So it's been a summer plus a fall. I just got so behind on the blogging that I kept avoiding it because I didn't want to play the catch up game. Also there is still that whole computer issue. I sit at one ALL day at work so I really don't want to touch one when I come home. I have also been trying to spend my evenings outside and trying to enjoy the warm weather while it lasts (winter always comes way too fast for me). I know, I know enough with the excuses and on with the blogging. Remember how I promised a mega post all the way back in April? Well here are all the things I meant to blog about this past summer. Hopefully I will catch up on fall soon. I will try to list in the order are pictures are below...at this point it's way too hard for captions.
1. We enjoyed quite a few trips to the park this summer to enjoy some frisbee and an occasional picnic. And maybe sometimes I have bad aim and like throw the frisbee over the fence...
2. I officially graduated. Only 208.5 credits and 5.5 years later. It's not quite as bad as it sounds...I started BYU with 42 mostly useless credits I earned from AP/IB exams. Graduation was really nice. I sat by a few friends from my ward for the big ceremony and Elder Oaks spoke at my college graduation! I have to say that my college probably has the most entertaining ceremony because it all music, dance, theater, and art majors. There were lots of great musical numbers and maybe a little dancing across the stage when the names were called. Also I received some kind of outstanding senior award. The art department has failed to tell me exactly what it was for but I did get a nice little check in the mail from BYU this summer!
3. We went to the tulip festival at Thanksgiving point. It was a really cold day but the flowers were beautiful.
4. James and I participated in a project with BYU and some students from the UK called mapping the west. We went camping in Escalante at the petrified forest, had dinner and a history lesson at one of the faculty's ranch in Bolder,UT, had our lunches stolen by a very big and aggressive Raven, completed a book arts project, had a group show and met a lot of really great people! I think the show is still traveling around Great Britain. The book I made was a disaster but I was just having too much fun getting to know all our visitors!
5. Enjoyed Memorial day in Midway with some of my family and some of James' fam. We played croquet and went for a hike.
6. We took a trip to California to visit friends and family and had quite an adventure getting there. We decided to leave after work on a Friday so we would have a little more time in San Francisco on Saturday. First we stopped at the salt flats which were one of the most bizarre things I've ever seen! Then we tried to sleep in Elko, NV but there was a motorcycle jamboree (yes we saw several men in viking hats) going on and we couldn't find a room ANYWHERE! After getting pulled over for forgetting to use our blinker we decided keep driving. We ended up staying in Winnamucha, NV in the "executive suite" at the Holiday Inn which was the last room left in the town. After dealing with tons of San Francisco traffic and some bad directions we found Sarah and Patrick Larsen's house and had a great visit and tour of the city. My favorites were Alcatraz, sea lions at the pier, walking the Lands End trail, and hanging out the side of a trolley that passed a trolley carrying Michelle Obama and all her security guards.
After a few days in SF we decided to have a few more driving adventures and go down to Santa Monica to visit my brother Spencer and his family. We decided to take the scenic route which was cool until it got dark and then it turned into a very scary windy road with lots of car sickness involved. We did make one cool pit stop at a place called Carmel by the Sea to watch the sunset. When we got to Santa Monica we had a great time hanging out with Spencer, Andrea, Kate, and Anna and going camping at Leo Carillo. The weather was great but the body surfing was a little rough (see Spencer's leg below). We also really enjoyed going jogging along the ocean, playing beach volleyball, and going to Venice beach. It was so nice to see everyone and escape from work and from Provo!
7. For the 4th of July Kate and Richard (now engaged woohoo!) came for a visit. We had a bbq in Provo and watched fireworks in Park City!
8. At the end of July both James' family and my family came for a visit! Busy busy! We went to Seven Peaks with James' fam. And did lots of swimming, took a trip to our friends BBQ joint (Texas Pride) in Huntsville, and had a lady's craft day with my family. It was great to see everyone!
9. We celebrated our 3rd anniversary! To celebrate we went out to dinner and saw an outdoor play at Sundance. Of course it a cold front blew in so it was freezing!
10. James participated in his first Triathalon! He struggled with the swimming but did great with everything else. I was so proud of him! He is such a hard worker and great at accomplishing his goals.
11. My mom turned 70 and we had a great party at my Aunt Susie's house.
12. We ended our summer by watching an outdoor movie at Rock Canyon park!
Here we are with all our presents in all of our unshowered Christmas morning glory.
Snowshoeing. The snow was pretty old so basically we were hiking in heavy shoes..he he. My hips were really sore afterwards. But the trees were pretty.
Rachel and Trevor after a little sledding
And that was our Christmas break. I still have lots of pictures to load from Christmas until now so stay tuned. Also I need to post about what has been keeping us extra busy these days. A lot of you already know but I'll give those who don't a clue. James started his own BLOG to keep track of it - he is very excited for a new project and most the time I am too!
