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.

Birthday

The week of my birthday was so much fun. The best part about it was that the sun came out and brought springtime and blossoms with it. On Monday Tyler and I did yoga outside at Georgetown. Tuesday we went rock climbing for the first time this season.

Wednesday was my actual birthday. I woke up to my car being decorated by my darling friend Randi. 

After work Tyler and I went to dinner at Chef Geoff's. Followed by seeing the cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin with the Bushes.

Finally my sweet friend Ali organized a little get together in Georgetown. We ate treats from Baked & Wired and sat on a blanket near the waterfront and enjoyed each other's company. We have the best friends! I love you all and thanks for making my birthday special!

Friday night we went to Cafe Rio, Target and exchanged my birthday present from Tyler for a different size at REI.  He got me a darling water proof, wind proof rain jacket. Saturday the Bushes invited us to go to the Nats game with them! Gabe had extra tickets that he got from his law school and they were kind to invite us along. Thanks so much! We always have the best time with you guys!