The Enterprising and Temerarious Happenings of Scott and Carynn Butler

4 years...

2011-10-05T21:57:00.003-06:00

Once upon a time, a young man and a young woman fell in love. The 2 of them decided to get married, and after 3 months of engagement, they were sealed to each other 4-ever.

Here are some highlights of the last 4 years together:

Our Happy Wedding Day! October 5, 2007

Year 1- Adventures living in Zion Notional Park

Year 2- San Diego (on the beach of Cornado)

Year 3- The Wind Caves!

Year 4- Livin' it up big on our Cruises (with fruit punch, of course)

A lot has happened in 4 years, and I can't wait for the many adventures we have yet to do together. I love you, Scott!

Gradumacation Maconkie!!!

2011-05-07T13:45:00.005-06:00

Yesterday I completed my 6 year journey through school by Graduating from the University of Utah!! It was a great day altogether with inspiring messages from the speakers and great times with our families.

Author Mitch Albom was the guest speaker at commencement and gave an inspirational and very personal speech about his journey through writing his most popular novel "Tuesdays with Morrie". He brought tears to my eyes as he talked about the influence one professor had on him, not only through school, but through his example of enjoying life and living with no regrets to the very end. Scott and I both agreed that Albom's speech was even better than the one given by author David McCullough 2 years ago at Scott's graduation.

Although I am now officially a Ute, I could not be more grateful for the continuous love and support from my parents. They have been great mentors to me and I love them both so much!

My Grandma Groves was able to fly out from Napa Valley to be here for my graduation and I am so happy she was able to make the trip to support me! I'm glad she'll also be able to stay out here for an extra week to see Riley come home and give his Homecoming talk.
My mother-in-law Jayna was also at the ceremony (but for some reason I didn't get a picture with her:( She has put up with a lot from me during school, from playing my french cd's in the living room over and over and over again, to leaving my books and notes scattered about the house during the 1 year (or 3 semesters) that we lived with her.

I presented my stole of gratitude to Scott after my convocation ceremony. He has been my biggest strength and support through this journey. After his internship down in Zion, he turned down a permanent position at the resort because he knew how important it was to me to finish my schooling. He has put up with my high tuition payments and low energy for the past 4 years. This last year was the hardest with me trying to cram in as many classes as possible and reading up to 5 or 6 books at a time, trying to finish them within a few short weeks. Needless to say, many of our date nights consisted of Scott watching a movie by himself while I locked my self in the computer room to read, or even me taking my books along to a baseball game and trying to fit some reading in between innings (or fitting some baseball in between chapters was more like it). I am blessed to have such a supportive and understanding husband who has sacrificed a lot for me to stay in school. He's just awesome!!
We ended the day with a big Butler/Groves BBQ at Sugar House Park where we played soccer and ladder toss and our 8 year old nephew, Zach, taught Scott how ride a rip-stick.

Although I did graduate from the University of Utah, I couldn't have done it without BYU as well. My first year of college was spent on the beautiful campus of BYU-I and have many fond memories and experiences from that first year that I will never forget. My mom won't let me forget them either, as she tactfully hinted so on my graduation cake.
Who am I, sir? A Utah man am I. A Utah man, sir, and will be til I die: Ki! Yi!

2010 in a Nutshell

2010-12-03T07:26:00.008-07:00

So I've decided I'm not very good at blogging. Since it's been a while since our last post, I'll just do a quick recap of what we've been up to recently.

We had a very busy summer and did a lot of traveling. Our biggest adventure of the year was traveling down to Havasupai in the Grand Canyon. The weather was HOT but the scenery was incredible.

The top picture is of Havasu Falls. It looks small but it was actually pretty big.

This next picture is Moony falls. I guess a few years ago it used to be split up at the top and created two waterfalls that came down this cliff, but in 2007 there was flash flood that nearly cleaned out the canyon and made this waterfall just one massive stream. You can't tell from the picture, but the fall itself is at least 100 feet tall.

The next picture is Beaver falls. It's not very tall, but very beautiful and fun to play in! The water was so warm! I'd say between 85-90 degrees, which felt really good after hiking in the 110+ degree sun.

There was one more waterfall we played in called Navajo falls. It's about 35- 40 feet high and had a really cool cave underneath it that we could jump off of, through the waterfall, and into the pool below. Scott was even brave enough to jump off the top of the waterfall. I'll post a video once I figure out how :)

Penny also had a good year. We bought her a pass to the Course -a-Lure obstacle course and it was fun to watch her time improve after every run throughout the summer! She loved it and we are definitely doing it again this year.

Although she has gotten bigger and is learning some new tricks, old habits still die hard. She's had her share of getting into trouble, but it's hard to look into those big brown eyes and stay mad for too long!

We spent our 3 year anniversary in San Francisco and had a lot of fun visiting Alcatraz Island, eating seafood, and even catching a round of golf with Grandma and Grandpa!

We had a very peaceful and relaxing Christmas. I worked a lot during the month of December while finishing up with my last semester at the U. I am now officially graduated!! With ski season and Sundance in full swing, Scott has been putting extra hours in at his job. But he still finds time to make it up to the slopes about once week.

2010 was a great year for us, but we have a lot in store for this year as well. We are looking forward to a great 2011, and hopefully I'll be better at posting as well!

Not-so-Fairy-Tale Ending

2010-09-17T14:37:00.006-06:00

Every little girl grows up with a dream; a dream of someday finding the perfect match. The match that would be love at first sight, a match made just for you and no one else as if created in heaven. You'd be the perfect fit for each other, like Cinderella and the glass slipper. A love that you know will last for decades, nay, centuries of complete bliss and triumph. I'm not talking about prince charming here, I'm talking about every girls dream of the perfect pair of shoes!

I found my perfect match just over a year ago. It was as if they were calling my name. We've spent many nights together strolling and even dancing at weddings and parties. I always took good care of my treasures in hopes of spending those timeless moments together throughout my mortal existence.......

......but my dreams were soon shattered in an instant.

Lucky for me I was able to identify the culprit quickly and she was placed safely behind bars, for the time being. Sadly, this had not been her first offense.

Ode to the JEEP

2010-07-24T12:27:00.003-06:00

So many times you carried us and dropped us like a rock

You spent more time with your friends- the mechanics

Every time we fed you high octane, flooded you with synthetic oil and bandaged your broken parts

We cared and cried for you when you left us stranded in the middle of the road...

And now you pushed us TO FAR!!

Away from us you go

Enjoy your friends forever more that will probably separate you to salvage the few good parts left, or worse, you end up with some other unfortunate soul to have you cause pain to.

You gave us nothing but headaches and empty pockets with nothing in return

Goodbye forever and never come back, enjoy your last ride on the back of a truck as we wave goodbye and celebrate!

Time- Never enough for everything

2010-05-11T07:35:00.003-06:00

Life is busy as it always seems to be, whether your battling out those final semesters in school or even planning a vacation, time always seems to keep you going and it sometimes seem there isn't enough of it. No different for us, Carynn just finished out her second to last semester at the University of Utah and looks forward to a summer away from the text books and into more novels, working at a garden nursery and choreographing for community theater. I am in the middle of a run of 'The Three Musketeers' at Hale Center theater and am also looking forward to a break. As both of us were hitting the limit with work, school, shows, work and everything else; we planned an impromptu vacation for four days to Las Vegas. It was all revolved around relaxing and we got exactly that. Fun at the pool enjoying the nice 80 degree weather, fun shows to enjoy and just being with each other as that seems to be a rare commodity in our lives right now. We are both looking forward to summer and our exciting vacations planned to Lava Hot springs, Bear Lake, and Havasupai (most excited for that one). Not to mention a summer of Bees Baseball (as long as the weather holds out which it hasn't been)! So as we push on coming to the end of our busy schedules, we only find ourselves jumping into yet another pool of time envelopment and enjoyment. We wish everyone the best this coming summer and hope that all your time is used in the best way you think possible. One idea- turn off the T.V. and get outside (that is if the rain will give us all a break)!

