Labor Day

For Labor Day weekend we were lucky enough to have my parents drive up for the weekend to visit us. They left early Saturday morning and arrived around 4:00 in the afternoon. We spent most of the evening just relaxing at our house. But we were able to walk to The Chocolate and get one of our favorite desserts ever, the cazooki (my own recipe version coming soon). 

Sunday morning we went to church and then right after we packed up and drove to Tabiona, to spend a night in the wild, camping of course. The weather was absolutely perfect, and the company was even better. We enjoyed chatting, fishing, picking wild raspberries, campfire sitting, water balloon launching, cobber eating, air rifle shooting, picture taking and more. 

Don't mind the few hiccups we had, with some charcoal falling in our cobbler and mom being a little worried about her restroom facilities. But it all worked out, there was a campground close with bathrooms, and we picked out the big pieces of charcoal and enjoyed our cobbler anyway.

It was a perfect weekend. Thanks for coming to visit, Mom and Dad. We always love you and our time together.

The start to our cobbler, with fresh peaches from our tree and peach sauce for the liquid.

Aspen loves to sniff fish, whenever we catch them. Nate caught 3 which he, Mom and Dad ate for breakfast.

What is this picture?! The cover of our water balloon launcher.

Aspen loved trying to catch the water balloons across the street.

Gorgeous Tabby.

A hummingbird. I was able to get really close.

And finally we took a few pictures using the car as a tripod and my camera remote.

And one with the pup for good measure.

A feather I found on our rifle shooting adventure.

gorgeous Tabiona again. One of our favorite places in the world.

The tiniest fish, caught fly fishing. Aspen, as always the investigator pup.

lighting - long exposure

About a month or so ago, Nate and I grabbed my camera and tripod and headed to the park across the street. We wanted to catch the lightning in a picture. Although our picture attempts weren't great, we got a few fun ones of us in the meantime. Check it out.

This picture makes it look like its day.

movement.

 And finally, our only captured attempts at getting a shot of lighting. Not so great, but we'll get it next time!

Virginia Vacation

Sorry for the lack of blogging. I've been blogging a lot more over at our food blog, and kind of forgot about keeping track of our life on here as well.

About 3 weeks ago we got lucky enough to be able to go to Virginia for a few days to spend time with Nate's family.

Thursday we arrived in the afternoon and just hung out for the first bit. Thursday evening we decided to head down to DC so we could see the monuments lit up in the dark, and enjoy walking around in the cooler weather as well.

Friday morning the whole gang headed down to Virginia Beach. After some awful traffic and some hotel miscommunications we finally checked into our rooms and headed to the beach to play. We found a parking spot close to the beach, and were able to enjoy playing in the waves and the sand for a few hours before it got dark.  We spent some time trying to catch seagulls, and finally caught one with the help of some chips, a towel and team work. And played a game trying to keep a beach ball of the ground as long as we could by hitting it to each other (this wasn't very easy with the strong winds). After dinner, even though it was dark, the board walk had enough lights to keep the beach lit a bit and we enjoyed chatting, and enjoying the cool ocean breeze as we became entranced by the crashing waves. We also enjoyed some delicious Hershey's ice cream too.

Saturday we headed down to the beach a little bit earlier, after an on the house breakfast and some time relaxing in the hot tub. The beach was more crowded but after renting a raft to play with in the water we were able to clear some people away from us (because they didnt want to get hit). The raft was so much fun, bouncing over the waves. And even after the boys got out Sandi and I enjoyed using the raft as a 2 person boogie board. Around 2 or 3 we decided to leave the beach and head back to Sterling. Although we were stopped by some traffic we made it back in time to see Planet of the Apes along with some popcorn.

Sunday was a more relaxed day. We went to church in the morning, lounged around the house in the afternoon and ate a family dinner in the evening. However, I was so happy because Anthony, Jana and Zoe were able to come over for dinner. Zoe was such a doll, and I couldn't believe how grown up she has become since I last saw her at Christmas. I enjoyed playing outside with her and Strider (their dog) and we all also played a game of Scrabble.

