Week #1

The family has been together out here for a solid week now. My mom returned to the Virginia flat-lands on Saturday and we will miss all the help! It is, however, nice to be together again as a family.

There is so much to do around here that it's hard to narrow down the activity list for a day. Friday afternoon we visited the Dinosaur museum near our house. The politically correct name is 'Museum of Ancient Life' and it has the world's largest display of mounted dinosaur bones. The highlight of the trip was the sand pit where the girls got to use tools to unearth hidden dinosaurs. I promise to get some pictures added soon but, in the meantime, here is a link to check out the place: VIDEO!

We made a Costco run and visited Cabella's on Sunday. Cabella's is a huge store dedicated to outdoorsy stuff. The displays are really cool and we enjoyed seeing the local wild-life up close without having to worry about being its lunch. Not to worry - there are mostly deer and elk in the area with the occasional moose. Some of the national parks to the east have had bear sightings but it is rare. I've spotted a few lizards when hiking and I see a lot of hummingbirds. Other than that it's the same bunch of insects.

Saturday was actually the hottest day on record here in SLC in quite awhile. It got to 101 degrees and for the first time felt really hot. We stayed indoors in the afternoon because the breeze vanished too. There was a bike race on the road behind our house in the morning and afternoon. The first part was an open series and the second professional. I'm still in awe how people ride their bikes up this mountain, especially in that kind of heat!

For me personally, I'm really enjoying Utah so far. I got involved in a fantasy football league (and the winner's wife gets a spa gift certificate!), going to play on the company softball team, and started a new eating plan this week. I'm not calling it a diet - it's more of a plan to eat healthy. If I make progress I'll let you in on the secret. If it fails I will go back and edit this post...

I promised some items soon and they are coming! In the meantime, here is a picture of the cool shower-head in our guest bathroom. If this doesn't encourage visitors I don't know what will...