Calling all Provo Peeps!

Hello Friends!

If you have lived in Provo, or know the area well, I need your help! We will be going there this weekend, and would like to take an informal family photo somewhere (about 30 people). Any and all ideas are welcome! I thought maybe a park would be good (so we can play and socialize, then take the photo), but it's totally not necessary.

Does know a good spot? Thanks for your help!

June Vaca (TRES!)

We took our one week off and turned it into 3 mini vacations! The New Hampshire trip was really spur of the moment, this one was planned a few months in advance and something I had really been looking forward to. 

We went to the adorable and grand Newport Rhode Island. We camped near by at Fort Getty in Jamestown and then spent the days in town at Newport. It's such a neat and unique place. The big mansions remind me of southern plantations. The cliffs are a picture perfect New England scene. The shops and restaurants make you feel like your in a big city borough. 

First I must ask about this photo. Is it cool? Or am I just weird? I kinda like this little snail guy carrying a plant on his back. I picked up the rock he was attached to use in our carions, but found mr. snail much too interesting to add to the pile. 

This was our inspiration....isn't it great?! We found it on our walk along the cliffs. 

Ok, ok. So on to the mansions! Back in the day, all the millionaires around the country wanted to be apart of THE summer social hot spot...New Port Rhode Island. Random right?

The photos above were taken while walking along the 'Cliffwalk' a path that you walk on foot that is wedged between the back yards of the mansions and the rocky cliffs leading to the water. It was very misty the first day we were there, so the pictures aren't that great. 

Eleven of the biggest and best historical mansions are owned by the town's historical society, and are open to the public to tour. We were given tickets to two of the mansions from my boss, and loved having the opportunity to go inside them. The first one we went to was Rosecliff. It was lovely and is rented for movies often. It was used in 27 Dresses (in the beginning scenes where her friend is getting married and she's the MOH who gets knocked out in the bouquet toss....in case you were wondering :)

Next we went to the 'Breakers', the top mansion to see. It was owned by the Vanderbilt family for decades, and then finally given to the historical society after many many years. It was much more opulent than Rosecliff. 

This is the breakers behind us. When we took this photo the day before we took the tour. We had no idea which mansion it was :) The hazy mist adds a whole new element to the look of the mansion..kinda ghost like!

 got gate?

 

 This picture is the backyard view from the 2nd floor balcony

Lastly, here are a few photos from the cliff walk, and Fort Getty. 

 

I said it on facebook, and I'll say it again...I almost died running to this spot on the rocks in under 10 seconds! 

It's a mega post, I know. Way to go! You made it to the end! No more vacations for us for a while :) 

jk. we're going to Niagara and Hill Cumorah next month! 

It's quite a drive, but should be a great weekend trip. Stay tuned!

June Vaca (dos)

For the second part of our June break we went with Daniel's classmates to their family cabins on a lake in New Hampshire. It was wonderful, and we were so grateful for the invitation to join them! Their class is so fun and chill, everyone gets along great and we always have so much fun together.

 {amelia's cabin on a lil island}

 

{we had to all get out on the lake to catch the pretty sunset view. a few kayaked, and we boated. travis, daniel, me, evie, sue}

{sunset spray}

{even the dog 'birch' went out on the kayaks with us. it was pretty adorable}

{the bbq crew. daniel, travis, mike, dave}

{we made a feast. it was incredible}

 {morning kayak trip on the lake. there was absolutely no one else out. is was so peaceful and pretty}

{loon}

{evening water skiing}

{we swam out to this little bitty rock island and the people that stayed back at the house took photos of us from the deck}

{yale}

isn't this one great?! i was actually quite scared to be up on daniel's shoulders, but i think it was worth it! nothing against daniel, we were just so slippery from swimming out there, and the rocks would have been so unforgiving if i fell. i mostly love how dave and travis (as the Y) only touched at the shoulders. such guys! it makes me crack up looking at it.

we were only there for one 2 nights and enjoyed every second of it. one day a few of us went into town to get pedicures and groceries. we arrived at the salon and found a sign from Feb. 2010 that explained that they are open, but if no one is there, give them a call and ask for Tina. So, we called Tina, and 4 people showed up 30 minutes later and proceeded to give us pedicures. We also got designs on our big toes, but when the toe artists came over to me, he just started doing his own thing. He did ask what I wanted! I thought it was kinda funny, and was a good sport about it. He gave me the craziest design w/ black, white, green, and glitter. It was described to me as 'so vegas!' Haha. It was pretty hilarious.

We spent the evenings cooking dinner, which took hours! We'd finally sit down to eat, and realize it was 10 at night! After dinner we played "charage" a new crazy way to play charades, watched ingrid do memorizing poi dances, and spent hours learning the art of hula hooping.

Like I said, it was only a few days, but we had an amazing time. It's so peaceful and calm out there. With no phones, no sense of time, we just got to wander through the day and enjoy life. It was fabulous.

Happy Anniversary.Happy Anniversary...

...Happy Anniversary! HAAAAAAPY Anniversary. 

{Raquel always sings us this song, not sure if she made it up or not, but it's catchy and always gets stuck in my head and makes me smile}

So. You probably guessed by now, but Daniel and I just celebrated our 2 year anniversary!!! We were married on June 6th, 2008. It has been a fabulous 2 years, and we love being married more and more each day. 

The day began with our sealing in Mesa Temple in the mid afternoon. Then we took photos, and headed over to the Wright House for our ring ceremony and reception. Everything was amazing, beautiful, and so much fun! We danced and danced all night and had the most fun ever. Then we booked it back to Florida to leave for our honeymoon, which was also a blast! 

We went to Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic and stayed at an all inclusive resort. It was fabulous, and we got to go on some amazing adventures. 

{this is one of my all time favorite photos for some reason. life jackets, helmets, big smiles and even water shoes. can you guess what we were doing?}

I'm pretty sure our life is just one big fun adventure. 

We are very blessed.