Elevation: 9712'

We had one day. Count it. One. One day for fall break.

But Michelle, Shananaba, and I made the most of it. We hiked to the top of Ben Lomond. 16 miles. My buttox hurt for three days.

Shanna, Me, and Michelle at the beginning of the trail

We felt so accomplished! We had made the most of our break by singing, talking, prancing, jogging, short-cutting up the mountain side. We saw many a squirrel and took many a picture to pass the time. Shanna named rocks. "The" Rock, "A" Rock, "B" Rock, "C" Rock...."I" Rock...."P" Rock... Pinecones were chucked, and I fashioned a bouquet of dry wild flowers

"P" Rock

We encountered every season of Utah. We went through breezy, sweltering, muddy, snowy, cloudy. When we reached the top, we practically rested in a cloud. It was chilly, but so neat to watch as the cloud enveloped us.

Trudging through the mud

...through snow

...through heat

9712' in a cloud

And later that night I managed to drag myself to a football game. :) Go me.

Cannibalistic Overfed (Underfed?) Fish

Our fish are dying off...one...by one...and eerily enough, it seems to happen every 10 days.

Our fish arrived on September 21, 2009.

Phil passed through the watery veil on October 1, 2009 after being attacked by his cannabalistic fishmates...they ate one of his fins. He was alive, and resting at the bottom of the bowl, having no way to reach the food at the top. He didn't make it through the night.

R.I.P Phil

10 days later, on October 11, 2009, Taylor fed the fish their daily allowance of rations. All were alive and well. Not even ten minutes later, Kelsie walked over to the fish bowl to discover that Tim was now floating at the top of the water...no sign of a gill pump.

R.I.P Tim

We had intents of having elaborate funeral services. We even held viewings for each of them, but alas, dead fish in plastic food container caskets sitting on the counter do not store dead fish well over a few days. And their glazed-over eyes were heart wrenching. We flushed them ourselves. No Phil carrying a bible, just some one on one time with our fish and us.

October 21, 2009 is coming in two days....