Halloween

Brynna was a beautiful Cleopatra. Thanks to M for making the awesome costume for her. Thanks to E for taking her trick-or-treating, so I could be handing out treats at my house.

Brynna tried to take pictures of me, but we had to hurry to school. I think she may need some more practice. Here is my scarry vampire pose. I have another picture to add, but I don't have it at home.

Camping and Biking

Two posts in one week... this has got to be a record.

Mid-October we went camping with some good friends of ours to Kodachrome Basin State Park. We had fun relaxing, exploring, and learning to ride a bike! Okay, I learned a while ago, but Brynna learned to ride without training wheels. Yeah! I'm going to attach a couple of pictures from the weekend and then try to attach a little video of her riding on an early run. Once she got the hang of it, we had to go on a bike ride. We rode around the campground area and then decided to go on a longer excursion. The route we picked ended up going on a gravel road, which was a bit too much for Brynna, but she made it through.

A cold day...

After I started doing some running this year Brynna kept wanting to run my races with me. I don't think she is ready for a 5K just yet, so when I saw that the BYU Homecoming races had a 800M race for 7-9 year olds, I thought, this will be perfect.

So, when the morning dawned, it was 30 degrees and snowing (lightly)! It wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but that is autumn in Utah. (It hasn't snowed again since that weekend.) So, here's a few pictures from the event. Brynna ran her 800M in 4:49, which I thought was pretty good considering she basically had no "training" and just ran the race. She was proud of herself. I ran in the 5K with two of my neices who are going to school at BYU. I was able to keep up with them, but didn't do as well as my last race. I'll blame it on my bad conditioning for the month and a half before the race, as well as my frozen toes. It was around 32:20, about 2 minutes slower than last time. I need to practice some more!

The 21st Century

So, tonight I finally got an internet connection at home. I know I've been living in the dark ages. The hope here is that if I have the connection at home, maybe I'll actually take the time to update my blog. Let's see what happens...

To start with, here are some pictures to go with my last post... I promised them quite a while ago. Here I am before my race at the starting line. Not much to see, but it proves I was there. :)

Next, here are a few pictures of the flowers from my yard, as I mentioned earlier...

Catchin!g up...

Well, I keep putting off making another entry because I don't have a picture to post, but that isn't much fun for anyone who tries to check my blog... (If there is even anyone out there who hasn't already given up on it. Post a comment so I know if I still have readers! Otherwise, I'll have to send out an e-mail indicate I'm back.)

So, I decided I better put something here so I don't lose momentum. Previously my posts have mostly been about activities with Brynna... so I thought I'd mention a few things about what is going on with me...

Back in December I received a promotion of sorts... I was made a section manager at work. What that means is that I have a group of about 8-10 engineers over whom I am responsible for writing their yearly reviews, giving "permission" for time off, etc. I also now help with staff planning and stuff in my department. It isn't very glamorous, but it's not bad. I wrote my first three reviews this last week. It was an interesting experience, and I didn't mind it at all.

I've been trying to get in better exercising habits for the last few years, and this January I decided to try running. I've always hated running, but it is good aerobic exercise, and it seems like runners are always thin. I'd like that side benefit :) So I started running with the goal of completing a 5K. Because life is so busy, I haven't been able to work in a run more than once a week, usually, but I am making progress. I can't run for the whole distance yet, but at the gym I can usually do it with only walking 5 or 6 of my 31 laps around the track. Currently my fastest gym time is about 29 minutes, 30 seconds. I was thinking of waiting until I could run the whole thing before entering a race, but I decided to try it anyway. So, on April 28th I ran in a 5K race at Thanksgiving Point. It was probably about 50 degrees outside, so it was pretty cold. My time was a little slower (probably around 34 minutes -- the race timer thing didn't work quite right so I don't have an exact time), but it was a good experience. I've already been checking out other race opportunities throughout the upcoming summer, so I will keep working on it. I have a few pictures from this event, and I will post them later.

