ULCER 2012

we kicked off august with a big, ol' bike race. every year, cade competes in the ULCER (utah lake century epic ride) which is a 114 mile bike race around utah lake. he loves it- even though he says that sometimes he hates it while riding into the wind. it is super hard to try and time yourself so that you can be at the finish line when you are supposed to. we have missed him at the end more than once...

this year- we made it! the girls were excited to see him. violet was cheering extra loud for her daddy. cade had a great ride. i can't wait until he and i are doing this race on a tandem like the other people in this photo...

cade and aaron always ride together. sometimes one of them crashes, sometimes they get split up- but they always find one another in the end. 

 
ivy was excited to see her daddy.

 and violet was thrilled to wear the medal.

 i love these three...

and representing xactware....

and click here to see the video just to prove i didn't make all of this up.

july roundup

besides trips to the pool, laying on the grass, taking sunday drives and playing through the house, we kept very busy in july! here are some of the things we did... 

bike training

cade had a race to train for all summer so he managed to get a few good training runs in. 

the speeds he hits are CRAZY. i don't like to think about it. but... it is more reassuring to know that he wears a helmet now.

 fire!
there were tons of fires this summer. the mountains were always smoking and billowing... it was a little scary but nothing was ever close to us. the hot weather sure took its toll in 2012.

 date nights
i just love all the people in this photo- so i didn't want to leave it out. this was after we all spent an evening giggling through moonrise kingdom. we missed you, ky!

peace out...
i had a bunch of my neighborhood friends move out this last summer. i was SO sad to see them go. my running group went from 5 to 2. i miss them so much but i know they are happy where they all are.

violet's first friend party

vi enjoyed her very first birthday party- and enjoyed is an understatement. her friend maylee was having a princess party and asked that all of her attendees dress up. violet was thrilled to wear her snow white dress. snow white is still her favorite princess. i could not, however, convince her to wear anything under the dress... "princesses don't do that!"

the party was a blast- complete with a princess my neighbor hired who showed up decked out as a princess. big hair, lotsa makeup, her own made up princess songs for the kids to dance to as she sang. i was highly entertained...

garden explosion

our garden hit a growth spurt this month and we found ourselves swimming in tomatoes. luckily, snow white and her little sister, ivy, love grape tomatoes. whenever we would go out to pick, the girls could both be found with huge, lumpy cheeks that had been stuffed full with tomatoes.

xactware summer party

the annual summer party for cade's work is always something to look forward to. we led up to the party with mini golfing for the family and a larger golf tournament for the employees. the prizes are always great- and one year i won- so we tend to take this tournament pretty seriously. unfortunately  golfing with a baby in a sling isn't all that easy. and THAT is my excuse for us not winning this year! i hope i have an excuse next year... 

the party was held at seven peaks. they rent it out just for xactware so it is short lines, lots of food, and dippin dots GALORE. we loved it. i was pregnant last year and they wouldn't let me ride anything so this year we took full advantage. violet was a great sport and went on everything we asked her to. she is a dare devil! ivy didn't complain either.. but she doesn't quite know how to complain yet. 

pioneer day- an unexpected party!

we didn't have any concrete plans coming into pioneer day this year- but that didn't stop us from having a great time. i got a call in the morning from some family that they were headed to the park. since cade had to work, i packed the girls up and made the best of the holiday. we met up with cousins to play. even granny and grandpa were there.
as the kids ran wild, we started to formulate plans for the evening celebration. i knew that cade would love nothing more than a night of cornhole with his fam so we decided to take the celebration to our house. we picked up a butt load of the most delicious thai food you can find, laid out some blankets and chairs and enjoyed a great celebration.

 speaking of butt loads, we also got a ZILLION fireworks to set off. the kids were in heaven...

you couldn't have planned this day better! it turned out great (despite the ravenous lehi mosquitos who were ready to feast...). the pioneers would have been proud!

cornhole, cornhole, cornhole

the obsession with cornhole continues... after california, cade, adam and ross were determined to make their own boards to keep the party going in utah. one afternoon, they each managed to make a set of their own.

 and they felt like MEN!

 after getting the boards made, it was time to customize and paint. cade had all sorts of ideas for painting the boards (really, you should have seen the sketches....) but he decided to stick with the aggies. when in doubt, always go aggies. they turned out great! cade's artistic skills came in handy yet again as he hand-painted these decals on.

without a further delay: the final product:

nihon ga daisuki da yo!

 july brought an awesome opportunity to celebrate culture and be with family. my cousin natalie was involved in a japanese festival downtown and she invited us to come watch her dance. if you haven't been to a festival in japantown of downtown slc, you are missing out! they are always full of good food, strange imports to buy, odd people who REALLY love japanese animation, and tons of culture. we got to the festival plenty early so we could eat some yummy japanese food and shop for some of my favorite japanese treats.
the kids were thrilled to be there.

 and then the dancing started...

 natalie got her groove on while we whooped and hollered for her.

 ivy is always up for a photo op. this photo accurately captures the whole evening. beautiful, relaxing and fun.

 we managed to pull natalie away from the action for a minute just to snap a few photos. the kids thought it was the coolest thing ever to be so close to one of the performers.

 little ivy...loved the show.

 violet and owen were obsessed with all the dancing. on the sidelines, they copied all the moves they could see (plus added a few twirls and fist-pumps). as we were getting ready to leave, violet was so sad that she didn't get the chance to dance WITH the others. so, to cheer up, she and owen ventured out into the main dancing area- and froze. rooted to their spots. no dancing. no moving.

we had to peel them away from the action and yes, violet was sad that she didn't dance when she was finally out there. what do you do!?

i loved the chance i had to think back to the cultural and spiritual experiences i had while serving my mission in japan. i don't often get opportunities like this and i loved sharing it all with my little family.

circle a

we can't get enough new mexico in our lives. i was very glad we were able to return south after waiting only one year. circle a is the perfect spot to spend a week or two of your summer. it is a perfect, little ranch just waiting for us to come back. 

at the ranch there is a whole lot of:

exploring to do...

nature to find...

hikes to be had...

animals to meet...

pianos to play...

lakes to swim in...

cards to be played...

cousins to play with...

books to be read...

afternoons to waste...

yeast rings to be consumed... (and LOTS of other yummy food, I should mention)

babies to be adored...

storms to be watched...

running to be done...

and for the adults, too...

bubbles to be chomped...

sleeping-in to enjoy...

nights to lounge...

walks to be taken...

poses to strike...

ground to cover...

things to be afraid of...

and strange terrain to cover...

reflections to be made...

babies to be bundled...

and great memories to be made.

we were sad to go. our drive did go by quite well with the kids- especially after we made some key stops. first, to a fabulous burger king with a huge playland...

and then in moab to do some mid-point hiking.

cade found us a fabulous trail to follow. although we were not really dressed for such hiking and heat, we had a great time. vi was so solid on her feet and just plowed through the terrain. cade and i were both quite impressed. 

i can only hope that circle a ranch can always be a yearly tradition for us. until next year!