Summer Hiatus

Hmmm. So far this Summer, my machine has only served as a collection plate. Piled with fabrics to finish my boy's fox quilt, a few new frames I picked up the other day and mail. Sewing seems to have taken a back seat to Summer. And I'm okay with that. In fact, I think it's pretty fantastic. Our days have been filled with trips to the pool, library, play dates, baseball games, hiking, fishing and camping. Today, I thought I'd share a few pictures of the beautiful mountains that surround the Salt Lake Valley.

This is one of our favorite spots. It's called Donut Falls. The day I took this picture, we were up there pretty early in the morning, so the water was freezing, and up to my knees in the donut hole.

My sweet boy always picks me flowers. 

Last week we went to Lake Mary . The hike was lined with wildflowers. It's one of the more colorful hikes I've been on. Definitely worth it just for the flowers, but the lake is pretty amazing too. 

Here's something you don't know about me. I love thistles. I always have. I love the flowers they produce; I love to see how pokey they are. They fascinate me.

Another one of our favorite spots. On this visit, we were able to catch a small frog in the marsh. He was only about 1.5" long. There are also ducks there, that are not shy and very willing to share your lunch :)

I hope everyone is enjoying their Summer as well. I may even get around to cleaning my machine off before school starts again ;)

On a fabric note, Hello Darling is currently in transit from the Moda warehouse and should be arriving the shop on Friday. But it could also be Monday. I'm really hoping for Friday!

Capitol Reef

A couple of weeks ago, we took a little mini vacation down to Capitol Reef National Park. My family has always had this horrible curse of it raining or snowing every time we went camping. This time was no exception. It snowed a few days before we left. On the drive, it snowed. The closer we got, the more snow there was. Luckily when we got the park, no snow. No rain. Yet. 

After we set up camp, we went on a small hike along the Fremont River. How gorgeous is this ravine?! 

It was sunny and warm, and breathtaking!

Of course, I had not escaped the family curse. It rained later that night, for a couple of hours. Our tiny [4] man tent doesn't have a real roof. It's mesh, with a separate cover in case of weather. Which also means that the wind blows up under the cover and directly in the tent. Good thing I packed about 5 quilts with me :)

The next morning was still pretty cold, but as soon as the sun came out, it warmed up quickly and we set out on our next hike up Cohab Canyon.

I love this canyon! I can't even describe how beautiful it is. Good thing I took a few pictures!

My parents and nephews accompanied us. Between us, there were 4 kids. They did awesome! This hike was a little over 3 miles round trip. We took our time and enjoyed it. It took about 4 hours. The kids walked the whole way. 

Later, we did another stroll through Grand Wash. Another incredible piece of Earth! The best part for the kids was climbing in all the little pockets along the Wash walls. I'm not ashamed to say, that was fun for me too :) 

We only stayed 2 nights. I wish it could have been longer, but that just means I have to go back. And, really, I can't wait!