Lichfield Family Gathering

My brother returned home from his mission and his homecoming happened to be on father's day, so it was a big family gathering... it was fun to spend time with my extended as well as my immediate family... and to see my distant british relatives, Del and Goff, they are secretly my favorite :) 

California- here I come!

One of my favorite places to visit is Southern California, Orange County to be exact... I have many good friends from there and I love the chill, laid back lifestyle, I secretly want to move there.  My good friend Monique, had a baby four months ago and before her and her family went on a little vacation to Lake Tahoe, I stopped by to meet her new little one, Brooke and chit chat for awhile. Then I stayed with my friend Sara who I met in NY, and while she went to work, I went to the new Newport Temple, it was beautiful, one of the prettiest I have seen. Then we went shopping, swimming and to a Choral concert her mother (who looks like Julie Andrews) was in. I then met up with some of my friends I met on my Israel trip last year and we reminisced about the good ole memories, like when we go sick hiking up Mt. Sinai and getting stung by the jellyfish in the Mediterrian Sea. Then I happened to randomly run into a good friend of mine I went to UVSC with and we also worked EFY together, Katie, I love little surprises like that, never know who you'll run into :)

Coming Home!

There is something comforting and peaceful about returning to ones roots, especially with taking a break from the concrete jungle, I sometimes forget what a small town girl I really am at heart. I also love my parents place in Shangra La Valley... it is so beautiful, green and tranquil. My good and long time friend Tim Goodman, who I have not seen since I moved to NY, was driving through to head to California for the summer (he's a school teacher), stopped by to visit, so I gave him a tour of the place. He also did a little ditty for my mom and I from his new cd that is coming out, if any are interested, check it out  theiwillproject.com 

The 4th Annual Zions Hike

Okay so obviously for the past four years my friends come down to LaVerkin to stay with me and my family and we go on a fun slot canyon hike in Zions. Well, this year it was more last minute, so we were unable to plan ahead to obtain a permit, so my dear friend Ange and I have to wake up at 3:30 AM to get to the Park to wait in line until 7 AM on Friday morning to get a day before permits for the subway, well we already had four people in front of us and sad to say no more subway permits, so we went to our usual Orderville, still an excellent hike... we just wanted some praise for taking one for the team on that one :) Then we had a collaboration of some of my friends from NY, Costa Rica, SLC and my cool cousin and his two random friends, which one happened to be a mutual friend of a long time friend... small world. We had a great time and fun hike, until towards the end a girl in the group behind us broke her ankle, and the tough guys in our group created a stretcher with their repel webbing and walking sticks and four hours later carried this lady to safety.... they all secretly won the girls hearts by witnessing their heroic acts. 

Reagan's Return!!

My "little" brother Reagan, has returned home from his two year LDS mission to Dallas/Fort Worth Mission in Texas. He left as a young sophomoric kid, and returned as a refined and polished man. It is so fun to see the drastic transformation and how much growth and maturity he has gained from his mission. He is so pleasant, sweet, polite, respectful and service oriented. He always has been a good kid and did what he knew was right, but fun to see his personality blossom and see what a great guy he has become. He also came back as a hunk.... who knew I had such a good looking brother, he's tall dark and handsome... so watch out ladies... he's moving to SLC to attend the U. It's good to have my family complete again, I feel bad for him, because there have been so many drastic changes in my family life, but he seems to be adapting well. It's amazing how much strength and support we gain from the spirit and the lord when we put him first in our lives... it truly is inspiring to see him, it makes me want to serve a mission..... you never know.... :)

The gnarly 80 mile bike trek.

So I do not know what I was thinking.... whether it is my middle child syndrome and I just follow the crowd, or that my sense of adventure, I simply can not say No to fun and excitement and adventure. Or because according to my new Costa Rica buddies, " I know reality and I know how to rough it." I agreed to go on a bike trek on my time off with my maschikist sister (Loni), her husband, Todd and my mom from Palmyra, NY to Kirtland, OH, a total of 260 miles. So I braved and endured 80 miles of it, I biked for two days and did not know parts of my body could be this sore, especially since I am not a biker. However it was a really cool experience, we biked on the Erie Canal bike trail, and saw beautiful scenery as well as cute little towns. I had a lot of good thoughts about life, listened to some pump be up music and some even good chats on the bikes with my family. My dad was nice enough to follow behind with the four children with my sister Lana and when they decided to make their way to Loni's home in Cleveland, I was smart enough to take the ride back... don't you worry though, my very ambitious and well trained mother, sister and brother in law endured to the end.... I guess I was not cut out to be a pioneer..... and I am totally okay with that :)