Trial By Fire

Fridaynight, the Badberg's packed a cooler, grabbed a couple sweatshirts and took off for the hills! We drive for a while on pavement. I'm following Tim's lead. After a few miles the pavement turns to gravel and then to dirt. Tim stops, jumps out of his cruiser and comes back to me. I slowly roll the window down knowing what's coming. Tim says, "put it in 4-low and follow me!" I feel my throat get dry. My palms start to sweat and I can feel my heart race. I'm been on many off road trails. Corner canyon when I was in high school, Telluride when I was on my honeymoon. But, I have always been in the passenger seat. I have never been the driver. I roll up the window, take a deep breath, crank the music and go for it!

Shameless Self Promotion

I was having too much fun looking through all the photos I have taken over the last year. So, here are some of my shots too.

Sneaky Shutter Fly

These pictures have nothing to do with todays blog post. I was looking through the photo library and came across a strange photo. Props to Gracie. A couple are self portraits. I find these photos from my budding photographer every time I look through the library on the computer or what is stored on the camera itself. My discoveries have been fun little surprising shots, strange and hard to recognize shots and the 'W, shock and awe' shots! There are also the shots where I think, "hmm, this kid might have some talent." Then of course, I'm her Mom and most anything she does is nothing short of phenomenal! So, for todays post I will just share a sampling of her 'vast' portfolio!

Mom, we're bored...

We've all heard it, "Mom, I'm BORED!"

This particular time it was coming from Gracie and her cousin Casey. They had been playing all day without any complaint of boredom. They had played board games, made a fort, played outside and on the computer, they played baby dolls (actually Gracie played with the baby dolls-Casey tortured the dolls and Gracie as a result of his diabolical schemes), and some game with a sword(something else diabolical). When all their ideas had run out I heard the much used mantra. I can feel my blood pressure rise when I hear this claim of 'death by boredom'. Because every suggestion I make to combat their situation is usually met with other tried and true 'kidisms': "That doesn't sound fun", "we already did that" or "that's boring!" But, this time as I was thinking, I looked a the sharpie (marker) in my hand and said, "Let's draw people on our toes and then make a movie!" My suggestion was met with skepticism. But, after a little persuasion, I had the two of them up on the table with their feet in the air. As you can see by the resulting picture, it was a success! Now, I just need to figure out how to transfer the movie from the video camera to the computer.

So, if you ever hear the dreaded phrase, grab a marker and have some fun!

New Addition to The Family

We have a new 'addition' to our family! The Badberg's now have 2 cruisers! His and Hers as it were. Lucky me, mine has the new car scent, it's all shiny and beautiful! Now don't misunderstand me. Tim's is beautiful too! His has matured with age and without botox or any other enhancements of that nature. Now if we could get past the who gets to drive it arguments! Really, we actually rock paper, scissored to see who drove the new one! Big kids! But, you can't really disagree after one look at her (yes it is a her)! Can you really blame us?

We got her dirty the second day. We rode up provo canyon, had lunch. No, wait we didn't have lunch! SIDETRACK. That is the name of the restaurant we went to in Heber. STAY AWAY from this restaurant! We waited 45 minutes for a burger that never came.

The place looked inviting enough. A coffee house/ internet cafe type restaurant like you would see in Sugarhouse. There was an outdoor grill, a few people on the patio and we thought it looked promising. The appeal was all a sham as we later found out! We sat slurping the dregs of our drinks with our straws and watching the uneaten wings (chicken parts swimming is sauce) congeal into something un-recognizeable and waiting for a meal that was never coming. Gracie was starving and we wanted to get back on the road so Tim went to find out what the delay was.

When Tim asked our server about the delay, the waitress said "whoops, I'm was sorry, the order was misplaced and they haven't even started it. But, it will be right out." That was when Tim said to cancel it, the service was a joke and we were going someplace else. The woman looked at him incredulously and said, "why are you leaving? We can get it right out to you." Tim said "No, we have been waiting nearly an hour already. We are leaving." Our server still couldn't believe that we were going to leave. Then she handed him the check for the drinks and the wings." They actually wanted to us to pay for the drinks and the disgusting wings we ordered (we didn't eat the wings, they were nasty and we told her that) for an appetizer, while waiting 45 minutes for a meal that never showed up. She had never even refilled the drinks. So, I want to warn anyone visiting Heber, Utah, stay away from the Sidetrack Restaurant. Especially if you are hungry!