Monday was also a relaxed day. The boys went to the church to play basketball, the girls went on a 4 mile walk. Then we went to get blizzards from dairy queen and sent Dain home to SLC. That night we went fishing, and caught tons of blue gills by dropping in a hook with bread attached (no pole was really needed, only string - haha). Nate and I also treated the family to some delicious homemade pizza (seriously might be the best we've ever made).

Tuesday morning we all headed up to Baltimore to spend some more time with with Anthony, Jana and Zoe. We went to breakfast, and all got stuffed with some amazing food before heading on a little tour of some of Baltimore's best places. We went inside an amazing library and music conservatory and then headed back to their place to visit for a bit before we had to head home. Nate and I went straight from their place to the airport and were happy there was no traffic so we were able to get there in plenty of time. Instead of getting food before our flight we decided to splurge and get some on the plane and split a meal of crackers and dip and a sandwich wrap.

We were happy to come home and be reunited with our favorite pup and even ready to get back to real life and our jobs. I seriously missed my students while we were gone, especially my night students (since I missed 2 full weeks of class with them).

We were so happy to have spent so much fun time with family. And hope that we can make it back for Thanksgiving!

My Birthday! 23!

So yesterday was my birthday and I turned 23. I'm not usually one to go around and tell everyone that its my birthday but when someone at work said "happy birthday" to someone else, I asked if it was their birthday, and they said it was just a joke they say. So, I I told them that it was actually my birthday.

And my students knew it was my birthday because I had it written on our classroom calendar. So in my second class, randomly one of my students pulled me into the hall telling me he had to talk to me, and then when I went back into class there was a cake and my students sang 'Happy Birthday' to me. I was so surprised and I felt so loved by my sweet students. They even all signed a card for me. So cute.

The day before was actually one of my students birthdays so they got him a small cake as well. We all enjoyed eating cake together, and forgot about doing our lesson for about 45 minutes of class. Oops. Oh well, sometimes I think relationships are more important than education, right?

They told me that in Hispanic countries it is tradition for the person to take a bite of the cake. For some reason I believed them, and as I took a bite a student pushed my face into the cake. All in fun.

My entire class, at least those that were there yesterday. Such sweethearts to make me feel special. They all pitched in a couple of dollars to pay for the cake and chips and drinks.

And of course Nate spoiled me again for my birthday this year. I guess that is something I'll have to get used to. But I don't really mind, as long as I can do something special for his birthday as well.


As many of you know, I LOVE cooking, and you can find some of my favorite recipes here. I knew I was getting the meat grinder attachment for my kitchen aid, but Nate found a wonderful deal on KSL for that and 3 other attachments for really cheap on KSL. I'm so excited to try them all out. Tonight we will be making chicken burgers with fresh ground chicken sausage and ratatouille. (Stay posted for the recipes).

Nate also invited a couple of our favorite friends over for treats. Because I'd already had cake twice, from my students and from the staff at Heritage, Nate decided to get danishes from Costco instead. They were delicious with a side of vanilla ice cream. Afterwards we played catch phrase. The girls won the first 3 games and the boys won the last.

What a happy birthday to me. I feel SO blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life, willing to spoil me on my happy day. Thank you!

Travel Bug.

While browsing pinterest I have become addicted to looking at pictures of beautiful places throughout the world and it has made me get the travel bug really bad. However, Nate and I have other big plans in the future (no, not a baby yet) that will cost a lot of money, and traveling to Europe might not be an option for a while.

But I've come to the decision that when the time comes we shouldn't just travel to Europe for one or two weeks (there is WAY too much I want to revisit, and new things I want to see). But instead we should move over there! Okay, don't freak out, I only want to move for a year, maybe two (or three.) And this is how we can do it. I can teach English!

