Pictures of Lake Powell

Lake Powell is truly just one of the best places ever. I love the pictures Dave took while we were down there. They remind me of how perfect Lake Powell is.

Hulk Hogan or my Dad, you decide?

The Hair Cut

Yep, that is me. I chopped all of my long locks off. It is so nice not to have long hair, it is the easiest style I have ever had. Yes Dave loves it.

Pure Exhaustion

Let me just start off this post by saying my parents are pretty awesome. They are the ones who have instilled in me the love of going, doing, discovering, learning and craving good food.

When I was younger we would do these weekends called marathon weekends. We would usually start out slow on Friday night by going out to eat, little did I know then we were just saving our energy for the next day. Some might consider it carb loading. Saturday morning hits, and we are off and running. Activities included in any given marathon day would be; Farmers Market, Ski jumping, lunch, movie, a museum or two, maybe the zoo, a play at Sundance, a bike ride through Park City, swimming, Alpine slides, shopping, haunted houses, and dinner. They were seriously fun, but seriously tiring.

I found out first hand that through the years my parents have not changed the way they live their lives and plan their activities. It is truly amazing none of us have died from pure exhaustion of fun. While we were in Utah for 3 weeks I am pretty sure we did not stop to rest for more than a day the whole time, and that was because we were all sick.

Izzi and Max walking through the Chicago Airport.
So lucky for me, Max fell asleep on take off.

I am missing some pictures so I will just fill in the blank with words. First day we were there we took a tour at the Sweets Candy Factory.
That night we had a girls night and went to the Grill at Sundance and then went to the Sound of Music also at Sundance.
Waiting for the play to start
Eisley and her best friend Grandma Sue

The next day Dave flew in. We picked him up and went to a concert at Deer Valley. It was so much fun, the kids loved being outside and dancing to the music.

The next morning we woke up and headed to Lake Powell. I have to say it was one of the best trips down there, minus the fact we lost my parents on the jet skis and had to ask the lake police (I don't know what they are called) to help us find them. That was pretty awesome. Other than that it was a perfect trip.
The wonderful Hogel Zoo.
What Utahan doesn't have fond memories of the lion fountain
We rented a van to go down to St. George so we could see the Little Mermaid at Tuachan.

The Little Mermaid.
Izzi exhausted coming home from St. George.

In between all those days, we swam and played in the water, visited with lots of friends, ate delicious dinners, had family parties, went shopping, went to The Help, and enjoyed being with each other. It was a fun 3 weeks. It was so much fun to be able to see my friends and family that I have not seen in a year.

The Cat and the Bike

Eisley and her new bike. We thought it was high time for Eisley to graduate from her tiny tricycle to an actual bike. She absolutely loves it. She told me yesterday, as she rang her little bell that it was a pretty great bike. She does pretty well on it too. We have only had 2 mishaps. One of the mishaps landed her in a big pile of poo. I tried to convince her it was just dirt so she wouldn't start crying. Other than that she has loved it. Her helmet is my favorite part. It has cat ears and a nose. She looks pretty adorable.

The Ever Changing Dresser

About 8 years ago I inherited an ugly dresser from my friend Chelsea's roommate. It was ugly, she tried to make it look better by staining it a brown-red color. That defiantly didn't work. The best part about it was that you could tell she got sick of staining it, because every drawer was a different brown-red color. So I took this ugly dresser because I needed one. Then one day I had the foresight to dye pages from a medical dictionary green, saw off the handles, and put material on the front of the drawers. I have to say it was an improvement. A couple of weeks ago I again got sick of looking at it and created this dresser instead. I like it for now. We will see in a couple of years what it will look like.

Girls Camp

Oh, the season of girls camp is upon us. For the girls it is the best part of the summer. Getting to sleep in cabins, or tents with all of their friends, staying up late, cheering, and singing all the time. What is not to love. Here in our Stake we go to a camp on a lake in Wisconsin. It is beautiful. I was only able to stay for 2 days, but I am glad I was able to go experience the excitement of the girls for those 2 days.

Another Marathon Trip

Max loves his Pop (the kids call my dad Pops, but Max just calls him Pop)
Fountains outside of the Art Institute
Taste of Chicago, or if you are a real Chicagoan you call it simply "The Taste"
Max was obviously very tired, and wet so my dad put one of his extra shirts on him
Cupcake tour. This tour was a really fun way to celebrate my moms birthday. We got to eat lots of delicious cupcakes and learn a little about each cupcake store, how they started, how they make their cupcakes, in some of the stores we got to go into the kitchens. It was very cool.
Izzi loving her cupcake from More (An adult Hostess Cupcake, but better, way, way better)
Max holding a dead fish. He thought it was the greatest thing ever.
Mom and Izzi walking on the beach at North Western.
Max was so tired he couldn't even make it up the stairs.

