Plus One Year

You know the age, one year after you officially became an adult. That year when it becomes apparent that you really do need to figure out what you want from life but you're still too young to fully understand the decisions you make today will effect you for many years to come.

This birthday boy has that fearless Hoaglin gene through and through.

Taking risks for the pure sake of some sort of adrenaline rush.

Not stopping to think of the "what if's" of bodily harm.

Someday he'll learn to take these same kinds of risks and direct them towards the path of his future.

Until then, here's a big shout out for the birthday boy. Happy 19th Ian!

 

The Beginnings of Summer

My "Bob the Builder" has been at it again. This time the garden was the subject.

I have wanted to try raised bed garden boxes for a couple of years, and lucky me got them this year. This year is definitely an experimental year as we try to figure out how much we can plant in each box. Looks like this first box could have used a row in the middle.

Of course Bob the Builder couldn't leave an unfinished edge dividing the raised beds from the corn, so he enclosed the area for corn too.

We'll see how the tomatoes do climbing up a trellis. 

The beans seem to be coming along nicely.

This is my second attempt at cucumbers. The starter plants I bought died, so we're starting from seeds.

It looks like we'll be replanting some corn this weekend. I guess it's been too cold and wet for most of it to grow. The weeds are outgrowing what corn there is.

The true sign of the beginning of summer is seeing my Columbine in full bloom.

As well as the Clematis.

But my favorite part is being able to spread a little bit of blooms throughout the my home.

Awe, peonies! Is there anyone who doesn't love them!

A Special Baby Boy

A few months ago I was asked if I would take newborn pictures for my sister in-law's niece. I'd love to was my response. She has always felt like part of our extended family, always there at birthdays, special occasions, etc. On Week 20 of her pregnancy she found out that her baby would be born with a cleft. I know during this time period she was scared and undecided if she really wanted newborn pictures. Pictures are a way of documenting life for me, and we all know that life isn't always how we think it should be. This was her decision to make and a couple weeks ago I got to take pictures of this special baby boy.

 Read more about their cleft journey here. Her post on June 12 will touch your heart.

Things happen to us every day and we often wonder why. Some how we manage to make it through those difficult times and can see miracles ahead of us.

Snow Day in June?

Yes, it's true, today was a snow day for me in the middle of June. My typical day at work is spent behind a desk but today I was able to get out and see our crew in action. 

It's been an unusual spring with higher than normal levels of snow pack. The Monte Cristo road is usually opened by Memorial Day, this year has been an exception. Work began Monday morning and today they were tackling the first large drift at Little Monte.

The amount of snow they were moving was equivalent to what they normally encounter during May.

The snow blower machines can cut a path up to five feet deep during one pass. That is an amazing amount of snow being moved.

They have an enormous job still ahead of them.

What a great experience to see this process first hand. It gives you an appreciation of what it takes to get these roads ready for summer travel.

The Little Monte drift is almost cleared and they are on their way to the next one, which I'm told is always bigger than this one. If you happen to be frustrated that some of your favorite camping spots are not open in the middle of June, this should give you a little perspective of the incredible amount of snow pack left to melt in our higher passes.

Cuteness x 2

Here's a little cuteness post, just because that's what great aunt's get to do. Remember, even though I say I'm a great aunt, it doesn't mean that I'm that old!

Isn't that blessing tux the cutest thing you've ever seen.

Complete with tails.

Looks at those big eyes and chubby cheeks, cuteness!

Let's not forget about big sis and her new dress.

Cute enough for a little princess. There you have it, cuteness x 2.

The Culprit!

Last week on Facebook I made a "Wanted Dead or Alive" post for one large unidentified bird that helped himself to our pond. This week we have identified the bird, a blue herring. This bird looks innocent enough, but he cleared our pond of at least three dozen goldfish and koi. Our neighbor called Bob last week because he thought we would like to know he saw a big bird take a dive into our pond and saw the lily pads go flying. Bob decided to grab the new bag of fish food from the garage and check on the fish. What he found was an empty pond. Every single fish was gone. Some of those fish had been there since the pond was built, and in an instant they had vanished. This herring has had the nerve of checking our pond again looking for anything he may have left behind.

I found him hiding in the canal behind our house.

He looks pretty slim from here. I wonder where he managed to put three dozen fish in that body. If we're lucky maybe the cows will decide he's good eating. Until then I'm afraid our pond will be fishless. I know it's part of the natural order, but right now I'm not a big fan! I am always a fan of finding shots like this while walking along the canal,

and shots of golden rays falling on my golden.

It's Senior Time

It's that time of year when senior boys get to endure the pure torture of senior pictures. I think I did a pretty good job of torturing this senior boy by taking him to this location by the Great Salt Lake.

What I didn't realize is that everyone involved would be tortured by the biting midges (gnats) also known as the "no-see-ums" because they are so small. You may "no-see-ums" but you "yes-feel-ums." By the time we had taken a few small steps away from the car we knew we were in trouble. You can't see them, but once they bite you are in for some non stop scratching. Yes, we should have had a video camera running for some great outtakes. We endured this bite fest for about 40 minutes, so I'm glad we had some keepers from the experience.

Next up his uncle's VW Bus.

Finally, probably the most important pictures for him.