One more wedding...

I've been slow to get this post published. Last weekend we had the opportunity to go down to "civilization" (i.e. Salt Lake) to attend my cousin Jason's wedding. He and Kortney were smiling all day long and they make such a beautiful couple. I absolutely loved Kortney's bouquet! We had fun hanging out with my parents and Karen and Jaron. The boys went to Cabela's and I introduced my mom and Karen to IKEA. We didn't have much time to shop because we had to get to the wedding luncheon. But my mom was enthralled by IKEA (I don't blame her) and I had to keep back-tracking to find where we had lost her. I think she finally walked out of the store with two pans and some scissors.

Camping Adventures

It has been raining non-stop for the past few weeks and our summer is quickly slipping away without ever really arriving. Cory and I decided that we needed to get some summer fun in, even if the weather was horrible. So we packed up our gear and went camping again last weekend. The weather was beautiful on Friday night. We woke up to rain drops on the tent early Saturday morning but we quickly went back to sleep and woke up to sunshine. It didn't last long, though. We went for a ride up Bear Creek, which is by Grey's River in WY. We saw some beautiful back-country and got soaking wet and muddy at the same time.

This waterfall and stream were being created from snow run-off. You can't see it very good in this picture, but there is a ton of snow at the top of this mountain.

And yes, we did get stuck. We forgot to take the bow saw with us so that we could cut any trees that might be in our path. Instead of turning around, Cory decided that we could easily go OVER this huge tree. He got high centered and was thrilled when we had to break out the winch to help us get un-stuck. We wrapped the rope around one tree and we actually started to pull it out of the ground. Guess we were stuck pretty good. So I looped the rope around a couple of trees and that did the trick. And Marcy, we went past an area called Kennington Flat. Is that area named after Kyle's family?

Congrats to Nick & Linsey!

'Tis the season for weddings. Hooray! I went to Preston yesterday for Nick and Linsey's wedding. Dylan, Carson, Spencer and Tyler were sure excited for their mom (and they looked so handsome, too). I've known Nick for about 19 years and I've known Linsey for 10 years. They are both amazing people and I'm so happy that they found each other! On a funny note, Nick was my boyfriend for about six months when we were in middle school. But then he moved on to high school and was too good for me. :-)

In an effort to be efficient, since I was already in Preston, I drove for another 30 minutes to get to Logan so I could pick up a trailer. That's right folks...Cory actually let me drive his truck. And, after much convincing, he agreed that I could pick up the trailer. Apparently the fact that I was raised on a farm, that I started driving a 2-ton truck to haul hay when I was seven, the fact that I drove my dad's 1-ton truck to high school starting at the age of 15 and I used to pull the boat all the time wasn't enough to qualify me to pull a trailer from Logan to Idaho Falls. Only his sense of good logistic management (think efficiency) allowed for this to happen. I'm happy to report that the trip was uneventful. And I had a VERY relieved husband when I got home.

Congrats, Jen!

We went to Utah on Saturday for Jen and Rob's wedding. They were married in the Bountiful temple and afterwards they had a fabulous dinner in Park City. Jen was a beautiful bride and they both looked so happy. We are glad that they invited us to share their special day with them!

p.s. For those who are wondering, the inspection on my house went well. The renters have started to take care of the yard and the inside of the house was fine. Whew!!!

Memorial Weekend

The theme for this Memorial weekend was mostly...rain. But we did manage to have a good time. We went for our season opener motorcycle ride on Saturday. We broke out the leathers and I donned my tattoo shirt (it's necessary to look the part, you know). We rode to Downey to have a BBQ with the Johnson clan. Cory, Jared and Grant worked hard to BBQ some fabulous ribs.

Clearly Ayla enjoyed the ribs...

Brady went for a spin on the motorcycle. He made it back to the house just in time to miss a major dust storm.

And can you see those clouds behind Emilee and Gracie?? Well folks, that's what we rode home in. Always an adventure.

You can't have Memorial weekend and not go camping. So even though the weather forecast predicted thunderstorms, we packed up the camping gear and headed to Grey's River, just outside of Afton, WY. We found the perfect campsite and I pitched the tent while Cory went to look for firewood. It was sprinkling lightly when we got there, but the rain soon stopped and we grilled hamburgers, drank hot Tang and enjoyed an awesome campfire. I think it rained a little during the night, but our trusty tent held up marvelously.

And this is the sight that we woke up to. I will mention that Cory woke me up at 6:30 a.m. I about killed him. It's a holiday. Clearly I have some more educating to do i.e. holiday = time to sleep in!! We were going to cook breakfast on the camp stove, but decided to be lazy and we went to a restaurant called Yankee Doodle instead. And the minute we got home, we both crashed and took a two hour nap! Ahhhh!

Phoenix!!

Cory has been to Texas to visit some of my good friends. So last weekend it was my turn to go to Phoenix and visit some of Cory's friends. Here's the gang:

The temperature was a balmy 108 degrees, so we spent a lot of time in Dave and Katie's pool.

We also needed some liquid refreshment to help keep us cool. Cory decided to be the bartender and he mixed us up some fabulous (non-alcoholic) strawberry daiquiris. Yum-O!!

Cory also introduced me to some great sushi at a restaurant called Ra. Thanks to Dave and Katie for letting us come and crash their pad. It was so nice to meet everyone!!

Texas!!

Those darn corporate travel budget cuts haven't allowed me to get to Texas nearly as often as I would like. A few weeks ago, my boss asked me if I wanted to go down to DFW. I jumped at the chance and I think I bounced off the walls for three weeks until the travel day arrived! My first stop straight from the airport was to visit Tamara, Adam and Elizabeth. Tams fixed a fabulous dinner, which was perfect after a loooong travel day. And it was so fun to see Miss Elizabeth! She has gotten so big since I saw her last September.


It was great to see all of my colleagues in the office. I also had the chance to visit with Thomas, Jennifer, Lauren and Matthew. Jennifer is opening a new wellness center in Dallas, which is so exciting for her! I got there just in time to see the last of the Blue Bonnets (flowers), which I used to get mixed up with the Blue Bell ice cream (just the name...). And I even saw one cockroach (thankfully it was dead).

I've been starving for shopping and eating-out opportunities (not that you would know from looking at me) here in Idaho Falls, so I took advantage of every chance I had to visit some of my favorite stores and restaurants. Hooray for Tex-Mex, wonderful sushi, great BBQ and Cafe Brazil! And I saved the best for last. I've often said that if airfare was cheap, I would fly to Dallas one Saturday night just to eat at the Canary Cafe. It's my all-time favorite restaurant (Mediterranean food, of course). And to go along with my favorite restaurant, I had the privilege of spending the evening with some of my favorite people. I am so thankful that they took time out of their busy schedules to come have dinner with me. I'm getting choked up just thinking about it. I miss you all! It was so nice to see you!

Until next time...