Mr. D and Mrs. M

For fall break, we packed up the boys and headed to Las Vegas for five days. We drove down Thursday and stayed one night at the Flamingo before spending the rest of the weekend at David’s sister’s house. It was a fun mix of family time, swimming, exploring Las Vegas, and getting outside. After arriving Thursday, we ate dinner, checked into the Flamingo, and headed out for a night on the Strip. We met up with David’s brother and his family and spent some time together in the garden at the Flamingo. The kids had glow noodles and were perfectly happy running around and playing while the older kids and adults got a chance to visit. We also rode the High Roller that night. It was fun seeing all of Las Vegas lit up from above, and the boys loved looking down at everything below. The next day we took advantage of our one night at the hotel and went swimming. The hotel was nothing fancy—we mostly picked the Flamingo because it was cheap—but the pool was fun, and that was really all we neede...

This past weekend our family got to go camping with cousins, and we had a great time.  We live in Highland Utah, which is near the American Fork Canyon entrance. We chose to go to the Timpooneke campsites, which is really close to us. We went there a couple times last year. The campsites are really nice. At each campsite is a concrete slab with a fire pit and picnic table, as well as flat ground to place your tent (plus walkable to drinking water, an outhouse, etc.).  We went with David's sister's family and the kids loved gathering around the fire, playing games, and exploring together. We even got to take our paddle boards out to Tibble Fork Reservoir. Here are photos from our trip: Campground link:  https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/231938

  Our friends from Seattle were in town visiting for a work conference in Park City and they stopped by our home and stayed with us for a day. We loved seeing them and getting to have our boys play together. There was a lot to do at our home-- play with legos, practice baseball, enjoy the chickens, and read together. Hope to have them visit again next time they are here for a work trip or to ski. 

When we lived in Seattle, Mariana lived with us and helped us take care of our kids (as our au pair). When we moved to Utah she finished her year with our family and returned to Mexico for college. Mariana was kind and visited us a few months later when she was in the US for a vacation and then just this past weekend she visited our family again when she was in the US. We love seeing her!  This time we were in for a special treat because she brought her sister to come see us too. David got to play tour guide for a couple days and took them to Temple Square in Salt Lake, BYU campus in Provo, and the snow in Park City. I asked Mariana what her favorite part was and she said skiing and seeing the boys how they’ve grown.  We are so grateful she took time to see us and see our kids. While she was here David and my oldest had a soccer tournament in Mesquite that was also a good experience. 

Last month we got to host our friends Camille and Matthew (and their daughters) so that David and Matthew could go to Dragonsteel. One evening we met up in Salt Lake at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building for a concert. 

Back in February I told David we should get chickens! He told me the egg shortage would end soon and that we wouldn't save any money having chickens. He was 100% right (there are a lot of fixed costs with raising chickens like building a coop and run, but afterwards the expenses are not too bad) and the chickens have been a lot of fun. Turns out there was a lot I didn't know about chickens and I greatly enjoyed learning about them!  For example, I learned the following: Why are grocery store eggs white? Most eggs we eat come from white leghorn chickens, which lay white eggs, but different chicken breeds lay different colors. Meat Chickens vs. Egg Chickens - Humans have cared for chickens for a long time. Some chickens are bred for their meat (think Cornish cross) and others for their eggs. David and I are not excited about processing chickens, so instead we went for chickens that are egg layers. Egg production vs. Collecting the rainbow of egg colors - We decided we wanted a mi...

  Our family recently crossed the 1 year in Utah mark. We've really enjoyed exploring the area and being outside. We love going on the Murdock trail near our home.  Recently our oldest, Neil, went on his longest bike ride ever (a 20 mile trip!) and rode from where we live in Highland down to the Lindon temple (and back home).  The boys love biking and scootering and visiting the various parks nearby. We've been really happy with our ebike (a radwagon) and this past summer added a couple escooters (secondhand segway ninebots). Hope you've had a great summer.