Hurt Wrist

On Wednesday while I was at work, Brian called and said that Amber had crashed her bike and that we needed to take her for x-rays. She had all the classic signs of a broken arm, so we left the kids at home with my niece, they picked me up, and we went to the doctor.

Because she couldn't turn her arm or grip things without a lot of sharp pain, the doctor was pretty sure that it was broken. So he sent her in for x-rays. When the x-rays came back and didn't show any breaks, and one of the pictures was not good, he called a radiologist to look at it immediately. He said that he couldn't see any signs of a break, so they decided to just splint it for now.

Here is a picture with the splint. She has to wear it for about a week, and then if it isn't feeling better, we have to go back for more x-rays.
This picture is also of her and her cousin Heather while I was at the studio practicing.

Hike #5 with the Cub Scouts

This week Brian was asked to help the cub scouts with their hike. So we took our family and met the boys on the trail. Again, because of all of the rain, it was so green and pretty but because of the shadows in the canyon, it was a little dark to get a good shot without a tripod.

Zak & Seth

What a pretty day.

Brian taught the boys how to use a map, compass, and GPS.

The Cub Scouts!

What a fun day and a good hike. We had a blast.

Splash Pad

Monday night for Family Home Evening, we took the cousins that stayed for the week to the splash pad and we had a blast. I continue to practice with my camera, and some pics turn out better than others, but in general, they are all improving.

Zak

Seth

Les

Amber & Heather

Les under the mushroom.

Les on the monkey bars.

Zak on the slide.

Hike #4 & Shooting

On our hike last week, we took the guns and went shooting as well. Brian has taken me to the range a few times lately, so this time we thought we would take everyone and go outdoors.

Zak and Les love to go shooting and Brian is really working with them to respect the gun and to handle them the proper and safe way.

While practicing with my camera, Brian handed Amber this prop.

I love how Les winks to be able to aim the gun. It takes his whole face. I think that I will miss it when he can wink without so much effort.

The terrain. It was so beautiful this day with the clouds.

And this fence made a nice photo.

This is looking down on the valley on the way home. All the rain has made everything so green. It is so pretty right now.

Hiking...

We must be gun totin' idiots!

Aren't they cute.

New Opportunities

As many of you know, I have always loved to do photography even though I have never felt that I am very good at it. I have read several things and talked to several friends to try to learn how to get good pics, but I have a hard time applying them.

Recently I have been given a new opportunity/challenge. I am now apprenticing at Junction Photography in the mall. The owner is a friend that I have admired his work for a long time. In just a few weeks, he has taught me how to apply many of those things that I have read and been told, but couldn't figure out how to apply when I had my camera in my hand. He is currently teaching me how to do studio photography. I am loving it although learning slowly.

He is an amazing photographer and has been in the area for quite a few years. check out his work at:
http://www.aa-photography.com/2009/Menu.html
http://aa-photography.blogspot.com/ or at his new website,
http://jpshots.com/ .

Stop in and check us out, or just say hi when you are at the mall. Better yet, a 15 minute session is free of charge, and you only have to buy if you are happy with the shots. I assure you that you will be.

Wish me luck!

Living Planet Aquarium

Last week Amber, Les and Zak met Grammy and Gramps on the FrontRunner train to go to the Living Planet Aquarium. They transferred from FrontRunner to Trax to a UTA bus to get there. Amber asked if she could blog about their trip. So from here forward, this is Amber's blog post! ENJOY!

One of the first things we did was, was touch the stingrays. They felt both slimy and furry.

This was one of the 2 eels they had, the picture I took of the electric eel didn't look good.

This is a penguin from the new penguin exhibit. I really liked the penguins!!! Zak liked how fast the penguins swam. Les liked the way the penguins jumped into and out of the water. I liked how they sometimes came up to the glass and that they streaked past.

I like this picture because it looks like the fish is smiling!

This fish was one of my favorites because it swam vertically. I've never seen a fish that did that.

This was one of the two alligators they had. They were smaller than the ones we saw in Florida.

I really liked the Jelly fish.

This is mine and my Mom's favorite picture. It is a lion fish.

I'm not sure what this is, but I think it is a sting ray.

we had so much fun, thanks Grammy and Gramps.

Hike 3 - Cascade Springs

After running our errands on Monday, we drove up American Fork canyon to Cascade Springs. It was an eventful drive. That is the day that so many of the rivers in the Salt Lake area flooded. The river in the canyon was roaring. I have never seen it so high or fast. At one point, we had to cross what was usually a small trickle of water crossing the road. Instead it was several inches deep (maybe 6-10 inches) and moving fast. I was a little nervous to drive through it.

Then as we got to a meadow near the summit of the canyon, we spotted a moose eating. Because of the high water levels everywhere, the meadow was flooded.

This is the same place. If you look closely, you can still see the moose, but it was such a beautiful area, that I had to take a photo to remember it.

Timp peak showing above the closer mountains.

Brain and the kids with the moose in the background.

The kids at Cascade Springs. It was so pretty up there.

The springs running over the ground.

The river that all the water from the springs made.

If you look right in the center of the picture, you can see a trout. I was so excited to see this picture. I finally figured out how to use my polarizing lens! You can't even see reflection off of the water.

Just a cool knot in a tree. I had to take a picture

From Cascade Springs, we drove a dirt road down into Midway.
On the drive we spotted a hawk. I wish you could see him better in the picture.

And we pulled off the road to let the kids see devil's slide. It's always an amazing sight.

What a fun day!