Scout Hike - Dry Canyon to BattleCreek

On the hike I took this morning with the Scouts, I remembered to take my camera but I forgot to charge the battery. So, like a good Scouter I improvised, I took pictures with my cell phone. A few of the pictures turned out well. To start our hike we got to the mouth of Dry Canyon at about 6:45 a.m. The hike takes you up Dry Canyon, loops around Baldy (local prominent mountain) and then back down BattleCreek canyon. We had 10 Scouts and 5 leaders. Our Bishop, (LDS congregation leader) came and he knows his wild plants. I learned at least 5 wild plants that are edible. My favorite wild plant that you can eat, that I tried, was the wild onion. It kinda tasted like a peanut with a little bit of a sweet onion taste. We completed the hike by 1:00 pm. Which really makes we wonder how Native Americans got by. I hope I can correctly remember the names of the flowers I took pictures of. I didn't all of a sudden become a botanist, both our Bishop and his son went on the hike and they know their plants. They not only knew the common name of the plants but their scientific names as well.

Here I took a picture of the "Forget Me Not's" and the "Mule Ear" plant.

On the left is the wild sweat pea on the right I think it is Larkspur I believe.

On the left we have Red Penstemon and on the right a Mountain Bluebell and I believe Yellow Wallflower.

Here's a picture from on top of Baldy. Going out to the summit of Baldy was about an extra 1/2 mile. It was worth it going out there on the peak. While we were on top of the Baldy summit one of the leaders called his dad and he flashed a mirror at us, which was really cool. I called my home to see if my daughters would do the same, but they didn't want to. Here's a picture of BattleCreek as we were coming down the trail

Here's a picture of the upper BattleCreek falls and then the lower falls. While we walked past the falls there was a group of climbers rappelling down the falls.

Even though the hike took six hours and we probably hiked six miles it was worth it. On the hike up we had to practice a lot of patience as some of the young men had a tough time hiking uphill.

Wrestling - Back Flip To A Pin

When I wrestled all through high school I wish I had this move. Also, I didn't ever see this move done before or know of anyone trying this.

Family Gathering - Sanders in Lehi

Last Sunday we met as an extended family since my parents were in town and others for the two weddings that were in our extended family last week. Here's many of the family sitting around taking it easy.


Notice the material tied around the heads of Ashlyn and Sydney, the older girls were inside doing a fashion shoot most of the time. Then there's a picture of my father and my Uncle Brent.

Here's a picture of Dallin and I when we were playing SPUD. In the background is my brother Scott and my daughter Cassie.

Here's a picture of my cousin Ben and my cousin Steve running past my niece Madison. We were playing bomb.


I got a picture of my niece Meikela and there's a picture of me holding McKay. McKay got hit in the face with the ball. Behind McKay and I is my brother Scott.



Here's a picture of my cousin Mike. We were playing BOMB and while he was going for the ball he re-twisted his ankle. It's an old injury. I took a picture of my cousin Mike's ankle as well it looks pretty bad.


Next door to my brother's house the family is raising some frogs. Lots of frogs....

Here's some of the tadpoles that are turning into frogs. Then there's a picture of Hannah with here cousin Madison making some entertaining faces.

Baby Quail

My neighbor is a self professed Bird Nerd. Here's some pictures of some quail that lost their mother. My neighbor incubated them from egg and is now raising the quail until they can be set free into the world. The quail chicks make the same sound as chicken chicks.

Jodee and Al Sorensen's Wedding Dinner / Reception

Friday last week we attended our cousin Jodee's wedding dinner. I took a picture of my parents and then Julie and I had out picture taken. My cousin's wedding dinner was held at the Joseph Smith building in the Empire room. The dinner and the facility was very nice.

Here's a picture of my father (Dexter) with our two oldest daughters. Behind them you can see my uncle Stephen and my mother (Marylin). I also took a picture with my Grandma Sanders who is 96 years old. Behind her head you can see Al (the groom) who is 6' 7" tall. He played football for the U of U, must of been around the time my brother-in-law Rob went to the U of U.


Here's an action shot of my father with my Uncle Don (Klink is his trucker nickname). My daughter Sydney got the wedding bouquet when my cousin Jodee threw it. So, I snapped a picture, but not quick enough to catch my cousin Jodee, she's quick!


