Missing Summer

 Two things defined our summer:

(1) our new-to-us grill

and

(2) Jacob betting me I couldn't eat a 2 lb container of blueberries before it went bad.

This summer we grilled almost every night and I have now eaten 12+ pounds of blueberries this summer (I never shy away from a challenge).



Fresh fruit and grilled kebabs really do make my heart sing.

The County Fair

My grandma once described me as a city girl (yet, I'm really from the suburbs) which might explain my intrigue with the fascinating yet terrifying world of animals.

Enter the County Fair. All of the terrifying/exciting animals, 4-H displays and wolf t-shirts you can imagine.

And this bad boy which would have made the most perfect white elephant gift.

Somehow I found myself at the County Fair on a hot Friday afternoon waiting in line with a bunch of five-year-olds for my turn to hold baby animals. It took everything in me not to scream, "Gimme the baby goooooooooooooooaaaat!" It was just that cute.

It made my little suburb heart sing.

We ended our County Fair experience with the demolition derby.
I never understood the obsession with smashing cars into each other.
Until now.

It was awesome.
Every time a care got flipped I was jumping and cheering right with the crowd.
I... just... it was the weirdest, yet most fun kind of entertainment.

The only thing missing was crazy deep-fried food.
Next time.

The End of Summer

Swimming with the Johnson kids, outdoor movie with Benson kids.

Rooftop concert eats: his {station 22}, hers {India Palace}

Provo Rooftop Concert Series. 

S'mores with Gordon and Rose Ann

Blackened marshmallow: if it doesn't light on fire, it isn't done yet.

The waffle truck! Great waffles.
I'm tempted to hire a Belgian to make me waffles all of the time. Soooo good.

Swiss Days in Midway

"Authentic" Swiss tacos
Granny's for dessert. Yes, it lives up to the hype. The berry shake is it.

Rooftop concert with the Becketts. {Fictionist and New Electric Sound}
 Black Sheep Cafe for dinner. Incredible. Go now!

Summer has been kind to us.
The mantra "work hard, play hard" has echoed through our summer.
Busy work days were met with fun-filled summer nights to produce a whirlwind summer.

We don't have TV (got rid of cable and somehow lost the network channels a couple of months later) and we never bothered fixing it and now doubt we ever will.
(It only was a problem during the Olympics. Man, that hurt.)
It is easy after a long workday to just want to veg, but this summer was different.
There was always something going on and we never said no.
Summer was lived to the fullest.
No regrets.

In May we created a Summer Bucket List.
As a planner, I like to look ahead, but it mostly helped me to look forward to something after the post-vacation blues set in.
I am happy to say that we checked everything off but one.

Here is our list:
outdoor move, outdoor concert, roast marshmallows, Thanksgiving Point (never made it), Summer Fest, raspberry picking, Taste of the Valley, Swiss Days, Balloon Fest, Fourth of July Fun, plant garden, bike rides, go sailing, boating, hike, swimming, BBQs.

I'm sad to say goodbye to summer.
I hate the heat, summer clothes and feeling sweaty, so it surprises me to feel this way.
But I mean it.
Good bye, summer. You will be missed.


*This series of photos makes it seem like we spent our summer eating.
I suppose photos don't lie. My gym card has been collecting dust all summer. Too busy eating good food. :)

26

This year I turned the big 2-6.
I have a strong belief that birthdays are supposed to be a big deal, no matter your age.

There was some speculation on how I would beat last year's birthday, but alas, I could not. While I didn't risk my life jumping out of a plane, I still had an incredible day (who am I kidding. Really, it was like a week. I extend it as long as possible.)

Here is how I spent my personal holiday.

Dinner with Grammy (AKA my birthday twin).
I was my Oma's birthday present 26 years ago.
We celebrated with an awesome dinner and games.

For my actual birthday I wanted to combine all of my favorite things.
First, I wanted some cool, crisp morning mountain air.
We went up American Fork Canyon and hiked Pine Hollow trail.
I am a picky hiker and asked the ranger for one with trees, no pavement (bad on my knees) and great views. This one pretty much fit the bill.
Seriously, Utah, the scenery is killing me. So in love it hurts.

After a sweaty hike (the cool air didn't last too long), we cooled off by floating down Provo River.
I have never floated the river before and we had a good time (and did it another time a couple of weeks later).
I am still shocked we convinced my mom to come. She is probably shocked she committed to coming.
After a minor incident on the river, I'm not sure if she will ever join us again.
But I am happy she came.
She had the coolest tube with a little compartment for snacks.

Word to the wise: go on a Monday afternoon. We had the entire river to ourselves. Incredible.
I wish I had more photos but my disposable camera got dumped in the river and I am still trying to figure out if it can be developed. (No one is being blamed. Cough, Jacob, cough.)

