A Little Adventure

For the past few years I have been taking a handful of what I consider to be my best images and creating wallpaper from them. I then use Picasa to create a slideshow CD and hand it out to a few friends as a holiday gift. This year I decided to post the images to the blog and offer to provide full resolution images if anyone is interested. The images below are widescreen crops at the resolution used by my Macbook Pro (1440×900). I also have 1280×1024 crops, but they tend to be less dramatic. Anyway, if you are interested in any of the images at these resolutions or others let me know and I can get them to you. Oh…Happy Holidays!

A view from the Salt Lake City foothills.

A petrified dune in Snow Canyon SP.

The toadstool hoodoo and a friend.

A cleverly placed tumbleweed in Antelope Canyon.

Hovenweep castle.

The Bisti arch.

An abstract from Guadalupe Mountains NP.

An aguave plant.

Another sunset abstract from Guadalupe Mountains NP.

Soda straws in Carlsbad Caverns NP.

The egg garden or nursery in the Bisti Wilderness.

Sunrise at White Sands NM.

Zebra slot canyon.

Leading lines in North Coyote Buttes.

Lace rock in North Coyote Buttes. This is my current wallpaper. I really like how the tones play off the aluminum color of my laptop…

The wave.

Horseshoe bend.

I also have a few dual screen wallpapers. They are designed to be used on a pair of 1280×1024 resolution monitors. I was a bit disappointed with my panoramic images this year. Hopefully they will improve next year…

Petrified dune in Snow Canyon SP.

The mittens in Monument Valley.

El Capitan and Guadalupe Peak in Guadalupe Mountains NP.

The egg garden or nursery in the Bisti Wilderness.

Horseshoe bend.

The first major snowstorm of the season happened to be a couple of Saturdays ago. Milo really, really wanted to get out and play in the snow. We figured we should make it a family affair. Everyone bundled up, and we walked over to the nearby school.

Holly is looking happy to be all bundled up and out in the snow!

Milo wore his favorite red rain boots. The only problem is that they tend to fall off when he runs…

A rare photo of Scott on the blog…

Snowballs were the main reason that Milo wanted to get out and play in the snow. We did throw a lot of snowballs. Some of them even hit the intended target…

It did take a little bit for Milo to learn how to build his own snowballs. We did convince him that it was best to use gloves pretty quickly though

Even Holly was armed and dangerous at times. That was necessary because Milo hit Holly in the face a couple of times with snowballs. He is such a caring brother.

What trip in the snow would be complete without some snow angels?

It is cold when you fall down, Dad!

Fun, fun, fun!

Caught in the act.

Holly and Monica had a nice conversation while Scott and Milo played around.

Mmm, snow!

We convinced Milo that building a snowman would be a good idea. It wasn’t the best snowman building snow, but we managed to build a small snowman.

A family photo including our new friend, Mr. Snowman.

Why build something if you aren’t going to destroy it?

More destruction…

We were a bit slow putting up our Christmas decorations this year. Scott wondered if we might forget by some chance. Milo made sure that wasn’t the case. He was very insistent that we do it. He was also very excited. It worked out well as he was a big help. Good thing he was wearing his light saber to fend off any bad guys that tried to attack while we were working on the tree.

He took the branches out of the box.

and organized them very carefully on the floor.

There were still more in the box though. He finally managed to get them all out.

The happy boy and his tree.

We managed to rummage up a set of working lights…yeah, we were a bit shocked as well.

We even had a few decorations to add to the tree. Not bad at all.

To help keep Milo away from the more fragile nativity scenes in the house we acquired a kid friendly nativity. Milo organized it all with a bit of direction.

Adding the final piece.

December 12, 2007

Happy Holidays!

The votes are in and the Little family event of the year is…the birth of our daughter Holly! She has more than evened the parents to children ratio at the Little house. Running a close second was Scott’s summer internship with Freescale Semiconductor in Austin, TX. Since Scott reported to work a few weeks after Holly arrived, Monica and the children stayed in Utah for a month before going to visit Scott in Austin for a month. The summer was certainly challenging, but we agree that we all learned a lot from the experience. Scott did have a pair of really great road trips going to and from Austin.

We managed to have a few other noteworthy trips during the year. Some of our other adventures around Utah included trips to the Wave (on two separate occasions), Antelope Canyon (in Page, AZ), Snow Canyon SP, Moab, Goblin Valley, some slot canyons near Escalante, and of course, our fall visit to Bryce Canyon National Park. Monica, Milo, & Holly enjoyed a great trip to Yellowstone with Monica’s family this year. They did get a little sick while there but enjoyed being with all the cousins. We also had season tickets to the Real Salt Lake games. Scott missed quite a few games due to his internship, but the rest of us thoroughly enjoyed the games without him…apparently they didn’t miss his boisterous outbursts at the referees and opposing team. The team didn’t play particularly well, but the experience was still fun.

