212: beautiful beach day and boats

It was a glorious day at the beach! Restful, peaceful, and sunny! Ryder insisted that I take a picture of this sand dolphin..he had nothing to do with building it, he just wanted a picture of it. Don't blame him, it's pretty awesome!

211: seminary training..it is early!

I don't usually take naps during the day, but getting up this early has really kicked my butt!

210: happy 40th to me

My 40th birthday started bright and early!  I was up at 4:10 a.m. to make it to my seminary training in Corona by 6:00. Jim decided it would be great to announce my birthday to the world, so I had random honks all day! It was cute at first, but then, by the time I'd forgotten about my birthday, I'd get honks and think I was doing something wrong..a little annoying. After our training, Julie, Julie, and I hit the closest Denny's for my marathon of free food. I had a pleasant day. I laid out in the backyard and then got a pedicure.  We went to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner and hit a movie, Fast and Furious.  That pretty much describes the past 40 years..fast and furious! So far, 40 is fabulous!

209: boy scouts to the rescue

While Skyler was in Lake Powell, Aubrey had a little accident, so the boys put their boy scout skills to the test. 

208: r & r

 Started the day off by finishing my left over cheesecake. Then I topped it off with a virgin lava flow, while lounging on my poolside chair. A perfect day! 

Why do getaways end so quickly? The hotel spoiled us with a 6:00 p.m. check-out for my birthday, so we lounged by the pool all day. It's amazing how quickly time flies by when you're doing nothing and having the time of your life. I'm so grateful to Jenniffer for making this milestone in my life so special. I've had an incredible 4 decades, but I'm sure, the best is yet to come!

207: the great escape

Honestly, I have the greatest friends ever! Jenniffer went way overboard for my 40th. She surprised me with a weekend away in Palm Desert. Unfortunately, some of our other friends were out of town for the weekend {so use to that..it's the price you pay for having a summer birthday}, so it was only the 2 of us. We left Friday morning and she had her car decked out and sitting on the front seat was a basket of my favorite goodies and essential reading for a girls weekend. I felt incredibly pampered and spoiled! Off to the Westin Mission Hills. First stop: shopping at Calbazon. Next, massages! Thank you to my dear friend Crystal for setting them up for both of us..way too generous! A perfect way to start a relaxing weekend. We ate at Cheesecake Factory, and although they ran out of the cheesecake we wanted {coconut cream}, it was a fantastic evening. 

206: hate saying goodbye

 Jen was out visiting for a month, however, I seemed to miss most that month. So glad I got to spend this last beach day with her!

Skyler and Brody at Rainbow Bridge

205: getting my hair did

The long, black line going down the center of my head is now gone! I love getting your hair done days.

catching up...

Catching up is hard to do....bare with me as I scroll through a months worth of pictures {about 600}!  I've been out the past month, creating incredible memories! I will share them with you soon..if anyone even still reads this. How do you narrow down 600 pictures? I'll do my best.

204: my own royal birthday

Happy 11th birthday to the sweetest, most lovable boy!

203: fishing in the golf course

Fishing in the golf course pond. Jayden was the winner with 3 fish, which he threw back!

oh yeah...a little thing also happened today. The royal baby was finally born! That looks like a smile of relief!

202: summer rain

 Summer rain is something we don't see very often, but it is a tender mercy for the firefighters fighting the terrible fires nearby.

It's also NATIONAL ICE CREAM DAY..and I don't kid around when it comes to ice cream. Thrifty's is by far my most favorite!

201: lake powell

Skyler's been quite the trip taker this summer. 1 week at scout camp in Mammoth, 1 week in Catalina, 10 days in Colorado/Road Trip, and now 1 week at Lake Powell!! The joys of being a kid.

He was scheduled to get his braces off this week, but he chose to go to Lake Powell, on a houseboat, with his best friend instead..I would have done the same!

200: beach day

It wasn't the greatest day, but the beach is the beach!!

