Since You Went Away

Until my nephew, Garrett, was about 2-3 years old, my sister and her husband lived down the street from me in good ol' Provo. I would head over there after a long day of student-teaching and classes and just hang out. I got to babysit Garrett whenever they needed me because they were SO close.
I ended up seeing them several times a week. Now that they live in Texas, I have to settle for once a year. Here are the cuties I am missing:

Garrett, who has become quite the little boy (from the toddler I knew) and is very mature. He starts kindergarten this year, but he already sits down and read the Magic Treehouse chapter books on his own.

Ethan, who I only know from the once-a-year visits. But he is adorable! And a starbucks junkie-- okay, not really, it was just water or milk or something. =)


Although I am missing these boys like crazy, I am very blessed to have 9 nieces and nephews on Brian's side who all live so close! We love them!

Thunderstorms & Ice Cream

Disclaimer: I did not take this picture. I found it online. =)

Last night around midnight-ish, Brian and I were getting ready for bed and digging in to our nightly bowls of ice cream (Target brand: "Archer Farms" Mint Chip flavor . . . our current favorite!) when we couldn't resist the lightning show going on outside. So, ice cream bowls in hand, we went out searching for the best corner of the parking lot to watch the storm. It was one of those moments when everything in the world seems perfect: warm breeze, no rain (at first), amazing lightning, the man I love next to me, AND ice cream!! Does life get any better? It was so much fun! Eventually, though, the rain started. And since we had chosen the furthest spot away from our condo, we were thoroughly wet by the time we ran back. I love storms!

Washington Trip

As I mentioned in my last post, Brian and I recently took a trip to Washington to welcome my little bro home from his mission. The day after getting back, I left for our ward YW Girls Camp. Now that I'm back from that, I finally have a second to let everyone know what we've been up to. Here are some of the highlight from our WA trip:

Pictures of the whole fam-- it was the first time in probably 3-4 years that my whole family was all together!


Of course we welcomed Derek back home (the whole reason we went!):


Visited Mt. Erie- so gorgeous because you can see a bunch of islands in the Puget Sound from above:


Took my siblings rock-climbing on Mt. Erie:

(a panoramic shot to show the gorgeous view we had while climbing- Brian is belaying on the right, then just a few yards away is the edge of the mountain and you can see the islands & puget sound again):


Took several walks down to the beach (aka- my most favorite place in the world):


Frequented Starbucks for our favorite treats (mint chip frappuccino, peppermint hot cocoa, & spiced carmel cider). Yum!


Played with the nephews (Brian didn't know what to do half the time- he's used to leading his nieces & nephews into mischief. But Garrett refused to do anything he wasn't supposed to- doorbell ditching being one. Instead, they settled on reading together and science experiments. Garrett's such a good influence on Brian! =) :

My favorite shot of Garrett & Brian doing their scary faces (using headlamps):


It was a great trip. We had perfect summer weather while we were there- it wasn't cloudy at all! I already miss Washington again. But, it's still nice to be back home and get into my regular schedule . . . I guess. =)

He's Home!!!

After 2 years of serving the Lord, my little brother came home from his mission last week! Brian and I (and all my other siblings) flew to Washington to see him come home. It was a great week- I'll have to post more pictures from our trip later.
Derek served his mission in Toronto, Ontario. He was a great missionary. But it's SO nice to have him back home again!!

My Husband Made the News!!

This is something you probably won't hear shouted from the housetops by all the criminals' wives whose husbands also made the news last night. . . but I will-- because my husband made the news because he was the hottest guy they could find. K, that's not really why either. But follow this link to see the video on ksl:

(warning: you have to watch a stupid commercial before- then Brian's about 1 1/2 minutes into the clip)

CLICK HERE!!

They're talking about his gym. And it only shows him for a few seconds of it. But they managed to catch him falling as well as climbing! Tee hee hee!

Okay, enjoy!

