We met up with the Dovers for a delightful evening together, complete with a picnic, marshmallow guns (made by my resident handyman), swinging, biking and a surprisingly good Christian Rock group serenading us in the background.

Amy was very serious about her gun and the trajectory necessary to achieve full marshmallow-flying status.

The lineup of hoodlums, minus Ethan and Lucy who stole the bag of Doritos and hid on the playground shoving them into their faces as quickly as possible.

Nothing wrong with a little game of “Hit the Kids”. I’m surprised this picture is even in focus I was laughing so hard.

Livi and Isaac with their bikes. Isaac has totally mastered bike riding, and Livi has clearly mastered picking her nose.

Lucy could stay on the swings all day long!

Amy had a classic middle school swinging blunder when she went to jump off the swing and got nervous. This is what I turned around to see. I’ll spare you and her the up close shot of her sprawled on the bark chips. The highlight of the evening for sure.

Summer, don’t leave us, we’re having way too much fun!

Oh my, what a treat it was to go see Bon Iver in concert with my sweet friends, Kristin and Kiera. He was AMAZING! Seriously, check him out. And, did I mention it was free? I cannot wait for the Iron & Wine and M. Ward concert as well. Jenny Lewis was the opening band, and while I hadn’t heard her before and was really going for Bon Iver, I really enjoyed her music as well. Very Jewel-like.

Kiera brought her camera along and let me play with her tilt-shift which I’m in love with. Here’s a couple shots that she got.

Thanks for the fun evening gals!

After seeing the first shot, we decided we clearly weren’t enjoying ourselves enough, which explains the last picture.

We decided last minute to go up to Stewart Falls yesterday (above Sundance). Geoff’s sister’s boys were with us from Vegas so they had a blast seeing real trees and green grass. It was the perfect little hike for the youngins (if you can get someone to open the Berkshire Gate and drive up to the start of the trail, it’s only about 1.5 miles to the falls) and a delightful escape from the heat.

I just LOVE the Fourth of July, and I love Utah on the Fourth of July especially. Every year it seems, loads of old friends come through and it’s party time from morning to night. I was able to see lots of my old roommates from SkyView days at a pool party at Jen’s, and spent time with several of Geoff’s best buddies and their families as well. There was lots of food, lots of laughs, and lots of reminiscing going on.

Geoff and our awesome neighbor Bryan, got up at 5am to save us a spot along the parade route in Provo. It was a great parade as usual, and thankfully not quite as hot as it has been in past years.

Isaac was memorized by the whole event.

Isaac wanted a picture with Captain America so bad. We had to take off running down the street to catch him.

This is Geoff’s dear friend’s son, Zach. We are SO sad that we don’t live closer to them. Isaac and him played so well together and even had a sleepover in a fort.

A shot of some of the boys and their girls. Who would have thought!! And yes, I’m quite aware that my daughter has a very “special” smile.

The rest of our Fourth we spent at Geoff’s oldest sister’s house in Alpine with almost all of Geoff’s family. They just got their swimming pool up and running so we were out there most of the day. I decided there has been enough swimsuit pictures for a while, so I didn’t bust out the camera till Lucy got up from her nap and wanted to be a part of the nail painting event. It was real cute.

After a delicious dinner and some Pickleball (the best game EVER), we lit loads of fireworks and got home way too late. Ahh, summer.

Melissa and I were co-workers back in the BYU Center for Instructional Design days, and Geoff and her husband were freshman year buddies. We haven’t seen each other in quite a while since they live in upstate New York, but you’d never have known. They are such a fun, sweet family. And their kids? Holy cuteness! We lovingly refer to this shoot as the “Poop Shoot” as their baby stepped in dog poo which ended up on the entire family by the end of the shoot. Funny for me, not so fun for them.

My favorite shot of the day.

We love Hawaii!! This trip was especially relaxing because we have already gone and done most of the touristy stuff there, so we were just able to do a whole lot of nothing and it was the exact kind of vacation we both needed. Having a week of no schedules is quite liberating!

Geoff had two papers accepted for an ED-Media conference held on the island which is why we went. I am so proud of him and all the hard work that he does–and all the great places we have been able to go because of it!

Aside from Delta loosing our bags for TWO WHOLE DAYS, it was a perfect trip. We’re so grateful for family who watched our kids for us. We didn’t worry for one second about them because they were in such capable hands. That made our trip all the more enjoyable. I am so blessed to have a husband that is not only the best companion I could ever ask for, but the best travel buddy too!

Geoff looking out of the window in the room he presented at.

Geoff did lots of surfing while were there. We sure wish we had a beach nearby so we could do this more often.

We walked out to Goat Island in Laie and spent the day enjoying our own private little beach and a nice walk around the island.

We were giddy as school girls to find the set of Lost, one of our favorite TV shows. They aren’t currently shooting so we didn’t have any celebrity sitings, but we did stand where Mr. Echo stood so that’s pretty much the same thing. This is the church he built.

I’m kind of jealous of my husband’s flexibility.

My mouth is salivating just remembering this meal. Sooo delicious! We ate the best food ever on this trip. We talked to the locals and they recommended several spots. If you’re planning a trip there, email me and I’ll give you some recommendations.

Geoff anxiously awaiting our shrimp.

Devained and divine.

I had Geoff try is first guava while were were there. It was sub par unfortunately, but definitely part of the tropical experience.

Every morning we went out to the tide pools, one of my favorite things to do! We collected several shells for the kids and saw all sorts of crabs, starfish and other ocean life.

A heavenly Dole Whip. These are soooo yummy! Why in the world do they not have this on the mainland? If they do somewhere, let me know.