Painting Backyard Hikes

We have been loving our little back yard hikes. We went for a walk up to Ensign Peak on Sunday (after hearing a Sacrament talk about its history, which was kind of fun). These pictures are from Memorial Day. SLC was cursed with terrible weather, and we weren't able to head down to Moab with Matt and Loral because it was also Johnny's homecoming and Espen's farewell. So we did the best we could! We drove up some canyons to find someplace dry to hike, but everywhere we went was muddy and snowy, so we settled for a low-key afternoon painting up on the mountains behind our house.

We love to do these random painting days. This one was particularly fun because we had a light drizzle of rain on us through most of it, and it was just so fresh and clean-smelling.

Scott painted the view behind us, with the rain falling down over the eastern mountain bench. You can't tell from the picture I took, but he hit it pretty much dead on. I love spending time just coloring or painting. I also love to see what Scott creates. I'm impressed with how he sees the world because he doesn't see colors like we do. So fun.


I painted the view in front of where we were sitting with the spring explosion of wild sunflowers. I love to imagine the Salt Lake valley when the pioneers first settled the area. The entire valley was covered with these sunflowers. I can't think of anything more perfect that a world that spontaneously blossoms in sunflowers. It is gorgeous!!

Isn't Salt Lake gorgeous in the Spring! Even a rainy day is beautiful because it paints the city green. Most people miss this gorgeous time of the year because it's so quick! Everyone is waiting for the sunshine of summer, but spring is just so gorgeous. If you're not watching for it, you'll miss it! It's just like the fall. People miss the color in the canyons because they're waiting for the snow or they think the world is dead. But it's not! I just love the mountains and the seasons.