Fun Summer Weekend

We had a fun, HOT summer weekend! It was so hot. But I love it! I love this so much more than the frigid winter, which I prefer not to think about.

My sister Jessica and her family passed through Provo so we met up to eat at the Creamery on 9th. I've actually never had a burger there before but it was really good! We don't get to see each other often, and it was really fun to hang out! Her kids are a riot, they are so fun.



































We later went to a natural water slide up by Alpine. It is basically just smoothed rock that you can slide down into the pool of water below. It was really fun! Although for some reason, I bumped around more going down than Jimmy Joe (as you can see from the video!). He says that the faster you try to throw yourself down it, the less it hurt. I didn't buy that. It felt so good to be in the cold mountain water since it was so hot out.





















On the way home from the water slide, we went to my FAVORITE Hawaiian shaved ice stand, in Lindon. It is SO good and pretty cheap. They used to have it located in the parking lot by Cafe Rio in Provo, but ever since last summer it has been at this spot in Lindon. It's so worth the jaunt to go there though. The ice is really fine and the ice cream on the bottom is the best! I got the "Timp Special": peach, raspberry and blueberry. Mmm!

The Fallacy of Megapixels

I have reached a new conclusion: It seems as though new point and shoot cameras are not as good as older models. Jimmy Joe and I have been on a hunt for a point and shoot upgrade with higher resolution for video. The camera we have right now is a Sony Cybershot my Dad picked out 4 years ago for me, with 6 MegaPixel photo quality and standard definition video. I have decided it can't be beat by any of the new point and shoots available. We purchased one of the newer Sony Cybershots that goes up to 12.1 MP, purported to be a great camera with HD video. So the video was better than our current camera, but all pictures were grainy- whether in low light, indoors, outdoors, whatever. After some research, it seems this is the problem: the higher MP cameras have so many little sensors (microscopic lenses), one for each individual MP, packed into the whole sensor. Because they have to make room for all these little sensors the normal partitioning walls that separate them are lost. Thus, information spills over into adjacent sensors, creating more noise-- hence the grainy look. This doesn't happen with lower MP cameras because there are fewer sensors for the fewer megapixels, and the partitions remain and are effective. The images we took on the newer model just seemed blurry, blurred edges, and blurred colors. Not blurring from motion, more a grainy blur quality. So we returned it and got our money back. I think we are going to stick with our oldy but goody, with its definitively crisp and clear photos. Conclusion: It appears that more isn't better, and that older point and shoots with lower MP capability have crisper and cleaner photos that newer ones. Any thoughts?

*Note: This does not apply to DSLRs. They have a larger sensor that avoids this problem. They are awesome.

Freezer Jam and Rainbow

I made strawberry freezer jam a little while ago. I've never made jam before, but it turned out great! Strawberries were $0.77 a lb so I bought a ton. We froze most of them for shakes, and the rest went to jam. I am excited I made jam! It's really not that hard, although real (not freezer) jam is a lot more work. I am a fan of freezer jam. Here is a picture I took of one of the containers.























And....there was a really pretty rainbow a few weeks ago . Jimmy Joe ran up the hill behind our apartment and took a cool picture of it. It was so pretty because you could see both ends. Think we'll have good luck? I hope so!

Air Show

We went to the Air Force air show a few weeks ago. It was so cool. We took some cool pictures with a really fast shutter speed so the planes weren't just a blur. Here is a short slide show.

Kentucky

In May, during the week between my spring and summer semesters, Jimmy Joe and I went to Kentucky to visit my family. My parents and oldest brother live there, and my oldest sister was able to come down with her family from Illinois for half the time! We had a lot of fun. I miss my family so much! It had been a year since I'd seen anyone, and it gets hard not seeing your family! I loved going back and visiting. While we were there we went to Mammoth Caves, the Louisville Zoo, Squire Boone Cavern (the brother of Daniel Boone), Churchill Downs- the horse racing track where they race the Kentucky Derby, and we went fishing for a day on the lake in their community.

I LOVED how green it was there and all of the trees!!!!! I miss trees!













In "Fat Man's Misery" in Mammoth Caves.














My parents, Trent and us before going in Mammoth Cave.













My cute little nephew Luke helping me reel in the fishing line.













Churchill Downs













Me before I placed a $2 bet on a horse. They wouldn't take just a dollar.


















Me after my horse lost. Jimmy Joe was happy because "I learned my lesson" :)













My adorable niece Clara checking out the races

Lots coming soon on our blog- our trip to Kentucky, Memorial Day camping, and Antelope Island. Stay tuned.