S'mores & Stuff

The previous owners of our house cleared out a fire pit area in one corner of the backyard. We kind of let it go (weeds galore) and were planning to tear it out and put down grass, but this past week Doug got it cleaned out and we tested it by having Doug's sister and her family come over for a s'mores night. The kids had so much fun, and I think we are keeping the fire pit now. Hahaha! We just need to clean it up a bit more, and then we can have a few more fall fires before the snow gets here.

Here's a couple pictures I snagged off Snapchat. It's so fun that Nicole has two cousins close in age; Claire is only 7 months older than her! Austin and Alex are both too young to join the frolicking, but just give it a few months.

In other news...

Nicole is taking dance this school year, and she LOVES it. She gets to be introduced to tap, jazz, ballet, and then they do a little creative movement segment at the end of each class. She was hesitant on the first day, but now she goes striding into her class with a loud "BYE, MOM!" and a wave. She mentions dance class throughout the week and tells me she wants to go. It's kind of sad that it's only once a week. She loves her "noise shoes" (tap shoes).

Here she is on her first day with her little bag that she carries her shoes in. Look at that huge smile! Dang, she's growing up. Staaaaaahp.

As for me, I'm just giddy that fall is here. My enthusiasm is rubbing off on Nicole because she is suddenly obsessed with pumpkins. I scored a "10 Little Pumpkins" book from the dollar section at Target and Nicole had me read it at least a dozen times in a row that afternoon. I'm not exaggerating. I look forward to letting her pick out a pumpkin later in the season.

Ah, fall. My kids get to wear long sleeve shirts/sweaters when we go to play in the early mornings now! The all-together playground is probably Nicole's most requested venue, although she enjoys going up in the canyon a lot too (which is even colder!). Austin is game for anything, of course, but especially if it means he gets to go on a swing. The kid loves swinging.

We have lots of fun plans on our radar for the autumn season, from family coming to visit us...to Cornbelly's...to a vacation that has been in the works for months and I think Nicole will be ecstatic about. I'M certainly excited!

Oh, and I made my first pumpkin-flavored dish of the season. Pumpkin & sausage soup with homemade bread. YUM. Perfect to eat on that rainy Friday last week. I'm making a butternut pasta with pumpkin sauce later this week. Cookies are on my list after that. Can't stop, won't stop!

Happy fall, ya'll!

Summer Adventures // the local places we visit most

Personal opinion: Labor Day marks the official end of summer... so I guess there's only a bit over a week of summer left! I'm telling myself that I can't decorate for fall until I have my house super deep-cleaned, though. Hooray for incentives!

Perhaps I will live for "those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer" once my kids are in school, but right now I have a pleasantly tolerable relationship with the hot months. Nicole and I are both not fans of heat (Austin seems to tolerate it better), and so mornings are our prime time to do our outdoor activities. We save indoor activities for the hotter parts of the day. In case you Utah locals want inspiration for your own future summer adventures, our most frequent haunts this summer have included:

• Discovery Playground (deserted in the morning, and shown in this post's pictures)
• The All-Together Playground (also deserted in the morning)
• Walking up to Bridal Veil Falls
• Checking out various parks in our neighborhood to see if any of them are hidden gems
• The kids chill in the stroller while I jog/power-walk on the trail near our house. Depending on when we get out the door and how far I go, we also make a slight detour to say hello to some horses and chickens at a home near the trail.
• Going through Costco for all the samples
• Exploring the mall
• The new Orem splash pad
• The splash pad at Riverwoods, or hanging out at Provo Beach at Riverwoods. Mainly for the Carousel, of course. Dole Whip is a plus too.
• Occasional trips to pay-to-enter facilities like the Lindon Aquatic Center or Kangaroo Zoo
• Going up in Provo Canyon for a picnic or to play/explore. On a good day it can be 5-8 degrees cooler up there, not to mention there's usually a breeze going.

