Univ of Utah Blackout Game

Sammi went the the Big University of Utah Blackout Game. They played against TCU and everyone wares black. She had a great time, but it was one of the coldest nights of the year and she had heat pads on her butt. Utah won so it was a great night.

A taste of Summer.

Sammi found these pictures on her camera. They were from this summer on a great hike up in American Fork Canyon. It is on the Pine Hollow trail and is a great hike. The first 4 miles are pretty much straight up and then you come to this beautiful valley. You are so high up that you can see Heber on one side and Utah county on the other.

Timp Mountain

The Beautiful Meadow!! Should be singing "The Hills are Alive"

The flowers are amazing!!

Here we go again!!!

We had soooooooo much snow last winter that I was hoping that we might get a break this year, but here it is November 5th and just LOOK!! When Sammi left at 5am it was cold and dark but not a drop of snow. I went back to bed until 6am and when I got up, oh my heavens, snow everywhere. I was even a wimp and had Brad drive me to work.

Glad that I got my tulips in and a warm blanket of mulch over them.

Last race of the year. Yeah!!

Again another month has passed (well more like 5 weeks) and I have not blogged. I really do have great intentions of doing it, but just can never seem to find the time.

Brad and Lolly



John and Marissa enjoying the wind.

Well October was fun. We had a few trips to Las Vegas, 3 in 5 weeks and that my friend is a lot of driving. Brad and David's last Bike race of the season in Moab. It is a really big race called"The 24hours of Moab" They are on a team (5 on the team) and they take turns riding a 15 mile course for 24 hours. The team was Brad, David, John, Marissa and a girl from SLC. The start of the race is wild. All of the racers put there bikes in one spot and then have to run 1/2 mile to get their bike and start riding. There are some pro's who do not have a team. They just ride the whole 24 hours. I think I read that the pro men winner completed 16 laps. WOW!!

Start of the Race

Brad on the Course



David on the Course



Marissa on Course. Go Girl, Go.

I again was the cheerleader and this time the sometimes babysitter for our dear friends John and Marissa Moss. Well I did not babysit for John or Marissa, but for their sweet baby, Sarah May. We really had fun visiting and just hanging out with them. It was a cold weekend and on Saturday we had wind, wind and more wind. We both had borrowed tent trailers from friends, and with the cold weather and wind, were so thankful for that. The boys are done with racing until Spring, so my pom poms have been put away for a short time.

John Finishing a Lap

Over 600 campers!!! Lots of Porta Potties

David and Sarah

Sammi is doing great. She is working for Applegate which is a Hospice company. She has 5 to 6 people she see each day and really is such an angel for doing what she does.

David is working at Rod Works still and loving it as am I. I have been so busy with Christmas, yes I did say Christmas, getting ready for the rush and all of that.

Well I hope to get back to my blogging every Sunday, but I would not hold my breath (Lisa).

Time fly's when you are having fun

Boy does it. It has been 2 months since I last posted anything on my blog. We have been so busy with biking and just life that things like this get put on the back burner.

we enjoyed a beautiful summer, but are now enjoying a wonderful fall. The mountains around us are changing from a green to all gold and red. The nights are cooler and you can feel winter just around the corner.

David just was ordained an Elder today. For those of you not familiar with our Church, it is a big deal. The next step is a Mission. He will be nineteen in March, so not a lot longer.

Sammi, is working full time and going to school. She turned 21 in July and is an amazing young lady. She is working for Hospice and has about 5 -6 people that she helps each day. She drives to them and helps them bath, and makes sure that there med are correct. She is just great at this.

In Sept, Brad did a bike race in Brianhead, Ut. He road 170 miles over three days. About 55 miles each day. I really don't know how he does it, but he does and just loves it. He took 2nd in his division (for old men) just kidding, but really.

