City of Rocks

this past weekend eric and i went to a national reserve area in southern idaho called City of Rocks. Greg and Liz, our friends from Salt Lake went with us. My sister Miranda and Darin and the 3 kiddos came down from Boise and met us fora night of camping. It was a great weekend. I got to do some great climbing, for which i am thankful since this will be my last road trip for climbing before the surgery.



chillin' on top



happy birthday cake that miranda made for me!



the family in a covered wagon at the visitor's center



bloody fingers





setting that nut!




More Photos at Eric's Photostream

My Birthday Present

Eric bought me my birthday present just a touch early. i have been using a sunbeam we received when we were married for the past 3 1/2 years, and while it mostly worked it also mostly didn't work. i was constantly frustrated with how weak the motor and beaters were and had been longing for a stronger, smoother, faster, better mixer for quite some time. i got it! i finally got the kitchenaid artisan series mixer for my birthday! i found it used from our local news station's web site and i am so happy i've got it!!! Thanks E!

blooms and spring!!

We left on a spring holiday for a week and came back to a bursting of color around our house. it was a lovely thing to return to. These are the pictures of the weeping cherry tree in our front yard. it only has these white blooms on it for about 2 weeks in the early spring, and the rest of the summer has only green leaves. the daffodils are going crazy, the tulips are just barely opening, and the hyacinths are still coloring the lawn too. i planted my peas, onions, and lettuce in the vegetable garden and started organizing my drip system for watering. it's so much fun to see what has popped open every other day.

Eric and I spent a week climbing outside of Las Vegas, Nevada at a place called Red Rock Canyon. my brother Nelson joined us for 1 day of climbing, other than that it was just the 2 of us. it was a great week and pictures will follow later. the weather was a tad cold and a lot more windy than i wanted, but at least there was sunshine to go around.






the weeping cherry


More photos here