Bear Lake

My Grandma Fern rented an amazing cabin for a couple days at Bear Lake so we could all celebrate her birthday and hang out as a family. Kylie and I stayed for 2 nights and slept in the loft with the most amazing view of the lake.

Alex and Laura came the first night, and we ran right out to the beach to play before dinner.

Alex pretending he's 5 year old:

The cabin

This is the kind of work that Brian use to do when we were first married.

The lake was freezing in the morning, but finally warmed up in the afternoon so we could have fun zipping around on jet skis.

Sushi

Kylie and I went out for Sushi for the 2nd night in a row. We can't get enough! This time we took my brother Alex, sister Laura, and nephew L.D. We tried the new sushi bar in North Logan, The Black Pearl. It was excellent, though I'm favoring Kazoku in Smithfield. The Black Pearl has more variety overall, including combo meals (think Mandarin Garden) but not as many sushi varieties. Kazoku has more sushi varieties with the advantage of having the item pictured and described so you're not surprised. If anyone wants to go, give me a call!

More Pics

I'm behind on my photo-sharing. Here's a few more.

This is where I live! Cache Valley, Utah.

And hike.

And sleep. :-)

These are my babies.

Kylie has become an avid rock wall climber...as long as her dad is with her.

My parents had a Japanese student stay with them for 2 months. Her name is Myumi, and Kylie loved to sit and talk with her, teaching her English words, and would drag her out to jump on the trampoline. I loved it because I got to remodel a bedroom for her to stay in. My little sis Laura is on the right.I don't have pictures yet, but I also remodeled my brother's room as a surprise when he came home. He was gone all summer taking care of our friend Bill who went through brutal treatment for esophogeal cancer. My legs are still sore from hanging wallpaper. I'm still trying to make my house a home and finding places for everything. The one thing I like about moving is that I get to decorate all over again! Hopefully someone else will need a room redecorated soon...

My Brave Little Bug

Kylie had to get shots today to get ready for kindergarten. I didn't realize she was so far behind, so she had to have 3 shots in her leg. Poor bug! She was so brave. We promised to buy her a new toy so she had something to look forward to. She picked a My Little Pony birthday toy. This is the same toy that she gave her friend yesterday at a birthday party. She walked funny all day, thinking that she couldn't bend her knees. I wish I had my camera when we went out to dinner. I took Brian and Kylie to a local sushi place, and Kylie was rockin' with the chopsticks! She set them in her hand, reached out and snagged a California Roll on the first try. She made exclamations of satisfaction all night. We have a sushi fan!

What We've Been Up To

I finally have internet at home so I can download pictures onto my computer. Here's what we've been up to:

We went 4-wheeling up Smithfield Canyon with my sister Laura. It was gorgeous! Laura and I got a little muddy going through a surprise mud hole....

We rode up to the trailhead, then hiked and explored.

We've been doing a lot of farming. I always forget my camera, so this is the only shot I have. I gotta get a picture of me hauling hay. Oh yeah, I drive the tractor!

We went camping with my mom's family at Onieda in Idaho. There's a natural hot spring up there and you float down the river. Kylie had so much fun with the boys!

It's been such a fun summer. We are excited for Kylie to start kindergarten, mostly because she's so bored at home. There are no kids in our neighborhood. That's our summer in a very small nutshell.

Bliss

I really don't have anything to write about, other than how blissfully happy I am! Brian is coming home tonight after fighting fires in Southern Utah for 2 weeks. We're going to get our stuff moved into my in-law's basement and finally set up our little home. Life is just better when you have your own things around you. We'll be cutting second crop hay in the coming weeks, something that I'm going to re-learn all over again. There's a technique to turning around at the end of a row that I can't get right. I always turn the wrong way. It's still plenty cold at night and I have to shut the windows after about an hour. I still have 3 blankets on my bed. The days are hot and the nights are cool. I love snuggling in bed with the crisp mountain air coming in through the window. We've been hiking a few times, 4-wheeling, and farming. Went to a couple rodeos. Shopping in Salt Lake. Life is just awesome! I know I appreciate it so much more because of where I've been. The miracle of Utah is already diminishing, and I'm trying to hold on to it. Yesterday I got my library card at the Smithfield library (which hasn't changed in 100 years) and tears came to my eyes as I browsed through shelves of LDS literature. Wal-Mart and other grocery stores have LDS books/music sections too. Our neighbors, the Chambers, served a mission in Louisiana and had a family from that area visit them last week. It was fun to hear the awe in their voices at the many miracles of Utah. "Whoa, did you see that? There was like 5 churches just on that block! And those guys were praying before they went hiking! Everyone is a Mormon!" Its always such a thrill to come back to Utah when I've lived away. I use to think that it would be better to raise children outside of Utah so that they could really know their religion, not just the culture of it. I've tried it both ways, and I vote for raising my kids within the protection of the mountains. It definitely has its challenges and isn't perfect. But there's nowhere else I'd rather be!

We Have Decided

So we have decided that we are going to live with Brian's parents in their basement apartment in Smithfield, Utah and chip away at Brian's student loan. Kylie is pretty happy because she gets to see both sets of grandparents every day. My parents live just around the corner. Every other option out there just didn't feel right. Just another opportunity for me to practice listening and interpreting the Spirit.