catching up! -- 3 posts in 1

There just is not enough time in the day for me to blog anymore. I miss it when i can't post something on my blog or read and comment on yours. so, bare with me while I play a little catching up. First up is.....

Grand Tetons/Yellowstone

Over Labor Day weekend we finally made our yearly trip to the tetons and yellowstone. We actually got there at a good time during the afternoon because we spent the night before in Logan at Amandas, so we were ahead by 2 hours. :] It is always a long drive there, but Amandas husband, Quinten suggested that we listen to "The Hunger Games" on tape. I have a hard time following on tape, especially when there is other things to look at. Lets just say that I finally got into it on our way home. we didn't have time to finish it, so i HAD to buy it on my kindle because it was so good. It really did make our travel alot faster.

Friday night after we set up camp we went to Leeks Marina for some pizza since we all still looked presentable. haha! It was really good for eating there for the first time.

{Leeks Marina}

Saturday we spent some time at the chapel of transfiguration, the mennors ferry, the new moose visitors center, canoeing string lake as well as the river and hiking. There is just so much to see and do in the tetons, that you need alot of time or extra days to fit everything in.

{Holly + Amanda inside the Chapel of Transfiguration}

{Holly + I}

{Me,Bethie,Amanda, Holly and Maggie}

{Bethie at the Mennors Ferry General Store}

{beautiful tetons and mount moran}

{Holly getting ready to go down the river}

{Bethie + Holly on our hike to swan lake}

{Swan Lake}

Sunday we woke up and had a good breakfast and headed to Yellowstone. We took several detours on our way there looking at different sites. we stopped and checked out some geysers, the canyons and lower falls.

{dragons mouth geyser} stinky!!

{mud pots}

{tons of buffalo on the side of the road}

{Lower Falls} absolutely breathtaking!!

{Diane, Amanda + Holly at the brink of lower falls}

 On our way to tower, we spotted a bear on the side of the road. we seriously had front row seats from the car. it was SOO cool! such an adrenaline rush. I love seeing bears there or any other type of wildlife.

{this buffalo was just taking a stroll down the road causing a total traffic jam or should i say "buffalo jam"}

 It was so cold in yellowstone, but we stopped and had some lunch and then headed to Old Faithful. It was also very cold there, so we stayed inside to watch the geyser erupt.

We walked over to the lodge to get some souveniers in the freezing cold and once we were inside, it started to snow. yes, you read that right..it started to SNOW! it was sooo crazy!! We decided not to stay too long at the lodge, because the snow was starting to pick up and we didn't want to get caught in a terrible storm with the snow sticking to the roads, so we headed back towards the tetons. This night was the coldest night there, but we were prepared. I'm so glad i brought my gloves because i slept with them on my hands that night. haha!

I never ever want to leave the tetons once there because i never know when we will be going back. time seems to go by so fast there and i'm always wishing we have more time. Monday morning came and I knew that it was time to say good-bye for another year.

I LOVE the tetons! :]

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My 1yr. check-up with the RP specialist

I can't believe its been one year since I was diagnosed with RP. I guess you could say I was a little scared going into this, just because I didn't want to hear that my vision has gotten worse. I kind of knew that my vision at night has worsened, but I was hoping for nothing more.

The Drs. assistant asked me if I have noticed any difference in my vision,  and I haven't during the day, but i'm to the point now that I WILL NOT drive at night unless i'm going a very short distance. I also mentioned that I tried the vitamin A for about a month and a half to slow the process of RP down, but I experienced some moods that I had no idea I was doing until other people pointed them out to me. I became very easily agitated and irritated for no reason and I had no idea that I was like that at all.  I told him that I am no longer taking the medicine for my roomates sake. haha! Oh and everyone else that is around me on a daily basis. I told him that after being off of the vitamin A , I have not experienced any of those symptoms again. thank goodness. :]

They dilated my eyes and while I was seeing the Dr. he told me that everything seems to be the same. YAY!! He did ask me if I needed any visual aids for not seeing well at night. I just told him I have just been using a flashlight and that seems to be efficient for now. He did ask if I am still able to work, which I am and I'm grateful.

They also took photos of my eyes to check the rods and cones and he said that the pigment of my eyes have not changed and the rods and cones have not worsened.

I think I am being well taken care of here at the retina specialist for now. Hopefully in the next several years there will be no change for a very long time.

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Stewart Falls Hike 



A couple of weeks ago, Bethie and I took a leisurely drive up American Fork Canyon to see the amazing fall colors. I think fall is my favorite season because of the changing of the leaves. Anyways we did the drive up around the Alpine Loop and as we were coming up by Sundance we thought that it would be a great day to do this hike. I'm so glad we did, even though it totally kicked our butts! These pictures seriously don't do it justice.

{{this was taken before we got to sundance}}

 {{the leaves were starting to change here}}

 {{the higher we got, the brighter they were}}

 {{this was just before we got to the falls}}

 {{the pink & bright red leaves were my favorite}}

 {{we finally made it! Yay!}}

 {{so pretty!}}

I want to come back again someday and do this hike again. It was worth it in the end to see this waterfall.

Lion King...

... was fantastic!!

I'm not sure if i need to say anything more about this show. seriously, it was amazing! Bethie and I bought our tickets clear back in February. I didn't think August 14th 2010 would get here fast enough. The tickets were pricey, but i would totally do it all over again. I loved it!

