Squaw Peak and Bridal Veil Falls

Friday morning Melinda and I decided to take our kids for a drive up Provo canyon. We both love to see the Autumn leaves, and figured we might as well take our kids for a short drive... especially since our family FHE trip was such a bust.

We intended to let the kids get out and walk around for a bit, but it was actually a little too cold and windy! So the only place the kids got out was at Bridal Veil Falls.

I thought the Falls were very pretty this time of year. The bushes nearby were just starting to change color. The boys thought the waterfall was pretty cool too.

The mountains near the falls were gorgeous as well. I loved all the colorful trees and the rock mountainside.


I managed to take some nice photos just from where we parked by the falls. I absolutely LOVE this next photo. It is actually our background photo for the computer desktop right now!


From Bridal Veil Falls we actually turned around and decided to go up Squaw Peak road. The scenery there was absolutely gorgeous! Doesn't this make you think of the burning bush?

The leaves were beautiful and there was red, orange and yellow everywhere!

The Squaw Peak road keeps going up and up and up! We had a pretty nice view of the valley from where we were.

It almost felt like we were getting up near the top of the world. Check out Mount Timpanogos from way up here:

Eventually we turned around because Melinda's van started to smell funny... and not in a good way. So we headed back down the canyon. But I definitely enjoyed the ride and all the beautiful sights.
Poor Ephraim conked out on the way home. Apparently all the time in the car was too much for him! Doesn't he look so peaceful?


I hope he enjoyed his peaceful sleep then because he didn't take a nap that afternoon! Silly boy!

Toy Story Pajamas

This week we got a fun package in the mail from Grandma and Grandpa Devereaux. The boys were SO excited to find that the package contained Toy Story Pajamas!

Thursday night I went to work, but Joe put the boys in their new pj's for bedtime. The instant Jacob put on his pajamas he said, "To infinity, and beyond!". Joe said the boys were bouncing off the walls, and having a great time running around in their pj's.

So the next morning I had to take their pictures! Aren't they cute?

Buzz Lightyear... and Teddy.

Doesn't Ephraim make a nice cowboy?

The extra-fun part is that the pajamas came in sets. So each of the boys has Buzz Lightyear AND Woody pajamas! How fun is that?!

FHE Fiasco

In my last post I told all about our adventure with Ephraim on Tuesday night. I completely forgot to tell about our family home evening experience earlier that night. It had passed my mind completely until I uploaded the photos from my camera!

You see, we have FHE on Tuesday nights, since I work every Monday evening. This particular evening I wanted to take a drive up the canyon and go over the Alpine Loop to see the pretty fall leaves. The leaves have not changed here in the valley yet, but I was sure we would find some nice ones up a little higher.

So after dinner we headed out. We decided to go up the American Fork side, since it it closer to us. Little did we know, we should have gone through Provo canyon first instead! (Hindsight is 20/20, right?)

The leaves on the AF side were not particularly pretty. It seemed that all the leaves that had changed colors had already dropped off the trees. The rest of the trees were still green. It was quite a bummer. Then we got to the narrow part of the road and got high enough in elevation that there was even snow!

We hit a couple of icy patches, but nothing too terrible. We even saw three cyclists heading down from the top of the canyon, which we thought was pretty incredible (and cold!). Then we hit a large icy patch going uphill, around a corner. The problem wasn't really the ice... it was the car stopped on our side of the road putting on their snow tires. We couldn't get around them, so we started sliding backwards down the hill. There were cars a short ways behind us and cars going around the stopped car in front of us, so it wasn't a good situation.

Some of the cars turned around (with Joe's assistance). Eventually the car blocking the road moved and we managed to get past the icy patch. It was a bit scary, but we made it! There was some pretty nice scenery up around the top:

Nice shot of the back side of Mount Timpanogos.

I thought these photos were lovely. I don't know if they were worth all the tension, but at least I got something out of the experience, right?

When we got to the Provo side of the canyon we could tell that the leaves there were gorgeous! Too bad it was too dark to get any decent photos!

When we got home I needed had to give the boys a bath. I was looking through the photos on the camera and the boys were being so cute in the tub I just had to take their picture!

Look at how big these boys are! Pretty soon I am not going to be able to bath them both in the tub at the same time!


So that was our FHE evening before all the excitement with Ephraim started. Tons of fun, huh?

Adventures in Parenting- Things that Go Bump in the Night

On Friday I mentioned that Ephraim had figured out how to climb out of his crib and get out of his room. I was sure that we were in for trouble over the weekend, but surprisingly Ephraim stayed in his crib.

Right up until last night, that is. You knew it had to happen eventually, right?

Last night we put Ephraim to bed and after a few minutes we heard him opening his bedroom door. So Daddy went and got Ephraim, told him "No, No!" and put him back in bed. After a few minutes he was at it again. This time I went and put him back in bed and told him it was time to go "Night-night" and he needed to stay in bed.

Well, you can probably guess that this went on for about the next half hour or so. Finally Ephraim gave up and had cried so much that he fell asleep. I figured that he would learn to stay in bed when we put him down and then he would just sleep through the night and our problem would be solved.

