The Bear that's a Lake

A few weeks ago Steven's family invited us to Bear Lake.

We drove up with Steven's parents early Saturday morning and

stayed for the day. 

 It's been a few years since either of us have been there.  

I forgot how blue and open it is.

 

 Awesome Powell Parentals

 

 Chip, Sarah, the kids, and family friends of theirs were

camping for the weekend and had an excellent spot on

the beach. Pharaoh Sarah then commissioned Steven to build

her a pyramid.  That turned into two pyramids and a sphinx.

 

 

 Ta-Da!

 I love that Chip looks like a bully ready to smash Steven's 

creation; really he was just scratching his back :)

 Korver napped like this for a good long while.

 Ryan, Caroline, and Simon came to play too;

Simon loved the water.

 I think Bear Lake is a perfect place for little kids to play. They had a blast in the sand, and the water stays so shallow, even far out.  The temperature was perfect (even if Steven and I both got semi-nasty sunburns).  It was also the famous 'Raspberry Days' so it was a little crowded.  We did enjoy some raspberry shakes :)  It was a blast! Thanks to the Powell clan, and especially to the Powell parents for the driving, good food, and great conversation :) 

 I love that we saw two temples during the 

trip; Brigham City and Logan.

 

 

Pioneer Day

We had a pretty enjoyable 24th of July. 

The weekend before, we were able to attend the Mormon

Tabernacle Choir Pioneer Day concert.  It was excellent. 

And it was free :)

 

On the 24th we braved the crowds and headed downtown

to watch the days of '47 parade.  We had a pretty good spot too.

My family has never really gone to this parade, but Steven's 

family does; which is awesome.

Weswee joined us.

 

Haegen showed me what masticated Oreo middle looks like.

He only eats the middle and gives the cookie part to his baby brother :)

 

They had a lot of nifty floats.

Bagpipes are always awesome.

 

Mini train: check

 

Missionaries

 

Korver had this fascination with giving anything he 

picked up to Wesley; even other people's things.

 

There was even a Jesus float...

My two favorite parts always come at the beginning,

the motorcycle cops!

and a member of the First Presidency; this year it was
President Eyring :)
The rest of the day was relaxing.  We had pizza at the
Powell's, and lit off more fireworks for the kids.

One Week Down....

....and about 40 ish more to go.

I survived my first week at my new job :)

I say 'survived,' but it really wasn't bad at all.  The hardest part is figuring out schedules and boundaries, oh and then the part where I have to train my body not to sleep in until 10:00am.  That part kinda bites.

I now work as a one-on-one aide at a Jr. High.  Never thought I'd willing go back to Jr. high.  The girl I work with was described to me as a 'diva' and has some interesting opinions.  She's awesome.  We'll see how long the 'Honeymoon' period lasts... The day goes by pretty quick, and I get to re-learn all of the stuff that was supposed to stick in my head back when I was an awkward eighth-grader.  I miss having a whole hour for lunch, now I only have a half hour, which is ok, I just don't have time to read :) Mostly I miss my lunch group from GPA. But so far, so good.

The commute takes a while, but once we move into our new apartment it will only take about five minutes.  So yeah, we found a place to live! We are just waiting for our unit to finish being re-modeled.  I'm completely alright with waiting a little longer for new carpet and whatever else the land-lord decides to replace :)  It's a two bedroom with a giant closet and a large kitchen; which I am super excited about. I'm really, really excited about not being on the hunt for apartments anymore. BLEH!

Steven's job is going well.  He was getting the hang of it nicely, but now that school has started it's changing and getting a bit more hectic.  I think he's keeping up rather well :) He had to go around to different schools and take pictures on the first day, so he came to my school and surprised me.  I only got to see him for a minute, but it was a welcome surprise on my first day :)

We eat out a lot more than usual 

(mostly nice people taking us to dinner);  I've enjoyed almost more curry and Leatherby's ice cream than my little heart could desire (almost!).  And we discovered the joy that is Zupas.  We've also spent a lot of time in Downtown Salt Lake.

That's pretty much the update on this end :)