It's Been a While

So my family has started pestering me about not posting anything for so long, so today I'm going to attempt to get you all caught up on our lives!

My last post was in March, so I'll give a quick recap of the last six months...

April: My birthday! I turned 24 this year, and man do I feel old. Yuck. But anyway, we had such a great time. We went up to Park City and spent the night. We stayed at The Yarrow, which is a pretty old hotel, but it was still nice. We had dinner at this place on Main Street called Buona Vita (Italian for Good Life), and it was hands down the best Italian food we've ever had. I was in heaven the whole night. We also did a little shopping at the outlets, because who can go to Park City without shopping?

The yummy cake from Nothing Bundt Cake
that John got me for my birthday!

On our way to Park City!

I know I look dorky, but I wanted to show off the
cute purse John got me for my birthday!

The chocolate-covered strawberries and sparkling
cider that was waiting for us in our hotel room.

John and I before we headed out for dinner!

May: In May, not too many exciting things happened, but we did get in a lot of fishing and hiking. This is probably the only month this year that we really, really took advantage of the outdoors outside of our neighborhood. I think it's just because the weather was so perfect and we didn't have a ton of stuff to do. We hiked up in Big Cottonwood Canyon a lot and checkout out a lot of cool waterfalls. We went fishing up at East Canyon and also at Daybreak (so I guess there were times we didn't venture far from home).

John went on a fishing trip with my Grandpa, Uncle and cousins. The boys all had a good time and John brought home several fish that we cooked up and had for dinner one night. While the boys were out of town, all the girls stayed at my Grandma's house and we had a fun bridal shower for Adriana.

Up at Big Cottonwood Canyon!

One of the many waterfalls we found.

John next to another waterfall up Big Cottonwood Canyon.

John baiting his hook at East Canyon.

East Canyon Reservoir

Me holding up the first catch of the day! A small-mouth bass!

Here's John's small-mouth bass, emphasis on small. :)

John fishing at East Canyon.

Ignore me, just check out the large-mouth bass I caught
at Daybreak. This is not my best picture!

Me and my handsome hubby! Just showing that when
we're not hiking or fishing, we do clean up pretty well...haha.

June: In June, nothing exciting happened at all.....oh, wait! That's when our 2nd anniversary happened and when my little sister got married! (I just had to do that, Adriana!)

So, since we bought a home this year and we're planning on going to Hawaii next year for our vacation/3rd anniversary celebration, this year we decided to lay low for our anniversary, but that doesn't mean it was any less special. It turned out to be a really fun day! We started the day by going to Red Butte Gardens, and it was beautiful! We then went to lunch at a place downtown called LunaBerry, which is known for it's crepes and boba smoothies. So good! After that we saw an Off-Broadway Theatre play, and then went home to prep for our night out, where we went to dinner at Cheesecake Factory. Then we came home and John had set up the guest room to be our "Hotel" for the night, which was really romantic and sweet.

My little sister got married on June 13. I was lucky enough to be her matron of honor. It was a lot of stress, but also a lot of fun, and it even gave me enough content to write an article here about her big day. The wedding really was beautiful and a lot of fun. Now she's all grown up and living in San Antonio with her hubby who is in the Army. Makes me feel super old, but I guess that's how life goes! Another important part of the wedding: My sister got my Grandma to dance, which is a big deal, because my Grandma does not dance! :)

Also in June, my grandparents in Wyoming came to visit us for a weekend. We had a lot of fun with them even though they were only in town for a couple of days. Plus, they got to be our first ever guests!

At Red Butte Gardens!

John chilling on a swing.

Me and my hubby on our 2nd anniversary!

John crossing the path over the pond at the gardens.

John being John. :)

Had to post this to tease John! He thinks he looks real
cool here, haha. This is us all dressed up before going out to dinner.

Our waitress was super cute and wrote "Happy Anniversary to You"
on our cheesecake plates at the Cheesecake Factory.

All the bridesmaids and groomsmen with the bride and groom.

My sister and her husband, Wesley. Such a cute pic!

July: This was a big month for John. Not only did we celebrate his 27th birthday, but he also got a new job. He'd been at his previous company for around three years, and although he loved it, he felt like he wasn't moving up. He is now working for the University of Utah. Even though he's only been there a few months, they've already asked him to take on tons of extra projects and to help train other employees on new processes. I know he'll be moving up there in no time (especially after he graduates in December! Yay!).