Our new addition

2010-03-17T17:41:00.003-06:00

For those who don't know, Carynn and I were awaiting the arrival of our new family member just over a week ago. We were planning and ready to adopt a little Cairn Terrier into our family only to have it end in disappointment. The day before we were supposed to go pick her up we were informed that one of the puppies she was living with came down with parvo, a very bad disease for puppies, and they had to keep a two week watch on our future puppy to see if she would come down with any of the symptoms and so they could treat her. We waited the two weeks only to receive the bad news that she did contract the virus and didn't make it. It was a sad time for us but turned out alright in the end. We were lucky enough to find another Cairn Terrier and were able to pick her up and she couldn't be a sweeter puppy. We have had her not even a week now and we have loved every minute having her in our little family.

So say hello to Penny, our nine week old little puppy :)

Invincible Cell Phone

2010-03-03T09:59:00.003-07:00

I've had my Sony Ericsson Walkman slider phone for about 3 years now, which, these days, is a pretty long time to have a cell phone. I've thought about upgrading to a smart phone or Iphone, but this one still works well for now, so maybe once it finally dies I'll be able to make that upgrade. But I learned the other night that this phone has no plans on dying soon and will remain invincible for a long time to come.

My phone has faced a lot of tragedy in its life; dropped down cement stair cases, being left on the top of my car, even dropped into a puddle of water where I had to take it a part and let some pieces dry before it would work again, but in all these cases my little fighter has never failed to make a quick recovery and return to its proper uses. Its face is covered with battle scars, scratches, dents, and chips, all the right signs of a well-loved phone.

On Monday night, I thought for sure I would be saying goodbye to my old friend for good.

Our apartment complex is conveniently located directly across the street from the Brickyard Plaza, a quaint little shopping complex that we visit quite often for our regular groceries and shopping needs. Monday night was no exception. The only inconvenience about the plaza's location is that the only crosswalks are located either one block north or one block south of our complex. We usually forego the crosswalks and jaywalk across the 4 lanes of traffic. This can sometimes be a lengthy and dangerous process. On monday night we decided to attempt the cross but were having a hard time finding the right opening between cars just big enough for us to run across unharmed. Finally, our chance came. We had just enough time to jump into the first lane and cross it safely and then make it across the other lanes before the traffic came too close. Halfway through the third lane, tragedy stuck. My cell phone slipped from the pocket of my hoodie and fell into the lane of traffic, helpless. I tried to rescue it, but Scott swiftly pulled my arm and brought me safely onto the sidewalk. We watched in horror as cars, trucks and motorcycles drove swiftly through the lane of traffic, unaware of the cell phone lying in their way. I was ready to watch my friend meet the hard rubber of a tire and shatter into a hundred pieces, finally falling in its last battle. Scott saw that an opening of traffic was approaching and made the daring rescue by running out into the street, grabbing the guiltless victim, and returning safely to the side walk before the next rush of traffic approached. My cell phone was rescued, and, best of all, came out of the fight untouched, unscratched, and stronger than ever.

I guess it'll still be a while longer until I trade this phone in for another one, but that's ok. After all we've been through together, I wouldn't want it any other way.

My Oragami Valentine

2010-02-17T18:32:00.002-07:00

We're not usually a very romantic couple. Our typical night together (on the rare occasions that we actually have a night together) normally consists of maybe watching a movie and then going to bed early because of Scott's early morning work schedule. Lately, because of my work schedule and Scott being in a play and having to rehearse each night, we don't get to see each other very often, or at all. So with all of the craziness and business of our lives, imagine my complete surprise when I woke up Sunday morning (yes, Valentine's Day!) to find on my kitchen table 2 of my most favorite things: Lilies and cinnamon bears! For the past 3 Valentine's days I have asked Scott not to buy me flowers because prices are always way too high in February and it's just not worth it. Being the creative genius that he is, this year he made me flowers instead! With a few pieces of construction paper and some online oragami instructions, I got the prettiest flowers I've ever received! I love my Valentine!

Flambe!!

2010-02-09T17:19:00.004-07:00

So I thought I would try someting a little different for dinner the other night. I had to make good on a bet I had lost to Carynns dad and I owed him dinner. Since I can't afford a nice meal for 4 we had the in-laws over and I made a nice dinner instead. I made Steak Diane with sauteed potatoes and peas with a side of Angel Hair Pasta with shrimp and tomatoes. It was my first attempt to flambe anything and it turned out great. For desert I made a cake in my skillet and topped it with a chocolate carmel mix topped with chopped pecans with a side of homemade vanilla ice-cream. I had a lot of fun making it and the results came in, dinner turned out delicious!!

Friends with the Mafia

2010-01-21T09:46:00.003-07:00

Scott has connections to the Mafia! Well, not really. This DVD, "Mario's Conviction," is a documentary about a man from Detroit, Michigan who was very much involved with underground crime in the city; that is until his wife made the mistake of allowing two young men in suits to enter their home. This is a powerful story of conversion and sacfrifice and one man's transformation from Mafia to Mormon. Although Mario was baptized even before Scott was born, Elder Butler dined many times in the home of Mario Facione and got to know him and his family very well. Scott and I had a geat time watching this movie, especially when they would interview people from the stakes and wards in the area that Scott remembered from his mission. I recommend this DVD (or the book) to all of you!

A Year in Reflection

2010-01-02T15:48:00.012-07:00

2009 seemed to slip by without us noticing. It wasn't as adventurous or exciting as 2008, but it still had its good moments and its challenges too.

The toughest challenges of 2009 were the loss of Carynn's dear Aunt Colleen in April, right around Easter, and Scott's sweet cousin Michelle just before Christmas.

Both of these losses, although sad, gave us time to reflect on the meanings of the holidays and remember the family members that are preparing a home for us on the other side. Our testimonies have been strengthened as well as our ties to both our earthly and heavenly families.

But we can't look at our challenges without looking at the many blessings that we also have. The blessings of 2009 include:

- Having the chance to live with Scott's mom for the majority of the year. This gave Jayna and myself a lot of time to get to know each other a little better. We are grateful for Jayna's hospitality towards us and her willingness to put up with us for 10 months!

-Sending out a Missionary! My little brother Riley left for his mission in May to serve in the CLAM! (California, Los Angeles Mission). We love getting letters from him each week and it was so good to speak with him on Christmas. Having a member of the family out serving a full time mission has been a blessing and strength to us. We love you, Elder Groves!

- Moving out of Jayna's home and back into the world of being independent adults. We love where we live and love the friends and ward members that have been so warm in making us feel welcome.

-Scott's new job!! This has been one of the greatest blessings we could ask for at this time. He is doing what makes him happy and it has paid off! Not only does it help our financial situation, but Scott showed so much talent and skill in his first weeks of work that it didn't take long for him to be promoted to a supervising position! I guess all that time and money at a University really does pay off.

- My schooling. It was a tough year for me, but I got through it. One of the highlights of my educational journey so far has been the wonderful chance I had this past year to intern at the Ouelessebougou Alliance. Not only was I able to see the inside workings of a Non-profit organization, I had the chance to exercise my french language skills on many levels, educate the local community on our sister community of Ouelessebougou in Mali, and make some friendships that I know will last for the rest of my life. It has been a life-changing experience I will not likely forget.

Plans for 2010:

We hope to have another year of seeing change and improvement in ourselves. We hope to strengthen our bonds with each other, our families, and our friends. We also hope to do a bit more traveling! And..... graduation! If all goes as planned, I will be graduating in December, finally.

A brief look at 2009

2009-12-11T16:09:00.003-07:00

Just us with a couple of friends gettin our GROOVE on... MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

50 words or less

2009-11-21T15:13:00.005-07:00

So it's been while since we've blogged about our happenings, but we just installed the internet this morning after going nearly a month without it! I don't want to bore our numerous readers with monotonous details they don't really care about, so my goal is to take you through our last 5O DAYS in 50 WORDS OR LESS!! (Word count starting.....now)

San Diego!: Sea World, Beaches, Temple, Shopping, Very long car ride.

