Wicked!

I've been waiting for almost a year to go see Wicked at Capitol Theatre and finally the time came! My mom and I met up with Jenny and her mom, and Kamie and Tim at the show. Wow! I wish I could afford to see Broadway shows more often, because it was AMAZING! I was glad that I read the book beforehand because I didn't have a very good idea about the story, although I was surprised that I recognized a few of the songs. Even though I got home really late, it was so worth it!

Our Weekend in Vegas

Matt happened to have a couple days off last week so we headed out to Las Vegas with my dad and stepmom for some fun. We drove down on Friday morning and in the afternoon played 18 holes of golf at Laurie's parents' neighborhood golf course. We were the only people crazy enough to be out in Vegas at 2:00 in the afternoon so we played really fast. Surprisingly, we didn't melt, and we actually played pretty well. We didn't take any pictures because we were so disgusting. Friday night we ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory in the Forum at Caesars. I am definitely not fancy enough for shopping. Proof in point: I spilled pasta sauce down my shirt at dinner. Definitely not fancy enough.

Saturday we slept in late, watched the Olympics in bed at the hotel, and slowly made our way down to the strip for lunch, where we ate at Margaritaville. I have eaten at Margaritaville in Cozumel and Key West and wasn't super impressed with the crazy Vegas version. We then walked the strip to the Coca Cola shop and tried a bunch of Coke products from around the world. We met up with Chelsie and headed over to a magic show. Chelsie had met the magician and he gave us all tickets to his show. After his show, later that night we went to see Chelsie's Dancing with the Stars show at the Tropicana. I was worried Matt would die sitting in the VIP section at a ballroom dance performance, but he did pretty well. After the show, the stars were taking pictures with the VIPs and when Chelsie introduced us to the cast, Matt was bragging that he had taught Chelsie how to dance. She took it in stride... We had a way late dinner at the Tropicana's Beach Cafe and went to bed exhausted!

Dad and Laurie and us at Dancing with the Stars

On Sunday we again slept in and headed out for breakfast on the strip. Every place we drove by had a huge line so it was after noon before we actually got to eat. We saw Serendipity on the strip and decided it sounded good. When we got there, there was a 45 minute wait to get in. Outside the restaurant was a window where you could order food, so we figured we'd get some food there and eat dessert when our reservation opened up. Well, as luck would have it, we waited in the other line for 40 minutes, and just as we paid for our food, our reservation was called. So we went and sat down while my dad waited for our food. By the time our food was done, we had already ordered dessert at the restaurant and were waiting. So frustrating! However, our desserts were divine. I ordered the famous Serendipity frozen hot chocolate which was delicious, Matt ordered a smoothie and dad and Laurie both ordered ice cream sundaes. Needless to say, we all were SICK before we even walked to the car. We actually had to stop inside the hotel and take a break so Matt didn't pass out and Laurie didn't throw up. I guess waiting forever to eat combined with eating mostly sugar (and lots of it), and it being really hot didn't do well with us. We went back to Laurie's parents' house and took naps and hung out for the rest of the night. So much for being crazy in Las Vegas!

My yummy frozen hot chocolate (with which I have a love-hate relationship)

On Monday we headed home. We had a great weekend and although Matt still hasn't taught me how to gamble, I think I can say I've had enough of Las Vegas for a while!

Camping at the East Fork of the Bear

Last weekend Matt and I met Randy, Jenny and the kids, and Lance and Kendra and Rudy for a few days of camping! This is exactly the type of trip that I love: Not a ton of preparation, not a ton of money, but lots of fun and relaxing with family!

Eating ice cream with Harrison- he couldn't get enough!

Matt decided to wear a white polo shirt our first day... needless to say, it didn't last long

Claire spent most of the time during the days catching/killing butterflies

Claire was so funny when we went fishing! She wanted to touch all the fish that the boys caught and even gave this one a big smooch!

Harrison loved riding the four-wheeler almost as much as the rest of us did! It was really fun to ride the wheeler and follow Brad on his dirt bike! He is getting really good!

Matt and Randy having a "Bro-mance" moment together...

Harrison's huge eyes

Our makeshift fire- we couldn't have a real fire so we put the bug candles together and made this fire... Don't worry, we couldn't have started anything on fire even if we wanted to, this fire gave off zero heat!

My Camera Loves These Kids

Randy and Jenny had a fancy work thing to go to a couple weekends ago, so I got to play with the kids for the night! It also gave me a chance to test out the different, cool settings on my new camera! I am loving it!

 Love the red lips all puckered!

Harrison played along with Aunt Tori's picture-taking for a while, but then he was done!

Camping

This weekend I met my family up Little Cottonwood Canyon for a few days of camping! I met them up there on Sunday morning (unfortunately I missed a lot of fun things Saturday night) and we went up the canyon to hike to Cecret Lake. It was pretty overcast but it felt really good.... Until we got to the lake and it started to pour down rain on us! We walked back down to the shuttle, where a lot of people were waiting, and piled a million wet people into the shuttle to go back to the car. Jeff and Jake were the most wet, but we were all soaked! (Cassie was not soaked because she stayed at our camp and read her book in her car)

We hung out around the fire, played cards, talked, ate, and watched Friends out of the back of the Tahoe. Camping Fox style! Alex, Jake and Cassie went home after dinner, so it was just my mom, Jeff and I overnight. On Monday morning the sun came back out and we went up to Snowbird and did a little hike and had lunch! I had so much fun, even though we were only there for a couple days. Thanks mom and Jeff for a fun weekend!

Life in Logan

Matt and I LOVE being back in Logan. There is something every day that reminds us why we love it so much up here. 

We get to hang out with Jenny, Randy and the kids way more! We got to see Brad and Randy play in their softball/baseball games. We get to go on dates with Randy and Jenny. We also get to practice softball with Randy every week (which is when Randy got hit in the face with a softball and had some serious problems). I love that I can be around to help out, like when Jenny and Randy were in the hospital and we got to watch the kiddos.

Harrison is the happiest baby ever! It is so fun to make him laugh.

 
We live super close to Bear Lake! We got to go up to the Hodges cabin for the fourth of July this year and it was nice not to have a really long drive.

Again, more playing with the kids. Jenny takes the kids every week to a different park around the valley with the other families in their neighborhood. The kids are perfect subjects for me to test out my new camera on! (I took these pictures before reading my camera manual... Give me a break! It's 250 pages long!)

Cache Valley rednecks! Matt and I went to the demolition derby last week after it rained like crazy. It was really muddy, which meant it was extra fun!

We love it here!

Expert Tile Installers

Matt and I had the "opportunity" this week to help Randy... okay, we did most of it... install his tile floor in his basement. Matt brought me along to be the helper and we spent about 10 hours working on this floor! It was fun to be around Matt while he is working and it was fun to learn all about some of what Matt knows. He is so smart! By the end of the day, our bodies were tired, we were covered in mortar, and our hands were extremely dry, but the floor was put in. Now all that needs to be done is grout! I am so happy that I could help and so proud of Matt for being so awesome.

On our way home, Matt is sitting very quietly in the car and he looks over at me and says:
I have grout in my nose.