Greg, Mallary, and Gage

December

2012-02-12T06:27:00.004-07:00

December was a crazy fun month. Lots of parties and shopping. Gage was such a champ with them all. For Greg and I, it was our first one with a kid. So it was different, but made Christmas so much more fun and exciting for us. These are just a bunch of random pictures from the month. The most exciting is probably the jumper. Thanks to Jaime, we have a jumper and Gage loves that thing! He will jump for 30 min to a hour which means a little free time for me to clean or cook or do whatever I want!!!!!! I never knew I would love a jumper so much. Thank you Jaime for saving my sanity at times!

The Carling Christmas party was awesome this year. Santa came!!! Gage got to sit on his lap and was good long enough to get a picture of him and his drooled on shirt(man, that kid has so much saliva). Greg made an amazing gingerbread house this year. He was so proud that we kept it till January before he would throw it out. Then Gage got to go bowling one day while I was working, heard it was way fun!

Christmas eve we stayed down in Vineyard with my parents. It was way fun to get everyone together... it's becoming a Christmas tradition that someone announces they're having a baby and this year it was Jordan and Sarah!!! We're so excited for them. Come August, Gage will have another cousin to play with! Christmas was so fun this year. It was fun to start some traditions, like Christmas pajama's and ordainment, in our own little family. Gage loved the wrapping paper, but was big eye's when he opened the train from Gunner and Addie. My mom made him and Chaz these fishing waders, they are so cute! She is so creative. I wish I had more pictures of the morning, but I eventually put my camera down and haven't got the pic's from my mom yet. Overall it was a great month and great to spend time with the families!

November

2012-02-09T22:10:00.005-07:00

Not only is Gage crazy fun, but we hit a BYU women's game and headed up to Utah State to watch SUU men's play. We stayed overnight up there, Gage loved the swimming pool.

....Turkey time? Gage wasn't quite sure what to think of the turkey, until he finally wanted to eat it, then that's all he wanted ;-)

For Thanksgiving we went to Cedar City with the Carling's! We had so much fun. The drive down was a little intense, it took us 5 and a half hours with Gage, the blowout was one of our many stops. No worries though, we made it to the SUU game almost on time. It was fun to have all the cousin's together. They were Gage's favorite and we're always playing with him.

This was a way fun hike/ slot canyon we went up just outside of Cedar. Ben was mr. adventure and loved it. To say the least, out feet were soaked and sooooo cold! Would be so fun to do in warm weather... next time.

The games were a blast to go to. Gage loves them and gets so excited to watch all the movement, colors and then all the fans going crazy. His head is on a swivel the whole time. Ron does a great job with the boys and they have a good team this year. They are really fun to watch. We went and shot around one morning. The girls were announcing while Gage was giving us pointers from the bench.

Smiles, laughs, and lots of laundry!

2011-11-15T09:39:00.028-07:00

Part 3 of 3

This is my last week by week update. I've posted weekly pictures up to 4 months, the time that I believe he has changed the most and most quickly. From here on out I'm going to try to put up monthly posts, an idea I stole from Stefanie. That way I can try to stay caught up and not have such long posts!

I love being a mom and Greg is the best dad. Just last night Greg was making Gage... and I laugh so hard, it was so fun. Gage loves having both Greg and I hanging out with him and acting crazy, trying to make him smile or talk. He gets so excited, his little arms and legs just go crazy and he makes some of the funniest sounds and faces; his laugh is so cute that we try everything just to hear it.

Pictures at 3,6, and 15 weeks

These pictures are courtesy of Erica Pheysey, photographer at http://chronochrome.blogspot.com/ ...Thanks!

7 Weeks

Gage has always been very alert and wide-eyed. He just loves to see what's going on and doesn't want to miss a thing... that might be why he has a hard time sleeping ;-) By this time he would make eye contact and start cooing. This is also an attempt to brainwash him to like baseball, it was Gunner's idea.

8 Weeks

We had an awesome week! Greg and Ben went on a great hike up to Sunrise Peak and then over to Wolverine. Awesome views and both had a fantastic time. We went down to Green River to kayak the daily section. So fun and it felt so good to be back on the water. Gage loved it... kinda. We drove to Price the night before and stayed in a hotel... that is Gage screaming in Greg's arms. I'm not sure if he just didn't like the hotel or if he was just tired or maybe he just wanted to scream for a while, but it was a little stressful and we felt bad for everyone next to us. The next day we headed to the Green. Greg ran the river first then I went second, but with that second run we didn't get out of camp till about 8 pm. We were planning to drive home, but ended up in Price again for the night. It's funny how things have changed. Before we would have camped both

nights and either would have drove home or drove till we were tired, then found a dirt road and slept the night, got up early and drove home. not anymore ;-) We have to plan things out a lot better and farther in advance. I also was able to join Stacy and the kids at a neighbor's pool. Gage loved it. Ben, Rylee, and Paige were really fun with him at the pool. They're always trying to take care of him and make him laugh!This boy is going to be a little fish, I'm so excited to get him on the lake!

9 Weeks

The annual DBDH race was a little different this year. They did two races: cross country and downhill. The boys did great, Jeff ended up with the boys trophy and John's mom got the women's with her solo entry. We had a breakfast in the parking lot afterward, it was very yummy! When all was said and done Gage and Greg, both sporting their team orange shirts, were so tired they crashed on the couch. Gage really seemed to change this week, starting to build some good fat stores and get some chubby cheeks! And don't forget those beautiful eyes!

10 Weeks

We took off to Island Park again, this time Gage was a little bigger and we had had figured out how to live with each other pretty well ;-) We invited my family to come along. Thanks to Don and Glenna! We got there a couple days earlier than the family so we went into Yellowstone. We did a hike with Gage up to the top of Mt Washburn, Gage's first time above 10,000 feet. Then we finished the loop up through mammoth. Fun ride.

We had tons of fun when my family got there. Luckily we had great weather and were able to take advantage of the lake and rivers and went on a sweet bike ride as well. Jordan was able to fish the famous Herriman State Park part of the Henry's and caught some nice fish. It was a fun trip and so good to get up to Idaho. It's such a beautiful place.

Gage was way cute on the ride home. Not only was he giving us the most beautiful smiles, but I was able to get him to grab the teething chain for the first time ever!

11 Weeks

This was a fun week. Most notably was Gage standing up and loving it. He hasn't wanted to sit back down since. We also had a visit from Jeremy, Stefanie, and the girls which was way fun because they got to see Gage and Chaz for the first time. With Greg's WEST/ TIGLL program we were able to stay one night up at the Alta Ski Lodge. Gage loves to people watch so it was fun for him and fun for me to see people Greg works with.

12 Weeks

Gage has the cutest smile ever and the most beautiful eyes! He loves his toys and loves hitting the objects to hear them make sound. We love this picture of Gage with his shirt off hanging out watching me cook dinner. Greg said he looks like the people in his mission sitting outside they're house with a beer watching people walk by;-)

13 Weeks

Baby power!!! Gage and Chaz were so cute playing together. We were at Fish Lake with the Gillespie's when Trav put them together to play. Have I ever said how much Gage loves to go on walks. It's his favorite part of the day. There is always so much for him to see and take in. He loves the outside... I get a lot of really good pics in his car seat while we're on walks. It's great!

14 Weeks ... 3 Months

Where did the last 3 months go? Time has flown by and my little boy is not so little anymore, but he is still fun to dress up or dress down ;-) I'm pretty sure all babies love being naked and Gage is no exception, it's the time where he's most happy and active.

15 Weeks

Our first snow! Greg was so excited and Gage wasn't to sure what to think, but it kept him looking out the window. We also blessed Gage this week. He looked so cute in the blessing outfit! That is him with his two buddies: Chaz (left) and Cruz (right). They were all born within 12 days of each other. Another fun thing is we had 4 Generateions at the blessing. His Great grandparents and grandparents on both sides. Gage loves it when you read to him, he especially loves this Tubby Time book that a girl from my work gave to him. The baby in the book always has a huge smile, so every time you turn a page or show him the cover he gets a huge smile and kicks his little legs.

Greg took Ben on an awesome hike up Red Pine Canyon. They got pretty far then it turned to snow, but of course they trudged on with freezing feet. Though boys, Gage better get ready!

Stacy did a little photo shoot with Gage at Wheeler Farm and got some awesome photos. Thanks so much! Doesn't he look so handsome in his little suit?!

16 Weeks

For my birthday Greg took half the day off and we went on a family outing up the canyon. The snow had melted and the leaves were amazing! Gage was loving his little carrier and being out of the house.

17 Weeks

Gage is getting more and more interested in books, magazines, newspapers, etc. I'm not sure what he likes more...to look at the pictures and colors or to try to pry them out of our hands and into his mouth. I thought it was so cute how intense he was looking at this hiking book with Greg, they're going to be great buddies. The bottom pictures are ones I took on a hike with Erica and Rainier up AF canyon. It was a beautiful fall day, most of the leaves had fallen which gives the land somewhat of a exposed, naked look. I love it! you can see so much more and you notice things that are either covered by leaves or brush in the summer or snow in the winter. Gage looked so funny in his little suit that Stacy gave to us, thanks again. He couldn't really move his arms or legs, but he stayed warm and loved getting out. This kid loves to go on walks, hikes, basically anything that gets him outside and moving. It was a great hike, up toward Silver Lake. Erica and Rainier are fun to go with and Rainier was quite the trooper this time and hiked the whole time!

18 Weeks... 4 Months!

4 months old and so big! 17 lbs and 26 inches long.

My little boy is growing so fast! It amazes me how much a baby changes, in every way, so quickly. He has developed so much physically, mentally, and intellectually that it's hard to keep up with what we're supposed to be doing to help him grow and develop more so in those areas.

Eat, Sleep, Poop, Spit-up... Eat, Sleep, Poop...

