Red=Hot

    Southern Utah is notorious for it's soaring red cliffs, red sand dunes, red rocks, red roads. I am convinced that there is a reason for all the red. Everything is red because southern Utah is an oven in the summer and the rocks and cliffs are hot coals. Hailey and I traveled south a couple of weeks ago in order to poke around Zion's for a bit. We didn't know that the temperature was going to drain every bit of life we had to give. It was 108 degrees in the sun. In the shade it dropped to 101. We tried our best to enjoy the majesty and wonder of the 2000 foot cliff walls and the beauty of the Virgin River banked by lush trees and grasses.            Crowds were drawn to the River Walk (the mouth of the "Narrows"). We all haggardly trudged through the river, just grateful for the relief of cool water washing through our legs. Nobody expected to reach the area where the sheer cliffs narrow and nearly fall together. Even walking three miles was arduous in this heat despite the scenery.
    By three o'clock we were done for. Collapsing into the seats of the park shuttle, we sipped from our 100 degrees water bottles and wound our way down the red road under the towering red cliffs. Upon reaching the car I realized that my steering wheel was on fire. Soon we were heading back to St. George in an air conditioned paradise on wheels. Once back at the house Hailey and I sullenly ate popsicles and then
passed out from heat exhaustion. We didn't even get up to eat dinner.



*a fanny pack, aviator sunglasses, sleeveless Pink Floyd shirt??
I don't dress her!

The Teen Room

There comes a time when a teen doesn't want to climb a ladder to get into bed anymore. There is also a time when she packs up all the beloved stuffed animals and American Girl Doll accessories and art supplies that were so important to her in the past. And that lime green paint on the walls? It has to go too. The problem is where all those treasures end up. Hailey's vast collections of bottle caps, bullet casings, marbles, seashells, rocks etc. etc. etc. end up cluttering my once clutter-free basement. And nothing can be thrown away EVER! she says.
So after weeks of clearing Hailey's "little girl" room of it's little girl memories, we painted the walls a light blue, put in a double bed and bought a plethora of throw pillows. Now it's a teen room. In this new space you will find "big girl" stuff like a laptop, an iphone, a stereo, jewelry and lotions. But you will also find a precious and irreplaceable item from childhood: "doggy blanket", a constant companion since age three. This ragged blanket will always be in Hailey's bedroom no matter where her bedroom happens to be.


 Old Room, Old Treasures

"under-the-bed" desk used to be so cool

The coolest room in the house