Dog Lake

For another hike we went to Dog Lake. It was a rainy Saturday. (back when it seemed to rain everyday). All of the mountain bikers coming down the trail were just covered in mud. However, it was nice that it wasn't so hot, and the views were absolutely stunning. We are just loving playing outdoors this summer! Let us know if you know of any other really great hikes!

Our friends Katie and Reed, and their cute little girl Addy! Addy just loved being outside, even with all of the rain. Reed is an incredible athlete. He had already biked all the way to the top of Big Cottonwood that morning, and wasn't even the least bit tired on the hike.

Our friends Mike and Madison. The four of us have made a goal of going hiking every other weekend. We are just loving it!

Isn't this picture with the mist on the lake beautiful?

Sunny Jo 2008-2009

If any of you remember our cute little bird we got last summer (the yellow one), he passed away on Sunday. While we were house sitting for my parents, I was going to clean their cage, and so I had left the cage door open. Well long story short, I got distracted and my dear sweet dog Keisha caught and killed Sunny. I feel just awful. I hope our other bird Buddy will be ok, he is not eating. What a month with animals.

Wagon Ride

My dear sweet dog Penny, although recovered from her amputation caused by an infection managed to hurt her other back leg, and now cannot walk, but drags her back end as a mode of transportation. It is really heartbreaking. However, my dad and I know how much she loves walks and so we take her on walks in my old red wagon. I love my dog!

Student Recital

I have been meaning to post these cute pictures of my dear sweet students. These are just a few of my students at their recital. Aren't they just adorable?

They are such a joy to teach, and they say the funniest things. One of my students told me that my piano was old fashioned, and that hers was much cooler because it could play all these different sounds (she has an electronic keyboard). Also there was the day that I didn't flat iron my hair and I was convinced it was too poofy. Everyone that I asked assured me that it looked cute. Well I asked my cute student Bella at her lesson if she cut her hair, and she said that she did and that my hair looked different too... that it was frizzier. Finally honesty :-)
My cute student Avery. She played one of my favorite pieces that I played when I was little called Jungle River. My mom leaned over to me during her performance, and was like I remember when you played this. I like this one.

This is one of my newest students Sophia. She is from Canada and speaks French. She hadn't learned how to read notes on the staff yet, and so I taught her piece by rote. It was an experiment on my part, but she did awesome!

My cute student Bella. She always says the funniest things. Apparently she has three different boyfriends right now. When I was asking her if she was talking about Grant one day, she said no my other boyfriend.

Finally my cute student Addy. She is one of my smartest students. I have never had a student fly through the method books the way she does. She could almost teach herself.

Felicity

I buried my cat today. No matter how hard you prepare yourself for that moment, you are never ready to say goodbye. My kitty was no ordinary kitty. She never really went by Felicity. Instead she was lovingly referred to as "kitty", "frito", "freeze" and "fissy"

She loved to sunbathe!

I told my mom when I was little that I wanted a kitty, and with a stroke of luck, a stray cat came to live with my family. One morning, the day that my uncle came home from the gulf war, our stray cat had kittens, and my dear sweet Felicity was born. She was an identical twin. I loved that cat. She has been a part of my life since I was 5 years old. My dogs slept in my parents room, but my kitty always slept with me. Being an only child, my kitty was more of a sibling. I spent hours just hanging out with my kitty. Whenever I was upset my kitty always seemed to know, and countless times I would bury my face in her fur and cry. She always made me feel better. 

She liked to eat plants!

One of the hardest things for me was leaving her at my parents when we got married. (Preston is allergic to cats) However, every time I would practice she would curl up on the orange chair in the living room to listen to me practice. In the past year her health declined. She could no longer eat hard food because of a bad tooth (she was too old to have surgery) And then two weeks ago, she stopped eating and became so thin that she looked like a holocaust cat. Yesterday after trying to force feed her with out any luck, I made an appointment to have her put down so that she would not starve to death. I am grateful however that we did not have to put her to sleep. After giving her a bath yesterday, she went downhill. We wrapped her in a blanket and held her. 

The famous orange chair that she loved to sit in!

She died in my arms last night. As hard as it was to see her that way, I am glad that I was there. A part of me kept thinking that she would wake up. I kept expecting to see her walk up and meow when I got there this morning. We buried her with her favorite toys and an old shirt of mine (she liked anything that smelled like me) My dad and I had a hard time laying the first scoop of dirt on her. It's been a rough day. We planted a flower over her grave. I miss my kitty.