#12: Summer Smorgasbord

Smor·gas·bord (n.): 

1. A buffet meal featuring a number of unique dishes.

2. A varied collection of photos from the life of Steve and Diane. Summer is in full swing at our house, and we are loving every minute of it. Enjoy!

Diane's parents came down for Father's Day weekend. We did tons of fun local activities. Unfortunately, we  also took them to see the giant shark at Thanksgiving Point. We'll sure miss them, but at least the shark isn't hungry anymore.

Feeding the ducks. Quack.

Too cute not to post (the kid, not the cow).

Bedtime stories. Will Aladdin get the lamp? Find out next time!

Eating ice cream hammock style.

We went to Scheel's superstore. We rode the ferris wheel, played games, and bought a bean bag toss. We also posed with President Abe. "Yo, little girl. I ain't Santa. Get off my lap."

Teaching my niece how to golf. I have great form. :)

Sidewalk chalk festival downtown. Good thing it didn't rain.

Father's Day breakfast on the patio. Mmmm, bacon!

"Meditating" during church.

"Meditating" on the way to scout camp.

Diane drove up to scout camp with us so she could go visit her best friend who lived close by. She got her first taste of camp at the outhouse--we're not sure why she left so quickly afterwards.

Even though I would rather camp in a condo than a tent, I loved spending time with the scouts. We get along great (probably because I'm just a big kid at heart!). 

Stopped by the Pepperidge Farm outlet store on the way home. Who knew that you could buy a five-pound box of goldfish for two bucks?

Diane has decided to go back to school.

We took care of our friend's lizard while she was on her honeymoon. Diane loves to serve, but HATES to serve lizards.

Sunday night porch chats with our awesome neighbors.

Clipped grandma's toenails? Check. Cleaned her kitchen? Check. Picked up her prescription? Check. Accepted her offer for free lunch? Double check!

Diane got a last minute call to go up to Youth Conference. She loved it and learned a lot. Here she is sewing her costume.

Last night we went to our favorite annual summer celebration, "Taylorsville Days". We think the fireworks are the best in all of Utah. Diane enjoyed playing "Tickle Monster Shark" with our friends' little boy.

Eagerly waiting with my sisters for the show to begin!

I took at least 10 pictures of the fireworks, hoping to get a good one. But they all stunk. So, I decided to put a picture of the London Olympic fireworks instead, because that's TOTALLY what it felt like. 

WE LOVE SUMMER!

#11: School's Out!!!

In our house, there are a few magical days every year: Birthdays, the 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and not to be ignored--the last day of school! I love it when I get to pack up my classroom for summertime. There's nothing better than being able to sleep in a little bit on the following Monday morning! It's heavenly. I'm already in planning mode for all of the fun things we are going to do this summer! Here are some of our latest Summer pictures with captions by Steve.

A couple of weeks ago, we went to Las Vegas to visit Diane's sister Marjorie. Diane's aunt Kay and her husband Frank were also in town for a conference.  We look forward to seeing them each year (plus, they always take us out for an amazing dinner!).

Kay and Frank stayed at the Winn Resort. It had a beautiful man-made waterfall. And cool orange umbrellas.

Speaking of orange, Marjorie's husband Jed is a great dad. I love how happy their son looks in this picture.

And this one.

We both loved snuggling with Marjorie's brand-new baby. In fact, he let me hold him for two hours while watching "The Avengers". I think he looks like a young Thor.

  

This week I helped my mom brush up on her Microsoft Excel skills before a job interview. Now she's practically an accountant!

We played some intense Jenga with our friends Mike and Hailey. Afterwards, Mike made a totally wicked Tower of Babel. Eventually it fell down--just like the original.

Diane's big brother Andrew stopped by on a layover. We all took naps at the new City Creek mall in downtown Salt Lake City.

 For Memorial Day, we ate lunch with my Grandma, because hey, you gotta remember your living grandparents too!

Pirate sunglasses. Arrrrrr!

 We love summer evenings out in the hammock--as long as one person doesn't get out too quickly.

Diesel likes it too.

  That's a rad cloud. And a rad lady.

So, we went to a wedding reception at a golf course on Friday night. One of our neighbor's sons (in between the golf carts) was absolutely certain that there was a reindeer in the bushes. I told him that reindeer don't exist and that it was actually a unicorn.