Not so! At about 4:30 a.m. Joe and I woke up to the sound of little feet on the kitchen floor. Ephraim climbed out of his crib in the middle of the night, opened his door, and was walking around upstairs. How scary is that? Especially since he can open the doors!

So Joe closed the flip latch on the back door and put Ephraim back to bed. Then I spent the next half hour or so putting Ephraim back in bed until he eventually gave up and went back to sleep. I spent the next hour or so listening for the little monkey to make sure he stayed in bed.

Needless to say, I didn't get tons of sleep last night... and neither did Ephraim, which made for a long day. Good thing Jacob got to go to playgroup today. He had a great time, and I got to go shopping for door knob covers in hopes of keeping Ephraim stuck in his room, if not actually in his bed.

By nap time Ephraim was so exhausted that he went to sleep without any problems. Then when Joe got home he took the front railing off the crib so that Ephraim can get back into bed when he gets out.

Ephraim seemed delighted to be able to get into and out of his bed this evening. He wasn't so thrilled this evening when we put him to bed and he discovered that he could not get out of his bedroom. I guess before I got to bed tonight I will have to check and make sure that he is asleep in his bed and not on the floor.

It looks like this weekend Joe will work on getting the other bunk bed frame set up in Ephraim's room. Then we will be off to buy a mattress. I guess Ephraim has decided that at 18 months old he is done with the crib and wants a big boy bed!

Conference Weekend

Hooray for busy hands during conference! I have finished my Christmas neighbor gifts. Now I just have to start on the family ones!

Speaking of family, we have been enjoying the weekend at home together trying our best to listen to conference with two exuberant young sons. This morning the boys were busy playing (mostly quietly) with Lincoln Logs. Jacob was piling the logs in his dump truck, driving them around and then dumping them out. The boys had occasional quarrels and incidents, but things were mostly going pretty well while Joe and I were listening to the talks this morning.

During the morning session of conference I was particularly touched by the song "Love is Spoken Here" as it was performed by the Tabernacle Choir. I said, "What a pretty arrangement of that song! I really liked it".

Jacob replied, "Yes. And this is a pretty arrangement of logs!"

Joe and I couldn't help but laugh at our silly boy.

Adventures in Parenting- Escape from Crib Island

So this morning I got up a little early to do some work online. After about a half hour I could hear Ephraim stirring in his room. Then Jacob came out of his room and joined me on the couch. I told him to go say Hi to Ephraim while I logged off the computer.

Next thing I know, both Jacob and Ephraim walk out of Ephraim's room!

Jacob said, "Mommy, Ephraim got out of his crib all by himself!"

Boy are we in trouble now!

He Glows in the Dark

While shopping some sales at Kohls, I found a cute shirt for Jacob that has a picture of a bug on it that glows in the dark. He was so excited to wear it! He wanted to see it glow the minute I took it out of the drawer. I told him that first the shirt needed to "charge up" in the daylight and then he would have to look at it in the dark.

A short while later Jacob asked, "Is my shirt charged up?"

"Probably," I replied, "but you need to go somewhere really dark to see it glow."

"Ok, Mommy." He said. "Wanna see my shirt glow?"

"Sure." I said.

"Watch this mommy!" Jonah said excitedly as he walked to the coat closet, opened the door, walked inside (by himself!) and shut the door.

"Does it work?" I asked, trying not to laugh.

"Yes! Look mommy, it's glowing!" He replied. When he came out of the closet I asked him again if his shirt worked. He said, "Yes! It glew!"

I couldn't help but laugh. Kids can be so funny sometimes!

This is the same boy that while we were out walking, pointed out a rock an insisted that I take a picture of him sitting on it. This is a welcome change from the "don't point that camera at me" phase we went through last year!

Besides, who am I to argue with this cutie pie?

Heber Century- This is the Ride that Never Ends!

On Saturday Joe, my Dad and I headed up to Heber to ride the Heber Century. Last year Joe and I did 67 miles on this ride, and this year we signed up to do the century together. My Dad was determined to do the 50 mile ride and get up the big hill this year!

My Mom couldn't ride this year because of her double knee replacement surgery, but she was kind enough to stay home and watch Jacob and Ephraim for us. (Thanks Mom!)

The day started out a bit cool, but it turned out to be a nice day. This was the most challenging century ride Joe and I did this summer. The ride starts out fairly easy... for the first 20 miles or so. Then you hit the BIG hill. Joe was nice enough to ride nearly the entire ride with me, even though he is faster than I am and definitely better at climbing hills!

He even took some spectacular shots of me while he was waiting for me at the top. You can't tell from this picture, but this hill was about six miles of 8% grade or so. It was tough!

At least the scenery is nice while you are pedaling slowly up the mountain!

Then you get to the rest stop at the top of the hill and you think, "Hooray! I made it to the top!" Then you turn the corner and see one more big hill!

The entire ride was hill after hill after hill! We rode from Heber City and up through Francis, Oakley and a bunch of other little towns. Then Joe and I rode clear up to Coalville before heading back. I swear it seemed like this ride was uphill... both ways! But Joe stuck in there with me. Isn't he a cutie?

