Nothing like a hike down by not hiking up.

Up at Sundance is this fantastic little deal where you can ride the ski lift up the hill and then just lazily meander back down the mountain all for the price of a venti triple chociatto whosie-whatsit blah blah from SBUX. With a beautiful Saturday morning on our hands, my parents and I drove up the canyon to admire the view from thirty-six feet off the ground. The scrub oaks are blazing red but the quaking aspens haven't made it into fall yet. Just the same, it was a nice little hike down to Stuart Falls and back to the parking lot where we could admire all the Seminoles in town for the BYU football game. At Sundance, they also do mountain biking where you rent all your gear, take the lift up, and then either speed or tumble head over handle bars down the mountain (dependent on your skill level). On my list to do, don't know if I'll get it in though.

Erm, hum. Let's take that picture again.

So tonight I got to go out to dinner and see my dear college roommates from my junior year at BYU, Lacey, Darci, and Barbara (L to R). These three, particularly Darci since we were roommates our senior year as well plus a very memorable five week escapade across Europe, are just so spectacular and stand out and shine among the myriad of housemates I've had. (Given the decade spent as a nomadic Bedouin, I've had many good ones.) At any rate, we met up in Salt Lake and caught up with how we're all doing since it's been two years since I last saw them. All three are juggling a bazillion things along with Lacey convincing me to become her sister-in-law, Darci regaling us with the horrors of an HOA, and Barbara instructing us on the finer points of getting out of speeding tickets (she's never been pulled over but is married to an officer of the law). We decided to get our picture taken by the manager of the little cafe we were at. He took the above picture, saw it, and said, "Erm, hum. Let's take that picture again." We all burst out laughing and he took another and said, "Oh that's better." Really? Thanks you guys, it was wonderful to see you!

It's 88!

Tonight was my grandmother's 88th birthday party. She's an amazing dynamo that reminds me how great it is be a hard worker. She still gets up early, works in the garden for several hours, does name extractions for a few more hours, hits the weights at the gym, climbs mountains, kayaks rivers, and still has enough time to keep up with several different college football teams and what they should do about their coaching staff or left tackle. Tires me out just typing all that she does. Maybe when I'm 88 I'll buck up and get that much done. Right now, it's all I can do to make sure I get Matlock in while I'm on vacay. Well, for her party, my parents made delicious smoked pulled pork sandwiches, salad, rolls, baked beans, and lots and lots of cakes. I was in charge of decorations and you know I love event planning. So I ran down and got balloons to backdrop the yard, made little flags saying "happy birthday genevieve r. moulton 88" to stick into the top of watermelon wedges for every plate, and got the music going. As I drove my grandma down from the Teton's earlier this week I ran through music choices. She didn't really want Beyonce so I decided to opt for a Pandora blend from Benny Goodman. Turns out the party rocked. But how could it be otherwise with such a wonderful woman of the hour. Here she is with my cousin Tom.

A Grand Weekend Out

Every Labor Day, we head up into the wilds of Wyoming to stare at the mountains. I don't think I'll ever get tired of looking at 'em. Well this year was something else since we had kayaks with us. While we were there, we kayked both on String Lake and also on the headwaters of the Snake River as it tumbles out of Jackson Lake. The trip on String was spent careening around while my 5-year-old nephew Carson acted as the Harbor Master, even going so far as to refuse to take a ride in case one of the other boats needed help landing. The trip down the Snake involved me paddling my 88-year-old grandmother, or maybe I made her paddle while I relaxed, I don't remember, while we kept our eyes peeled for wildlife. I've been to the Teton's a lot and have seen a lot of wildlife including bears, elk, moose, and marmots but I think what I saw this time takes the cake. Er, this is somewhat ridiculous but my Dad and I (aunt, uncle, mom, and grandma missed it) saw an osprey fly out of his nest to perch in a tree downriver, lift his tail feathers, and let his digestions fly. It shot out in a two to three foot stream that spun and then broke apart as it fell to the ground. Fantastic! Oh, and here are some pictures of the trip. Please notice that in the Teton's, handicapped vehicles are first, hybrid vehicles are second. But sadly no picture of the osprey. Well the quality isn't tops but then again, computers can sense that they can do what they want to me. They're like horses. And sharks. They can smell fear. As a side note. I once had a day where five different computers crashed on me. Not the same one five times, five different.

40 days and 40 nights

Hooray! I'm officially on vacaliday. It's like vacation. It's like holiday. It sounds like a muscle relaxant. It's my 40 day break from lab! My original plan after graduating last June was to work through the summer and be done September 1 lock, stock, barrel, and bullets. But as I was concerned about whether or not to look for a post-doctoral fellowships or contact the grounds crew at the El Quemado Por El Sol in Cancun, I decided that perhaps for once, it was time to chat with the boss about what I should do for the next few years. Solution? Work October, November, December but take all of September off for a lot of R and R where the first "R" stands for "Relaxing" and the second R stands for "Relaxation". The time back in lab would give me enough time to find a postdoc and finish up some publications. I'm not really thinking about the 10th, 11th, or 12th month of the year because I'm focused on not doing anything but catch up with my friends and family and enjoy some well deserved time off. Like I said, play hard.

Guns N' Moses

Oh my oh my oh my. Emily, Tom, Jonny, and I all headed out to the Grant County Fair. Unbelievable fun and I send my warmest appreciation to the Goodrich family for letting us come bother them for the weekend. We spent Friday night watching "Die the Hardest Ever" or something like that and I realized that Bruce Willis is incredibly fun to watch when the world is against him. Saturday morning we went out to the fair to watch Emily defend her third place title in the Siphon Setting World Championships. Er, Jonny and I also competed but us city kids have nothing on these legits. Although Jonny definitely had some flair and won the crowd over by testing the wind and by "only being an accountant". After a lunch of space burgers which I'm sure you'll all remember hearing about from the last time we went to the fair, we went shooting (shooting!!!) with Emily's dad where I realized that I should probably close one eye while shooting and neither keep both open while I'm tracking the disc or close both with the 12-gauge goes off. Then to the rodeo that night. We saw barrel racers and broncos and girls that can flip up and over and around the horse. But the day was not over, it was off to the carnival to ride the Zipper. I love love carnival rides for reasons unknown. Nothing that big and dangerous and spinnie should be portable! But here we are about to go on. And here we are again where Emily is super amused at my willingness to cozy up to Tom before his dangerous ride on the Zip. And here is Jonny ready to roll where we definitely did get flipped up and down. Fantastic! Thank you, thank you, thank you to the Goodrich's! My trips out to their home have been some of the highlights of my time in Seattle.

I think I am, I know I am

So Seattle finally has an MLS team. Now this may not be a big deal to most of the planet but for a city that partially prides itself on being all things European and home to the bakery that led America to the World Baking Cup and simultaneously ticking off the French, it's a big deal to the city. In fact, the Sounders FC have broken attendance, merch sales, etc. records for the MLS and it's only their first season. Tonight I got the prime chance to see the Sounders in action against none other than FC Barcelona with Messi scoring two goals. I was also impressed with the enthusiasm of the fans. Big green, blue, and black flags waved over the crowd, the field was littered in glitter, and unified chants at the seventy-somethingth minute of "I'm Sounders til I die, I know I am I'm sure I am, I'm Sounders til I die" made for a terrific night at the ball park. Er, pitch. Muchas gracias Tomas!