Fall Fun

Tonight we went to Hobble Creek Canyon to look at and collect leaves. It's a tradition, and with Tara here now I am not allowed to break any traditions. It's a pretty fun one, anyway.

Well, there is a ranch in the canyon right near the campground. We have actually been camping there during a cattle drive and it's quite an experience to be right in the middle of it.

Tonight they were driving the cattle back to their ranch, and again we were right in the middle of it, although this time we were inside a car so it felt less threatening. Here is the video Tara took:


AND, here are a few leaf pictures. We love them!

We like to gather them and bunch them about the house. Mostly above the coat closet. Pretty!

Jeny's day to celebrate

We won't say why she was celebrating, just that she did. On September 11 I was able to sleep in as long as I could because it was a Saturday. Beautiful! I slept in until 8! Then I did a whole bunch of laundry and did the grocery shopping so that could get out of the way. Mark was out doing a bit of shopping of his own, and look what he got me!!!

Yep, that really is a greenhouse. It's a little one, so the neighbors shouldn't be too upset (we do have some picky neighbors) and just right for my needs. Now we get to move the shed, put down a concrete pad big enough for the shed and the greenhouse, and assemble this. Such a great idea! I love it!

Tara and her friend Casey hung out with us for the rest of the day. We went boating on Utah Lake, Geocacheing until the mosquitos got so bad Mark was about to use a bad word (maybe darn, or something like that), then we went to dinner and came home for a rip-roaring game night of Rumoli. What a great bir . . . uh, day of celebration for me!

Jeny on the boat.

Tara gave me a great puzzle of fantasy like creatures. Maybe she likes it enough that she will help me with this one? And that's Casey in the background.

A Day at the Races

Mark had a guy from the Bonneville Speedway come to his work yesterday to help with some radios he had purchased for the Speed Races this week. He brought along several tickets and other goodies for the races. Since we are responsible adults with jobs that rely on us to get things done, we took today off and went to the salt flats. I have driven through there, but I have never gone to the state park (woohoo! flat salt land as far as the eye can see.) and certainly never to see the fastest cars in the world zip by.

We did not have much time (it tool 3 hours to get there, and Tara didn't get up until 11) so I didn't get the pictures of everything I wanted to, but here's what I got.

A really fast car. I think this one went about 180 MPH. It was not the fastest car we saw. We saw several that went over 200 MPH, but they were too fast for me and my camera.

Our feet on the salt. All that white all around us is just a big field of salt.

Tara's favorite car.

Jeny's favorite car. We didn't have time to get Mark with his favorite. It looked like a giant red bullet.

Now, don't laugh too hard. I was trying to get a still photo but apparently the camera was in movie mode. But it was the best movie of fastness that I got.

I love going back to work. :(

When I got in to work today my desk was all nice and clean. The basket on my desk contained only 2 requests - please get some dusting stuff and packing tape. There were a lot of time cards to enter and that is all. I was so excited! I thought, "Wow, maybe they really don't need me here."

About 15 minutes after I got settled reality hit. Clare (my boss) put a rubbermaid bin on the floor next to my desk filled to overflowing with paperwork, mail, more time sheets, bills, etc. Seriously, it overflowed. I think it's gonna take me a week to get through the bin. Then I can start on the real work.

I just thought I would tell my family that this is how much I love you. I still felt like singing even after 10 straight hours of working my way through the top 3 inches of my bin. Seperate Ways kept me going all day long, and our many many strange family songs. Even Kites are Fun. Maybe tomorrow I'll take a short break to eat something for lunch!

Thanks for all the fun! I love you all!

Family Reunion - Princess Night!

This is a super fun blog posting. The Lauritzen Family Reunion was this past week, July 22-25. It was my parent's and their children and so on, so there were a lot of people, but not too many. The second night of the reunion we had a girls night in my hotel room for everyone ages 7-? whoever wanted to come watch princess movies. We had 9 girls, Amy, me, Tara and Mark. Mark loves princess movies. We watched the barbie version of "Princess and the Pauper". Great movie! Lots of action! Here was my favorite part. Most of the girls made it through the movie, but once the lights and TV were off they were out fast. Then the snore fest began.

Megan ended up sleeping on the bed with me since Kate wouldn't stop trying to use her for a matress.

Lydia (under the blanket) Melissa, Tara and Amy.

Ashley and Ella.

Trina's arm and Emma.


Rachel and Trina (with her football; we never saw her without it!).


Lydia. Most of the night she was smashed into the side of my bed by Melissa. So cute!

Melissa.

Megan, Kate, Ashley, Ella, Trina and Emma - Front row.

Mark's feet, Amy, Lydia, Melissa, Tara - Back row.

The girls all knew the movie pretty well. They sang along with all the songs. I tried to get better video but my camera doesn't like me.

I had a great time! Mark did, too. And he had lots to talk to the girls about for the rest of the reunion. I think he finally gets the plot of the movie now. Thanks, girls, for explaining it to him about a million times and for answering all his questions!

Art City Days

This week was Art City Days. Woohoo. That's what you're thinking, right. Actually it's pretty fun, so despite the rain and the freezing cold temperatures we went out tonight and watched the fireworks. Springville puts on a pretty decent fireworks show! I have been impressed by it every year. Here is a small sampling of the show. Just in case you have a need to see fireworks right now.

Provo River and Jordanelle Reservoir

Mark and I had a fun weekend. Kinda weird, but fun. We went camping without any kids. Haven't done that in over 20 years! So we sat around the camp fire and twiddled our thumbs. Just kidding! We went to Jordanelle Reservoir because Mark heard the fishing was great there. I guess we don't know what we are doing, because we caught nothing. I didn't see anyone else catching anything either, so I don't feel so bad.
Here is Mark's little boat. We keep it stored in the garage. When he drives it he sits on top of the seat back. That's how little it is. According to our handy dandy geocaching GPS, top speed is 36.1 MPH. Perfect!


It's been snowing here up until last Tuesday. Saturday's high was about 90, and today it got up to 85. This is not so great for flooding. Many places near Salt Lake have flooding issues right in town. The Provo River is more full than I have ever seen it, and there are a lot of logs and other debris in the reservoir. Here are some pictures and a video of that fun.
There are 2 pelicans in this photo. As soon as they heard the beep of the camera turning on, they decided to fly away.

The flooded Provo River - just above the reservoir.