{why can't Ryder keep his eyes open in pictures?}

199: endless tomatoes

When I got home, there were baskets full of tomatoes and peppers that needed to be addressed. The baskets soon became jars of canned salsa. Delicious.

198: krispy kreme and home

 

Our last day in Colorado..the boys had a sleep over with their cousins. Then my sister-in-law, Teresa, took them for a tour of Krispy Kreme. The boys loved it, but even more so, loved eating the donuts afterwards. She wins the amazing aunt award for taking all 7 boys by herself!! We had a full day of lounging before our 10:25 p.m. flight {what was I thinking making it so late?}. We didn't get into San Diego until 11:30. It was a very late night, but it felt so good to be home and together as a family again! We had an amazing trip, just wish Jim could have joined us!

197: water park

 My sweet niece Addison

We beat the heat and headed to the local recreation/aquatic center. It is not common to find pools in peoples backyards in Colorado, so they have extra special, city centers. It was another fun day with the cousins. The rock  wall was a huge hit..I even gave it a try. It was so much harder than regular rock walls because you had to start from inside the pool and had nothing to really stand up from. I got 1/2 way before my arms were just too tired. 

196: first starbucks

 I have no clue how the dashboard got so dirty...but this was our final reading for the miles we drove on our roadtrip. 1,257.9

It was a great, little car, but it's time to turn it back in! Much better gas mileage than my beast. 

 My mother-in-law insisted we stop at Starbucks. Believe it or not, this was my first drink ever from the place. I don't drink coffee and I can't even stand the taste of it, but this was just an iced cream with carmel.  It was delicious, like a shake, but a little lighter. My favorite part were the little carmel bits and whip cream on the top.

random water tower

195: boulder

Boulder, Colorado

{pearl street mall}

 ...between a rock [boulder] and a hard place

 After church, we decided to take a little drive to check out Boulder.  It was a cute, college town with a lot of crazies. I think it was especially crowded with crazies because it was the weekend. Incredible people watching. Lunatic street performers. Endless hippy, homeless gypsies. A little bit of everything, for everyone. This guy..the one with fire, was as Skyler put it, an idiot.  He came running up to us and drew a circle around us with lighter fluid all while carrying a lit torch, inviting us to his show. How this is legal, I'm not quite sure. But then again, this is the first state to legalize marijuana, so I guess anything goes!

One leg, one rope, no tree, 1/2 swing sculpture.

We had a big family, Sunday dinner when we got home from Boulder. The kids were going crazy indoors, so we took a Sunday stroll to the park. One of the great things about Colorado, are all the parks and green belts connecting all the homes in these master communities. My brother & sister-in-laws only live about a mile or two from my in-laws, so it makes for lots of family time.

Always kinda funny taking a picture with the girls...I always feel like a giant!

194: spending the day with family

 The Colorado Cousins

 FYI: Golden was once the capitol of Colorado.

cool snowboard/ski benches

 2 of Jim's brothers, his mom, and 3 out of the 4 sons of Justin.

Today was a fun filled family day. We met up with 3 of Jim's brothers and their families. We headed up to Buffalo Bill's gravesite and to the cute town of Golden..this town was once the capitol, but is probably more famous for being home to the Coors brewing company. We bought some sandwiches and headed up to Golden Gate park for a picnic. The boys had a great time exploring and hiking..but the picnic was short lived as it began to rain. We headed back into Golden and my boys spotted this river and people tubing down it. They immediately wanted to do it. The other cousins are not strong swimmers, so we kept my nephew Austin and the rest went home. I ran into the hardware store, bought some tube and the boys headed down the river. If I didn't have to hold the towels and clothes and camera, I would have been in there too! They had a blast. They tubed for a little over an hour and then the thunder started and you could see a huge storm was near. The river cleared out quickly, so I grabbed the boys. They didn't want to leave, but I didn't want them getting struck by lightening! We got caught in a downpour running back to the car. Fortunately, we were already wet.