As for the rest of the day, it was beautiful and fun. We took a mountain pass that went from Heber up and over to Cascade Springs. What a remarkable place. I had never been there before and sorry that I hadn't. The three of us walked along the trails and on the boardwalks through the trees and over the springs. We saw beautiful plants and fish. It was peaceful and serene.

After Cascade Springs we continued up towards Sundance and the Alpine Loop. We took a few off road trails. Nothing too sketchy. We didn't want to scare Grace or get the cruiser too dirty. The scenery was beautiful and we all had a great day! Then it was off to home to get ready for school!

Back to School

Gracie started second grade this morning! She was (is) so excited! As we were on the way to school, she informed Daddy and me that she would be in the 'hall closest to the apartments'. This we found is the lower, east hall in the building that is designated the 2-3 hall. The big kid hall! Not the 12-1 hall or 'little' kid hall. As I understand it, this is a definite rite of passage. You are awarded a bit more respect from the kids upstairs and you aren't treated like a baby anymore. She is so proud to be a second grader and we are so proud of her!

Take it away Gracie...

When I asked Gracie to choose pictures to post, it was no easy task. I have been very lazy about organizing pictures on my computer and there are so many to choose from. It took quite some time. But, I think she chose some great ones.

As we looked through all the photos I have taken over the summer (and over the past year since I have updated the blog), I thought it would be a good idea to chose a few to post so that there is proof that we actually left the house and had lives to speak of.

Gracie turned 7 this June. I'll skip the old cliches and just say that we smile everyday because of Her! She celebrated her birthday with her friends at Gymcats (gymnasium and party place). Where they tumbled, jumped and ran around until they were exhausted. Tired kids, ready for bed a 6:00 p.m. I think it was the best present a parent could receive!

We made a trip to the Cabin to celebrate Father's day. The whole Morley family (except Dina and Heather, they had to work) enjoyed a weekend in paradise. Thanks to Roy, who organized the trip, everyone had a great time. It was a weekend full of hiking to the view, floating the green, fishing, playing poker (I don't know who is a better player Gracie or Sarah), and enjoying one another's company.

One of my favorite adventures was the trip to Red Canyon. We all packed Rob's Mini Van and I mean 'packed', there were nine of us in there (Tim, Rob, Missy, Chris, Sarah, Gracie, Casey and Roy III)! The music was cranked. The cooler was full of 'beverages'. We were all singing and laughing as we headed off.

We pulled up to the red canyon lodge with a screech. The van's doors opened and we all spilled out. How unfortunate for the unsuspecting diners on the lodge's patio. We were not quiet and we were not minding our manners. We were there to let the kids fish and to hell with anyone else! We proceeded to monopolize the kid's fishing pond much to the dismay of the other anglers. Alas, the fish weren't biting and we (the adults) had run out of beverages. We needed to get back to the cabin to refill the cooler.

Instead of taking the normal route, we decided it might be faster and more scenic to take a short cut. Keep in mind, we are in the Ashley national forest, in the mountains and we are in a mini-van, all nine of us. As we had all guessed, the shortcut was beautiful and breathtaking. But, there were also large rocks, low clearance and a dead end. But, in spite of all that we laughed our butts off and had a great time! Who ever thought you could have so much fun in a mini van!

Since You Were Gone....

I have agreed, after much persuasion on the part of my family and with some reluctance, to dust off my keyboard and resurrect the 'family blog'. Hold your applause, hold your applause! I am not making any long term commitments here. I want to date for a while before I commit to anything. But, I realize that it's not just about me anymore. Gracie deserves the credit actually. She pointed out that we have family scattered across the country and that it would be nice to let everyone know what is going on in our little corner of the universe. More to the point, Gracie wanted her own blog or a myspace page. Her request, as I'm sure you might guess, was met with a resounding 'no' by Tim and me. To placate her, I suggested that she could post to the family blog. Knowing full well that the last entry was almost a year ago. Shame on me! Looking at the page, I realized how much I missed posting and that it will be fun, especially if I have Gracie as a cohort. So, we will go from here. As I have said, there will be no iron clad commitments. Just a promise to keep it current, keep it interesting and keep it up. And I'm sure Gracie will keep me in line! Until later.

Say goodnight Gracie..............