My dad finished his ride before Joe and I did (Way to go Dad!). My mom drove the boys up to Heber City in the car to hang out with my Dad and come see Joe and I finish. They caught up with us at the rest stop about 80 miles into the ride. I knew I was holding Joe back, especially since this ride had SO MANY HILLS. So I cut him loose at mile 80 and let him go at his own speed. I figured spending most of the day with me was birthday present enough. Plus he was there to cheer me on when I finished.

Joe did 105 miles, and I did about 102.5. Why the discrepancy? Well... you have to go up the back side of the HUGE hill that we went up at the beginning of the ride. I just didn't have the legs for it, and I knew it would take me another 40 minutes and everyone would be waiting for me. So I got a 2 mile "lift" from Mom and Dad to the top of the hill.

Even though I took a short break, I have to say that riding a century ride certainly gives you a feeling of accomplishment! It also gives you a whole bunch of sore muscles... not to mention a sore tush! I think after doing a ride like this any cyclist deserves to park themselves under this sign temporarily:

Bicycle Boy

You may be aware that Joe and I are cyclists (if not, where have you been?!). We both enjoy riding and it is definitely good exercise. I have a GPS for my bike, which I LOVE. It tells me everything! I love knowing how long and how far I've gone, what my average speed was, and how many calories I've burned.

Often when one of us gets back from riding,Joe and I will discuss how our ride went. Apparently Jacob has been paying attention to our little exchanges more than I had imagined!


Yesterday afternoon Jacob and I were out in the front yard. He was riding his tricycle down the sidewalk to the neighbor's driveway and back, while I watched him and folded some laundry.


After a minute Jacob pedaled up to me and we had a little chat.

Jacob: Mommy, I won the race!
Me: Great job!
Jacob: Did you see the other bicycle riders? They were trying to pass me, but I went around them and I won!
Me: You were pretty fast.
Jacob: Phew! It was hot out there today!
Me: It was?
Jacob: Yep. I burned 75 calories.
Me: Wow, that's a lot

How hilarious is that?!
Do you think he will grow up to be a cyclist too?


Later that evening I took the boys on a walk and we went to the parking lot of the new church. We really went so that I could take a picture of the mountains. Fall is on it's way, don't you think?


Jacob basically ran circles around me while I tried to take his picture. He was having a great time!


Ephraim got out of the stroller too, and the boys ran out some of their abundant energy. Then they stopped to pose on some rocks for me. So what do you think? Do these boys have the same profile?


This weekend Joe and I are doing our last century ride of the year (that's 100 miles!). It will be my third one this year, just before my birthday on Sunday! I hope the ride goes well (and my birthday too!).

Joe in San Francisco

When Joe went to San Francisco for a the VM World conference earlier in the month I was a little bit jealous. Neither of us had been there before, and I knew that there were tons of cool things to see and do there... not to mention all the cool sites to photograph!

I was half-tempted to send him with my Canon XSi, but there was no way I could part with it! Plus I didn't want to risk it getting damaged. So I sent him with our little point and shoot instead.

Can I just say that he took some amazing photos?! Joe is turning into quite the photographer!

After passing his certification test, Joe went to meet his group at Pier 35. He was headed there on foot, and one thing I didn't realize about San Francisco is how uphill-downhill everything is there! The intersections are about the only parts of the street that are level. Here is a picture that Joe took looking down a street (that he walked up!) from the middle of the crosswalk.


If you look closely (or click the photo) you can see the Bay Bridge in the water in the distance. While he was walking he noticed Lombard street in the distance. He walked a couple of blocks out of his way to take a picture of what is known as "the crookedest street". I am impressed that he went out of his way to take this photo. If you zoom in you can see how the street zig-zags back and forth.


When he found the guys at the warf they headed for the bus to take them to the Golden Gate Bridge. On the way he took this shot, and it is one of my favorites! I have never seen a masted ship, and I think this photo is gorgeous.


He also saw Alcatraz on his way there:


Of course you can't go to San Francisco without going to the Golden Gate Bridge. By some stroke of luck Joe visited on a day that was actually mostly clear and sunny! Check out these great pics.

The bridge just pops up out of nowhere in this picture, don't you think? I am glad that Joe had someone take a picture of himself there as well.

These next two shots are my favorites! I love how he framed these shots. Aren't they nice?



I can't wait to go back and visit San Francisco with Joe some day. Apparently he knows all the places to go to get great photos!

Joe also got to walk on the Golden Gate Bridge, and he called me from the middle. Even though I wasn't there, it was nice that he was thinking of me. He even had one of the guys take a picture of him on the phone with me.


Here are a few more pictures I love that he took while on the bridge. I just love the perspective on this one.


How's this for a nice close-up?

And here is a picture of San Francisco, as seen from the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge.

I was glad that while Joe was at his conference he did get to do a little sight-seeing. I know he was busy at the conference, but he still had a good time. They even managed to catch a baseball game.

Here is a photo Joe took from the top of the stadium when he was talking to me on the phone. His seats were actually just past third base at the Oakland A's game. Fun, huh?

Joe was actually really happy to come home on Friday. He had fun in San Francisco, but he missed us as much as we missed him!