Five deer, a skunk and a mouse

I feel like I end up going up to Tony Grove for one thing or the other almost every week! A few weeks ago it was for the BLAZING HOLLOW HOORAH! This was a ward activity where we got to celebrate our pioneer ancestry since it was the week of Pioneer Day. We did a service project where we got to clear a mountain biking trail and we made dutch oven dinners and did a short devotional program around the fire. The activity turned out pretty good but we were up there way too late! On the way home we almost ran into all kinds of wildlife. The worst was a skunk we almost hit! Then there were several deer and in the end it was a mouse that somehow we failed to miss! Oops!

While we were waiting for dinner to cook we did some hiking. It was fun. I probably went too high for only having one free arm but the view was beautiful and I got back down safely.

Another big highlight of my summer was Celeste and Carson Fenimore's wedding. I got to play a small role in the story of these two wonderful individuals coming together and now they are married! The ceremony in the SLC temple was beautiful and it was great to see friends and family. Sarah Murray came down from WA for the event and ended up coming home with me for the weekend after the reception was over. I was so happy for Celeste. She looked beautiful and so happy!


I'm so thankful for good friends in my life. Sarah and Celeste have been some of the best. Sarah got married in January, Celeste in July and now I'm the only one left! We'll see when that happens.

Other fun ward adventures include FHE at Brother Roundy's house in Paradise. He has this huge water slide set up to go into his pond. I wasn't going to get in because of my arm but then Matt W. got a few of us girls wet while we were in the paddle boat and at that point I figured I'd might as well go the whole way! The slide was super fun and I'm determined to go back when my arm is healed.

As soon as I went back to my Dr. and he gave me the okay, I was back on horseback. I went for a long ride one Wednesday and found the Hyrum reservoir. It was a beautiful, long ride that was very needed. The next week I took Alexandra out and it was super fun. She used to ride when she was younger and it came back pretty fast. Horses are my passion and I will always love anything to do with them but riding is so much more fun when you can do it with someone!
So, despite my shoulder, I'm still staying busy and having fun. There's no way you could keep fun from me!

Luau and other bits of fun!

July 13th was my 27th birthday. It happened to fall on a Ward FHE night and we had a luau at my house. The party turned out great after a few hours of worry getting the food, decorations, etc. together and up. The food was great, limbo was a hit and tons of people showed up. I have to say the yard looked pretty great too. This was the first party in our new house and it proved to be the perfect party house! :)

The next day on Tuesday I went to ultimate frisbee just like always. But I was having a harder time getting into the game. There were two throws that I probably could have caught if I just would have dove for them but something was holding me back. Well in the midst of my frustration at missing those two throws, I got another perfect one that came my way. It was just a little two far to the left but I dove anyway and ended up landing right on my right shoulder. I heard two loud pops and when I rolled over to get up I knew I was in trouble. Then came the pain. We called mom to take me to the ER and friends got me a good, big bag of ice that saved me until they could see me in the ER. The saddest part of the whole story is that I failed to catch the frisbee!
Mom was excited when we got checked into the ER, got X-rays, saw a doctor and checked out all in two hours. She said it was a record! The diagnoses: I had separated my shoulder. I learned that this is when you damage all the tendons and ligaments that hold your shoulder together. My goods friends from Ultimate Frisbee came down to the ER to check on me and that was kind. I got fitted with a wonderful sling that kept my arm from moving at all. That first night was pretty painful and the next day was my day off work and I was out of it the whole day. I've since seen my specialist twice and I was really lucky. Often this kind of an injury results in surgery but mine was a mild case and I just needed to stay off of it for about six weeks.
I've still managed to stay pretty active despite it all. We went up to Tony Grove to ride the Mtn. bike trail down. I have wanted to do it all summer but it has always been one thing or the other. This time the boys went down and Alexandra, Lindy and I went for a short hike. It was nice. The flowers where right in there glory and it was nice to get my mind off of the pain.


That weekend we cleaned out the garage as a family. We de-junked a bunch of stuff and took a load or two to a storage unit. This house is a lot smaller and we still haven't managed to get rid of all our junk but we are getting closer! I helped where I could but there wasn't much I could do.
At the end of the hot day we all went for a float down the canal and that was super fun. It was cold but it helped my shoulder. Anyway, I just like spending time with my family. This last picture has got to be one of my favorites this summer. I love my family!

Happy Independence Day!

After getting in so late from the AFC tour I was so glad to have a bank holiday where I didn't have to get up and work on a Saturday! I slept in and it felt great. Christine was in town for the weekend and Mom wanted to go up the canyon and see the wild flowers so when I finally did get up, we took off.
Tony Grove has become a family favorite. It is a beautiful lake with lots of fun trails. Christine, of course, took the chance to do Yoga in the beautiful scenery. I think she should do a Yoga video: Yoga with Christine at Tony Grove.

This is me and my awesome dog Ryker! He is becoming quite the hiker! I found our dog pack the other night and I'm going to start working him on that. It I do it right, I might not have to carry a pack. Just kidding, I'm not sure he can carry that much!

