Summer Time Finally!!!

It's been a while, so I'd better get an update. First of all.... I'm soooo glad it's finally Summer Time, and the weather is acting accordingly!

Steve has been busy w/ school. He still hasn't got an intern, but we he does have an interview tomorrow. The interview will be w/ a clinic downtown SLC, a homeless clinic. It's run by the state though, so they have descent hours actually (only til 7 pm latest, and no Sundays). We'll see how that goes. Hopefully they'll work w/ his school hours, hire him, and will be able to start in July. He needs to do his 200 hours (no pay) then we'll see from there where to go.

On Thursday, the 17th, I took my Managerial Accounting final. It was a timed test, which lasted 3 1/2 hours. It was, as you can see, REALLY long! I took the whole time, but wanted to pace myself, especially since most of the questions were essays/math problems. It took a couple days to get it graded, but I got an 88% on the comprehensive final and an A for the class. Yeah!!! ;) It feels really good to get that over with, and now I have a break until July 7th.

Last weekend up went up to the cabin. After work on Friday we packed up our stuff to go up. Before we went up though, we went over to IHOP (because I had a free meal coupon). We then picked up a couple things at the store that Dave and Stacie needed, then drove up to the cabin. Dave, Joann, Stacie, Phill, London, and 2 girls from Ireland were already up there (Alyssa and Robyn). We played the game we picked up, Phase 10 Twist. It's a fun game and a little more exciting than the regular game.

The next morning, Steve and Dave went out fishing while we made breakfast (probably an hour or so later). A couple hours later we met them to go for a boat ride. It was a beautiful day on the lake! Then after lunch they went for an ATV ride, so I went w/ Dave and Steve back out on the boat. I drove them around, trolling, while they fished. We were actually catching some too!!! It was really fun and again, the weather was amazing! We brought home 2 fish, not for us to eat of course. :) For dinner Dave made is amazing ribs, yummm!! That night we watched "Blind Side" and I made popcorn, both kettle corn and regular from the WhirleyPop.


Dave driving the boat and showing off his "comb over"


The 2 girls from Ireland, Alyssa and Robin and Stacie and Phill


Phill catching Dave's hat that flew off


Cute little London playing w/ her toys


Steve w/ a fish, finally!


Dave holding Steve by his pants while he gets the line out of the motor


Steve practicing shooting


On Sunday, we went to the Fruitland branch for church. It was a really good service on Fathers, for Father's Day. We then went back, had some lunch, played some games, then took a nap. I actually wasn't feeling too well, and slept for several hours. Steve and I left shortly after I woke up.

The next day I felt even worse. I went to work feeling dizzy and just yucky. I stuck it out until lunch, then went home. As soon as I got home, I got a little bit to eat, then went straight to bed. Needless to say I was tired; I didn't wake up until 5:30pm. Since I'm having my surgery next Wednesday, I'm not supposed to take Ibuprofen (since it's a blood thinner), but I could take Tylenol. This helped some, but most of the day I was just miserable.

I stayed home Tuesday all day as well. I took some other meds, Musinex D and Sudafed which helped a lot. Ironically, my mom called as was on her way home (had been visiting her parents in American Fork) and was able to stop by and see us, though Steve left a little while later to go to school. Since it was lunch time, I decided to make some Cajun Chicken for my mom. After lunch, my mom had to get on the road again.

Wednesday I went back to work, and did pretty good, other than I had a cough. After work we to Smiths for their great coupon sale. We got $90 worth of groceries for $48 bucks! I love coupons and sales! That night I didn't sleep much due to my cough so I was pretty tired the next day.

Thursday after work, we got w/ the other branch missionaries at Anzack Park (Otto and Emily Shill and Anna and Brad McMurtie). We decided to get together for everyone to meet, get to know each other, and come up w/ ideas on how to increase our effort in missionary work. We borrowed Jeff's little grill and grilled some hot dogs. We also had Doritos, grapes, Capri-sun and brownies. After going over some missionary ideas, we then went and played sand volleyball. It was a lot of fun and the weather was beautiful! I love summer nights!

On Friday, Steve went up to the cabin w/ his parents, Rob and Zack. So, I Eve and I decided to get together. She met me up at our place, then we went to Cafe Rio for dinner. We then went out to West Jordan and watched the play, "7 Brides for 7 Brothers." It was a really good! We then came back and talked for a while. We haven't hung out for a while (just the 2 of us), so it was really nice to just talk and catch up.

