Summertime

Wow it is already August, and I can't figure out how time is flying so fast! It has been a fantastic summer so far. I even think Nate has gotten a taste of summer here and there (he was worried he would miss it completely because he is working full time...you know that whole adult life thing). He was explaining to me the other day that there are 5 main rituals of summer.
#1 Go to a Baseball Game
#2 Float down the Provo river in inner tubes
#3 Visit his family cabin in the Uintahs
#4 BBQs
#5 Sno Cones
It is a pretty good list although I would have to add a day at Lagoon (which is out this summer, oh well), lots of fun hikes, and boating and swimming

We have done everything on Nate's ritual list, and most everything on mine and we still have about a month to pack more in!

Summer seemed to kick off with Ragnar. Nate was the captain for the second year now of the Live Rich team. I got to go along and support for a lot of the race, and the team was amazing!

 They don't call him Mr. Ragnar for nothin...notice where the base of this road is.

 Isn't this great...I never thought I would see my brother AND sister running. Let alone a crazy race like Ragnar, and I didn't even do it with them. How's the timing! It was so great to watch both of them, they were so great. Clark has even committed to come back out next year!

The whole team

For the 4th we were up in Bear Lake with all of the Lloyds. We decided to start a new tradition of attending the Paris, ID celebrations!

 Paris Parade

 Kid's Rodeo- where the kids do the events. Some of our nieces and nephews rode the sheep. The announcer would announce each kid before he/she came out of the shoot on the sheep. He would say there name and where they were from. Some of these kids are born cowboys from WY or ID. Lets just say there were a lot of tears from the Salt Lake cowboys and girls, but a good showing nonetheless

 Nate and Pete tried to bring home the prize money, set at about $300, for the 3 legged course. Good effort.

 After a nice, relaxing tube down the river

At the cabin with G&G Monson

Here's to summer so far! Don't wish it away because it will be gone before we know it. 





The Ending of an Era

Well as we drove out of Logan last month (I know I am wayyy behind) to walk in our respective graduations I thought how crazy it is that we are now officially alumni of Utah State. We have exited the "college" stage of our lives. Going to college was not only about the school and the degree, but really about life lessons and experiences.

We couldn't pass up the chance to go up to Logan and participate in the revelry that is Graduation. So we both be walked and took pictures, and reminisced about all of our favorite and memorable places.

We don't have one of those photo montages with music to display some of the memories from Logan, so bear with me as I post some of the pictures from the past 5 years.

 Getting Engaged March 1, 2009

 Nate's USU Track Days

 Nate's Graduation with his Bachelors 2010

 Student of the Year, Great Professors

So many runs on the Logan River Trail

 Homecoming Dance 2007(when our love began :)

 Howl Dance 2007

Mippies

 Great Friends and Roommates

 Our little apartment at Twin Creek

The list can really go on and on, but that will do for now! Here's to new horizons!

Back East and Baltimore

All the Utah Davis clan took a trip back East to visit the Maryland Davis clan. It was fun to see where Clark and Kara live and explore some of the sites around them.  

Here we are at Ft. McHenry, you know Francis Scott Key, Star Spangled Banner? Epic

A must see in Baltimore.

 We all went to an Orioles game one night. The sign above us is pronounced "Utah" Street. C'mon Easterners...

This is the closest Nate has come to finishing a marathon yet... hehe

 We spent a day in D.C., love D.C., here we are at the White House. Notice the protest going on behind us, mind you it was a peaceful protest.

Nate and I have bad luck trying to see Ford's Theater. Every time we go for a tour it is closed. Well, we stuck out again. Makes for a good outside picture though.

Gracie

Addie

Elsie



 One of the funnest things was watching these three girlies play. On this particular night they threw a concert for us with Gracie's violin. We could have some budding virtuosos on our hands.

 A monument at Valley Forge, PA

We only had a short time here, but it is huge, and beautiful.

