Trippin' Utah Style

These cute little kiddies are "the cousins." They are so adorable! I had to make sure I got a photo of them all so I could go brag about them on my blog. First is Tyler (Sarah's little boy), then Jack and Abby (Ben's kiddies), and then Braden (Nat's little boy who is almost hidden by Simba the dog--I would have gotten a better shot of him except that he wouldn't sit still for more than half a second.) Abby is 4 years old, Tyler just turned 2, and Jack and Braden will both be 2 in just a couple of months. I'm jealous we live so far away from them all!


This was just after our tubing adventure down the Provo River. It was all great fun until I slammed into a concrete bridge support (also aptly known as "the Bridge of Doom") When I surfaced, I made the mistake of attempting to swim towards my runaway tube only to have been swept into shallow water where I kicked the rocks on the bottom a few times in a panic. No broken bones, but my bruises are still very sore. Sarah and Ben didn't even know I'd fallen off. Thanks, guys! Remind me not to hire you as river guides anytime soon! Don't you think Ben should use this shot to book some modeling jobs? :)


This was taken at Oktoberfest at Snowbird Ski Resort. Blonde is definitely Sarah's color! Ja! I would add something witty in German here, but no sprechen zie Deutsch.


Celebrating a late birthday with Tyler (look at his cute little face) and an early birthday for Sarah. We also made it up to Centerville for Chinese takeout with Dennis who was all alone because Anne was out of town. He introduced me to Neilsen's Frozen Custard. Why have I never been to this place before??? I feel like a traitor but I have to admit, it was the best ice-cream (or custard, I guess) I have ever had in my life. Twenty times better than Cold Stone hands down. It was so good I should have taken a photo of it!
Thanks so much to Sarah for requesting me as her birthday present. It was so fabulous to hang out without kids in tow for once and take a breather before heading back for a new school year.

Sunday Night Football

No matter how much I try to ignore it, football season is here. Though I can't stand to sit and watch college or professional ball on TV, there's something highly entertaining about my kids playing with their dad. It's adorable, it's funny, it's touching, but it's also extremely competitive! (I didn't teach the kids that, it's just a genetic thing I think . . . no one likes to lose, right?) It's a sign that fall is on its way and that's one of my favorite seasons to spend in Michigan. I can already smell the pumpkin doughnuts and apple cider. Let the games begin!

Upgrading

So, it turns out that my car accident was mostly a blessing after all. State Farm paid for this lovely upgrade to my poor old Honda. It's 3 years newer, has 60,000 less miles, leather seats, sunroof, and is an EX model (top of the line). My old car was an LX which is the middle model (say "middle model" ten times really fast!) Now if I can just get them to forget about the rate hike . . .

Bye Bye Poor Honda

It's with a heavy heart that I said goodbye to my faithful Honda Accord last month. We almost made it to 200,000 miles. What you see here is the result of me rear-ending a Pathfinder with a U-haul bar on it. I had just changed lanes only to look up and see brake lights. The girl in the Pathfinder decided to suddenly stop for a light that had just turned yellow which gave my car a broken nose, black eye and smooshed insides. Her car was completely unscathed (of course) and I was the lucky winner of a "failure to stop within an assured distance" ticket and higher insurance rates. Yay. Happy Birthday to me.