That evening, we roasted mallows in Mom and Dad's fire pit.
July 4th, Kate had no ballet but boys still had Woodward. We dropped them off and headed to Cory and Kristen's to hang with Sundance and borrow their mountain bikes. Sunny was so happy to see us! We spent the morning/afternoon at Robin and Rick's house. They barbecued and we hung with Kathie, Lee, and Michael's family. Lee played with Kate the entire time, and it inspired me to play in pools better. I really do not love pools but it also does not take that much effort to connect with a kid and pools are an easy place for it.
We picked up two exhausted yet satisfied boys and they drove back to meet us at Robin's.
Next, we hung with Emily's family and Janece. Janece did the same for Kate: teasing and tickling and creating easy, sweet memories.
Hooray for Independence Day! We wrote our name with sparklers and drove back to Heber with fireworks blazing everywhere we turned.
To celebrate 44, we took a 3 hour ride in Park City. I was so nervous about my skills and initially slipped on loose gravel. It did not take long to get my bearings, though, and we had a breathtaking ride through aspens.
Birthday lunch:
Each day, we picked up Miss Kate and took her somewhere for a small treat. Wendy's was her favorite.
Dad plus a gang of sleepers.
Scott came over with Audrey and made sure to give Brady their traditional "birthday spankins!"
Birthday cake with matches for candles. Nothing but high class here.
Scott had us rolling for hours while retelling the infamous squirrel and roller blading stories. A year later (yes, it has been a year since this went down), my kids are still taking about Scott and his stories.
Park City Mountain Biking, Day 2: This time we rented bikes with serious shocks, and out abilities skyrocketed. We were much faster and doing more technical trails. The climb up to the alpine regions was my favorite, but the downhill was still a thrill.
It was right around this time that I said, "I think I could live here." A year later, that feels a bit prophetic and a tiny bit bitter. We have now lived in Utah for one week and it is too soon for these comments and reflections!
I continued studying for the Praxis every single day. (Good thing...since it does not matter that I was highly qualified in math after all now that we have moved...haha! Another "too soon!")
Well deserved nap.
Another well-deserved nap. Yes, he is not wearing clothes. It was water day at Woodward.
That night, Mom and Dad graciously let us host the Gibbons and Janece for dinner and s'mores.
Love the look she is giving him:
Sisters!
Makayla braided Zachary's hair.
Another day, another bike ride. We were getting better and even more excited about routes.
WHOA!
Hawt.
I was shocked to see so much vibrant green in Utah.
Another day, another frosty.
...and another nap.
Last day, best day: we took the trail system clear up to Charlie's 9K trail, which we had to ourselves one one other guy, who showed us that it was in fact possible to do a snow crossing with bikes and a little sliding.
This is the point where I made the claim that I liked mountain biking as much as surfing!
A bit treacherous with a bad knee...
We picked up the boys from their last day at Woodward and got footage of Owen achieving his goal: a backflip on the trampoline! Zac's coach could not stop talking about his athleticism.
Little India and Ambassadors night with Scott's family:
Brynn had a solo. Kate was enamored.
Fill-it-up-with-endless sugar post-concert treat:
Paul took us out on the boat. I lasted 10 minutes before begging them to drop me off shaky-legged on the pier, but the family had a great time:
It's cute to see her surf tricks translate to lakes:
Necklace triplets:
I made it back from dinner at Bombay house with Janece in time to see the boat docking. All these pics made me feel like I didn't miss a beat, though. I have to figure out this motion nonsense!
And that's a wrap for Utah Summer 2023, written in Utah Summer 2024. Ha!
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