Brent!

This is my nephew, Brent (The one coloring his picture in the middle of the table, instead of the edge). Until recently I didn't know Brent very well because he lived in Ohio, but he moved to Utah a couple of weeks ago! I am so excited to be around as he grows up. Today I had a blast playing with him when I went home for family dinner, and noticed that he's really starting to warm up to me. I've also noticed that there are certain places Brent considers his territory, one of them being the backseat of Kelly and Kyle's car. He didn't seem too happy last time I invaded there, so after asking Kelly for a ride back to my apartment I turned to Brent and said, "Brent, it's time to go! Can I come with you?" He immediately said "Yeah", then thought for a second and added, by way of explaination, "You're nice!" It was so cute! I love this kid!

Hiking Timp

I've been looking at Timp my whole life. I used to sit on my front porch at night and watch it spring from darkness during lightning storms. I love watching it's white peaks melt into gold when the sunset hits it just right in the winter. I love how it's green slopes colide so suddenly with it's stark, stony, cliffs every summer. Countless times I've driven around it, hiked on it, and picnicked in it's canyons, but in all my life I never managed to get on top of it. Fortunately this gross oversight has now been amended. Here are some pictures of my marvelous adventures on Timp.

We started up at one o'clock in the morning, so the first half of the journey was pretty dark. This picture obviously didn't work out. The bigger light is the moon, the smaller one's a planet. On my camera it looked like something from Star Wars. Try as they might, even the most eloquent writers and able photographers have never been able to justly capture the haunting beauty of a moonlit mountainside. Let's just say if you haven't seen it for yourself it's something you need to do before you die.











This was my favorite part. When we reached the saddle the sun was just starting to rise. I looked to my left and saw the a brillant blue sky and a horizon alive with the crimson gold of the sunrise. Then I looked to my right and saw a sky black as midnight covering the moon's reflection off the lake and the city lights of the valley.

Heidi is one of the most adventurous people I know! She called me that day to see if I wanted to hang out and instantly agreed to a midnight hike scheme instead!

One of the best parts of hiking is it makes fast friends! I'm new in my ward and didn't really know anyone, but I figured this would make an excellant start. There's nothing like toiling up treacherous mountainsides to bring people together!










Getting from the saddle to the top was the hardest part, but the view from there is unimaginable.

These kids were hitting golf balls off of the saddle. How cool is that?!

Coming down I couldn't believe I was on the same mountain. By day the colors came to life, and I was overwhelmed by the green slopes and meadows of wildflowers. When we finally got off the mountain I was tired, sore, and favoring blisters, but I can honestly say every ounce of pain was repaid ten fold with the beauty that surrounded me every step of the way. That was definitely an adventure worth having.

For those of us who never got too old to play in the sandbox...

Every so often, in the past month or so, I have passed by a large parking lot full of giant dirt piles. Naturally, being one of those people who never really left childhood, I would turn to whoever I was with and explain my sudden urge to play king of the mountain. This was usually followed by a short silence and a polite change of subject. Fortunately I do have some friends, however few, who understand me and my desire to play in big piles of dirt. And these were really big piles of dirt…

It all began last Tuesday night when Briaunna, JoAnn, and Shilo came to my apartment. Bri casually suggested we go check out the dirt piles. Jo and I readily agreed. Shilo was a little hesitant. After some exploration we found the perfect peak for a quick round of king of the mountain, and Briaunna, JoAnn, and I began to play. Shilo had to go to Peru— literally. It was epic. We pushed, pulled, rammed, screamed, and tumbled. It was, hands down, the best game of king of the mountain I have ever played.

The first interruption came from a boy who we’ll call George.

George came up to ask us what we were doing. Then he just stood there watching us play. Which was awkward. After some coaxing he joined in. Which was still awkward, but less so. The second interruption came from the university police. The conversation went something like this…

Officer: What are you kids doing up there?
Bri: We’re just playing. Are we not supposed to be up here?
Officer: Well, it’s funny. We just got a call from someone who was worried someone would get hurt.
Bri: Oh, we’re fine. But we can leave if it’s a problem.
Officer: Well, I guess I don’t see anything wrong with it. I just don’t understand why you’re doing it.
Bri: Well sir, it’s a giant pile of dirt.

Resume game.

In the end George still thought we were crazy…

And we were a little worse for the wear...

But it was worth it.