Hot tub baptism

This weekend, we attended a hot-tub-side ceremony at the Tanner-Tubay homestead to officially welcome Roman and Ruby into our wonderful community. Welcome little ones!!!

The new sheriff in town.
Proud mamas and papas.
The baptism/toe-dip nicely performed by Jeff Rasch, our neighborhood minister and sports medicine doctor.
Ruby's turn to dip her dainty toes.
Friends and family who came to celebrate.
Hammock time at the baptism...

The other new sheriff in town.
Click here for more event photos posted on Flickr.

Happy Easter!

We've been quite busy the past couple of weeks... Spring riding/skiing, spring cleaning, spring gardening, spring forward-ing (a very difficult transition for us not-morning-people), and spring filing of TAXES. This is our first year "Married Filing Jointly" and MAYBE the GIANT TAX BENEFITS FOR MARRIED PEOPLE RECEIPT will arrive ANY DAY, but for now, we are struggling to find a real AM/FM-radio-versus-50-inch-plasma-TV kind of difference on line number 73 from previous years' line number 73. Darn good thing that we married for love. And Duncan.

A little Easter Day humor... Cartoon by Steve Breen, The San Diego Union-Tribune

Sunset dip in Meadow Hot Springs

On our way back from St. George, we made a spontaneous stop for a sunset dip in Meadow Hot Springs. The natural hot pool is located just outside the town of Meadow which sits on an unremarkable stretch between Fillmore and Beaver off of Interstate 15. For directions to the hot springs, click here.

Marley's softball tournament

Our 16-year old niece Marley plays softball for Richfield High School, and this weekend her team participated in the 17th Annual March Warm-Up 4A/5A Tournament in St. George. She's the starting catcher for the team, and in the game we attended, the Wildcats beat the Granger Lancers in a not-so-close game, 17 to 1 in three innings. It was an unusually cold and windy afternoon in St. George and watching the young women play in the hair and make-up destroying conditions was like... OMG BFD amazN. Having experienced high school in the 80's, the years of fugly florescents, blue eyeshadow, and AQUANET sculpted bangs (a.k.a "the claw"), I was truly impressed. Great game grrrrls!!!

\


Click here for more exciting photos from the game.

OFF-road weekend in Moab

It was time...
After a FULL year and four months of ownership, we decided to transport the FJ Cruiser from its comforts of asphalt and suburban pavement to the red sand and rocky trails of the Southern Utah desert. It was a gorgeous weekend in Moab with temperatures in the high 60’s but with fierce enough winds to diminish any guilt for spending part of the day INSIDE our vehicle. Our original plan was to tackle the Shafer/Long Canyon loop but the entrance to Shafer road (accessed from inside Canyonlands National Park) was closed so we started our descent from Long Canyon road just outside of Dead Horse Point State Park. This trail has some very steep and narrow sections with snow and ICE this time of the year. Our car fishtailed through some of the icier downhill sections with sheer drop offs to the left, and I started to imagine in slow motion how the cruiser would tumble… Would it back flip before landing on its top? Or would it do a straight swan dive into the canyon abyss? Of course, Mike and Duncan stayed cool as a cucumber, grinning ear to ear. I’m pretty sure they both pumped their arms into the air to RAISE THE ROOF but can’t be sure as I was dizzy with fear.

Duncan LOVES road trips.














Nice sunset hike in Arches National Park.


“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.”
~ Edward Abbey

Click here for gazillion more photos of the FJ and Duncan posted on Flickr.

Oh yes it's ladies night... OH what a night (oh what a night)

I absolutely LOVE ladies night out. I mean, I look forward to it for MONTHS even before it’s planned. As I write this post, I am looking forward to the next one...

Toasting to friendship at Ichiban Sushi, the day after Valentine's Day.

"A true friend is one who thinks you are a good egg
even if you are half-cracked." ~ Author Unknown