Pioneer Day

Pioneer day started out with me and Nolan going to our neighborhood pancake breakfast.  The breakfast went from 7 - 9 am and I wanted to get there early because we heard they serve hundreds of people.  The line wasn't too long when we got there and Nolan was smiling at everyone while we were waiting in line.  After breakfast, Ryan and Nolan dropped me off at work.  They went to my parents house for breakfast with Scottie, Nae and company.  I was able to convince Ryan and Nolan to meet me for lunch at Arctic Circle - real classy I know.  They picked me up from work and we went to Noah and LaShae's for dinner.  We hadn't seen them for a long time, so it was good to catch up.  Next, we headed over to Josh and Macy's house to watch the fireworks at Liberty Park.  We have been going to my grandparents house for years to watch the fireworks and I am glad we are still able to do this tradition.  This was Nolan's first time seeing fireworks and he was fascinated by them.  He was up way past his bed time, and we knew he was exhausted when he fell asleep in the car on the way home.  It was a great day, even though I had to work.  :)

Family Pictures

Before we went to Bear Lake, Collie had the brilliant idea to take family pictures up there.  The most recent family picture we have is a couple years old, so it was time for a new one!  I love how they turned out!

Bear Lake

We were so excited to be able to go to Bear Lake with the fam this year!  Last time we were there, in 2008,  we left early so we could start our drive across the country .  This time, we were only able to be there Monday night and all day Tuesday (July 10) due to work and limited time off and my work had company wide meetings at the end of the week that I couldn't miss. 

We left after work on Monday night and were able to make it up there for dinner and chatting with the cousins.  Seth made me take the "moron" test on the IPad and after the 5th time I gave up - Seth said I wasn't a moron. :)  Nolan was exhausted so he slept well that night.  Ryan slept on the deck of the condo and said he loved watching the sunrise. 

We all got up early the Tuesday morning to go to the beach to take some family pictures.  I think they turned out really cute and I love the ones with all the kids.  After pictures we changed into our beach wear and now the fun began!  We rented a boat for the whole day so everyone was able to have multiple turns on the boat.  I only water skiied and went on the tube this year but had fun doing that.  I love boating and I was shocked at how well Nolan did on the boat.  We were on the boat for most of the day and Nolan took a lot of mini naps while on the boat and sat still on my lap the entire time we were on there.  If you know Nolan, you know he can't sit still for anything.  While we were on the beach, he loved playing in the sand and in the water.  We ate dinner with everyone before heading home that night.  Nolan didn't enjoy the car ride home at all.  He was so tired but wouldn't sleep!  When we finally got home around 10:30 pm he was so tired - he went right to sleep when I laid him in his crib.  We can't wait to go next year and hopefully we will be able to stay longer than just one day!

Lake Blanche

As if running a race wasn't enough fun for the week, Ryan talked me into hiking to Lake Blanche on Saturday morning, July 7.  We met up early Saturday morning at the mouth of big cottonwood canyon, with Jared, Annie and Matteo. We learned from our hike to Cecret Lake that if we let Nolan walk on the trail, it will take us twice as long to get to our destination.  We used a backpack for this hike and it worked so much better!

The hike itself was beautiful and the whole way up you are hiking up the trail.  The incline is immediate and I don't think any of us were prepared for how strenuous this hike is.  It took us around 3 hours to get to the lake and every second was worth it!  It was beautiful up there!  Jared took his fishing pole and was able to fish for a bit.  Me and Ryan were trying to get Nolan to take a nap but that wasn't happening.  He was so tired, but wouldn't fall asleep.  We ate our lunch up at the lake and began the trek back down.  I would much rather go down the trail than up the trail.  Going down went quickly, and we were ready to be down the mountain.  It was fun to spend the day with family and Matteo.  I was very glad that Nolan was a trooper and did so well in the backpack.  He loved being in there and I was very glad he fell asleep on the way down for a little bit.  We were exhausted when we got home everyone took a long nap!

4th of July

We had a fantastic 4th of July this year!  The day started off with a 5K!  I haven't run in a race in a very long time, so I was a little nervous and my training for this race was hit and miss.  Luckily, Ryan ran with me the whole way and I can proudly say that I ran the whole race.  There were many times where I wanted to walk, but Ryan kept me on track and was cheering me on the whole way.  Ryan was a champ and pushed Nolan during the whole race.  I was exhausted, but it was worth all the sweat!  Josh, was a rockstar at his time was around 19 minutes.  Collie and Macy finished way before I did but I can't remember their times.  I was just glad to finish!    

 After the race, we watched the parade with everyone.  This is such a fun tradition we have and I am so glad we were able to be with everyone this year.  

We continued on with another tradition and that is the Bringhurst/Sponbeck sourdough pancake breakfast.  Mmmm, my mouth is watering just thinking about it.  It is so fun to get together with the Bringhurst's and Scottie & Nae's family after the parade.  During the afternoon, we went furniture shopping at IKEA.  We bought a bed frame and I am so excited to put it together!  

That night we had a family BBQ and left Nolan at my parents for the night to go watch fireworks at Sugarhouse park.  When we were driving through traffic to get there we decided to bag watching the fireworks because by the time we parked and walked over there, they would be over anyway.  We parked at East high to see them, but at 10:15 pm they hadn't started so we just went home.  It was a fun day with the fam!