September 2014

September was a good month! The weather started to turn more autumn-like & we got a fair amount of rain. We had a couple of "weird" Sundays (stake conference & a temple dedication) that convinced us we could get used to just 2 hours of church at 10 AM. We also got to enjoy harvest a little.

We went to a u-pick raspberry patch south of Provo (you can see the Payson temple if you look closely at the next picture, taken just around the corner from where we picked berries):

About 5 lbs of raspberries!

We went to a Bradshaw wedding:

We saw Sterling's band at their 9/11 memorial performance:

Sterling's family allowed us to glean their peach trees. We processed about 30 lbs of peaches (with the help of our canner, purchased that weekend!):

Coincidentally, we also announced to our families that our own little "peach" will be here in March.

We bottled 8 pints of peach halves and 10 pints of peach jam, froze a few pounds of peach slices, and used the remaining fruit for 2 9*13 pans of peach crisp!

We spent the following weekend up at the cabin, with a family from the ward joining us for one night & a day trip to Cascade Springs:

We decided mid-September is the ideal time for the cabin. The surrounding trees were turning their fall colors, the nights were cool, we got a day of sunshine and one of rain... it was really beautiful and the perfect start to autumn.

oxox

July 2014

July was a very full month for us.

We started off with a neighborhood Independence Day block party on the 3rd. Thomas invited a friend from work and his family, and we grilled hot dogs together and enjoyed the company of our neighbors and the early-evening festivities.

On the 4th, rather than stay downtown amidst the hullabaloo that is the parade (etc.) in Provo, we left home around 7 AM to hike Y Mountain in the relative cool of the morning. We'd hiked the Y before, but this was our first time going all the way up, around the east side of the mountain, and finally to the overlook at the top. It was a challenging, steep hike, but we thoroughly enjoyed getting out in quiet, quiet nature. The greenery and wildflowers were so refreshing! Ultimately, when we made it back down the mountain, we were utterly exhausted. After some rest, we went out for Orange Julius at the mall and window-shopped a while.

On the 12th, we drove up to Salt Lake area for dinner at the Clarks'. What a cute, fun family!

On the weekend of the 19th (you know, just after Bastille Day), we took a trip up to Logan. We stayed the night Friday, and then on Saturday we attended the temple and then saw Les Miserables at the Eccles Theater.

On Pioneer Day, the 24th, we participated in the Temple-to-Temple 5K (and I beat my time from last year!). Then, in the afternoon, we packed up the car to drive to Boise to visit Elizabeth & co. for the weekend.

Pioneer Day activity!

oxox

June 2014

We tried out Red Lobster for the first time thanks to some gift cards!

We hiked the Y on a whim! There were a lot of wildflowers.

Getting out in nature is so relaxing, and really puts things in perspective.

We went to an outdoor concert with our friends, the Hunts!

We took a scenic drive:

We ate our fruits & veggies:

Thomas went to a fathers & sons activity:

Samuel had a birthday:

And we went to Samuel's work party:

We also had Thomas' friend from Seattle, Tony, and his wife visit us for an evening on their way to southern Utah. They took us to dinner at India Palace and we showed them around Provo before winding down with a round of Pandemic. [picture to come... maybe?].

oxox