2011-10-25T21:02:00.013-06:00

Gage's first few weeks: Part 2 of 3

Week 2

That first week was a blur, between never sleeping, having visitors, and everything else. I'm not sure how it went other than I was sore, tired, and frustrated, but somehow it was totally ok because Gage was here and healthy and so fun to hold, kiss, and (more or less) look at.

Week 2 we took off and went up to Island park with Greg's family. We had tons of fun. It was nice to get away and it was nice because Gage and I had a lot of time to figure things out and get some good bonding. I hung out most of the week in the cabin, but got out a few times to go on boat rides, canoe down big springs, and go on a couple drives. Greg was able to water ski, go on a bike ride and do some fishing. It was a good trip. Here are some highlights.

1. Gage did great on the car ride!!!

2. Gage lost his umbilical cord... so we gave him his first bath in the sink in a big bowl and he loved it! The first 5 seconds he wasn't to sure and was a little squirmy, but then totally relaxed and kept looking out the window;-)

3. Saw a moose on the canoe ride!

4. The fishing was good

5. Gage got some pimples, poor guy!

6. Mesa Falls was magnificent as always

7. The boating was top notch, such a beautiful place to cruise around the lake.

8. Gage's first trip and he was a champ!

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Week 3

We did a little photo shoot with Greg's sister's sweet camera. I just love his hair!

So I think we have taken about a million pictures.

These are some of the notable ones. Gage pooped all over his blanket and the floor while Greg was changing his diaper--we laughed for about 10 minutes after that. Gage doing some gang signs--we're a little nervous about this and we'll be watching for more gang signs when he gets older :). Gage and his cousin Chaz--they're about two weeks apart and are going to be awesome friends! Gage with his great-grandma Persis--Gage's middle name Spencer comes is after her maiden name. She is very special to us, we loved to visit her and Barbara and hear all of their stories. Gage got to meet her for the first time just hours before she passed away. It was a very special moment for us and we are so happy she got to see her great grandson.

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Week 4

Gage looks so funny in some of these I thought I'd share them. Some he looks drunk, another one he looks like ET the alien and then the baby acne!

We had a great week and Gage and I finally started getting out of the house! We went for his first hike up to Bells Canyon Res. and we also went up to City Creek in Salt Lake and walked up that path with the stroller. It was so nice to get out and do something and Gage just loved every bit of it... well, while he was awake, he slept most the time otherwise. We also love walking around our neighborhood. There is an elementary school close by that we usually end up at. This time Greg was trying to get him to hold on to the rock climbing holds they have in the playground.

We also had Persis's funeral this week. It was nice to get the Carling side together and hear their stories of growing up and different things I never heard about Persis and Greg's grandpa, Gerald. Greg went down to Filmore with the group for the interment. Barbara showed everyone around and gave the historical tour at the cemetery. The black and white picture is of Persis's father... you can see where Greg came from; a smitten image of his great grand father.

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Week 5

My mom with her two grandsons. Gage and his friend Tucker. We went to Wheeler Farm with Juli and Jamie. The kids loved it and we got some good, fun conversation.

Gage was growing like a green bean plant! Just shooting straight up... but he had a huge belly. We went up Millcreek canyon one afternoon. Gage just loves taking baths. It's about the most content he is while he's awake.

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Week 6

Salt Lake Bees baseball game. Gage's many faces during the game... he was getting way into it!

It's fun to go to these games. It makes me mad we don't go more.

The older he gets the more personality he's getting, which means hours of entertainment! Even when he sleeps he pulls some the best faces.

Had a fun week. I was starting to get easier to get out of the house with him, but we were still a half hour late everywhere we went ;-) Went on a few hikes with the wild flowers in full bloom. Gage met Lily and Rainier on these. We even went up the canyon with the Tyler and Lyndsay and their kids to have tin foil dinners! So fun.

After 6 weeks we were surviving. I never knew that being a mother was one of the hardest, but definitely the most rewarding thing I've ever done. My world has been turned a completely different direction and is so different then before but I would never change it, I would never go back. Greg has similar feelings as well. We are learning and trying to figure things out. Gage is awesome and such a fun kid. He just gets so excited about little things and is so curious and is always wide eyed looking around.

It's a New Life...

2011-08-16T17:14:00.017-06:00

Gage's first few weeks: Part 1 of 3

It seems as though I blinked and all of a sudden I'm back to work and Gage is 3 months old. Time has flown by and because of that I haven't kept up on the blog. So like I always do, I will be trying to catch up a little at a time.

Gage Spencer
our little miracle...

Right out of the womb he was already giving us all sorts of faces.

My handsome baby boy was born! It was an absolutely beautiful moment and memory Greg and I will never forget. Gage was and still is the most beautiful and perfect little boy, but of course I'm totally biased ;-) Everything with the delivery went great. No complications, no worries, just the miracle of giving birth. From the first scream out of the womb, to his nasty little tar- like diapers, to his beautiful dark hair this little boy has been our pride and joy. We still haven't been able to take our eyes off him; every little movement, sound, facial expression brings such great joy and excitement.

Bringing him home was when it finally felt real. I was nervous and prayed that everything would go fine and that Greg and I would be good parents and not hurt this little guy... So far it's been good, he hasn't been dropped yet and is growing like a mad-man!

Gage seemed to take to the house and has always loved going outside. He settles right down and gets big eyes while he tries to take everything in. Trees and the house roof, nice straight line contrasted with the sky, are his two favorite things.

We had to get a tanning bed for him, OK really it was for his jaundice levels. We hated to put him in it... we just wanted to hold him all the time! He did good though and only had to be in there for a couple days.

The other fun thing is dressing him up! All these cute outfits, they all were so big at the beginning, but his diapers were so cute and small.

It was definitely a learning experience for all of us, trying to figure each other out and how to comfort him and understand his needs. I don't think we slept much at all that first week, but it was so fun and so well worth every bit of it. We learned how to be fast changing diapers otherwise we'd have to clean up two messes and found that our little guy loved to eat, a trait he still has. Our beautiful little boy was finally here, yay!

He's Finally Here!!!!

2011-07-05T12:17:00.002-06:00

Gage Spencer... 7 lbs 8 oz., 19.5 in

Big with baby

2011-05-18T10:49:00.003-06:00

Greg got home yesterday from a boys trip to Washington/ Oregon to ski and climb a couple volcanos. It was a 6 day trip. The first thing he says to me is, " Wow I forgot how pregnant you are." I love my husband ;-)

With that I am 32 weeks pregnant... 8 more weeks to go and, yes, big with baby! Can't wait to meet this little guy!!!

January- March

2011-04-09T12:56:00.022-06:00

Lots of skiing this season. We felt like we had to do a lot before the baby and I were too big to do anything... and Greg is obsessed, so it's not to hard for him to want to go either. In fact he is up skiing as I am writing this. He's gone with Tyler a lot the past month and they've had good and bad snow, but always seem to come home with awesome pictures. Tyler has a sweet camera that takes like 6 frames a second. It's way fun to play with!

Here's some of his photos of Greg.....

Here Greg and I are skinning up Silver Fork.

It was a beautiful day! Sunny and warm, unless you were in the shade then it would drop like 15 degrees. We found amazing snow and amazing views all morning. Loved it!

This is one of my favorite photos of the day. The Wasatch are amazing and the panorama worked this time! Yeah!!!

On our first run we found this hill that hadn't been tracked yet. Therefore, Greg was like a kid at the candy shop, so excited, ready to burst at the seams. When I told him that he should go first... well, I think that gave me the wife of the year award. Here are his tracks and I am that little black dot near the top of the hill.

Stansbury Mtns

Yes, it's time for the yearly Stansbury mountain post. Last year when we took snow shoes up the canyon we thought how fun it would be to go up and camp and Greg could ski. Well, now that I am also in to skiing, it made for a unanimous vote to go spend a couple days up there.

This is me skinning up the 5 mile road to the campground where we set up the tent.

Beautiful weather. We, well I was working on my tan while Greg set up the tent.

With our base camp set up we put on the skis to explore the area and find some hills to ski down.

Deseret Peak in the background. An amazing mtn with that sweet couliour streaming down the side of it. If we were intense/hardcore skiers that's where we would've gone, but being 3 months pregnant and not wanting to inflict any bodily injuries we decided against it and found some really fun gentle slopes to cruise on.

Greg cruising down... We were the only people up there and the only ones for a while because Greg had to break a fresh trail the whole way. So first tracks up and down the mtn.

Gotta love Black Diamond gear! Works great, we love our skis

Getting back to camp we put things away and started dinner. We could see stars!!! The first time in a long time because it had been so smoggy in the valley. By then I was starving and nauseated but of course nothing sounded good and by the time we had made the pasta I couldn't eat. I tried to force down some of it, but payed for it all night long. Bad stomach cramps and nauseated all night. The morning we got up and Greg offered to head down. I was hoping if I could get some oatmeal down that it might help and we could get one last ski run in before we headed down for some afternoon obligations we needed to get to. I also knew that we wouldn't do this type of thing again for a very long time so I declined and headed up the canyon again. It was a little rough, but we were reward with a beautiful morning and another great couple runs.

Greeted by a beautiful sun rise and Deseret Peak glowing in the background.

Our skin track and two ski tracks from the previous day.

Greg on his way down!

Our lone tracks. The greatest part of the whole thing is that it hadn't snowed for 4 days prior. It had been cold enough and with no other people we had 4 inches of powder, untouched. That doesn't happen very often, especially here in Utah.

Looking back at the smog... I so did not want to go back down into that. Nasty!

Greg being the awesome guy he is offered to take both packs down. One on his back and the other on the sled. I had both day packs... we made for a sight to see to the few people heading up the road. Luckily the road wasn't too steep, but it was steep enough that we could ski down at a nice speed. I stayed behind to make sure the pack wouldn't flip and of course it would fly off a bump in the road and almost take Greg out and flip over, pretty entertaining ;-) We safely skied back to the car and drove out of the canyon and into this....

I hate smog! Such a difference 250 vertical feet make. Gross.

