Star-Spangled Jello

This 4th of July, for some reason we didn't take pictures of the fireworks. Probably because that's old news, right? Fireworks are so 2014. (JK. They were amazing!!!!) But, unlike other years, my family came down and visited us! So that took precedence.

James the chimerical chef experimented and made wonderfully delicious pulled chicken in the slow cooker. When my mom came, she brought her famed Smores cupcakes (and handy kitchen torch to roast them), and an amazing Jello that she made from scratch!

Not sure if you can tell in this picture, but the bottom of the jello was red and tasted like strawberry. (All right, I know you could not tell in the picture that it tasted like strawberry.) And how did she do those adorable stars?!?! I have no idea, other than sorcery.

After we ate, we walked to Center Street where they were having events and shops. We looked around at several different shops and even bought James a tie.

It was loads of fun to have my family there. Provo is a really fun place to be during holidays like this, where there are lots of people all over the place. Not to mention the fireworks are much easier to get to and enjoy. (Not that we have any proof this year..)

On our way to the fireworks we saw these airplanes fly right over our heads. James said that main one in the middle is called a B24 Liberator. The same plane that the Berlin Candy Bomber flew. 

The Battle at Pfeifferhorn

On Fourth of July weekend, my dad and Josh were going on a Boy Scout hike and invited James. They hiked the Pfeifferhorn, which is a pretty tall mountain apparently. It was my dad, James, Josh, and 4 or 5 other scouts plus one girl Ashley.


Most of them hiked to the summit, but James had strained a muscle in his foot a few days before so after hiking for quite a while, he decided to stop at a lake. Ashley joined him, and so did Josh after hiking for a few more miles.

Panoramic picture of the lake

While they were waiting for the others, James made a very fine friend.

Surprise! He's tiny!

But he has a very big heart.

Payson Temple

While James was gone on his field camp, the Payson Temple was having its open house. My family invited my grandparents and me to come with them on May 22. It was really great! The Payson temple is the biggest temple I've seen in person. The line was super long, but it was worth it!

We also got to watch a video before the tour about the importance and meaning of temples. Elder Holland talked about the sealing of families and about heaven. He said that he would not know how to talk about heaven without his wife and children. It would not be heaven to him if they weren't there. I loved hearing him talk about that and I'm really grateful James and I have been sealed in the temple. :)

Here are some pictures we took while standing in line and afterward.

And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and a covert from storm and from rain.

2 Nephi 14:6

Several Snack-time Sharpie Sketches

As you may have guessed, after 6 months of not blogging, I have a profusion of pictures of James's lunch bag drawings!!! By now I can't remember what I was doing on the particular days, but let's be honest, we only cared about the pictures anyway. So here we go again!!! (A few today, more to come.)

This set calls for some side-by-side comparisons, and perhaps a couple ridiculous videos.

This is The Earl of Lemongrab from a show called Adventure Time. I didn't actually know who it was, I just googled it. We've only seen 1 episode of this show. However, I think we can all agree the likeness is uncanny.

Same with Homestar Runner! I remember I was very happy that morning when I went to get breakfast and found Homestar in my fridge.

This next one is quite possibly my favorite so far. (You can click on the picture for a larger version.)

"What is this? A lunch for ants?" 

I laughed so hard when I saw this, especially when I found out what was inside...a Subway gift card! It was so perfect! Sometimes I'm completely taken off guard by James's creativity. This really took some thought and work! Plus he picked the perfect joke. If you haven't seen Zoolander, you're not really missing anything, but at least watch this short clip. We use this joke all the time.

Last, but not least, a lovely drawing. Simple. Elegant. Yet bold. 

Looks like James and I are the perfect match.

Field Camp Weeks 1-4

Week 1

Picking back up where we left off, we find James on his way to a grand field trip! They drove for several hours to arrive at the first destination, the Beaver Dam Mountains, which are located in southwestern Utah. Here are some pictures James took the first week. He also wrote a description under some of the pictures of any interesting geological features.

Here's an interesting geological feature. (Note: James did not write this one.)

A channel cut by a stream. You can see different horizontal deposits (layers) of varying sizes. The size of material in the deposits can give a clue to the velocity of the water. The larger the size, the faster the water was moving.

Folding has occurred in this rock (notice the white quartzite that has a nice bend in it).

More folding (this is a metamorphic rock--it was heated and put under a lot of pressure and ductily deformed).

Week 2

This week they stayed in the Beaver Dam Mountains until the end of the week and then moved to a Boy Scout campground near Zion National Park. It was pretty hot for them, 

Sandstone--you can see where the ripples (essentially small sand dunes) were overlain with more ripples. This is called Cross Trough Stratification, or CTS for short.

Tumble weed invaded a small test hole that miners dug 80 or so years ago.

OW OW!!! Just lookat that hair. And that scruff. And the general handsomeness in that picture.

More metamorphic deformation. Pencil for scale.

Overlook outside of Zion National Park

At the end of the second week on Saturday, I drove down with my friend Angelique. Her husband, Matt, was also on the field camp with James. Thanks to Dad for letting me drive his incredibly pleasing Infiniti (James didn't want me to drive the Oldsmobile all the way down there, he was worried it would overheat or break down). It was a fun road trip! But even more fun was seeing James after 2 weeks!! 

He knew that we were coming, so he got a hotel room for that night. It was really nice to not sleep in a tent. James was most especially happy, because that's what he had to do for the two weeks before and after that night.

We went to church and then hung around for the rest of Sunday. That day was my introduction to Nerts, and also to Indiana Jones. I got to adventure around with James, looking at some cool rocks, plants, and a stream. We also tried roasting some homemade marshmallows that my mom made! (They didn't quite expand like regular ones, they melted pretty quick.)

Finally, we headed back home to Provo so Angelique could get to work on Monday morning. It was a most excellent weekend!

Week 3

The third week, they stayed at the same Boy Scouts camp near Hurricane, Utah, but researching in a different area than in week 2. In this area they found some pretty cool stuff!

Abandoned hydroelectric generator outside of Hurricane , Utah

Flaser Ripples

A text book example of a compressional stress fracture.

Week 4

The last week of being out in the field, James and his class went to Delta, which is a pretty interesting place geologically because there were once volcanoes there.

James found some little creatures too!

And his TA found a creeper...!

No, the snake is not the TA. Smart Alec.

It rained several nights and a couple of the days, and even hailed once. James took a video as the class waited under a pavilion. 

And of course, it's simply not possible to have such a large group of geologists and such a large group of rocks, all in such a large wilderness, without this happening...

Although I said it was a 6-week field camp, it was actually a 6-week class, where the second to last week was spent at home and on campus, compiling and analyzing all the data they gathered out in the field. The last week was actually 4 days spent down in Delta, Utah doing a seismic survey and some more geologic mapping. This was essentially the capstone class for the geology major, and now that it's over James has only 2 classes left in order to graduate! More about that later. Good job, James!!!!!