dog days of summer

Today, I have back pains and no motivation to do anything productive except count down the hours until I can crawl back into bed. ....I guess that's not really a good use of my time, but blogging is? It's been a while so I thought I should update on what's been going on.

I got back Sunday from my third trip to California in about as many months.
The first was mine and Grant's road trip for Mother's Day (and a Dodger game), which I talked about already.
The second was in June for a whirlwind weekend (isn't that how they all are nowadays?). I flew in Wednesday evening, late, so I crashed for the night, before getting up the next day and getting ready for Bryce's HS graduation. I can't believe my little buddy is graduated from high school and getting ready to move to Utah for college!

Friday my mom, me, and grandparents headed down to LA so that I could go to the temple and receive my endowments! (read about that here) It was a beautiful day, overwhelming (and anyone that's been knows what I'm talking about...) and tiring. It was definitely a long day, but a good one! We stopped at Olive Garden afterwards where Grandpa treated us all to dinner. Yum! And much needed after a long day (I WAS STARVING!)

Saturday morning we celebrated Kiana's impending nuptials by throwing her a bridal shower. It was a tea party theme, so there were cookies and sandwiches and fruit and cupcakes and cakebites. And lots and lots of flowers. We have wonderful ward friends who helped make it possible. Brianna did most of the planning and baking, and boy is she a rock star! It was fun and enjoyable. The weather and view were amazing!
Saturday night was recovery and preparation for Sunday.












Sunday was Father's Day and it was so fun to be able to celebrate with my Grandpa there! We had a traditional Pie on the Patio at church, then we were able to all be there for Grandpa to ordain Bryce to the Melchizedek Priesthood! That evening, we celebrated Bryce again when he received his Eagle Court of Honor with his best buddy Aaron!
We had lots of goodies then as well--we were basically sugared out by the end of the weekend!

On Monday, my last day, I enjoyed sitting by the pool, riding bikes/scooters with Bryce, eating my favorite 3 Amigos burritos and just hanging out before going and getting Toppers Pizza with the family for dinner. Whew!

Time back in Utah went slowly some days and quickly other days. With Grant in Chicago, I never really knew what the days were going to be like. I had some fun days with friends, and my roommate, and some lonely, long days. Thank goodness for technology though! Grant and I texted every day, called every few days, and used FaceTime every once in a while--those were my favorite! Seeing his face reminded me why I liked him :)
Figures that the last week before he came home would be the longest of the 6 weeks. Having him home has been the BEST! We have so much fun together, and it's nice to be close again, even if it was for just a short amount of time.

Now my third trip to California, I left late Wednesday night and arrived late in Long Beach. I crashed early, knowing I would have to get up early Thursday. On Thursday, we accompanied Kiana to the Los Angeles temple so that she could receive her own endowments. This time, her fiance Riley was there, along with his parents, and a couple friends of the family. It was a great day! And all those that have been--there's a new video! It's wonderful!

After another long day in LA (stupid traffic!) we headed home and to the beach for a BBQ with Riley's family so we all could get acquainted. It was great to get to know them all and to be together. My uncle Larry and his daughter Maren had flown out for the festivities, so it was awesome to have them there too.
Friday was spent preparing for the last minute wedding things. Lunch at Panera, running around town getting things, moving items to the Neff home where the reception was going to be, cutting a gazillion pounds of fruit, getting manis and pedis, skewering 400 fruit kabobs, finishing chalkboards, making decorations, and staying up until 3 AM (Brianna stayed up until 3:30 because she's a BOSS)

Luckily the sealing ceremony wasn't until the afternoon, so we had time in the morning to sleep and get ourselves ready. We got Kiana dressed, hair and makeup done, and then the rest of us had to get ready. I ran to get the flowers, and then we all headed to the temple where the bride and groom were a little late (food stop!) The ceremony was beautiful, and I was so glad I was able to be a part of it.
Afterwards, we had lunches outside while waiting for the couple to emerge, made by our good friend Cindi, and once they came out, we spent about an hour with pictures (standing for that long in heels was probably the worst idea I've ever had...I'm feeling it now!) and then we headed home to get the last minute things over to the reception.
It all ended up being wonderful. The details and the work put into the reception by not only my family but all of our friends in ward was incredible. We couldn't have done it without their help!
They looked so happy :)
After a long day, we cleaned up and headed home to unload the cars and go to bed. We didn't get there until about midnight, and Brianna and I needed to be up at 5 to take me to the airport--I told you it was a quick weekend! Obviously I'm glad I could be there, but I was sure excited to get back to Utah to spend more time with Grant.

When he picked me up from the airport, we chatted a bit, and then headed up the canyon to Solitude Mountain resort where were took a chairlift ride up to the top and then explored the beautiful mountains and the cool temperatures that we had been missing in the valley.

We didn't spend too much time there because we were both tired and hungry, so we headed back down and went to another canyon, Emigration this time, to have lunch at one of our favorite places, Ruth's Diner! Go there if you're in town! It's delish! Then we went home and took a three hour nap :)

Time is quickly catching up with us though, summer is coming to an end, and we still have lots we want to do before Grant moves to Michigan! We'll spend most of it just seeing friends and saying bye to them, but hopefully we can fit some fun stuff in too!