New Apartment:Moving sucks, But we are finally in our own place!

New Job:
Exciting. Fabulous. Park City is cold.

Party:
Cute kids, messy doughnuts, feeling dizzy.

Halloween:Blue!

We have never been busier but never been happier!

Two Years and a wonderful Wife!

2009-10-05T12:15:00.004-06:00

Kind of weird to think about but we have successfully made it to our two year anniversary!! A lot of things have happened in those two short years but that is not what I am going to write about. Instead, I would like to share with all of you how lucky I feel I am to be married to the awesome, wonderful, beautiful woman that Carynn is.

I don't believe I ever understood true happiness until I met Carynn. From our first date to the present day, she has always had some kind of quirky way to make me smile or roll my eyes (in a loving way of course) and brighten my day. I love the adventurous spirit she has in her, and willingness to try new exciting things, even if she is terrified :). I am constantly amazed how she can be overloaded with school work, stressed with her job, and struggling with new languages yet still have the most positive attitude about teaching kids in nursery and finding time to prepare. Her spirituality has always been something that has astounded me. She never has a negative thing to say about people and always looks for the positive. She is dedicated to life, family, God, and always seems to put herself last. She is always there to support me in any and all endeavors I choose to pursue, and keeps me on track when I get a little side tracked. Thank you Carynn for being the best wife and example that I could ever hope for. Not referring to anything in the near future, I know you will be an awesome mother for our future children!

I feel very blessed to have been introduced to you Carynn, and have been able to spend these last two years of marriage with you. I look forward to many more years of excitement with you. I love you more than I can describe and hope that I will always be able to demonstrate that to you!

Things that I have learned in the last two years of Marriage:

Carynn likes to laugh- this doesn't mean that I can tickle her to induce such laughter.

Carynn is not fooled when I pass bodily noises off on the dog.

Mustard will only be in our fridge if I remind Carynn that we need it.

Oreos are a sacred item and should only be eaten with permission from Carynn.

If Carynn is reading, don't ask her what she is doing... she's reading!!

Tomato soup can actually be good.

Scary movies are something I must enjoy alone.

There is never a wrong time for flowers.

My jokes aren't necessarily as funny as I think they are, but Carynn gives me a nice chuckle or eye roll anyway.

Our body temperatures seem to always be polar opposites.

Happy Two Year Anniversary!! I love YOU!! :)

Press on! A better fate awaits thee. -Victor Hugo

2009-09-16T14:41:00.002-06:00

After returning from living in Zion National Park and having to turn down a job that would allow us to live down there a couple more seasons, Scott was left with no greater option than to return to his previous work at the Grand America, a job he has not enjoyed for the last two years for various reasons. After several interviews at several different hotels and other tourism related companies, 10 months later Scott was finally able to land a job at the brand new St. Regis Deer Crest in Park City Utah!

It was a long yet comfortable interview that lasted 2.5 hours with my future boss and the director of operations of the hotel.

We are both extremely excited Scott received this job as it is a long awaited answer to our prayers! Having been turned down by several smaller hotels, Scott is happy to be able to remain in this sector of service. This hotel will have a 5-Diamond AAA status as well as the much more difficult to obtain 5-Star Mobile status. We are hoping that this company will provide a great future for us not only to fulfill our financial needs etc, but to fulfill our travel desires in the future with the awesome benefits that come with this company! Scott was told that there are very good chances to progress in this corporation depending on his flexibility to move... so who knows where we will be next year :)

First Date Movie :)

2009-08-26T16:03:00.005-06:00

Here it is Folks, Carynn and Scotts video created for the Butler Family Reunion. We had a blast making this and hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Where Did Summer Go?

2009-08-24T18:59:00.004-06:00

If you don't like reading people's travel logs, you might not want to read this post.

Summer came and left too quickly for us this year. Carynn's last day of School was August 5th. After a short few days of relaxing we were off to Lake Tahoe for the first entire Groves Family Reunion in 10 years. We spent the week swimming, playing games, eating lots of good food, and enjoy the beautiful surroundings. Scott spent one morning out on the sandy bike trails while Carynn did some hiking with her cousins. Scott got to meet a lot of new family members (even though he's been part of the family for nearly 2 years now) and it was fun to have almost everyone together again. Scott spent his 26th birthday in a hot car driving through the Nevada desert.

After our week in Tahoe we came home to spend a few days relaxing and visiting with with friends and family. We went to the Banks Family picnic and this time it was Carynn's turn to meet new faces and make new friends. I thinks everyone from the entire Banks extended family was there except our brother-in-law Tyler who was still in Vegas.

Less than a week after returning from Tahoe it was time to pack up once more. This time we were heading north and looking forward to a much more scenic drive. Little did we know that this drive would include crawling up Logan Canyon at 20 mph behind a cattle drive! It was actually a lot of fun. We eventually made it to Jackson Hole where Carynn's sister is performing in the Jackson Hole Playhouse all summer. She plays Frenchie in "Grease" and did an excellent job!

After Jackson we finally met up with the rest of Scott's family in Island Park. We had a great time going hiking, floating down the Snake River, and visiting Yellowstone. The weather was perfect and we always love being surrounded by our family and the beautiful creations around us.

On Top of the World!

2009-07-11T15:31:00.003-06:00

Well it wasn't really the top of the world, but it was the top of Salt Lake City!

Yesterday we decided to take on the challenge of hiking to the top of Mount Olympus, the highest peak in the Salt Lake Valley. Here is some information about the hike:

Salt Lake City sits comfortably at about 4,800 ft above sea-level.

The peak of Mount Olympus is 9,000 ft above sea-level.

Difference- 4,200 feet!!

Trail distance: 6.4 miles round-trip

Average hiking time: 6-7 hours

Butler hiking time: 7.5 hours

The hike started off pretty decent with some steep switch-backs, but nothing we couldn't handle. About halfway up the mountain we ran into some other hikers making their way down the mountain. One gentleman said to us, "enjoy this part while you can. It gets a whole lot harder form here on up!" And he wasn't kidding. Not long after, we found ourselves climbing steeper and steeper, grabbing onto rocks, and getting an excellent work-out on our thighs! But ever time we looked up, the peak was getting closer and closer.

After some tough rock scrambling and even getting a little lost, we finally made it to the top!! The view of the valley was incredible. It was hard finding a place to sit down for lunch because the top of the mountain is just a big pile of sharp, jagged rocks. (Well, they aren't called the "sandy" mountains now, are they?!) We finally found a spot and ate our lunch before getting ready for the Return Journey.

We wanted to take a nice picture of us at the very top of Mount Olympus, so we pulled out our camera. I had charged the camera the night before so we could take it on the hike with us, but in the frantic harry to put it in my bag before we left the house, I neglected to make sure that the camera was actually turned off. It had been sitting in my bag and turned on for about 4 hours. Hence, no pictures :(

The hike back was just as hard as the hike up, but we finally made it back to the car and safely home. Now we can look out at the Wasatch Mountain range with our heads held a little higher, knowing that we conquered the highest of them all!

P.S. Thanks to Tiff and Will for inspiring us to take on this challenge!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!!

2009-07-05T17:31:00.003-06:00

We are proud to say that we spent our 4th of July in an all-American way that even Uncle Sam would be proud of! It started off with a neighbor breakfast at our church (and really, can you get any more american than taking advantage of free food?!). It was definitely worth waking up at 8 a.m. for on a Saturday.

After breakfast we headed home and started getting ready for the rest of the adventures we had already planned for that day. We made some lunches, grabbed some blankets and the dog, and headed up the mountains for a beautiful summer picnic. It rained a little on our way up the mountain, but luckily the skies cleared up pretty quick and the rest of the day was perfect. We found our picnic site over-looking the breathtaking Little Dell Reservoir about halfway up Emigration Canyon. Since we had some time to kill, we even drove through different parts of the canyon we'd never seen before, but came out a little disappointed and learned that there was a good reason most of the travelers stay on the main road over-looking the water.

