August 30, 2021

First day of college pictures from Ry and Mason made my day. 

August 26, 2021

We’re going to miss Ry. Got her all squared away - well she got herself squared away, we just bought some groceries and Aggie ice cream. (Go with true Aggie night flavor. Mmmm.) it’s a new adventure and I’m excited for her and yet my heart misses her.

August 25, 2021

Rylie’s last night in Lehi for awhile. They had the evening planned out which included watching Monsters at Work. I’m going to miss hearing Cam and Ry laugh together every evening. It’s been an awesome couple of weeks of that sound. 

“Through basketball, I found my super power. My power wasn’t in being a great player, but in loving something enough to work hard at being better.” - Kareem Abdul Jabar

August 24, 2021

Some Walmart with Ry to check off the moving out list. Good chatting with her. Then we grabbed the girls and met Kenz at Handel’s for some ice cream and laughing. Peach Handel’s is a big deal for the girls right now. Also Capri Sun. They have been gulping down boxes of Capri Sun. 

August 23, 2021

Ry brought me a smoothie at work. Mmm. Then after work I just watched as she and Cam laughed and talked and were hilarious. I’m going to miss Ry when she heads to school. Which is in 3 days. Sigh. We'll also miss her watermelon cutting skills.

August 21, 2021

Movie night at the Randalls. My favorite. Tonight’s feature was Jungle Cruise. $30 for 7 of us to watch it on the Randall big screen through Disney+ was better than the $80 it would cost to go to the theater. And you don't get Penny if you go to the theater.

August 16, 2021

Back to school. Crazy that there’s only two headed back right now. Sadie had a great day. Cam had online today and heads back tomorrow to Skyridge for B days. 

August 15, 2021

One last summer getaway and it was at Brian Head.  It had a cheap Airbnb and was a place to be together. Some things that happened:

Chill chill and more chill. 

Ry and I did a cat Puzzle. 

Played speed Uno. Needed more than three people to play. 

Played psychic with the girls. So fun. 

Tetherball. Ry and Cam cracked me up. They loved tetherball. 

Had lunch at the Bearpaw Cafe at Panguitch Lake. Ry ordered for Cam because Cam didn’t want to say “yogi hoagie”. Cam ordered for Ry. :)

We stopped at Panguitch Lake to skip some rocks and see some prairie dogs. The lake was disgusting with green thick water that Rylie splashed on herself. 

Saw Cedar Breaks. Our viewpoint limit is 4. 

Drove to Brian Head Peak. Peaks are easy when you can drive to them. 

Swung in the ski lift swings. 

Pretty yellow flowers around. 

Somehow the girls got on Paul Bunyan and then Paul Bunyan’s bunion. 

Another chill day. Slept in. 

Drove a loop through Zion. 

Stopped in Orderville at the German bakery. It was ok. I guess I was expecting a donut and there were no donuts. 

Stopped at Checkerboard Mesa. Made everyone pose for a pic. 

Drove through the tunnel and laughed. 

Stopped at the Visitor Center for a picnic. I’ve always wanted to have a picnic in Zion. 

Saw squirrels doing the belly crawl and playing tag.

Drove back to rainy Cedar Breaks. 

Enjoyed an evening at the condo (with a walk for D and I and hot tub for the girls). 

Ended the night watching Cruella. 

Left blue skies and cool mountain air to come back to hot smoky Lehi. 

August 12, 2021

We pulled off a one night backpacking trip. Me and Sadie, Tamara and Becca Bell, and Allison and Libby Owen. We had a fabulous time. We camped at our spot from last year at the Horse Flat meadow. With only having one night, it’s a great quick spot 

We set up camp about 11:30 and the. Hung out for awhile chatting and playing games (psychic was a favorite - “gracious beans”. :)) After dinner we took a quick hike to Primrose Overlook. We spotted a moose on the side of the hill. 

Cold night but not too freezing in my good sleeping bag. 

Morning had me waking up to something coming through the trees. Mr Moose was coming down for breakfast and went through our meadow. After that mama moose and her twins came in the meadow. The babies were so cute frolicking and eating. The three of them kept coming closer and closer and ended up walking right through the back of our camp. It was pretty cool.

Then we packed up and headed out. Sadie and her friends crack me up and I loved having some time with Sadie. We both very much enjoyed it. 

August 10, 2021

Great afternoon. First it was lunch with all the girls at Zupas. Then Kenz, Sadie and I went to Provo. We hit Pioneer Bookstore, Moon Rare Books, and found some murals. Good times. 

August 7, 2021

Had such a fabulous Montana vacation. I love getting away with Darren. And Montana (plus some Wyoming) was a great place to do that. Grandpa’s cabin was a unique and great place to stay. (There was an outside shower, plus an inside one - phew - and no bathroom door but there was a great place to back porch sit.)

Montana:

• Hwy 55 should be called bird of prey hwy. lots of hawks and some bald eagles.
• Pine Creek Falls was a great little hike. Cool double waterfall and tall tall trees.
• Dinner at Katabatic Brew because of course our first choice was closed on Wednesdays and this place was open and fast. Finding dinners was not easy.
  
• Early Lamar Valley morning. Left the cabin at 3am. Wildlife included - bison, bald eagle, wolves (that looked like gray dots), weasel, common raven, ground squirrel, mountain goat, some water fowl, elk (that we almost touched with our front bumper). Still no bear. I’m not convinced they are actually in the wild. The bison that was yelling at us was my favorite.
• Nap in the car at a Yellowstone viewpoint. 
• Chips and salsa at the overlook. 
• Stop at Beartooth Falls. Cool little roadside attraction. 
• Hike to Beauty Lake from Beartooth Lake. TH at the back of the campground. Way pretty hike and especially loved Crane lake along the way. Why are there no people here? It’s so beautiful. No complaints. The solitude was wonderful. Found some mushrooms for Sadie. Found out this hike was actually in Wyoming. Also found out what biting flies are.
• Finished driving the Beartooth Hwy. so cool! Lots of stops along the way. So many lakes and gorgeous views. Like so many. Rocks and lakes for days! Saw some marmots. The drive down the other side was switchback after switchback on the side of a mountain.
• Friday was a Bozeman day. 
• American Computer and Robotics Museum at Montana State was a cool museum. 
• Lunch downtown at Western Cafe felt very Bozeman-like. 
• Server suggested Hyalite Canyon for a hike. That's were we headed and it was a brilliant suggestion. 
• Hiked past Arch Falls (cool falls through a natural bridge). We found huckleberries! Such an awesome serendipitous hike.
• Dinner at a grill with an amazing salad while watching some Olympics.
• When in Montana we listen to Dan Seals, The Judds, and Don Williams.
• Some of the drive home was along the Gallatin river. Pretty stuff with lots of fly fishermen. 

August 5, 2021

 Happy Anniversary - 27.  Celebrating in Montana.

August 2, 2021

It’s been a nibling frenzy the past few days. I love it. Playing soccer with Jack, meeting annaliese, hanging with Gracee and Brynnlee for a minute, sleepovers here from Kendyl and Laynee, plus Blake visiting. 

Laynee mentioned wanting to go to the mountains so we made plans to go to the mountains. I took her, kendyl, Blake, and Sadie to silver lake atop BCC. We had the most fabulous time! We hiked and chatted and discovered. They found me a dozen deer (and Bambis), a moose, and some pikas as we hiked Lake Solitude. Sadie also found lots of mushrooms and moss. Kendyl said it best, “This is way better than sitting at home.”

(Sadie, Blake, Laynee, Kendal)