We are FAmOuS!

Duchesne has officially been put on the map as of last week when oil was dumped into the Strawberry River. I was as shocked as the next person when I turned on my television to watch the news and heard it for myself...especially since the oil was dumped in the river not even 1 block from my house. (If you missed it on the news you can go to ubstandard.com and read all about it).

If you look over on the bank you can see the film from some of the oil

I am not a tree hugger or someone who goes around and pickets about saving the planet (no hate messages if thats your forte'...I'm not pointing fingers and nothing personal was meant, I'm just stating that ITS NOT MY THING) but I do care about the environment. I do my part to take care of it and I try to "Be Green" whenever possible. I care about what is happening in the world as well as our environment...especially when its right out my front door. I have to say, I was a little curious as to what an "oil spill" might look like and I wanted to take a stroll down to the river and take a peak at the sludge and oil mess close up...but the Envirocare Team has it all "red taped" off so I couldn't get down there without causing a scene (no worries, I didn't cause a scene). They have big trucks and people all over cleaning things up and I am sure that the tape was to keep people (like me) out of their way and to prevent any injuries or mishaps. BUT as the day went on, I thought about places that they probably didn't have roped off (yet) and decided to take myself a little walk this evening and gander at the sloppy mess.

check out the big glob in the middle of the river...uhg!

This glob was at least the size of a football and was lodged between the rocks...it stunk pretty bad. 

More sludge between the rocks

It was all over like this...just like someone had thrown big balls of it and it had landed haphazardly in various places

I was surprised a bit because I expected to see TONS of oil lining the sides of the river (like you see on TV from the oil spill down in Florida), but instead I saw globs of oil here and there, between rocks, splattered on rocks and logs, and on the banks of the river. It looks awful and smells even worse. I feel bad that this kind of thing had to happen in our little town. Whether it happened because of someones negligence or because someone intentionally did this, I feel there has to be some consequences given. We all have to pay for our mistakes, as well as for deliberate choices that we make...thats just the way the cookie crumbles. There is an old saying that I like to tell my kids, "If you pick up one end of the stick, you pick up the other end too," with each choice we make there is a consequence that follows.

I hope they are able to catch whomever did this and that they are held responsible for it. The damage that it has caused, and WILL cause, will be long lasting for our little area full of of farmers and small town folk. It will have effects on our wildlife as well as our land.

If you look just below the bridge you can see big garbage bags that they have filled..
full of sludge I am sure. 

I sometimes feel that because we live in a rural area we should be sheltered from problems such as this, but in reality it can happen anywhere...and it does...Duchesne is now proof of that.

*PS...sorry some of the pictures are blurry, my camera was low on battery which causes the pictures to be blurry. I was too lazy to run home and grab some as it was starting to get dark outside and I didn't want to lose my opportunity to take the pics....so you get these!

Then and Now~

Happy "1 month" Birthday to my sweet grandson,

 Kenron (pronounced Ken-ren)

I can't believe he is 1 month old (actually 1 month and 2 days)...where does the time go?! It seems to be flying by so quick. Kenron is an amazing baby who was sent to this earth to bless the lives of our entire family. At 1 month, he has taught us all patience, faith and hope... among many other things. He is a little fighter and has proven that miracles really do happen...even today...he is living proof of that.  

Our Grandbaby-


 Kenron Zane

Then~

taken the day Kenron was born

taken a few days after he was born

Taken when Kenron was 5 days old.......

and

Now~

He is still very little but getting some "chubs" around his chin...
He is sporting a cute little hat that Halle made for him. 
Wearing a hat helps him to be able to hold his temperature better
 (babies lose their heat through their head)
...looks like it might be getting to small. 

He looks so small compared to his Daddy's hands...

Taken when Kenron was 1 month old....

sleeping so sound, after a long day of tests and not feeling the best. 