Some other random things I can think of to mention at this time:
1. Over the last year I've developed an intense liking for fish tacos. I'm always looking for good ones. I've liked fish for years, but it always seemed odd to me to eat them in a taco, but now I love them!
2. I recently started listening to Pandora (pandora.com). It is a web "radio station". You start by picking a band or song that you like, then it tries to find similar music or more music by the same artists. You can "vote" on the songs for your own stations and tailor it to your likes and dislikes. I've found it pretty fun and like to have it on while I'm at work.
3. Last fall I finally got around to plantings some spring bulbs... I was going to try and get some "fancy" ones, but I finally just picked some (about 90) at Home Depot. I've enjoyed seeing them come up this year. I got crocuses, daffodils, hyacinth, and tulips. My tulips said they were just plain pink, but when they came up some were light pink with ruffled/jagged edges, some were ivory with the same ruffled/jagged edges, some were dark pink stripes on ivory. Some still haven't opened, so I'll see soon.

Well, I'll post this and then try to add some pictures.

Halloween

Brynna's school requests that the student dress up as historical or literary characters. Brynna came home and said she was supposed to be "somebody real." She said that she wanted to be Sacagawea.





After looking for a pre-made costume and finding nothing that suited what we wanted. I decided to resurrect those old jr. high sewing skills and make the costume myself. I sewed the dress and added on the beads at the neck and the bead flower on the front. We did buy the slippers and then just used staples to make her baby carrier. (I can't remember the official name of it at the moment...)


The Friday before Halloween, Dirk and I attended a How to Host a Murder party. We are supposed to be dressed like Cleopatra and Ceasar. Be sure to check out our awesome rings that Dirk found for us while costume shopping.

First snow

In Mid October we got our first snow. Brynna was so excited to build a snowman. I think she used all the snow we had accumulated on the deck and a lot from the yard to make this snowman.

Note the beautiful eyelashes fashioned from little twigs, the classic carrot nose, pinecone eyes, and flashy purple vampire teeth.

She was very pleased with the result.

Celebration VII

On Saturday, Brynna participated in the Suzuki Association of Utah's "Celebration VII" concert. More than a thousand children from ages 3 and up performed in the LDS Conference Center. All of the instruments combined to perform the opening number and the closing number. During the concert, each of the instruments had their own performing section. The instruments taught by Suzuki method included: violin, viola, cello, bass, guitar, harp, flute, piano, organ, and voice. As a parent volunteer, I sat with the musicians and and a great view. It was a wonderful concert.

Goal!!!

At last week's game Brynna was able to score her first goal of the season. She has been making great progress. This is only her second time playing soccer and the first time with so many players and positions. Her group is composed of 1st and 2nd graders. I was down watching the goal and received much harrassment for being so excited that I didn't actually get a picture of her kicking the goal. (Oops!) The picture I took later as Brynna was bringing the ball down the field again was a little later in the game.

First Day of School

Here's Brynna on her first day of First Grade! I'm normally opposed "character" wear, excepting a few circumstances. So, it was with hesitancy that I agreed to the Barbie lunch box, but she is so pleased with it.
The lunchbox somewhat covers up her school uniform, but you can get the idea. The black tie is only required on Mondays, but I have found that she actually likes the tie! So that is good, so we don't have to fight to get it on. I'm not sure if I would have been that thrilled about it when I was her age. I still remember hating that I had to wear a dress everyday in Kindergarten.
She is enjoying school and is showing great improvement week to week in her reading. She also comes home with fun stories about learning about Egypt or some other ancient culture.

Summer Vacation

Brynna and I went to Oregon to visit my family in July. Dirk was unable to come because he wasn't feeling well. It was beautiful weather while we were there and we had fun visiting with family, going to the beach and visiting Silver Creek Falls state park.