On Saturday, I cleaned the house, went grocery shopping a little, and then went and did initiatories. I did 6 family names that my mom sent me, that my Uncle Stephen submitted. We were going to go to our branch BBQ, but Steve didn't get home until 6 pm, so we went for a walk instead. We then went to Red Robin for dinner, and had a $5 cheeseburger---yumm! We then went shopping a little, rented a movie, then came home and watched it.

Today we went to church, then came home and had a good long nap together. Then we went over to Jeff/Kim's for Jeff's B-day party. Everyone had a good time, and the weather was beautiful, though hot for a while til the shade came.

On Wednesday I'll have my surgery. It should be fine and the recover should be quick. I'll take the rest of the week off though just in case. Steve will be around when he's not at class, so we should be good. Hope all is well for you all! Love ya ;)

This week.....

Just a couple things...

On Wednesday, I have class right after work, so I just take the trax down to my car, then drive to class. Class goes from 6-9:30pm about, so I don't get to see Steve from 7am until then (sad I know). But........... this week, I was hurrying out the door from work, and looked up and there was Steve!!! I looked at him and recognized he was there waiting for me, took a couple more steps, then took a second glance at him. I then asked, "What are you doing here?" He said since we don't get to see each other much on Wednesday's he thought he'd ride back down w/ me on the trax. He rode the trax up to Gateway, just to come right back down, but w/ me this time. He also brought me some snacks to eat during class....such a cutie ;)

Thursday after work, Steve and I went swimming in our pool which was just opened Memorial Weekend. The water was surprisingly warm. We swam for about an hour. It was a lot of fun! After that I made a cheesecake for Steve, and a white cake w/ cheesecake and whip cream and strawberries on top. I also got stuff ready for Eve's party on Friday. She turned 30 so I wanted to throw her a party. The girl who took my spot, Hannah, has been helping me. Steve had to watch a foreign film for his humanities film, so he watched "Coco before Chanel." It was interesting.

Friday after work, I hurried to go down to American Fork. Since it was Friday and the weekend, traffic was crazy (I hate traffic). I made it down there though and we got things set up. We had a good group of girls show up. We had Cafe Rio salad, chatted, then played "Diva Family Feud." It was a lot of fun. We then had strawberry shortcake kinda. I made a white cake then put cream cheese mixed w/ cool whip on top, then made a strawberry sauce to put on top. We sang to her and had her open gifts also. We were going to watch "13 going on 30" but it was pretty late so we didn't.

Well today at church we found out Little Cottonwood creek has been flooding (off 13th east, in our Stake). Last night there were people from our branch helping to sand bag. Then, after church Steve got a call to come and help. Apparently the bags weren't holding, so they had to re-due them and keep adding on to it. Steve was there 3 hours about, then came home to go to LuDeans for dinner. He barely got done w/ dinner then was called to go back and help. He's been there since seven or so. There are over 500 hundred volunteers from around the community along w/ firefighters, police, etc. And then it started rain Here are some pics:














Here's the article on KSL.
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=11064362

Cabin Weekend #2........

So last weekend for Memorial Day, we went up to the cabin again. We didn't go up until Saturday evening but still had enough a good amount of time up there. We decided to go to the Jordan River Temple Friday night to do a session. It was really nice being there. We even ran into a couple from our branch who were in the same session, kinda funny. We've ran into them while doing a session at the Draper Temple too a couple months ago. After the temple we stopped at Maverick at got a frozen yogurt, yummm ;)

Saturday I met my sisters for lunch (see my previous post). It was great seeing them and just hanging out. I then hurried home where we packed and went up to the cabin. Melanie, Brandon, their 3 boys, Dave, Joann, and Diane were all up there since the night before. We got up there just in time for dinner. We helped get dinner ready, then afterwards Steve and I went on a short ATV ride. Later, after the kids were put to bed, we all watched the movie "Invictus" and I made some popcorn.



On Sunday we all went to the Fruitland Branch again. Since it was a holiday, it was COMPLETELY packed!!! We left a 1/2 hr early and barely got seats in the back of the chapel. Everyone else that came in after us basically sat in the halls and in the small class rooms. Since it's only a branch, they don't have a very big building. The sacrament took the longest part of the meeting of course. The deacons were weaving in and around people trying to get to everyone. People were there who were camping or at their cabins. It's crazy how many come, but it's good that they all came, though on vacation. After we got back from church, we ate, then Steve and I took a nap. Steve woke up after an hour or so, but I kept sleeping for a couple more hours (I guess I was pretty tired). The rest of the day we had dinner, walked down to the Lake and skipped rocks, made a bonfire outside (until we got smoked out), played games and chatted.