After our picnic we went and saw the movie UP. It is a very fun and very touching movie that we highly recommend to anyone who hasn't seen it yet. We both admit that there were times we felt tears coming to our eyes. It is an emotional story about relationships and friendships, but neither of us expected to get all choked up about it!

After the movie we stopped for some ice cream at Arctic Circle before heading out again to finish the night in the most patriotic way we could think of- BASEBALL!! We went to the Salt Lake Bees game with our friends Tim and Susan and their little girl Sophia. The game was a lot of fun and we had a good time eating our foot-long hotdogs, singing during the 7th inning stretch, and cheering on the Bees! They lost 7-5 in the 12th inning, but it was still a good game with a lot of action. Since we bought the tickets that put us on the grass behind left field, and that was also where they were shooting the fireworks from, they moved everyone in our section down onto the field for the fireworks show. (I think Scott and Tim were more excited about being on the field than about the fireworks).

We had a great 4th and are glad we got to spend it together and with good friends. This was the first 4th of July where one of us wasn't out of town or working and we got to be together all day! We love the country we live in and the freedoms we enjoy.

With Love From Me to You!

2009-06-09T12:05:00.003-06:00

I've never done anything like this before, but I got the idea from my sister and it sounded pretty cool!

OK! So this is how this works...The first 3 people to respond to this post will receive something made by me, just for you. Of course there are some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make! :)
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It will be done some time within the next year.
4. You have no clue what it will be.
5. I will send it anywhere! It doesn't matter where you live!

The catch? The catch is that you must re-post this on your own blog and offer the same to the first 3 people who do the same on their blog. The first 3 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did will win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!!

(I was the second to sign up on my sister's blog, so now I'm doing my part...)

If you don't have a blog you can still comment and just make three things for whoever you'd like instead of waiting for them to sign up.

Be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!

On your marks, get set, GO!

Mystery Meat

2009-06-02T23:28:00.002-06:00

About four or so weeks ago Carynn recieved a mysterious call. She was instructed that a company who decides not to release their name would like to bring us by several steaks for free if we listen to a sales pitch getting us to buy more meat. "Sure" she thought, if all I have to do is listen, no harm done.
An appointment is set and we casually forget. Not to worry though because we recieve a similar call about a week later wanting to set up another appointment. Carynn being the unforgetful person that she is, has her mind sparked by this conversation and says something to the affect "you were supposed to be here on such and such date and nobody showed up?" "Really"they replied, "well lets set up another appointment and we will get you all taken care of.
This exact experience happened once more to her leaving us both baffled by this call and wondering how they even got the phone number since it was the hard line to the my moms house where we live, and which we never give out to anyone!?
I intercepted the following call after several appointments have been made and we, having reached the point of not caring about free steak, insist we don't want to have anything to do with this. After explaining to the other end about all the appointments made and no steak to show for it, we didn't want to make another appointment. "Really? we don't show any appointments arranged at all to come visit, I can set that up right now for you." After explaining several times that I didn't want it, I became frustrated and just hung up.
Little did I know that hanging up on these mysterious steak dealers would result in ANOTHER call!! Today I answered the phone, and the following is what transpired:
"Hello, Mr. Butler. I am calling from the *phone fuzz* company to set up an appointment..." blah blah blah
"What company?"
"The *phone fuzz*company." I gave up at that point thinking they have a button to push when asked that question that causes phone fuzz.
"How did you get this phone number?"
"Off of one of our *really weird name* list"
"Oh...ok?"
"We want to bring free steaks to you!!"
I mustered up all the patience I could at this point and explained that we were not interested and about all of the set up appointments before.
"Really? I don't see you having any appointments set up, I just have your name circled and thought I would call."
"Well, its no matter anyway because we don't want them, if you would please remove me from your list and have my name UN circled I would be appreciate it."
"Well that is really weird that you had them set up and that I don't show anything set up, I can have someone there tomorrow..."
"NO!" I proceeded to explain several times that I wish to be removed and don't want STEAKS!!
She finally complied and I hung up.

If I hear from this Mystery Meat Corporation again, I think I may stick to Salad!

Future Olympian!

2009-06-02T12:19:00.007-06:00

Since we don't have any children of our own to brag about, we get to use our nieces and nephews for now!

Last week I had the chance to see our niece Carlie participate in a gymnastics competition. Carlie is 8 years old and in level 5 Gymnastics. Most of the girls on her team are 10 or older, making Carlie the youngest competitor from her gym! She moved through level 4 quickly and is well on her way to moving up the other levels quickly too! In her age group Carlie got 2nd place on the uneven bars and 3rd place over all. We are so proud! Look out Shawn Johnson, Carlie Sandberg's on your tail!!

Here are some pictures from last week:

A Fun Trip full of unexpected events!!

2009-05-14T11:14:00.008-06:00

Well our trip finally came, it just was not the trip we were expecting at all! Our original plans were to backpack down to the havasupai reservation and do some excellent hiking to amazing waterfalls. If you read our last blog you realize that this was cancelled a week before we were to leave due to the Swine Flue...(stupid pigs). We decided to still have a vacation since we

both had already worked our work schedules out to have it off.

Our new plans were to head down to Arches National Park for a few days, head down to Arizona to hike "the wave" then head up towards our old stomping grounds in Zion NP and ending up in Escalante to finish off a we

ek of great hiking... The following is our story:

Our first memory of this trip happens within the first ten minutes of leaving the driveway. Just getting on to the freeway our jeep dies! It won't start and we are frustrated after having put over $700.00 into it so it wouldn't die! After playing "pretend Mechanic" and jiggling

everything possible under the hood, nothing happens. After sitting there for fifteen minutes, the Jeep just decides to start, WOO HOO we are off again. Things are fine until we enter the city of Lehi and it decides to die again... we pull off to the side, it starts... we are off ag... it dies. No starting this time. Our trip begins with these views:

We transferred everything we had into Rachel's (Carynn's Cousin) Jeep and decided to continue on. We made it to Moab and found a great campsite called Big Bend. Surrounded by towering red rock cliffs and staying right on the Colorado river it was the perfect campsite.

Over the next two days we knocked out Arches hiking pretty much every regular trail possible resulting in some great views and experiences. Here are just a couple of our favorites:

We both had a great time getting out like this since we hadn't been out since December. Our plans at this point however became really messy. Since our Jeep was in Lehi getting fixed, we tried to rent a car in Moab, there just weren't any cars to rent. Saving you from all the crazy details of that, we ended up not continuing on through AZ and did not get to hang out with our friends or make it to Escalante. So really, everything that we had originally planned, not one thing went through. We had fun in Arches though and now we have a great vacation planned for another time.

By the way, the jeep is now running... ... ...

Busy busy week

2009-05-09T12:15:00.004-06:00

It has been quite the exciting and emotional week for us here in the Butler world. It started with the stirring news last weekend that the backpacking trip we have been planning since January to the Havasupai Indian reservation was canceled. 4 months of planning, shopping, and getting excited all lost in a single moment! Why was the trip canceled, do you ask? Because the Indian Village that runs the area is afraid of catching the swine flu. Yup, that's right. The swine flu ruined our plans! So we've been re-organizing and planning and are now going to be spending a few days in Arches National Park. We are excited and neither of us have been to arches, so it'll still be a fun trip, it's just not the trip we were originally planning. We are also excited to meet up with Bryce and Hidie later next week to do some camping and hiking in the Escalante area. I'm sure we'll have a full detail post of our trip in about a week.

Also this last week, Carynn's family reached a milestone in their lives. Carynn's youngest brother Riley went into the MTC on Wednesday to prepare to serve in the California Los Angeles mission and to learn the Spanish Language! We are so proud of him and

know these next 24 months will go by faster than we think. It was a

very hard and emotional day for all of us, even for Scott who had to spend an entire afternoon in Happy Valley! But we had a good time and we know Riley, I mean Elder Groves, will be a great missionary!

