The Bugs of Southern Utah

Paul and I spent a wonderful weekend in southern utah. While it snowed in idaho falls and provo, I got sunburnt and probably the best chaco tan lines I have ever had! My allergies were killing me the whole weekend. I guess when I was shaking branches I found pollen instead of bugs. We had a really good time though. The first night was spent at Lytle Ranch in the most southwest corner of Utah.
The sunset was amazing!














Paul and I had a blast looking for scorpions...although we didn't find any the first night we did have a great time with the blacklight and pretended to be starwars superstars with fearsome lightsabers
We missed the smashing pumpkins concert :( which was sad but really we don't need to go to a concert for good music...We dug through the plant litter and found beetles and crickets. I know this is a bug catching trip but I can't get over my love for amphibians!
The second day we made some stops in which my allergies were exceedingly bothersome and we weren't finding much
so Paul and I kept occupied by taking pictures and making sweet movies!

The second night was spent in this amazingly beautiful campground by st george.




My dinners didn't really turn out too well. I should really stop volunteering for things I don't know how to do.

There was some good brother/sister/bug bonding....














Sweet Huge Coleoptera...

Zandy Zoozy's Birthday Party

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Z! I can't believe that Zander is already 4. I saw his birth. So here are my memories...I was going to run a 5 k in the morning of september 27th but my best friend jaime and I had just gotten back from hot dates and she started explaining to me the aspects of lacrosse that I hadn't been quite able to grasp....so there is was 2:00am when my cutie sister mindy calls me and exclaims that she is having a baby. Jaime and I rush into her sweet silver mustang and haul to the cottonwood hospital (ok I am not actually sure of the hospital name but it was really hard to find) So we rush into the delivery room and mindy was having contractions and jason was asleep, so I went over to mindy and started talking, I hope I was getting her mind off of stuff but I think I was probably just annoying (but not as bad as jason :) ) When it looked like the time was on hand (somewhere between 4 and 6 am) I got out the video camera a videoed as I spoke soothing words of love towards mindy (it will be interesting to watch the video and see what I really said) Births aren't exactly what I thought they would be like and rather more painful and messy. But cutie little Zander came into the world as my little best friend...he didn't actually have a name for a few days they couldn't decide whether it should be ryker, montego, or zander. I got to hold Zandy second after mindy and before jason. He is so very special to me becasue of the good times we had especially disneyland. His birthday was a lot of fun. We ate tractor cake, played on the tramp, played with trains, and watched a new backyardagains show. Of course every birthday has its "It's my party, I can cry if I want to" moments so I thought I would include this one! I just love being with the family and I am glad that I live so close to the cutesy browns so I can enjoy wonderful moments like this! Zander got a cd player for his birthday and I cd full of freaking sweet songs from his bestest aunt and here are some cute moves....

This movie shows where Zandy got his moves from....

little bitty

So this is cutie Zander on the way to the fair. I have found that the family reunion cd I made is quite the hit especially in the younger generation. Yay for me for being a cool sister and an even awesomer aunt! ok so i decided it wouldn't be fair to post this with out some of cute marian and her dance moves...

the fair

Yesterday, Cody and I attended the Utah State Fair. It was a blast. We went with the cutie patooty Brown family and had a wonderful time enjoying the stinky animals (yes i stepped in manure), the greasy fair food, the huge produce (Jason is sad he didn't enter in Irelynd's pumpkin which is 500lbs and the biggest one there was 250), the excitement and people. I love the fair which most likely stems back from happy days of going to the fair with the good ole frandsen family clan. I made cody dress up just like we used to because I didn't feel right going with out wearing a cowboy hat and my tightest pair of pants (sadly, I don't own wranglers). The funnest part was Jason paying for mindy, irelynd, drake and I to jump on the bouncy thing. It was a blast let me tell you! I can't believe how much work it was though. You only go for 2.5 minutes but I felt more tired then I did after my marathon. Plus, my abs are killing today. Good work out I guess. I did manage to do some quadruple back flips followed my a front flip into another backflip. Sadly, cody only got my first double back on tape so the video is of me doing just two sweet flips. I am going to try to post mindy and the rest too....we will see if it works....this new video attacher is awesome! Zander got to ride the mechanical bull. He kept telling me he wanted to ride the pool. I am little slow and had to wait for him to lead me by the hand and show me until I fully understood. (bull was way better then pool--i have had enough of pools if they are in fact the reason for my latest renewed friendship with my bathroom :) Anyway, I love the fair!
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INSECTS!

ah...the joys of being a biologist. I find that it is not very common to see a woman of my age get very excited over a big stack of smelly scat or of a particularly hairy, fast, spider...but I DO! I am very much loving my new entomology class and I am finding the world of insects to be a very fascinating place! The best part, of course, is the fact I managed to course my little brother into joining the class with me and he is now my side-kick and partner in crime as we capture/kill bugs for our insect collections.

This past weekend we spent up Spanish Fork Canyon collecting. If you are wondering about the pictures...YES that is a damsel fly in my mouth. It is convenient to hold them their while preparing the glassine envelope. The guy with the authentic Tahitian crown is our professor- he's amazing!check out paul's sweet skills here:

ALMOST TO NEBO...

The tragic story of six young college students that take on the fearsome Mount Nebo. The mountain wins as they stumble back down the trail lost, forsaken, sick and scared of the upcoming lightning storm ahead.

The ColorBlind House/Outfit

Hey Fam remember the Color Blind House that used to bug Dad...well today I was wearing the color blind outfit. Purple tanktop + orange tennis skirt + green runners= fREakINg aWeSoME!! Yeah, as a new "get-camie-into-shape" movement I am implementing the "wear-whatever-feels-good" policy...so at least I look good while feeling crappy running up the sweet hills around P-town.

MY PAULIE BRO IS BACK!!!

So sweet Paul/ Elder Frandsen is finally back after 2 years of service. He is so dang cute, a fast runner, and cooler than evEr! Here's some pictures of the fabtabulous day!

Paul and mommalita...

I love my grandparents!

Every Tuesday night I have been visiting my grandparents and spending a few hours with them. I just have to proclaim that I LOVE it and I have been learning soooooo much. Tonight my grandmother taught me how to make jam. She is an expert! We first took all of the nuts from the apricots and then smashed them making a very gooey mess. Then we boiled them and added pectin and lemon juice and lots of sugar. Grandpa came in to help us stir as well as he brought up more sugar. It was super funny because grandpa keep telling grandma what to do and she kept muttering about how she was the one who taught him how to can and that lady that said...wasn't born until she had been canning for 20 years and ect. It is fun to see how they interact together adn how much they love each other still! Grandma told me about how she would do dishes with her father and he would wash and she would wipe. She said that if she ever saw that he didn't clean a spot he would say and what kind of good wiper can't clean that off ;). I have already gained some really great memories with grandma and grandpa---looking at their wedding album with the card that was ripped from the side of a paper bag and grandpa laughing so hard his eyes teared, grandpa eating ice cream and a protein shake after every meal, and grandma so proud of her newly decorated kitchen. Did you know grandpa was baptized in the Manti temple? ---Pretty cool stuff. Plus I am finding out things that I do that grandma does too: she likes her cookies on the well done side, she drinks water from the tap becasue she doesn't like it that cold, and she loves apricot jam on her pancakes!

amature photographer

A big part of my job at the ISSR is to take pictures of the wildlife that I see. I am quite an amature but I have been taking some really good pics lately and I thought I would share them with ya'll. It is really fun to finally get a really nice camera to use and a lot of time to experiment--ENJOY! (if anyone wants prints contact me--wink wink)