October is my favorite

If there is any doubt why I love the fall the best, let me enlighten you.
The colors, the cooler temps, the way everything feels new and interesting, (even though a lot of things are actually dying or preparing to hibernate) there is just something special about this time of year. I think I appreciate it all the more because I know winter is coming and that means a lot more indoor activities and cold and darkness. So in addition to not blogging, I am enjoying this great time of year and have some recent photos of my job at Timpanogos Cave.




Although I do not mean to brag, you really cannot beat the view from my "office" window. I snapped this pic yesterday morning just as the storm was clearing out.



This is just over the 1/2 way mark on the trail. The picture does not begin to do justice to the fall leaves, but it give a pretty good idea. If you have not been up the trail lately, it is not too late. We are open until Oct 19.

This has been a very busy and crazy season. What can I say?

Sometimes we snap.

When it rains, we get a lot of rock fall on the trail. This came down sometime Sunday morning. We guessed it weighed around 200 lbs, but I don't really know. I do know I couldn't even budge it. I am glad it just happened when we were closed. Things could have been bad.

This was near the top, just below the entrance of the cave. we cleared some of the rockfall, but you can see it is still covering almost 1/2 the trail. I am sure we'll get the rest cleared soon.

More pretty leaves. The camera makes them light, they were really a dark, lovely red.

Here is a great shot from the Exit trail. When the clouds cleared later in the day these peaks were covered with a thick layer of snow. I guess it was too much to ask fall to stick around forever.

I am sorry to say that I have not kept up my blogging very well. In fact, it has been downright sad. We lost Internet access a while ago and have not had time to restore it. (That should give you some insight into how crazy our lives have been.) I am hoping to get all my pictures off my camera soon and up on the blog, but I just want everyone who reads this to know that I have not died or given up on my blogginess, but that I will try and get those things put up as soon as I can. I love reading your notes and blogs, keep me in mind. I will return to the blogging world soon!

Our Summer Adventures (So Far)

So far, this summer has been busy and time consuming. We are sorry we have been silent in the blogging world for a while, but that is something we hope to work on here in the future. David and I are both working at Timpanogos Cave National Monument for the summer. It is a fun job, but it takes up a lot of our time. So, with our apologies, let us fill you in on a few of the highlights.

Normal summer fun consists of tons of picnics and BBQ's outside. If our kids are not outside they feel like they are being deprived. As a matter of fact, so do I. Maile likes to help out in any way she can. Husking corn is one of her favorites. That is a good thing, because it is one of my least.
Darci has invented a slew of new pets. Her latest is a puppy named Spot, and lion named Betsy, and a newborn baby named Sam, (thanks to Melinda for that one.) She is holding the puppy in this picture and wanted us to take a picture of it. Don't worry if you can't see it because it doesn't exist except in Darci's mind.
Darci took her first swimming class this summer and passed with flying colors. She takes to the water the same way she does most things in life, with very little inhibition. She is often fearless and swimming is no exception. She is registered for another class in a couple of weeks and she can hardly wait.
This is a picture of Darci with Tyler and Zach Bartle. They are the sons of my childhood friend Heidi. She was in the process of moving her family to Colorado from Oregon and decided to stay a little while in Provo. So we got to visit for a little while at the park and the kids got to play. It was a great day and it was fun to see her again. I am glad we have kept in touch all of these years.
Darci and Maile on the toys at Cascade Elementary.


Maile hit the milestone birthday of 2 this month! It is weird to think of having a two-year-old again, but I am pleased to do it. She acts the part well and we rarely have a dull moment between the two of them. Most days are pleasant and sweet. But there are moments where that little temper emerges and when it does...But we'll focus on the positive.
This is Maile's birthday cake at Grandma/Grandpa Johnson's. We did a Smiley Face in honor of our hopes for the coming year in spite of the terrible twos. There were lots of presents and she had a ton of fun.
We also had the chance to attend the Scottish festival at Thanksgiving point. We took a few pictures and even though it was quite hot, managed to have a good time.

This is my Grandma and Grandpa Bean, from the Clan McBean. They came to visit and we enjoyed spending the day with them at the festival.

I ran into Carlene from work and promised her I would make her famous when I posted this darling picture of her on my blog. Doesn't she look gorgeous?
We had Darci's face painted, but sadly it got a little smeared. She still thought it looked great!
And what would a Scottish festival be without the bagpipe serenade. Gotta love any man in a kilt.
This is us on the Fourth of July at a Bees game. We took Darci and had a lot of fun with the family. Darci even watched a little of the game. My baby is growing up.

More fun with the family.
The sad part is that our team lost. But they played tough! Go Bees!
And of coarse no Fourth of July is complete with out a great fireworks show to top it off.
Earlier in the day we swam at Grandpa Birrell's. We had a BBQ and homemade ice cream.
The kids loved swimming in the pool and it was not easy to get them out.
Lucky for us, Grandpa Johnson provides a great diversion.

