Roma Tomatoes - Gardening

Note to self: Try this when the Roma Tomatoes are ripe.

Aaron - Cartoon

This cartoon has a story. There is a little boy at church... we shall call him Aaron, for that is his name. His dad plays the organ. His dad plays the songs for sacrament meeting. That is until Aaron finds the plug to the organ. "No, no Aaron - don't unplug the organ."

Our singing does not sound so good acapella.

Girl & Dog - Cartoon

Girl & Dog - Yo

How To Exercise Early In The Morning:

If I were to write this 'how to' guide, it would be: 1. get up early 2. go exercise
This philosophy is obviously not working. Luckily, I ran across this useful advice...

Things You Will Need:
Alarm clock
Exercise plan
Workout gear
Discipline

Step 1: Choose an alarm clock with a pleasant wake-up call. If your alarm scares the pants off of you every morning, then you might be waking up grouchy and uninspired for a very good reason. Test-drive clocks in the store and look for a sound that suits you.

Step 2: Before you go to bed each night, lay out your workout clothes, gym bag or other gear. Include a variety of items in case the weather changes overnight.

Step 3: Wake up at the same time every day (and ban the snooze button). Even if you choose to sit on the couch and read the newspaper instead of exercise, at least you are teaching your body to rise and be semi-alert at this hour.

Step 4: Don’t leave enough time to dilly-dally. The more you are standing around in a dark, cozy house, the less likely you are to leave it. Wake up, get dressed, and get out the door.

Step 5: Experiment with your pre-workout food. Figure out how little you can eat and still fit in a solid workout. Can you run 5 miles on an empty stomach? Can you ONLY run on an empty stomach? Some quick-and-easy foods that are usually gentle on a pre-workout stomach: banana, cereal bar, toast or yogurt. If you are doing an especially tough workout that requires ample fuel, give yourself enough time for your food to digest before exercising.

Step 6: Find a friend or group to keep you accountable and motivated. If you are meeting outside for a walk or bike ride, establish weather-related guidelines. (For example, if the weather drops below X degrees or it’s thundering outside, hit the gym or stay home.)

Step 7: Explore different activities, then alternate your workouts to keep things fresh, but consistent.

Step 8: Create an exercise plan or fitness goal so that you know what you’re working toward. Once you start seeing results, you will be more motivated to keep that alarm set on EARLY.

Happy Pioneer Day

Standing L to R: Phebe, Rhoda
Seated L to R: Mary Jane, Phebe Campbell Atkinson, Sarann

Today is pioneer day. I have been going through and reading lots of my ancestors histories lately. I have learned many pioneer stories that I had forgotten about and some I had not heard before. I am grateful to my pioneer ancestors for the sacrifices they made so that I can enjoy the life I now have. I am grateful for their faith in and love for God and for passing that that down to me. They came in different ways at different times. If I could say thank you to them today I would. Pioneers of the past - my hat is off to you!

Alphie Cluff, Julia Cluff, Rebecca Cula Langman Cluff in front of Moses Cluff Home

Hiker With Map - Cartoon

A cartoon for those who have voted so far to see more. I have not added a cartoon for the one who would rather not see more.

Hiking to Stewarts Cascades

A lovely 2 mile hike brought us to this:
(When I say 'this' I mean the waterfall. When I say 'us' I don't mean the 4 guys in the picture - we don't know who they were or why they wanted to be in our picture. We never saw them along the trail on the way in - until that moment, and we never saw them again. We only know they were willing to take a picture for us & wanted to be in our picture. I shall refer to them as the 5 amigos. It is a strange tale, but it is true.)

Yellow Flower along the trail

Pretty Waterfall

In The Waterfall

Man going to work - Cartoon

Joke 2

I heard this on the radio:

An older gentleman was hard of hearing & his family pestered him to be fitted for a hearing aid. Finally after months of prodding, he went to his doctor & got his hearing aid. A few months later he returned to his doctor for a check up. The doctor said his hearing was perfect and his family must be very pleased. The old man said, 'Oh, I havn't told my family. I just sit and listen to everything they say. I've changed my will 3 times.'

The moral of the story... be careful what you say about other people, you never know who might be listening.

Star Gazing...

One of the highlights of the vacation was the star gazing. I brought my telescope & one night, we set it up in a field. We couldn't wait to see Venus which we had noticed for several nights... when the telescope was focused on our bright neighbor, to my surprise, I saw that it was Jupiter & the 4 largest jovian moons were visible. Wow! I had never seen Jupiter so bright before. Bryce is a super place to see the stars. They like to talk alot about the lack of light pollution. This is probably true closer to the canyon. From where we were, the lights of Ruby's Inn were on the Northern Horizon & it was interesting to see what a difference it was to look North vs. South. We also checked out a million stars all over the sky. The evening came to an end with a delicious treat of dutch oven peach cobbler & vanilla ice cream. Mmmmmmmm. When can I go back?

Bryce Canyon

Entrance to Bryce Canyon


Looking down "Wall Street". Yes, I went down, which also means eventually it lead me to a path that came back UP. These hikes really commit you - its down hill to get in and you have no choice but to come back up to get out.

End of the Hike to the "Hat Shop"
(I would have loved to seen it although the hike there & back was quite beautiful)

We had an awesome vacation to Bryce Canyon. We hiked down, we hiked up, we got tired, we had fun. The weather couldn't have been better. Looking for a camping, hiking vacation? Go to Bryce.
---SCROLL DOWN FOR AN AMAZING SLIDE SHOW OF THE SIGHTS AT THE CANYON---