To cap off our hectic week, Scott participated in the Graduation Commencement Ceremonies at the University of Utah! He received his diploma back in January but Carynn encouraged him to walk with his class at commencement anyway. It was fun and memorable, especially as Scott walked to the front of the room to receive his certificate and be recognized, we all heard his name announced as "Scott Warner Butler Mann." He put the Mann part on last minute just for fun! We all got a good laugh. The University Commencement was Carynn's favorite part because the guest speaker was the renowned author and historian David Mchollough. He is best known for his biographies of Harry Truman and John Adams and his most recent book 1776. He gave a wonderful speech that was very inspiring! Well, for me anyway.

To celebrate Scott's graduation we had a big family picnic at Liberty Park on Friday night. It was fun to get all the siblings and nieces and nephews together and even have Katie and Tyler up form Las Vegas! We are blessed to have such supportive families and friends.

For a graduation gift Carynn, her parents, and Scott's mom gave Scott and DSLR camera that he hasn't been able to let go of since he got it! These pictures are just a few he's experimented with. As he learns how to use the camera I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot more pictures, especially from our upcoming camping adventure!

Our kickoff to Spring!!

2009-04-09T14:48:00.003-06:00

The weather as most of you know who live in Utah, has recently not been something to brag about if you are like us and just want SPRING to show up already! Carynn and I have been able to enjoy two of the few days out and about and this last tuesday was one of them. We were out on a nice walk around the neighborhood when we had the great idea to get home and have a BBQ. A couple of things were wrong with this thought however; the meat we had was frozen, we weren't sure if we had buns and it was starting to get dark. We wasted no time to fulfill our needs and stopped by the

local grocery store on our walk home to grab supplies. The result, four 1/4 lbs hamburgers turning out super juicy great, fresh cut veggies, a bag a chips, and a great night to kick off our official beginning to Spring! We just wish the weather would agree with our kickoff and give us more than one day to enjoy it!

Simplicity of Ball on Wire

2009-02-25T16:08:00.002-07:00

Last night Carynn and myself put together an impromptu date as I didn't have any rehearsal and Carynn was finished with school for the day. With no initial plan we headed downtown and ended up at the Clark Planetarium located in the Gateway mall. This was my first time at the Clark planetarium and hadn't been to anything like it since the Hansen Planetarium on state street that no longer exists. The following is our experience:

We entered playing with the idea of possibly seeing an I-max show, we never knew what we were in for. We started in the toys browsing balls that change colors when you throw them, other balls that grow and shrink and even a frame for a spider to build webs in for your garden. All this was fun but grew tiresome after looking around for a moment. As we continued to peruse the merchandise my ears seemed to be playing tricks on me as I seemed to be hearing chimes and whistles going off every few seconds. Eventually my eyes moved heaven word and noticed something incredible.

Remember those gumball machines that you loved to by gum from, not because the gum was good, but because once you turned the knob the gumball would roll around these crazy designed wires in circles and go really fast among other things, only to have the excitement die once you received the gum. Imagine that same excitement, except on a much larger scale. The planetarium has this very over sized non-gumball ball maze that is captivating! Large balls are zooming over your head around a track keeping watchers thoroughly entertained.

After forcing ourselves away from this wonder we continued to enjoy the settings learning more about the sun and space and all sorts of things. However to cap it off, on our way out we stumbled upon the machine that was creating all the noise of the chimes and bells and whistles! Now imagine the gumball machine... same size gumball... only the machine is TWO STORIES HIGH and the possibilities are absolutely endless, and no quarters are required! Displaying one of Newtons laws, the balls are sent on these intricately designed wires that do loop the loops, super fast spinning circles, work there way through mazes and best of all, at one point they leave the track and bounce on a trampoline device into free flight into a basket.

Warning: This attraction is so captivating that if you wish to see every possible option you must be willing to devote at least 20 minutes as Carynn and I did, since there is not just one track but several for the balls to follow. Best part of all with this device, there is participation knobs that help the spectator get in on all the action! This is an absolute MUST see... if you have kids they would probably enjoy it too. Lucky for us there weren't any kids blocking up the knobs so Carynn and were having the time of our life! It took us back to our childhood days of ease and simplicity of a gumball rolling on a wire. What a great Date!

sale! Sale!! SALE!!!

2009-01-14T21:51:00.007-07:00

So I have discovered within the last 2 1/2 years that Scott is easily persuaded by "Believe it or not" sales and "too good to be true" Hot items. Sadly within this time I have also fallen into the common and decieving trap of sellers and the all so knowledgeable Info-Mercial! Now I do admit, as cheesey and unrealistic as some of the sellers may be, not all products have been a dissappointment (although some have been more than others). Confused yet? Here are a few examples of what I'm describing:

>4 easy payments of $29.95 for shoe insoles for Scott to wear while at work. He saw them on an info-mercial at 2am. Guaraunteed to cure back pain and foot discomfort!

>3 1/2 hours of bargaining, arguing, and excrutiating boredom with a Time Share company- all for a free trip to Disneyland! (red-eye flight and Ghetto motel included- we ended up paying $300+ for the trip anyway.) I'm a little embarrassed to admit how close we were to giving into the time share gimicks.

>The Magic Bullet!! Don't get me wrong, we really do like it! But instead of magically grating cheese and chopping tomatoes with little to no effort, our tomatoes come out more soupy than chopped and the cheese just changes shape from a block to bunch of small balls. Also, if you let the motor run more than 5 seconds, it starts to smell like a burning car engine. But it makes great smoothies!! Good thing it was a wedding present :)

I'm telling you all of these stories to set you up for the adventurous tale of our very exciting weekend experience! We had heard a commercial on the radio for a Super Surplus Sale in Ogden. They advertised name brand camcorders, clothing, and electronics for blowout prices!

So what did we do? We spent the afternoon in Ogden of course! Our first red flag should have been the $7 entrance fee. The second one should have been the lack of people that spoke English. There was a plethora of rip-off sunglasses, watches, stereo systems. Also Camcorders and mp3 players with name brands such as TASHIKU nad MISUKA. What...you've never heard of 'em? Neither had we. The best deal we saw was a portable DVD player for $39! Oh, you just need to provide your own portable television... and connection cables. Not all came to a sour end. Scott found a couple of really nice Levi's on sale and we finished the afternoon watching a practice run of the Ogden Rodeo!!

I hope you have all learned a valuable lesson with these stories. And hopefully within a few years you will be happy to discover we have out grown our weakness for the craftiness of advertisements and when we hear that something is "too good to be true", we'll know that it really is.

Oh, have you seen the commercials for the new Slap-Chop? Looks like a winner!

Back in Town

2008-12-29T03:38:00.003-07:00

Realizing it has been far to long since our last post, we figure it is time to tell of the goings on with the two of us.

As most may be aware at this point, our time living down in Zion National Park has come to an end. Bitter sweet is how we feel describes the feeling best, we loved it down there so much yet were excited to spend the holidays with family. We will miss the laid back lifestyle we had there, not having to worry about much except enjoying each day the way it was meant to be enjoyed. We made a lot of great friends down there and are sad that we had to leave them so soon. I was offered a permanent job down there as the Recreation Manager, but unfortunatley had to turn it down. Carynn needs to finish school and we didn't find it necessary to live 5.5 hours apart from each other. Who knows, maybe we will end up back down there in the future sometime.

We have been back in Bountiful now since the beginning of December and are almost feeling like we are settled in. We are living at Scotts moms house until we figure out certain job situations. Once we came home, Scott wasn't sure of his job situation at the Grand America Hotel since things had slowed down dramatically. Luckily after not working for two weeks he is back on the schedule and getting normal hours once again. Scott graduated in Parks Recreation and Tourism emphasizing in Resort Management, and what a relief that feels like not having to worry about the next assignment due. Not wasting any time to fill the void school once had, Scott auditioned and successfully made a role in the Phantom playing at Hale Center Theater. He will be playing the part of Joseph Bouqet. Not a huge part but he remains excited none the less.

