Gregg's Savannah Pics

Gregg went to the NSAA Conference in Savannah, Georgia from May 7th through 11th. He got to eat some great food and explored the parks and riverwalk after the conference was done each evening. Here are the pics he sent home to me (and managed to make me really jealous).

Giant cargo ships went up and down the river
all the time.

Spanish moss in all the trees.

Shrimp and grits for dinner one night.

The ships were HUGE - filled the entire bay of windows
at the tradeshow at the conference.

Parks like this dotted the city.

Low country boil for dinner another night.
(I love that it came in a bag in the box, ha!)

Next time he goes to Savannah, I hope he'll bring me along!

Photos from Phones - April 2023 Round Up

Here's the round-up of everything else in April! (Mostly bookish pics, as it turns out quite often ;)

4.2.23
(a new skill? definitely new; not quite skillful . . . 
but I learned how to knit at a young women activity last week
and found it to be a great thing to do with my hands during General
Conference.)

4.2.23
(and while I was knitting, Cal was crocheting - it finally clicked for her
and she was cruising!)

4.3.23
(We took a deep dive into Princess and the Pea over a month or so. My fave version is La Princesa. The kids enjoyed The Princess Test and Pitstop (which was more a mashup of allll the fairytales than a retelling of this one, but it was fun).)

4.3.23
(Our fave RAR founder Sarah Mackenzie wrote and published her own beautiful book (center) so we spent a whole day celebrating it family book club style. These other two books are defining “in stream” as she calls it and I just happened to have on hand from the library, which worked out perfectly. They’re all about people spreading beauty and joy through flowers and gardens. I could use a little springy goodness like this right about now!)

4.4.23
(This was a fun anthology we read a bit of each morning during March
(which just feels like the time to celebrate Irish culture to me).)

4.4.23
(Another Vanderbeekers down. One more to go
(with a 16 week wait on libby ... grrr).)

4.8.23
(we had a fun afternoon with cousins at the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum
of Fine Art on USU's campus before we went to Hyde Park for
the Easter egg hunt. They had a scavenger hunt for the kids, plus 
a fun cyanotype sun print project and a seed bomb project)

4.11.23

(Last week we read and learned about the water cycle. 

These books are excellent for that venture. 💧)

4.11.23
(I finally finished this one tonight (it took me over a month even though it isn’t long and I was enjoying it - it’s just been a weird reading stretch for me lately 🤷🏻‍♀️). I really loved her book from a couple years ago called Wintering, so when I saw she had a new one, I knew I had to read it. I just love the way she writes and thinks. And the idea of wonder and enchantment is one that has been on my mind lately, so I was especially drawn to this book.)

4.13.23
(Just listened to this one in one “sitting” (actually I was cooking and walking, but I never stopped listening ;) and it was delightful! I’ve read the book twice before, as recently as last year, so some of the “story” was still fresh (for me, which is saying something) but when the rar mama book club this spring mentioned it was fun to listen to, I remembered I had bought it on audible when it was less than a dollar last year, and I knew that would be the method I’d read it this time round. It did not disappoint! I especially loved the multiple narrators and the delightful accents. 👌🏼)

4.14.23
(Sam has been passing the time playing basketball in the front room lately. One evening
he got on a roll and I love that he wrote down his score so he could share with us at dinnertime.)

4.14.23
(Cal requested Harry Potter as our bedtime read. It was so fun to share in her first time experiencing Hogwarts and all the characters. She feels like she “gets” more of the Harry references she’s read and heard now. :))

4.14.23
(This was an interesting compilation of poems created by picking words from comments, emails, advertisements, etc that the author received on her social media or about her other book/poetry. Some are horribly rude and others are very kind and grateful; she reads the entire original piece and then follows with her “erasure” poem that might be a comment back or a recap or changed to be the complete opposite of what was said to her. It was so clever! Heads up for some language and very feminist viewpoints ;).)

4.17.23
(We’re spending the month learning about the earth, so when I accidentally found the book on the left as I was searching for spring books (we’re reading a lot of those, too, hoping to get into a springy mood around here), I thought it would pair nicely with the picture book bio on the right that I had checked out just because I had heard high praise of it on a podcast. And now I want to attempt Walden or Civil Disobedience for myself! (I checked out a stack of Thoreau just today; we’ll see how ambitious I really am!) Definitely check out the book about the ice, though, because it is excellent and a history/story I have never heard before!)

