Our Summer So Far

I had a very successful DI run to kick off, I love finding books for $1 or $1.50.

We've had mostly pleasant, window-open weather but the house has gotten up in the high 70's a couple times and we've had to turn on the air conditioning. I really prefer having the windows open, but I'm not a fan of sweating.

I started reading The Book of Mormon again and have a schedule that has me finishing on Christmas Eve.

Whitney and I have gone walking around the pond a couple times.

Adam invited me to lunch, which was delightful and emotionally draining (it's never small talk).

I got my first pedicure of the summer, woohoo!

I moved the bistro table and chairs to the front yard (since it was basically a bird pooping place in the back yard) and we have really liked it so far. Whitney actually got out of the house to draw while listening to The Book Thief.

It's official, Whitney is in full teen mode!

I read in the shade while Whitney baked in the sun...the shade is way better.

Lori and I saw "Fault In Our Stars" and thoroughly enjoyed it. I expected to sob more than I did so that was a relief.

Kale hired Landon to sand and paint the trip on the house. 

It's a big job and is currently on hold while he is on a Canoe trip in Oregon with the 16-17 year olds from church.

Randy and I helped Robyn move last weekend.

I am currently reading the 5th Flavia de Luce mystery, "well bust my buttons".

I have wanted to put a flag on the house for years, but knew we couldn't drill into the brick. I thought I'd figured out a way around it but it didn't work so we ended up hanging like this, which I love!

The Waffle Luv truck was down the street this week so Whitney and each got a Biscoff and Cream waffle (so good) and took it home to eat on our bistro table under the trees.

We let Junie have some whipped cream when we were done.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these trees in our front yard.

February Bookclub

Since Collette's birthday is in February we wanted to do something fun to celebrate, so we went out to Brick Oven on Friday night. We knew it would be kind of crazy there, but thought we were up for it.

They put us in a big booth for six, and somehow Michelle and I ended up across from each other in the middle; it felt like being on an airplane! The food was pretty good (but rather pricey) and the noise, traffic in the restaurant, and obnoxious children in the booth behind us pretty much did us all in. We left feeling stuffed full, overheated and irritated.

We drove over to Collette's house for a much more comfortable place to gather and to finally discuss The Happiness Project (which I read back in December so had forgotten a lot of it). We ended up having a good discussion and all liked the book.

Jenn brought us each a baggy of funky flavors of M&Ms (Red Velvet, Coconut) and a bookmark from her trip to Germany last month (she also went to Hong Kong and China).

Amy had a good thing going in that chair, I may have to beat her to it next month.

Jenn, Jana, Michelle and I had plenty of room on the couch.

Collette's husband Travis joined us for a little bit to answer a bunch of questions about BYU admissions (he works there and knows all) for Jana, Jenn and I. He's doing so great since his liver and pancreas transplant it's so good to see.

4th of July

We had a delightful morning of sleeping in and puttering before getting ready to start the entertainment portion of our day.

We met Lori at the theater to see Despicable Me2 (5 thumbs up!). I had bought our tickets a few days earlier so we had primo top row, center seats.

We attempted a sunny self-portrait after the show but only Randy's shadow made it in the shot, not Randy himself. It was far too hot and sunny to keep trying for a better picture. After the show we went home for an hour to regroup and cool down...it was beasty hot before meeting up for the night.

Randy drove my mom's car (I rode shot gun) while Robyn and Chase (the boyfriend) followed us.

We went to Goodwood for a tasty dinner.

Lori and I thought it was funny that they all ended up walking in a straight line.

Next up for the evening was braving the crowds in Provo at Stadium of Fire.

We feared our seats were going to be terrible because we got the cheapest ones available, but they ended up being great!

We were right in the middle!

Woohoo!!

It was funny to see so much red in the stands since BYU is usually all about blue, but we make exceptions for the 4th of July.

It was handy that our seats ended up being two rows of 4 rather than a long row of 8, it felt like we were actually all there together.

Kelly Clarkson was fantastic! She sounded so good live and has such a fun personality, she put on a great show!

The fireworks were great (of  course) though it's weird to be so close to them, they were super loud and forceful. The show ended close to 11:00pm and we had to shuffle our way out of there with 40,000 people so that wasn't great, but overall it was a very fun way to celebrate the 4th!

12 on the 12th--August Edition

Michelle took pity on my once more and made my grid. We don't have Photoshop on our new computer, so I'm going to need to come up with some other way to make these grids or find a form of payment for Michelle.

