July 4th

 The holiday was quite an event, or better stated, a series of events, many of which were unfortunate. Every Independence Day we have a huge family reunion at my parents' house. Tuesday morning a fire started in their town. (Pretty much the whole state is burning up this summer.)  Tuesday afternoon my sister sent me a picture of the view from my parents' porch.

They were not in the evacuation zone so we sent out the word that the party was on, expecting a smokey backyard party the following day.

Wednesday the winds were still and we had a nice clear day for the annual reunion. Here's a rundown of the day via pictures

The twins at the BBQs. We had around 100 people show up this year.

Loading up the plates

Yum!

I have a star-shaped cake pan. I get to use it once a year.

Check out these cuties!

Let the water fight begin! (Sorry I didn't get pics of the volleyball game this year, but trust me, y'all looked pro out there!)

Meanwhile- the fire burned on. You could see the huge flames from my parent's backyard.

The annual slip and slide.

Just a few short runs this year before tragedy hit

Cute Christian took a flying leap onto the tarp and ripped his shin open on one of the grommets on the tarp (that's the best guess as to what happened anyway)

A trip to the ER and 88 stitches later, he's still smiling.

We are currently looking into alternate water activities for next year.

The evening ended at Thanksgiving Point to watch the fireworks. Not the most spectacular show, but fun to hang out at the park.

We hung out with Heidi's family and some of their friends. A nice close to an eventful day. 

Here's what the firefighters were doing while we were partying!  This is my sister's friend's home. Firefighters working hard to save the house.

Scary!

Amazing. Burned all around the house, but saved the home! We are so grateful for a cooler rainy day today.

Ride Report- Commute to Work

We are now officially bike commuters. Last Friday we did a trial run. We were both off work and I wanted to find the best route without the morning traffic as well as find out how long the ride would take. The Friday ride was easier than I thought going in. It's a lot of gentle downhill (after the huge downhill off the mountain bench). It took just over an hour to do the 22 miles. We found a great route with either a bike lane or wide shoulder most of the way.

Going home was killer. We were in the heat of the day - at least 95 degrees! Plus I didn't plan how to keep my energy up for 44 miles that end with a huge climb. About 1/2 way back, I told Rick I wasn't going to make it. He rode ahead and I rode to a park at the bottom of hill where he came and fetched me with the car.

Tuesday was our actual first commute day. I got a flat before we hit mile 2. This is the first time I've had a flat, ever. Luckily, my pit crew (Rick) was on hand and we were back on the road quickly. The ride was harder than I remembered. Actually, my Monday evening ride was killing me more than it should. I'm wondering if I need to get back on a supplement regimen or if all the smoke in the air is affecting my riding. Regardless, it felt good to ride in with the cool morning (still in the mid to high 70's).

My legs were tired all day. My work has a lot of stairs and I felt each mile with every stair. I was worried about the ride home, especially since it was a very hot day. Rick rode down to my office around 5. We decided to get a couple fish tacos at Rubios hoping it would cool down a bit. We then took Trax (light rail) to the end of line which got us just over 1/2 way home. I popped one of those disgusting energy gel packs just after we got off the train and felt quite good during the ride home.

Total riding time was 3 hours. It was a good learning day for future commutes. (The plan is 2-3 times a week.) I forget that riding time on my bike computer does not equal time it takes to get there. It also took longer than anticipated to get out of the house in the morning. I think better planning the night before will help. I've started taking a good multivitamin and will stock my office with quick energy snacks so I can properly fuel up before/during the ride home.

Overall, lots of fun and great exercise.

What's for Dinner.

A friend was recycling the last two issues of the Food Network Magazine so I took them and tried several things this week. Here's the run down.