Carynn is enjoying being back working at the Roof Restaurant in Salt Lake as a Hostess as well as learning to be an Assistant Server. She has quit her job at Geckos which has been a relief to her. Carynn is preparing to get back in to the swing of things with school at the University of Utah and is excited for that. Both of us will be applying for a job in march to fulfill an international experience for Carynn. If we are able to get the job we will be heading off in May to some tropical island, hopefully St Martin in the french carribean.

We both enjoyed this past christmas spending time with family and enjoying the snow. Though it has been a little weird getting used to traffic and street lights again, it is a nice feeling to be home. It will be even nicer when we are able to call a place of our own, 'home.' Maybe next year.

A year of rights re-gained!

2008-11-24T15:59:00.002-07:00

*As most of you know who read this blog, our marriage was created on conflict and rivalry. As each of us entered into the agreement of marriage we fully understood the possible stress each of us may undertake throughout our lives. That's right, we each married into the rivalry of the Utah Utes and the Brigham Young Cougars.

I don't need to bring up the intensity this rivalry can have on fans or friends, even family; however, it can be tough for any Ute to walk on the same soil that a Cougar has recently been seen on, and vica versa. Each year as you all know the Utes and the Cougars face off together in what has been claimed as "the Holy War" and each year one side receives certain privileges after receiving the most sought after win.

The past two years as too many of us understand, has been a horrible and long two years. BYU winning with two lucky plays/catches to clinch the yearly rights. I am certainly proud to say:

The Utes have those rights this year baby!!

Now as painful as the last two years were, some may be able to (rightfully in my opinion) claim that the last two wins were two VERY lucky plays made by BYU. This year however, they have left nothing to chance with a very lopsided score of Utah:48 BYU:24, leaving nothing to doubt that the better team received the win, not to mention a glorious undefeated season!

What a Great Game!!

GO UTES!!

*These thoughts and ideas may not be shared by all who participate on this blog :)

A Saga Ends...

2008-11-02T15:09:00.009-07:00

BEFORE...

AFTER...

ENOUGH SAID.

Bryce Canyon and Red Canyon Fun

2008-10-28T12:08:00.004-06:00

Carynn and I ventured out to our neighboring National Park, Bryce Canyon. Having never been to it before we only had pictured ideas in our heads as well as other peoples input on what it was like. The general statement was "it is very different from Zion" and today we can attest to that same statement. We enjoyed our time there and enjoyed the scenery that was provided. However, we felt that once you saw one group of "hoodoos" you could pretty much say you have seen them all. One thing I will say, because of the varieties and different shapes that are constantly changing in Bryce Canyon, it would be a great place for any type of photographer.

We did three hikes in the park: The Queens Garden, The Navajo Loop, and Wall Street. Each hike connected into the next and we were able to walk right down into the hoodoos and see them very up close. It was a fun hike and provided an enjoyable view around each corner but I think we both agree that we both enjoy Zion more.

One of the original plans was to bike through some of the park but upon arriving we found out that in order to do that we have to stay on the main road - Boring. Instead, we got some advice from one of the rangers who instructed us to head over to Red Canyon. We did a great ride called Thunder Mountain Trail. It gave me a very distinct feeling that I was on Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland. It had some really fun ups and downs and really twisty roads. It became pretty difficult towards the end when we were descending 1000 feet within about one and a half miles. In other words, it was really steep. Carynn walked most of those hills while I attempted them and eventually walked occaisionally.

There was some great scenery up on some of the ridges we rode across and the trail definatley offered a challenge. I think I may have enoyed it a little more than Carynn since this was her first experience ever trail riding, but she did a great job and finished up. It was a twenty mile round trip ride that helped us be a little sore the morning after but it is always worth it!

The Narrows

2008-10-24T11:29:00.010-06:00

Carynn and I had the opportunity to have two days off in a row this last week; we decided to take full advantage of that.

Not long ago we decided that we wanted to hike the Narrows. After some planning, packing, and scrambling last minute, we were off to our two day adventure. Several people may be familiar with the Narrows hike in Zion. Most people that know of it however, have probablly not even seen half of it.

The full hike of the Narrows is a 16-mile hike that is one way. It starts at a place called Chamberlains Ranch that is 13-miles up the road from where we live which made accessing it very convenient. You hike along in through the virgin river the entire time. The water temperature when we hiked was about 52 degrees. If you are in the sun the entire time and only crossing the river occaisionally, the water would have been quite tolerable. When you are in the water for 75% of the time and see the sunlight for 15 minutes total throughout your day however, you need something a little more. We rented some dry pants, neoprine socks and some specially designed water hiking shoes.

Our hike started out as I mentioned at Chamberlains Ranch. We crossed beautiful meadows, thick forests and leaves that were so incredibly vibrant it would blow your mind! Taking short breaks here and there to take pictures and adjust our packs, we were able to really soak in the beauty of the area before the canyon.

Right before entering into Zion and exiting Chamberlains ranch, Carynn needed to staop to make a couple of adjustments to her pack. As we were adjusting it, we heard a gun shot way off in the woods (it was during hunting season) and no soon we heard a extremly loud crack no more than fifteen feet away from us. The bullet had escaped the woods and hit a large rock right by us. Had Carynn not stopped to adjust her pack, we would have been right in the line of fire. Thank goodness we said a prayer before left, someone had to have been watching out for us! That was our only heart racing part of our trip.

We stopped for lunch and dressed ourselves in our dry pant outfits. Not the easiest things to put on since it is a lot of rubber gaskets that squeeze your ankles but the proved to be very effective. We trudged on, walking stick in hand mile after mile. Time kept ticking and the light started to fade. Looking at our map we realized we were about two miles from our campsite, and if we kept with the pace we were going we were going to be setting up our camp in some pretty dark blackness of night. We decided to step it up and just bust through the next two miles. We covered that ground in fourty minutes, pretty good good for carrying 30 - 50 pound packs through rocky rivers with fast flowing water.

We arrived at campsite nine after covering 10 miles in 7 hours and 43 minutes. It was a welcome treat to get out of the dry pants and into some warm wool socks and eat some warm chili and soup. The night was a lot warmer than we were anticipating which made sleeping very easy; the morning however was a little more chilly than we would have liked.

We held off putting our wet dry-pants back on as long as we could as we packed up our camp. Once we got them on and got back in the cold river though, we warmed right up. We hiked for another 2 miles to the point where people that want to do just a day hike can go. This is where we saw the first person we had seen on the hike. We had been the only two that day to hike all the way through the Narrows and everyone wanted to talk to us asking us how it was and if it is any different on the upper portion. We felt like our own little hiking celebrities. We saw a lot of neat waterfalls, of course the cool narrow part of the Narrows amongst other things. Unfortunatley, the walls are so high that it doesn't let a lot of light in making it very difficult for our pictures to turn out. We didn't take many of the canyon because it just turned out to look like a rock wall. My advice, get a permit, pack your bag and take the adventure of doing all 16-miles of the Narrows.

By the time we got out of the canyon after hiking about 6-miles in 5 hours and 5 minutes, we accomplished all 16-miles in 12 hours and 49 minutes. That is of course excluding the overnight part and is just reffering to hiking specifically. All in all, a LOT of fun.

Our hike started at the top right of the map where the upper red line begins. Follow it all the way to the end of the red line and that is what we did. Ignore the second red line, that is a different canyon that connects to the Narrows.

Family time

2008-10-24T11:11:00.006-06:00

This last weekend, October 16th through the 19th, we had most of Carynns family come up and visit us. We were excited to see everyone and get a chance to host them and show them around what we call home. After everyone had arrived very late, or early depending on how you look at 2:30 in the morning, they had a nice liesurly morning. I had to work all day but Carynn got to go down into the park with her family and granparents and do a little hiking, go to lunch at one of our favorite restaurants here and do a little shopping with everyone.

