~ABIGAIL~

I just had to post this cute picture of Abbie. Sometimes you just happen to catch just the perfect shot! She just looks so sweet in this picture. I think that I took about a hundred pictures last weekend and there were about three out of the hundred that were worth saving. Can't say that I am really getting that much better...I keep trying though. With cute little grandchildren like I have how can I possibly go wrong. The trick is to not let them know that you are taking their picture. I am getting better at that. They really don't have to be looking at the camera! You can just sort of sneak around and snap away without them even knowing :)

They just grow up way too fast.

~MY PERFECT WORLD~ well pretty darn close!

Fall weekends at the cabin are running out! The leaves are too quickly falling to the ground. Why is it that the seasons that are so pleasant are the ones that are gone so fast? The mountains are exquisite right now I think that I could sequester myself in them for the next few weeks and not even miss my phone! Now my computer might be a different matter entirely!

I was supposed to get some painting done at the cabin this last weekend and I rode my bike instead...hummm I think that Steve was a little put out with that one. He has worked so hard to stain the cabin this year and I can't seem to settle down long enough to paint a couple of doors. Now the weather is going to turn and I am still going to have to get it done just be miserable doing it! I did enjoy myself however and that is what counts right?

I took so many picture and found out that many of them look just the same. Fall looks like "fall" pretty much everywhere when you are in the mountains. As I rode I couldn't help but smile at how crisp and clean the air was and what absolute beauty every bend in the road would bring.

When I made it to the cabin Abbie was there. What a treat! More pictures...Thanks Clark and Cami for coming to the cabin and sharing Abbie with us this weekend! XOXO

~SOUTH FORK-PROVO CANYON~

Believe it or not I have figured out a way to put my road bike in my little Corolla! I loaded it last night and couldn't wait to get off work today because I wanted to ride South Fork which is up Provo Canyon. It is quite close to my work...It was BEAUTIFUL! Just as I would get my heart rate up to where I felt like I was getting a work out I would just "HAVE" to stop and take a picture.














The mountains have been "Fall Dyed". It is dangerously mesmerizing! I have this music ( you have to know me well to know my choice of music),on my Ipod, it just complements the surroundings so much that I seem to just pedal and pedal forgetting that I am on a road that was meant for CARS and TRUCKS who have NO understanding of the phrase "Share the Road".

As I rounded a corner there was an entrance to a residence...It had a large pole gate with this sign hanging from it. I thought to myself either these people have a great sense of humor or they REALLY don't like people. Kind of makes you wonder doesn't it?

Further up the road there was this old red barn. I had to get way off the road and down into the weeds to take this picture. When I came back up I had these little sticker weeds ALL over me...

They were EVERYWHERE. Natures Velcro I thought to myself. I really wondered if that is where they came up with the idea for Velcro. Those things were sticky. It took me 20 minutes to get them all off. I am sure that each passing car had a little chuckle...

At the end of South Fork there is a family that owns a ranch. They have the most beautiful horses. I know, I know, I don't even like horses but, these are gorgeous. Maybe it is because they are nestled in such a beautiful place but there are times when I think I could actually like horses again...From a distance :)

~SEPTEMBER~

I was feeling restless today...more so than usual. I got up and went to my trainer then decided to ride Right Hand Fork in Hobble Creek. When I got home I hadn't had quite enough so I called Cambria and talked her into going on a hike with me ... little did she know what I had in mind!



I remember hiking to some lakes a long time ago that I thought were on the Mirror Lake Highway. I have always wanted to go back and explore them again and I thought that today would be the PERFECT day. The colors are beautiful and the temperature is just where you would want it for hiking. I just needed company. I knew that if I sold it just right I could talk Cambria into it.

I have never been much of a salesman but the weather and the time of year helped me out tremendously. She acquiesced and even got Skyler and Christina to come along. The dogs came too. I am not sure who loved it more...me or the dogs!

We never did find the lakes I was looking for, but we did find some others that were beautiful. We went to Mirror Lake, Crystal Lake, Long Lake, and a couple of other small lakes that were more like ponds. Thor and Shelby loved the ponds and ended up completely soaked by the time we were ready to leave. They kept us totally entertained. The trails were easy and there was a gorgeous view around every corner. I'm not real sure they would be mountain bikeable...the rocks are slightly large. (Like boulder large).

I think that I would like to make a habit of this. An adventure every week. If anyone would like to join me just let me know. We could call it
"Where In The World Is Joey and Friends"...We will post pictures and make everyone guess...oh the places we could go in a day!(Sort of stole this idea from Matt Lauer,
but he has a lot more $$ to go to a lot farther away places and be gone weeks at a time. Wish I could offer that)!


Skyler liked the sign that said "Smith Morehouse," so I had to take a picture of it for him. It was only 19 miles from where we were. An easy ride in the Razor!

Nina was a trooper. She wasn't real sure that she wanted to come but didn't really have anything better to do today so we talked her into it. I am not sure she was all that glad on the way up the trail that she had said "yes" but on the way down she was thinking that it had been a great way to spend a day. She was a tired girl on the ride home however. I'm thinking that we may not get her to come again with us real soon...but so glad she came today!