Now don't go off on me and say something like everyone wants to teach English in Europe so they can study. What makes you think you're special enough? Want to know WHY I am special? Because I already teach English in the United States, and by the time this plan would actually come to pass I'll have at least like 3 years of experience, (okay more, cause if the big money spending plans come to pass, we'll probably have to be in Utah at least 5 to 6 more years) and I speak German already. (Side note: I've decided I need to study. Although I do LOVE not being in school I do miss German and my linguistics/TESOL classes, so I'm in the process of deciding what to study first and how to study and I'm going to try spending at least 30 minutes to an hour of my free time at work studying.) And the last reason I am so special goes along with the first, but I minored in TESOL and I have a certificate and everything. And according to this website these things give me an advantage.

Anyway, there are tons of tech jobs in Germany that are available and I'm sure we could find one in Austria too, for Nate to take. And I really wouldn't mind living in Germany either, so that would be perfect. Okay, that's my life goal right now. I know its so far away, and I'll still have to get over there in the next 1 to 2 years, but I think I would be very happy looking forward to living there in 6 years. Okay, now I just need to pass this plan off with Nate too.

The Deets: Montana

Nate and I were lucky enough to be able to take two days of work off last week (plus Monday being a holiday) making our trip to Montana a 5 day ordeal. Our neighbors also went out of town for the holiday, so we had to take Aspen to a doggy hotel.

Thursday morning we dropped Aspen off. He was a little anxious because all the new smells, so he wouldn't give us kisses or wag his tail, but we knew he would be okay. Around 10 we headed on the northbound 15 to Missoula Montana. We passed through Idaho, but we were most excited to get into Montana because it was a new state for Nate. Around 5 we met up with my cousins Wes and Brent ** and drove up to Rock Creek, which is Wes' favorite fishing place. The spot was absolutely gorgeous and Nate finally taught me how to fly fish. Nate stayed in a smaller hole near me so that he could teach me how to cast and help me with the many times I got tangled. I caught 4 fish and Nate caught 7, which was a successful evening for both of us. Never mind that only one of the fish I caught was bigger than 6 inches.

Our first stop in Montana, waiting for Wes to take us fishing.

My first fish caught fly fishing.

My third fish, a little bigger than the others.

Casting.

The fish at Rock Creek were beautiful!

Happy to have caught another fish.

**Wes and Brent are cousins with each other, but are actually only 3rd cousins with me. However Wes' mom Cindy was really good friends with my dad growing up, and she and her husband Gil were nice enough to accommodate us by letting us stay in their guest bedroom.

Friday we were going to go to Glacier, but the weather was predicted to be 45 degrees with possible rain and snow showers. No thank you. So instead the two of us headed down to the Bitterroot River for fishing. Right away Nate caught 2 fish, but then he stopped catching anything, and I didn't catch anything. We didn't want to sit by the river all day waiting for the evening when fishing might be hot again so we headed to lunch at a local pub. After lunch we drove up to Bear Creek and walked around the beautiful creek and went on a quick hike. However I wasn't very prepared for hiking and was only wearing flip flops, so we didn't go too far. After, we went back to the river and still had a little more time so we decided to try to build rock towers (like you always see at the beach - at least in CA). Nate was actually pretty good at it, and I finally got mine to stand, but when I added one more rock mine fell over. We tried fishing again when it finally got a little darker, but we were not very lucky and we each missed 5 or 6 bites. Fortunately or unfortunately the fish weren't biting on anything else, so we at least felt good about that once we stopped getting any more bites - I guess they just weren't hungry.

Bitterroot River

Beetle infested tree bark.

The biggest fish Nate caught ;)

Our hike up Bear Creek. Me and my walking stick.

Old Man's Beard

A random alpaca farm

The beauty that is Montana.

Rocks at Bitterroot.

Nate's pile of rocks.

And mine.

I fished too!

I can NOT get him to keep a straight face for pictures.

On our way home we spotted a friendly turkey.

And a baby dear/deer.