WEDNESDAY

Wednesday night we had Orzo Salad with Shrimp and Feta. I added the cherry tomatoes because we have a plethora of them in the garden right now- yum! This was good, not fabulous, but everyone said it could be a "do again" meal. The recipe called for fresh dill and fresh mint, however the grocery bill was racking up so I just used the dried stuff we already had in the cupboard. I'm sure it would be better with the fresh, and I think I overdid the dried herbs a bit, but overall, yummy.  I took the leftovers to work for lunch the next day. I think it was better on day 2.

THURSDAY

Thursday we had Primavera with Prosciutto, Asparagus and Carrots. I really liked this, Rick and the boys thought it was OK. It was a little spicy. The recipe called for Dijon mustard, which I would either half the amount or leave out next time. The leftovers were extremely satisfying the follow day after our bike ride. Another salad that is better after some marinade time.

FRIDAY 

 

Friday night was supposed to Fish Tacos with Watermelon Salsa. But after a long hot bike ride, I wanted easy and filling. We threw some burgers on the grill. I had to take this picture because it cracked me up. Three grass-fed local beef burgers with feta compared to a boca burger. Zane is vegetarian and every time we do burgers I throw that fake-meat frozen patty on the grill with our burgers and laugh and how processed and gross it looks. I was a veg for a while a few years ago, and I know they taste pretty good, it just looks so funny compared to the real burgers.

We still kept up with our trying new recipes though and added these Emeril spicy fries to the meal. They were baked and really good. I even mixed up a little fry-sauce (that is mayo mixed with ketchup for you folks outside of Utah) which went perfectly with the spicy flavor of the fries.

SATURDAY

I was rushing around so much on Saturday that I forgot to take a picture of my salad. Rick's family had a potluck BBQ. I brought a grilled veggie pasta salad. Not my favorite. Isn't it always the case that the one new thing that isn't so good is the one you take to a party! We stopped and bought a veggie tray on the way because I was worried nobody would eat the salad. We had a few takers, but most of it is still sitting in my fridge at home.

SUNDAY  

Chipotle-Mango BBQ Chicken with Cilantro Chimichurri. This was the highlight of the week for sure. I put the chicken in to marinade before church and threw it on the grill after. Kinda spicy but the chimichurri (mostly lime and cilantro) tempered it well.

We served it with rice and broccoli. A very satisfying meal.

Zane and Isaac made Strawberry Soda Ice-cream for dessert.  They made it with red cream soda and mashed strawberries.(I threw some dark chocolate chips on top because it's just not dessert for me if chocolate isn't involved.) They did well mixing it up and being in charge of keeping ice and salt in the ice cream maker. It was good. We decided they will make a new flavor for us every Sunday.

I am pleased with the week's meals. Everything was fairly quick and easy. I think you can find all recipes on the Food Network website.

Photos from Girls Camp

Craft time!- since our theme was focusing on the positives in our lives- the girls decorated these with 10 personality traits they like about themselves and 10 physical traits they like about themselves.

Camp fire- everyone's favorite

The Stake had a Dr. Seuss theme, "Why fit in when you're born to stand out." Our Stake goes a little crazy with decor. It was very cute.

The girls LOVE our lake time. How many can we fit on one tube?

Ready for canoe relays

Hanging out in the tent. It was really cold at night. The final night there all 19 girls decided they would sleep in the same 6-man tent. They were warm. I love that the girls all get along so well. 20 very different girls together for 4 days and no drama. Pretty amazing.

Playing at the lake

Canoeing 

Talking about boys in the tent

Trying to stay warm

craft #2 - cute necklaces

So peaceful

Cute girls!

Mixing the Trash Bag Salad- a girl's camp staple.

It was COLD!

Skit night. We let the girls make up the skit without leaders help. They had to keep with our theme and use a bag of props. They came up with a cute version of the Ugly Duckling  who learned to choose doing good over popularity. They also decided to make it a musical. They had a 2-5 minute limit so they sang a fun mash up of a variety of songs.