No matter the activity, though, one of my top priorities is keeping cool and feeling comfortable. Ya feel me, fellow mamas?!! Dresses and skirts are summer staples for me. It's hard to stay cool when I have an extra layer of clothing (Mormon garments) and so it's important that whatever items I DO wear are not only appropriate for my personal modest clothing standards, but are also breathable and light without being completely sheer. I'm always on the lookout for great sources of cute modest clothes, such as those found at Cleo Madison. I have all the heart eyes for this dress, as well as this shirt (hello, pumpkin!!!!!). Some of the dresses even have pockets. Pockets, ladies!

I'm loving this floral piece that I picked from their inventory. It can be worn casually as I am wearing it in these pictures (great for errands and running after kids) or dressed up if you throw on some heels, jewelry and perhaps a belt. Aside from being a great piece for warm weather, the rusted shade of the floral makes it a perfect transition piece for--drum roll, please--fall!!!! Yes yes yes, I'm talking about FALL again! Just add boots and layers!

Ooooooo. Boots. Layers. It's coming, folks.

First Hike

On Friday I came home from Target with a new baby carrier that has 4 different carrying styles, including on the back. Doug immediately suggested that this warranted a short hike to test it out, so we went on our very first hike with Nicole on Saturday. She was as quiet as a clam the whole time.

Then she fell asleep on the way back down.

What a life... being carried up and down a mountain while you snooze leisurely. Babies have got it made!

Man, it's been a long time since I've gone hiking. I forget how awesome it is to be in nature.

I am once again stunned by the beauty of the Wasatch mountain front. It's kinda crazy that I really get to live in a place that's this gorgeous. On the way home from our hike today, I (semi)jokingly said to Doug that once he's graduated he could go get a job anywhere and we could move out of Utah. The moment the words were out of my mouth, I felt a little pang of sadness.

You guys. I think Utah has claimed my soul. I really do enjoy living here. The only huge downside I can think of is that I'm so far away from my family.

And look at that view. Man. And it takes barely any time to get up here.

^^^I spy a sleeping baby!

Yeah. I do like it here. If we ever move out of the state, we'd better move somewhere that gives this place a run for it's money.

One Year

"To love another person is to see the face of God"

While everyone was off having picnics and barbecues and going swimming, Doug and I were celebrating our first anniversary. It was a wonderful weekend, and I really needed the break from Provo and school. It was hard to come back to classes today. Especially after the VIP treatment we got at the hotel we stayed at. They gave us "welcome cookies". Yep, you read that correctly. Freshly-baked welcome cookies!

Park City is a beautiful place to get away to during May. Rolling green hills, temperatures in the high 60s/low 70s, and the cutest Main Street you could imagine.

And I basically died when I saw this painted piano mural. It just sits outside with a sign on it that says "Play me". I love these piano mural projects. I've only ever seen them in pictures, so I was excited when Doug pointed this one out.

We went over to the Olympic Park where they did the ski jump competitions during the Olympics in 2002. We got to ride the chair lifts up to the top and then take a huge zipline down to the bottom.

For the Extreme Zipline, you start at the very top of the K120 jump and go all the way down to the parking lot at the bottom. It's one of the steepest ziplines in the world, and you can reach up to 50 mph. (Want to know a secret? It's not as adrenaline-pumping as I thought it would be. My stomach didn't even drop at all! What's the point of going on an extreme zipline if you don't get those adrenaline rushes?!)

Well, I can check that off my bucket list.

Park City was beautiful. Our anniversary was wonderful and relaxing. Now I'm back in the real world, and there's only 3 weeks until the last day of spring term. Opening night for A Wrinkle in Time is on Tuesday.

I can do it!

Douglas, I love you so much! This first year has been awesome, and I look forward to the years to come. How did I ever get so lucky? Marrying you was the best decision ever. Thanks for loving and supporting me!

Rappelling

I went rappelling for the first time this weekend.
Yep. The first time.

I enjoyed it! The climb up to the spot was more strenuous on my nerves than the rappelling was...

I was just wearing flip-flops.
Yeah... I wasn't expecting my husband to insist that I try it.
I just figured we'd take a little walk in the canyon and I'd watch him climb around a bit.

