Little Valley Days

Saturday was the big day for Mantua.  The parade was at 10:00 and there were festivities all day long in the city park topped off with fireworks.  Nicole and Steve came up for the parade and the carnival. Alyssa was excited to not only watch the parade but be in the parade with Uncle Quent in the Fish Truck.  Quent said that Alyssa loved throwing out candy with him and can't wait until next year's parade.

We all went to Maddox before Steve and Nicole headed home. 

Here are a few pictures *and yes I changed the coloring of the photos to make them look like old faded pictures, I did this on purpose*.  And a side note, I took our point and shoot and due to the sun and shadows my pictures turned out like crap so these pictures are courtesy of Nicole and Steve.  

Logan Canyon:Temple Fork

Quent had to go up Logan Canyon to the Temple Fork area today for work.  The division was supposed to catch rainbow trout, take eggs, fertilize them and then return them to the river as a part of a study to put more fish in the Temple Fork arm of the Logan drainage are. (or so I understand, do not quote me on this as I'm sure I just got something wrong.)  What I do know is that the are is full of whirlings disease and therefore they do not stock the area with hatchery fish. And because it is my summer break and I didn't have much going on today I went with him.

Due to the high runoff and slow runoff we've experienced this year the water was high and the fish had already spawned.  Translation...we didn't get any eggs.  Of the fish they caught they did fine one female that was able to produce eggs however her eggs were much to small and there would have only been about 100 and they were looking for 6000.  Needless to say it was all for not.  I however got to meet some people from the Northern Regional Office and some of the guys from FES in Logan that I hear about all the time but have never met.

After our three-hour spawning expedition Quent drove me to Old Ephraim's grave...the site of the last known grizzly bear in the state of Utah.  From there we returned to Logan, dropped by the Aggie Creamery and had some freakin' delicious ice cream and then headed home. A fun trip up Logan Canyon!

 This summer seasonal checked for a tag, if the fish had a tag then they recorded the weight and length of the fish.  

 We were up on the road, they brought the fish to us.

 Quent in action

 A pretty big rainbow trout!

 A view of the temple fork area up Logan canyon.

Brigham City Temple

The Brigham City Temple is located at 250 South Main Street in Brigham City, Utah.  Construction has been going on for about a year now.  Today was a much anticipated day for the town as the Angel Moroni was lifted up to the top of the temple.

The event closed down a four block radius around the Temple (including main street).  It was to begin about 12:00 noon.  however the rain and wind did not cooperate.  It ended up going up about 1:30 this afternoon.

Little Valley Days

Little Valley Days kicked off tonight with a patriotic program at the town park.  This is the first year I've been able to attend Little Valley Days as I am usually in Las Vegas.

Tonight's program was pretty cool, it started and ended with a flag ceremony, they honored the veterans and of course there was patriotic music.

Tomorrow night is the dutch oven cookoff, Quent and I probably won't attend. Wednesday is the Little-Miss Mantua pageant. Thursday is the golf tournament and Friday is the movie in the park.  Saturday is the big parade in which Quent will drive the fish truck.  There will be a carnival at the town park and fireworks Saturday night.

I hope to post pictures of our town celebration throughout the week.

Willow Park

Quent and I went on a Sunday drive from Mantua to Logan, from Logan to Tremonton and from Tremonton to Mantua.  I'd never been over the road from Logan to Tremonton so we decided to take the long way home, in a raging rain storm I might add.

We stopped at Willow Park in Logan and took a leisurely walk around the Willow Park Zoo, they have an American Bald Eagle with a broken wing, it's on a perch and can't fly. I had also never seen a peacock with the feather's all fanned out.  Something spooked this poor peacock and he was squawking, squawking and squawking. A beautiful site.

Client Site Finished

I wrapped up another client's site this week.  I designed the website and took all the photos.  It's kept me busy the last week or so.  Take a look at what my friends down at Salon 89 have to offer!

Let Freedom Ring

I was just reading what I posted from last year's fourth of July holiday and I guess I can say "DITTO" from last year. Quent worked, my parents came up, we went to the town breakfast and the Brigham City fireworks.  If you want to keep reading here are the details:

We started the weekend off by heading down to Perry City's fireworks on Friday night, although once we were down there we found out it was Saturday night.  OOPS, I guess I read the paper wrong.

So on Saturday we did go to the Perry fireworks, it was fun to get out and celebrate the day.  Sunday my parents came up for dinner, it was fun to visit with them as we haven't seen them since Memorial Day weekend.

Today we went to the town breakfast, yummy pancakes, ham and eggs and Quent worked all day (as he did all weekend).  We are contemplating going to the Brigham City fireworks tonight but after not getting a lot of sleep last night we might not making -- oh and did I mention that the wind is blowing like CRAZY?  If that doesn't stop I'm guessing no fireworks.

You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness.  You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.  ~ Erma Bombeck 

Here are a few pictures I took at the fireworks show tonight in Brigham City.  (Note the picture from above is NOT my picture).  The pictures were not taken with a tripod, I was experimenting with taking pictures of fireworks for the first time, a tripod would have been excellent but you gotta make do with what you have!

Breakfast at Wimbledon

As is tradition the first weekend of July, I get up and watch the Wimbledon finals both Saturday and Sunday.  A great (quick) woman's final yesterday and I'm watching the men's final as we speak. This year breakfast included a new recipe, buttermilk-pecan pancakes with caramel syrup.  YUMMY!!!!  (I really should stop watching the food network and cooking channel.)  Quent liked them and went back for seconds (which is good, I hate when I try new recipes and he doesn't like them)  I believe we'll be eating these again soon! Did I mention I served them with grilled ham steaks? 

Here is the recipe courtesy of Brunch at Bobby's and of course, modified by me.

Pancake Recipe
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup finely chopped toasted pecans
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2 1/4 cups buttermilk**

Whisk together the flour, pecans, light brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, butter and vanilla extract and vanilla bean in a small bowl. Add the egg mixture to the dry mixture and gently mix to combine. Do not over mix. Let the batter sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes and up to 30 minutes before using.

**I use powdered buttermilk, follow directions on package for mixing.

Caramel Syrup
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 vanilla 

Melt butter in large saucepan (believe me you want a large sauce pan).  Add brown sugar and salt, stir until smooth, continue stirring until it reaches full boil and sugar is melted.  Add buttermilk bring to a boil and let boil 8-9 minutes string constantly.  Remove from heat, stir in vanilla.  Let cool for 3-5 minutes before serving.  For thicker sauce use less buttermilk.

Mitchell's Visit!

Mitchell came out from Peoria, Ill. to visit for a week.  Quent picked him up from his mom's house on Monday and he spent the rest of the week with us.  Quent took him to Bear Lake, Lake town, and up to the top of Williard Peak (well almost the top).  He fed the fish, cleaned the fish tanks and weeded our yard.  He mowed the grass, played on his ipod and texted his friends. Friday night Joyce drove up for dinner and took him back to her house as he had an early flight this morning.   All-in-all it was a fun-filled week with a teenager in the house.  Here are some pictures.