The picture is of the day we went to the beach. We visited Oswald State Park. From the parking area you walk through a nice trail through the trees. Just before coming out to the ocean you cross a bridge over a stream that flows out to the ocean. The beach runs the width of a cove, so the hills come down to the ocean on both sides. It is a beautiful place. Brynna is playing in the stream that flows out into the ocean.

At Church I am the YW 2nd Counselor. This year I went to Girls Camp. We did a bunch of "team" activities, including the "trust" catch. Somehow the girls talked the leaders into letting them catch us! So we stood on a picnic table and fell backwards. My expression shows my great anticipation of what is to come!

I really enjoy participating with the YW. I currently have 17 Beehives in my class! It was a good couple of years for girl babies in '94 - '95, but there are no new girls coming in until October of next year, and by that time I lose 11 of my girls to Mia Maids.

More on the yard work

Here's some pictures of the night we put the sod down. We had a lot of help from neighbors and friends. In the picture above left, the sod is just starting to be put in along the back retaining wall. In the picture above right, the sod has been put next to the garden area retaining wall. Also, you can see how nicely the grape vine has been growing in this summer. Lastly, to the right here is a view of getting the finishing touches put down.

I don't have new pictures yet with the bark down because I have been waiting for the hot summer weather to cool down and I plan to do some fall planting... I guess that time is about now?!? I want to do the "finished" pictures when the additional plants have been put in. So stay tuned... If I don't get around to it, I'll get some pictures taken with the bark down and the fence finished.

Back Yard work

Here is a before picture from the deck. It is a nice shot of the weeds and the "double fence" we had going on. Before we moved in, I guess the previous owner didn't want to do the whole vinyl fence, so only the neighbor's yard was completed, and they kept the old chain link fence.

This is the side yard. It looks a litle worse than it really was because there is some extra junk there that was only there temporarily. You can see how it slopes away from the house in a basically unusable fashion.

Here is the beginning of the work in progress pictures. On the side, a retaining wall is being built to provide a garden area, and a walk way by it. Also, some terracing walls are done further back to give some other flat planting areas. The shed is going to go in the back corner that can be seen on the top right corner of the picture.

More to come later...

Dance Recital

Brynna's dance studio did a production based on the book, "On the day that you were born" One of the student's father and his friend composed original music for the production. Brynna's group portrayed several different types of animals. Brynna was a salmon. In the picture, her friend Kelsie was a turtle. Her class also included some deer and some butterflies. I've been impressed with the costuming that they've had the last two years. It's hard to imagine what the costume will look like when you hear "salmon" (or Mosquito - which is what she was last year), but they do a great job.

Going backwards in time

Since I seem to be having trouble offering updates going forward (I haven't loaded up new pictures), I figured, maybe it would be good to go back in time...

As some of you may know, Dirk turned 40 this year. I planned a surprise birthday party for him, and he was SURPRISED! Thanks to those who sent me notes and letters to give him on that day. I am still in process of getting those all put into a scrapbook for him. If I missed you in my frenzy and you still want to contribute, send me an e-mail.

Here's the people who were there in time to yell, "SURPRISE!"

So my first "real" post isn't about the backyard... I haven't uploaded those pictures yet, but...

A couple of weeks ago, my company had its annual summer picnic. One of the activities they had was a rock climbing wall. Brynna really got into it. The first time, she was a little scared, but she wanted to do it over and over again. She got pretty high. I thought it was especially good since she was in the "intermediate" side of the wall. The "easy" side had a broken cable on the "belay" (I don't know if that is spelled right).

On this last picture, she is a little more than half way up the wall. I'm not very good at judging distances, but she is definitely higher than I can reach. We'll have to try that again sometime soon!

First Post

A friend of mine from college started keeping a blog, and I enjoyed reading hers so much that I thought I'd try it out. I have no idea how often I'll add to this, but I'll try to keep current.

Recently we've had a lot of work done on our back yard, and I'll plan to post some pictures of that soon.

Let's see how this goes!