He is so precious, truly a gift from Heaven. He is growing up and changing so fast... I think he is so stinkin cute...absolutly adorable and he's getting rather chubby-for still being such a little guy!

We are hoping that he will soon be able to come home to his own house, sleep in his own bed, live with his family around the clock...and be completely healthy and strong!

It's our prayer~

Keep fighting 
and

Get better really soon Sweetheart....

My little Handy WoRk....

I love working with my hands. I love building things, sewing, crafting and cooking...but my true passion is carpentry. I wished that I knew ALOT about it and could do it on a huge scale. I wished that I had all the right tools, all the right wood, a huge shop to play in and the "know how" to do whatever I wanted...oh and a bottomless money pit to go along with all that! BUT since I am very limited in my know how, my funds, my space and my tools...I have to be creative sometimes, BUT thats NOT always a BAD thing!

I once made a kitchen island from an old bathroom vanity, some extra wood and hardware that I had laying around....I have cut the legs off of my bar stools to make them shorter and more functional...I have messed around with spray paint and anything that needs a little "updating"...and now I have made a coffee table out of an old drawer and some mismatched legs...oh the things I can do when those creative juices start running through my head (too bad I don't have a steady flow of them like some people do).

This is what it started out as...well after I glued in some 2x4's to give it more height and then glued the legs on...

the mismatched legs give it some character I think, and make a great conversation piece...bet no one else has one like it. 

This is what it looked like just before I started to paint it...the legs are all even, not a wobbly one there (now thats accomplishment). 

After the first coat of paint. It looks like its painted green, but it's really a shade of blue...sort of blueish green. 

Its called "Lady Bower Blue".

I am hoping to give my living room a little "update" with some new paint on the walls and a few of my "new"-old things...to give it, as well as myself, a much needed change...(I have a few other things on my "to do list" before I get around to doing any painting...but it will happen soon, I promise), and thats where my new little coffee table will reside, right in front of my love seat.

Just after I dry brushed it with black...which I LOVE!!!...Then I gave it 2 good coats of heavy gloss poly-urathine and now it shines like its brand new!

I am going to get some awesome handles or hardware of some sort to put on the sides right here and then it will be 100% finished. 

I am so excited about the way my table turned out!!!! I just keep staring at it and getting all kinds of new ideas of what I want to do next....just need some more "junk" to play with (I always say that beauty is all in the eye of the beholder).  

Do you see what I see?!

While our State and the wonderful people of  Herriman worried about the fire near their homes and neighborhoods, the view from 120 miles away was a little less threatening while the smoke from those awful fires did beautiful things to the sunset that night.

It was amazing how quick the sun went down. I was snapping pictures and had to come inside to change the batteries in my camera, I went back out and it was gone. It was quite an awesome view while it lasted. 

After an extremely crazy down pour in town...one of those storms that seem to come out of no where...there was a rainbow that stretched from one end of town across to the other end. At one time I even saw TWO rainbows together, they seemed to be all over the place. Athough, I wasn't too thrilled to be out in the rain storm,  the rainbows were gorgeous. Too bad my camera couldn't catch the vibrant colors of the rainbow, they look sort of "muted" here, but trust me they were SO bright and vibrant, more than I had ever seen in a rainbow before.

I love that there is beauty all around...

ChIcken?...I don't think so!

After starting a bucket list with 75 things that I wanted to do before I die, I am officially down to 68. I get to cross one more thing off of my bucket list this week....

....Taste Frog Legs!

Yes, you read that right...I put "taste frog legs" on my bucket list. I'm a bit of an adventurous sort of person in some aspects of my life...(others areas of my life I am not!)...I've eaten snails (Escargot) and octopus, squid (and actually loved it all) as well as many other things...so frog didn't seem all that awful to me...

Todd bought a few frog legs for himself for lunch one day last week. He then brought one for me to try because he knew that "tasting frog legs" was on my bucket list. He had eaten his and said "they weren't too bad". I have to admit, when I first saw the frog leg I thought it looked like a piece of chicken. It smelled good, so I figured it would taste good too (don't always believe what your eyes or your nose tell you...sometimes they LIE!). 

