Farewell to Summer...Almost

 The best part about being together is just being together!  Doing your own thing...together! No one wants to miss out on anything :)  Our studio is the perfect gathering place.

 

And the food we enjoy!

Angie's is a Cache Valley icon.  We enjoyed breakfast together...the scones, the large servings of hot cocoa...you name it and it was probably on our table! Molly thought the Chocolate Chip Pancakes with loads of whipped cream were awesome!

Cell phone cameras...need I say more?  Sometimes you luck out, sometimes you just don't!

Playing old maid...If you were lucky you got new sparkly pink pajama bottoms! And a favorite, charades...which we don't usually photograph but probably should!

Party in the hot tub!!

A walk in the neighborhood, eating pop-po-pellows (Pace Popscicles are made in Utah and rock the flavor! Tiger's Blood was a favorite) smothering Owen with love, teaching a cat to play soccer at the park, a photo shoot with Kaycee, playing the wii and great food! 

Kaycee is a senior this year and wanted some photos before her uniform gets turned in.  

She is such a cute package of an adorable young women.

Last but but not least...flowers from my sweetie!

Celebrating 30 years.

No fun to be apart on our special day, but we will make up for lost time xoxo

PS  Scroll down for the Honey Harvest Post.  I am trying to keep our life in order on here!

Brigham City Temple

 Brigham City Temple

We began our Labor Day weekend saying goodbye to Mark as he left for an ER shift in Torrington, WY and met up with the Jacklin's and the Christensen's to take a tour of the Brigham City Temple.  Tickets had been hard to come by...but we managed to get enough for our group.  It is beautiful!!

This is a photo I snapped from inside the bus as we rode over to the temple.  It so was neat to have such a dramatic sky against the white temple.  There was no time for photos before the tour as we were whisked into line.

This is a photo I borrowed from the web :) It shows the beautiful color scheme of the interior.  This is the brides dressing room. The art is beautiful everywhere you turn around!  Molly was very taken with the gorgeous chandeliers and the princess type mirrors.  The motif of the peach blossom (in honor of the Peaches grown in Brigham City and the surrounding area) is repeated in various forms throughout the interior and exterior of the temple.  I am very inspired to create something with my wool using the inspiration of color and design. The hand painted murals in the endowment rooms are spectacular.  

If you haven't been through - they will continue with tours through this Sat, Sept. 15th.  If you don't have tickets, go anyway.  They will get you in!

 The stained glass windows are also a treasure...whether viewed from the inside or outside.

A Little Catch Up

 Inspired by a picture in a magazine I saw last year, a few inspiring stories 

and an avid biking husband; I have been on the hunt for an old bike....

I spotted this one on the side of the road in front of an antique store in town.  

I called Mark to see if he would mind if I bought a little piece of "art" for our home :)

After doing a little research online we discovered she is a 

1937 Women's Pullman Schwinn Bike

 Mark replaced the tubes, pumped up the tires, polished her up and 

with the help of Jake - hoisted her up to her new home.

She looks grand perched on the mantle.

A great conversation piece.

A reminder to live a healthy lifestyle.

A reminder of stories of great women (in our family & outside of our family) 

who used a similar mode of transportation to serve and look after others.

***
A Salad Social 

Under the canopy of beautiful trees, by the beautiful river with the red sun setting in the sky...
(due to numerous fires in the surrounding area this summer)

We enjoyed a lovely salad social with adorable women in our neighborhood.

Warm hugs and lots of chitter chatter, we soaked up the warm summer evening.

Even the youngest little lady in neighborhood, Miss Olivia, came out for the evening.

Everyone went home with a full tummy, a happy heart, a cute handmade dish cloth and free produce!

We love our neighborhood so very much!

***

Cache Valley Century

 Eric, Jake and Mark were a threesome this year.
(Wishing Brady could have been here)

Ready to hit the road!

 While the guys were riding we had a tea party...

 Took naps...

 Tried on Great Grandpa's hat...

 Played cards...

and Owen finally got his quilt from Nana!

 

A before long, they were back!  The route was little different this year and  

I will have Mark fill in the details.  They had a great ride. 

Eric Eliason, Cory McBride, Jake and I formed a great team.  We started in Richmond this year as a large part of the ride came after we neared Logan.  We usually ride from home to the start in Richmond and then peal off at the end and ride home making 100 miles.  This year if we had done that we would have ridden only 80 miles as this year we didn't go all the way to Preston in the first half of the ride.  It was a flatter ride with less hills.  It was a beautiful day.  Cory was training for LoToJa and pulled us along at a good clip.  Eric is a horse too.  He pulled hard and fast.  It was great to be with Jake.  He pushes himself so hard.  He inspires me.  I was so pleased to be among good friends on a great ride in a valley I love.  I hope to be doing it for many years to come.  If I shave my legs next year I bet I can go faster.  Isn't that right Jake?

Stay tuned for more catching up to come...

Robbing The Bees

 Woodson and Ada are some new friends of ours.  They came with their mom to help harvest the honey.  They are from Haiti and have a real interest in bees...and honey.  They were the best helpers!

 They got to help Mark trick the bees by smoking the hive.  The bees think their house is on fire and gorge themselves with honey.   They are too busy and heavy to come after you...or that is the story anyway. (Mark got a couple of stings as did Grandpa that night)

 They were so curious about the whole process!

 Ada couldn't get enough "tastes" in!

 His mom braved the bees and helped boost him up

 Thanks guys for your help tonight!  You both rock!!

 Shaura donned a bee suit to help Mark harvest the rest of the frames.  It was a measly harvest this year...we are blaming the very dry summer and low nectar flow. We usually get about 25+ gallons from our three hives, but this year only about 7-8.  We understand other local beekeepers have found the same thing in their hives.  The good news is that our hives are strong and full of brood.

And the next day...

 We spun the honey and enjoyed our harvest on warm, homemade rolls!

The honey is beautiful and dark and very rich this year! 

Thanks to Mark's cousin, Angie and her daughter - Shaeley (sadly I don't know the correct spelling of her name!) also...Shaura and Mom and Dad Firth for their help in the harvest. It was a great morning together!

Marie's brother passed away this past week and Shaura came out for the funeral.  We enjoyed having her with us and we will all miss Uncle Glen.