Some Highlights Of Summer

I can't believe it's been so long since I've blogged. I kept thinking that I have nothing to blog about, but after talking to a friend of mine, she convinced me that I have TONS to blog about, and actually - I do. I kind of forgot all of the fun things we've done this summer, so this post is a catch-up one of some of the highlights of our fun summer.

• We flew to Arizona to see my brother and sister-in-law and our cute niece and nephew. Don't worry - it was only 118 degrees while we were down there. So, needless to say we swam a lot, and were inside the rest of the time. If you do that, then Arizona in the summer is totally do-able. We played a lot of games, had some delicious food, went to see World War Z (definitely not my movie of choice), and watched some other fun movies at home. It was a great weekend trip that flew by much too quickly.

Can you even handle that face??

Don't mind my China hair. It was SO hot.

• After our weekend of fun, my sister-in-law and her cute kiddos flew up to Utah to spent a few weeks up there with us. We got to go camping, see lots of fireworks, and just spend some fun time together. I'm SO grateful that flights to Arizona are so cheap (check out Allegiant Air people, if you want to get to Phoenix from Ogden!!!) so that we can see our family as much as we do. I just miss them so much!

This little boy LOVES to be "high up". :)

Autumn wanted to make a silly face - mine was so silly you can't even see my eyes!

Our family's annual 4th of July camp out in Vernal. Besides the rain, it was pretty fun.

There is a cave up there by our campsite that has these awesome stalactites (or are they stalagmites?? My dad would be SO disappointed in me right now) that vary in size each year. We usually check them out each time we go. I opted out this year because of my little pregnant belly, but apparently they were HUGE.

We played a lot of ladder ball. Every morning Dylan would wake up and say that he "needed to play those balls". It was a hit.

• July was our month for family get-togethers. We had a family reunion every weekend in July. Exhausting, but so fun to see everybody. After our Vernal camp out, we went to Bear Lake for Dave's family's annual trip. It was the first time that Dave and I were able to go for the entire week, and we were so excited to be able to spend so much time up there with everyone. We boated, played on the lake, played ultimate frisbee, played games every night, and of course had delicious food. We are already counting down for next year's trip. 

We do some pretty intense boating at Bear Lake. You can tell just by looking at these faces. 

• After our week at Bear Lake, we spent the weekend at Fish Lake with Dave's other side of the family. I'm so bummed that I didn't take a SINGLE picture. Lame. But it was fun. We rented a big fishing boat, and the family went fishing every day. Dave and I only went once, and of course we didn't catch a single fish. It was fun though. I learned how to play Gin Rummy, and I learned that Dave's Uncle Guy is not a good person to sit by in that game because he bought all the good cards I needed.  At least now I know for next time. We also brought up some wood projects to work on with the girls while the boys went fishing. Besides Grandma Merleen getting paint all over herself, they turned out GREAT. 

• After our weekend at Fish Lake, we had a family reunion with my side of the family. My mom was in charge of it this year, and she put together a really fun Amazing Race game. We split our families into groups, and all of us had to race around Bountiful and complete tasks together. I think one of my favorite tasks was to recite the Preamble to the Constitution to one of my mom's friends, and I actually knew it! I just knew it would come in handy someday! Thank you School House Rock!! :) We had a swimming party the next day with everyone, and we also had a baby shower for me and my cousin who are having baby girls just 2 weeks apart from each other. It was so fun to see everyone again. Sorry - no pictures again. I'm totally LAME!!

• Dave also celebrated his 29th birthday in August. He was SO excited to go to Cowabunga Bay for his birthday. We had a little celebration at the park for him, and he even made a movie to celebrate the occasion. He was just like a little boy all day long, being so excited for each waterslide. He is such a cutie. 

Sorry for the blur and the shake. Let's just say the iPhone wasn't really meant to be a video maker.

Dave's little sister Lauren also made him a Ninja Turtles birthday cake as a surprise. He kept saying that since his birthday was at Cowabunga Bay, he felt so much like a little kid and half expected to have a Ninja Turtles cake to celebrate. Lauren was so sweet to make him one, and Dave LOVED it.

• We also got to see Dave's brother Brock perform in two shows this summer. We got to see him as Ren in Footloose, and also as an ape in Tarzan. He is a phenomenal dancer, and it was so fun to see him in both plays.

Footloose

This is us trying to be as ape-ish as possible. I think  Brock totally wins, although Aly comes pretty close. :)

• Most recently, Dave completed his 2nd triathlon.  I couldn't have been more proud of him. He hardly even trained for it, and completed it in under 2 hours. Wow!! It was a pretty hot day, and I melted a little bit while cheering him on, but I would do it again in a heartbeat to see my cute husband be so excited and to complete something so hard. He did it with one of his good friends who is actually named David as well, so he had a buddy to run it with. It was great to see the smile on his face all day long.

Before the race started

Before the swim - look at their funny swim caps! Ha!

Finishing up the swim - see how happy he looks even when he's exhausted?? He was so excited to run this race!

Hydrating himself for the bike ride

See what I mean? His smile is just contagious.

Proud finishers of the race!!

The support crew

I just love him. 

My summer also included a trip to South Dakota with my mom and sister, and a trip to Portland to see our friends Hannah and Landon, but those get their own separate post because there's way too much to share. So stay tuned for some more adventures of the summer!