For John's birthday this year we got together with some of our best friends and went to dinner and then hung out at our house and had cupcakes. It was a relaxing and fun night. My family has a ton of July birthdays, so John got another party at my grandparent's house. We had a "tea party" with pink lemonade, complete with lots of cupcakes, cookies, and other goodies. It was so much fun. My Grandpa was even the "guest of honor," although no one would have recognized him in the photo we have of him (see below). Such a great party!

We had a fun 4th of July with our neighborhood during the day with a breakfast and program, and then we hung out with some good friends in the evening to watch fireworks in Sandy. We also went camping with our good friends Becky and Charlie up in the Uintas, but unfortunately it rained the whole time! We still had a lot of fun though. We went fishing, did a little hiking, and even had a salamander wander through our camp one night. It was pretty cool.

Me, Chris, Prasad and Gaya waiting for the
fireworks to begin on the 4th of July!

Prasad, John and Gaya at the fireworks.

John and Chris on John's birthday...Chris hates hugs, but John loves them. Haha.

John with Becky and Charlie before we headed to his birthday dinner!

Chris, me, John, Becky and Charlie at Sugarhouse BBQ for John's birthday!

John blowing out the candle on his cupcake.

At the family party. John and Alexander. They're best buddies!

All the yummy treats we had set up for the birthday tea party.

Breiton checking out everyone's "about me" posters.
All the birthday people had one.

Everyone holding their cupcakes before blowing them out.

Evon and Loghan pouring the "tea" for everyone.

Calvina, the guest of honor.

John with his pinky out!

John opening gifts.

I got John a meat smoker for his birthday, so my Grandma
in Wyoming sent him this apron to go with it.

August: August was another one of those months where nothing much happened. We harvested a ton of veggies from our garden at John's parents house, which has been so good this year. We've hardly had to grocery shop because of all the yummy stuff we grew. We also went up to Snowbird a lot to catch the Friday night movies they do in the summer, which was a lot of fun.

We were picking close to this many veggies three times a week!
Everything turned out so well.

This zucchini was hiding from us. It's huge!

John and I up at Snowbird for a Friday night movie!



This picture is really relevant to anything, but I just can't believe
how long my hair is getting! Longest it's ever been.

September: Last month, John and I went on our "summer vacation," which was an overnight trip up to the Homestead in Heber. It was such a nice weekend trip and so relaxing. We stopped and hiked around at Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon, and then also walked around Cascade Springs near Heber. We saw tons and tons of beaultiful trees changing too. We ate at a couple of the local places in downtown Midway/Heber, and also rode on the Heber Valley Railroad. The train had a special where you got a 2 hour ride, chocolates from V Chocolates downtown (soo good!), and got to listen to string music. It was really cool.

I also had the opportunity to go scuba diving for work. It was a really interesting experience, and a lot of fun. I went to Blue Lake, which is near Wendover. Random, I know, but it's a really popular place for divers. If you're interested in reading more about my experience or seeing pics, check out the article I wrote about my adventure here.

Bridal Veil Falls

John on our way to Bridal Veil Falls

We finally got a "kissing picture!" We've been trying to
successfully take one of these for ages, haha.

John feeding the fish at Bridal Veil Falls.

The falls again.

In Heber we stopped a memorial the town has made for all it's
war veterans. Very cool because it sits at the top of a hill for the whole
town to see. It was very humbling and a great view of the city.

Another display at the memorial.

On the way to Cascade Springs we saw the most beautiful fall colors!

Cascade Springs

John on the path to Cascade Springs

Me and John at Cascade Springs.

Check out the caterpillar we found! It was so furry!

The Homestead

Hanging out on the ground of the Homestead.

Standing in front of the entrance to The Crater, a deep pool of
water inside a cave that people use to scuba dive or snorkel.

Inside the Crater.

John on the Heber Valley Railroad, getting ready for our ride.

John and I on the train.

One of the fun local spots we stopped at. It's a little
cafe that's themed with old cars, etc. Very cute!

October: So far this month, we haven't had a chance to do much, but last weekend we did go for a drive on the Alpine Loop with our friends Prasad and Gaya and took a lot of pictures. This weekend, we did some fall decorating, and I even did my first "crafty" thing I've done in a long time...I made a wreath! You would never guess I only paid $3 and spent 15 minutes putting it together!

We grew our own pumpkin in our garden this year!
It weighs in at 25 pounds. Can't wait to carve it!

The wreath I made.

I'm sure I've missed a lot of other things, but this is the jist of what we've been up to for the past several months. Now I hope you're all happy! :)