Milo has grown up in many different ways this year. He has learned how to be a great big brother. He can get carried away at times but is mostly a big help. He loves to watch movies and sword fight or wrestle with anyone who is willing. Milo enjoyed visiting his father in Texas. He loves going to the library to get new books. He often selects books that we’ve had before. Monica tries to encourage him to try new books every once in a while. This resulted in Milo frequenting the Spanish section of the library for a month or so. The only problem was that Mom could never read the books properly…only Dad. Milo loves to push his baby sister around in the stroller…all by himself. Milo likes to play with Holly and he gets very happy when he can get her to smile. Milo enjoys going to the soccer games. In fact, he asked Monica the other day when our next game was. Too bad it isn’t for a few more months. He has a hard time concentrating on the entire game but cheers right on cue. It is fun to look down and see him cheering with the rest of the crowd. As everyone expects, he continues to enjoy playing computer games and surfing pbskids.org.

Holly has been a joy in our lives. She was born on Monday, May 7, 2007 at 4:31 a.m. Yes, she decided to come in the middle of the night. Scott wasn’t too happy about her timing, but we welcomed her anyway. Milo was very excited to have a baby sister, but after she arrived, it took him a little while to regain his excitement. Milo always wants Holly to play with him. She does what she can. She loves Milo’s attention and gets worried when he isn’t in her face. She has been grown up quickly and is now starting to crawl. Holly loves to look around and see what is happening around her. She seemed to enjoy the soccer games and did manage to sleep through some of them but wanted to watch everything happening through some of them too. She loves to get into Milo’s things. He, on the other hand, doesn’t like it so much. Milo figured out how to solve his problem of her getting into his things by building a “wall” of pillows. Unfortunately, she can now crawl over the wall.

Finally, a few of the boring, requisite details. Scott is (finally!) finishing his Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of Utah. He is in the process of applying for faculty positions around the country, so we’ll see if he can actually find a job. He is also teaching a class at the University of Utah in the spring which will put many of his adventures to a quick halt. It should be an interesting year full of change and responsibility. Monica survived her maternity leave with the two children and no husband but returned to work before Scott arrived back in Salt Lake City. That was a challenge. Monica is grateful to everyone who helped watched the kids during that time. She certainly learned a lot about taking care of the kids and the house by herself. The most exciting thing in her life is that she is quitting her job in an attempt to keep track of Scott, Milo, and Holly. What a handful! She is looking forward to that challenge.

Scott, Monica, Milo, & Holly

Last year Scott put together a photo montage of his favorite photos taken during the year. He enjoyed the trip down memory lane and decided to do it again this year. Several different sizes are found below for everyone’s viewing enjoyment.

Small sized photo montage
Medium sized photo montage

Milo had asked about when we could go to see the water at Temple Square. We decided that we should just get out and go. We found our hats and gloves and went.

Holly with her hat.

Milo insists that he pushes Holly in the stroller. We heard our share of “I can do it myself.” and “I don’t need no help.” come out of his mouth as we tried to guide him over, around, and through the masses of people.

Holly was content to just sit in the stroller with her pacifier. We woke her up from a nap to take her, so she was a little tired. She stayed awake until the walk back to the car.

We let Milo lead the way. He wanted to go see the water. We walked up and down the long sections of water on the cobblestone walkways. He stopped and looked at each section. Not too long after we started, he stuck his gloved hand in the water. Sure enough, his hands started to get cold.

Don’t jump in!

Milo found a plant in the water and fished it out. What a nice little boy…

We did take a minute to go and look inside the tabernacle. It looks very beautiful inside. We didn’t go inside because it looked like they were going to have a concert soon.

How about we finish with a nice abstract photo of the lights. Good stuff.

We woke up early so that we would have plenty of time to get to the wave before too many people arrived as well as enough time to do some exploring. The plan was to meet up with Brent at the trailhead. Things worked out well and we found Brent without incident. We started on our hike and things seemed to be working out just fine. Although, Milo was a little slow in the hiking situation and Holly didn’t seem too keen on being in the carrier another day. We made it out to the section of the trail where you can access the lace rocks.

Laurann and Milo stopping to take a little break with their Super 8 cards.

Monica, Milo, & Holly stayed behind so that Milo could have a few treats and Holly could have a bottle. Scott, Laurann and Brent went to see the lace rocks. The area is simply beautiful and fascinating. It is a bit steep in places but well worth the effort. Laurann found the rocks a bit too anatomical to be beautiful…I guess you can decide for yourself.

A beautiful pair of skeletal looking rocks.

A close-up abstract of some lace rock.

An HDR of the lace rocks that I thought turned out quite nice.

In the lace rocks area there are some beautiful lines in the sandstone. The lighting was nice on this area and I couldn’t resist a photo.

As we were returning across the slickrock to Monica, Milo, and Holly, Brent found this pedestal upon which he could pontificate…

After Scott and the crew came back, we continued our hike across the country side to the wave. By this time, Milo was starting to get tired, so he hopped up on Scott’s shoulders. Laurann and Brent found a way around the steep sand hill, by going up some rocks, and Monica thought that worked out much nicer. She claims it is a lot better than walking up the dreaded sand hill.