Thursday night I had arranged a big paintball game between our family and my friend Bryce and his brothers who were also up here visiting. We triumphed the first game which was great considering the majority of our team had never played before. The second game was not so lucky, it was what some call being "skunked" "wiped out" "annialated." Our whole team was demolished by Bryces team and I don't think we got one of their players out. The third game was a little more balanced but we still lost. I think everyone on both sides really had a great time.

Saturday was kind of the big day. We started off early in the morning on an ATV ride with our orange vests and all due to hunting season. We had rock wall climbing challenges, ping pong competitions and skeet shooting. We all headed back down into the park after all that and hiked Angels Landing. Carynn really wanted to take everyone on that, and I think it provided a challenge and surprise for all of them.

Sunday morning we went on one more ATV ride to some different trails. Afterword, we all said our goodbyes and I went back to work. It was a lot of fun having them all up here being able to do everything. For those of you who haven't come up, well time is running out!

1. When city kids get thrown into the country they want to get their hands on anything they can.

2. The paintball crew

3. The fam at the top of Angels Landing

Catching up

2008-10-24T10:55:00.007-06:00

So some time has gone by and we haven't been able to share our little adventures because of how busy the resort has been the last couple of weeks. We just wanted to post a couple of pictures of some of the hikes we have done.

Emerald Pools:

This is one of the more popular hikes in Zion, and for good reason. It is something that any hiker, regardless of skill, can do. We hiked to all three pools, however they were more like little ponds or just water flowing over rocks since the water was so low. The pictures of the waterfalls didn't exactly turn out and only the upper pool was something worth taking a picture of. Instead, we decided to screw around a little and take fun pictures of us. I don't remember why but I was hiking in flip flops. This soon turned out to be hiking in my bare feet and made it very interesting climbing on rocks, especially when I would set the camera timer and have to run back to Carynn to make it in time.

It was a fun hike that was short but enjoyable. Once we got back to the Zion Lodge, right at the end of the hike, we saw the entire grassy field in front of the lodge covered with deer. They were very comfortable with all the people around taking pictures which made it nice to watch. One Doe and its Fawn snuck right up behind us about three feet away. That was a pretty neat little experience.

Petroglyphs:

This is actually a hike that is kind of off the radar as far as public hikes go. Though it is easily accessible from the canyon road, not many people know about it. It is a pretty easy hike down in to a river bed then under the road. The reason it is so elusive is because of the petroglyphs you hike to. There is also one small red triangle that is painted on, known as a pictograph. So to clarify, petroglyph means etched or carved into stone and pictograph means painted on. We decided to hike up the canyon a little and take some other pictures and look around. It was an enjoyable hike to just get out for about an hour. It was neat to see these carvings and just wonder what they mean and what caused the Indians (Freemont I believe) to pack up and move out

"A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water." Carl Reiner

2008-10-11T17:00:00.005-06:00

For the last couple days, the weather forecast has been for a wet weekend up here at Zion Ponderosa. As we entered into Friday, nothing but blue sky and a slight chill in the autumn air. As I relaxed in our trailer while Carynn was hard at work at the front desk dealing with drunk women and freezing campers, I noticed a slight breeze coming from our vents. This struck me as odd since I had the thermostat cranked to eighty degrees and yet, was wearing my coat. Turns out our propane tank had gone dry and I didn't know how to turn our reserve on. I spent a good majority of my evening outside trying to figure it out with no luck. I gave in and gave our maintenance man a call. Turns out it is pretty easy to turn on the reserve but that is beside the point. We got our heat back around eleven at night, just in time for Carynn to get home. We were lucky since we woke up to a frigid air outside that once you breath it in it seems to wake up every ounce of sleepiness in your body. I spent most of my morning working outside in the cold to the point where I couldn't feel my fingers... and then it started. The air became cold enough, the clouds became dark enough, and sooner than I would have liked, I became wet enough. I am not talking of rain however; snow started to fall lightly at first, then before we knew it we were involved in what seemed a white out. Add wind to the situation and it made for a tough day to be outside. Turns out fall came and went pretty quick and winter wasted no time at all.

Pictures of the first snow fall. Of course it didn't all stick but it was a pretty white day here at the resort.

365 days and counting...

2008-10-09T11:47:00.008-06:00

This last weekend we surpassed the one year mark in our marriage! We decided to take advantage of the opportunity and spend it in glamour. We ran off out of the resort on sunday the fifth (our actual anniversary) and headed down to Las Vegas! Some may find that a little odd beings that it was conference weekend but it turned out very enjoyable. We were able to listen to the first session of conference on our way down by radio. By the time we arrived at our hotel we were able to catch the second session, however I think Carynn enjoyed most of it as I passed out on the bed being exhausted from working earlier that morning and driving.
We stayed at the Stratosphere hotel in a "Garden Spa" room. Sometimes I wonder where hotels come up with their names. Not only was there not a garden in the room, let alone a single plant, the "spa" portion of the room consisted of a jetted tub. We went there knowing the room was going to be pretty basic though, and don't get me wrong, the jetted tub was superbley AWESOME! It was like a mini hot tub with the jets and all. That was the main pull for us in getting that room. Not to mention that it only cost around $53.00 a night so you can't argue with that.
We headed out onto the Las Vegas Strip that night and quickly realized that we should have taken the car. Between our hotel and the Wynn (the next major hotel on the strip worth seeing) was empty lots making way for new large hotels. Carynn was having a lot of pain in her shoulder and neck that made her walk even longer. On the plus side for her, she got a lot of shoulder rubs whenever we had stopped to look at something.
After walking for an hour and finally making it to the Wynn, we were starving! Our original plans were to eat at our hotel but an hour walk back didn't sound appealing. We started our search for a concierge and found everything but. We found a woman (a dealer) that didn't speak english and still tried to understand and give directions. The other find that is worthy of note was the lady that basically told us that we weren't dressed nice enough to eat at the Wynn (Shoulder Shrugs). She did direct us to a great sushi restaurant called RA and that is where we spent our anniversary dinner.
After over stuffing ourselves with raw fish we were moving on. We stopped at Circus Circus on our way back and watched some acts then headed back to the hotel.
Our next day was very exciting, I learned how to play craps while carynn got ready. I won some money then broke even. We had some shows planned for that evening so to fill the time until then we went to the top of the stratosphere, the tallest point west of the mississippi. We took some pictures and had some laughs and some hot dogs for lunch.
We drove down to the other end of the strip and filled the rest of our time by walking through the super expensive and posh clothing and retail stores. We had fun leading the sales associates on by showing a lot of interest in the most expensive clothing. I had to stop myself from letting the clerk undress a manikin so I could try on a cashmere jacket. We also had a guy trying to sell us a phone that cost upwards around $7,000.00, and that was the CHEAP one!!
The time came for us to start our evening of entertainment, the way it was supposed to be. We ate dinner with Kings and our fellow Russians at the "Tournament of Kings." For those of you who have not done that, you recieve an entire cornish game hen, a role, some vegetables and no silverware. We ate and watched some great jousting amongst other competitions on horseback as well as some great sword fighting. Carynn even got to experience dirt being kicked into her face and food when the horse rode right by us. We had great seats on the front row.
Once we were well fed, we ended our night with passion, romance, deciet and horror... the theatrical way. We bought tickets to "The Phantom of the Opera" and it was INCREDIBLE. For anyone that loves that story, this is a must see. There is no intermission and all of the song dialogue that can get a little repetitious has been removed. Our seats were upgraded for free upon arrival which gave us a direct center view of the stage from the balcony. The theater itself was un-real! It was constructed specifically for this show and designed to replicate the actual paris opera house where the story takes place. The special effects were absolutley fabulous and is a definite must see in Vegas! I won't ruin any surprises the show has, but the chandelier is like none other created for the Phantom!
Our final day was spent with my sister Katie and her husband Tyler. We went over to there house and played with Maycee until Tyler got home from some police training. Tyler let me check out his police gear which was pretty cool, then we headed off to get some pizza for dinner.
We had a lot of fun spending time together and with Katie and Tyler. We spent the night at their house and headed back to the resort early the next morning. Top of the World, West of the Mississippi, overlooking the Las Vegas Strip
The cool round escalator that I just had to get a picture of!Our hands agains Shaquille O' Neils Hands...Freaky!