Also in Sept, Brad, Sammi and David went back to Brianhead to meet our dear friends the Moss's. They got a lot of riding in and had fun hanging out at their cabin. We also were able to attend the sealing of John and Marissa to their sweet baby, Sarah May. We are going to Moab with them the weekend of Oct 10th for the last race of the year. This is call the 24 hours of Moab and as a team they will be riding for 24 hours. I know, they are crazy, but they love it.

Me, well just working and tying to keep a house clean and dinner on the table at least once a week. Last Wednesday, David took me on a downhill ride, because I wanted to see the fall colors. Well I really did not see much, because, will downhill riding scares me so much, that all I can look at is the trail in front of me, so the next day, I drove Brad and David to the top on American Fork Canyon behind our home and dropped them off to ride down the mountain. I had time to stop and take a few pictures of the colors before I had to pick them up, so I hope you enjoy them. I just love where we live.

Mint brownies

This past few weeks have been so busy, I really sometimes cannot believe how fast time goes by. We have had bike races and Brad and David had an overnight backpacking trip up on South Willow Canyon this Friday night. Then had full packs and food and our puppy,Maddie. They really had fun.

Sammi and I were not invited this year, so we went and say Mama Mia and had fun with that. I have never seen the play, but the movie was enjoyable. I have been working full time and along with my calling, well the Blog just get put on the back burner.

This past week at work, our Manager, Carla, had her last day. She and her family are moving to Idaho. I really wish them all the best in this new adventure in their lives. Carla loves my mint brownies, so I made them for the lunch, but also made her, her own tray to take with her on her drive to potato land. I will really miss her, she was an incredible boss. Anyway I thought I would pass along the recipe for all to make and enjoy.

Chocolate-Mint Bars

The dense base layer is like a rich, fudge brownie, so don’t overcook it or the dessert bars will be dry. Refrigerating the mint bars before cutting, allows the chocolaty top layer to set properly.

Bottom Layer:
1 c flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 c granulated sugar
½ cup egg substitute
¼ cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, beaten
1 16oz can chocolate syrup
cooking spray

Mint Layer:
2 cups powdered sugar
¼ cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons fat free milk
½ teaspoon peppermint extract
2 drops green food coloring

Glaze:
¾ c semisweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons butter

1- Preheat oven to 350
2- To prepare bottom layer, lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and salt, stir with a whisk. Then, combine the rest of the bottom layer ingredients in med bowl and stir until smooth. Add flour mixture to chocolate mixture, stirring until blended. Pour batter into 13 x 9 baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake for 23 minutes, or until pick comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.
3- To prepare mint layer. Combine ingredients and mix until smooth. Spread mint mixture over cooled cake.
4- Glaze; (I always double this part) combine the ingredients in medium microwave safe bowl. Microwave at High 1 min or until melted. Stirring after 30 seconds. Let stand about 2 minutes and spread over top. Refrigerate about ½ hour then cover and continue to refrigerate until ready to cut and serve

Janes Visit

Jane is here for her 3rd summer visit and we are having fun. We started with a fun trip out to Grantsville for the 4th of July Parade. It was HOT, but we still had fun. David brought his super soaker to spray down the people going by, and we learned that by doing that, we got a lot more candy tossed our way. Some of it quite hard, but still free candy. When a little league baseball team went by and he sprayed them, well they were ready with water balloons and boy did they get him good. We all had a great laugh.

Later that day we drove up to Park City for the rest of the weekend. We saw some great fireworks sitting in the park. On Saturday, we went up to the resort while Brad and David rode bikes (I know, surprise), it was also Brads birthday. At the resort, we did the zipline, climbing wall and the super slide. I was a bit unwilling to do the slide, but we were there after 5pm and got 2 for 1 tickets, so up the lift we went and then down on a little thing, I did have fun, but felt sorry the kids behind me. I was a little slow. Oh well.

Brad and David also were able to ride the Mid Mountain Trail (sorry John and Marissa) and really had fun. We do enjoy having Jane and time go to fast when she is here. We sure do enjoy loving in Utah and all the fun and beautiful things we are able to do outside during the Summer months. Yes we know winter will come back, but until then we just love it here.