...the postal service...

For Mother's Day Nate got me tickets to see

The Postal Service 

playing at the Great Saltair!

I had never been to Saltair and was excited to check it out.

It was quite the place in it's day...

The sun was setting as we were driving up...

VIP balcony spots - best spontaneous decision ever!!

 Love me some Jenny Lewis:

 

I kept joking to Nate that Jimmy was playing a CamelBak....

It's actually a pretty crazy cool instrument called a Melodica.

The Postal Service put out ONE album ten years ago called Give Up.

Ben (who was married to Zooey Deschael) is also the singer for
Death Cab for Cutie, and Jenny Lewis was the singer for
Rilo Kiley and also did several solo projects.

They sounded great in concert and we sang at the top of our lungs.

Thanks for the fun date night Nate!

Visitors from Alaska!

My sister-in-law Becky and her kids (Kennison, Katie, Natalie, and Emma)

have been visiting from Alaska. This was our first time meeting our sweet niece Emma! 

She is the chubbiest, happiest, cutest thing ever. 

We are totally in love with her and it makes my heart hurt knowing 

I won't see her again until next year!  I loved making her laugh.

 Natalie and Katie have grown so much and Mabel loved 

playing pretend restaurant and dollhouse with them.  

 

Katie was practicing her bubble blowing skills and 

wanted me to take pictures of her best bubbles.

Mabel always wanted to make sure cousin Reagan was okay.

Playing Trains

 The three newest babies!

Should have brought my big camera...

need a faster shutter speed for these wiggly bodies.

Becky and the kids and Rick and Georgia came down 

to our house for a playdate:

We ate lunch and bounced outside for a little while until we

ended up just playing in the basement because it was so hot outside!

St. George

...Orson Pratt House...

Instead of driving straight home from California we decided to 

break it up and spend a few nights in St. George.

It was the perfect ending to our trip.

We stayed at a bed and breakfast called Green Gate Village Inn.

Our room was in the Orson Pratt House - built in 1862!

This is how you check-in. Loved it.

 

 We were really excited because Mabel had her own room!

We got to stay up and watch a movie without worrying about waking her up.

The little nook by our bed...

 ...the phone actually worked!

 Mabel loved the big tub.  She wasn't too sure of the jets though.

We stayed for two nights and breakfast each morning was served 

in the Garden Room of the Bentley House.

...Town Square Park...

On Saturday we had no plans...just to relax and soak up our last day.

We walked across the street to play in the water and ride the carousel.

It was only mid morning and it was SO HOT!

  

Oh you know, just washing her big toe.

I snapped a few pictures before I pretty much laid down in the

shallow water next to Mabel.  Did I mention it was hot?

I am a heat wimp.

 The carousel was $1 per adult and kids under 42" ride free.

 We started out in the seats...

 ...then on the next ride she was ready for a horse!

Then on our 3rd time I asked her if she wanted the seat or the horse.

She chose the seat. Those horses are pretty wild!

By the time we were done riding the carousel I was parched.

(and hot)

We walked back across the street to the old general store.

Bins of old fashioned candy and rows of bottled soda.

I got some Kickapoo Joy Juice...tasted like Mountain Dew.

...St. George Temple...

After we all took a nap (that was glorious!)

we drove over to see the temple.

Of course we had to stop at Swig first to get

some cold beverages. 

Mabel is ready to go with Grandpa and Grandma Tew

when they leave for Austria in October!

Mabel thought the Christus was pretty neat.

Hearing her little voice say Jesus melted my heart.

At the visitor's center we watched a short video about families.

Nate and I were both crying like babies!  

We are abundantly blessed in so many ways and sometimes

it's overwhelming to think of how lucky we are.

We are so grateful for the privilege of parenting

this sweet little girl.  

...Homeward Bound...

We made it home and Fritz and Charlie

(and Elisha) were very happy to see us.

(and for a while the thought of getting back the car, 

even to go to the grocery store, made me and Mabel cringe.)

Swimming and Sparklers

We spent the last few days of our time in California at my Aunt Koreen's house.

Koreen is my step-dad Kraig's oldest sister.

I have so many great memories at her house!

When we were living in California it's where we would have Thanksgiving

and Christmas, and lots of family parties.

My Aunt Koreen is such a fun, easy going, generous host.

Now that we have a house of our own, and have had several parties here, 

I realize how much work it is to have a lot of people over - 

but the memories are totally worth it and I am so glad my Aunt Koreen has 

always welcomed us into her home with open arms (and lots of good food :).

Pizzas on the grill...

My Uncle Kim...Mabel loves him.

My mom got Mabel this cute 4th of July dress...it's a shame she only
got to wear it for a little while because she was in her
swimsuit the rest of the day!

Brandi is slightly obsessed with jumping in the pool after her ball.

No matter how tired she is, even if she has done it 200x that day,
if someone throws a ball in the pool...

she MUST retrieve it. Or she can't sleep at night.

We swam and swam and swam all day.

(and Mabel took a three hour nap! that was awesome.)

My Aunt Koreen and Uncle Kim remodeled their pool a few years

ago and added the shallow beach entry and umbrella - PERFECT for the kiddos.

(and the dogs)

Jacob and Nate kept us entertained with their

diving board and water slide tricks.

My Aunt Cathy, Uncle Bruce and Nana came down for the day.

4th of July Chillaxin

Aunt Koreen let us have some of her secret stash...

yummy Italian Ice popsicles.

She calls them cracksicles.

Super addicting. :)

No fireworks allowed in Placentia so we just had 

a few little ones for Mabel.

Happy Fourth of July!