Santa Fe! Are you there?

(A song from the movie "Newsies"). Before Christian donned the black mask.

ANYWAY..........I find it ironic that when my life is the busiest, I have the least amount of time to blog, and then when I do actually blog I feel like it's boring because the reason why I am blogging is that life has slowed down and I have nothing to share. Hence, the following post:

I have a couple more pictures of Santa Fe. You really wouldn't guess that we were only there for one day. And please, to my fans who commented on my apparel in the "hiking" pictures, re-read the story about how we were just supposed to take the tram that day but because of bad weather they shut it down and so we took a spontaneous hike in the rain. I obviously would have dressed differently if the initial plan had been a hike.......duh. Also the reason why Jessica was wearing heels, as pictured.

VERY VERY WET. Nate's jeans are not really that dark and my jacket is not two-toned.

Even with all my apathy towards animals, (and that doesn't make me a bad person) I truly love riding horses. I got to ride all the time while I lived in Jackson Hole, I miss that.

Not sure why Nate's picture looks smaller than the rest, but isn't he adorable?



So that's the end of that trip. Maybe in a month or two I'll post about D-land, the Grand Canyon, or other good times we've had recently. But mostly I stay busy with the Young Women, (including a sleepover/sewing party this evening), and work, and spending time with Nate. Today I will try and get around to decorating for Halloween. It's one of the two holidays I decorate for and I haven't started. Soooo behind. This weekend my parents are coming to town and my nephew is getting ordained and Nate's work is having a "cocktail party". And that is an entirely different story.

PS. Wasn't General Conference fabulous?

The News

I need help. I'm serious.

CAUTION: Those who avoid reading the news because it is too depressing, you may want to stop reading here.

When things are slow at work sometimes I look at the news online. I boycott cnn.com off and on because they are SO biased politically, but I haven't found a better new site yet, so I went there today. I'm sure some of you will have already heard about one or all of the following, but here's what I saw in the news today:

1) A bombing at the US Embassy in Yemen, multiple attackers, mostly suicide bombers. I think I can understand the idea of dying for a cause, but if your cause is to kill other people? I'm lost.

2) In Nevada, a supposed serial rapist/murderer is on the loose, who leaves the underwear of it's previous victim at the site of his current crime.

3) In Phoenix, a 14-year-old left her living healthy baby in a garbage can. I know this is not the first time we've heard a story like this, but it still shocks me every time. The baby was found by the principal, luckily.

4) Thousands of babies are sick in China because of tainted baby formula. A few have died. The men who say they're responsible say they did it to cover losses of a previous rejection of their business.

Not to mention the devastation that natural disasters are spreading.

I think I can stop there, you get the idea. The news just stinks, I really hate it. But do I just try to be ignorant of goings on in the world? Do I read but try not to internalize anything? How do I feel informed without having to read story after devastating story? And the topics I mentioned are just from ONE DAY. I need advice.

So, I require comment from my readers. Both of you. I want to be an informed citizen of this country, but sometimes the news just makes me sad. (Now that I think about it, there was a really good conference talk about this subject a while ago. I'll read that, too.) So tell me what to do. I'm up for suggestions.

Bad Blogger

I don't even count this post as getting back into the blogging side of life, because it's going to be pretty pitiful. To be brief, Nate and I went out of town FIVE times in the past eight weeks. I just got some pictures from one of those trips, a whirlwind 24 hours we spent with Nate's family in Santa Fe, so I'm posting them......well, because, I have nothing else to say.

When we found out the mountain tram was closed for bad weather, we decided to go on a "hike" (scaling a mountain full of cactus) with Nate's brother Ian and his wife Jessica. (Fabulous people, we love them). It only took an hour or two, but it was pouring down rain almost the whole time, which made it adventurous. Jessica was wearing heels!! Ian had his very expensive camera and tried futilely to keep it dry. My hair was so soaked it was dripping water and hairspray into my eyes so I couldn't see a thing. All in all, we had a GREAT time.

I See London.....

My sister whose first three children were crazy little boys thought she would never have her girl. Well, at last, she did. You can tell by the bow.......this little girl will be showered with all things girly. And that's the way it should be. :) Welcome to the fam, little London Leigh. You'll learn to love the chaos. Embrace it.

Fields of Gold Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Fields of Gold Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Stinking Heat.

I miss my backyard. Sometimes I look out the back door like a kid on a rainy day and yearn for the time to come when we can go outside again.......alas, it will be October before the weather shapes up. Not that I'm not grateful....we had a BEAUTIFUL month of May and we have a couple get-out-of-the-heat trips planned during the worst of it. But I really miss my backyard! Our grass is at its greenest during the hottest months (does that make sense to anyone?) and our "shade" tree is getting so big and shady. Our BBQ and fire pit are just sitting there on the patio, collecting dust and lots of sun, and yet we stay inside with the AC. Sigh.

So, I post a tribute to the time we spend in our backyard in the normally gorgeous weather we have here in Phoenix. Then I'm going swimming.

This is Nate's sister, her hubby and four kids, and Nate's brother. Notice the kid in the orange, Cameron, as far from the fire as he could get. He was terrified. Then yesterday we were at their house and Cameron asked if we could do the fire again. Kids have 2-second memories. Anway, in this picture we are making s'mores, a common occurence at the Kolbaba household. (S'mores ingredients are in our food storage supply. Only the necessities, right?)

I joined my first giveaway!

Which is funny cause I don't have any kids, but everyone I know is pregnant so these could be great shower gifts.

Ice Cream Social Frock Giveaway!!!!
Roosters-N-Rickrack Pinafore GIVEAWAY!!!!