More from Tucson

Here's the color I painted the bedroom here in Tucson.
I was trying for a subtle sage green.





















And now for something completely different . . .
Here are some new pictures of these cute kids!
Kohl's had a sale on kids clothes - I just couldn't help myself. : )





































Notice the cute details on the back of the little dress.
Why is it so fun to dress up little girls?

One Year Old!

Back in Tucson, just in time to celebrate baby's 1st birthday!

So many things baby can do now.

She can stand up and almost walk if holding someone's hand.


















She can show off her 4 new teeth.









She can open presents and ride on a new toy!





















She can eat cake!

















































But she still needed help to blow out the candle!
Happy Birthday!

County Fairs

When I think of County Fairs, I can't help but think of the Los Angeles County Fair of my childhoold years. My Mom would take us kids there every fall. It was bigger than most State Fairs, with everything from a chicken who played the piano to mural sized pictures made out of vegetables. We were never allowed to go on the rides (too dangerous), but enjoyed all the seemingly endless rows of exhibits. To top off the event, we always had a County Fair corn dog (with mustard) and an ice cream bar dipped in chocolate and nuts, a big treat for us kids!

Yesterday we went to the Davis County Fair. It's a small town event, but it's free and close by. The fair consists of displays of farm animals, tractors, vendor booths, food and rides for kids. They also had alligator wrestling this year, but we didn't stay around for that. Unfortunately, we missed the Demolition Derby, which is probably the highlight. We also decided to pass on the Rodeo.

I knew the Davis County Fair would be small and couldn't compare to the L.A. County Fair, but I was still a bit disappointed when they didn't have a piano-playing chicken.



Update on prior post: We closed on the sale of the rental house last week. It's nice to have that completed and done with!

SOLD!

Previously on this blog (March 20) , I shared some pictures of the renovation work we were doing on a rental property we have in Farmington. I just have to share the good news.




I'm happy to announce that after 82 days on the market, it is . . .
SOLD!!

As you probably know, it's a Buyer's market in Utah, as it is in most areas of the country, so we are very happy with this result. Ironically, after so much time on the market with increasing interest, but no offers - this week, we got 2 offers, one day apart. Competing offers are always a good thing, if you are a seller. Assuming everything goes well, it should close by mid-August. This is proof there is hope for those of you that might be trying to sell a home. The price is the key, so do your research and be realistic.

If you want to see what the house looked like after all our renovations, click here. (I hope this link works, it's the first time I've tried this feature.)

Don't Feed the Bears

In Yellowstone they say: Please don't feed the bears. But apparently feeding the mosquitoes is perfectly okay, and I have the bites to prove it. Yes, we used mosquito repellent, but there must have been a mix-up at the factory and we got mosquito attractant instead of repellent. Aside from that, we had a good time seeing the sights at Yellowstone National Park this weekend.


I like to get off the beaten path away from the crowds, so we usually do a couple of 5 or 6 mile hikes to places most people never see. This time I found a new hike near the Canyon area.

It starts off across a meadow, where we came across a lone Bison enjoying the wildflowers.












It then goes into a shady pine forest and suddenly you are at Clear Lake.














After that the trail goes by some unmarked, unfenced, and unnamed mud pots and hot springs. It's interesting to see these things as the original explorers found them, but you have to watch your step.
















Over the hill is a nice little Lily Pond Lake.


Then the path curves up to the edge of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.



















Again, no fences, no warnings, and a very steep drop off to certain death. This is no hike for sissies or little kids.


If you're wondering why they call it Yellowstone, you know why when you walk the edge of this canyon.












The waterfalls are amazing.
















Then it's back through a nice shady forest, looping back to the start of the hike.


It's always fun to see some wildlife in the Park.
























Eagle's nest.















Unfortunately (or fortunately), we did not see any moose or BEARS this time.
I guess they did not want to come out and deal with those pesky mosquitoes.

Corvettes and Jets

I saw this on the internet and thought you guys would enjoy it. They swore this was NOT photo-shopped, but was an actual picture of a race between a Corvette and a Blue Angel. Well, since both the Navy Blue Angels and GM Corvettes are now federal government run entities, I guess that makes sense. Or not???






BTW, on a completely different subject -
I got my free can of Glidden paint today, just 2 and 1/2 weeks after my request. Not bad!

Only in Farmington

I's July in Utah and that means not a weekend goes by without parades and fireworks. It's not enough that we have the usual 4th of July and 24th of July celebrations, but our little town of Farmington has its own July celebration. The Farmington Festival Days happens each year on the weekend between those two more famous holidays.

This year it started with an early morning race, 5K, 10K and Half-Marathon. Ken won 3rd place in the 10K in his age group. He's not too sad about moving up an age group this year. I walked the 5K and still beat over 40 of the 300 some 5K runners. I was a little worried I would end up dead last, so at least I didn't have to suffer that humiliation.

















Then, after the awards ceremony and breakfast in the park, it was on to the Parade.
I will divide the parade into 3 segments:
1)Marching Bands 2) Cool Cars AND 3) Things seen only in a Farmington parade.

Marching Bands - the best part of any parade IMHO.



Can you believe it? Farmington JUNIOR HIGH has it's own marching band now. I thought you former Huskies would like to see this.





Viewmont Band. Sorry but it's pathetic.














And then there's the mother of all bands, Davis High Band. They just go on and on and on.

























2) Cool Cars
I thought Ryan and Kevin would enjoy this.














































OK. The last car was not actually in the parade, but it looked cool in the parking lot.

AND

3) Things only seen in a Farmington parade.

My boat is my float.
















Make up your own joke about this waving beauty queen.









Every tractor ever built.











And I thought this guy was kind of cool on the 3-wheel unicycle.