Back to Where the Trees are Green and the Air is Clean

I don't get to see my family very often these days. Especially since one sister lives in NYC, a brother is in Germany, another brother in AZ, and the rest of my siblings and my parents are in various cities in Oregon. So it was great to be able to spend time with my family in May.

Allie, my mom, and I had breakfast at Busick Court. Haven't heard of Busicks? Well, if you are ever in Salem, Oregon, you HAVE to go. Hey, Rachel Ray did.

The fam bam, minus Chris, Kyle, and Adam.

My CUTE parents. They are  my best friends. Man, I love them!

Thunderstorms

Right now I am sitting on my couch, snuggled up in the quilt my mother made me, listening to the most glorious thunderstorm. I absolutely  love thunderstorms. I love them because they remind me of how marvelous and powerful nature is, and how small I am. I also love the memories that thunderstorms bring to me.

I remember as a young girl, my sisters and I would wait by the window to see the lightening until the thunder cracked. Then, we would run as fast as we could to our bed and hide under the covers until we gained enough courage to venture out to the window again. We would do this over and over, laughing the whole time, until the storm was over.

When we were a bit older, ages six or seven, we would pretend to be on a ship in the sea during a horrible storm. We would rock back and forth on our big rocking chair that my great grandpa made, pretending that it was a ship being tossed in the waves. Mother had a candlestick holder that we would hold and it made the imaginary scene even more real to us. The thunder and the lightening added the final touch to our adventure. I can still hear Cecily yelling, "Beware the rocks off the port bow!"

As a teenager, thunderstorms meant that swim practice was over. Some of you might not know this, but I swam competitively for ten years. I was even captain of my high school swim team my senior year. I was never very good, but I had a lot of fun. In Sacramento, most of the pools, including all the ones I swam in, were outdoor. So, we swam in all kinds of weather. Rain. Hail. Wind. We braved it all. The only weather that would force us out of the pool was lightening. I remember swimming laps and hearing the crack of thunder. My coach would blow the whistle and we would jump out of the pool as fast as we could. After all, we had been told how people who swim in thunderstorms always get struck by lightening and drown and we weren't going to let that happen to us.

In Oregon, there were lots of thunderstorms. I have a lot of sweet memories of watching thunderstorms with Joe when we were dating and engaged. Thunderstorms make for perfect snuggling weather. We would make hot chocolate, cuddle, and talk for hours. Those were some of the best days of my life.

The rain has slowed down and its been awhile since I've heard a crack of thunder.  I think I can see some sunlight poking through. That's the thing with thunderstorms--they never last forever. Soon the sun comes out and the sky is calm again.

Daa da da da daaaa daaaa....

After four years of hard work, my dear sister Allie and brother-in-law Chris graduated from BYU!

We headed to the Marriot Center to watch the first day of festivities.

Cecily and Nathan kept themselves entertained as we waited for all the grads to come in.

My proud parents. Isn't my mother just beautiful?!

The next day we went to the Fine Arts graduation and got so see them walk the stage.

Chris graduated magna cum laude and Allie graduated cum laude. They are top of their class!

Now these two have moved to New York city where Chris is in a Masters/Ph.D. program at Columbia and Allie is getting her Masters in Art History from NYU. I am so proud of them. They have worked so hard and deserves those degrees! Joe and I will sure miss them! 

Is it too late . . .

. . . to blog about our Fourth of July? Well, if it is, Oh well. I'm going for it anyway. 

We had a lovely picnic dinner at Rock Canyon Park that consisted of hot dogs, corn on the cob, and a DELISH strawberry and grapefruit salad.

Allie and Chris were able to enjoy the holiday with us. We sure love having family close by!

Joe and I were played several games of Yahtzee to keep us entertained as we waited for it to get dark. This is his game face.

There was also a rendition of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. It was a really great performance. Can you think of a better backdrop than those gorgeous mountains?

The sunset was STUNNING and a show of its own.

Of COURSE we HAD to have s'mores. It's TRADITION you know. Our mini BBQ was the BEST investment.

Have you ever tried a Reese's s'more? Simply DIVINE.  

We had a PERFECT view of the fireworks from the Stadium of Fire in Provo. We got to see the beauty of the show for free!

