So long sweet summer...

Today is officially the last day of my summer break.  On Monday I head back to a new school and to about 65 new students.  While I am sad to see summer end I am excited for this new beginning for a consistent schedule.  A few weeks ago someone asked Seth and I how we had been filling our summer vacation...I think they may have imagined us sleeping in every day, wearing our pajamas until noon and watching trashy daytime television...not so.  We think about each day in the same terms Hugh Grant's character did in the movie About A Boy:  

"I find the key is to think of a day as units of time, each unit consisting of no more than thirty minutes.  Full hours can be a little bit intimidating and most activities take about half an hour.  Taking a bath: one unit, watching countdown: one unit, web-based research: two units, exercising: three units, having my hair carefully disheveled: four units.  It's amazing how the day fills up, and I often wonder, to be absolutely honest, if I'd ever have time for a job: how do people cram them in"

Luckily it takes way less than one unit for your hair to look disheveled...but seriously we have had a busy summer.  June brought us trips to the Smoky Mountains, a backpacking trip, a move, a trip along the Southern United States and our eventual settlement back in Utah.  July brought us apartment hunting, apartment finding, apartment moving, furniture buying, family BBQ's, a two-year anniversary, a family reunion, a trip down the Provo river, a tea party and a reunion with Clemson friends.  August brought us another family reunion, the Kimball Arts Festival, 3 days with 3 little boys, new job orientation and several summer movies.  Those are the main highlights but we have also been busy with all the other projects.

I refinished our kitchen table.  The picture in the top left corner is the only one I could find of the table before refinishing.  The legs were painted burgundy and the top was stained wood.  I inherited this table from a former roommate...so I had not made the original decorating decisions.  I started with a paint stripper...after painting it on I gave it a little time to work and then went back to scrape it off.  I was sad to see that there was a layer of white paint under the burgundy.  It took a couple different rounds of stripping to finally get it all off...then it took a lot of sanding to get the table down to the natural wood color.  I was quite delighted in how the table turned out once I stained it and gave it three coats of polyurethane.  

My next summer project was finding chairs to go with my newly refinished table.  I have been searching the KSL classifieds like a mad woman.  Earlier this week Seth and I spent an entire afternoon visiting antique stores and thrift shops.  All of the chairs that I loved were well out of our price range and it was nearly impossible to find a set of four.  I had pretty much given up on the idea that I would ever find what I want...and then then I checked KSL one more time and found a listing for 4 chairs for $30 dollars.  I was so excited...we headed out right then to pick them up.  They didn't fit into our trunk so we put three in the back seat and I rode home with one on my lap.  The front legs aren't exactly what I would have liked...but when they are pushed up to the table you can't even tell.  I may end up refinishing them at some point...but for now I think they fit great in our little place.    

Another project was to cut down an IKEA dresser.  If you didn't know...IKEA furniture apparently is not made for moving.  Our little dresser didn't take the move well...and we didn't have a great place for it in our new place as it was.  So we decided to cut it down to just one drawer so it could function as a computer table below our window.  Seth took charge on this one and proved to be quite handy with his old tools.  I was quite impressed.

I have spent quite a bit of time canning this summer.  After picking nearly a gallon of raspberries at Jill and Peter's patch I made 10 pints of raspberry jam.  Then I found a great deal on strawberries and made 5 pints of strawberry jam.  Our neighbors gave us a bushel of pears and I canned 19 quarts.  Then I bought a bushel of peaches and canned 25 quarts.  When I saw "I canned" I mean that I was supervised and aided by my mother...what would I do without her.

 

Almost every other Saturday mornings I can be found volunteering at my local Bountiful Baskets Fruit Co-op.  I was delighted to move less than two blocks from a site...in South Carolina the nearest site was about an hour away so I didn't make it.  I head to the site about an hour before the designated pick-up time and with a group of volunteers I help unload the produce truck and then divide the produce between the baskets.  We have both lost a few pounds...it may be due to the abundance of fruit and veggies that fill our fridge...but we think it may just be due to the lack of moisture in the air.  