We had initially planned to ride tracks to salt lake, but we were running a little late so we just drove to the Capitol Theatre, and i am so glad that we did because if we were late, we couldn't be let in until 10 minutes after the show started. the first 10 minutes was by far the best! i seriously, no joke, had chills for that first 10 minutes because the animals ( puppets ) were walking in the aisles next to us to get to the stage. So cool!

 I wasn't able to get many pictures because you are not allowed to take them inside the capitol theatre, but i will never forget this night! It was so much fun and i'm glad i got to experience it and see a spectacular showing of Lion King. :)  

watch out! she is legal...

Oh man, my niece is growing up way way too fast! Oh how i love this girl!

She decided that she wanted to have a BBQ and invite a few friends as well as family. we were going to have the BBQ up american fork canyon, but the weather was not cooperating, so we had it at my house instead. :)

Brit- i hope you had the most wonderful birthday and got all that you wished for. love you.

 Cooper - Brit - Kylie & Ryan (now Mr. and Mrs Toomey) and Chassie

 Cooper - Brit - Kylie

 Kasey & Sandy

 they really do love each other... lol

 she couldn't figure out what i gave her..haha!

She has the go for the 'smore look in her eyes

photography giveaway!

Kali Poulsen is giving away a free photo session. up to 5 entries per person. all you have to do is:

• like kali poulsen photography on facebook
• suggest kali poulsen photography to your friends on facebook
• post about the giveaway in your facebook status
• blog about the giveaway
• put a kali poulsen photography button on your blog.

go to kali poulsen photography on facebook or http://www.kalibug.blogspot.com/  for more info!

she is an amazing photographer! :)

Moab!

Over the 4th of July weekend we decided to make a trip to one of our favorite places...MOAB! Oh how i love this place. There is so much to see and the scenery is always so pretty.

We got there on Saturday afternoon, got checked into our hotel and headed into Arches. We have been there before but we still wanted to drive through and stop at some of our favortie places. We kind of lucked out this time because it wasn't as crowded this time as it was before, so there wasn't huge crowds and no crazy out-of-state drivers. :)

Delicate Arch--my favorite to see in Arches.

Sunday was an all together different day with lots to see. We drove into Canyonlands and Dead Horse Point. I have been to Dead Horse Point before with my mom several years ago, but Bethie hasn't seen it before so we drove in so she was able to. I love the views here, it is breathtaking with alot of different layers in the rock. If you have never heard the story behind Dead Horse Point,  you should look it up and read about it.

After Dead Horse Point we headed into Canyonlands. I've never been here so i was kind of excited to see it. Unfortunately it was alot of driving, with only a few things to see. You couldn't drive all the way through it. there were different entrances to the park which required more driving. It seems like if you have a 4-wheel drive or 4-wheelers you would be able to see alot more. Sad to say it was kind of a let down for me and we didn't want to drive further to see other areas of the park. i'm still glad i was able to see it though.

Sunday night we just hung out at the pool and went shopping in downtown Moab. We were looking forward to the next day when we were going to Goblin Valley.

Monday morning we grabbed a good breakfast before getting on the road. Last time we went to goblin valley it was raining so hard we were not able to go down near the lil' goblins, so we were excited ths time cause the weather was fantastic.

NOTE TO SELF: READ THE MAP BEFORE YOU GET ON THE ROAD SO YOU DON'T MISS YOUR EXIT!

-no goblin valley this time around- :(

ah well........gives us another reason to go back! :)

we had a blast!

I LOVE MOAB!!

enjoy the slideshow. :)

                                

Living Traditions

a couple of weekends ago we headed up to salt lake city to the Living Traditions festival. it was held at the city county building. the festival is a place where people from the area go to share their traditions and customs of other countries. there is different performances from the different countries as well as food that they prepare from the different countries.

one of the reasons we went was because Laiza, a sweet lady from where i work, was performing a couple of dances from the Kanamu Tahitian dance company. we were excited to go see what the festival was all about, but we were happy to go and support Laiza and watch her dance her heart out.

we got to sample some of the yummy food from different countries and i have to say, the baklava was my all time favorite. after i ate it, i told myself that i should of bought 4 more pieces to take home. haha! it was that good. not only did we have baklava but we tried a tamale that was wrapped in a banana peel. it had a totally different flavor, but yet it was still good. we also tried a papusa. it is like a corn tortilla with beans and cheese in the middle and then fried. it was yummy! we also sampled some authentic chinese food. can't go wrong there.

there was a time during the night when the chinese people danced while in costume as a dragon. they do this dance during the chinese new year. i was pretty excited to see this it was really cool.

this is city county building where the festival was held. kind of a cool building.

the yummy food - this is a tamale wrapped in a banana peel. the fried corn tortilla with beans and cheese is the papusa. so good.

authentic chinese food. delish!

this is baklava. oh man i was seriously in heaven! look at all the layers of phyllo dough. it was so so good!

Laiza doing a dance performance from the Kanamu Tahitian dance company. She did an awesome job.

these are some other dancers from the Kanamu dance company.

these are the chinese dragon dancers. this was SOOO cool!!

i am glad we were able to go to the Living Traditions. it was an awesome experience and i look forward to going again soon. thanks Laiza for telling us about it. :]