Cedar City/ St. George

Ready for some warmer weather and some collage basketball we took off to visit Greg's parents down in Cedar for a while. While we were there we were able to watch 3 basketball games, bike 3 different days on 3 different trails, go on a couple hikes, and go to the park with Nate and Kile's kids. Getting away was great. Didn't have to worry about work or school and slept in every day! Ron and Karin are great hosts as well and we are always grateful for invites to hang out.

We were able to ride 3 trails down in the St. George area. The first one was the "must ride classic... Gooseberry Mesa" and Greg and I will confirm that it is definitely a must ride classic! Such a fun ride with beautiful scenery. Unfortunately we didn't get any photos but the terrain was not like anything we had ridden before. Slickrock, dirt, sand, up and over mounds of sandstone, etc. Really fun. Can't wait to get back out there.

The next ride was one that we've done before, The Bear Claw. That was is always fun.

The 3rd we rode was the Barrel Roll. It was a good one, not a favorite, but the scenery was amazing and it was a good workout. This one I think I felt the baby move for the first time! It was right after we went up a pretty good hill and I had to stop to catch my breath. We were looking off the cliffs when, wow a punch to the side! I don't think he liked me bent over the handle bars and breathing hard ;-)

Here are some photos of the Bear Claw

We also took off on some hikes with Greg's mom. One of these was up a sweet slot canyon that not many people know about. The lighting was pretty on the rocks and the air was pretty darn cold, especially when the breeze would pick up.

The next day Nate and Kile showed up with their kids. Luckily we had some good weather and went to a really fun park and played hide and go seek, some softball, and had lunch. Here's Greg playing catch with them in front of the house.

Cardiff

What an amazing DAY!!!! I love days like these. Blue skies, warm in the sun and magnificnet views! Can't beat that, unless of course your there with your significent other and I was!

3-4-5 hours or a whole day of one on one time with your spouse, where you're doing something you both love, getting outside, enjoying the sun, and don't have anything pressing to get home to. I have to admit that is one thing that will be difficult for us when this little man pops out ;-) I hope we will still get some one on one time without the screaming child in the back ground. haha. K, I know that he won't be screaming... the whole time, but I have been around a lot of kids, moms, dads, and I have seen enough and been there enough to have a realistic view in my head of how things change. I'm excited and a little nervous to see how things play out, but as you all look at the blog you will see what happens and if Greg and I can still pursue some of our "irresponsible activities" and rush home to relieve the babysitter of our little one. Most of the time we plan on putting him in a kid-pack and hauling him up the mountain, down the canyon, on the raft, or where ever with us! Hopefully he enjoys it as much as we do.

On the far ridge there was a huge avalanche, if you click the photo you might be able to see it better. It was pretty impressive to see one like that, it made us feel very small and was a good reminder of where we were and how everything could change within a couple of seconds.

Mallary skiing down 15 inches of powder.

Me heading down to the next hill

This was a shot that I called Greg from work at 6:45 am and told him to go out and get a photo of this sunrise. It was incredible... like a fire had been lit behind the clouds. Another perk of my job, I see a lot of sunrises!

Catch up... October and December

2011-03-23T08:54:00.019-06:00

Here's a little catch up with a couple other things that have been going this fall and winter.

My little brother gave us a list of things to do for his birthday. 1. duck hunting in the morning 2. long boarding in the afternoon 3. big party at night with everyone. Well, for some reason we made everything happen and had a great day!

Gunner and Sarah riding the Provo river walkway

The best was his duck hunting cake my mom made for him. It reminded me of the cakes I used to get when I was little, but mine didn't consist of a guy with a gun.

Greg and I were able to get out and bike a lot after we got back from Ecuador. My favorite time is fall when all the leaves are changing. We went with Travis and Liz on one of my favorite trails... Wasatch Crest. Beautiful day and amazing views made for a great ride.

Back Country Skiing

You heard right...Tis' is the season for the white stuff to fall out of the sky. Greg was so excited for this year of skiing. He started by heading out on Thanksgiving morning with his buddies and hasn't stopped. With the snow pack and the good conditions we've been able to go to a lot of really fun places to ski. When I say we... I decided to get into the sport as well. Personally I can't believe how much ski resorts charge, plus I like to get out and get away from the crowds so back country sounded wonderful to me! Therefore, Greg and I have skied a ton this year. I finally called it quits about 3 weeks ago, started getting to big and to nervous about hurting the baby some how, but had a wonderful first year of BC skiing.

This day we had to be back in the afternoon, so we got the canyon by 6 am and back by 11 am.
It was a freezing morning, but hiking up keeps you warm and after about 30 min of skinning we were taking our coats off. One of our favorite parts is skiing back to the car. This is the best of two worlds here, you get to hike in the winter, but there is no pounding on the way down and it takes maybe 30 minutes to ski down something that took 4 hours to climb up. Love it!

Went to some amazing places in Dec. The snow conditions were always good which makes for some fun skiing.

Greg skiing down Tom's Hill up Mill D

Breaking trail, we're headed up Cardiff.

Greg working on his turns coming down Pink Pine

Trav and Liz invited us to go to Snowbird. We had a great time. It's a fun resort with lots of good terrain and great to finally see them snowboard! They tear it up.

Coming down a slope at Snowbird.

Lots of fresh powder this morning up White Pine.

Me coming down through the trees. That's the funnest and most sketchy part of skiing.

Glad I wasn't under the outhouse when the roof came down! SOOO much snow up there and that's in Dec.

This was a way fun ski tour. We started up Butlers Fork canyon, up to the ridge and followed it to the top of Reynolds peak, then skied down Mill D and hitch hiked down to the car. It was a long tour, but a fun area we'd never been too.

Greg on the ridge laced with cornices.

Making our way to the top of the peak!

Went up Red Pine, to another area we'd never been to. The clouds were amazing that day and then suddenly they disappeared and we had blue skies. My favorite kind of skiing is with the sun out! Makes it 10-15 degrees warmer and with that get to work on my tan! haha not really, but I still dream.

Looking down the canyon

Me making my way down the hill in 8 inches of powder. We found some great area's to ski down that had tree coverage, but they weren't very dense which made for great snow and a great picture.

K, so don't laugh, well I guess you can ;-) I definitely do every time. It took a while to get up too, the powder was pretty deep which makes being vertical more difficult and energy consuming then skiing.

A BLUE Summer

2011-02-25T18:05:00.004-07:00

You heard right, we are expecting a BABY BOY!!! Greg and I were so excited! Greg never said anything before, but as soon as we left he said, "I was hoping for a boy so bad! I'm so happy right now, can't wait to take him skiing, backpacking, kayaking, play some basketball, and throw a football around"... It's going to be a busy childhood for this guy ;-) To be honest I was also hoping for a boy, but wasn't going to bet on it. The other exciting news was that all things look normal and from what they can tell healthy! I was almost more excited when I heard that then hearing the gender!

We went out and bought him some outfits and the smallest little onesies, beanies, and socks ever! It's so fun shopping for babies, I'll definitely have to watch myself. Now it's on to the harder stuff like sleeping arrangements, strollers, car seats, names, ect... the list goes on forever! It's a good thing we have 20 more weeks to get ready, who ever knew that you need so much for a little baby? It has been fun to plan and figure things out . We're excited for this new life that we're getting into and can't wait to be the parents of this beautiful and healthy baby boy!

Big Summer Adventure

2011-01-19T15:43:00.006-07:00

First Comes Love....

Then Comes Marriage....

Then comes the baby in the baby carriage!!!

Greg and I are expecting a little one this summer!!! July 12th! We are very excited. I just had my 2nd appointment today and heard the heart beat! It is so exciting and nerve racking to know that I have a baby growing inside me. I'm almost 4 months along, in the 2nd trimester, and have a great excuse to fall asleep at 9 and not do the dishes because the smell makes me sick :-) We are also way excited because our baby will have a little cousin the same age, my brother Travis and his wife Liz, are expecting at the same time! So it's a summer of babies for the Gillespie side of the family. Both families are way excited and have been so fun in helping with names and advice. Greg and I can't wait to see what personality and features our little one will have, it's such a guessing game. We feel so blessed to start a family and can't wait to take the baby on all our adventures and watch him/her grow, learn, develop, and love life!

Work hard for the Weekend!

2010-10-14T13:54:00.011-06:00

Amazing Exposed Magnificent Raw Grand Rugged Beautiful Bare Unforgiving Wild

It is....

Wind River Range, Wyoming

If we ever move to Wyoming, this is where it'll be! Can't beat the view that horse has everyday.

The hike in was about 10 miles and beautiful!

Island Lake is where we camped and this is what we woke up to in the morning and closed our eyes to in the evening.

Nights were a little cold, as always. We would wake up to frost and frozen ground every morning.

The fishing was very good.

We even pulled out a couple big ones, 20 + inches! One was a Golden Trout, my first one ever!!!

Fremont Peak

We took a hike up to Fremont Pk 13,745' the 3rd tallest in Wyoming

When we got to the ridge, looking down the other side at these glacially carved cliffs and lakes.

Greg getting up a tricky part ;-)

Made it to the top! There was a huge glacier running down the backside of the mountain.

Looking north we could see the Grand Tetons.

Made it!

Had to sign in at the top!

Fremont Peak, and yes, somehow we made it to the top of that thing! Way fun hike.

John and Greg sporting deer hunting orange shirts. Greg got John to try out fly fishing for a bit.

It was considered fall up there at the time. Some of the leaves were beautifully colored. I just loved this rock. I love seeing plants grow in places that are unlikely. For instance take this rock. Wonderful granite boulder with a crack right down the top. With a little bit of dirt accumulated and a seed or two blown in, this beautiful flower grows and thrives taking up the entire crack.

John and Greg working their navigational skills!

We cooked a couple fish on the fire this night. I was actually able to eat some without feeling overly nauseated! Had a great time with John and Corianne, we were so glad they came up to camp with us. We've really missed them since they've moved.