Monica & Holly after they arrived at the wave.

Laurann and Milo resting near the wave.

Scott was able to get some great pictures of the wave. It was a beautiful day and the sky looked great. We rested and ate some lunch and just relaxed. We all took turns going around to explore the wave.

The next 4 images are of the main wave area. Based on the time of year and time of day the shadows were starting to creep across the main wave making some of the photos look a bit shadowy.

Sandstone lines.

Brent tried to hang on long enough for me to get a photo, but he isn’t quite tough enough.

Connect the dots…la-la-la-la.

Milo enjoyed playing in the sand and with a stick very much. Milo always seems to find a way to entertain himself and it usually always involves sand, sticks or water. You can tell that he was enjoying playing with all three.

Milo drains his Camelbak on the rock as Brent tries to keep the sun out of a photo.

Milo is tough enough to pose for a photo on the steep slickrock.

A boy and his stick.

Rolling around in the sand. Does it get any better than this?

Milo playing in the alcove that was getting some really fantastic light in the late afternoon.

Several of us went to see what is called the second wave. It is another section of rocks that looks very cool.

As we were leaving, there was another guy there taking pictures. We talked to him for a few minutes. He took a photo of us so that everyone could see how we had been and were going to hike for the rest of the day.

We then decided it was time to start back down the trail. We were able to do that with no problems. Although, both kids were starting to get tired and Scott and Monica were getting tired of carrying them. After arriving back at the trail head, Brent headed back to Salt Lake City, and we headed back to the Super 8 house in Page.

After we got cleaned up, we went to a great Mexican restaurant we found. It was a great meal. We headed back to the Super 8 house so that we could finish getting things packed up in preparation for heading home the next day.

Scott woke up early the last day to go take some pictures at Horseshoe Bend which is a fun little morning location near Page. Thanks to his new panoramic tripod head he was able to get a number of nice panoramic images.

Horseshoe bend in pre-dawn light.

Larger version
A panoramic image of Horseshoe bend as the sun comes across the mesa.

When Scott got back, we were ready to go head out. We made it back to Salt Lake in time for Monica to go to work.

We had a great time at the wave, but realized that it is a bit more challenging to take our kids on two consecutive long days of hiking. They would do great with one, but two right in a row, well, that is a bit more challenging.

We decided that on the way down to see the Wave again, that we’d stop and stay at Bryce Canyon for a night and take in its beauty.

This is a great image of Bryce in the early morning light. Beautiful! Yeah, there is an annoying lens flare artifact.

Larger image

We always try to take a picture of Thor’s hammer while we are there. You just seem to always get a great image.

Holly chilling it in the backpack as we prepare to start out our hike to the Peek-A-Boo loop.

Holly didn’t seem to complain that her hat was covering her eyes, who knows, maybe she was asleep.

Milo loves to wear his “backpack.” We can’t go hiking anywhere without it. He loves to drink from it and spill his water out. He used up most of his water by spilling it on the ground. Luckily it wasn’t too hot that day…

This is a picture of Milo, Laurann, Monica & Holly in one of the arches on the descent into the amphitheater.

Some time ago, there were some rocks that came tumbling down making the trail down wall street impassable. The rangers were able to build some stairs so you can safely pass through this part of the trail again. The stairs were pretty cool and a great addition.

This is one of the resting spots that Milo and Laurann decided to stop at. It is located near the famous tree growing near the end of wall street.

Holly was a great little sport on our hike. We didn’t have too many problems with her, well except for at the end of the hike she got a little cranky…not as bad as her brother though when he was her age.

Holly seemed to have this odd fascination with Monica’s hat. We were glad to provide some cheap entertainment for the girl.

There was a small amount of ice on one part of the trail and Milo insisted on stopping and taking a look at it for a few minutes.

And of course, what is a hiking trip to Bryce without the diaper change picture. We have to continue the tradition…

The sky was beautiful for when we came to the wall of windows. We love going on the Peek-A-Boo loop trail. It is a great hike.

We decided after we finished our hike in Bryce Canyon, that we should get started on our way to down to Page, Arizona. We decided to take the 40-mile scenic route and go down the Cottonwood Canyon road. It is a dirt road that starts in Tropic and ends a ways outside of Page. We were able to travel on the road with no problems. We did stop to see the Grosevnor Arch. It was pretty cool. We were amazed at the country we saw as we traveled down the road.

This is the Grosevnor Arch with the surrounding landscape.

Grosevnor Arch up close.

We had a great day. We went to the Super 8 House and got things situated for our trip to the wave the next day.

Several weeks ago when we were in Morgan, Milo was able to play with his friend Jacob. They have become quite good friends and they seem to enjoy each other’s company. On this particular day, they were playing with the new swords that Grandma purchased. They enjoyed sheathing their swords, sword fighting and charging around. Good times!