thankful thursdays

i would feel bad if i didn't do this. i've seen it on other blogs so here goes...

i'm thankful for:
1. our jobs!
2. our house, and the able hands we have to fix it up
3. our oh so big and comfortable bed
4. food on the table
5.cars, bikes-the ability to get from point a to point b
6. the love we have for each other
7. the gospel and temples
8.the great outdoors that are in our backyard and all the fun we get to have in them
9.friends and family who give us so much love and support
10.camera
11.marley boy
12.knowledge and memories
13.good neighbors

...there is a lot more i could write down, but i need to have something for next thursday!

summer time, and the livin's easy

i haven't been much of a blogger lately, so here is a quick wrap up of what we have been up to this summer...

MIRROR LAKE HIGHWAY. this canyon is one of our favorites. a few weeks ago, steve's brother took some of his kids camping at trial lake. steve and i went up for a day trip to hang out with the famdamily, fish, and soak up some sun. it was so dang beautiful up there. one of my favorite lakes and campgrounds i've seen, but man were the mosquitos bad. poor steve and marley were being eaten alive! they were so bad the fishing was no fun and his niece is the only one who caught a fish before we called it a day and headed home early. i love summer and camping in the great outdoors, but i really wish the mosquitos would take a hike!marley boy playing fetch

steve helping tyler get ready to do some fishing
our nephews adam and blakethe only fish caught

AMERICAN FORK CANYON. last week steve and i headed up american fork canyon, along with his mom and his brother's family. we had some good times playing in the river, eating tin foil dinners, and watching fireworks.
our nephew david after he fell in the river

yellow watermelon?

even marley boy got a tin foil dinner...

...and then he needed a nap

starting a fire the old school way...

that's my eagle scout!

GLITTER TOES! steve and i have a friend who does glitter toes and she came over to my sister's house the other night and gave us all pedicures. then steve thought marley needed some painted toes as well, so...

our poor tormented dog, with pretty pink nails

and our glitter toes! mine are the ones on the right. fyi.

hope you all are having a fabulously fun summer...we are!

i love to see the temple

yesterday, steve and i had the chance to go to the oquirrh mountain temple open house. a little late, as it's the last week it's open before dedication, but better late than never right?
man is it pretty! i mean, it's a temple so of course it's pretty, but this is one of the prettier ones in my opinion. i love the smaller temples. there is just something about them. and it's always fun to be able to tour a new temple. it just renews my desire to go back, and go back often, to the temples we have all around us.
temples truly are a little piece of heaven on earth and i love the opportunity i have to visit temples. it is an amazing feeling to be in there, and to be closer to Heavenly Father.
if you have a chance i would totally recommend seeing the temple, or any open house for that matter. for more info visit www.lds.org

life as of late

well #1, life seems to be so busy with other things, it's hard to find time to write about it and share it with others. but for myself, and those few who read, here is what we have been up to lately.

Las Vegas...the end of june, our niece (my brother's daughter) alex turned 10. lucky girl scored a weekend in vegas for her party. luckily, we were able to get some discounted hotel rates and were able to meet up with some of my family to help celebrate her big day and spend time with each other.

i had to work the night before we left, so steve was a trooper and drove the whole way to vegas on his own.

there it is, in the distance...VEGAS!

all of us packed into the car, including marley. he stayed with some friends of ours while we were at the hotel so we could take him camping with us on the way back. thanks eric and jackie!
and ps. steve took this little family portrait while driving. don't try this at home. he took a class...twice.

my mom, sister, and me. love those ladies!enjoying some time poolside.
it was a great trip. good food, great hotel, fabulous company. and i even learned how to play blackjack and pai gow poker. good times.

on the way back from vegas, steve and i had a couple extra days off of work, so we took the scenic route and stopped off in cedar breaks and bryce canyon.

enjoyed the red rocks...

cedar breaks

then on to bryce...

camping in the great outdoors...

marley seriously enjoyed himself. maybe he is a nature dog afterall.

i learned, or tried to learn how to cut some wood. not as easy as you would think.happy family all snuggled into the tent. i think marley had more room than steve or i did.
tent hog.swimming in the lake. doesn't marley look like he's having a grand old time?

feeding "exotic" deer...


...and spotting some wild ones (and elk)

there were deer seriously all over the place!

and we even spotted a few elk. this was the last picture i could get before my camera died, but we spotted a group of about 5 other elk, a bunch of big males. so cool! i had never seen any before.

steve has been keeping busy playing in his two softball leagues, and marley and i enjoy being his #1 fans.

our garden is doing so-so. we are getting a couple of plants to produce, but i think the soil here needs some TLC before next year so we can get better results.
it's fun being a homeowner, but overwhelming at times too. especially when you buy a 50+year old house. there is so much we want to do, but there is only so much time and money to work with. we have learned the value of patience and will continue to do so as we work on this little gem.
i realize i still have not posted any pictures of our place. this next week we will be working on it, so i will try to get some photos to post.
so for the next little while, it's just a lot of working (at our jobs, and on the house) and waiting for the next little get away...whether it be camping, a quick weekend trip, or to california. ah, the beach. i miss it so much at times like this. maybe i should check flights...