We believe a bear came through our camp the last night. Our pots were about 30 ft from our stove and this wind guard was mangled, had teeth marks through it, and was pretty far from the stove as well.

One of the more beautiful areas that we've filtered water!

Making the long trek back out

Greg, me, John, and Corianne

Colorado River

We finally got down to Moab to kayak the mighty Colorado. It was a blast and the views are amazing down there! The river was low so our 2.5 hour trip turned into a 5 hour long trip on the river. I got the worst tan line!!! It looked like I put my arms up to my elbows into a bucket of paint! Had a great time, enjoyed the rapids. There was only one rapid that was kinda big and fun, the rest were nice and mellow.

We both just love this area of the state!

Unfortunately I recorded the wrong rapid. I thought this was the big one, but it definitely wasn't. When we hit the big one I wasn't ready with the camera. One of these days I'll get some good footage!

Homeward bound, back to work, school, and life as we know it!

Stop and enjoy the flowers

2010-10-13T08:55:00.048-06:00

Getting out to enjoy the sun, warm weather, and amazing wild flowers!

Dinner and Hiking with the Carlings!

Greg polishing off his mom's famous peach pie.

Playing Hide and go Seek in the back yard. This year we got everyone to play including the parents and grandparents! The kids loved it.

We rounded everyone up for a hike up to Cecret lake. The day was beautiful and the company wonderful! We had a great time!

Greg's grandparents made the trek up to the lake

Sisterly affection ;-) and big brother showing his little sister how the boys cross streams!

The kids loved it and were running around, jumping from rock to rock. I don't know how these parents keep up with them all!

4 generations of Siggards!

Mount Superior and Monte Cristo, Little Cottonwood Canyon

Greg and his big brother Nate. Lunch with spectacular views!

Problem: Saturday off... what to do? Answer: Both ;-)

We took the bikes up to Park City and rode the Mid-Mountain trail. Way fun, but a lot of people. Then took the kayaks to Echo reservoir to practice and play around a bit, then off to the Weber to run the river!

This is my new kayak! Thank you KSL classifieds. Found this and bought it from a guy out in Tooele. It's awesome and I love the way it rides, plus it doesn't look ancient like my other one!

Greg and I surfing a small wave. The river was running pretty low, but always a fun ride, just not as big.

Always some type of obstacle in the way!

Greg running Taggart Falls. During spring runoff this rapid gets pretty big, but it's mellow in late summer.

Scout Summer Trip

Greg is one of the scout leaders for the teachers. This year they backpacked in the Uintas for 4 days. They had a great time and had a fun group.

They hiked a loop that went up to Red Castle, to Kings Peak, to Henry's Fork, and back. About 40 miles.

Top of Utah!!! Kings Peak (13, 528 ft)

Sometimes it's not enough to just look at the scenery, you have to touch, feel, and be immersed in it. -

Hike up to Twin Peaks

Amazing views all around

Summer Job or play???

My brother Jordan and his wife, Sarah, packed up and moved to Flaming Gorge to work for the summer. I was able to get out there a few times to visit. I love that area so much, so much to do and see.

Sarah and I hit the rocks in the morning. She's amazing at climbing and ran up the walls like spiderman!

The afternoon we met up with Gunner and Jordan down at Little Hole to fish. Gunner caught one right off the bat and Jordan a moment later.

Weekend with the Family!

We headed to Cedar City for the weekend. Did lots of fun things... went to Kolob Canyon and hiked to the overlook!

Found a dry riverbed and followed it up to some springs and an overhanging cliff.

Went swimming at a reservoir right in Cedar.

When the Evans got there we headed to St. George to see Tarzan! It was awesome!

This guy was very intense and played his part very well. It was amazing how gorrilla-like they were!

Sunday afternoon we headed up to Cedar Breaks

Ate lunch then played wuffle ball for a while. We used a stick for a bat and logs for bases, talk about improvising!

Trying to go home we had a stampede of sheep running at the car from all directions! It was crazy, but Ron got us home safely.

Bouldering up Little Cottonwood

Greg and Tyler climbing up a storm!

Setting moon in the desert and morning sun

We were invited to hike the Subway slot canyon with a couple in our ward this summer.

The hike was amazing. Through skinny, towering canyons, rapelling, swimming, sand, and flash flood debris supended 15 ft off the ground.

This was our group. We knew three of the people and became friends with the rest!

This was the Subway part of the hike. Amazing how things erode sometimes!

Looking back from where we were. It took all day and covered alot of ground to hike through, but so well worth it! Thanks for the invite Jake and Lyndzi!!!!

My Better Half

2010-10-07T08:05:00.012-06:00

Happy 3 wonderfully, fantastic, groovy, beautiful years to us!

Sumaco, Tena, and Banos

2010-08-31T08:54:00.046-06:00

This is Eddy and his parents in their house near Quito, Ecuador.

His mom made us wonderful breakfast every morning we were there. Eggs, yogurt and fruit, fresh squeezed oj, and cheese bread! We ate very well at their house!

All packed up and ready to head out. 3 days in Sumaco, 3 days in Tena, and 3 days in Banos.

We took several buses to get to Sumaco, a little village in the Amazon. All of the buses were full, one in particular was very full. We stood on the stairs for a hour and a half before we got off to catch another bus. It took us all day; 4 buses and a truck to get to the village. About 10 hours of traveling just over 200 miles. It was a long day.

Sumaco

No matter the size of the village there will always be a covered soccer/ basketball court. We arrived in this tiny little village that had one road through it, the first 100 yards were cobblestone and the rest was dirt. Wood houses lined the sides and little kids with no shirts or shoes were chasing chickens and dogs in their dirt yards. We immediately were taken to the leader of the village who in turn took us to the guy who handles all the money. We had a few things to take care before we took off.

1. Pay the entrance fee into the national park(where we were hiking into)

2. Pay the fee for a guide for 3 days

3. Find somewhere to eat and stay for the night

We didn't come to prepared for all the fees and found ourselves with, literally, barely enough to pay them and get a truck back to the main road and a bus to Tena in 3 days. We Americans are lucky that in every city, no matter the size, they either take credit cards or have ATMs. Not the case here. Cash is the only thing that's worth anything around here.

After we figured out the money they took us to our hut to drop off our packs. It was a 20 min walk into the clouds, away from the main part of town. My first thoughts were, are they taking us out in the middle of nowhere to kill us and take our stuff? Where in the world are we going? after what seemed like forever, we stumbled into a clearing with a little house with a wraparound porch, and a 50 ft. boarded walkway to a bathroom.

The clouds were amazing that day, very mystic, and mysterious.

We headed back to town to get some grub and found this group of guys out playing cards with a candle for their only light. They only have electricity for a couple hours a day, so they use it sparingly.

We ate dinner at someones house. It was a very good dish of rice, eggs, and chicken. The chicken was very tough since all the chickens run somewhat wild naturally their meat doesn't melt in the mouth. They probably had just gone out back and killed the chicken before we got there. Such a different life.
On the way back to the hut it was dark and creepy. We didn't have anyone to show us the way this time and only headlights to see. We ended up going past the turnoff and somewhere very unfamiliar. The area was very alive as well, distant sounds of animals howling, twigs breaking, and leaves rustling. We were a little nervous, but eventually back tracked and found the right trail and after another 10 minutes found our sleeping barracks.

The next morning we packed up and headed to town, anxious to trek deeper into the rain forest. This is the hut the town had built for the tourism here. They have put a lot of time and effort into their project. We were glad to help them out.

The town of Sumaco with the towering Volcan de Sumaco in the background.

The volcano rises just above 12,000 ft., high above anything here in the rain forest. We were hoping to climb the volcano and be back in town in 3 days.

Hector, our local guide. He was awesome and a machine with his machete.

The rain forest is very hot, humid, and green. Of course, very beautiful as well.

I was hoping to see a Tarzan type person swinging from the trees.

Because it rains all the time, the trail is a marsh. Luckily we had our, what I call, cow milking boots to get through the mud. It was also amazing how dense the surrounding vegetation was. You could see the trail and maybe 5-10 ft off it, but the rest was green. We could here things walking around or see movement off the trail but there was no way to see what it was. It took a whole day, 10 hours of trekking to calm the nerves and not worry about every little movement or sound.

There was one time where I stepped in, sunk about 5 inches and went to take another step and my foot came completely out of the boot. I stood there on one leg, the other suspended in mid air, sock dangling. For a moment I contemplated how to get my boot back. Very soon the leg I was standing on started to sink deeper and I started to tip. I was on my way down when out of nowhere my hero came to the rescue and grabbed me before I fell into the concoction of dirt, water, and foliage beneath me. Greg yanked my boot free and placed it back on my foot saving the day and me from a mud bath!

Eddy and Hector leading the way

The roots from the large trees were awesome!

Giant Leaves!

Plants and shrubs grow in the trees far above the canopy floor. It made for poor, dark lighting below.

We finally made it to the hut we were camping at for two nights. It was awesome. It sat on the ridge of a small volcano; over looking the lake in the caldera. If you looked out the front you had a beautiful view of the lake and volcano we were going to hike in the west. If you looked out the back you were looking east across the Amazon Basin. It was quite a view!

Brings me back to the days when my dad would wake up at 4 am to go milk the cows and work on the farm! The boots were pretty comfortable too.

Amazon Basin

Sunrise our first morning. Coming up east across Brazil, Peru, and Columbia.

Sumaco, we were on our way to the top that day.

Rice for breakfast and dinner for 3 days straight. Little rough in the morning on the third day.

Looking back on our hut and lake on the top of a mini volcano.

The trail was pretty crazy. A lot of up the ridge and down. Up the next and down. Plus you were slippin' and slidin' up and down the whole thing. It was fun, but very hard work and very different than anything we had ever done. Plus you add in the humidity and thick air. I don't know how those early explorers handled it, they must have been way tough and definitely crazy!