Our one and perhaps only vacation this summer consisted of a weekend trip to Moab Utah. David and I left the girls with family and took off for the red rocks. We had a lot of fun even if it was short lived.This is David emerging from our tent. We stayed in a small campground located in Moab. It was nice because you had to hike into it, no vehicles aloud. But it was close to the shops and places we needed to be. Good compromise.
We spent time hiking the canyons and playing in the parks.
On Sunday we hiked to delicate arch. There were a ton of people there, but we did manage to get a picture with no people in it for a second. It was a small miracle.
We hooked up with the Johnson's part of the time we were there and had a nice time with them.
We also did a river trip down the Colorado. This is us with our river guide Jon. I think we both decided that we missed our true life callings as river guides. We could have been awesome!
We still had a good time.
And the scenery was fabulous, the weather was mild and the river was running high. It was way fun.
This is us as we were getting started at the pick up point where they fit you with jackets and shuttle us to the river.
This is David with his head shaved. It has already started to grow back, but it took a little getting used to.
David and I sat in the front of the rafts, and therefore we got pretty wet. I was really cold by the time we stopped and kept shaking. The wind was blowing too, and that did not help.
However, overall we had a great time.
This is a nice couple we met from England. Perhaps we will have to work on going there for our next trip. Good times.

Too many to list

There have been a lot of things happening this week in our family that have really made David and I stop and think about what we value and what is most important. I think that we are given opportunities to evaluate our lives so that we will be prepared for the future and in some cases the inevitable. It has also forced us to reexamine our faith and our goals and even wake up a little and realize that life changes really fast. Sometimes you just have to slow down and take a deep breath so you don't drown in tidal wave that life will ultimately send. We are deeply grateful for our many gifts, including these two great kids we have been allowed to raise. I really could not ask for more.
On that note: here are some more great things that have happened to us lately.
This last month I was able to reconnect with a long-lost friend. My good friend Maile (after whom my daughter is named) happened to be in town for her sister's wedding. I had not seen or spoken with her in over a decade, and it was a total fluke that I was able to track her down. I am very glad I did and I hope it will not be another 10 years before I see her again.
David had the long anticipated graduation for his Master's degree last month. The sad part is that he still has almost two months worth of classes left, but because he was close to finishing they allowed him to participate in commencement. It was long and boring, as most graduation ceremonies are, and I spent most of the ceremony in the lobby with the girls, but we got to yell real loud when they announced his name. So I guess that is good.
The kids actually did pretty well considering. And we got to go to lunch with David's family and mine after, so it ended up being pretty fun.
The girls wanted a "flower necklace" like daddy's. I thought he looked very handsome.
Here is Darci with some more of his "abstract art." We won't allow her to bring dandelions inside the house, so David told her to go decorate something. She chose the small grill on the porch. She calls them dande-flies, and thinks they are pretty and cannot understand why people pick them and then throw them away. She has also learned that they are the only flowers she is allowed to pick. It is like free weeding for me. Win-win.

Maile bonding with Daddy. I just liked this picture.
Mother's Day came a little early for me this year. David surprised me with a rare night out with just the two of us. We took me to a great Greek restaurant with fabulous food. Afterward, knowing my affinity for Irish culture, he took me to see Celtic Woman, a cool all girl Irish band. If you ever get a chance to see them, do it. They are amazing. It was a great evening. I am so glad we got to go.

My Crazy 8's

Okay, I have been told by a couple of people to post my 8's, so here it goes. You never know what is going to come out of this, but it should be interesting;

8 Things I am passionate about:

• David (that is a given)
• Darci (also to be expected)
• Maile (how can I leave her out?)
• Nature and the outdoors (hence my blog name)
• Learning (the reason I am always going to school)
• Exercise (there is always room for improvement)
• My extended family (I can't say enough good about them)
• Summertime (it is what I live for the rest of the year)

8 Songs I can listen to and never get sick of hearing

• You got a friend (James Taylor)
• You raise me up (Josh Groban)
• Home (Daughtry)
• Paralyzer (Finger Eleven)
• The First Cut is the Deepest (Cheryl Crow)
• Southern Cross (Crosby, Stills and Nash)
• Unwritten (Natasha Bedingfield)
• Hot for Teacher (Van Halen)

8 Past books I have read

• 3 cups of Tea
• Water for Elephants
• Pillars of the Earth
• Tuesdays with Morrie
• Running with Angels
• The Alchemist
• Goose Girl Series
• The Kite Runner (I highly recommend this one by the way)

8 Things I say

• It's all good
• no worries
• good times (David says I say this when I am nervous)
• knock it off
• NO!
• Yoink
• Smiley-Maile
• Darci-luna

8 things that attract me to a friend

• Real
• sincere
• free-spirited
• fun
• reliable
• kind
• give and take personality
• non-judgemental

8 random things about me

• I once weighed 60 lbs more then I do now
• I met my husband in the 7th grade
• I really hate to wear shoes
• I talk to myself a lot
• I always knew my first child would be a girl
• I was once dumped on Valentine's Day (not by my husband.)
• I punched a girl in the nose for making fun of me. (I was not a little kid either)
• I always like to have something to look forward to

8 things I want to do before I die

• Own my own home
• see my kids grow up to be happy, androgynous, adults
• Go on another mission, this time with David
• Travel to a lot of cool places (too many to list)
• Have grandchildren
• Spend more time doing things I love
• Learn more languages
• Write a book

8 Things I've learned this past year

• Don't blame God when things go wrong. There is a purpose behind everything
• You have to be spiritually prepared to see the whole picture
• Some things never change
• 4 year-olds are a lot of fun
• If you are doing your best, God provides the rest
• Stress makes me loose weight
• I have great people in my life
• My husband is my greatest blessing

8 people I want to do 8's

• Shannon
• Stacie
• Natalie
• Heather
• Micayla
• Heidi
• Maile
• David