Crafts

Camp SWAG, Live Lucky backpacks. Our ward theme was "Tell yourself Ducky, you're really quite lucky"

Quiet time for journaling and scriptures

Weekend/Ride Report-Loa Fish Lake Loop

We decided that this summer we are going to explore Utah on our bikes. One weekend a month we are going to a new location and doing a bike ride. This weekend was the first trip.

I have to start by stating that small town America rocks. We stayed at the Road Creek Inn in Loa, Utah. It is a newly reopen hotel. We were the only ones there and the owners we so nice and accommodating. They even checked on us after our ride to make sure we made it back. They offered to come find us if we weren't back by dark. The whole town was friendly. Everyone waved as we rode past. Made us consider (briefly) giving up city life.

Road Creek Inn. Main Street. Loa, Utah

 

The building is the old ZCMI.

 Friday evening we went to dinner in Bicknell. We tried the restaurant's "famous" pies, including pickle pie, oatmeal pie, and pinto bean pie. Surprisingly good-but nothing we'd go back for.

We then drove to what was labeled on the map as a bird sanctuary. We didn't see much by way of birds, but the scenery was nice.

 Friday morning, after a basic breakfast provided by the hotel, we headed out on the ride. I was nervous. This was the longest ride I've ever undertaken (53 miles). It was an unfamiliar route where I wasn't sure if there would be a shoulder to ride on, a lot of traffic, and how steep of hills we would encounter.

It turned out there was just a small shoulder, but very little traffic. And the small town hospitality continued as everyone gave us a lot of space as they passed. We did have some pretty steep climbs, but I was better prepared than I thought. The climbing was tempered by rolling hills and a few flat stretches as well.

Nothing but road ahead.

A few miles into the ride. There was a nice down hill before the turnoff to Fish Lake, then a steady climb for several miles.

Made it to the top. All downhill from here.

Rick just built a new bike. We figured there would be a few adjustments along the way. We only had to stop once when his back wheel decided to stop turning just as we headed down to the lake.

Not far now.

First view of Fish Lake. The ride was beautiful. I wanted to take more photos but it was a bit annoying to stop riding every few minutes for a photo op.

We stopped for lunch at The Bowery. It was so delicious! We knew it was a risk stopping for meal mid-ride, but we assumed it was all downhill on the way home, so it wouldn't be a problem. (Little did we know.)

My meal- YUM.

A brief stop to dip my feet in the lake before heading around the other side and back to Loa. The wind was really picking up at this point.

 

The ride back was beautiful, very little traffic, and camp sites every few miles, which meant bathrooms! I was grateful.

It was also open grazing land and we had a scare when we turned a corner and startled a cow who jumped out into the road.

We heard there was one climb on the way back. We hoped the very small incline out of town was it, not so lucky. We then rode around this lake which was beautiful. We saw some pelicans out on the lake and a huge flock of some other birds that were too far away to identify (frustrating). The far side of the lake had a nice climb which we assumed was the single big climb going back. Again, not so lucky.

I thought this was funny. The ride back was spectacular. The road followed a winding river. Shortly after this spot, we found the actual big climb we had been told about. It came after some 8% grade descents which would have been fun except the strong gusty crosswinds had picked up.

After the climb, we were regretting the hour stop and big lunch. Somewhere between mile 35-40 exhaustion set in and I went into "just keep peddling" mode. The last 10 miles were very windy and much harder than anticipated. We came back into Loa via some farmlands. The ride took us about 2.5 hours to get there and 2 hours to get back. Surprising considering how much climbing we did the first half. The wind really slowed us down on the return.

Someone once told me you can tell an amateur biker by grease stains on your legs. I've never been on ride without them. Somehow I had them on both legs this time.

 All in all, a wonderful ride and we are looking forward to our next "Explore Utah" adventure. We learned some things to apply to our next ride- including the importance of applying sunscreen evenly and to pack something to eat for lunch on the road instead of stopping for big meal.

Next month we are heading North.