Thanks you Sky, Cam and Nina for going with me today. I had a blast! I have already got a place in mind for next week if your up to it! hehe. Anyone, anyone...?

~DUST~

Where does the time go? This has been a busy week. The fact that I teach R.S. this week only adds to the "crazy"! I have to say that there is always such a great feeling I get when I study and prepare my lessons for R.S. I know that I learn more than anyone else but seriously, I LEARN! My favorite quote from preparing this lesson came from President Faust. He said:

"A SENSITIVE CONSCIENCE IS A SIGN OF A HEALTHY SPIRIT"

Now when I feel guilty about not doing all the things that I should be doing I can be comforted in knowing that I have a "healthy spirit!"

I recently finished reading the new historical novel written by Lund about the Saints who settled Bluff and Montezuma Creek along the San Juan River in Southern Utah. It's mostly fiction but based on historical fact about the wagon train trek through Hole in the Rock, the Chute, Slick Rock Hill and the rest of the rugged places that adventure in faith and perseverance took them. I often wonder if I could have done what they did. What strength they possessed both mentally and physically. What great hardships they endured. How honored I am to be a product of pioneer heritage for I know that deep down if I am ever asked to call upon it I too will find it within myself. After all, there is a little "dust" on all of us isn't there? Maybe we shouldn't be so quick to brush it off...

~LIFE IN THE OR~

PLASTICS 101 Week 3- Day 5

Lipectomy, Abdominoplasty, Mastopexy, Bracioplasty,
Capsulotomy and Lipo...
Any questions... I can think of a few. Does anyone else think we are going a little fast here? Pushing me a little hard maybe? Forgetting that I am OLD and need a little more TIME to learn stuff...Perhaps 2 months...three? I've gotten down the part that I've changed jobs...that's about it!


I am SO glad it's Friday...Thank you Lisa for pampering me this afternoon. I needed it! I LOVE my "Glitter Toes"! It was so nice to get out of the OR for awhile and just relax, let someone do my hair and play with my TOES! That's just one of the perks for having a daughter-in-law that works at a salon...I almost wrote saloon! :) Do I need a saloon? I'ts possible, highly possible...

~TIME~

She's bent and twisted, she moves slowly as she walks
It seems like yesterday that I would wave to her as she
hurried here and there around her yard or for a stroll
around the neighborhood.

Such a sweet, complicated, intricate old woman now, barely able
to hear as I greet her, lost in her own world of quiet darkness.
Has it really been that long, or have the years just been that hard
on her?

Sometimes I feel like the world has it backwards. We should get
better as we get older...healthier, stronger, both in mind and body.
Haven't we paid our dues? Don't we deserve our "Golden Years" to
be truly "Golden"? I'm not saying that we should live forever,
just go out with a bang! At the top of our game, able to give
St. Peter a "high five" as we pass through those pearly gates,
telling him just how great our earthly experience was
and how we would like to do it again sometime.

Before long my dear friend will be gone. She will leave me to wave
cheerfully to my sweet younger neighbors who will
say a few years down the road...
There's Joey! Such a complicated, intricate old woman now,
barely able to hear as we greet her. Lost in her own world...
Has it really been that long or have the years just been that hard on her?

~LABOR DAY~

You know how they always say
if you don't like the weather
in Utah just stick around for
awhile it will change...well
in Scofield it is like that
times ten!

It is one of the things I love the most about the place. You can be sitting in the sun enjoying a beautiful afternoon and all of the sudden the clouds cover the sun and it's raining...then there is this amazing color to the valley and you know if you look out over the lake you will see a rainbow...I tried to get a picture of this one but my camera really needs a filter to give it the credit it deserved! It spanned the entire lake!

We had a great time at the cabin this weekend. Well, most of us, Steve worked his tail off. He stained the entire cabin putting two coats on it. He wants to make sure that he doesn't have to do it again for a couple of years! Thank you, thank you, thank you, John, Clark and Garett for all of your help. He could not have done it without you! I know that it wasn't exactly how you wanted to spend your Labor Day weekend but you were so great to help and your help was so greatly appreciated! WE LOVE YOU!

We only had Abby this weekend with us at the cabin so, we got to spoil her a little bit. She loved playing with the dogs and riding the four wheeler.

Cambria, Skyler, Christina, and Skyler came up also. We really had a full cabin. It was very fun! They had fun riding the four wheelers and just "hanging out".

I am hoping that maybe next weekend Steve and I can go back up and just relax and not have to work so hard. But then again, it was LABOR DAY!!!

We were so sad to hear that Lore and the kids were in a accident but very relieved to know that everyone was alright. The truck took a beating but that can be fixed. I was glad they were driving something big and sturdy when that deer ran out in front of them. We missed you guys! Hopefully, we can get the Tuckers and the rest of the Caldwell clan all together again soon at the cabin before the snow flies and it gets to crazy to drive in . It is SO beautiful up there in September and October. It is most defiantly one of my favorite times of the year!