Us at our "Tournament of Kings" dinnerAmazing Show!Playing with our cute little niece Maycee!
This is a ride at the top of the Stratosphere. The Japanese man that you hear was providing a lot of entertainment for enveryone watching.

I'll take the Subway thanks!

2008-09-17T17:10:00.018-06:00

This lasts weeks adventure found us in a very exciting situations that are tough to put into words, although one will do there best. We both had the day off with our two friends Bryce and Heidi, the other couple up here doing an internship. We decided to bypass the regular hikes offered in Zion NP and go for something a little more adventurous and challenging! We took on "The Subway!"

Our day started very early at 5:30 in the a.m. being packed, loaded and on the road by 6:00. We wanted to leave early to ensure the possibility of getting our permit into the backcountry. It was quite the beautiful drive down the canyon, everything lit up by the full moon offered an amazing sight to behold.

Once we arrived to the backcountry office, we were glad to find that only one other person was waiting in line. Our original plan was to be at the office at 5:30 which would have resulted in a much more tiresome day.

The hike begins: After driving some distance to a northern part of the park near the Kolob Canyon area, we finally arrived at the trailhead and got trekking around 9:00. A rather comfortable stroll on an easily identified trail... that was all about to end. The hike works you into it slowly and tests your ability to continue. After the first mile you enter into the "hopefully you can find your way" zone. As we hiked over incredible rock that the weather as shaped into a form that resembles ripples on an ocean giong one way then changing instantly to another direction, we were challenged to find our way on an unmarked path looking for stacks of rocks that act as the trail guidelines. Luckily Bryce had been before and roughly new which way we were to go. Five french hikers were not so lucky. We saw them in front of us and then we saw them coming back towards us in a lost effort. They asked where the trail goes but did not take the advice. We saw them go down a canyon that did not lead to the subway at all... that was the last we saw of them.

We came to a point of climbing down the canyon after steep climbs up. After four hours of hiking through the tough terrain, and taking some amazing pictures and enjoying the views, we were almost halfway.

The ground started to become moist as pools of water made it apparent that a river once flowed where we were as we continued on and the challenges became more difficult. Having to climb down steep rocks using only a rope to hold on to for about 30 to 40 feet provided great pictures, sore hands, and experiences to last forever.

The Water: The point came where there was no way out but through, and through meant getting very wet and very cold. We started with ankles, letting our bodies absorb the chill that was about to take over each of us. Up to the waist was next with the biting frigid water soaking into our clothing and knawing at our skin. The last and most chilling part was the leap of faith into water with an unknown depth. Screams of the body freezing were heard as each of us jump into the water under a waterfall having to swim 50 to 70 feet with our packs on. Once out, we were closely followed by two men in wetsuits who seemed to tolerate the water much better. But who needs wetsuits.

We thought we were good once we were out of the water but soon realized that there was no sun in this slot canyon for about the next 1/2 mile. Thank goodness for quickdrying clothing, once we found the sunlight we soaked it in as if we hadn't seen it for days, being that cold it felt like days. We came around a large bend in the canyon and came upon a beautiful waterfall that soon would be the cause of slowing us down. In order to continue on the hike, one must cross the waterfall on a very narrow ledge, and cross we did. Bryce was not so lucky as he jumped on to the rock slipping in the loose sand and slid about 5 feet crushing his foot into a crack of the rock and rolling his ankle. After seeing that, we were very cautios while crossing. After a bit of first aid and making sure nothing we was broken, we were off again... just at a slower pace. We came to the opening of "The Subway" and enjoyed its granduer... all 200 feet of it or so. We were now about five hours into what ended up as a nine hour hike.

The River: We found ourselves wading through the river that was larger and warmer. Getting wet at this point was well accepted and comfortable. We followed the river down stream for what seemed to be an eternity. We found ways to keep ourselves entertained by sliding down natural rock waterslides and seeing wildlife. After 3 1/2 hour hike through the river, we found the glorious sign of a boot print indicating the trail out. This energy was soon thwarted by the hike straight up the mountain with dizzying heights and steep cliffs that made it seem it could be the older brother of Angels Landing. A half hour climb led us to the top of the canyon enabling us to turn around and see what we had just accomplished in nine hours. The conversation on the way to the car was a resounding cheer of how incredible of an experience "The Subway" was.

Our First Jump In

Rock Slides... With a bump at the end (apparently Bryce feels the pain as well)

Summer Lovin'. Having a BLAST!

2008-09-10T11:44:00.005-06:00

We have had quite the adventurous summer this year! We were able to take some courses through the U of U the ensured a summer of camping and hiking. The first class we took togehter was Canyoneering. We went down to some slot canyons near Lake Powell where we rapelled, hiked, and Scott even carried Carynn through 3 feet of stagnant water on his shoulders.

The second class we took was a backpacking and fly fishing class. We hiked about 2 miles up the Uintas to a small river. It was Carynn's first time backpacking and Scott's first time fly fishing. You can tell from the picture above he was an immediate pro!

To add to our fun summer, we also spent a week in Durango, CO. with Carynn's family. We went horseback riding, hiking, river rafting, and of course, we went to the Bar-D Chuckwagon!! We had a family foose-ball tournament and Scott came in 2nd place.

Scott's Family recently came down to visit us here at ZPR. We had fun playing host and hostess and planning all the activities. One of the highlights of their visit was going into the park and hiking Angel's Landing. It was Carynn's first time on the hike and it was a truely unforgettable experience (especially thanks to Katie and Tyler for making it so)!

It has been a wonderful summer so far and we plan on it continuing that way. Our goal before we move home is to hike every trial in Zion's.

So stay posted for more stories of our adventures!

There's a first time for everything

2008-08-30T11:56:00.000-06:00

Sometimes life throws you an unexpected curve ball. Sometimes all you can hit are the curve balls. Sometimes someone will say something to you so unexpected it makes your eyes pop and your jaw drop so fast your gum falls out of your mouth.

A couple of weeks ago Scott and I were taking a casual drive to some destination I don't remember when he turned to me and said, out of the blue, " Ya know, I think we should start a blog." That's when my eyes popped, my jaw dropped, and the ball hit the sweet spot on the bat.

Home run.

I guess I've been wanting to start a blog since we got married, but never had the time and never really thought I had the encouragment from my other half. I'm not sure what caused him to make such a definite desicion on such short notice, but I couldn't disagree!

So here we are. Our first blog!

As many of you know, about a week ago we moved down here to Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort in Mt. Carmel, Utah! It's been a busy week of unpacking, working, hiking, swimming, 4-wheeling, and rosting mallows. But I guess that's what you get when you are living in a resort with one of natures most incredible playgrounds as your backyard.

I am currently working in both housekeeping and the front desk. I switch every other week and actually really enjoy it! Just when I get sick of putting on a happy face all day, I move to housekeeping. And I'm sure once I start thinking I can't possible make one more bed or scrub another toilet- time to put on a happy face!

Scott is kinda doing the all-around busy work- getting his hands dirty in every possible area of the resort. Today he made 8 pizzas while helping the kitchen get ready for lunch. Last week he did a lot of housekeeping and a little bit of recreation. He comes home so tired some times because he had spent the whole day on ATV tours or running through the paintball course or at the pool on guard duty. Tough life! But he and the other intern are really having fun together. The manager even has them working on some projects to help improve the resort in certain areas.

Besides all that we love it down here and hope you all get a chance to come visit us! Our "home" isn't quite big enough to sleep everyone, but you're welcome to bring sleeping bags! We are living in a trailor that is probably bigger than our first apartment. It's.......cozy!

I think that's a pretty good first blog!

Pictures will come when we figure that stuff out.