Be Extravagant!

I came across this quote recently and wanted to share it.


It was written in 1930 by Genevive Callihan, a writer for Sunset Magazine.



Nothing on earth is more beautifully, wildly extravagant than a sunset. Gold, silver, all the jewels of the rainbow are broadcast for the whole world to enjoy for a moment before they are lost forever in an ocean of night.

Sunsets are just one phase of Nature's extravagant habits. She thinks nothing of planting a million seeds in order that just one may germinate and grow. She buries riches deep in our mountains where they may or may not be found. Always she is wasteful.

And yet we humans are taught that is is sinful to be extravagant. We decide to be prudently thrifty when a bit of whole-hearted extravagance would do worlds for ourselves and others.

The offering of whatever gifts are within our power- hospitality, service, sacrifice, love, or material- is to be encouraged. generous giving begets real gratitude, and gratitude goes hand in hand with joy. For a new thrill in this Thanksgiving season, try Natures way. Be extravagant! Give gratitude! Give yourself!

Bryce Canyon

The trip gods smiled on us. We had so much fun exploring Bryce canyon. The weather was perfect for hiking. The kids were excited to explore, the baby liked the backpack. Bryce Canyon is magnificent! I took over 100 pictures and it was so hard to choose which ones to post.
This picture doesn't even come close to showing how amazing this place is. Everywhere we went you could hear people speaking different languages, French, Italian, German. There were more cars with out of state licenses then there were cars from Utah. It is amazing that people come from all over the world to see these National Parks and they are so close to where we live. We are so lucky. (Just a quick observation, Europeans dress better than the Americans we saw, myself included. I don't quite know what is is that is so different but there is defiantly a difference. If you saw someone with a baggy t-shirt or a too tight shirt you knew they were American)

We stayed in the little town of Tropic which is about 10 miles from the National Park . We stayed at the Bryce Canyon Inn which had little cabins. They are beautiful on the inside and because the buildings are separate I didn't have to worry about the kids being too noisy and the baby crying in the night and disturbing other people.

Two handsome guys I passed along the trail.

This was one of my favorite stops. It is called "Natural Bridge" We had so much fun that we decided to stay an extra day. I thought we might get bored of looking at the rocks but it never got old. there is so much beauty to take in and there is always something new to take in around every curve of the many trails.

Happy Hikers

The light and shadows in the late afternoon were incredible to see. The rocks change color in different light so you could stay in the same place and at different times of day see a completely different canyon

This trail goes right through the rock.

Cove Fort, Fall Break/UEA Roadtrip

This sign cracked me up. We got stuck in road construction around Spanish Fork and as we were crawling along at 3 miles an hour I saw this banner. It is hard to read but it says "Biggest used car lot south of Provo". First of all, you are within sight of Provo. You could drive two miles north and find a bigger used car lot. Second, how far south are you claiming,? St George? Phoenix? Mexico City? See what happens when I have to much time on my hands?

On to Cove Fort

Cove Fort is between Fillmore and Beaver. We stopped here for lunch and took the tour. Cove Fort is a very fun place. We learned a lot about the early history of Utah and what life was like for the early settlers.

This Fort felt so safe on the inside. When you are there you can just imagine how comforting it would be to arrive on the stagecoach and be able to get a good meal and a warm room. And how fun it would be to play under the shade of the trees in the summer.

Covered wagon or mini van? I'll take the one with the DVD player.

hip hop trio

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frosty mornings

This morning was cold. Not see your breath in the house cold, but still the coldest morning so far. I snuggled under the blankets with the baby and pretended I was frontier girl in my cold log cabin until the baby started trying to put his fingers in my mouth and scratch my face- not so big on cuddling. So I turned on the heat and aah, I love the furnace. Warm heat poured through the house. Then I noticed something. I was wearing summer pjs, shorts and a thin shirt and Kayla was wearing a sleeveless nightgown. I had to laugh at us. No wonder we were freezing.

not quite like I remembered

I remembered watching Pete's Dragon when I was a kid and thought it was cool so when I saw it on Netflicks I thought it would be fun to get and watch with the kids. Um... it wasn't quite as cool as I remembered. In fact, it was like watching a bad high school musical. And it was boring. Now my kids think I have lame taste in movies. Another show that was ridiculously disappointing was "V". You may remember it as the coolest show from 1984. (If you are to young to remember, let me just say it was BIG, no HUGE, like totally the coolest.) Kelly and I rented it awhile back and yikes, lame lame lame, stupid, completely did not age well, laughable. I can't believe we liked it. Do you remember watching it? We would talk about it on the bus the next day. I thought Diana was so beautiful, even when she was a little creepy. Do you remember the animal rights controversy when the Lizzard people were firing lasers at the guy on the horse. (duh! special effects) Those were good times.