Squeezing it In

A week after we returned from Yellowstone, we were on the road north again - this time on our way to Rupert for a double baby shower for my nieces Kelli and Kim.   It was great to be able to participate.   I am excited for both the girls.  Kim had her baby boy last week and we're just waiting to hear good news on Kelli's little girl who should be coming any day now - unless Kelli takes after her little sister, that is.  I already posted the shower photos on Facebook.  If you haven't seen them, they are HERE.

Brent and I took the opportunity to steal my parents away for dinner and then we spent the night at a hotel before racing back home to make it to our ward for church on Sunday.  I talked Brent into getting some photos of me with my parents, because I really don't have any. 

Mom!  :)

Monday evening, June 23, was Picnic In the Park for the Lehi City Celebration.  We joined Bill and Stephanie and Edna there, and Ann and Tony caught up with us, too.  It was a great evening.

 Ashlyn lost her shirt early on.  She has been in a stage where she likes to blow her drink out her mouth.  Dribbling all down the front of her.  Soaking her shirt.  And her pants.  But mostly her shirt.  So off it came for the entire evening.

 The entertainment was terrific folk dancers in very colorful costumes.

 Entertainment also came in the form of grandkids and jokes.

 And the girls joined in on the dancing.

Wednesday night was another dinner in the park.  Brent had meetings and I was late getting there.  No pictures, but it was a great barbecue dinner at a very reasonable price.

Friday night, June 27,  was the Miniature Parade.  That's the night the wards put floats in with their children pulling them and riding them and walking alongside them.   Our ward had one in this year and it was fun to see the rewards of all the hard work pay off.   
We sat at Hutch's.  That's turned out to be an ideal place for Brent's mother to watch the parade.
 
The girls were delighted to find some of Brett's dalmatian puppies still hanging around looking for a home.

Finally, here comes the parade.  Bill is second from the right in the color guard.

 Don't they look great?

Favorite part of the parade is all the candy the kids get to collect:

 Bright sun!

 Bill made it back to join us about half way through the parade.

Monster's University was the theme our ward used for its float.  Here it comes!

 Click PARADE  to see some of the floats and fun things from the evening.

Saturday, June 28, 2014
Oh, so many things vying for our attention on this day.  Of course, there was more of the city celebration with its Mammoth Parade, and carnival at the park.  There was a reunion for my Thurgood family up in Bountiful.  I would have liked to split myself into four parts, but there is only one of me.  And one of Brent.  And he was hankering to go fishing out at Vernal.  Haven't been there in ages.   So we went.  Just the two of us.

Found the lake pretty quiet.  And pretty empty. 
Empty of people.
Empty of water.
And empty of fish.

Below shows the channel we used to fish in - only from about 40 feet higher from the shore.  Not much there this year.

We found a spot and cast in our lines, and set up camp.  For a little while.  Then we moved up farther along the shoreline - back towards where we parked the car, actually.

For the first hour or so it was just Brent and me, and the cranes.

 Quiet lines:

 Muddy feet:

Then the wave makers showed up:

 And one duck:

Oh, but it was mostly peaceful and perfect for a morning nap, since we had no sleep the night before:

 Brent and I did each catch one fish a piece.  They looked like this.  Brent said they're Blue Gill.  Lucky day for them.  We were on a catch and release attitude about Blue Gill.

That evening on the way back to Lehi, we made a detour into Park City.  Mike had been participating on a Ragnar team with his mother-in-law and other members of her family from Logan and they were finishing up ahead of schedule.  Just in time for us to stop and watch.   Brent had hurt himself earlier at the lake, so he dropped me off at the High School and then went and found a place to nap (again) and rest his leg.

 I found Makinzee and a friend of hers from her ward who had finished earlier with another team.

Mike was on the last leg of the race, and it involved running up to the top of this hill and back down the back side of it, through a golf course and then back into the area where we were waiting.  And that was the finish line.

 And we were waiting for him to return.

 Finally, here he came!  He was in a full sprint, making the end of the race count in spite of an injured leg.

Mi

 Below is Mike with members of his team.

Mike and the group he shared a van with.  Each team had 12 members, two vans.

 Altogether the team had run nearly 200 miles from Logan to Heber and  back to Park City over a 48 hr. period of time.  Wow!

 Mike and his support team.

It was fun to be there at the end of the race and watch him come in.  Great timing Mike.  We would have totally missed it if we had tried to go home first.

Sunday, June 29, 2014 - Family dinner at Bill and Steph's.  I left the camera home, but it seems rare any more that we get everyone local together for dinner so I pulled out my phone and captured these few pictures:

 I love my family so much.  June slipped into July, but not out of mind.  It was a crazy, busy fun month, for sure!   July has continued to bring a schedule packed full.  So there are a lot more photos still waiting to be posted.  To be continued ....