Chemical Party

Summer Fauna

We were having a picnic on Mt. Charleston and this little guy wanted to get in on it. He was very persistent, but in the end only ended up getting our crumbs.

For some reason as a science teacher you think that you've seen/heard of most of the terrifyingly weird creatures that exist, but I had never experienced these guys. I think they're called Fox Bats and have a wingspan of over 4 feet. Imagine that flying at you!! Perhaps they're especially terrifying to me because we have a lot of bats here at dusk that like to dive bomb you as you're out taking a walk. P.S. - these were at the Columbus Zoo

Pretty Birds - Columbus Zoo

This owl never came out from behind the tree, but look at the size of those FEET!! I know it's hard to tell the scale, but they were each about 8 in across. I'm pretty sure this guy could pick up a small child if he wanted to.

Perhaps a bearded dragon? That's Adam's guess. Also at the Columbus Zoo.

This is from our front yard zoo. This roadrunner likes to frequent our yard and make funny squaking/clicking sounds. Up until about 2 years ago I had never seen a real one, but they're easily identifiable as they really do run just like the roadrunner on loony tunes.

And he/she's off ...

...and running down the road

Burro babies. There are TONS of babies in Blue Diamond this year. So many in fact that the BLM is trying to decide what to do with them because the herd size is too big. I'll keep you posted. The babies are super cute though. They remind me of puppies because they like to chase each other around and roll around in the dirt.

More Maple Canyon

Curious little guy

Over the river and through the woods...

1898!!

Giant Aspen!!

Lumberjack Adam says "let's chop 'em down!"

Our camp site - not too shabby!!

Bambie with a skin disease

Yep, that's snow!

This summer Adam and I have spent about a total of three weeks climbing in Maple Canyon, UT. It's about 2 hrs south of Salt Lake City and in a really beautiful area. The above pics aren't taken in Maple Canyon, but in the valley below (horses) and across from the canyon on the Wasatch Plateau (where we went for a rest day from climbing).

Gotta love the view from my backyard

Go Cart Racing!! My choice for a birthday party.

Where has the time gone?!

Dad putting his game face on for the putting competition at father's day golf outing

Uncle Rick's the winner!

Brian in the chipping competition

This stray kitty has make himself part of the Conley family. Here he is sleeping with his nose on the rock.

Dessert on the patio at Yellowtail at the Bellagio.

Givin' Elvis some love.

Zion N. P.

The view from our hotel balcony right outside of Zion National Park - pretty nice!!

Gina Graduated from College!! She'll be heading to North Carolina in the fall for grad school.

It's been quite a while since i updated this thing, but for a while there i didn't really feel like I had anything to update! The last month however has been quite a whirlwind. Let's see... I turned 29, which is apparently about as bad as turning 30, because all the teasing about "almost being old" has caused me to actually accidentally tell two people that I was 30. Maybe I'm losing my mind already, well, probably not "maybe". Most significantly, to me anyway, I am now out of school for the summer!! It was actually a birthday present as my last day with students was June 2nd. What else... oh, my parents came out for a week long visit about two weeks ago. It was a super fun time. We did the strip thing but also went to Zion for two days. This was my mom's first National Park and I think only my dad's second. I think they had a great time despite the 100+ temps. And now I am in Ohio. I've been here since Thursday and today was the first day that it felt like i got to sit down for more than 5 minutes at a time. It's been great though - I've been able to see lots of family because of the church festival and a graduation party. I really do miss have so much family around. Well, that's all for now! Here are a few pictures from the past month.

Tulips

Look at my beautiful tulips! They are in my yard but no, i did not plant them. If I had, they probably wouldn't look so good! Thank you whoever lived here before me :)