We got our first rain! And man did it rain cats and dogs!!!! You know those summer storms we get when it dumps for about 10-15 min then blue skies. Well, this one lasted about 5 hours. Everything turned into a river, the trail, the canyons to the side of us, etc.

Here's a little footage of the event!

A raging river that wasn't there a couple hours before.

We tried to wait out the storm for about an hour under a tree. It didn't let up so we headed back to a hut we had passed an hour earlier. Soaked to the bone we built a stinky fire and tried to dry off a little. We hung out for a few hours, had lunch and gave up on trying to get to the top of the volcano. After the rain slowed to a drizzle we headed back to our hut a few hours back. The forest was so vibrant and alive. I was glad we got to experience a good storm, it completed the experience for us!

Sunrise the last morning. Absolutely amazing!

Our hut was well stocked. You could have a fire to the right of me and to the left of me was a propane stove Hector used to cook his rice. He was awesome, we would share our meals with him and he would share his rice. We didn't have much. All we took were granola bars, trail mix, cookies and crackers we bought at a little store, and some bread rolls we also bought right before. Still it was more than Hector brought. All he had was rice for breakfast and dinner. No lunch, so we shared our lunch and treats and he shared his rice. Great guy.

The front of the hut

On the way back we found some puma tracks

Cool plants

Hector was amazing, he was still way faster than us and he was carrying an empty propane tank on his back with his head! Props to him and the village for what they live through.

Monster leaves growing out of this tree. A butterfly hanging out on the trees.

When we were closer to the village the trail turned into this log trail. The village had worked really hard to make things nicer around here. The trail was really nice compared to what it could have been and the logs were great.

Back to the village! We were so gross, dirty, and stinky that Hector offered to let us shower and clean up at his house. We graciously accepted.
His bathroom was a shed a little distance from the house. It had a toilet and a shower head. It was an experience I will never forget. Freezing cold water, a wood door that kind of shut, and insects in every corner. I felt like we were truly getting to know this little town.
After we were all cleaned up we went to find a truck to take us down to the main road. What we found was a government doctor who said he'd take us down for free if we waited for a hour. So with an extra ten bucks we were able to buy some lunch! We went into some lady's house and she cooked us up some rice and chicken! While we were eating a couple half starved stray dogs came in and circled our table looking for scraps on the ground.
We went back out to the truck to wait when Greg told me that I have now had just about every experience a missionary will have going to a undeveloped country: eating whatever they give you, showering in a shed, walking through a rainstorm, and eating with stray dogs circling your legs. Oh, and eating rice for just about every meal! Love it!!!

This little village is a farming town. They grow a lot of crops, these here are tree tomatoes they are getting ready to send to the city to sell.

This little boy saw me take out my camera to take a picture and hopped up on the truck to be in it. After I got the picture he ran over to me and wanted to see the picture, then ran off. It was really cute!

The craziest truck ride I'd ever had. The clouds were black and ready to rain so they drove like crazy men down this dirt road which wasn't in the best of condition; 0 to 60 then slam on the brakes because there would be some big pot holes or washboards; then accelerate to 60 before slamming on the brakes again. I'm happy I made it through that in one piece! We did make it before the rain though. Just enough time to hop out and get under the cover before it poured again.

Of course our bus pulls up right after I turn off the camera and we had to run about 50 yards to the safety of the bus. No worries, we were completely drenched ;-)

TENA

Volleyball was the biggest sport we saw down there. Everywhere we went they were always playing volleyball. This was a big tournament they were having in Tena, right by the bus station.

We found the cutest little hotel for the first night. The best thing was that it had a fan! So we emptied out our bags and tried to dry everything out.

The Tena river runs right through town.

This was a restaurant we ate at a couple of times. These two dogs belonged to the owner and were always hanging out by the door barking at people as they passed. Then they would run through the tables back to the kitchen. Such a different world down there, love it!

Tena is known worldwide for its whitewater. So one of our days we went on a rafting trip. The river was running a little low, but still had some class 3 rapids. We had a really great time out on the river. It was about a 20 mile ride. Started up in the hills and ended on flat terrain. The geology was neato to!

The river had these huge shelves that the water would just trickle over, but during high water they are suppose to be some big drops and waves!

We stopped and they painted us up with some colored clay the natives used to use for their coloring.

A lone kayaker: Greg and I were way jealous and wishing we had our kayaks to join him.

The next day in Tena we took a canoe ride up and down the river. We stopped a few places to learn more about the area.

The first stop was at a museum that showed how the natives lived in the area. We were able to try out the blow darts. Greg was awesome and got the bird, I on the other hand didn't have strong enough lungs to get it there.

Greg hanging in the hammock and him using the public restroom! Yes, that blue bucket is full of the water you put in the toilet to flush.

Our next stop was at an animal refuge. Had a monkey hanging out on the shore to greet the tourist!
This animal refuge is for animals that had either been injured or had illegally grown up in captivity and would not survive in the wild.

This little monkey followed us around for a while. Saw some beautiful birds. It was a really interesting place. Our guide, who was from Oregon, told us a lot of interesting stories about how the animals got there and why we hadn't seen very much wildlife while we were there.

There is a big black market for exotic animals as pets. When they get older and once the animal/preditor senses turn on the owners have to get rid of them; therefore they end up here.

The reason we hadn't seen very many animals in the wild was because most of the animals near people have been killed and eaten. The birds, monkeys, turtles, snakes,... everything. So that was disappointing to hear, but somewhat expected.

This was a lively little monkey running around!

This is one of the main tributary rivers into the Amazon river.

Our last stop was to see how they make their pottery. It's quite the process and they can make really cool designs and things. We ended up getting a couple bowls, determined that we could somehow make it home without breaking them. Alas, they broke on the way to the next town! haha, at least we tried!

We did find some treats though! We finally broke down and bought a lot of fruit to eat. It was so good too. We washed it all with bottled water ;-) to clean it. Also, found some doritos, a little taste of home. We found some amazing ice cream! It was so good, not as thick and creamy as ours, but very tasty! Greg especially liked the passion fruit flavor!

Our buses were stopped a few times for drug checks. 8-10 military guys with big guns checking everybody and everything out. The guys were nicer than they looked though.

Banos

Our last stop was Banos, the Park City of Ecuador. It was a beautiful bus ride up to it. We passed about 20 wonderful waterfalls, went through a steep, narrow canyon that dropped into a raging river below. Banos is known for their natural hot springs and many waterfalls. With that comes a lot of tourism from both foreigners and locals. It was the most American/ European influenced town yet. It wasn't a bad thing though, it made the city a lot cleaner for one, there wasn't very much trash scattered around the city. It made it nice to find a hostel, they had about a hundred. They had options for dinner!!! Italian, Chinese, Mexican, etc. That was one of the most exciting things considering that Greg and I were struggling with the rice at that point. It was a fun city though and Greg and I stayed very busy. The day we got there we went on a hike up to a Virgin Mary statue high on the hillside and then hit the hot springs. The next day we got mountain bikes and then rode horses. The third day we hit the hot springs in the morning and the cathedrals after breakfast then found our bus for the 4 hour ride back to Quito.

The farming on hills reminded me of Europe. They used every bit of space they could to farm and raise crops.

We rode our bikes up to this little village on top a a hill. We found some shelter when it started to rain; this old man found us and started to talk. He was great, a little old man with a couple teeth and a little dog that followed him everywhere. We offered him some of the snacks we took up there and he in return offered us some chiclets! I hadn't seen those for years here in Utah. We then took off down the cobblestone road. Talk about a bumpy ride!

This is the river right below town. It is funneled through this crack in the rock about 10-15 ft wide. It was really cool to see erosion at work as this stream has completely cut through and down this rock.

Greg and I on our valiant steeds!
Greg humored me by getting us on a horse ride one late afternoon. I was so excited and couldn't wait to hop on and go. It had been way to long since I had ridden.

The guy we went with saw me always trying to get my horse to run. On the way back he gave me his horse and told me that it was fast. The only problem was that I couldn't get it the run for the life of me! We had a great time and did something completely different than the usual.

Me on a sketchy zip line to cross a river. I was really hoping it wouldn't break on me.

We had Italian a couple times and Mexican another... I know it's still rice and beans, but the salsa and spice was what I was looking for! It was so nice to have a little variety. That was probably one of the things I missed the most about here in the states was the number of different foods we eat! That and trash cans!

Looking off the balcony of our hotel at a waterfall behind.

What an experience we had! We both felt like we could have stayed longer, but were excited to make it home to enjoy the summer here. Ecuador is an amazing place to see and visit. I highly recommend it to all going south. The best thing we did there was to make it more of an authentic visit. We really tired to jump into the culture and see a lot of the surrounding area. Climbing Cotopaxi and trekking in Sumaco were my two favorite parts of the trip. The river rafting was a great experience too. Well, the whole thing really. Would we go there again? Probably not, but only because there are still so many places to go in this world, too many to see in a lifetime.

Cotopaxi and Quito

2010-08-03T13:43:00.036-06:00

One of the most memorable parts of the trip was our hike up Cotopaxi. It was a quick trip, we drove out that morning, got there in the afternoon, hiked to the hut, started hiking up that night at 1 am and drove back to Quito the next afternoon. Nonetheless, it was amazing and very challenging.

We met up with Eddie who is from Ecuador and also works with Greg at the UofU. We also met up with Greg's advisor, Bill, and a group of 4 friends that came down to tour around with him.

The most crazy part of the whole trip was that we drove up to 15,000 ft. That right there was the highest I had ever been before. Then we hiked up about a mile to 16,000' to the hut where we slept and ate.

We went to try to sleep at 6ish. The night was horrible. Between the nerves, excitement, and adjusting to the altitude it was a rough night's sleep. Greg and I would wake up struggling to breathe at times. It was pretty crazy.

They woke us up at midnight and feed us some breakfast and pushed us to drink more fluids. I was so grateful for the hot chocolate!