After floating, Jacob and I saw Moonrise Kingdom.
It had the perfect amount of quirk and was hilarious.
One of my favorite movies of the year.

As if we hadn't done enough, we finished it off with dinner at Pizzeria 712, my favorite Utah County restaurant. (The corn pizza made my life. If I think hard enough, I can still taste it.)

Thank you to everyone who joined me in celebrating my birthday!
And thank you to those who sent their birthday wishes. It really means a lot.
xoxo

The Cave

Last month we gathered the family and hiked to Timpanogos Cave.
Over the years I have found that hiking only does it for me if there is something neat at the end.
The act of hiking itself is not reward enough. I need a view, cool waterfall or an awesome cave.
This hike has two out of the three.

The kids who were old enough joined the adults for our second annual hike to the cave. We welcomed the new additions to our hiking group (Christine & co, and Michael).

Won't you come next year?

5 years and counting

To celebrate 5 years of wedded bliss we headed up to the cool mountain area of Park City, as per our anniversary tradition.

We got an incredible last-minute deal on a condo at the Canyons Resort. (Airbnb.com is the source of the deal.)

After checking in, we headed to Main Street for strolling and dinner.
We ate at Zoom, Robert Redford's place. It was delicious, especially our complementary dessert: roasted strawberry ice cream.

The next morning we headed over to the Olympic Park where we caught some of the athletes practicing their tricks.

We tried out the zipline.
Note: the picture above is not us. But it gives you an idea of what you do: sit in the harness and those black gates open up and you launch into the zipline. Riders can go in pairs and top speeds can reach up to 50 mph.

Five years with this guy has been a wonderful time warp.
So much has changed in the past five years yet it feels like yesterday when we got married.

Here's to five more.

Finishing Out July

Our good friends Bob and Erika and their brood moved to Missouri.
We wanted one last trip together to say a proper goodbye in St. Jeezy.
The weekend was pure relaxation (plus a bit of girl-time shopping) so I didn't take any pictures.
But we did get this one with the whole group (I'm really starting to master self-timer on my camera).

Right as we were about to leave Ivins received a torrential downpour.
The streets flooded and we were hit by quarter-size hail.
We made it home without a scratch, but getting out of the storm was a nail biter.

I adore live music and I love things that are free.
Enter in the Provo Rooftop Concert Series: free concerts on the rooftop of a parking garage.

This concert was a tribute to Tom Petty songs performed by a dozen incredible artists.

The music lovers.

Earlier that day we went sailing with my Padre.
Our beloved sailboat is living its last summer with us and we are all getting a turn for a final ride.

We gathered our friends together to see 7 Brides for 7 Brothers at Sundance.
Sundance provides the perfect atmosphere for an outdoor show, especially an outdoorsy musical like this one.

Baby sister Stacie was the drummer for the show, and my oldest sister Korianne music directed and played Millie that night.

The group (most of us, at least).


July screamed by.

We just had too much fun.

Pioneer Day 2012

We all need more holidays.
Pioneer Day is my favorite peripheral holiday.
Not everyone gets it off so the popular haunts (restaurants, water parks, trails) aren't inundated with hoards of people.
Stewart Falls hike was perfect to

Pioneer Day also brings one of our favorite summer activities: Taste of the Valley.
(Read last year's post here.)
We were joined by our wonderful friend Jessie and two of her darling girls. We talked it up year after year and she was finally able to come. We were happy to show them around.
To say the girls loved it would be an understatement. It was not uncommon to hear phrases like "This is the best day ever!" followed by "This is even better than my birthday!"
After delicious food we ended with a dip in the pool.

The day got better when I scored buy one get one free shoes.
The ultimate score.

Girl's Camp 2012

Girl's Camp, our annual summer adventure in the woods, came the week after July 4th.
A week before camp rampant wildfires closed down Camp Mia Shalom.
The week leading up to camp was a mad rush to find tents, devise a plan for our daily water storage and how to survive port-a-potties.

I only spent a day and a half at camp and I came up just in time.
The stifling heat subsided as I brought the rain...

Despite the rain, we had a great time.
Between fun games, spa day, scavenger hunts and a toilet-papering adventure (the girls systematically stole toilet paper from the port-a-potties all week to give us a toilet papering show. The joke was on them, it rained before they had a chance to take it down).

Our Back to Camp Night was a hit.
For dessert we made s'mores on a stick (marshmallows dipped in chocolate and rolled in graham crackers).
I made these for the girls at camp because camp fires were forbidden.
We placed them around our own "fire" to serve as refreshments.

As a non-camper, girl's camp is not something I look forward to.
But there is something special about girl's camp, how it brings everyone closer by giving us a chance to get closer to our Heavenly Father and His beautiful earth.

I'm happy to be a part of it.