Zion!

Zion!
Love this place and these people

Monday, August 30, 2010

Summer o' Fun #3 - Riverdance, Boston, Family Reunion

Wow, here is the third installment of my Summer o' Fun! Enjoy!!

We went to Riverdance at this outdoor theater called Wolftrap. It was very fun but we got a little bored when we were waiting for the show to start. Boredom + camera = the following photos.
We can look normal when we want to.I never knew that Riverdance had flamenco dancers, but they do and this woman was AMAZING! I mostly just want a dress exactly like hers. Talk about a good twirling skirt!Another Summer 'o fun activity put on by the DC Dayclub was a Summer Soiree. There was a dress code and it was held in our friend Whitney's backyard out west of DC. I contributed a honey peach pie, which I had never made before, but I think it turned out okay. My friends from Guatemala, Andrew and Clark, were both in town and it was delightful.June meant Bree's birthday and of course I had to make a trip up to NJ to celebrate with her. Her idea of celebrating was doing her first ever triathalon. Ya, she's kind of a
big deal. So Em and Adriel and I jumped in the Vibe and drove north. We got there SUPER late, but we had a good time on the journey. We would have been earlier if it weren't for the fact that it took us an extra hour just to drop by FedEx to get some posterboard to make posters for the next day. NJ has these silly things called jughandles and you can't make left hand turns ANYWHERE!! Needless to say, NJ is now my least favorite state to drive in.Look how amazing she is!Just about to jump into the OCEAN for the swim part.Yes she is riding pretty much a children's bike and wearing a white styrofoam helmet. Awesome.
Bree just about to cross the finish line and laughing at all the awesome posters we made!There was another poster that said "We like blonds, chubby ones". Those of you who love Sandy as much as our family does will recognize these favorite lines.The beach there was pretty great.We went straight to a YSA activity in Princeton, NJ. Canoeing is always fun.And finally we ended the day with some serious line dancing. This place was so great! We were the youngest people there by probably 20 years and those people take their line dancing VERY SERIOUSLY. We were all best friends by the end of the night and they told us to be sure we came back soon. :)
There is a serious following of Dayclubbers in DC. Every once in awhile they do an activity that tempts me to call in sick and this one could not be passed up. Jet Blue had an incredible sale and we all got cheap tickets to go up to Boston for the day. DC day club does Boston, Ferris Bueller style. It was a dream come true. Especially the Red Sox game. I am a fan. Everything you've ever heard about Fenway is true. You walk in and you can't help but be a Red Sox fan. It was
one of the greatest athletic experiences I've ever had. I say that because I don't remember who they were playing or who won, but I just loved being there. It is American history captured in a baseball field. If I lived in Boston, I would spend A LOT of time there.

One the girls had a friend who met up with us in Boston. It happened to be a guy who I was in the MTC with me. We took a picture exactly like this the day before he was leaving the MTC, so we had to reenact it! Good old Elder Ross. Walden Pond. Beautiful.

What could be better than family and Carrie Underwood to celebrate the 4th of July? It is my favorite holiday and I was so happy to head to Utah to celebrate with my family. We did the Stadium of Fire and then the parade and other stuff in Cedar City. All of this was before heading up to our family reunions. First in Brianhead and then up in Heber at the church camp up there.

I love these little men!Grandma and the boys!He's just a little man.

Good old dad running for school board. Of course he had to be in a old car :)

Cute little Trent.

Allie is just adorable always.

LOVE this face!!
My cute Grandpa.
We played some rip roaring games at our family reunion. My dad has some serious booty shakin skills.