There were two other groups that started before us. We eventually went out around 1:30 am. We hiked up this red rocky-clay like material for about an hour to the glacier.

And then we made it to the top... 19,347 ft (5,897 m) !!!

Just like that we were on the top! Actually that's not how it went; we had to hike at a slow steady pace so we could breathe. If we went too fast we would be bent over gasping for breath. I will admit that it wasn't all peaches getting up there, as I expected. I felt nauseated the whole time (breakfast never really settled), had a slight headache, and caught myself thinking I never want to do anything like this again. Greg had somewhat the same feelings of nausea and headache, but he kept a good attitude;-)

There were a few encouraging things along the way that kept up morale. One was a massive lightning storm above the amazon basin that we could see from where we were hiking. I am a huge fan of lightning storms. This is how bad I am; I would go sit out, in a lawn chair, in my yard and watch summer thunder and lightning storms come across Utah Lake. Greg also has similar stories, so for us it was really exciting and amazing. Another thing was one of personal achievement for us. We had worked really hard to prepare for this and it was definitely paying off. The last was knowing what was lying ahead of us. Knowing that if we could continue one step at a time we were coming that much closer to accomplishing a goal we had set about 4 months earlier. We would be standing above the clouds looking for hundreds of miles in all directions.

This is the caldera of the volcano, it was massive, smoking, and hundreds of feet deep.

In the distance you can see the Volcan de Tungurahua. This volcano has been actively erupting for the past 3 months. It was amazing to see the smoke plume going up into the sky; geology at its finest!

Going down is when I was able to get some pictures of the climb. We climbed up in the dark and got to the top around 6:30 am. So going down was a whole new climb for us. We finally saw what we'd been hiking through in the dark.

That is the top! We had just been up there. Like Rainier its hard to really see how big things really are up there....

but here's what I didn't have before! Those three little dots on the right side of the picture are people. The ice had to be at least a couple hundred feet thick.

This is called an ice bridge. We had to cross a couple to get to the other sides of the crevasses.

Behind us is a heavily crevassed glacier.

A side view of a crevasse. The walls are about 100 ft high.

Walking off the edge of the earth into the abyss

The fingers of glaciers crawling down the mountain

We made it back down to dirt and rocks! It was amazing!!!! Such an experience and adventure.

Back at the hut looking up to the top. By 11:30 am we were on our way back to the car to drive back to Quito. Quick trip, but amazing all the same!

The funniest part of the trip was on our way to the car some of their military guys just had to get a picture with the blond American girl! haha made us laugh!

Volcan de Cotopaxi

Quito

This is Eddy's house in Ecuador. His family was gracious enough to let Greg and me stay with them for a few nights as we broke up our little trips. Their little brown dog didn't like us much and was always trying to bite us. It became sort of a funny game. We stayed in the little blue guest room in the top left side of the picture. It was perfect, a bed and a bathroom with a shower. They had a beautiful yard that they were very proud of and they were working on putting in another little guest room by ours. You could tell they were very proud of their home and grateful that they could help us out by staying there.

My first experience with glass on the tops of walls! Also the market was crazy with tons of things to buy and so many people trying to make you buy things. I would try not to make eye contact with anyone or look at a certain booth for too long otherwise I would get bombarded by people trying to shove things in my hands saying, " you like? you like?". I'm so not a big fan of that and didn't last to long ;-)

This is a series of pictures in a museum we went through. It shows the introducing of white men into ecuador. The middle picture is very symbolic... we were death, everything we did, whether intentional, like making the natives into slaves to mine the gold, or not intentional with our diseases, we killed thousands and thousands of people in this area.

This Virgen Mary is on top of a hill in the middle of the city. You can always find where you are if you can see her.

These two little kids asked if they could polish our shoes... we had our chaco's on so I had them take a picture with me and gave them some change in return

It was interesting to see very old buildings that the Spanish built when they arrived in the 1500s. They seemed somewhat out of place with where we were but they are a huge part of their history.

The narrow, cobblestone streets of Quito!

This cathedral was completely covered in gold leaflet. It was very impressive and... shiny. I was absolutely amazed with how much gold they had and more amazed that they had put that much money into a building instead of to the members of the church or the poor of the city. But I have no idea of how they do things down there, so I shouldn't judge or speculate. It does, however, make you think a little.

We were able to attend a concert of a German organist. His songs were amazing, I have never heard the organ played like that before. It was beautiful and fun to attend a local event. We did feel a little under dressed. Everyone was dressed up and here we were, in shorts and t-shirts and dirty from walking around town all day. Love it!

Ecuador... Here We Come!

2010-08-03T11:51:00.017-06:00

I finally made it! It was a forever plane ride, from SLC to Houston to Panama City to Quito. 14 hours of traveling!
Greg met me at the airport and from then on we were off together experiencing this new place. Our first stop was north of the capitol to Otavalo. To make the trip more authentic and to really dive into the culture and people we decided to take public transportation everywhere we went. So we jumped on a bus for a nice long 4 hour bus trip on snake-like, narrow, 2 laned road where buses would pass cars and trucks on blind corners. My only comfort is that we were a lot bigger then the other cars.

We pulled into this beautiful little town that was nestled in between three large vocano mountians and the foot hills. As we walked off the bus and put on our backpacks we were the focus of alot of peoples attention. With starring eyes we walked down the street; past little stores filled with food, clothing, shoes, and everything else. The things that completely surprised me was the food they had sitting out in the sun; mostly the meat and eggs. They would have a pig or a leg of a cow or cubbed pieces of raw meat hanging in broad daylight baking in the sun.

We found the main street and eventually found a hostel to stay in for the night. Dropping our stuff off we went out to explore the city. We walked all the way up the south side hills then turned and went up the north side! It was such an amazing place. It was also really nice to get out of the city and see were and how the people really live. There were shacks/ houses all over the hill side... once you felt like you were in the forest there would be a house around the next corner. We also visited the local market, and some fruit stands where Greg was sooo excited to find the little finger banana's and their local catholic church. Lunch was also a treat! My first dish of rice, meat, frech fries, and eggs!

I was a little nervous because of what I had seen earlier that day, but all went well and no one was sick. Also, that huge dish of food only cost $2 bucks each! Not to shabby!!!

Us up on the south side of town. The cobble stone roads were really cool, but hard walking.

There is no faith in washers and driers around here. Even if the family is wealthy enough to have them. Everyone washes clothes by hand hang dries them. My favorites were when the tops of the houses were covered in clothes!

Farming in Ecuador was alot of having your pigs, chickens, or cows right in your front yard.

From the north side.

These corn stalks were all dead and made for an interesting picture, but they grew just about anything and everything down there. They are a country that is rich in food and natural resources like their gold and metals, but has to import things like plastic and certain building materials.

This is one of the houses I mentioned above. We found this little trail and were following it thinking we'd eventually make it to the top of the hill, but we ran into this house built right into the hill side.

These were my favorite flowers! They are tiny and multi-colored and just plain beautiful.

Fuya Fuya

We went on a beautiful hike up Fuya Fuya. It is a volcano, the lake is the caldera, and the highest point was just over 14,000 ft. We needed to get high and start acclimatizing for our hike up Cotopaxi so we just hung out up here for about 8 hours.

It was the most different 14,000' mountian I've ever hiked. By this point in Utah I would be in a boulder field, but here it was all grassy slopes and warm!

This is Caymbe, the volcano in the back.

The morning was so clear! We got a glimpse of Cotapoxi before it was devoured in clouds for the day.

We made it to the top and were awarded with breath taking views!

This was one of the most interesting plants out there. It's round and tall like a cactus, but fury ;-)

Looks like these belong in the oceanic reef.

We got up there, hung out for a bit, then took a nap. We woke up to find the clouds coming up over the mountian. It's really neat to be in the cloulds and see how fast they really move. It would take 5 min for one to make it over, we'd have blue sky for 5 min then another cloud would be right below crawling its way up the hill. It also gave it a sort of eerie feeling when you couldn't see off the edge of where you were standing.

Our taxi drove back up the mountain to pick us up at the trail head later that afternoon. We went back into town to pack up and grab a bus back to Quito. Alot of the natives here still wear their native dress. It was great to see tradition being passed down. This is the typical clothes you would see on people around this town and in smaller towns as well.

Ecuador... South America

2010-08-03T10:01:00.020-06:00

What an amazing place! The world is so big and vast and there is so much to see and experience. This year's trip took us to South America to a small country, a little bigger than Utah, called Ecuador. When Greg first brought up the idea of going there it took me a second to locate it in my head. I then said "South America right?" After we talked it over and looked it up on the internet we decided that the country is a pretty spectacular place with so much variety and
so so so much to see and do.

Like I've mentioned before, Greg went down for two weeks prior to me coming to meet him. He visited the southern parts of the country collecting water samples above, at, and below mining towns. Ecuador is where the USA was about 50-80 years ago, when we used to dump all sorts of chemicals, metals, and poisons into our waterways. Ecuador has the same problems, but it has been researched very little.

As you all know us, we enjoy taking photos. I love sharing our trips and hoping that they may encourage others to take off in the same direction and enjoy the same places, or others, as we have. We came home with too many pictures ;-) as always! Here are some to give you a taste of the country, the people, and culture. We loved our time down there and were sad to leave.
(I won't lie and tell you we weren't glad to be back, but we both felt that we could have stayed longer).

So enjoy!!! I'm posting pictures of Greg's sampling first then I'll do a few other posts on pictures of when Greg and I were both there touring around!

The City of Lights!

This is Quito the capitol city. It is beautiful and in this narrow valley in the Andes. It is settled at 9,000 ft. where as SLC is at 4,500 ft.

This is a lot of what the stores down there are like. Small and jam-packed with goods.

Our favorite bottled water!

Interesting decorations in the town of Loja.

The country is full of amazing plants and flowers! This is a carnivorous plant that traps and eats insects.