Savage Lies!!

I know that Dana said that the picture of us in the sleeping bags was my favorite picture but this is a terrible lie. This is my favorite picture.

Camping Trip

Last week, Brian and I went camping with some of our really good friends.

Michelle was my roommate for all 4 years of college. She and her husband, Devin, and daughter, Ava, were in town for the week. We've been planning this since we hung out with them in Boise a few months ago.
Jill came with us too! She was our roommate for only 1 semester of college, but she still practically lived with us cuz we still did everything together. I was so excited to hang out with my girls again!! (Danielle and Ash- we missed you!)
(And, yes, I know I have the control to only post good pictures of myself . . . but I couldn't find another one with just us 3 girls- so the climbing-up-a-mountain, red-faced pic will have to do.)

We decided on Little Cottonwood Canyon- mostly so we could get some rock-climbing in for Brian! But the place we found to climb was actually really stupid. It has such a weird slope (I think they call it slab climbing). But there was nothing to hold on to! So it was pretty much just pushing yourself up with your feet while praying that you don't slip! This was our first and last slab climb.

The good thing about this spot, though, was that it had a gorgeous waterfall right next to the place we were climbing on the rock.

Here's our beautiful campsite- just next to a little river. So pretty!:
Here's Brian's favorite pic from the camping trip:

Here's my favorite pic from our camping trip:

Here's Brian looking at the mountain where the pioneers quarried the huge blocks of granite for the Salt Lake Temple.

And here's my sweet husband, who after 2 long days of camping, refused to let me carry any of the gear back up to our 3rd floor condo. And, being as buff as he is, he made it in only 2 trips!!

Back to School???

Yesterday was a big day. I was shopping at WalMart, getting supplies for our camping trip today. As I was searching for the Hershey bars, I stumbled upon the most wonderful and exciting sight: just a few aisles over, employees were setting up the Back-to-School section!!

Now, you might wonder why a teacher is excited to see this very apparent sign that summer break is drawing to its close . . . but somehow, the "magic" of the school supply section usually makes me want to go back! But it's really not a sign anyway- my break isn't even halfway over yet.

I do feel particularly excited because I'm a teacher (and school supplies are what I live on all year). But really, I think everyone should walk down memory lane (aka: the school supply aisles), and do some back-to-school shopping. Because really, is there anything better than buying a new set of (sharp) crayons for 25 cents a box? Or getting a new set of cute organizational tools for your desk in this year's newest fashions (polka dots? paisley?)? Or can anyone really top the 6-cent portfolios that you can get at WalMart if you're watching closely enough to catch the week that they're on sale? And doesn't everyone always need new markers?

This is a great time of the year-- and inevitably means all my trips to the store will now be about 20 minutes longer!

My husband, the rock-climber

Here's to my husband, who scales mountains. We went climbing yesterday and I was once again impressed at how good Brian is at rock-climbing. He amazes me! Here are some pics of Brian doing what he loves to do:Climbing in Logan Canyon- yesterday

Climbing in Ogden Canyon- last summer


Climbing at a gym in Everett, WA- last year

Isn't he amazing?!!

Beautiful Places

K, so who knew that Logan, Utah was so beautiful?! I always thought it was alright (the 2-3 times I'd been there before). But when I actually stayed on the USU campus this week for youth conference, I finally realized what a pretty place it is! And since I'm kind-of obsessed with finding beautiful places to add to my "list," this was quite a big discovery for me! My list is only a mental list. But it contains all the beautiful places I've seen and I rank them. Logan doesn't rank with the highest- but just making it onto my list is quite an accomplishment. Well done, Logan!

Pretty pictures of Logan . . .

And here's a pic of #1 on my ranked list: my beach on Camano Island, WA (where I grew up)- I'm pretty sure nothing will ever knock this one out of the #1 spot!
So what would be #1 on your list? (If you happened to be crazy like me and actually kept lists like this!!)