Summer Coming to a Close

Time to catch up a bit! Hold onto your hats...or scarfs.....or popsicles....

I got to go to Logan with our stake for Youth Conference. It was fantastic! There was a good mix of spiritual things, activities, and down time.

The final activity was hiking Ensign Peak and raising our personal banners. It was a perfect day for the hike, and a cool experience.

An old ward member was reporting for his mission, so some of us stayed to see him. We hung out at Temple Square, and Plato's Closet. (Those girls were thrilled at the variety and prices.)

I finished my jeans quilt!! It has taken so long since it has been the main project I work on when we go to Wendover. I'm not sure the cleaning crew appreciated having the quilting boards taking over the room.....

We went up to Salt Lake County to spend some time with family. To start off, we got to have breakfast with some of our favorite people! These fritters were a special treat! (A birthday treat!)

The rest of the week was a reunion with the Smith's. That will be another post...I took a lot of pictures....

 A gal I visit teach is having a baby girl in a month, so I got to help put on a shower for her. Here's what I caught on camera. You can't see everything below, but it will give the gist. It was fun to do, and we had enough food for 40 people! We were snacking on goodies for days....even after we shared. Thanks Jessica, McKay, and Kelly!

Yes, that's Mine

The other day, we were doing some shopping. We had already picked out what to buy, so I got in the long waiting line. Sean was still looking at things, so after a few minutes he came over to keep me company in the line. 

After talking for a few minutes, he asked "Hey, can I go look and see if they have something over there?"

 

"Sure."

That's not an uncommon situation for us, so I thought nothing of it.

The lady in line behind me said, "Oh, that was nice. So nice that he asked permission instead of just going off on his own. Is that your husband?"

"Yes, that's mine."

"It's rare for them to come like that."

This fellow shopper caught me off guard. It gave me a reminder that I lots of nice and kind people around me - especially the man I married.

Paradise in Winter

The end of January, we took a slightly planned - slightly spontaneous trip to Florida. There were a few reasons for the trip: we thought this would be a good time in our lives to go on a cruise; we had never been on a cruise; our friends live close to a port in Florida; we love these friends! Enough said?? Now, onto the pictures.

Day 1: get registered, get oriented, get a jewelry prize, adjust to a moving resort, and eat lots of food.

 

Views from our port hole.

 Day 2: stop in Nassau, get free jewelry and map, walk several miles to explore, go window shopping - Bahamas style.

 

There was a predator's tunnel. It was extra special to have a biologist in tow to introduce and explain the species.

It was so nice to walk in the sun and actually feel the sun.

 Day 3: Charter to the cruise's island, snorkel, watch Sean assist in a magic show, and eat lots of food. Thank you Carlos for making dinner so enjoyable! (Pending - underwater pictures from said snorkel adventure.)

Day 4: goodbye vacation.

Reflections on the cruise: when you are on a cruise, the staff really make you feel like you are on vacation. They make it really easy to eat all the food you want. A soft serve machine should be in everyone's home. It is great going with friends - they make everything more entertaining and fun.

Happy 3rd and 5th Anniversaries to us! Happy 3 years of friendship! Happy vacation!

Thank you Gales for being such great hosts and for putting your week on hold to play with us.

DC Day 7

NEW YORK!!!

Day 7 we took a bus up to New York City. With transportation and timing, we had limited time in the city. We had to make the most of it! Time to see our whirlwind trip. (Please note, we had our carry-ons and bags the entire day.)

We started with seeing Porgy and Bess on Broadway. AMAZING! It definitely deserved all the Tony's it won this year.

Japanese food! Not quite genuine, but Sean was excited.

Times Square

 So much history here!

I had my carry-on in one hand and the camera in the other. I was constantly taking pictures while walking. (I didn't quite feel like I could stop and take a picture every time I wanted to, since there were so many pedestrians.)

Whew! We hurried back to our bus and made it back to our same hotel in Alexandra at 1:30am.

DC Day 3

Brad had to work this day, so we decided to hang out in Virginia for the day and venture out to DC when everyone could join.

Not to far from the Poulton's house was an outlet mall. It had to be given a closer inspection. Just had to. Some of us had good finds, and I found it helped prepare my feet for all the walking they were going to do the rest of the week. Sam introduced some of us to Rita's. It is an east coast franchise. It is shaved ice and ice cream mixed together. Amazing concept!

When Brad came home, he made us some of his amazing smoothy! He has his smoothy down to a science! We had it before dinner was served. It was a nice drink to have before eating.

We watched fireflies, and tried to get pictures of them glowing. The lightning bugs give a little magical feel! So many trees and so green in that neck of the woods!

It was always fun putting Katelyn to bed.

Tomorrow: DC.

Corona Arch Trail II

Saturday, we went on the Corona Arch trail again. A new friend has been wanting an outdoor adventure for a while, and wanted to show us around. It was kind of fun going to the same spot again. Extra pictures were taken, and we feel like the trial is now better documented.

Cryptobiotic Soil! (Look it up)

Gale, Chris, and Sean resting in the shade of Corona Arch.

These guys were such fun to hike with!

This was a mini-arch we found right before Corona Arch. It was a little gem to find.

 Sean wandered over to the other side of the arch. On this side, you can climb up the rock, and be on top of both arches. Chris has repelled from Coronal Arch before: a 95 foot drop. That is a free fall my friends.

Sean and Chris went to the other side of the arch, to see how climbable it was. Gale and I didn't see them for a few minutes while they were on the other side.

 Here is Bow Tie Arch again we rested in the little shade for a bit. It was fun playing with the echo feature that comes with these arches and rocks.

Then... we went to the big city: Grand Junction! We had a book on tape (Jane Austen never lets you down...except sometimes...but not this time...*cough*) and were prepared with some treats, so off we went. I had quite the list of things to get. Since we were going, I thought it would be wise to make it worth the trip, right??

 

Sean needed some good work boots, so we went to a few stores to find a nice pair. This first store specialized mostly in Western and Cowboy attire. The clerks gave us a once over when we walked in, and it was obvious we weren't their typical clientele... Ha!
And, Sean was wearing flip flops so the stores were nice to provide some good socks for trying out the boots. Basically, like super thick soccer socks.
Again, Ha!

After getting everything else on our list that we could, we were ready for some food. It was like Cafe Rio knew it was needed. Eating was a happy experience for both of us! After trying all three lemonade flavors, Strawberry was our favorite. Very happy!

Here's the loot we came took home with us. It was a successful trip. Thanks Big City!