You have no idea how many tries it took to get all four of our faces in the picture. Out of eleven takes, this was the best one (meaning it was the only one where someone wasn't cut out).

Sparklers are my favorite part of the Fourth. I just can't go a year without them. There is something so magical about holding a firework in your hands. And you can take pictures and write with them.

J is for Joe.

Love.

M is for Meg.

Joe made this cool star. We had a great holiday!

I am so grateful for this country and the freedoms we enjoy! I'm so proud to be an American!

We Got Cake Wrecked

I love a good laugh. I love a good cake. I love beautiful cakes. I love horribly decorated cakes (because they make me laugh). So naturally, I LOVE the blog Cake Wrecks, because it combines them all. Check it out. You will be shocked at how "wrecked" some of the cakes are! 

Last week, we headed to the Kings English Bookshop in Salt Lake City for a the Cakes Wrecks tour. Jen, the creator of the blog, has just published a book which she offered to sign. She also came to share some of her favorite wrecks with us.

The actual event was in a mod gallery down the street. It was a packed house!

We went with some of our favorite people, my dear sister Allie and her witty husband Chris. Thanks Allie for inviting us!

That's Jen and her husband. She is as funny in person as she is on her blog!

Joe had never heard of Cake Wrecks. He's not a blogger. But, the dear humored me and came along. I may or may not have bribed him with cake.

People brought in some replicas of the wrecks. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of those (but, Jen posted the great ones on Cake Wrecks, so check them out). They also served cake and a local bakery showed off some of their sweet creations. I loved this polka dot cake.

This was the biggest cupcake I have ever seen. The babies on carrots were originally on an actual wreck. I'm sorry, but doesn't that just creep you out?

The boys liked the cake. Yum!

Although I've had my share of sweets (like my wedding cake below that I absolutely ADORE), 

I've had my share of wrecks too. This was Joe's birthday cake this year. It looks NOTHING like the model cake they showed me. It is SUPPOSED to be a football helmet next to a football on some grass. I guess the decorator decided to leave out the face guard on the helmet and decided that grass grows sideways. Oh well, it tasted good.

I must say, I loved the Kings English Bookshop. I'm a sucker for bookshops and this one was so quaint. I could spend many hours perusing their shelves.

Of course, Allie and I browsed the lovely books while we were there. We especially loved the home decor books. Ah, "one day" we will be able to have a swanky house like those. 

Allie found our favorite book of the night. 

It's a real tear jerker.

What A Blessing

We feel like we have been so blessed this week. Really blessed. You know when your heart is just so full of gratitude, you can't help but sing a hymn or two? That's how I've felt.

JOE GOT A JOB!!! Its a great job working as an accountant for the Salt Lake Police Department. Whew! What a blessing.

We were talking last night about how it's such a blessing that even though he has been out of a job for three months, we have yet to be late on a bill or payment. What a blessing.

I got an externship with a great firm in Salem, OR!! Since we want to end up there, this is wonderful. Its a great firm and going to help me get the experience I need. What a blessing.

I came home and Joe had made me a chocolate cake to celebrate getting the externship. How sweet is that? What a blessing.

My sister got into graduate school!! I am so happy for her. She is going to become an amazing museum curator. Smarty pants. Now she has to choose whether to live in NYC or LA. What a blessing.

My brother-in-law got into a Ph.D program!! He got into UCLA and Columbia and they both want to pay them to go there. Smarty pants #2. What a blessing.

We got to go to Las Vegas last weekend and see Joe's sister Julie win her volleyball tournament! Joe's mom was there too and it was so wonderful to spend time with her. What a blessing.

The Lord has been so good to us.

Friendship is a Blessing

Kyle, Allie, Troy, Joe, Meg. Jason, Brittani, Aaron, Valorie, Tyler, and Cecily

The Fellas.

The Lovely Ladies.

We are so very very blessed.

All Photos by Alyssa Jul Photography

We Love You All

Yup. Every. Single. One.

Photos by Alyssa Jule Photography

We Are Family

Me, my Brothers . . .

my Sisters and me!

We are family . . .

And together . . .

for eternity we'll be!

(OK, So I did some tweaking to the song. It's my blog, I'm allowed.)

All Photos by Alyssa Jul Photograpy