BYU FOOTBALL

Thanks to my generous parents, CJ and I have been able to enjoy BYU FOOTBALL again this year. We also got lucky enough a couple times (thanks to Mary Ann) to sit in Legacy seats. This picture is from the October 22 game against Idaho State. It was sunny and beautiful. My dad had sent a picture earlier this morning of the Eiffel tower. That would be cool, but this view was pretty great too.

Last night at the Idaho game their was a helicopter at the pre game festivities. So cool up close and it would be really scary to be on the wrong side of one of these things!

Alpacas

For a work party we went to my boss' Alpaca farm. CJ and I decided it would be fun for Josh and Ian to see it so they came too. They got to feed the male Alpacas. (An Alpaca is a cross between a camel and a llama. Josh and Ian said they wanted to call them llamas. So they did)

they also adopted an orphan Llama named Casper. he is very friendly because he gets bottle fed. Josh thought it was hilarious that the Llama drank from a bottle!
Ian wanted a picture with the deer. I think he still isn't sure if it is real or not...

Motorcycle Trip

My dad has been thinking about buying a bigger bike for longer trips and rented a Harley and Goldwing for a Holiday ride. Bryan was going to ride the other bike and then they would switch to see which one they liked best. Bryan asked CJ and I if we wanted to take Dad's bike and go with. OF COURSE we did. Ricci's grandparents, Pat and DJ, came too. Dad's friend Tracy decided to go. I was excited because Dad said with 5 bikes we had enough for a gang:)

We went on the Legacy Highway to Ogden canyon. Through Monte Cristo and Randolph to Bear Lake. Then through Logan Canyon, Sardine Canyon and on to home. It was a beautiful ride. The canyons were so much more enjoyable without the confines of a car. Now we want a bike. CJ is entered to win one through Aflac...keeping our fingers crossed.

Lake Mary, Martha and Catherine Hike

Saturday, July 23, 2011. Ricci and Bryan and CJ and I hiked from Brighton to Lake Mary, Martha and Catherine. It was about 2.25 miles to Lake Catherine. Dad offered to take us to Captain America if we got home in time, so we skipped the summit (another mile to Sunset Peak) and hiked back out. Very nice hike. One of my favorites. The first half mile or so is steep and deters a lot of hikers. Last year Lake Mary was pretty dry. Ricci and I were surprised how pretty it was this year.

We were also surprised by the amount of snow we had to hike across. Especially Bryan and Ricci in their hiking sandals! COLD
CJ and Bryan decided to hike up the side of one snowy hill and "ski" on their shoes down. Video at the end of post;) I only wish the quality were better.




"Hey guys, watch this!" Bryan is on the left and CJ on the right.

Stadium of Fire

July 2, 2011. Thanks so much to MaryAnn for getting us these great seats. We all got to sit together. Unfortunately MA had too much excitement earlier in the day and was too tired to go.

I knew more Brad Paisley songs then I thought I would. The concert was great and so fun. The firework show was amazing!

We grew somthing

Despite the wind and sun and neglect, the broccoli has sprouted and is ready for harvest! So far nothing else has grown. The sun and wind took the cucumbers, twice; grubs and birds have claimed the strawberries; watermelon and zucchini never rooted and we are still waiting to see if the peppers and jalapenos do anything. But today, we will eat broccoli. Goody.

Utah Valley Half Marathon

Okay, I must be tired cause i put these in reverse order. Oh well. I talked Brent into running the half marathon with me and we started training. Me in Utah and Brent in Oregon.
Brent got more comments on his attire then I did on mine. Apparently there are some Ute fans in Utah County... he finished around 2:34 which is awesome for his first marathon. I base that opinion on my first half time being much more then that.
I finished 8 minutes faster then my last Top of Utah half time and was very happy. Running is an individual beat yourself event that I enjoy. the theme of this year's race was Pain you Enjoy.
This is where we saw CJ and he cheered us on. Right after this picture I had to leave Brent or I wouldn't have finished. I know, Im a rotten sister. What can I say, its an individual sport and I was ready to be done with it already!
Here I am the night before pinning my number to my shirt. Neat stuff huh?!

LAKE POWELL

The first weekend in June (my birthday) we went with CJ's cousins to Lake Powell. It was awesome!! Shari, Joel and three of their kids and Mark and Anna and their kids went and we invited ourselves along:) This is CJ totally loving the smooth water. Lake Powell is beautiful.

He also got up on the slalom ski and decided that wakeboarding is his favorite.
The tube is really my thing.
we went on a cool hike in a slot canyon

Josh's field trip

Lucky me! I got to go with Josh on his Kindergarten field trip. We went to the city building and the fire station and the bank and Smith's. The pictures got out of order. Here is Josh at the money sorting machine. It was pretty cool.

This is Josh on the ambulance. He was okay once the fireman promised he wasn't going to turn on the siren. They put all 22 kids in the ambulance and let them look around. It was cool. Josh was front and center in the garage with the fire trucks.
I think he really liked this part. The kids got to bring in a canister at the bank drive through and send it out again.

After the tour at Smith's the banana phone was big hit!

MEXICO

We went to an all inclusive resort in Mexico for our honeymoon. It was called El Dorodo Seaside. It was a great vacation. Everything was included- the snorkel gear, kayaks, food, drinks, everything. And it was WARM! Yea for the sun and yea that we had tans when we came back.

This is the Japanese restaurant. It was our favorite. Sushi! All the restaurants were good. The Mexican one wasn't great. The seafood was a favorite. Calamari nachos, french toast, strawberry pina coladas, grilled burritos...mmmmm
On Monday, we went on a Mayan excursion. It included: repelling, a zip line, kayaking, hiking, a Mayan healing ceremony, swimming in an underground cenote, the ruins in Coba and lunch. This is us after repelling. The picture doesn't show how beautiful it was.
We climbed up this pyramid. It was about 130 steps. Really cool view from the top. The ruins are falling apart, but we could still climb on this one and it was the one thing I really wanted to do in Mexico.
View from the top.

We got MARRIED!

WE GOT MARRIED! HERE IS SOME PICTURE PROOF

Thanks to my BFF Jasmine we got some great pictures. Jasmine's photography blog is http://www.jasminepphotography.blogspot.com