Pizza and Boats

If you are looking for a fun date idea for the summer or fall... try this one out.
Build your own boat, and race them down a river.
Sounds crazy, but it's actually pretty fun.

We went to dinner at Salt Lake Pizza & Pasta, then hit up the store to let our creative juices flow! We each had $5 dollars, and 30 minutes to shop around and come up with items to build our boats. There were some laughs, some doubts, some rocks in the river that were more in the way than anything else, and some major competition (at least in my head).

The Little Guy Again

Baby brother aka Jake is no longer the oldest one at his school.

He started his first year as a Clayton Cougar.

He has a locker, oh the days of lockers... coats getting stuck and sticking out of them, love notes being passed through the slots at the tops, thinking the boy next to your locker was cute... ha!

He has 7 classes... I thought keeping track of 3 these days was hard

He is heading into teenage years... buckle up... it will be an adventure!
(Gearing up for the first day... not quite ready for the flash of a camera at 7 in the morning)

A Perfect Day

Today was a perfect day.

Driving to grab lunch on your lunch break when there is not a cloud in the sky, the weather is warm enough to crack open the sun roof and let the wind dance through my hair, knowing that I had a date with my man tonight.

Love days like this.

E-Bay wars

Have you ever seen anything like this?

Have you ever heard a little boy squeal "WE WON!!! WE WON!!!" over and over again?

As I sit here I hear Jake say, "I've never felt like I have won stuff, but we are winning!"

My stepdad and little brother are currently.... obsessed.

Can't stop bidding. Love the competition.

I think mom is just along for the ride.

When my mom was little she started a U.S. Postage Stamp collection, and today, they are working on making that collection bigger. From the sounds of it, A LOT bigger.

(Sorry for the poor picture quality, I had to hurry and snap a picture of all of them staring at the computer)

Sidewalk Chalk

I know he is 12...I know I am 23... but there is something great about sidewalk chalk no matter how old you are. I came home to a driveway filled with sidewalk chalk and a little message for me where I park my car, done so lovingly by my little brother Jake.

A small miracle

Today, I witnessed a miracle! Braden and I planned on going to dinner and a movie so I headed on over to his house so we could be on our way. I got there before he was out of the shower so I was sitting at his computer waiting for him to finish. He did, came around the corner, and what do I see? BRADEN WAS WEARING JEANS!!!! He would always tell me that he didn't like them when he was little because they were so stiff and tight, and when they got wet at the feet, they would take ages to dry. Well, mark the calendar on this special day, because I have a feeling this was a rare sighting! But boy does this boy look cute in them!

Dave Matthews Band

Last Night Julia and I went to the Dave Matthews Band concert. I was certain I wouldn't know any of the songs, since I haven't heard any of his new music in years! He played some classics, and I was happy about that. One thing I love more than anything is people watching, and boy did I get my fill last night. Thanks Dave for putting on a great show!

Summer Treats

This is not your typical sweet, cold summer treat, but it sure is one of my FAVORITES!

Fresh, straight from the garden tomatoes, with balsamic vinegar and mozzerella cheese.

YUM-O!

(Sorry the lighting is not the best, and makes it look kinda gross, but I promise you it isn't, go try it before summer ends!)

California

How lucky am I? My boss goes on a yearly trip to California, aka I have an entire week off of work. Usually I stick around Salt Lake and feel really lazy for the week he is gone. Not this year. I ALSO went to California the same week he was there! Braden invited me to go with his family, and some of their family friends. Okay, okay, so I was lazy this week too, but I think it's okay to be lazy when you get to sit at the beach all day, every day, for 8 days!! What a vacation!

We didn't just sit at the beach. We....













Went to sea world!! This was my first time to Sea World and I think I was more excited than the kiddos that we were with. Turns out, the sign that says splash zone...means it! We were drenched by the end of the show. While we were there we also saw some of these...
















If you know me at all, you know how much I adore these creatures! It was fun to see these fellas just hanging out, waiting for people like me to take hundreds of photos of them.

One night Braden and I decided to go to a baseball game. Dodgers Vs Padres... Hello Dodger Stadium, highest tier in dodger stadium (I got my work out for the trip just walking up the stairs) dodger dogs, nachos, and sprite! I know gross right? Wrong. It all tasted so good! The drive home wasn't long, traffic in L.A. can be wild, but thanks to the GPS, a wrong exit onto the toll road, we made it back to Laguna beach in no time!






















This trip was so much fun! We ate lots (at a yummy place called wahoos at least 3 times), had a baby announcement, had a proposal, had a few dolphin sightings, as well as a shark sighting, right under us! It was a little guy, but don't worry...shark week would not have been complete without that happening right? boogie boarding, body surfing, naps and paddle ball on the beach! I was also able to meet Bradens oldest brother Ryan and his wife Camille and their 2 kids Bennett and Eliza, and soon to come baby #3. The drive home was a bit less exciting than the trip. I ended up catching a terrible cold, but thanks to everyone in the car for putting up with me!

Thanks for making it such a fun trip Brades!