Here goes.....I bit into it not quite knowing what to expect...and started chewing...and chewing and chewing....and then I chewed some more~

yes...as you can see, it's actually IN MY MOUTH, an entire bite...I really ate it! 

BUT, the big question is:

 What did I think of it???

In this picture (yes, it's...(being the frog leg)... still in my mouth) I am debating whether to spit it out or to swallow it...

it certainly didn't taste like what  I thought it would, thats for sure!

Well, lets just say....I personally don't think that 

it tasted like chicken (everyone says that it does...but they too are lying *wink*).

 I would say that it tastes more like a rubbery, swampy tasting FISH without little bones to choke on! 

I didn't like the texture or the taste of it...and I wasn't impressed at all!

Just so you know, I did swallow the one bite that I had, that way I couldn't be considered a cheater or a wimp.  If I HAD to eat frog again (out of respect and kindness or because of utter desperation or STARVATION) I could probably do it...BUT... 

Would I choose to eat it again (thats the real question here) ? 

NO, I DON'T THINK so!!

Am I glad that I tried it? YES...because now I can officially say that I don't like FROG.

Writing up a bucket list has been one of the most fun things that I've ever set my mind to do. I have so many more things left to see and experience, things that I hope to accomplish in my life time-  and who knows, maybe I will even add on a few more as I go.

I think that everyone should have a bucket list...it adds a little "spice" and excitement in what can sometimes be a rather dull and mundane, task filled life. It has defiantly taken me out of my comfort zone, but in a good way. 

COME and hop on the band wagon and write yourself a bucket list, you won't regret it!
just take my advice...leave Frog off of your list, its NASTY!

Favorites~

"Favorite: perferred before all others"

Here are a few of my "favorite" things this week:

My raspberries are on and ripening quicker than I can keep them picked. I love to just go and graze in the raspberry patch...they are my favorite berry in the entire world. 

I went outside one evening this week and this is what I saw! WOW...I love it when I get to see the sunset and its gorgeous!!

My butterfly bush is finally in full bloom. I know its supposed to attract butterflies, but I have yet to see them swarm around any of these flowers. BUT I love this bush anyway and wished I had a ton of them in my yard. 

Good Things Utah....I watch it while I walk on the treadmill every morning....these ladies make me laugh. 

Peaches!!!!!! My sweet neighbors brought me a box of these YUMMY, DELICIOUS PEACHES! Peaches (fresh) are my very favorite fruit in the entire world so yes, I've been experiencing a little bit of heaven this week!

And there you have it...a few of my favorite things.

 I wonder what my favorites will be next week?

Missed you...and you...and you~

In light of my last post...I suppose that there must be oppisition in all things, right?! So now I am going to post all of the things that I didn't get to do this summer!....I think that Mother Nature is playing a very cruel joke and I feel rather gipped by her untimely temperture change here in my little neck of the woods. I am not ready to see the ugly face of "Old Man Winter" yet or even his less evil brother "Autumn"....I am in the offical mourning stage of my summer lost!

I feel robbed of many fun things that never happened this summer for one reason or another. Summer came late and left early this year, but it seemed that it was also packed with too many "have to do's" and not enough or in my case, very few of the  "get to do's". I barely remember, but I think those are the fun things that we do "just because"...the things that we do to relax, to bring us a little happiness and pleasure in what is ordinarily a crazy, stressful life....(that would be MINE)!

My list of "Didn't get TO DO's"~

1. I missed "A" camping trip. I say "A" because once is enough for me. I like to go camping...but once I've had to do the clean up afterwards, I don't want to go again for a year. Camping is so much fun, but so much work...its like doing all the stuff I do every day (cooking, cleaning, washing etc...) but without all of the conveniences that we have at home.