Greg took a couple hopper flights to get to the southern part of the country. The country has many volcanoes that rise anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 ft. into the skyline. This particular volcano is 17,000 ft Volcan Sangay.

The countryside is so green and beautiful!

Sampling a pristine lake at 12,000 ft in the caldera of an extinct volcano with a team of 4 from the U of U and 12 Ecuadorians. The lake is located in a protected area, but it also happens to be next to a large gold deposit that is waiting to be mined.

The roads, for the most part, were pretty good. Although Greg did have to wait for a few hours on this particular drive while they cleared a landslide off the road. I guess they happen fairly frequently.

Beautiful waterfalls all over the place.

Mining towns

Greg went to a few different mining towns to do his sampling. This is the town of Nambija where hundreds of small scale gold mines are scattered all over the steep hillside. It was a dangerous place to be. Every few minutes you could hear the blasts from dynamite as the miners worked their tunnels. A few years ago a large landslide killed a bunch of people, and the area looked ripe for another landslide.

Miners using mercury to extract gold from gravel and sand. The mercury is burned or dumped into the rivers, and the gold is sent to the big cities.

They were in the ''cloud forest" a lot of the time, it's part of the high amazon rain forest around 7-8,000 ft. It made for some great pictures.

Dumping the waste rock onto the tailings pile. This is probably how the mines in Utah were operated 100 years ago.

One of the mines. The hillsides were scattered with these holes in the rock. Mostly they mine gold, but also a few other metals and minerals.

Greg actually went in one, they offered to give them a tour of the mine. Nobody wanted to go in, little nervous about the structure and it collapsing on them. He said it was really cool and would never do that again ;-)

A mercury-laden stream coming out of one of the mines.

This lady, her husband, and two kids moved out to this town to start mining. After a year her husband was killed in a mine that collapsed. She still works the mine and makes about $200 dollars a month. She had a sad story but was an up beat and happy person.

Some sampling pictures!

These are containers that they just threw in a pile. They were full of a very toxic chemical called cyanide. Certain mines use cyanide instead of mercury to extract gold from the rocks. Unfortunately in developing countries like Ecuador, the government has little control over the whole process and mercury and cyanide waste are dumped into the rivers.

Certain environmental groups recognize the problem with the pollution caused by unregulated mining. The sign the lady in this mural is holding says "Help us save nature".

Their research went really well. They were able to get all the samples they needed and didn't have too many problems. He enjoyed it and enjoyed the southern part of the country.

They stayed in a town that was surrounded by banana plantations. These trees are way crazy- cool! Just kinda unique and different, I like 'em. Most of the bananas we buy at the grocery store come from this part of Ecuador.

Here are some photos he took from the airplane of the volcanoes in the Andes.

Ecuador's version of Crater Lake!

Volcan de Illiniza

This one is my favorite! It's name is Cotopaxi, it rises 19,347 ft (5,897 m) into the sky, the second tallest in the country and .... we climbed it!!! Therefore, it has a special place in my heart and because it's one of the most symmetrical and picture book perfect volcanoes in the world.

Flying into Quito!

More pictures of Rainier

2010-07-26T07:18:00.007-06:00

Dan just sent us his pictures of the trip, I thought I'd share some!

This is a video of us sledding down the snow field, what took us about 1-2 hours to get up, took Greg about 10 seconds to slide down.

Back to my beloved USA and Utah!!!

2010-07-19T09:05:00.003-06:00

Greg and I just returned from Ecuador last night... this morning was more like it! Didn't get home till about 2 am this morning. Greg had spent a whole month down there. The first two weeks were collecting samples for his research and then I flew down to meet him for the next two weeks! It is an absolutely beautiful country with so much to do and see. We had a great time and a lot of different adventures and experiences. Can't wait to post and share them with you! Hope ya have a great week!

Climbing More Mountains!!! June '09

2010-06-16T07:51:00.042-06:00

Mt Rainier

This is the mountain that Greg, I and a group of friends just climbed!

These top two pictures are not mine, I copied them from the internet because we never got a view of the mountain from a distance. This one is a view from Seattle.

Gotta have the token picture of all our stuff laid out in the front room!

We drove out on Wed afternoon, got to our friend Scott's house by 10:30. After catching up and making a last minute run to the store we got to bed around 2. Woke up by 5:30, got ready and had breakfast and were out the door by 6:30.

Scott got up early and made us waffles to start the day off.

3 hours later we pulled into the National park! It is an amazing area, so green and beautiful. We had rain and snow most of the day, which made everything seem more alive and vibrant.

Getting everything packed up and ready for the trek in

The group! Left: Dan (our fearless leader!), Scott, Corianne, John, Greg, Mallary

The first part of the hike was up a river bed. Soon we made it to the cold white wet stuff...

Taking a break. We had to haul alot of gear and stuff up the mountain. Everyone's pack were filled to the brim and then some. I swear my pack weighed 500 lbs. My shoulders are still sore and tight from carrying that up and down from base camp!

Out of the green and into the white.

Greg and Dan working on there navigation skills. It was so nice to be up there with a map, 2 GPS's, and 3 altimeter watches ;-) I felt so safe knew we'd never get lost!

Hiking in a complete white-out!

It was so beautiful up there. I almost forgot it was June!

Left: Scott, John, and Corianne

Most of the time you judge distance from one spot to another with distance. This trip was completely different, we used altitude. We started hiking at 4,500' (feet) then up to 9,500' where we camped, then to the top of the mountain at 14,500'-ish. So a 10,000 ft gain from the car. It was a definite leg burner! Kinda like a stair stepper work out for 8-9 hours.

Little cold! Had to stop and rope up the last hour of our hike to cross and walk up a glacier.

We made it to the camp site! What a wonderful feeling! Oh, wait the wind was blowing 40+ mph with wind gusts up to the 70's all night! The boys braved the cold and dug us a nice snow pit to put the tents up in. Corianne and I went and spent a hour or so in the park rangers hut by a stove and staying nice and toasty warm! It was horrible when they came to get us. We bundled right back up and walked right back out into the frigid air.

As you can see our tents were well protected against the wind. Good work guys!

Another group and their set up.

Friday morning was beautiful! Blue skies above and clouds below. Felt like we were in an airplane.

Friday we just hung out to get ready to start our climb that night. We got all roped up and practiced some rescue techniques and skills that we might need on the mountain.

This was a group coming to camp that day. It's a long trek to where we camped. It took us about 8 and a half hours from our car to the camp. It also shows just how small we are compared to the mountain.

There is no way in a picture to show you how tall that hill is behind Greg. haha, It was even hard to tell by just looking at it from where we are. Therefore let me try to describe it to you... That hill is like standing near the bottom of Mt Timpanogus and looking straight up near the top. That is almost the top of Rainier behind him. It is a 5,000 vertical feet relief. With the snow there is absolutely no depth perception. Some of those bumps are 100-500 ft ice cliffs. The only way that we were able to get an idea was to watch one of the "climbing/park Rangers" Skin (ski, like what Greg does in the winter) up the glacier. Near the top you could barely see him, a black spec in a field of white.

Looking down at camp. We had our tents on the left, then other groups on the right. The campsite sat right between two big glaciers, one on either side of this ridge.

Ice Fall...Aka: a big jumbled mess that should be avoided.

This is where we made dinner and melted snow for water, then hit the sleeping bags around 7:30 that night. I had been so sleep deprived before then that I had no problem falling asleep till 11:30 pm, Greg on the other hand struggled. My alarm went off with it being pitch black outside. We stumbled around the tent putting on our snow pants, jackets, socks, and boots while trying to wake up and remove the fog from our heads.

Once we stepped out of the tent our senses seemed to jump to alert mode. The only thing that was slow was our fingers they got so cold while we were trying to tie knots, putting on our harness and crampons without gloves on.

Almost ready! I wasn't sure which feeling was stronger the excitment or the nerves and butterflies. We started the hike at 1 am. with only the lights on our heads to show us the way

Rope leading to...

3 Headlights ahead breaking the trail. Thats all I could see for the first 4 hours then I looked back at the horizen and found...

One of the most amazingly-beautiful sights in my life. The horizon was on fire! It was to beautiful and somewhat surreal.

The morning and sunrise kept on getting better and better as the lights turned on

We took a break around 5:30 am to get some water and granola bars for breakfast. Actually that's the only thing Greg and I ate all day. Water and granola bars and a little trail mix.

I swear you can almost see the curvature of the earth... haha jk

We tried all day to find flatter spots to stop but never found anything under a 35 degree grade. Have I mentioned a stair stepper before, cause that's what it felt like.

One of my favorite things was how the mountain just lite right up. Everything turned pink all around us.

John actually lost his helmet down in the big crevasse below, I don't think I've ever seen plastic slide so fast down a hill!

We made it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After 9 hours of climbing we finally made it to the top! 14, 410 ft.

Mt St. Helens in the background.

The caldera was huge and smoking around the edges. Still an active volcano!

Mt. Adams, Mt Hood in the distant middle way back, and Mt St Helens on the right.

Greg, Scott, and John

Taking a break on the way back down. Getting to the top was only the first part, we still had a 5 hour hike back downt to the tents. So tired!

On the way down we met up with this guy going up still

He totally had a snow board on his back and was planning on boarding the whole way down!

We were almost back to camp when all of a sudden my leg broke through the snow and whoosh! I was up to my hip on the ground. I had stepped in just the right spot. Right into a narrow crack in the ice. Luckily it was narrow, but it was deep... as I heard the snow fall into it and fall for a long time.

Back at camp we packed up the tent and our bags and headed down the mountain to the car.

We had one thing going for us though. No more glaciers! So we broke out sleeping pads, garbage bags, or whatever else you could slide on and took off down the mountain!

Greg sliding into oblivion!

This was my sliegh ride down.

We soon got off the ice fields and into trees as we decended the trail. The trees were covered in a very cool looking moss that hung from the branches. Very different then anything here in Utah.

We made it to the cars by 10:30 pm. That made for a 22 hour day. We were all so tired and worn out by the end.

