Idaho Summer Trip #3

This last week we were up in Idaho visiting family and friends again. This was my third time going up and Brianna's second. Next week we'll go up again for the 4th of July.

This trip up to Idaho was jam packed with lots of things to do. We celebrated our second anniversary (Brianna will blog about that later), we went to a Chukars baseball game, we went bowling, we went boating, we went to the zoo, and we went out to eat a lot.

Here are some of our pictures from the Chukars game:

We went with Brianna's parents. Bush was also there, so I sat with him for a few innings. It was $1 night. Tickets, hot dogs, and drinks were all $1.

My favorite thing to get at the games is the ice cream in the little baseball helmet.

The next day we met up with all of Brianna's family and we went bowling. I came in second. Dylan beat me. Even though I got beat by a five year old, it was still a lot of fun. Here are some pictures:

Jake went a little far:

Brianna sticking out her tongue:

Brianna dancing like a chimpanzee with the rest of the children:

Richard took a group of us up to Palisades to go boating. There was Brianna and I, Kar's family, and also Greg. The weather was a little windy, but for the most part it was really nice.

Here's Greg and I tubing. Greg was pretty good:

This is right before I fell off:

This is where we had set up camp. The shore was clay, so it was really hard to stick the umbrella or anything else into it.

Here's Brianna's butt. She slipped on the mud and fell on her keester.

Greg posing (Ladies, he's single....).

Afterwards we stopped to get square ice cream.

Here's Brianna and Sadie sharing an ice cream cone.

If you want to read about our trip to the zoo you can check out Warren and Becky's blog here. We didn't have our camera. Next week will be our last time visiting Idaho for a long time. Hopefully we get to see everyone and do everything we need to before we go.

Wendy's Wednesday

For the past four years Dan, Dave, and I have carried out a weekly ritual we like to call Wendy's Wednesday. Every Wednesday we would meet at Wendy's to eat together. We would talk about sports, school, politics, and talk smack to each other about our fantasy sports teams. Yesterday was the last Wendy's Wednesday that we'll be able to do together for awhile because Brianna and I are moving to Buffalo and Dave and Brooke will be moving to Omaha.

This was my final Wendy's Wednesday meal:



Here are Dan and Dave at our final Wendy's Wednesday:




I'll miss this weekly tradition that we've done the last four years. It's probably better that it's over, both for my health and also for my curvy physique.

Father's Day Picnic

On Father's day we met with some of our friends to celebrate the holiday. We went to Kiwanas park in Provo and had a picnic. We played bocce and a lot of other games. Here are some of the pictures:

Summer in Review

We haven't been able to blog much lately because we've been getting all of our crap boxed up and ready to go. We've also been trying to spend a lot of time with our family and friends. Here's a quick summary of everything that's been going on:


We went up to Idaho about a month ago to hang out with our family and to see our new nephew and nieces.



We went to the hospital to see Kar's new baby Micah:













We also got to see Nat's baby Ivy for the first time:






This was the first time that Brianna was able to meet Kylie. Here is Mindy with little Kylie:






It was fun to see Kenna interact with our dogs. She was really brave.






This is the face she would make every time the dogs would get near:






While we were in Idaho I got to hang out with my best friend Bush. We're both big into NASCAR, so we decided to give it a try ourselves at the Go-Kart rink:














Back in Utah we've been trying to spend time with Jenny and her kids. The other day (on John's birthday) we went and watched Bentley and Max play T-ball.


Here's John helping Maxwell hit the ball:






There was some kind of Scottish festival happening on the field next to us, so the kids got to play T-ball to the sound of bag pipes. Bentley displayed some pretty sweet dance moves while he was in the field. Here's his Michael Jackson impersonation:






And here's Jonah doing his impersonation of Osama Bin Laden:





And here's Ruby's impersonation of... well... Ruby...






It's been really hard to try and spend an adequate amount of time with each one of our family and with all of our friends. We only have a couple of weeks left. Hopefully we'll be able to have some more fun and say all of our good byes.

