All Caught Up on the Blog!

Whew! Blogging is hard work! But I'm finally caught up! That's right, Adam and I are STILL in Utah, and I am writing about Utah!

We arrived in Utah on Friday, May 15th. We arrived at Amy (Adam's sister) and Kevin's house and our Friday night was pretty relaxed. We just caught up since the last time we saw them was in October at Disneyland. Our niece Serenna (almost 1) has gotten really big! She is probably going to take her first steps any day now! Our other nieces Arianna (8), Chalysse (6) and Jenessa (4) are also getting big and are such funny characters! And our nephew Mark (15) also hit a growth spurt. In October, he was shorter than Adam, and now, just 7 months later, he is taller than him.

Saturday, I was woken up by the nieces, who informed me that it was time to wake up! They entertained me by spelling out their names and sharing funny anectdotes about life. Adam and I ran a few errands and I stopped by Robert's Crafts to get some scrapbooking supplies. That afternoon Arianna was insistent on getting me into shape, so we played soccer. Then I pushed the girls on their swingset, and finally I scrapbooked with Amy until 5, when it was time to get ready for the neighborhood barbecue that Amy organized with some neighbors.

Serenna!

Jenessa, Arianna and Chalysse

Neighborhood BBQ (folks were wondering if Adam and I were new to the neighborhood, or just some crazed hungry couple mooching off their grills...not really)

Kevin (our brother-in-law) and Serenna

Amy (Adam's sister) and Serenna

Sunday was also another nice day with the family. While Amy, Kevin & family were at church, Adam and I picked up some supplies. We also stopped at a Joann Fabric so Adam could get fabric to make a little chef's toolkit (with lots of Amy's help!). Dinner for the night was yummy picadillo with fried plantains and black beans. I had to do quite a bit of driving to hunt down some green plantains, but I found them!

On Monday, it was time to drive down to Salt Lake City to hang out with Susan and Paul. We got to Susan's house (very nice place that is set right next to the mountains and overlooks Salt Lake City) and then headed off to Pei Wei to meet up with Jared for lunch (yes Jennifer, I ordered some crab wontons). After that, we lounged around the house before we took a nice, HOT hike. Because it was a tad too toasty, we cut the hike short and ended up at REI, then at a frozen custard place, the yummy bakery, and then finally back to Susan's place where she cooked up a mean mapo tofu. It was fabulous! And luckily, Jared was able to join us for that too.

Sisterhood and Peace (right dad?)

Today Susan and Paul both had to work, so Adam and I did our errands. Well, first, I slept in until almost 11! It was great! Then we had lunch of corn dogs (mmmm...) before we headed out to Barnes & Noble, the camera store (another lens may be in my future...maybe a more versatile 18-200 lens?), and the A&W for another root beer float! When Susan got home, we went off to the library where I perused a scrapbook magazine. Dinner was Molca Salsa...a burrito joint that got Adam's approval (and mine, because they have a California burrito and decent hot sauce. Though I ordered the Carnitas Burrito...what was I thinking?). We ended the night with a trip to the movies to watch Angels and Demons. Two movie previews caught my eye...and I won't get to watch them before I leave for Ecuador. They were- Julie & Julia (with Amy Adams) and The Proposal (with Sandra Bullock). Jennifer: these are two chick flicks you'll have to watch!!

Ok. Now it is 5:30am and I am still up but I am going to bed soon. But with good reason. I caught up on the blog, talked to Jennifer on the phone, talked to Betty, read up on some Peace Corps stuff...and that's about it.

More photos to come...