Utah: Part the Last

 

 It's taken me a while to blog this, but our last weeks in Utah were a lot of fun. Tim worked hard on his research while Ty and I played! We caught up with many old friends and went on a few adventures on our own. These pictures are from the farm at Thanksgiving Point.

 I only stepped away from holding him to take this picture (below), I promise!

 Our favorite thing was the hayride. We went twice! By our second time, Ty was SO TIRED.

 ...and this is how the day ended up:

 It was our ten year high school reunion down in St. George, and the stars aligned to bring some of my friends from various parts of the country to the same city (though not St. George) for various reasons, so we had a great time catching up at dinner.

Me, Janeen Martin, Michelle Prince, and Heather Tebbs

  When discussing getting together, Michelle asked if I wanted to do the Utah Valley Half Marathon with her. I figured it would be a good time and bring back memories from running down the canyon while at BYU, so I agreed and started my two week half marathon training plan. 

It wasn't until after I signed up that I realized we had to be there for the buses (a 45 minute drive) before 4am! The bus dropped us off at a random spot in the canyon over an hour before the race started that looked like this:

 After walking a little ways in the cold darkness, we found that there were fires set up, but they air was filled with smoke and I had trouble breathing if I was near them too long.The next hour was spent trying to stay warm without shivering away all of my energy and keep my airways clear.

We still had fun taking pictures.

Before

 It was light enough to see by the time the race started and we had beautiful views as we ran down the canyon. The race finished along University Avenue, so I ran past BYU campus and Tim's old apartment building and enjoyed my stroll through memory lane.

After

After the race, we went to the BYU creamery (see previous blog post) and visited TJ's family then visited the Thevenin's who moved to Springfield from Colorado last year. Benjamin went to CU for his PhD and got a job at BYU, so they are an inspiration to us as Tim is working on his PhD.

  They have two cute boys Ty liked playing with.

Me and Em

 The next week, Ty had a play date with my old roommate Megan's son Will. They are only three weeks apart! So cute!

 And by the end of the trip, Ty had finally warmed up to Grandma and Grandpa Larsen. 

 Ty Gordon and Great Grandpa Gordon

 We enjoyed getting to see everyone!

Fun with Grandma and Grandpa Larsen

We have enjoyed being to spend time with family here in Utah, especially Grandma and Grandpa Larsen. Last week we went to the mall to ride the train and carousel. The train car wasn't really made for three adults, but we managed to fit.

I didn't get any pictures of the carousel, but Ty had so much fun going up and down on his horse and around in circles to see all of the people at the mall.

We've also enjoyed eating outside in their beautiful backyard. Below: Ty and Grandpa eating Oreos.

 

The last time we ate outside, we found this tiny baby bird in the grass. It later disappeared, so we hope the mom came and got it.

Whoosh Cecil!

When she was at BYU, Tim's sister, Aubrey, and her friends created a cheer during basketball games called the "Whoosh Cecil."  Cecil Samuelson had recently been appointed president of BYU and had come from University of Utah, so some of the students didn't trust his loyalty at sports games. They claim he never had a smile on his face during the games and so they started cheering "Whoosh Cecil" and pointing to him after a free-throw is made. Now, almost nine years later, it is a tradition to chant and point, but  President Samuelson (or a representative for him) now gives the thumbs up back to the students every time. The creamery has also created an ice cream flavor called Whoosh Cecil! so Aubrey is practically famous! After running a race in Provo last Saturday, we decided to check it out.

 Ty is proud of his Aunt

 He enjoyed it

 

 Both hands: 

And the aftermath:

UTAH!

 This summer, Tim is doing research for his dissertation in a few different archives around the country. Conveniently, one of the best libraries is in Salt Lake City, so I took a few weeks of leave from work and we packed up and headed to Utah to stay at Tim's Grandparent's house. 

 

The first weekend we were here, we went to dinner at Tucano's in the Gateway Mall with TJ's family and played in the water. Ty LOVES being with his cousins!

 

The next day we all met at the Hogle Zoo. It was packed, but we had a good time.

I love this picture below. My cute little chickidees!

 Before leaving the zoo, Tim went to get the car and Ty and I stayed behind and looked at the chickens roaming on the grass. He thought they were pretty funny, as you can see below!

 Last weekend we headed down to St. George to visit my dad and Ben and Kaitlyn. We especially enjoyed BOATING!

 Ty doesn't like other people to hold him, but he had so much fun on "Grandpa's Boat," that he let grandpa hold him for a cute picture. (notice the lack of other grandparent pictures so far).

 The water was freezing, but I really wanted to try skiing for the second time in my life. I even made it up!

 

 We found these pajamas in the closet at Grandpa Tom's that Henry left for Ty and he found a Thomas the Tank Engine to match them.

 Before leaving St. George, we took Ty to the splash pad. He was uncertain at first, but ended up having a blast!

 Once back up in Sandy, we drove up the canyon and found a trail to hike that ended up being really pretty.

 Ty enjoyed riding in the hiking backpack, but his favorite part was being an explorer. Everything was fascinating to him.

 

We have ten more days here in Utah, so hopefully Ty will warm up enough to his great grandparents to get a picture!

Summer Begins!

  Tim is officially finished with his third year of grad school! (Only two more!) He had a week off before heading to SLC for another round of research, so we tried to make the most of it. 

We went to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and enjoyed the exhibits we didn't get to the previous visit including the one on space. The picture below is Ty and Tim on Mars.

 Thursday we went on a hike in the foothills.

 Ty was a good little stinker in the backpack, but also wanted to do some of the hiking himself.

 Thursday night we drove up to Longmont to visit Brad and Erica Holland and Megan and Phillip Coplen, friends from BYU and Virginia. We swam in their pool and grilled dinner, but I didn't take any pictures :(

Ty got a postcard from Aunt Aubrey on Friday. He, apparently, misses her:

 He's also had his share of happy moments, though:

 

 Blackberries are fun to eat, squish, and wear!

 Ty LOVES his stuffed animals, but his FAVORITE is his Blue Dog that sings the "ABC's." We give it to him every night as we put him into bed and he just loves it and snuggles his head up to it. A friend in Tim's Econ program gave it to Ty when he was born, and she wanted pictures of Ty with it so she could show her parents who are in China. I guess Ty has gone global!

 

Friday Find: Kitchen Counter Cooking School

This book has seriously changed the way I think about cooking. It is a novel (not just a reference or recipe book, so it is fun to read) about the author, a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu, teaching kitchen basics to regular people. Since I started this book, I have bought and cooked a whole chicken (a little more traumatic that I thought it would be-I'm not ready to de-bone it yet, but I am working on it), made my own vinaigrette, and started using real salt and pepper that I have to grind myself! This book taught me that it is okay to try to cook something even if I don't end up liking it, and especially to try recipes even if I have to make ingredient substitutions. As the subtitle insinuates, I have found myself more "fearless" in the kitchen. I believe I will re-read this book as well as refer back to it often.