Tyler's Big News

One Giganterous Blog Post

A little disclaimer before I begin: this post is extremely long!!! I've been such a slacker this summer about blogging, that I've got a LOT of catching up to do. So here's what we've been up to...at least the events that I remembered to bring my camera along to!

Our favorite trip of the summer (and one of our most favorite overall) was to Jackson, WY for a little rafting. We ran the Snake River everyday, all day long & had a blast doing it. Here's Nate rowing (I'm not in the boat).

We also visited the Bar J Wranglers (a first for me). Super fun place, good food, but not the best show for a toddler to sit through. Luckily, we sat in the back & could listen from outside.

After a week of camping, we were all ready to come home...except Tyler. He actually cried when we had to take down the tent trailer (too bad the camera was packed away). But he sure was worn out, as you can see from our car ride home.


Here we are at the petting zoo at Lindon Days. It was by far the most popular attraction for our little family. Have you ever seen a baby camel at a petting zoo before??? Me neither!

Tyler loved the baby horse...or was it a mini horse...or a pony. I'm not quite sure...

And the baby donkey.

And of course no petting zoo is completely without your cage full of assorted farm fowl.


Next is our trip to the Zoo. My friend Rachelle & her son Issac came to visit for a couple weeks from Ohio. It was so fun to see them again, & to spend a few days together.


The boys loved the monkeys. Tyler told me afterward that they were his favorite. I have to agree.


I love that Hogle Zoo still has the same lion drinking fountains that they had when I was young. Ahhh...the memories!!!


And the best way to end the perfect day at the zoo...the train of course! Tyler loved this so much that he couldn't stop smiling for the entire ride.


And to close...here are a few of my favorite, random pics from the summer. This was taken at my cousin's homecoming. Tyler thought he looked super cool!


Daddy & Ty riding Papa's '66 Vespa. All the grandkids love this sweet ride!

We did a lot of swimming, both in the backyard & the pool, during the hottest days of summer.

And went for a lot of walks in the evening. Tyler loves to have us push him down the hill at the park by our house. I love watching him smile as he comes soaring past me!


Tyler loves to help his Daddy outside. Especially when it comes to mowing the lawn. He follows him around the entire time. Too cute!

After a long, hot summer day, Tyler would often ask to go get an ice cream cone at McDonald's. Doesn't a good old soft-serve cone make you feel like a kid again?

And finally, here is my little cheeseball riding one of the lion statues at my mom's house. Man, I love this kid!

Cakes!!!

My neighbor hosted a cake decorating class in her home & I was lucky enough to be able to attend. For those of you who know me, I love to COOK & BAKE. This was a great chance for me to learn all of the "right techniques" that I had never learned before. Here's my first week's assignment: white cake with buttercream icing.

The following week was cupcakes. Chocolate frosted in buttercream with marshmallow fondant decorations & rolled chocolate sprinkle edges. SUPER easy...I took these to my niece's baptism the next day. Aren't they perfect for an 8-year-old girl???

This was my last assignment. We were supposed to find any design that we wanted to do. My sis gave me a cute cupcake book, Hello Cupcake, and I found this in there: frosted cupcakes (regular & mini) covered in candies. It was a big hit at the family 4th of July BBQ!!!

And finally, I had to throw in a pic of the mini cupcakes I made for my sis-in-law Natalie's baby shower. She has the cutest little girl, and these fit right into the theme colors. They were also incredibly easy! To get the smooth icing look, simply heat up your frosting in the microwave for 4-5 seconds & dip!!! Another cute idea from Hello Cupcake!

The recipes for the icing & fondant (that actually tastes good) can be found on my recipe blog:

My Inner Chef

Time for another trip...

We are going here....

Sleeping in a....

Glad we're not in a....

We'll be eating a lot of....




Hope we don't seen any....




While we're there, we'll be doing this...

Hopefully, none of this...

Or else there will be a lot of....

See you in a week!!!

Yearly Pics

My friend Kenzie took our family pictures last week. This is the sneak peek she posted. They are so cute! I'm dying to see the rest! Thanks Kenz!

You can see all her amazing pics at
http://www.mackenziekileyphotography.blogspot.com

UPDATE: Here are the rest of them!

San Francisco

Nathan and I had SO much fun in San Francisco. It is definitely one of our favorite cities! While Nathan was at Google IO, I spent my days shopping and going to the symphony. It was the first matinee performance I've been to, and I think I was the only person under the age of 65 there! Check out the sea of gray heads in front of me.

I had to take a picture of the row of old women in front of me during intermission. It gives you a better idea of what I'm talking about. This is basically what the entire hall looked like!The symphony hall, is actually really interesting, visually. Don't you think the balcony boxes look like Legos?And they have all these curved pieces of glass above the orchestra. I imagine that they are for sound projection, but it's really cool to see their reflection while they're playing.In the evenings, after Nathan was done, we'd go sight seeing. Here we are at the gate to China Town, or as we like to call it, gateway to the streets filled with crap-o-la.Driving across the Golden Gate Bridge.We also went to the redwoods. This was a first for me, and I loved it. This is me in the hollow of a big redwood tree.I love how lush and beautiful everything is. I felt like I was in a fairy-tale land. I kept expected wood nymphs to pop out. It is indescribably gorgeous. The picture does it no justice.And of course, no visit to San Fran is complete without going to see the sea lions at Pier 39. We could sit there and watch them for hours. They are SO funny!

Yikes...it's been so long!

Just a quick post to tell you all that we are still alive and have not dropped off from the face of the earth. It's just been really busy around here with summer beginning, rearranging schedules, going on vacation, having swim lessons, and getting ready for girls' camp. I'll post more with pics later. Thanks for your concern! :)