Kylie's blessing and the zoo

Two weeks ago I went up to Idaho Falls for Kylie's blessing. I also got to go to the zoo with Kenna and Warren. Here are some pictures:

Kylie's first impression of Uncle Moose:

To see Becky's post about the zoo, click here.

Shifting Through Memories

At the beginning of last week, my mom came to visit. My mom and dad were down for the weekend to celebrate their anniversary. It was last minute. They stayed at their favorite hotel in Salt Lake City, Little America. They went shopping and seemed to have lots of fun together. Then on Monday they came to our house. We were just rolling out of bed because both Spencer and I couldn't sleep the night before. Then we went to the BYU bookstore and got my dad a sweatshirt that he liked. Then we took my dad to the airport and he took a shuttle back home. My mom had planned to spend the next few days helping me sort through my belongings.

We spent two and a half days sorting through all of my books, papers, clothes, and stuff. We threw out about half of everything that we went through. This was very difficult for me. I am a hoarder. I like to keep everything because I am super sentimental. I probably have never really thrown things away before. It's pretty pathetic. But we did really good. I think that I got rid of a whole garbage bin full of things. Some of it we threw away. Some of it we took to DI. It was kind of amazing. The whole thing was really emotional for me. It was like a mid-life crisis or something. It felt like I was looking back on my whole life and deciding what was valuable and what was not. It wasn't even sad to part with the stuff, really. But it was like having a flood of memories, both good and bad. And that whole feeling was overwhelming. On top of this, I was growing up in a lot of ways. I was realizing how foolish I have been. How complicated I have made my life and that it doesn't need to be that way. I was realizing what I really want in life and what was really important. It was seriously like a big turning point in my life. You know those moments? The ones when you just know that you will never be the same. It's like you step out of your life for a moment and you just know that your whole perspective is about to grow. Those truly enlightening and defining moments that make you who you are and who you are about to become. It was pretty intense. And my poor mom and my poor husband had to deal with it all.

I was also overcome with a terrible homesickness. It was the worse case that I have ever had. I just really want to go home and live near my parents and sisters and in-laws and nieces and nephews. I want to spend time with them and do fun activities and get-togethers. I want to go to Palisades Lake and go boating and just be with my family. Hopefully someday we can go home and live near our family.

In spite of all of this, I am really excited to move and to start this new chapter in our lives. I know that this is the right thing and I'm sure that the time will just fly by. I am really grateful that we are able to have all of these wonderful opportunities. It will be an adventure for me and my sweetheart.

I am really grateful to my mom for taking the time to help me do this. I'm sure that it was anything but fun for her. And she is so sweet and wonderful to help me out. It was really nice to have her there. And it is great to have her support in what we are doing. Thank you mom, for everything. Thank you for being patient with me and all of my emotions. And for being patient about all of my crap. You really helped me out so much. I'll never forget it. I wish I could be up there to wish you a Happy Mother's Day next week. I love you mom. Thank you for all that you do and all that you have done for me. You are a wonderful mom. I hope you have Happy Mother's Day next Sunday.

Here is a picture of the computer room after our few days of work. You can actually see the floor!!

Another Jazz Game

On May 26, we went to another Jazz game. It was game Four of the Houston/Utah series. Our friends Bush and Kerrie were here visiting for a couple of days while they were shopping for baby things in Utah. We decided that we wanted to go to the Jazz game that night. We didn't have tickets, but we got some from scalpers. I was working that day so I met up with the other three just before the game. We ate food at the game, which was really good because I was starving. Then we found our seats. We were even seating close to our friends Dan and Jordyn.

This was another really exciting game. It wasn't as close as game Three, but it was still a nail-biter. Jazz won 86-82. What a great game! Deron Williams is amazing! We had a great time and we got good tickets for a low price.

We didn't have our camera, but I had my phone camera...so here are a few pictures. Sorry about the quality.

Before the game.



Spencer, Bush, and Kerrie.



After the game.



It was really fun to have Bush and Kerrie stay with us. We wish that we could hang out with them more often. They are really great friends and we are grateful for them. It was especially fun for Spencer because he got to hang out with them while I had to work. The dogs also really enjoyed the visit. Bush played with them and they just loved all of the attention. I hope that we can hang out with them more before we move.