Lake Powell

My aunt and uncle have a houseboat in Bullfrog and are kind enough to invite the whole family down to party. I haven't been able to go for the past several years and was so excited when the timing worked out. Unfortunately Tyler had to get back to school so he wasn't able to join us. 

My family headed down a day early so that we could go to Rainbow Bridge. We got up at the butt crack of dawn and enjoyed glassy water and beautiful scenery on the 3-4 hour round-trip boat ride. Rainbow Bridge is truly stunning. It is the world's largest know natural bridge. So glad we make the trek down to see it!

We found the perfect spot for the houseboat. It was in a massive cove that shaded us all day long! It was fabulous and beautiful.

The only downside is that when it rained this happened...

Muddy waterfall. 

Though the waterfall was pretty lovely, we didn't see it as such at first. We were out on the lake when it started raining so we headed back to the houseboat to tie up the boat and put the cover on. My mom, my cousin, Nate, and I were inside the boat putting the tarp on.  When we slithered out we realized that we had a giant muddy waterfall dumping all over our boat and the houseboat. It was pretty terrifying at first.

We hurried and untied the boat and took it out from under the waterfall but the damage was done. Sand was EVERYWHERE. It took about two hours to clean it, but the Moomba survived its maiden voyage to Lake Powell mostly unscathed.

Nate, Peter and Matt sitting under the waterfall.

There was so much to do in our cove: Paddle boat, fishing, hiking, playing in the sand, jumping off the houseboat, riding the buoys down the water slide, swimming, sunbathing, etc. My favorite part was the boating. The boat was out for most of the day every day and it was so fun! I finally got comfortable on the wakeboard and surf board and we had a blast watching and teaching each other and trying new tricks.

It was also a blast to watch these little darlings learn to water ski for the first time! My mom and dad are rock stars with kids and teaching them to ski. I don't know if it would have happened without them!

Cliff jumping in Lake Powell is a must. We later found out that the legal height limit for cliff jumping is 15 feet. Oops...

Cliff jumping crew in the Celebrity.

Thanks to Hal and Cynthia, my parents and grandparents and everyone for making this a most fabulous and memorable trip!

I can't forget to mention the ride home. My mom summed it up best:

"Boot removal off of our car in Bullfrog (for no display of mussel papers) ... $100 dollars

No signature on our boat registration papers ... $325 dollars
No proof of insurance ... $425 dollars
Watching Paul [my dad] be escorted by two park rangers, one sporting a bulletproof vest and a weapon (gun) to the boat decontamination station ... Hilarious.
Having to leave the suburban in Wellington at the Walker Chevron because it basically died ... Who knows how much $.
Spending time with our family in Lake Powell and cramming all of us into the Yukon for the ride home ... PRICELESS!!!

Disclaimer:  They waived all fees and gave us a warning because Paul is the nicest guy ever!  =}."

 Yes, getting home was a bit of a fiasco with some boat drama, serious car trouble, lots of pulling over, ditching the Suburban at a gas station in the middle of nowhere, and smooshing 8 people into a Yukon with 5 seats. Although it took over 8 hours, we cashed in a lot of blessings and were able to get everybody, their stuff, and the boat home safe and sound...at 2:00 a.m. It's those kinds of events that make trips memorable, right? Plus my mom got a new car out of the ordeal!

Echo and the Cabin

We flew directly from LA to SLC to meet up with my family for a week at the lake. My parents bought this beauty and we were all excited to put it to good use!

We stayed at my grandparents' cabin up near Wanship, with is close to Echo Reservoir. My parents have their boat stored across the street from Echo. While we were there it was, eat, boat, sleep, repeat. We on the lake all day and had perfect weather and so much fun!

We were also able to see tons of wildlife.

 And we got to celebrate this handsome guy's 27th year of life.

Ty had to leave on the 4th of July because he had to be back for the 5th. Super, super LAME. We sure missed him. My family hiked up Millcreek Canyon to a view point and watch the fireworks over the valley. It was very beautiful.

After Tyler left my family celebrated my Dad and Sarah's birthday by going to dinner at Tuscany. It was a lovely meal. I was also able to go to the temple with my mom, get together with friends, watch my brother's baseball game, help get ready for Lake Powell and just be involved in the little day-to-day things that are so much fun.

Some beautiful people here ↓↓↓ both inside and out.

My mom prepared a Sunday feast for my Dad and Sarah's birthday and invited my grandparents over. Since my grandma and I are both gluten-free I decided to make these darling gluten free baby pies. So fun!