4.18.23
(Gregg texted me this pic after I finished reading with Sam
at bedtime . . . it's become our own pre-bedtime tradition to play
a game or two (or three or four) after the kids are in bed.)

4.19.23
(after re-reading 84 Charing Cross Road, I heard that there was a sequel, so when I searched
for Helene Hanff at the library, this is the book they had and I put it on hold. Turns out it is not the "sequel", but it was still really fun to read because it is a memoir of how she came to write 84 in
the first place)

4.21.23
(Happy Earth Day! 🌍 🌎 🌏)

4.22.23
(I gobbled this up; the writing was so beautiful and the format was so creative. But the “story” was SO sad. It’s a memoir of this poet’s (I hadn’t heard of her before but I have been hearing of her and this book all over the place lately so I decided to see what the fuss was about) divorce. I’ve read tons of cancer memoirs but never a divorce memoir. It was heartbreaking in its own way. But seriously so beautifully written. I’ve got her other two most recent books in my stack, just because I like her style.)

4.24.23
(Here's the book that Maggie Smith wrote during her divorce, mostly
as inspiring and uplifting instagram (or was it twitter?) posts to herself
during that rough time.)

4.24.23
(Sam built this lincoln log house and wanted a pic of it, so he
borrowed my phone and snapped a LOT of pics that looked just like this)

4.24.23
(And then there was this one that I absolutely adore!)

4.24.23
(also this)

4.24.23

4.25.23
(another day, another house, another photo shoot)

4.25.23

4.25.23
(the kids have been enjoying a Tuesday morning art class
with other homeschoolers for a few weeks. Sam's group is just
a drop in project for about 20 minutes (this day he made a bird feeder
with an ice cream cone, frosting, bird seed and a string of fruit loops).
Callie's group has a little lesson about an artist and then they do a project
related to that artist's style. Super fun.)

4.27.23
(they made a little minecraft world scene out of their legos
and wanted a photo)

4.28.23
(Happy Arbor Day! We spent the week reading (or just looking through) these beauties.)

4.28.23
(Our Utah history studies this week have focused on the Transcontinental Railroad. Of course we read lots of books (and watched a Charlie Brown video, not pictured) about the topic.)

4.28.23
(For Poetry Month we’ve done a bit of a focus on Emily Dickinson. We learned a lot about her life from the pic book bios and had fun finding the poems we knew by her (and discovering some new gems) in the poetry collections.)

4.28.23
(Another focus of our poetry month festivities was haiku, one of my favorite types of poetry. Our library had a great selection I snatched off the shelf to enjoy and learn from.)

4.28.23
(we got to spend an evening at the Ogden High Pool with Ky and Zo watching Mike
coach the Krakken in water polo.)

Every other round up here (whew!):

2023: Mar | Feb | Jan 

2022: Dec | Nov | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan (I got really behind last year, but I'm working on catching up!)

2021: Dec | Nov | Sep | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2020: Dec | Nov | Sep | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar Quar + Mar | Feb | Jan
2019: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sep | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan
2018: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan
2017: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2016: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2015: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2014: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2013: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June

Out There {April 2023}

April: still snowy! But also melting!

4.1.23
(sunshine and clear sidewalks +
wheels and cousins = a mighty fun Saturday in Heber)

4.3.23
(day two of dog sitting Leo. The kids and Gregg walked him
twice a day for a week and holy cow! what a good therapy it
was for the kids (especially Sam) in getting used to a dog
and not being so scared.)

4.3.23
(yes, that is a smile and a pet from Sam!)

4.5.23
(it just keeps coming!)

4.5.23
("Until the end of time . . . ")

4.5.23
(Ky sent this one and it made me laugh)

4.5.23
(we found her birdhouse on display at the nature center - even
though it didn't win any awards, it was super fun to see it
in its glory along the path)

4.5.23
(views from our walk with Leo the dog)

4.5.23
(walkin' the dog around the neighborhood)

4.5.23

4.5.23

4.5.23
(Sam, too!)