2. I missed hiking in the mountains. Last year we went several times, probably 4-5 times, this year we went ZERO times...not even once! I love the smell of the mountain air. I love to hike on the trails and see the flowers, the animals and the different terrain. I really missed that this year!

3. I missed going to Lagoon (for those of you who don't live in UT, thats our amusement park). We usually go every year but weren't able to go this year. I love to ride the crazy rides with the kids...go through Dracula's Castle and ride across the park on the Sky Ride.  I love to see the kids get excited and grin ear to ear because they are having an awesome time.

4. I missed going to the pool. I am not a big "swimmer" but I like to go to the pool at least once and play around in the water with the kids. It was hard to do much in the area of "water sports" this year because Cameron couldn't participate (because of his leg injury) and I hated to leave him out.

5. I missed roasting hot dogs and marshmallows in the mountains. Granted, we have a big fire pit in the back yard and could have a hot dog roast whenever we wanted, but it's NOT the same as going up to the mountains and cooking over the campfire and then sitting around afterwards and talking about life. When you are that close to the house, everyone disappears inside before any visiting happens. Not only that but for some reason, hotdogs always taste better in the mountain air...I don't know why, but they always do.

6. I missed going on "field trips" with my kids (the ones left at home). Ever since they were little I would  take a day each week in the summer (or tried to) and we would go on a field trip. We've gone to the dinosaur quarry, hiking, picnicking, to lunch...we just took a day or an afternoon and WENT somewhere to get out of the house...it didn't happen this year!

7. I missed taking a few "day trips" with my hubby. For the past few summers we have taken at least 2 day trips during the summer. The kind of trips where we just pick someplace "semi-close" to home, pack up some "driving snacks" and take off for the day....it didn't happen even once this summer.

8. I missed my fresh peaches this year. Our little tree was just covered in peaches last year...it didn't even produce one this year. Our apple tree's did lousy as well (there are a few apples, but the worms enjoyed them more than we will be able to)...it was just too cold when the blossoms were out and they froze. We didn't get anything to show from our little trees.

9. I missed my lilacs that failed to bloom at all this year. Once again...the weather!! It froze all the little blossoms so we had none of my favorite flowers to smell or look at....it's amazing how much I really and truly missed them.

10. I missed the butterflies, the bees and the humming birds. I am not sure why, but there didn't seem to be any this year....at least that I saw in my yard. I usually have at least 2 humming birds that fly around my  yard all year...they didn't come this year, my feeder still has food in it.

11. I missed taking the day off on my birthday. Our car was having issues at the time...and that day ended up being just like any other day...other than I took my car to the shop to have it looked at. I always allow myself to take my birthday off...to do WHATEVER I WANT TO do...to forget the work, the worry and the stress that comes with every other day of the year,  and just spend my day relaxing...which usually requires me to leave the house (its too hard for me to relax when I am at home where everyone is expecting me to clean and cook). It was a bummer of a day!

12. I missed having my nieces and nephews over. I had wanted to plan a few days during the summer that I could take a few of them at a time and do something fun with them. Things like go to the park, the lake and hang out with them making cookies or something...it didn't work out this year. UHG!

13. I missed the wave pool in Price. The girls and I went last year and I was wanting to go again this year. We had so much fun and it was going to be a definite "must do" on my list of things for this summer...(yeh, right)!

14. I missed family get togethers and barbecuing. We usually have a few family BBQ parties at our house during the summer...nope, not this year!...not even ONE!

15. I missed hiking up to Timpanogos Cave. I had every intention of being able to cross this one off of my bucket list this summer...BUT I am still hoping that I can pull it off this fall.

And the list could go on and on....and on~ (but I will spare any of you that have continued to read my post thus far)

Summer is the time when I feel the happiest, the time when I feel like I am in my element (sort of like a frog in a swamp full of flies)! Here's to hoping that next summer will allow me to do a few more of the things that I thoroughly enjoy and really missed out on this year.....................