Camping in Darby Canyon

Our first camping trip!

It was perfect: warm fire, cool canyon air, a warm sleeping bag, delicious camp food (including Adam's famous Camping Breakfast), rain showers, cool hiking weather, and good company.



The Nefs came with us and we all camped and hiked together.

We got rained on as soon as we went to bed, and thankfully our tent was in a good spot. We were dry the whole time, even when it rained again the next morning. Adam got up at 6 in the drizzle to make breakfast. It turned out to be the perfect breakfast for a chilly morning.

The trail was a little muddy and we had to get creative crossing streams (Annie even got good at balancing over the log bridges...she about knocked me off every time). Adam carved me my very own walking stick which proved to be very useful for the entire hike.



We saw Paul Bunyan's loaf and lots of neat rock formations. Adam really liked seeing the aspens and imagining how ours will look in a few years. Annie was overwhelmed with interesting smells and birds. She about caught a few. She entertained us by digging for mice and voles under the snow. That dog was all over that canyon.




We got to a small waterfall and the men climbed right under. They convinced me to go under there too and the five of us (Adam, Devin, Caleb, Annie, and I) all emerged completely dry.







The Nefs turned back when the snow got too deep. Em is 7 months pregnant and probably would not have done well if they had gone any further.

Adam and I, making our own path, trekked our way up through the snow and mud (he carried me over a particularly deep patch of snow) and finally made our way to a monument. We stopped for a few minutes while Adam checked the trail up to the waterfall and wind cave. It was snowed over even worse than the trail we'd just come from. It was impossible to get up to the cave with all of the ice and snow.



We hiked to the edge of the river that came off the waterfall. It was still an impressive sight and the cave was very big. We braved a few shots standing right on top of the snow that slid into the river. It was fun to be the only ones there, and probably the only ones up there so far that morning.



We passed a lot of hikers coming down. I as nice that we'd started in the early morning and had the trail to ourselves. Annie was impatient the whole way down because she'd already smelled everything. Adam did his best to hold her back, but she wanted to drag him down as fast as she could.

We took a leisurely pace and enjoyed the time together. It's the first real weekend we've had together. Both of us were rejuvenated by the fresh mountain air and exercise. I think we earned the break.



We took the slide before heading home.

Invasion!

The farmers have started flooding the field behind our house. It makes for a very pretty green alfalfa landscape. But with the flooding came all the mice that were hiding in the berms. They headed straight for the safest, driest place in town...our house. Looks like Annie didn't catch them all. She chases them all day.

At first I didn't mind the mice. They're cute, and don't really do anything to you except scare you as they tear across the room. But then we started finding holes chewed in our clothes and fabric, droppings and shredded paper, they tore a hole in my jean quilt!, and they were keeping me up all night with their scurrying. It was time to fight back.

Adam went and sealed up all the holes he could find along the baseboards. That made a huge difference. We also set up traps where they were most often seen. Wow...we sure caught a lot! But then they started getting smart. I saw one mouse completely jump over a trap and scurry into its hole. I woke up to use the bathroom one night and found a drowned mouse floating in the toilet. Yikes! Adam went and found more holes the next morning and sealed them up. We changed trap locations and that held them at bay...

...until last night, that is. Adam spotted a mouse dash from the piano across to the couch. With some strategic placement, we caught that one plus two others in a trap. Not bad for one night. I was just about to go to bed after Adam left for work, when I heard a snap. Oh good! We caught another one! But then I heard scampering and a trap dragging on the floor followed by squeaking. Oh no. I went to investigate and found this:





a little mouse with its tail caught in the trap. Great. I looked at the little animal. I shouldn't have. It had a cute little twitchy nose with long whiskers, and its brown fur looked soft and shiny. I couldn't kill it. I would feel like a murderer. But I couldn't let it go because it would go right back to causing mayhem in the house. So I picked up the trap by the trigger wire and put the entire thing in a shoebox. The mouse soon felt its tail fall asleep and madly started trying to jump out of the box, knaw off the trap, and even started biting its tail. Horrified, I put the box outside on the porch so Adam could take care of it in the morning. Poor little mouse.

The next morning came, and when Adam carefully opened the box, we found the mouse dead. Adam suspected a heart attack from all the stress. Well, at least we didn't have to kill it.

On the Red Carpet...

Hollywood has nothing on Adam's zoot suit. We went to the red carpet formal in style, and loved every minute of it. The paparazzi couldn't keep the cameras off us!

By Popular Demand...

Amanda's Veggie Lasagna

12 lasagna noodles
½ lb. broccoli, broken into florets
2 large carrots, thinly sliced
2 zucchini, thinly sliced
2-3 mushrooms, sliced
2 Handfuls of spinach, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ c chopped onion
2 Tb butter or margarine
2 Tb flour
2 t chicken bouillon
1 t dried thyme
2 c milk
½ bottle alfredo sauce
½ c grated swiss cheese
1 c grated mozzarella

1. Steam or sauté all vegetables, careful to not overcook. Quickly sauté in 1 Tb olive oil and set aside. Prepare lasagna noodles as directed on package. Drain, set aside.
2. Sauté onion and garlic in butter until tender. Stir in flour, bouillon and thyme until blended. Gradually add milk and alfredo sauce. Bring to a slow boil. Reduce heat to low.
3. Add cheeses until melted, constantly stirring.
4. Layer noodles, veggies, and sauce (this makes about 4 layers). Sprinkle mozzarella over the top with any additional sauce and veggies.
5. Cover with tin foil and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove foil and cook on broil until top layer has golden tint.

Adam's ASN Class of 2010