And I consented and joined Christine in some Yoga. I almost fell off the rock on this move!

When we got back from Tony Grove, Christine and I decided to float the canal. The boys have been playing in it over the last few weeks. It was a great float and very refreshing. We felt like little girls with our inner tubes. Lots of fun!

After dinner, Christine had an old friend who had invited her out on a date tonight and he set me up with his roommate! So the four of us took off and had a fun evening. We started it by watching the "Drive In" parade. There was a huge car thing going on at the fair grounds this weekend and part of it was this parade showing off all kinds of cars. It was pretty fun. There were a few that were coolers than others. It was a relaxing way to get to know our dates. I'm glad we got to spend the evening together. But what came next was the best part. We went to a rodeo! Christine had never been to a rodeo before and I think we got her hooked!

Plymouth is this little town with a little rodeo but that is how I like them best! It was a perfect night for a rodeo and I couldn't resist pulling out my camera and taking some pictures. It is moments like this when I really wish I had a better camera and could really capture what I am seeing. The sunset made a few of these shots really cool. Oh, and the horses were fun to watch too! :) There was one wrangler I was really impressed with. His horse was CONSTANTLY bent at the poll. For those of you who are horse people, you can appreciate a horse that will give you their head like that. And if you don't know horses, don't worry about it. It just means the horse was really well trained. It was fun to watch him work. I think I'd like to be a rodeo wrangler some day. That would be fun. The whole day was the best way I could have spent my 4th, even though I didn't see any fireworks! Oh well, I have Pioneer Day in Utah right!?

American Festival Chorus Tour

Being part of the American Festival Chorus has been a really rewarding part of living in Logan. Dr. Craig Jessop is amazing and even when I don't feel like going to our long Wednesday night rehearsals, but the time 9:30pm rolls around, I'm glad I choose to be a part of it all. This was our opening season and every concert we had in Logan was sold out. Pretty sweet record if you ask me and we love singing to a sold out crowd! Well we went on tour this summer with Maureen McGovern. We started in Logan, then on to Idaho Falls and finishing in Sun Valley. It was a cool experience.
Our Idaho Falls concert was not well attended and that was disappointing but my good friend Sarah Murray came up to watch the concert and knowing she was in the audience made all the difference for me. After the concert I went back to her house and we stayed up late talking and catching up since our last meeting.
In the morning I got up earlier than Sarah and her husband Ben so I spent some time in their beautiful backyard. I had fun playing with my camera.




Sarah and her husband Ben drove me back up to Idaho Falls to catch my bus with the choir. The drive to Sun Valley was pretty. I was able to sleep a bit and catch up on the lost sleep from the night before. When we got into Sun Valley the storm clouds were threatening and within minutes we had a all-out down pour! My plans for walking around the small town and maybe hiking part of a mountain were washed away with the rain. I had some lunch and then spent more than an hour watching some ice skaters in an indoor ice arena. It made me want to get back on the ice and had I not been wearing a skirt, I may have rented some skates!
The Sun Valley Pavilion is a beautiful performance hall with great acoustics! It was by far my favorite concert on the tour.

After sound check and before the concert we had some time to eat dinner and get ready for the performance. Maria joined me on a quick hike up the mountains since the rain had stopped. It was wet but so refreshing! We got back and combining our packed dinners with a few others, had quite the feast for dinner.
Here are the beautiful Soprano ladies. The concert was great but the drive back down to Logan afterwards was LONG! I was so glad to be back in my own bed! But now I've been to Sun Valley, ID! Probably the furthest I'm going to go this summer! No I take that back, Chicago in August will be further!

Friends, More Fishing and Climbing!

Okay, so here's some more catch up. Went out to dinner with some friends in the ward and it was really nice. I don't know very many of the girls super well so that was nice to get to know them better. This crowd I especially love.
I went down to Provo for a Saturday to hit two friends' wedding receptions. One of the weddings was two friends from Jerusalem who got married. It was great to see all the JC folk and catch up. The other was an old friend that was in the RS presidency with me. I love to see friends get married!
Sunday four of us from the ward drove up to Bear Lake. Morgan Hall, Doug Hunsaker, Stephanie Talbot and I. Stephanie is just visiting and Morgan is new in the ward so it was fun to get to know them better.
Here's my hand at cemetery shots again. I haven't been walking in there for a while and I just couldn't find a good angle this time but it was relaxing being there.
I went fishing again up Temple Fork with Nathan and Mike. These boys are crazy fishermen! We hiked pretty far up the canyon to find some Beaver Dams. I was glad in the end I caught one and then we hiked back in the dark and got home way to late. Always fun fishing though.

I got this picture while I was off fishing by myself. Look close and you'll see something cool. You don't see hummingbirds land very often. It just sat there while I took the picture and then flew off!
Here's the little fish I caught. We tried to release him but I guess the shock of being caught was just too much and he went belly-up. So we took him home!
Went climbing again with friends. I seem to take someone new each time I go but I enjoy it every time. I feel like I am getting better. So that's the run down!