I absolutely love my family. They are the greatest, end of story. I can't imagine my life without them. These family reunions have been the best part of my summer my entire life. The best part of the Haynie reunion this year was hearing from my grandfather. He shared some letters from my grandmother that they had written when they were first dating. It was amazing to sit there surrounded by my aunts, uncles, cousins, parents and siblings and realize that all of us were there because my grandparents had met, fallen in love, gotten married and made the choice to start a family. I'm so grateful they did.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Summer o' Fun #2 - Memorial Day Weekend and Bluegrass Festival

I know that you've all been waiting anxiously to read more about my summer.
I can't believe that we're already at the end of it. How did that happen? Where did the last few months go?
Once again, this will be a brief update, with LOTS of photos!! This is the second but there will be two more coming soon!!


This is how we started out our Memorial Day weekend in Southern California. Katie got into a crazy bicycle accident a few weeks before (not her fault) and her knee was broken. So Colton and I and others got to be helpers all weekend. It was great for getting through airport security. Straight to the front of the line. Katie was I'm sure less than thrilled about this, but she didn't complain once. She is so tough.Next to the night time segway tour that I once did with my sister in DC, this was probably the best touristy activity I have ever participated in. Yes, these are Gocars. The cure for boring tours of city sights. It is a GPS that gives you a tour if you stay on a certain route. We did downtown San Diego and it was so much fun to be cruising down the streets in this little guy!!
By all the big ships.
The Gaslamp district.Of course we had to go through the drive-thru at McDonald's to get Katie's favorite treat. Don't worry, we had the cashier take the picture for us.
My dear MTC friend Maren who is lives in Pacific Beach hosted us for the first few nights we were there. She is a gem. So wonderful to catch up with old friends. So many good memories.Tyler was our gracious host. Well technically his parents were, but either way we appreciated it greatly. Such a beautiful home and kind people.We stopped by the newly remodeled Mormon battalion visitors center. They have all sorts of fun stuff there. We were really excited about the panning for gold.I'm grateful for running water.Katie realizing she is VERY grateful for washing machines.Our faces in this are priceless. Katie was REALLY excited to be in this wagon.
The crutches also served as great props throughout the weekend.Hmm, what a lovely lighthouse. And if you can't tell, that's Katie and I standing in front of it. This is a perfect example of what happens when you ask someone else to take your photos for you...
Brittany Watson, soon to be Jeppson. One of my all time favorite people happened to be in SoCal that weekend and I took advantage of the chance to see her. She is getting married and moving to Denmark and DC will miss her greatly.My freshman roommate Vauri and her adorable children. I hadn't seen them in years and I took advantage of being down there to catch up. Oh the silly boys.The crew at the Dodgers game. One of the funnest baseball games I've been to due to the fact that the Dodgers barely won in the 9th inning!! We were sitting in the middle of the serious fan section. I felt bad I wasn't wearing blue. I became friends with the guy next to me and he was giving me all the stats on the players. Loved it.This is my friend Bill. Attorney by day, musician by night. He has a great love for Bluegrass music and festivals. I always love experiencing new things so my cohort in crime Emily and I planned to attend a festival with him. "THE" festival, according to him. It was in Gettysburg, PA from Friday to Sunday and we camped in a field with all the other bluegrass lovers. The weather was wonderful, the music was magical and the people watching was plentiful. Our little campsite. Just cooking up some oatmeal for breakfast. Turns out the Vibe is perfect for field camping.

Some of Em's photography. Gettysburg is a beautiful little area and we spent part of Saturday visiting some of the sights. One of my favorite moments is reading the Gettysburg address while standing where Lincoln would have stood. Truly inspiring.The weekend's participants:
Bill - the true Bluegrass authority. We were lucky to be with him. He was giving us all sorts of inside information.

Me - a lover of music and camping, especially together.
Em - The girl who is always up for any adventure especially if it involves dancing and singing in the streets.The most disappointing taco salad we had ever seen. It was just one of many food disasters that weekend.
Hahaha, one of Em's better ideas. She was using the tarp to see if she could fly. Just look how fun that is! Yes it's true, Alison Krauss and Union Station. Sigh, it was truly beautiful music.The cute couple who we sat by all weekend. They have just been married a few years and they came to the Bluegrass festival for their honeymoon so they come every year. They were great.