Desolation Trail Hike to Salt Lake Overlook

I finally made it out on my first legitimate hike of the summer. I'm starting to panic a little because I feel like summer is already almost over and I've only been on one hike. Ahhhhhh!! The weather just hasn't cooperated and it seems like there is something going on every single weekend. Make me barf!
So Heather and I headed up Mill Creek Canyon to Desolation Trail and the Salt Lake Overlook. Here is a view from the first part of our hike. Stunning!
The trail wasn't marked very well, so we ended up taking a longer route to the overlook, but it sure was gorgeous!
What wasn't gorgeous was when we came around a little bend and literally almost walked on a rattlesnake. It was all coiled up, rattling, and ready to strike at us. I almost pooped my pants. We backed off, and it slithered off the path. Then we bolted through there and were very cautious of those little buggers the rest of the hike. Here is our little friend (just to the left of the purple flower).
With that terrifying encounter behind us, we were off to have more fun....like hanging from trees and showing off my pit sweats!
So a quick two mile hike turned into a 4 mile hike, but we finally made it to the overlook. Such a lovely view!
And this may be one of the most awesome pictures ever taken...thanks to my photographer, Heather!
Then we played on the rocks and channeled our inner mountain goat!
On the way back we passed by this log that had fallen over about a 20ft ravine. On the way up, someone was walking across it and screaming, "This is sooooo scary! This is sooooo scary!" And I promptly said to Heather something along the lines of, "why in the world would you do it then?" So what do I do on the way back....walk across the log. I just couldn't pass up the challenge and adrenalin rush. It was way scary, but so so awesome! Heather made it across to! Hurray for conquering fears!
After the hike, we decided we deserved In-N-Out burger. I think it was the second time in two years that I've indulged in this little piece of heaven, and it was just as divine as ever! It was especially nice being without gallbladder. Hurray for great hikes, delicious food, and a great friend to share it with! Thanks for joining me, Heather!!

God Bless America!

I love the good ol' US of A!! It really hit home this year how blessed I am to live in this great nation. When I turn on my water faucet, water comes out and I can choose if it's hot or cold. When I flip on a light switch, the light turns on usually. I can practice my religion freely. I can vote to choose my leaders. It really is sort of a miracle all the freedoms and blessings we enjoy here. I'm so grateful for all the people who have gone before me and sacrificed so much so that I can have the freedoms I do today.

So I started off this grand day by running the longest run of my life so far...8 miles. My friend Heather joined me. It was a perfect way to kick off the day though it almost killed me. I was a little slow going the rest of the day. Here I am after my shower icing my knees.
Deeds came up for the weekend to hang out with me. We went to Ruth's Diner for breakfast which is up Emigration Canyon. It is one of the restaurants here in Salt Lake that has been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. We have been wanting to go there forever, so we finally made it happen.
I'm usually a savory breakfast person (eggs, bacon, hash browns, and ketchup please!), but for some reason that morning was feeling like I needed to go sweet. But the main dish they featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives was their biscuits and gravy. What is a girl to do?! So I got both...the french toast breakfast and the biscuits and gravy breakfast. Leave it to me to order 2 entrees! I had just ran 8 miles...I deserve it, right?!? Deeds got the chicken fried steak, and we shared the biscuits and gravy. Everything was divine! Definitely recommend it!
After breakfast, Deeds and I headed downtown to try and find gravity hill. We had heard about this spot by the capitol building where it looks like you are going uphill, but if you put your car in neutral, you roll forward and go against gravity. We never really found the right spot, or maybe it doesn't really exist. It was very funny though...we would go forward a few yards, stop, put it in neutral and just sit there...then drive forward another few yards and do the same thing over and over. We came home and researched it a little better, so we'll have to go back and try again sometime.

That afternoon, we went to the dollar movie and saw Rio. I had never heard of it, but Deeds had wanted to see it. I was very pleasantly surprised! It was a very cute little cartoon! Loved it!

Deeds and I had been on a mission all weekend to find patriotic t-shirts and had struck out everywhere. We made one last stop at a different Walmart and hit the jackpot. Deeds bought this little beauty along with this $0.97 hat. Nothing like Lady Lib on the back of a chopper! Perfect!
We met up with the Grossen's up a Dan's parent's house for cul-de-sac of fire. Jack was so, so wired on cotton candy and treats. It was hilarious to watch him run around so excited for the festivities. He had fallen earlier in the day and gotten the sweet goose egg on his head.
Little Buggy had to go to bed before all the fun began, but I at least got to kiss her face a couple times before Amy put her to bed. She was so tired! They had already had a full day of fun before Deeds and I got there.
Here are a few other pictures of my Fourth of July. What a great day! God Bless America!!

Surprise Trip to the Golden State

While I was at Amy's recovering from my surgery, we compared our calendars and realized that the last weekend of June was the only time that our schedules matched up this summer for a trip down to Bakersfield. We decided to make a surprise for the parentals. We left Wednesday after I was done with work and stayed the night in Vegas. Then we headed down to B-town Thursday morning. Here's us road tripin'...
The kids were really good. If Sophie got restless, we would just keep a steady flow of graham crackers and pretzels going her way. If Jack got restless, he got iPod time. I made a playlist for him with "I Gotta Feeling" and "The Time (Dirty Bit)" by the Black Eyed Peas repeated over and over. Those are his most favorite songs ever. He was in heaven!

Then we finally got to grandma and grandpa's. Of course, my mom wasn't home when we got there, and it was like 105 degrees outside. So we pretty much had to call and tell her to get her bootie home because we were on her porch. The surprise on my dad was much more awesome. He got home from work, and Jack came running in and said, "Hi Grandpa!". My dad just stood there and stared at him trying to figure out how in the world he was there. It was awesome!

Jack's favorite toy and grandma and grandpa's is the train. He plays with this for hours. Here he is looking through the tunnel.
Jack also found a new love this trip...the globe (or "erf" as he calls it). I love that he loves maps! We learned where Brazil, Canada, and Australia were of course so we could see where everyone went on their missions. He already knows all his states, so those mission are already covered.
Sophie's favorite thing at grandpa and grandma's is eating. Haha! Woman after my own heart! She actually made all kinds of developments on this trip. She is now a full blown crawler and doesn't do her inchworm army crawl too much anymore. She also started pulling herself up to things. She'll be walking before we know it! And we swear that she has started saying "Jack" or something like "Jack". Amy says she probably hears her say "Jack" 100 times a day, so it would make sense it would be one of her first words. Ha!
Here is Sophie in her strawberry swimming gear playing with her jewels. She is the cutest little buggy on the erf!
They also love spending time with grandpa and grandma! Jack was all about checking the garden every morning and picking plums off the neighbors tree that weren't ready yet. Sorry neighbors!
There is nothing cuter than kids at bath time!
A trip home to Cali is not complete without a trip to the beach. I love it there! We headed down to Santa Monica, and it was lovely! The kids love the beach too!
It was such a great trip! It's always nice to get out of the normal routine and spend time with these two at my home sweet home! I miss CA! I also always 100% love spending any time with Amy and my Jack Jack and Sophie Bug!
The trip home went smoothly too. We split it up again and stayed in Mesquite. Count me in for a roadtrip to Cali anytime. For more pics of our trip you can look at Amy's blog post too at www.grossens.com.
I had to include this one little video. One day Jack was trying to talk to me while he was choking on his strawberries and tried to copy his voice. He thought it was the funniest thing ever! It became a joke for the rest of the trip. It makes me laugh every time I watch it, and I love that it starts off with him picking his nose. Priceless!