 Liberty Bell in Philadelphia

 Senate Chamber in Congress Hall 

After doing my internship at the Capitol it was fun to see both chambers and the committee rooms and such because I could visualize what went on in those rooms.

Independence Hall

This is where the Declaration and the Constitution were deliberated and signed. It is one of my favorite places to visit. It was fun because I had just taught about much of the 1700s and 1800s in student teaching and we were able to see many of the sites.

You can't go to Philly without having a Philly Cheesesteaks. Nate researched and found us one of the top restaurants in Philly. Campos Phillys.

We commandeered the Washington Family Pew for church at Christ's Church in Philly

Elferth's Alley. Homes date back to 1701.

It was a great trip. It was so fun to play with everyone and spend time all together!



We Saw Our BABY!

Today was my 20-week ultrasound.  Nate and I went together to see our baby.  After seeing its hearbeat and brain, and everything else that looked good, we found out the gender!

Announcements

We Moved!
After 7 great months at the Davis residence, Nate and I broke down and found an apartment! It is one of those "don't judge the book by it's cover" type of places. The inside was renovated right before we moved in and it is located in a safe/happy Sugarhouse neighborhood! We are totally excited to be here.

We are going to be Parents!
Yep you heard it right, come October 5ish we will be having a baby! If your like me and haven't done the math in your head yet, that puts me 18 weeks along! On May 15 we will be finding out the gender of the baby, and I will be about half-way along! It really seems to be flying by. I have felt pretty good for the most part. It has been so fun to plan, prepare, and talk about the changes that will be coming for us. Nate and I are really excited to be parents and feel really blessed.
So, if you have any advice, tips, whatever, we welcome any help we can get!

Spring Break to Middle America

Even though Nate and I are not students anymore we figured we needed a Spring Break! So we asked Ali and Pete if we could come out to stay with them in Omaha! They were totally surprised that we really wanted to drive all the way to Omaha for a long weekend, and didn't believe us till the week of the trip!

Downtown Omaha is so much fun! These slides are one of the highlights.

Our original plan was to go to a session of the NCAA tourney in Omaha on Friday. We decided to buy scalpers, and found some for a great deal while we were downtown.

The first game we saw was Florida vs. Virginia which ended up being a blowout! The next game (which we thought would be a blowout) was Missouri vs. Norfolk St. It was one of the best upsets of the tourney, and Nate and I were so glad we decided to go!

The Theurers were excellent hosts and really catered to us! They made great BBQs!

In planning with Al and Pete we decided to take advantage of being in the Midwest to see some of the church history sites so we rented a van and drove through Missouri and Kansas on Saturday!

Adam-Ondi-Ahman was one of our favorite sites. It is so beautiful there. In the car we read about the significance of this place and the history of the people who have set foot here. Nate said it was the best because of its "historical significance, present importance, and future promise" or something profound like that...

Next, was on to Liberty Jail. There is a museum built around the jail, and they now have it cut out so you can see inside. We had a great time learning about that trial, and the trials of the saints in Missouri.

The new Kansas City Temple is going to be dedicated in April.

The dedicated temple site at Independence, MO. Missouri is such a beautiful place, and I can imagine it is even prettier in the summer when everything is green. Owen and Anders were such troopers all day going to all of the church sites. It was so fun to play with them!

At the end of the day we stopped at this cool shopping center called Legends in Kansas City for dinner. Owen and Anders were pumped about the dinosaur place!

Nate was pumped about the middle distance running legend statues.

Even though we had been there before we had to go to the Mormon Trail Center in Omaha. Ali served her mission in Omaha and spent a lot of her time at the trail center, so it is always fun to go. It is amazing to hear stories about the pioneers and their journeys to Salt Lake. Owen and Anders have been there so many times they new exactly what were the fun things to show us!

What a fun trip it was! Nate and I were so glad to take a "spring break" and were glad to spend time with Theurers before they move to Dallas in May.