Deseret Peak Hike

Just in case any of you are interested in things other than kids, here is a few pictures of my hike last weekend up Deseret Peak. My hiking buddies are Natalie's bros and sister- Mark, Alan, and Kristina.

It was a great climb. Fantastic!! My first trip to the Stansbury Mountains. I strongly recomend it to any one.










Here's me on the saddle










Here we are on the summit


Here is a view of the mountain massive from about half way through the meadow area.

Happy Birthday Livvy!

I've been inspired (aka: badgered by Nat2 to the point of insanity) to actually start blogging! And no, Nat2 isn't my alter ego, just my sister-in-law, Natalie, who is married to my brother Russell. It is to her that I owe this blog to.

Yesterday was Olivia's First Birthday. It was so fun. I love a good party! Well, I should say, I love to throw a good party, a great party, in fact. So although she is only 1, I went all out with decorations and such. Why? Because I can! She wasn't too thrilled with her party hat- it only lasted for about 4 pictures. She'll thank me later. I was having a hard time coming up with a good cake idea and then I remembered a cute cake my friend Raylene made for her daughter's first birthday a couple years ago- it is perfect for Livvy because she loves the bath. The crowning glory of the entire day was that my bathtub cake actually turned out cute. I was worried when both cakes fell into three pieces while I was trying to get them out of the pan. But with a little luck and a lot of frosting, I was able to salvage it and glue us together a rubber ducky tub cake. And here's the proof...

Every birthday girl (and boy) needs her own cake so this is the cake I made for her to dig her little paws into:

Here she is eating her cake. She was slightly timid about putting her hands into it at first, kind of like, "is someone going to start yelling?" but then she got going and had a great time. There's nothing like squishy birthday cake oozing between your fingers!

It was a great day! I feel so blessed to have Olivia in our family. She is so sweet and loving.

Here are a few of her tricks:

- clapping (she knows the word clap and claps on demand- very cute)

- stands up from the middle of the floor ( she has done this for months)

- says "uh oh"

- professional stair climber (only up, not down)

- she walks a couple steps here and there- we need to work on the balance thing