 

I also helped Seth tie a new quilt.  It took us two days and several movies to finish this project off.

We have spent quite a bit of time familiarizing ourselves with our new neighborhood and admiring the architecture of some of the houses.  It was difficulty to walk anywhere in South Carolina but not so in our new place.

We have spent quite a bit of time shopping for a second car.  I equate car shopping with apartment shopping = not fun.  We have learned that not all car salesmen are created equal...some know there stuff and others should seriously consider a new career.  We have yet to make a decision but are seriously leaning towards a Honda Fit.

Seth has spent quite a bit of job applying to jobs, searching for jobs, networking for jobs, etc.  I admire his persistence.  We have practically spent 24/7 together since June and I am sad to see that come to an end.

The rest of the summer has been spent attempting to catch up on time we lost during the last two years.  We have loved being close to our family and being able to be involved in their day to day lives.  So long sweet summer we will miss you.

3 DAYS WITH 3 LITTLE BOYS

We just spent three days with our three nephews while their parents attended a family event out of state. 

MONDAY:  

We took them to The Pirates Band of Misfits claymation movie at the dollar theater.  Max and Ben loved the movie...Andrew enjoyed it quite a bit more once we got a little popcorn.  After quiet time and naps we spent sometime outside in the backyard.  Seth taught the boys how to play marbles.  Benny would have played all night.  He said in his cute little voice "I weally wike mawbwes."  

I have to say turning around in the car to see these three smiling faces was pretty amazing.

We grabbed a couple pizzas and some crazy bread from Little Caesar's for dinner...or Little Keezers according to Max.  Novice pseudo parents that we are...we forgot to get napkins.  The boys were covered with tomato sauce but were fine with our suggestion to just wipe their hands on the grass.

Since they were already dirty we decided to add a little stickiness to the night and stopped at our favorite Sno Shack for a snow cone.

Andrew was like a little bird and moved from person to person to share a little snow cone.  He loves ice anyway so this was definitely the perfect thing for him.

After dinner we stopped by Redbox and picked up Puss in Boots.

TUESDAY:
We decided to brave the crowds at Thanksgiving Point for Two Dollar Tuesdays.  We visited the dinosaur museum first.

The boys loved the interactive exhibits.

 

Then we headed Farm Country.  Andrew loved seeing all the animals and made all of the animal sounds when prompted.

We enjoyed a tractor pulled wagon ride.

When we got home we fixed grilled cheeseburgers (think grilled cheese with a hamburger inside) and then walked back to the Redbox.  The older boys really wanted to ride in the wagon...Seth negotiated that if they would pull him to the end of the street he would pull one of them to the Redbox and one back.

WEDNESDAY:
We headed downtown to check out some local sites.  The crosswalk flags were a big hit with the boys.

We headed to the observation deck of the Church Office Building.  This was the first time I had been to the top and the views were quite extraordinary.  The boys were quite sure they could see Nona's house from this view.

They loved seeing the temple and their Mom's work in the background.

We walked through City Creek Center and stopped at the fountain to get wet.  Benny was not at all timid with the water he jumped in with both feet and kept pretending like he was hitting the sprays with a bat.

Andrew was a little more timid and was quite surprised every time he got splashed.

Next stop was the top of the Conference Center...also another spot I had not visited before.  The trees and view of the city were spectacular.

For lunch we stopped by a taco cart to pick up a few tacos.  They boys weren't convinced initially but once they had their first bite they were believers.  

We spent a little time at Nona and Papa's and held our own Olympic games at their park before heading home.  During our stay Seth built quite a few "creations" as they boys called them with legos.  The loved all of the moving parts.

