in the parking lot taking photos we also had noticed someone climbing up the scaffolding. We dedicted to take some more photos of these people and then try and call the construction company to let them know people were tresspassing. The construction company had no phone numbers so we called the Draper Police. They were causing no damage so we didn't call 911. I was on hold for what seemed like forever. Probably close to 10 min. I finally got through and was able to report the tresspassing just as the guys were leaving. As you see I was able to get a picture of one of them hoping the fence. (The one who had been gazing up at the Temple just 10 minutes earlier.) Rick drove around as they ran off to a contruction site where they were probably working on a house. Who knows if anything ever came of this but we did give the dispatcher the license plate information for the car they were in.

What an adventure! I know I would like to have been up at the top touching Moroni but you know, that just isn't the way it works.

Seattle

Rick and I might be going to Seattle in September. I have been talking with Maddy and decided I needed to make a list of things I want to do/see while we are there. Rick has never been to Seattle before. Some are family related others are sight seeing related. Wayne and his family from England will also be there at the same time so I will take them into consideration when it comes to the sight seeing.

Sight-Seeing
The Space Needle
Fisherman's Warf (Pier 55 I think)
The Aquarium
Ferry into Seattle
Pike's Place
A Sporting Event - Baseball

Family Related
Visit Grandma Jo in Bremerton
Go to Grandpa Marty's Grave
Take photos of homes where family have lived for my family ancestry stuff
See Joanne and any other aunts. uncles, cousins that are willing to come and visit
See MADDY!!!

If we buy a citypass these are the things included:
Museum of Flight or Sci-Fi Museum, Pacific Science Center, Seattle Aquarium, Argosy Harbor Tour, Zoo

What other things can you think of that we should try to do or put on our list to cross off?

4th of July

Fireworks for the 4th of July~

Jimmy and his sparkler
Katie checking out Marissa for the first time. She doesn't know what to think about this strange new aunt.
Marissa and her sparklers
Marissa and her favorite brother in law...Rick!

I realize this is a bit late but such is life.
For the 4th of July we went to Jimmy and Carrie's house. We ended up staying for firworks and having a great time. Jimmy's home is in a real neighborhood. The neighbors were doing fireworks all over. It felt so festive. It was what the 4th of July should be. I also made it to the pool that day for a few hours but fortunatly no burn this time around.
In the end, HAPPY 4th of JULY!

(My photos are still posting as html not photos to adjust on here. Anyone know how to fix that?) - Thanks Maddy I am updating this post because of your help =)

This is my favorite picture...Rissy and Little Jimmy were pretty much attached to each other most of the evening.

Fun Little Game - Thanks Alison

Leave a comment on our blog of a memory that you and I have had together. It doesn't matter if you've known me for a short time, or a long time, anything you remember!

Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

My Shout Out

This is so great that I had to write about it right away. As I am sitting here at work talking with Wayne he mentions to me that his friend Dave is an internet DJ. He sends me the link to listen.
The very first song he played was Joe Satriani for me. Then he gave me a shout out. He played a few more songs then mentioned me again and played more Joe. Now he is playing Freebird for me and not just Freebird but the LONG 9 minute version.
So to all my friends out there...check out the above link from 8-11 England time (1-4 Utah time) to listen to Rocking Dave from Leicester England!

in case the link does work the site is http://www.radiogetswild.com

Amish Friendship Bread

I was given my first start of Amish Friendship Bread last Sunday by my sister in law Pat. (Thanks Pat!) Today is day 10 so I will be baking tonight. If anyone would like a start, just let me know because I think I will end up with 7.
Otherwise~ I am ready for the long weekend which hopefully starts early this afternoon. We aren't going anywhere but I plan to get in some serious pool time. Rick and I both have Monday off as well. Marissa will be in town starting tomorrow and we have Katie's baby blessing on Sunday. Rick and I are going to help Jimmy with his yard on Saturday and get some petunias in the ground. Overall it will be a nice relaxing weekend.
We also decided to stay in our apartment for another year. We signed the lease yesterday so we are there until September 30th 2009. I am sure this is great news for the people in my ward who want us to stay. I think it will be good for us too to keep working on getting our debt paid off so that when we do get a house we can get what we want!
I am here talking with Maddy and Wayne right now as well - Hi guys - and I was discussing classic rock with Wayne. A story came to mind I think I shall share. A few months ago when little Jimmy slept over we were in the car listening to Free Bird. When we got home, he kept saying Freebird and trying to sing. It was so great. Yes I am such a good aunt indoctrinating him with the classics.
I hope that everyone has a wonderful 4th of July!

Broken String

Last night I broke my first tennis racket string. I was having a great time too. Rick knew the second it happened what it was because the sound is so distinct. Now I need to find a place to get it restrung. Dick's is where I did it last time but I don't want to drive all the way downtown for it. Today I am going to see what I can find around here.
I am ready for the long weekend. We don't plan to do too much other than get in some good pool time. We have the baby blessing on Sunday as well but I can't go to the pool that day anyway.
Life is pretty quiet. With both my sisters being gone...I did receive an email last night with a great photo of Rick and me. It was nice to have someone else taking photos over the weekend.
Speaking of photos on here, the last two times I have posted photos they have shown up as html or whatever the words are rather than a photo. Is this happening to anyone else? It makes it much more difficult to position my photos.