I'm not gonna lie... I just took the shoes off after a while. They got annoying.
It's a good thing I have tough feet!
Climbing is easier without flip-flops.

Here I am, all hooked up and ready to go!

This was the view from the ledge we climbed up to :)

Taken with my phone's camera... and you know how great those phone cameras are...

And there I go! Doug admits that I picked it up faster than he expected me to.

He probably thought it would take me a while because of my issues doing the leap of faith the other day.

I've discovered that rappelling doesn't freak me out as much as leaping into nothing does.

And we were up higher for rappelling than we were for the leap of faith.

Huh.

Taking that leap out of the plane when we go skydiving is going to be interesting. I still have a good 3/4 of a year to mentally build myself up for that though :)

Taking a Leap of Faith

Have you ever had to do something that made your heart stop?

I went with the Hubs to his Information Systems Opening Social last night. They were holding the event at the CLAS Ropes Course in Provo. They have some fun stuff there... a rock wall, a zip line, canoes... but I decided to go for the more adrenaline-inducing activities.

Giant swing? No problem!
This is not the exact swing I went on, but it's similar. Same concept.

via

They hoist you high in the air and then let you go!

Yeah. The swing I had no problem with.

It was the "Leap of Faith" that I had problems with.

For those of you not familiar with high ropes courses, the leap of faith involves climbing onto a platform or small pole high in the air and then jumping from that into empty space to try to grab a ring, a bar, or hit a small ball dangling from a rope.

Like this. A wild hurtle through the air.

(Once again, this is not the exact leap of faith I went off of. It was too dark to take pictures of it while I was there, so...)

via

As I was climbing up the pole, I thought... no problem! This won't be that bad!

And then I got to the top of the platform.

I can't do this!

After a minute or two of just standing there shaking my head while the people below encouraged me, I just hopped off. A small hop, because I was too scared to leap forward into nothingness.

Wait... That wasn't so bad!

I was determined not to let this obstacle beat me so easily.

So, back up the pole I climbed.

This time, I jumped.

I didn't leap far enough to grab the ring, but I still jumped forward into empty space.

Truth be told, I actually enjoy the feeling of beating that fear and having that small adrenaline rush.

Feeling the air whoosh around me as I jump, and the heart-stopping moment right before my safety line catches me.

Back up the pole I went, for a third time.

This time, I actually tried for the loop.

Missed it by inches.

Even though I didn't grab it, I am proud of myself.

I went from wanting to climb back down the pole, to hopping off the platform, to leaping through space.

Quite the progress.

I feel like actual, real-life faith is blind like that sometimes.

You know deep down that you have a Life Line attached to you. That Line won't let you fall. And yet... you're still scared to take that leap of faith. The fear and doubt in your mind make you forget the Life Line is even there.

You have to push past that fear, trust the Life Line, and take the leap. Only then can your faith become stronger. Only then can you reach your potential. When you take the leap, the blessings pour out.

Have you ever had to do something that scared you?
Something you thought you couldn't do?

To the Top of Timp

I died this weekend.

Okay, maybe not literally... but my body is mad at me. I guess hiking 15 miles can do that to you.

Doug and I hiked up Mount Timpanogos with a couple friends.

That's this mountain right here, only minus the snow cuz it's summer.

via

We left at midnight on Friday/Saturday to drive to the trail head.

We accidentally started hiking on the wrong trail, so we had to turn around and it was probably about 2:00 AM when we actually started on the Mt. Timp trail.

It took 4 hours to get up there, and I basically died.

But getting over the saddle to see a view like this was worth it.

Sorry for the blurry pic... and that city is where I live!

I'm on top of the world, looking down on creation...

Haha.

More blurry pics

And we got to watch the sun rise over a distant mountain

The backside of Timp that nobody from the outside world sees...

This is the wilderness, peeps. Ya gotta hike to get here.

I'm totally standing on a slope here... he's taller than me, I promise...

It wore me out. It tore me down.

But it was so worth it!

15 miles! I'm proud of myself.

Now I just have to hike Half Dome in Yosemite. It's about the same length...

Someday.