I have been blessed with the best family ever! I am so grateful for them and for all of their love and support. We are all so different but always have a blast together and care about each other so much. I am so humbled to have great parents who have raised us so well. Love you all to pieces!!!

California

Tyler's parents rented a beach house right on Capistrano Beach. It was gorgeous and we had so much fun!

 Dinner at Ruby's Diner. I'm sorry, but I must say that this family is full of seriously good looking people! Especially the little darlings that I get to have as my nieces and nephew.

Tyler turned 27 on this trip...weird.

Diana was so kind to take us girls out for a day at the spa! We thoroughly enjoyed our massages/facials. Love these ladies!

Try not to be jealous of my grandma getup. With three weeks of beach/boating I did not want to get burned.

I married into such a great family. We always have lots of laughs together. We had some seriously sore tummies after games of Telestrations, The Game of Things and Minute to Win It. The boys spent lots of time boogie boarding and paddle boarding while the ladies had some quality beach time. The one time I went into the ocean I got rallied and have four sets of scars to prove it. It was great to just hangout, relax, eat tons of delicious food and spend quality time together.

We were lucky that Chad, Randi and Drake were able to come down to visit us. They moved to Sacramento for his job, and while we are so happy for them, it is always depressing to have your best friends move. I certainly had a good cry about it. We consider them family and love them so much! 

We also got to meet up with our good friends Courtney and Jordan in LA. They showed us around town, taking us to Brentwood and the Getty Museum.

Last but not least we got to meet up with our friends Carrie and Andrew on our way to the airport. We are so blessed to have such fabulous friends from coast to coast. It's always great to see them and catch up!

Lately

A couple of our friends decided Iron Chef once a month wasn't quite enough. Thus Ethnic Chef was created. 

 First month: Mediterranean. Complete with hummus, pita, tzatziki, fallafel and lots of other deliciousness.

Second month: Cuban. Which Tyler interpreted quite broadly and pulled out his Nacho Libre stretchy pants, Ecuadorian soccer jersey and American flag speedo...but he does make some killer chifle (fried plantains). I think the fact that he is still wearing his church socks is my favorite part of the get-up. Sure love this man.

 

I also have been baking up a storm ever since I found out I have joined the glutard club (Celiac disease). After a good cry I determined not to let Celiac interfere with one of my favorite past times so I learned how to make my own flour and bake gluten-free bread, waffles, cookies, cakes, crepes, pizza dough, etc. 

I'm grateful that I have such a supportive family to teach me the ropes of gluten-free living and a wonderful mom who sent pounds and pounds of flour and pizza dough mix. I also have been so touched and thankful to our many friends who have gone out of their way to de-glutenize their recipes so I can eat them. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives! 

I've always wanted to fly a kite down on the mall. So off we went to Target to buy our Cinderella kite and made my dream come true.  

Every May there's an event called Passport DC where the embassies open their doors and let you have a peak into their lives and culture. I think it is one of the coolest things to do in DC. The first Saturday was "Around the World" and I went to Afghanistan, Barbados, Sri Lanka, Serbia, Azerbaijan and Nepal.

The second Saturday we met up with friends and went to Latvia, Romania, Ireland...

...Spain...

...Lithuania, Croatia and Slovenia. 

We have been loving the warm weather and being able to spend time at the pool and take walks through the forests by our house. I can't get over how green it is here!

Also, Tyler has spent the past 6 weeks studying his brains out and still has 4 more to go.  Poor guy.  It truly is remarkable how hard he has worked to get where he is. He'll be a doctor at age 28.  Crazy! Only two more years to go.  I'm so proud of him. I'm blessed to be married to such a great guy who always finds time to spend with me and help around the house even though he's so busy. I love him to pieces. 

Him studying all the time equals me working all the time. It's great to be busy but we sure can't wait until June 22nd when we get to head out west to spend some quality time with our family and friends in So Cal, Salt Lake and Lake Powell!!! Yippee! 

Iron Chef

Our friends started this fabulous tradition where we get together once a month and have a little food competition called Iron Chef.  Objective: Bring one or more dish featuring the chosen ingredient. Some of the ingredients that have been chosen: avocado, cinnamon, lime, coconut, mango, raspberry, egg, artichoke, honey, ginger, salmon, basil, vinegar. After we feast we vote on which dish was the best and the winner picks the next ingredient and hosts the next get-together. 

I wish I had taken more pictures of the food because there is always an amazing and delicious spread.

The time we hosted we managed to squish 20+ people into our little apartment. 

Although the food is always amazing, the best part is just hanging out with all of our fabulous friends.