TIMP CAVE AND THE MUSIC OF LED ZEPPELIN

Manny is over the 11 year old scouts and for the past few months, he's been without a partner, so I've had to step in and help him out. So, on Friday, we took the scouts to hike Timpanogos Cave. We have both been quite a few times and we love it. None of the scouts had ever been before, and they were excited...until we actually started to hike. They are quite the complainers, but I told them it would be well worth it once we got inside the caves. Manny and I must be in WAY better shape than we thought because we were completely fine the whole entire hike. Those 11 year olds had a very hard time keeping up with us. I told them that they needed to stop playing video games and get more exercise. They said this was the most exercise they'd had all summer long. I could tell. They were actually pretty good though. They're very goofy (looking) at that age and we had a lot of fun. I was glad that they were able to really enjoy a new experience.

Just about to the halfway point.

Finally made it to the top.


Tight squeezes and low ceilings.

This is a big cavern in part of the cave.


The heart of Timpanogos.




On Saturday night we went to the Snow Lodge Amphitheater at Deer Valley to listen to the music of Led Zeppelin with the UT Symphony. I thought it was the best of both worlds because I like to go to the symphony and Manny LOVES Led Zeppelin.

Here we are hanging out waiting for the show to begin. Can you tell that Manny is annoyed that I want to take a picture of us. This is usually how our pictures turn out.

We took a picnic with us and spread some blankets out and enjoyed the show. The man that was singing did a pretty good job. It was such an awesome show with beautiful surroundings. We ended up having so much fun (and with all the Zeppelin fans, I was surprised that there wasn't a smoky haze around us).

IN THE PAST MONTH AND A HALF...

The sky seems to have looked like this quite a bit. It hasn't rained much, but there sure is a lot of thunder and lightning and it's been overcast a lot...

I've gone to Spokane, WA to visit my mother's side of the family (the white side of my family)...

And visited a beautiful park...

And hung out with my little sister, Michaela while we were there...

And when I got home, I wore a necklace that was given to me by my grandparents that was made by some Marshallese people. My grandparents serve in a Marshallese ward in Spokane. And need to learn how to take better pictures...

And Manny wore his Marshallese tie long enough for me to take a picture. All the men wear these to ties to church each week. They're very pretty.

And in the past month and a half we have gone 4-wheeling and seen some pretty views...

And we've gone fishing...

And sadly, I've had to say goodbye to my good friend and next door neighbor who moved to CT. They were crying and didn't want to say goodbye.

And I've won a healthy employee competition at work. I won a $75 credit at a sporting goods store for a new pair of shoes...

And am 20 pounds lighter.

CAMP KOHOLOWO...BEAR COUNTRY

I've been at girls' camp the last few days, and I have loved every minute of it. I love camping, and I always enjoyed girls' camp each year when I was younger. I'm not in YW, but all the leaders weren't able to go with our ward this year so they asked for volunteers. I jumped at the chance. I thought I'd start this blog out with what happened this morning before I left. We had a visitor in the middle of the night and this morning. He was hungry and searching for food. A little bear came into my ward's camp and that's all the girls talked about for the rest of the time. They were all FREAKED out by it and didn't want to leave the cabin.

They knocked over the garbage can and stepped on it a couple of different times. Yes, they...it was a baby bear and a mama bear. I never saw the mama bear though.

I was trying to hurry and pull out my camera to snap a good picture of it, but just as I did, it turned to walk away. So, the only picture I got of the bear really sucks. I was so disappointed.

Here is our small cabin that we stayed in. We stayed in one half, and another ward stayed in the other half. The funny thing is, the ward next to us, one of the leaders and young women are from my ward in Orem. Wendy and Morgan Jones. It was nice to hang out with them a little bit this week.

Every year, they do a Queen Koholowo. The girls dress up a leader and they compete. They tried to get me to do it, but no way. We decided to the my neighbor who is the YW's President. She was such a good sport, even with her pregnant belly and all.

This is Mormon Gaga and her back up dancers.

Here's a video of their talent. She didn't win, but she did get the Miss Shapen award. It was so hilarious to watch this competition.

On my way home, I stopped to snap a few pictures of Payson Canyon. That's where Camp Koholow is located. It's nice to know that this is my backyard. That's how I feel anyway. It's sto beautiful.

There's a lookout point where you can see UT Lake.

It was so fun being there, I'm really glad I was able to go.

WORLD CUP 2010!!

Manny's super excited, are you? The FIFA World Cup has finally started and we've watched every minute of it. I found a couple of videos with great soccer moments to get you in the mood for soccer if you're not in it yet. Maybe we'll see some crazy stuff in this World Cup like in the videos. Enjoy!
Thierry Henry

Insane Free Kick

Ouch! In the face.

Rene Higuita-Best Goalkeeper Ever!

HERE COMES THE BRIDE

My younger sister, Julie got married on Saturday the 29th.
She has a habit of closing her eyes in pictures.

Here she is exchanging rings with her new husband, Jerrod.

I just had to take this picture of my cute nephew, Solomon.

I thought I'd also take this time to let everyone know that Manny and I have adopted a baby. Her name is Chelsea.

Isn't she darling?

Ok, so we didn't really adopt her, but I wish we could. I don't think my brother wants to give his daughter up though. Manny held her the whole time. She snuggled right up to him and went to sleep.

Here is my family from my grandparents down. I am missing a brother, he's in the Marines and doing guard duty in San Diego right now, so he wasn't able to be at the wedding.

My beautiful niece, Mekel.

I was going to get a picture with my sister, but my older sister left, so I got one with the other two, and then two of my nieces wanted to be in it too.

It was a beautiful wedding with yummy food! Congratulations Julie and Jerrod. I hope you have a long, happy life together.

THEY'RE ON TO US