On Monday, Steve and Dave went out fishing on the boat. The didn't have much luck catching any fish, but they said they still had a good time. I stayed at the cabin to work on my homework assignments the best I could. After lunch we cleaned up, packed, went w/ the boys to catch crawdads, then left. Once we got home, I worked on homework some more (lucky me I know).

Lunch w/ Sisters!

On Saturday I got together w/ 2 of my 4 sisters. It was Rose's b-day last week so we got together for lunch; she chose to go to Super Salad. They closed the one close to me here in Midvale and the other one in Sugarhouse, so we went out to Taylorsville. Rose had some coupons so we got the lunch buffet for 5 bucks! It was fun to just get together and enjoy ourselves. We stayed about 2 hours just talking and having fun. Rose and Pauline had some nail polish, lip gloss and other make-up, so we had a little makeover time too. It was a lot of fun, thanks sisters! (Hopefully soon we can get together w/ all 4 sisters)

To the Cabin.....

Friday afternoon, Steve went up to the cabin w/ Dave and Rob. They said they had to do some work up there, but they of course made some time to play too. Joann and I headed up after the baby shower for Melanie on Saturday. We got up there just in time to help w/ dinner. After dinner we went for an ATV ride, came back and played a game, then watched a movie.

Today we went to the Fruitland Branch for church. I think it's about the same size as our branch we attend here in SLC valley. :) We then played some more games, had lunch, and just enjoyed each others company. It's always nice to be up there to get away from our "normal" lives.


Bailey licking my plate, making sure she gets every last drop



Playing "Pig Pile." Steve wasn't doing so hot ;)



Bailey gets scared riding in the car. She has to hide under the sheet.


I took Monday off to get caught up on some things (from being on vacation). It's was pretty good weather so we went up Big Cottonwood Canyon for a hike. There's still a bunch of snow up there so we didn't get very far, but the view was worth it!


So beautiful!


At the top of the canyon

We also decided to use some of the money from our tax refund to pay off my car. So, Monday we went and paid it off! Both cars are paid off now and the only debt we have is our mortgage (which I'm not complaining about at all). It feels good to pay it off and follow the prophet's counsel in getting out of debt whenever possible.

Steve also started summer school this week. He has a humanities class, math class, and Radiology class/lab. He should also be finding out this week where he'll be doing his intern at. He has to put 200 hours in (free), then he can take his test to be licensed as a Medical Assistant. He's excited and a little nervous to get to work on "real people." He's been doing great in his classes though and loves the work, so I know he'll do an amazing job! ;)

Before our trip

Right before our trip we invited Rob and Zach over and watched "Avatar" and had popcorn. Also, since it was going to be Zach's birthday while we were gone, I made him a cake to make up for it.




Steve's creative candle for Zach

Also before we left, I found this recipe and had to try them. They turned out really good. I also turned some in to just regular rolls and some garlic rolls (though I had to keep those away from Steve since he thinks he'll melt if he has garlic).





Here's the recipe too

Chocolate Butterhorns (makes 32 rolls)

Dough:
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, cubed
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
4 – 4 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoons dry yeast, heaping

Rolls:
1-2 cups chocolate chips, depending on how chocolatey you want them

Combine all dough ingredients in the pan of your bread machine according to the manufacturer’s directions. Set on the dough cycle and start machine. When the machine beeps, remove dough from pan and divide it into four equal parts.

(While Crystal’s recipe make 32 larger rolls, I made the same number with about half the dough. This seemed to work better for my kids. Feel free to make 16 larger rolls if you’d rather.)

Roll each part into a 12-inch circle and cut each circle into 8 wedges. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the surface of each wedge. Roll each wedge like a crescent roll, starting with the bottom of the triangle and ending with the point.

If preparing ahead, place rolls, point down on baking sheet and freeze. Once frozen, place in freezer bags and store in the freezer until needed.

To bake: Grease a baking sheet or line with parchment or a silicate mat. Place frozen rolls on prepared sheet. Allow to thaw and rise for five hours or until doubled in size. Preheat oven to 375 ° and bake rolls for 12-15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool on wire racks.

Out for a Hike

Today was such wonderful weather we just had to get outside. So we went for a hike up Little Bell Reservoir. There were a good amount of people both going up and down, apparently we all had the same idea. It was a fun hike w/ beautiful weather and even more beautiful nature. Steve brought his fly fishing gear and cast a couple times, though they weren't biting. We had a good time. Here are some pics.


City View


Still snow in the mountains


Steve casting


Just us


You know I couldn't resist taking a picture of the pretty flower


Another Pretty Flower


Our Chaco feet after the river trip