American Fork Canyon Nature Trail

Sometimes you really just need to get out of the burbs and into the mountains. We had such a morning earlier this year. It wasn’t really planned; we just needed to go. Because I have so many pictures I’m splitting the post into two parts. First we hit the Nature Trail and then went up to Silver Lake.

The Canyon Nature trail is located near the bottom of American Fork Canyon. It was a pleasure to walk among the mountains and trees.

First you have to get across the bridge. We did this in style as usual.

The walk along the nice trail, sit on some logs and benches, have a little fun, and pose for some photos. It didn’t take us long at all to make it down to the canyon stream. There isn’t much nicer than a canyon stream in the summer. Great fun! First off my beautiful bride.

Then we went for another short work before heading back to the car. We got some good fire brigade training. Sweet.

I’m not sure what Nate saw when I captured that shot of him. In any case we bugged out of there and made our way up to Silver Lake. But the photos and story of that will have to wait for another day.

Baby Rylee

My sister had her baby while we were in Delta. A couple of days later we went to visit and snap a few pictures. She is so sweet and beautiful and from what I gather, a really good baby. Yay!

  

Apparently she makes this scornful face a lot :)

 

 

 

Holding her mama’s finger.

 

 

Aww. So cuuuuute.

Gathering at the Raines Hacienda

So Julie's family has a million birthdays in the month of March. Add to them the two March birthdays in our little family and you've got something really serious. Oy. This year I got away from the adults and made some photos of the girls and video of the kids playing. 

This one of my youngest is really fun (you are killing that hat Cara).

  

Turns out there was some kind of fire going on... Go figure.

Rejected Books: So Bad, Yet So Good

It’s not styled yet, but you get the picture.

You know the scene from Beauty & the Beast where Belle is shown her new, what-literary-dreams-are-made-of library? When we were house hunting and saw this wall of bookshelves, that very scene is what came to mind. I’m happy to announce that after almost 3 years, we’ve finally collected enough (mostly hand-me-down) books to fill this beautiful space. Are you curious to know how many books it takes to fill up 25 shelves? In a very scientific manner (How many large books fit on a shelf? 12. How many thin books fit on a shelf? 88.  Average them: 50. Multiplied by 25 shelves) I estimate there are 1250 books. We also have a few armfuls scattered about the house. I can’t even imagine how many books Belle owns!

Some of these we have purchased but like I said, most of them are hand-me-downs from friends and family who were going to take these all to Deseret Industries but thought of us and our plight first. Thanks, everyone! The rescued books thank you as well for giving them a loving home.
Here are some facts…actually, they’re rough estimates:

Books of Scripture=26
Encyclopedias of some sort=6
Dictionaries of language (mostly english and french but also welsh and brazilian portugese)=11
Nonfiction vs Fiction= 60/40
Adult vs Juvenile=70/30

By going through boxes and boxes of books people are ready to throw out I’ve uncovered a number of fantastic, nay, stupendous reads. Are you ready to see for yourself which reads we now call our own?

This might be my favorite.

These are seriously the scariest dolls I’ve ever seen!

Except for maybe this one…

This is a sketch the author made of her husband. Then she made a doll of this fine-looking man. I love how he is clutching the “special doll”. Are those his feet??

 

Aww. A classic. Everyone loves “Jack the Bum” stories from back in the good old politically incorrect days.

The children help Jack find shelter for the winter. While the bum is squatting in an abandoned house, he manages to catch a jewel thief that was hiding out. The police gave him a proper reward.

 

From 1971

 

“This jumper dress creates a mood of zingy effervescence.”    Sure does! Where do I get myself one of those!

 

I didn’t even know there was a “Medical Romance” genre! It’s even conveniently in large print for the older set who tend to fantasize medically.

 

Looks fun!

 

“A Tour of Councils Through Their Patches!”

 

Oooh. Another romance!     “Why, sir! Your immense yellow bowtie is tickling my neck in such a tantalizing manner!”

 

That’s a pretty gory cover!

 

One of Terrill Willson’s methods to achieve conscious outer body experiences is to wake up in the middle of the night, roll your eyeballs upward until you feel a strain and see only black space. After holding them there for 45 minutes or so and clearing your mind you’ll start to hear a whistle. That’s when you know you’re on your way. The whole process takes a couple of hours and you should practice regularly. He highly recommends this form of torture travel.

 

Well? Do you know?  I do, thanks to this gem of a book. They are both artiodactyls (even-toed hoofed animal).

 

Drainage? Of what???  And in case the below engineering textbook isn’t enough, we have 14 more.

 

I just like the title of this one.

 

Looks innocent enough…

 

Until…“Sexy grandmas are as common as head lettuce…”   Well, now!

 

It would be excruciating to read this excruciatingly thick Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior.

 

I would hate to leave out the winning cds that were in some the boxes.

 

 

 

I could listen to slide effects for hours if played by this man.

 

And a show everyone can enjoy.

I did come across this actual gem. I found some notes inside written by Rob’s grandpa. They are regarding naval intelligence. Very cool.