Happy Anniversary... Months Later

We weren't able to do something extra special on or near our anniversary this year (though having our traditional anniversary dinner with our children is always special) so one day in August, Jeremy surprised me with our anniversary celebration. He took care of all the arrangements with the kids and did a good job making it a surprise. I had no idea.

He gently woke me up early that morning, had my clothes picked out for me to wear (it was a date, so of course he had my Jurassic Park shirt ready). He made me an omelette. I love his omelettes. 

Then he drove us up Nebo Loop to one of our favorite birding spots up there.

We enjoyed a relaxing time there and I got my target life bird- red crossbill. There were four or five of those. Yippee! 

We also had some nice closeups of other birds and critters.

There was a red breasted nuthatch that kept landing on branches right above our heads. Right above us. That was wonderful.

After we had a few hours of birding in that spot, we went up to Devil's Kitchen to picnic and enjoy the view. Jeremy surprised me again with our picnic food. Winco salads (it's our traditional date food, like my Jurassic Park shirt is my date shirt) and sodas in plastic goblets like we used for our anniversary picnic last year.

After Devil's Kitchen we headed to the Orem Library to do some writing/blogging. Sweet Jeremy, kept nodding off (he got up really early to make me that omelette) so we finally headed out to eat at Cafe Rio. Yumm.

Then we went home to take a nap because we were both exhausted. 

We woke up later and gathered the children to go out for a late night meteor shower. They didn't take a nap so were all tired while we were out there.

That was a great way to end a wonderful anniversary celebration. Thank you, Jeremy, for the sweet memories and for being the best husband I could ask for.

First Weekend of School

Since we survived the first week of school, the kids and I celebrated by driving Nebo Loop.

We stopped to hike to Grotto Falls. It's been a while (since August 2016) and it was on our Summer wishlist. We are still doing some activities on our list now that school has started but it's still technically Summer.

Jr. Jr. and Lucky demonstrated how to get the mud off your shoes.

We had a picnic at Devil's Kitchen and were silly.

Lucky got silly being "scared" of a wasp. 

Jr. Jr. was silly when the sun came out from behind the clouds.

"No. No. Push it away."

 

Nichole and I picked a time to get a picture of the two of us when the sun came out, too.

Nichole: It's too bright.

Mom: Must keep eyes open.

It was a great trip driving Nebo Loop.

It was World Honey Bee Day on August 21. I made Maple and Brown Sugar Pork Tenderloin from Six Sister's Stuff but with a roast instead. I wanted something that could be in the slow cooker while we were gone on our outing. It had honey in it.

I've decided I don't make pretty food. I make edible food. It's not nicely presented. Oh well. I'm not trying to win any awards. I'm just trying to feed my family.

 

That day was also Brazilian Blowout Day. We thought about making Brazilian Limeade but there were no recipes we really wanted to do so Jr. ended up making his mint lemonade.

Nature Bonding

Jr. Jr., Nichole, and I got up early and went up to the Nebo Bench Trailhead again then down to the water trough. It wasn't as successful a morning birding as it was when I went on Pioneer Day and when Nichole and Jeremy went on Father Daughter Take a Walk Day. We still enjoyed being in nature, though. 

We stopped at the Beaver Dam Overlook because the mist was gorgeous down in the valley.

When I went the week before there were so many mourning doves. I don't think I saw any robins. This morning, there were so many robins everywhere. It is interesting how you can see different things on different days. We still didn't see any crossbills. I'm glad Nichole got to see some when she went with Jeremy. We did hear American three-toed woodpecker drumming, though, and may or may not have seen one in the trees really far away.

Jr. Jr. was happy to have control of the camera on the drive back down. 

I forgot to get a picture of the three of us together at the trough so I made sure we got pictures on the way down. So did Jr. Jr.

That was a nice morning.

Celebrating with Family at a Distance

July 22 was National Hammock Day. I wished my brother a Happy National Hammock Day. He makes his own hammocks and goes camping with them. He's put together several YouTube videos about it.

 

July 23 was National Gorgeous Grandma Day. I wished both my mom and my sister Happy Gorgeous Grandma Day. It was also National Vanilla Ice Cream Day.

 

July 24 was National Cousins Day. I wished lots of family members Happy National Cousins Day.

It was also Pioneer Day. We sent the kids to bed but I ran out to get a few fireworks pictures (I love that we can see them so well right outside our home). It was a laid back Pioneer Day (and Cousins Day) even though I got up early to go up Nebo Loop to the same place Jeremy and Nichole went to celebrate her birthday. Lots of birds, no crossbills, though. There were also squirrels, chipmunks, and a weasel (and plenty of cows and deer on the drive). And lots of bugs.

Oh, it was a lovely morning.