Art City

Yesterday I went down to Springville to help set up a GPS class we're teaching next week. Springville has many different associations for the average Utahn: City of Satan (the home of the Red Devils), Drug Party Haven (up Hobble Creek Canyon), and the Art City of Utah. We didn't run into Satan or any druggies (excluding Prozac), but we did see a lot of art. A Utah County Geocacher set up an art tour of Springville, so Ross and I put on our best attire and went out in search of the arts. I was amazed at how many different sculptures there are in Springville. I think most are aware of the Art Museum, but I hadn't ever noticed how many pieces of art line the streets. It was actually pretty cool to see all of the statues and sculptures. Surprising enough, there wasn't one sculpture of the Red Devil - too bad, although I did find Mark Twain near City Hall!

While we were in Springville, Ross and I went out on a couple caches to see what we could see. I had to laugh, cause one of the locations led us near my sister-in-law (Bonnie)'s house. It was around 3 o'clock when we passed the house and whose officially sponsored Mapleton police car was there - could it be Phillip's? It's nice to see our tax dollars are hard at work. Although I guess I can't say much since I was down in Springville in a state vehicle out looking for caches. Hey it's a tough life. Needless to say we found the cache at the top a nearby hill and I took a photo of the Mapleton Police Explorer to use for future blackmail. What a day!

Clean Up Crew

We participated in a community clean up on Saturday, which had us picking up garbage around a park in West Jordan. It was fun to watch Kennedy pick up the little wrappers and put them in the plastic bag. What a good helper! It's amazing how little kids are always so willing to get involved on projects like this - it's not until they realize they're working that they start to complain.

Since the service project was sponsored by a local geocacher, all the garbage collectors received a button marking the event. Kennedy wasn't quite sure if she liked having something attached to her shirt, but it was a nice present anyway. CITO (Cache In Trash Out) Day 2006 was a lot of fun and it's good to get out of the house and help out around town.

Easter Weekend

We spent last weekend celebrating Easter. We actually started on Thursday by dying eggs with the Bringhurst clan. After Kennedy successfully destroyed several eggs, including one of Kazzy's, I think we will be banned from the egg dying party next year. Several eggs made it home and we were able to use them for our hunt on the weekend.

We spent Saturday at my parents house in Mapleton. We arrived a little late, so after eating cold hot dogs, we got ready for the big Easter egg hunt. My parents have a small forest in their backyard, so the hunt is always interesting. My dad claims that he finds eggs every year months after the hunt is over. Kennedy ended up finding a couple of eggs and once she discovered there was candy inside, she was done. That kid loves candy. So she just wanted to eat. After the hunt, we spent some
time playing games. Jared managed to lose a one on one basketball game against Phillip, I managed to lose my title as family horseshoe champion and Kennedy took a few laps around the orchard with Austin on the 4 wheeler. All in all, it was a fun day.

We spent Sunday morning at church. Sometimes we forget the real reason we celebrate Easter, so it was nice to forget about candy and bunnies and Easter baskets and focus on Christ for a few hours. After church, Kennedy discovered her Easter basket. The basket had lots of toys and prizes and about two pieces of candy in it. She
grabbed the candy, ignored the toys and was as happy as could be. I guess we will save the toys for another day! We then spent the afternoon at Charlene and Corey's house. Corey fed us all an excellent dinner and Charlene made us all participate in another Easter egg hunt. After Saturday's practice round, Kennedy was a pro and actually found about 10 eggs. I think she realized that the more eggs she found the more candy she could eat. We all had a fun Easter weekend.

And now for the Weather...

You've got to love Springtime in Utah. At least we were able to get through the Easter egg hunts before the storm rolled in. The forecast for tomorrow: 60 and Sunny. I can take solace in that warm prediction while I am digging my car out of the snow in a couple of hours.

Medical Opinion

Last week I went in for a physical. It's not that I am having any problems or feel the need to disrobe in front of a total stranger, I simply have a prescription that I needed renewed. Of course when I got on the scale my weight was up about 10 lbs. from my previous visit in 2004. I know that I am up in an up phase in my yo-yo diet life, but it's always nice to have it reinforced by a medical opinion. Here was our discussion:

So, your weight is up from our last visit. What's going on?

I'm not doing very well maintaining a good diet.

No, what's going on?

I have been eating too much and not exercising enough.

Since you've last seen me your weight has increased, you've gotten two years older, and your blood pressure is too high. I'd say that, at the current rate, you'll come back to me in a couple of years with another 20 lbs. and severe problems with your blood pressure.

I thought this was going to be a fun visit.