4.5.23
(those are fence posts across the street from the park)

4.5.23
(and there's the park itself)

4.5.23
(park sunset)

bonus video!

"cranes in the snow"

4.6.23

(I was walking through Huntsville and heard cranes! They were in

this house's backyard and the sound gave me hope that spring really is on its

way!)

4.7.23
(ski night at Brighton with Mugs!)

4.7.23

4.7.23
(complete with Banbury Cross donuts in the parking lot
when we were done. What a fun night!)

4.7.23
(Until next time, Brighton - you were marvelous!)

4.8.23
(Harrisville disc golf is playable, but muck boots were
useful in the soggy, muddy areas)

4.8.23
(we played a couple rounds on our way to Cache Valley
for an Easter egg hunt and it was glorious)

4.9.23
(the snowy/icy path around our garage to the back deck
is finally melting a patch down to the dirt!)

4.9.23
(Happy Easter to you!)

4.9.23
(a solo Sunday walk around the loop while the kids play
Minecraft before we head to Providence for Easter dinner)

4.9.23
(loop walk)

4.10.23
(we thought we'd take a walk down to the reservoir to
see how things are looking. the snow was SO hard to
walk on - crusty on top but thin and we postholed to our
hips many, many times on the way down to the old highway)

4.10.23
(old highway)

4.10.23
(buried bench at the park)

4.12.23
(meltage on the roof and the driveway - it's getting wider!)

4.13.23
(bare patches in the backyard!)

4.13.23
(Cal built a debris hut with some of the branches that had come
down from the ponderosa this winter)

4.13.23
(she did an awesome job and had such a fun and
sappy time doing it)

4.13.23
(a look back at the backyard - how long is that giant pile
going to be around?)

4.13.23
(deck pathway getting wider, too)

4.16.23
(the driveway bank is shrinking!)

4.16.23
(back at Harrisville park for another round of disc golf on
our way to Providence)

4.19.23
(Cal and Sam discovered this cool ice-covered
puddle in our ditch and took these pics)

4.19.23

4.19.23
(a bike ride around the loop before starting school - it was
soggy for a stretch, but soggy means melting!)

4.19.23
(see those melted stripes through the field? basically that's a river
of meltage from across the street)

4.19.23
(more flowing field situations - so many flooded basements
in the neighborhood this spring!)

4.20.23
(oh wait. we're not done yet.)

4.21.23
(Earth day garbage pick up down our street, to the park, and
around the block by the substation)

4.22.23
(a walk/scooter/roller blade excursion on the river
trail in Ogden to check out the confluence of the Weber
and Ogden Rivers)

4.22.23
(they're running high and brown!)

4.22.23
(this is the confluence - pretty gnarly!)

4.22.23
(hard to see, but it was cool to spot where the currents of
the two rivers met and started swirling)

4.23.23
(a walk to check out how the north arm trail is looking.
little did we know this would be the last time we'd be on this
bridge for a while (yes, that is foreshadowing for next month's
flooding pics that I can make since I'm posting this a month late)

4.23.23
(This slow little stream is as full as we've ever seen it.)

4.24.23
(another morning bike ride, this time to the old highway - I like
to keep an eye on how things are melting and filling)

4.24.23
(solo walk around the neighborhood - I had just a few minutes
left on my pod so I went down our street all the way to the end
and the fields down there are lakes!)

4.24.23
(so much water that they can reflect the sky!)

4.24.23

4.25.23
(current status on the snow situation in our yard/deck)

4.25.23
(definite progress being made here!)

4.26.23
(from the top of the loop - this is the same view we had
up there on the 19th; a big difference in a week!)

4.26.23
(and this was that icy/floody road we rode on just last week!)

4.26.23
(solo walk to the nature trail in Huntsville)

bonus video!

"frog noise"

4.26.23
(on the Huntsville nature trail)

4.26.23
(lots of flooding here, too)

4.26.23
(this used to be a campground. I think they ended up closing
it a few years ago because it had the tendency to flood. go figure.)

4.26.23
(views from the nature trail in Huntsville)

4.26.23
(needs a few more days of drying out at the horse
corral at the park before it will be usable)

4.27.23
(back at the old highway overlook)

4.29.23
(first backyard fire of the season!)

4.29.23
(we're so close to spring!)