Outside is where McKay had a good time. The wedding reception was held at a center that used to be a church in American Fork. Here's a nice path on the East side of the bldg. McKay and I took a walk down that path. There was a gazebo outside and I got our kids and Scott's kids to pose, see if you can find Eden, Justine, Ashlyn, Chantel, Sydney, Hannah and McKay.

Here's another shot of Sydney with her lucky bouquet. I also saw a crowd gathering around my cousin's car decorating it.

Icon War

Ever wonder what the computer desktop icon's do in their free time when you are not around. If you ever had some icon's go missing this is maybe how it happened.
Click on the picture or click here to see what happens.

80's Music Revisisted

During the 80's I was a DJ, doing mostly LDS church dances. I obtained quite a collection of music when I was a DJ back then. I passed all the music I obtained on vinyl (for the younger generation, that's what we used to call records) onto the next person who was my DJ protege. When I DJ'd I'd have a couple of turntables (on a sound table with a mixing board) and would mix dance songs into one another. You had to count the BPM (beats per minute) so when you mixed songs together they would flow seemlessly together so you wouldn't miss a beat on the dance floor. You mixed songs that had close to the same beats per minute. I usually previewed the mix of the song on headphones before I actually sent the mix over the speakers.
I remember taking requests on pieces of paper and finding the songs to play for the dancers. I usually played songs that I liked though. I would adjust the music based on the feel of the dance crowd that night. I did a few private party gigs, those were nice as far as pressure.
I added a new playlist to the blog. I like to listen to my modern songs (green playlist) while I'm at work and was in the mood today to put together retro 80's mix of songs. I put the ones I could think of off the top of my head in a new list. If you would like to listen to the 80's songlist on this blog. Pause the first playlist (green) then go to the bottom of this blog and the 80's playlist is in dark blue. Just hit play, I've set this playlist to not autorun and to mix up the song order.
Let me know if I missed any 80's songs that would be considered New Wave, Techo, Ska, SynthPop, etc. I wasn't really into Rock/Pop at this time in my life during the 80s. It had a lot to do with serving a mission in Scotland and N. Ireland. I didn't like the EuroBeat sound on my mission, but after I got home I got hooked on the next British invasion. Pre-mission, was Journey, April Wine, Foreigner, Styx, Reo Speedwagon, etc.

My brother-in-law, Greg, helps me feed the need to be at a mixing board as I am the sound engineer for his bluegrass band and at least once year I help with his clogging competitions. I enjoy doing these gigs and competitions. I'm always amazed at the talented band members and dancers. I usually have a really good seat for these events as well.

Cranford Rose Garden Timelapse at Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Cranford Rose Garden Timelapse at Brooklyn Botanic Garden from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. on Vimeo.

This timelapse shows three days in the life of the Cranford Rose Garden at Brooklyn Botanic Garden as thousands of roses bloom in early June.

To create the unique perspective, each still frame of the video was treated with a tilt-shift lens effect in Photoshop.

For more information on the Cranford Rose Garden, visit Brooklyn Botanic Garden

The music is by Jon Solo. His website is myspace.com/jonsolomusic.

An Uneasy Eden

I saw this photo essay and thought it was so stunning that I wanted to share it with you. Just click on the picture to the left and it will take you to the photo essay, An Uneasy Eden.

Elizabeth (Plowman) Wood's Wedding Reception

We attended the Wedding reception of my cousin Elisabeth (Plowman) Wood last night. The reception was at the Eldredge Manor. Above are a couple of pictures my sister-in-law Claudia sent out. I like the different expressions everyone was making in the above picture.

Here I took a picture of Jeff and Biz, which I think was the best picture I took all night. I also took a picture of one of their wedding photos.

As we got to the wedding reception we stood in a long line to meet the bride and groom. At the beginning of the line there was a nice arbor with the presents stacked up.

Above is a picture of Aunt Kathy on her wedding day next to a picture of Biz. McKay was enjoying the water features at the reception center.

After waiting in line for an hour we went inside to enjoy some cheesecake.

Here's a picture of my dad talking with my sister-in-law's dad Tony. Next to that picture is a picture of my mom talking with Biz's oldest brother Michael.

Chantel, Eden and Ashlyn agreed to have their picture taken here. I think this was the second best picture I took last night.