• Seth caught Benny picking his nose and eating it.  When he gave Benny a hard time Benny said "It tastes spicy."  We didn't test that one out.   
• Evening prayers were usually a great summary of the day and a wish for the next day to be just as fun.
• Max could live on lasagna alone...he ate it for all three meals until it was gone.  We quickly learned that Max believes in two food groups...meat and pasta/bread.
• When Andrew woke up the first morning I went into get him and he looked at me like...not you again, where is my Mommy?
• Seth was constantly teasing the boys he told them that we were going to kidnap them and keep them as our own kids...Benny in a very worried voice said "But I would miss mommy."  Seth also convinced them that the spanish radio station was really aliens talking about coming down to earth.
• Benny treated our time with him as an audition of sorts...he kept saying "If we do something fun then maybe you will let you come take care of us again."  The jury is still out on whether we passed our audition or not.  

Tea Time

We were invited to a tea party to celebrate Seth's sisters Tawnya and Beth birthdays a couple of weeks ago. We were encouraged to dress up for the event.  Seth looked quite dapper in his thrift store find.  I wish  I could say the hat was mine but alas it was not...my mother-in-law has an amazing collection I was able to borrow from.

Seth's sister Jamie and her family definitely won the best dressed award.

Here is a shot of the whole group ready for some tea...aka lemonade.

Food Truck Thursday

Every Thursday the food trucks line up down at the Gallivan Center for Food Truck Thursday and last week I was lucky enough to attend with my Mom.  We decided to try out Submarinos.  We split Turkey Cranberry Melt and a French Onion Grilled Cheese...both were delicious.

Next time I'm hoping to try out the Better Burger truck...anyone free next Thursday?

Provo River

My brother Jeff was in town for the 24th of July holiday.  We were lucky enough to go on a bit of an adventure on the 23rd with Jeff and JB.  We kayaked down the Provo River.  Before meeting our group we were able to check out Bridal Veil Falls.

Jeff was a little more adventurous than myself and climbed up the front part of the falls.

The river was absolutely beautiful.  We hit a few small rapids that got my heart racing.

My favorite part was passing all the people that were out fly fishing...may have to add that to my bucket list.

After our adventure on the river we had dinner at Texas de Brazil a Brazilian Steakhouse at City Creek.  I took a picture...but almost everyone had their mouths full of yummy Brazilian meat so I will spare you.  If you get a chance to go I would recommend it.

July 20th = Anniversary Dos

Last Friday was our second anniversary.  It is hard to believe that it has already been two years.  I can't help but reflect on all that we have experienced together and look forward to the path ahead.  We celebrated our Anniversary this year in Twin Falls Idaho.  We were up in Idaho for a family reunion and decided to sneak away for a night on our own.  

Our first stop was Shoshone Falls, one of the falls that Twin Falls is named after.  Shoshone Falls is sometimes referred to the "Niagara of the West."  Not quite as breathtaking as Niagara but still very impressive.

Next stop...diner at Elevation 486 overlooking the canyon.  I enjoyed the Grilled Idaho Trout with coconut rice and Seth enjoyed the Idaho Pork Tenderloin drizzled with Fresh Apricot-Jalapeno-Mint Sauce with an Idaho Spud on the side.  One word...Delicious.

During the course of our dinner we saw two people base jump off the bridge in the background.

After dinner we headed to the new Batman movie.  We heard about the Colorado shootings on our way to Twin Falls and it was a little unsettling to walk into the theater.  The movie was a nice end to the trilogy and we both enjoyed it.  The next morning we checked out Perrine Bridge.

Here I am shaking the hand of I.B. Perrine the namesake of the bridge.  We learned he was a main developer of Twin Falls...Seth someday hopes to someday see a statue of himself once he has become a famous developer.

Seth may or may not have spit over the side of the bridge just to see where it would land...and he may or may not have encouraged me to do the same.

We walked on each side of the bridge and every semi that passed made the whole bridge shake.  It made me a little nervous.

After checking out the bridge we headed back to the campsite to finish up the reunion.  We were very impressed with Twin Falls and hope to return sometime in the future to hike along the canyon and kayak up the river.