Summer Lovin'

One of Annika's major goals this summer was to go fishing.

Thanks to the expertise of a friend, Matt Huntington, Annika's fishing dreams came true.  He took Annie, Jason, and his own two daughters up to Pineview Reservoir for the ultimate daddy-daughter date.

From what I hear, they caught lots of fish, but threw them all back.  Annika was so excited to use her pink fishing pole.

And who says Dads aren't super heroes?  Here's Matt getting a fish off the hook, all while holding an infant.

So cute!

Also on the animal front, Brooklyn's cello teacher hired her to help watch her five huskies for a few nights.  It was a big job, so both Talia and I spent some time helping as well.

Talia and Cora, the husky with the most gorgeous chocolate brown eyes.

Taylor and Lila, followed by a photo of the whole crew.

Meanwhile, Brooklyn was spending her mornings, afternoons, and evenings playing cello as part of ISSI (Intermountain Suzuki Strings Institute.)  The experience was far more intense than expected, but deeply rewarding.  She practiced so hard, particularly as she learned the Handel/Halvorsen Passacaglia duo.  It was extremely challenging, but she played great.

Here's Amy Barston, the guest artist and Brooklyn's masterclass instructor.

Brooklyn played in two different orchestras and a performance class (also led by Amy Barston.)

Getting ready to play the Handel Halvorsen with cute Jasmine.

Celebratory Tikka Masala from the Indian Oven.  The treat was certainly well-deserved.

Meanwhile, Talia fully recovered from COVID and was able to attend FSY.  Rescheduling her was super problematic online, so we finally went  up to the University of Utah in person where they were able to find her space as a "walk on."  She had a great time!

Attaching her room key to her lanyard.

Surprisingly, she had a room all to herself, perhaps for the first time in her life!  Not that her single room kept her from being social.  Rumor is she danced with nine boys.  :)

Back at home, I was missing everyone fiercely.  So I ordered this photo project from ThunderBunny Labs and got to work finding pictures of our family travels around the United States.  Looks pretty cool, right?

 
Talia's home!  And our family grew by a Rosie pup.  (Just kidding.  We were borrowing her from a neighbor, but she's still adorable.)

Truth to be told, we see a little less of Talia these days, even when she's home. She has a great friend group that keeps her quite busy.  In this first picture, they are playing night games where they got dropped off a mile away from a friend's home, and then had to find their way back.  A truck bed full of blindfolded teens--nothing suspicious about that!

Annie, Danyn, Clara, and Talia at their silliest.

So what else says summer...how about movies at the park?  We headed down to Riverton to see Sing 2 on the most beautiful evening.

Summer is also for swim lessons.  I love the Olympic size pool at the Salt Lake City Sports Complex.

The taste of summer..raspberries straight off the vine.  We have LOVED our small raspberry patch.

Watermelon is great too, although that usually come from Sam's Club.  Sometimes we send Annika deep into the freezer to grab us some orange juice as well.

Yup!  Summer is beautiful and exhausting.

Jovial June

Nothing says summer like the College World Series!  

This June Jason was awesome enough to drive Eli and Annika out to Omaha, where they got to enjoy a baseball game together. Eli also went to several games with Papa Kay, as well as with my cousin Ben and his boys.  What a lucky kid!

Eli's an ace at collecting signatures.  Maybe someday this ball will be worth a fortune when one of the rookies becomes the next Babe Ruth.

Naturally baseball isn't just for boys.  Papa Kay took Eila and Annika to a game as well.  Quite grown up, Eila flew on her own from Seattle for some grandparent/cousin time.  Here she is posing with Eli in front of the Charles Schwab Stadium.

From the look of things, Annika got pretty tuckered out.

The other motivation for coming to Omaha: Hummel Day Camp!  Annika, Eila and Eli were all fortunate enough to snag a spot at this beloved day camp steeped in 70 years of tradition.  Here they are catching the bus there on the first day.  Oof, that sun is bright!

And here they are on the last day at the closing ceremonies.  Annika was particularly happy to participate since she'd missed most of camp that day due to an extremely sore neck.

Celebratory ice cream was the cherry on top.

Perhaps the best part of Omaha is just getting to spend time with NomiAnn and Papa Kay on Capitol Ave.  Papa Kay recently added a climbing rope to his backyard.  I don't know who loves it more: the grandkids or the neighbor girls Berkeley and Makenzie.

NomiAnn spoils the girls with a pedicure.

Snuggled together on the couch...

...and in NomiAnn's bed.  Cousin Time really is the best!  We can't wait to have more.

Meanwhile, Jason participated in the "Bacoon" Ride through rural Iowa with some former co-workers from APMA.

In case you are wondering, "Bacoon" is a tribute to the loads of bacon served along the Racoon River trail.  From bacon donuts to bacon burgers, you certainly won't go hungry!

The one and only Steve Young.

The 71-mile ride through the rolling hills of rural Iowa looks pretty amazing!

Pausing in Jamaica for a photo shoot.  Pictured along side Jason and Steve are Joe Eisma and Erin Giannangelo.

Too fun!  Apparently a couple thousand people ride each year.  It would be fun to do as a family some time.

After the Bacoon Ride, Jason continued east to participate in AIA's annual conference in Chicago.  Chicago in the summertime is the stuff dreams are made of.  (February, not so much.)

Who doesn't love deep dish pizza?  (Pictured is Jason's co-worker Sam Beal.)

The Robie House.

Best of all, Jason got to catch up for a bit with his brother Lance.  I'm not sure whose dog this is, but it's certainly adorable.

Back in Salt Lake Talia was busy crocheting.  Isn't the top she made just gorgeous?  

She also took advantage of her quarantine to resurrect her painting skills.  My kids always amaze me with their artistic talent.

Talia and I had some rare Mommy-Daughter time together since Jason, Eli and Annika were in Omaha and Brooklyn was in Provo.  What did we do for our gals night out?  We went camping!

Talia taught me to crochet a covie (it seemed appropriate given our recent bout with Covid) while she made the most adorable narwhal ever.

Our campground was super close to Causey Reservoir so we took our new paddle boards out for their maiden voyage.  Glad Talia was there to pump!  The paddle boards worked great and were quite relaxing as we let them drift back to shore.

Exploring the creek near our campground.  Brrr!  That glacial melt is frigid.

Nothing like watermelon on a hot summer day.

Roasting dawgs for dinner.

The next day we went for a hike up to Malan's Peak near Ogden.  The trail was steep, but worth the journey.

This girl is beautiful all the time, but shines in the mountains. I feel so lucky to have such amazing daughters.

Speaking of daughters, the next day it was time to pick up Brooklyn from FSY (For the Strength of Youth) church camp in Provo.  Even though she had to start late because of COVID, she still had the best time.  On the way home, I made her join me for a quick jaunt up to Battle Creek Falls near Pleasant Grove.

Here's celebrating a life made rich by family!