{Click to Enlarge}

1. I looked out the kitchen window first thing that morning and saw Landon outside getting his weeding done before any of us were even awake.
2. My "cool down" time that I take each morning after blowing dry my hair and putting my velcro rollers in. I'm always overheated at that point and take 15 minutes to read on my bed with the fan blowing on me (and heel cream on my feet). It's a nice little break in my morning routine.
3. Family scripture reading.
4. My new headset at work, it makes it so much easier to get things done while answering the phone.
5. After work I went to Costco to buy groceries for Landon's birthday parties.
6. Of course I needed to vacuum. It's hard for me to be gone at work while the kids are home during the day, and the house always feels messy when I get home.
7. Robyn took the kids to Yogurt Bliss to thank them for babysitting their hamster while they were on vacation the previous week, the kids gathered on the front lawn and in the tree upon returning.
8. I texted Randy to see if he'd pick up a bag of ice and 10 bottles of Gatorade for Landon's friend party. Texting on my iPhone is sooooo luxurious compared to the primitive way I had to do it before.
9. I got to see Michelle for a little bit when she dropped off Lucas at the party.
10. One of the arms on our Adirondack Chairs broke off, these chairs are about to be kindling.
11. All the fellas at Landon's birthday party.
12. Amie came over to visit for an hour during the tail end of Landon's party while she waited to take James home.

**Did you document your 12th?

Do you ever use a headset?

Do you have to cool down before applying make-up?**

Comment Window Tidbit: I was so busy at work today that I ended up staying 45 minutes late just to finish up listening to phone messages! It was a good kind of busy!

Denver Trip Day 4--Tuesday

Randy, Landon and Annie Kate were busy working on the puzzle again when I came upstairs on Tuesday morning (I tend to take my time getting ready before I surface).

We thought we were going to have to take 2 cars to the city, but we decided one of the kids could cram in the way we used to when we were growing up (remember clanging around the back of a station wagon?). Whitney wanted to be the one and ended up sitting on her knees packed between Randy and Sally Jane, it was way more fun driving all together.

We passed Denver's Friendliest Laundromat on the way to the Botanic Gardens, I found this funny.

We also passed a Cannabis Care Center...what the?! How did I not know Marijuana is legal in Denver?! Weird.

While searching for free activities to do in Denver I was thrilled to find out that July 19th was a free day at the Botanic Gardens! I enjoy going to places like this, but don't ever want to pay $40+ to get all of us in.

We started out feeling optimistic as we checked the map and headed out with the hordes of people who were also taking advantage of the free day.

I love flowers!

I love this shot!

These are cute.

Landon was excited to add another jumping shot to his collection.

I seem to be drawn to this color of Daylilies.

It soon became apparent that it was way too hot to be outside. Surprisingly I was in good form and not feeling oppressed, but the kids withered quickly. We saw some interesting sun hats, but this one was the biggest and best! I don't know that I could get away with a look like this, but I need something.

Kristi took her girls to find a restroom, so we found some shade to rest in while we waited.

I love this picture of Whitney.

 

Kristi called me from the main building to say her girls needed to regroup and get something to eat, so we decided to do the same. The food at the restaurant there looked good so I ordered a roast beef panini that ended up being so heavy on the blue cheese I thought I was going to be sick.

This is my favorite picture of the day.

After lunch we decided to check out the children's garden and then to leave because it was just too stinking hot to function. I'm telling you the clouds here are works of art!

The children's garden is on the roof of the parking structure and is more of a desert theme (i.e., no shade trees) so it was NOT fun. We shuffled around in the crowd and then tried to find Caroline and Whitney (they were seeking shade in a cave). It was oppressively hot...like buzzards circling hot.

Randy found a few feet of shade and huddled there like a desperate animal on the savannah.

We finally decided to leave, but then the little girls needed to use the bathroom. The building with the bathroom was tiny, so we had to step outside to wait for them and felt like we were going to die (no drama here). Seriously, it was ridiculous. There were huge groups of people with strollers and kids and everyone was red-faced and sweating. It seemed like there should be water misters, people handing out water bottles and ambulances standing by.

This is our heat stroke self-portrait.

We passed this interesting marquis on the way out of town.

Randy and I immediately fled to the cool comfort of the guest suite for a nap to help get our core temperatures down and to regroup. Of course I ended up with a headache. Randy recovered nicely and joined Landon for some basketball later.

Hours later I went with Kristi and Annie Kate to pick up some pizza for dinner. The rain had rolled in by then and cooled everything down. The rain here seems bigger than the rain we're used to in Utah, it seems to be a big, determined rain. It came down like it couldn't land fast enough and there were huge puddles everywhere.

But 20 minutes later it was clear again.

The pizza, salad and watermelon were so good!

The adults got to hang out and talk while we ate dinner.

There was more jumping to be done.

And some talking on the swings.

Later Kristi made an absolutely fabulous dessert! She toasted coconut and then pressed it onto the outside of a ball of vanilla ice cream, then put it into a waffle cone bowl and drizzled homemade chocolate sauce and homemade caramel sauce on it...oh baby!

It was fantastic!

Everyone lounged and ate their desserts together.

It was really a day of extremes with the weather. We were only gone for 4 hours, but felt like we'd been through the ringer. Either we're super wussy or just not acclimated. Kristi said she felt dehydrated for the first month of living here, so maybe that's part of it. Good times.

**Did you know marijuana was legal here?

Do you have a high tolerance for heat?

What's the most overheated you've ever been?

Have you had this dessert before?**

Comment Window Tidbit: Being on vacation is such a time-warp experience, but I guess it really should be because these days shouldn't feel like normal days at all.