I'm Melting

Literally...

Any of you that know me at all, know that heat is my most hated thing in the world. I feel like I am a pretty laid back, go with the flow type of person, but when it comes to the heat, I get mean, and angry. I hate being hot. For the past couple of days we have had an Excessive Heat Warning. Meaning high temperatures in the middle to upper 90's, will combine with oppressive humidity, which will result in DANGEROUS high heat indexes of 105 to 110 degrees. I mean it when I say I am melting.

Chicago: A World Class City

The Ice Cream Truck

What American kid doesn't have fond memories of hearing the crackling music of the ice cream truck coming down the street, running through their house trying to conjure up 3 quarters before the truck passes and you were left running down the street without shoes trying to catch up to the truck. When you finally made it stop, (feet burning and turning black) you got to take your time in looking over the side of the truck were all of the mouthwatering pictures of the 20 different types of cold deliciousness that you could potentially buy with your $.75 hung. Always going through all of your options then deciding on the one that you new would make you the happiest. For me it was the red, white and blue rocket pop. Such great memories.

A couple of days ago I hear the ice cram truck coming down our street so I yell to Dave that we should get the kids an ice cream. So he runs out to stop the truck. I come running out 2 seconds later, (no shoes) to be apart of the first time our kids get to experience the joy of the ice cream truck. The kids took no time in picking what they wanted (neither of them picked a rocket pop), Dave and I decided what we wanted, and then the ice cream man delivers the blow, $9 please. Dave thought he misunderstood and asked how much? It was the same price the second time. As Dave handed over the money I felt a sadness for the fact that my kids will have to give up all their kidneys to enjoy what every American kid should enjoy...$.75 ice cream from the truck that plays the crackly music. Now when the kids ask if they can get another ice, we just say we will take them to Baskin Robins.

Swim Lessons

Izzi had her last swim lesson today. After 6 weeks I see a potential female Michael Phelps. No not really, but she did do a great job. She can now "swim" the width of the pool and continue to talk the whole time. She loved it and was a trooper to do it 3 times a week, in the rain and cold.

There's No Place Like Home,There's No Place Like Home

Our first tornado warning. I don't know if I feel official or a little nervous. The sirens went off while Izzi and I were at Young Women's. We all had to go into the hallway until the sirens were turned off. Driving home was crazy, purple lightning, wind blowing rain sideways, trees getting tousled about. Now we are all hanging out in the basement until 9:30 tonight.

This is Max sleeping under a desk downstairs.

My first Grill

Yogurt marinated kebabs and my favorite artichokes

There are no words to describe how much I love having a grill. For the past 6 years we have lived in apartments that did not allow us to have a BBQ. So by golly when we moved out here and we had a big deck to have a grill, it was my first almost hoping it will be summer soom purchase. We use it almost every day. I love the smell of bar-b-que, the taste, and the easy clean up. It feels like I have so many new options available to me because of the grill. Isn't almost summer wonderful!

My Parents Know How To Party

Having my mom and dad come to town is the absolute greatest. We always do so many fun things. My parents are the worlds best travelers. They love to explore and experience everything their destination has to offer. Chicago is no different for them. They have been here about 5 times now, and they are still finding amazing things to do and see. The week they were here we went to a Cubs game, ate dim-sum in China Town, took a tour of Frank Lloyd Wrights home and studio, went to the Shedd Aquarium, Ate one of the best meals I have ever had on the 95th floor of the John Hancock building, saw the skyline of Chicago from a boat, Lego Land, swam then ended the week exhausted. (I have no Idea why this is underlined, it is driving me nuts.)Lego Land. The only thing on this trip we could have done without. The kids liked it, so I guess it was worth it.
Shedd Aquarium
The infamous Phoenix restaurant. Supposedly this place in China Town is one of the few remaining establishments that still brings you out your dim-sum on a cart...like they do in China.
Yes, this is the cart. I was expecting some beautiful bamboo cart with engravings all over it. Nope it was a hospital metal cart. The dim-sum made up for the cart, it was delicious.
Sky line tour

Wrigley Field is pretty awesome. They still change the scoreboard by hand, and the Ivy wall both pretty amazing. It was so much fun and so cold.
You can't go to a game without getting a Braht.

I love this picture of my family. Izzi is into making funny faces in pictures right know.
Signature room at the John Hancock. It was so amazing to eat on the 95th floor. You sat next to huge window that overlooked the city and Lake Michagen.
This was my dinner. Salmon with fingerling potatoes. Oh my, amazing!
This was dessert. Everybody loved there meals. Not one bad one in the bunch.