What We've Been Doin

We've been enjoying our Summer! 

I made silly faces on a road trip while Christian thought I was ridiculous.

Yummy snacks made him happy though!

We went camping and climbing in Maple Canyon over Pioneer Day.

We cooked up some awesome brats and honey onions.

Christian lit the onions on fire to finish off the honey glaze. YUMMY!!

We slept in the back of Christians truck and stayed warm and comfy

Back home I made a Blackberry Tart

See!

We ate the Blackberry Tart

Steph came over Sunday afternoon and helped me pour a bunch of fruity juices into the Margaritaville Margarita maker (our fancy slushy machine).

We went to the pool with our fruity slushies and got some sun

 This week a favorite bestie friend of mine had a birthday so I made her 16 raspberry filled cupcakes

I LOVE the gum paste flower!

We've been having fun and more good things are on the horizon! 

Biking with Mrawmin

Mom is in town to hang out with Grandma and make sure she has enough Peach Pie to satisfy her sweet tooth. I believe she made a total of 4 Peach Pies using Dads famous Peach Pie recipe. Grandma thoroughly enjoyed everyone. 

Not to be outdone Stephanie and I made some delicious Lemon Pudding Cakes. 

We kept Grandma up way past a healthy bedtime giggling like teenage girlies and watching Pride and Prejudice while eating yummy treats. Steph and I serenaded her with off tune renditions of select Pride and Prejudice favorites and didn't get to bed till well after 2am. It was tons of fun!

The next day Mom and I went Mountain Biking at Big Springs up in Provo Canyon. 

The first bit is a lot of uphill and I could tell the altitude was working against Mrawmin's Californian blood. At one point she reached the top of a hill looking particularly exhausted and said "There are flies mating on my legs"! Sure enough there really were. The flies were crazy! I took a picture of myself and a fly landed right in the corner of my mouth as I took the picture. Gross!!

The downhill section was worth the heat and fly attacks however. I think the smile on Mom's face shows just how awesome it was. The setting was beautiful as we soared down the little trail which wound through aspens and flowers and little bridges leapt over cold mountain streams. 

This is my favorite picture because Mom looks awesome and I really love the little bridge.

Yay she did it!

Fish Lake with the Brows

July 2nd we left Utah County and headed south towards Fish Lake. This was our view during the drive of one of several fires that plagued Utah during the holiday week. Luckily the State didn't burn down completely while we were gone.

For the Fourth of July we celebrated with the Brow side of Christian's family. The Brow's are an energetic bunch of really fun people. The days were filled with fishing and biking while the nights included big barbecues, Bocce ball, and card games. Grandpa Brow reserved several cabins along Fish Lake to house the unruly bunch and shenanigans ensued all week long.

View of Fish Lake

Grandpa Brow chillin on the patio with a deer in the background

Christian and I played a game with cousin Jody's kids called Telestrations. Christian is trying to draw a picture of a diving chicken. I think he did a pretty good job.

The cabin we stayed in was beautiful and had great views of the lake both from the outdoor patio and the huge windows by the fireplace in the great room.

View from the patio

Christian and I cheeze-ing it up for the camera

Since Breakfast is one of my favorite meals I helped Liz feed our cabin with some of my favorite breakfast foods. We made French Toast with Fat Sauce and Buttermilk Biscuits with gravy. The last day Christian and I were there we used the leftover biscuits to make our Fish Lake version of Eggs Benedict with yummy hollandaise sauce. We also made Strawberry Soda Ice Cream from a recipe I got from the Food Network Magazine. It all contributed to a fun and relaxing weekend.

Biscuits and Gravy

French Toast with Fat Sauce

Strawberry Cream Soda Ice Cream

Christian and I went for a lovely bike ride around a small portion of the Lake and then the following day Christian convinced his Dad to go for a ride around the entire Lake. It was a 26 mile loop and they were exhausted when they returned.

Me

Jim

Meanwhile during their ride I flipped through pages of the new Pottery Barn magazine with an adorable 2nd cousin named Emily where we planned our future beach houses and then sat with sister-in-law Barbara out on the lake shore watching Grandpa Brow and Christian's brother Jeff catch 8 fish. It was wonderful!

We went to the old Fish Lake lodge and looked at the cool wood work and old dance hall.

Christian and his Pops hangin by the fire chit-chatting

Christian, Jim, and I went for a car ride to see this awesome tiny cabin up in the mountains they'd ridden by on their 26 mile bike ride. It was so cute!

I love the little detached outhouse

and the stone chimney

It was a truly fantastic week with plenty of family fun and relaxing.