It was an amazing trip though. Something I had never thought I'd ever do, but totally enjoyed it and never got too cold. I was definitly cold, but not like I have been here in Utah at times. We had a fun group and we all worked together to get to the top and conquer the mountain!

Greg and I are now heading off to Ecuador! Can't wait there is so much to do there and do many different climates! You have the amazon rain forest, then the capitol, Quito, at 9,000 ft in high tundra, then moutains and volcano's going up to 20,000 ft and don't forget the beaches. Greg will be there for 4 weeks, the first two doing research with school, then I will meet him there and stay for the next two weeks. So stay posted for more pictures of all the "crazy" things Greg and I do! I promise we'll have some good ones.

Kayaking

2010-06-16T07:38:00.001-06:00

Green River Daily Run

Here we are in our matching splash guards! So married ;-)

We went with the whitewater club, as you can see we had a good turn out.

Me- loving the sun, water, and scenery

One guy in our group went off this rock, it was pretty sweet. You can do some pretty intense stuff with these things. Greg and I aren't to interested in the high intensity runs and dropping off tall objects.

Greg in his black machine

The Green river is a magnificent river. This time of year was so green... ok, relatively.

Provo River

This was a first and last. The first time my kayak went on a run on the upper provo river and ....

The last. I hit a slightly submerged rock and heard a crunch/ crack sound. I didn't think much of it because I was looking down river to the next rocks. About 15 seconds later the freezing cold water lapping and submerging my legs in my kayak was telling me I had a big crack in my boat and taking on water fast. I reluctantly pulled over to assessed the damage... not fixable. My kayak is now retired from rivers, but can still go cruise the lakes after I patch it!

Greg had a great time and his kayak came away without any holes. The worst part was hauling the them back to the road... they're way heavy! One good thing that came out of it was that the fisherman didn't have to gt mad at a couple of kayakers going over their fishin' holes!

Climbing Mountains

2010-06-07T08:41:00.029-06:00

Greg and I are always up for new adventures and experiences. Ask us to come try something or go some where and if we can, then we're there and excited to try whatever it is or to be where ever we are.
We have read books in the past about mountaineering (No shortcuts to the top, Annapurna, Into Thin Air, Touching the Void, etc.) that have made us think about trying some new ways to climb to the tops of mountains ;-) Greg has always wanted to get into mountaineering, I on the other hand am a recent convert to the idea. It all started when Greg had me read the book "Annapurna". After I got done I had mixed feelings. It was an amazing story, but the group had a very hard time, some people died on the mountain and others lost digits to frostbite. I have no inclination to do either. After that he had me read another book, and another. Each story is about hardships on the mountains and how each person(s) had to overcome the odds to make it home or reach their goal. Amazing stories and very inspiring (highly recommend them).
When Greg and I read "NO Shortcuts to the Top" by Ed Veisters, the first American to climb the 8 tallest peaks in the world without using supplemental oxygen, he doesn't believe in taking stupid risks while climbing. This was something Greg and I could relate to. Slowly we have been getting into it. We are doing a few hikes this year to see how it goes, but so far it has been exhilarating!

Mt Baldly and Sugar Loaf Peak

First Sight. As we drove up the canyon early in the morning we found this coyote running around. He didn't like us looking at him to much and took off up the snow to hide from our tired eyes... also, a warning. I am posting quite a few pictures, sorry, but I didn't do a very good job of cutting the pile down;)

This is our first trip! A beginner climb up Mt Baldy. We needed to get out and try out the crampons and axe. Trying to get the feel down and practice self-arresting. We hiked up the ridge on the right to the top, across and down the left, then up another peak that's not pictured.

Oh, that's cold on the backside! Good morning!

Straight up we go!

Up the last little bit to get on top of the ridge.

Two amazing views from the ridge

I love this photo of Greg, it shows how fun this is. Out in the elements, high up on the mountain, unbelievable scenery, and can you talk about a calf, thigh... aka: leg burner!

My mountain!

Yes, it's Mount Timpanogos (the backside) and yes I love that mountain.

Part of Timp, Cascade, and Provo Peak

On the top, looking down to the greenery of the Salt Lake Valley and Little Cottonwood Canyon.

Made it with flying colors!

Glissading: Glissading is one of the bonuses of mountain climbing, offering the fastest, easiest, and most exhilarating way down many snow slopes for a climber on foot. AKA: sliding down on your backside! So much fun and saves alot of time. You can see our two tracks coming down the slope behind Greg.

Sugar Loaf Peak, nice easy climb to the top.

Made it to the top!

Somewhere in the Wasatch

We started hiking in dirt and green grass, eventually we ended up in SNOW!

Climbing and Climbing and Climbing... Are we there yet?

The clouds were all over the place this day. They would drop down on us one minute, then lift and give us blue skies, then do it all again.

Tree frosted by the snow and wind that night.

Finally we made it to the bowl below the ridge. From here it was straight up!

Couple of panoramic's that show how impressive this place is. Can you believe this is only about 20 miles from my house!

Am I in Utah?

Got a little steep towards the top of the snow field, which made for some "extreme", haha, glissading when we headed down!

Finally to the top of the ridge! Now to follow it to the top!!!

The "North Peak" (our name for it)

Tree on the ridge, yes, it is end of May.

Snow crystal that only grow on one side of the trees. These crystals actually grow into the wind showing us that the wind comes from the north in this area.

Utah Valley

Made it to the north peak, beyond Greg is the ridge line to the summit!

We allllmost made it all the way. We were about 50 yards from the summit and stopped. It was pretty sketchy from there to the top. It was quite the accomplishment to get where we did! After climbing 6,000 vertical feet, through snow up to our knees, and up a 50 degree slope... just over 7 hours and we made it. I know we're crazy, but it's a great way to get your exercise in for the day ;-)

Felt like we were on top of the world!

Now that we've practiced a little we are now going to head up to Washington to climb Mt. Rainier. After that... who knows maybe a climb in Ecuador in July too ;-)

Field Work

2010-06-07T08:36:00.006-06:00

Great Salt Lake Wetlands

Greg is doing a huge project out in the wetlands this summer. He's been busy getting it all set up and ready for samples. Again, he is collecting data for trace metals and mercury in the area. It's a four part project throughout the summer where they go out for 2-3 days four different times and sample for just about everything you can think of. Greg is in charge and had to set up and organize the whole thing. There is so much prep work that goes into it. It's great and should result into a paper this fall. Speaking of papers, Greg has sent in his first paper to a journal (can't remember the name), a few weeks ago. It takes about 3 months for them to read and get back to Greg about it, so I'll let ya know then whether or not it gets published!

Incorporating ground water sampling too. Bringing wells back from the desert (Pilot Valley where he did his Thesis work) to the wetlands!

One of the reasons we purchased a x-terra was for Greg to do his field work. It has become the work vehicle this year with all his work up the canyons this winter to his work out here in the wetlands.

Greg has been working so hard lately. Long days and long hours. I've been lucky to help him here and there sometimes, starting to become the cheapest assistant ever ;-) He's getting closer though. They already went out and did their first of four research parts last week and just got everything shipped off to Ecuador today. So other then the last minute things he's pretty free till he goes to ecuador.

Happy Anniversary!!!

2010-06-07T08:18:00.012-06:00

A shout out to Greg's Parents! Happy 40th Anniversary!!!!
Congrats and way to go on 40 great years! You two are such an example to Greg and I. You're the best. Good luck and enjoy another 40!

Ron and Karin in Glacier Bay, Alaska '07

Dinner at Bucca de Peppo's with the family to celebrate!

Rylee enjoying her meal, excited because she got a birthday cupcake, just turned 8 and so ready to be baptized.

Ben was entertaining the group with his tricks he picked from his class.... ok, really it was his dad, go Kevin! Kid at heart!

March Wedding

2010-06-07T07:24:00.013-06:00

Jordan and Sarah Got Hitched!

One of the most beautiful weddings I've been to; Jordan and Sarah were married the middle of March. It was a great time and everything was amazing. Congrats you two!

The Girls!

The Gillespie Family. Now just waiting for Gunner and Addie to get married... k, maybe we'll give you a good 5-1o...20 years ;-)

The Kids; I grew up with 4 boys and 1 amazing sister!
Love my Brothers and Sister! Somehow I wouldn't trade them for anyone.

My mom, Juli, and Addie and I (kind of helped) made all these little girl dresses! Mom and Juli, you two are amazing! The dresses were beautiful!

We took pictures in the Joseph Smith Building because of the rain storm that we had that afternoon. Ellia was so cute in her coat and muffler. Somewhere and on some camera there is a picture of Greg and I, someday I'll track it down ;-)

Easter

Greg had to climb the haystack to get his basket, mine was hidden under the calf shelter. Thanks Easter Bunny!

Childhood memories, these are those safe activities that kids always engage in, jumping from the haystack. So of course we had to do it again! Life is to short and fun to give up doing things that make you young. This is were I grew up, here on the dairy farm and I love every bit of it.

Cash and Chuck

Vineyard's two dog gaurdians. Cash, Jordan's black lab, was lonely while he was on his mission, so when Chuck came around running on 3 legs... they turned out being the bestest of friends. This picture just cracks me up. Such an odd couple of dogs.

DONE!!!!!!

2010-04-19T13:39:00.003-06:00

It's official!!! Greg is now done with snow sampling for the year! A good thing too since the snow is rapidly melting with this gorgeous spring weather. We went up big cottonwood last Saturday; yes, while all you people were down in the valley enjoying the 75 degree weather, Greg and I were trudging through the slushy, heavy, wet snow up to desolation and dog lakes to get the last two samples! Greg sampled seven different areas and now he has to run all the samples in the lab to find out how much mercury and trace metals are in our snow pack. Should be interesting to see what falls from the atmosphere and get a paper published for all his hard work. It is now time to enjoy the sun and green grass, go to a baseball game or hit the tennis courts, and.... work in the yard!