After the wedding reception, we went to the annual "Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband" concert at the Sandy Ampitheater. We love summer concerts!

My mom and dad came with us. I inherited my tendency to sing along to songs from my dad. Thanks, dad.

The best part of the first day of summer? Planning for a vacation! When Diane sets her mind to something, she can't stop thinking about it. Anybody up for a trip to Disney World?

#10: Happy "Hot Mama Day"

Mother's Day can be a tough day sometimes, but Diane always tries to keep a positive attitude and stay hopeful for the day that we will be able to adopt and bring children into our home. I can't wait for her to be a mom--I just know she will be an amazing one. But until that day, I have officially decided that today we are going to celebrate "Hot Mama Day" instead, since Diane is the hottest mama on the planet! I am so grateful to be married to her! And what better way to celebrate Hot Mama Day than with a bunch of pictures? Party on!

We went to the airport to see our dear friend Maura as she was temporarily returning home from her mission for surgery. She is an amazing mission and we are excited for her to be able to go back into the field soon. We love ya, Maura!

Last month, Diane's sister Marjorie was on bed-rest before delivering her adorable third baby. We volunteered to keep her other two kids for two weeks to make her bed-rest more bearable. It wasn't always easy, but we had a blast. We love her kids so much. Below are eight important important lessons I learned during the two weeks.

Lesson #1: Don't let a 17-month old feed himself a smoothie, no matter how much he wants to do it himself.

 

Lesson #2: Take separate shopping cards. Otherwise, at least one eye is guaranteed to get poked.

Lesson #3: Taking child-size cymbals in the car may lead to the need for ibuprofen.

Lesson #4: Adult-size backpacks look much cuter on child-size shoulders.

 Lesson #5: Dog doors can be used by more than just dogs.

Lesson #6: Few things are more sad than a sweet little kid with the flu. Fortunately, he got better quickly!

Lessons #7: When your dog is not used to being around small children, sometimes he just needs to escape for a while. Here is Diesel trying to appear inconspicuous among some stuffed animals and a plastic baby who is clearly in need of a diaper.

Lesson #8: I look sexy in a mini-van. There's no use denying it.

 

Last month I got to color Easter eggs with one of our cute nieces. Her egg was a combination of periwinkle and orchid (I loved the Crayola 64 color set as a kid!).

We went to Colorado for the baptism of the son of Diane's oldest brother, Ben. The grandkids loved to steal Granddaddy's cane and impersonate him.

This is my "birthday buddy". We rode up and down the sidewalk together, while listening to "Eye of the Tiger" on my iPhone. It was an inspiring workout.

A wonderful meal by some of the best cooks in the world (and a photobomb by one of the most average cooks in the world). 

One of my favorite things to do is catch Diane's mom playing "Words With Friends" on her phone. She is one fierce player!

Caught her again! :)

Last week for Diane's birthday, we went to downtown Salt Lake City and ate dinner at "The Roof Restaurant". The flowers were ALMOST as pretty as Diane.

Posing in front of the beautiful Salt Lake Temple, one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.

Our good friends, Dave and Alecia, went to The Roof with us because Alecia and Diane are birthday buddies too! Here we are on the roof of the Conference Center (two roofs in one night).

Diane and I went to Chipotle's for "Teacher Appreciation Day". This guy had an awesome mullet. That's the only reason I'm including the picture. I like mullets so much, that if a mullet ran for President, I'd vote for it.

Ben, Sarah, and their kids came to visit us this weekend. Diane took her bike "Lucy" for a quick spin around the cul-de-sac. Five years ago, my dad and I restored this classic 1947 Schwinn bicycle for her. It was probably the best present I've ever given her--dang, I peaked already.

One of the many uses of R2-D2 is a cup-holder (in addition to saving the galaxy).

On Friday night we went to a Peter Breinholt at Thanksgiving Point. It finally felt like summer!

Gettin' groovy with the birthday buddy.

Who wants French toast? We LOVE breakfast at Kneader's Bakery.

Mini golfing yesterday with my fellow accountants and good friends, Jared and Aubrey. Jared beat me by eight strokes--but I got the last laugh when I stole his wallet.

Being married to Diane is a "hole-in-one"!