Saturday morning we went with Cindy, Wes and Brent to the Missoula Farmer's Market. The farmer's market was much bigger than I've seen, and there was so much fresh fruit and vegetables, I just wanted to eat it all. I bought a pair of peacock earrings (because Aspen destroyed the pair I had) but there were so many other wonderful things available to buy. After that Nate and I drove about an hour to a beautiful and hidden reservoir called Mission Reservoir. After a couple of hours we headed back to Missoula to meet the Larsons, as they were kind enough to invite us to join in on an institute activity. A delicious meal of pulled beef and pork sandwiches, followed by a minor league game played by the Missoula Osprey. The Osprey won the game, and we had a fun evening filled with yelling "peanuts" and cat calling some of the opposing players.

Vegetable stand at the farmer's market.

Nate, Wes and Brent.

Lots of people!

Cindy said "I figure because winter is so long in Montana I deserve to have flowers on my table whenever I want". I like that idea.

Mission Reservoir.

Apparently these tree stumps are usually above the water. But there were some that were 4 feet under. I guess Montana has as much excess water as Utah this year.

Lounging, while I rowed the boat.

It was absolutely gorgeous there.

See what I put up with?

Looks Photoshopped.

The water was so clear. can you see the guppies?

Since we were unable to go to Glacier National Park on Friday we decided we would go on Sunday. Although the drive to the park entrance was about 2 and a half hours, and the drive to anywhere good in the park was another two hours (longer than usual because of construction and a few silly people who decided it was okay to park their cars and watch a few goats on the side of the road, regardless of the hundreds of cars behind them). Finally we passed the mountain goats and got to drive a regular speed on the road, but by that time we were starving. We drove to one of the 2 restaurants in the park and stopped for dinner. Nate had a disappointing emu burger, and I had a tasty tortellini. We followed our meals with some red velvet cake and three amazing scoops of blackberry ice cream. We decided upon a hike close to the restaurant that led to a small lake where we hoped to fish, but about 1/2 mile up the trail we were told by some hikers coming back that there was a grizzly bear blocking the pathway about 1 mile in. Although we really wanted to keep walking and see the bear, we decided it probably wasn't the smartest idea and with the help of a friendly old woman we decided upon another trail that hiked to two waterfalls and a view of the lake. We were quite happy with our hike, and enjoyed the breathtaking views of the turquoise St Mary Lake and the surrounding mountains and trees. On the way back we were stopped by a deer in the middle of the trail, happily eating some plant, but after watching it for about 10 minutes we decided to walk and see if it would move away from the path (because it was nearing 7 and we didn't want to get back to Missoula too late). After visiting GNP we decided we definitely need more time there next time we go. There were way too many people, everywhere, and we would love to be able to find the more remote areas so we could enjoy the natural beauty in peace.

While stuck in traffic (as mentioned) a mountain goat decided to hop from the side of the mountain on to the road, right next to our car. Luckily there were no cars coming the other way.

And a baby mountain goat climbing the rocks.

These are the mountain goats that caused us to sit in an hour of traffic.

St. Mary's lake.

Our hiking trail.

Waterfall number one.

I loved the color of the water.

And it was so clear too. I want to live on the island in the middle of this river.

Water fall number 2.

Drinking out of our wonderful purifying water bottle. Straight from the stream, yum.

The deer in the path.

He wasn't very afraid of us.

Monday morning we headed home around 9. We were a little anxious the whole drive home because we had to pick Aspen up by 6:00 otherwise we wouldn't be able to see him till the next morning, and we both wanted to see him badly! With a quick stop in Pocatello for gas and lunch at Wendy's we hurried on our way and finally made it to Provo to pick up Aspen around 5:15. We were so happy to see him and he was happy to see us too. But he was actually really tired because of all the playing with the other dogs. The owners of the place told us that Aspen was really well behaved while he was there and enjoyed playing with the other dogs. And although we wish we never had to leave him, we were happy to know that this was a place we could leave our beloved pup.


Anyway, we loved our trip to Montana. We wish we could have had 2 weeks there instead of only 5 days. A week in Glacier and a week fishing in Missoula. But I guess we'll just have to get rich so we can buy a summer home near flathead lake, and enjoy fishing boating, hiking and eating delicious cherries.