July 4th at Bear Lake

For our four-day holiday weekend we decided to spend some time at Bear Lake. After work on Thursday, Oliver and I decided to head up to Bear Lake. We camped our first night at the Cottonwood campground. The only thing that Oliver promised is that we wouldn't be setting up camp in the dark - after some car trouble and a late start you can see from the pictures below that we barely made it.

But we spent a great night looking at the stars and walking along the beach and if you can't tell that is the lake right in front of our tent. We made friends with our neighbors and shared their fire to make S'mores. We read and talked and enjoyed some much needed relaxation.

The next morning we got up and I read while Oliver went swimming in the lake. Oliver's parents came up around lunch time and we packed up camp and headed into town where his parents got a room for all of us to stay in for the rest of the weekend.


Now the picture below shows you a little about the weather on the 4th of July - it looks like it was snowing! But - it really wasn't. The winter was so late that the cotton was just starting to fall off the trees and it was absolutely everywhere. YUCK! But we went down to the beach anyway and had lunch and swam and played and enjoyed a very relaxing day and evening with Oliver's parents.


The next morning (Saturday), Taylor and Emily came up to Bear Lake to join in our fun. We rented a boat and spent a day on the water. Now, let me preface our experience by letting you know that none of us have really ever driven a boat. The last boating experience Dave was a part of involved a house boat at Lake Powell (some of you will understand this reference) and so we were all a little nervous. Oliver was the first one on the inner-tube and Taylor only had to pull him once before the lining got ripped off the tube, Oliver made a pretty racy comment and we all headed back to the dock for another tube.


But after we got a new tube, Taylor and Emily took a turn on the inner-tube together. Many laughs were had and some great stories will be remembered - they just all don't need to appear on the blog...

Then we even got Mom Heidi to tube. Now, for those of you who have never tried a wetsuit, we always make fun of Oliver for wearing his. But then, we all tried it, and we are all convinced it is the best thing ever. Mom Heidi wore it, Taylor wore it, Emily wore it, and Heidi and Oliver wore it - we love it!

Then Oliver and Heidi tried to tube together - as you can see it was quite comical...So we ended up going separately which worked out way better!

Dad even took a turn which is a whole different hilarious story...

We also skied quite a bit. This is a picture of Taylor on two skis. The water was so choppy that Taylor and Oliver were able to get up slalom skiing but not do a whole lot. Emily and Heidi also got to two ski and we had so much fun! Part of our skiing difficulty was that we don't really know how to drive a boat and part of that is that it was the afternoon and the coveted glass water is best first thing in the morning.

After a long day on the lake we cooked dinner and sat around and visited. Oliver flew his kite and we relaxed. There were fireworks both nights we were up at Bear Lake and we even went into town to get shakes. Sunday morning we had breakfast on the beach, went to church as a family, had lunch at the park and made the journey home...

We hope your 4th was as fun, funny and memorable as ours and we hope that you had a chance to reflect on all the blessing that we so freely enjoy...

Yard Fun and Our Fun...

The rest of our summer has entailed a lot of swiping the AMEX card at Home Depot and Lowes. When I bought our townhouse last summer the back yard was all dirt and Oliver loves working in the yard. It looks phenomenal! We now eat out on our patio and the house orientation is great because our yard is shaded from noon on. Not great for tanning - but great for spending time in nature even when it is 100+ degrees.

We have a paver patio, a free church table and chairs, and our Christmas BBQ from Oliver's parents.

Then we laid sod and barkdust...

And added some potted tomatoe plants, cucumbers, flowers and an old milk jug from my great-grandparents bakery.

This is the first time that we mowed and trimmed the lawn! We got a little push mower because we don't have a lot of grass and a trimmer. (Can you tell that I just pushed the push mower once for the experience, but Oliver is really the one dressed to work?)

It has worked out perfectly because I don't mind the cooking and grocery shopping and menu planning and he loves the yard. What can we say - we think we're a perfect match!

Speaking of the perfect match - we went to one - but it wasn't quite perfect...

My old roommate - Amber - got tickets to the REAL Salt Lake soccer game. It looks like it was great weather but as you can see in the picture below it was freezing and we sat in the shade the entire time. So we both had on jackets and shared a blanket and the girls next to us had on gloves. It was pretty fun, but there was no winner because the game was tied 0-0, and so much for June heat.

Go Taylor Go!

We have spent a lot of our month supporting our favorite bike rider! Taylor races a lot and we don't make it to every race, but there are some that we enjoy going to every year. The picture above is the race at SugarHouse Park. This one is fun because we get to see him everytime he loops the park. The weather was great!


Then, later in the month, we went to the race where Tay bikes 80 miles from Camas, UT to Evanston, WY. This is the 3rd year he's done it and the 3rd year we've been. Oliver's family has a cabin that is on the route between Camas and Evanston and so we spend the weekend cheering him on and hanging out at the cabin. Above is mom helping him pin on his number.


Before the race the family gathered for a quick picture (dad, mom, Oliver, Taylor, and Emily)


And there is Taylor leading the pack.


And Emily helping carry the bike gear.


Then, the second day there are time trials in the morning and a lap race in the afternoon. They are off to a good start...


In the end, Taylor didn't come in first, but he did well enough to make some money and we had a fantastic weekend with the family!