The HOTTEST place to visit . . . Merced!!! (Mostly because of the people who live there)

Mike & I flew into San Fran. a few days ago and fake kidnapped my brother Brandon (he totally went willingly - it was just my idea) to go and visit our other brother Sean and his family in Merced, Yay!! It was fun to see where they live and hang out with Sean and Patty and hug, cuddle, and kiss my two nephews!! Lots of play and good times. Thanks Sean and Patty! We miss you guys!

Visit To India??

Mike is taking this really cool class right now called 'World Religions'. When I heard he was taking that class I begged him to let me tag-a-long. He won't let me - something about not me not being a paying student and school regulation and honesty blah, blah, blah.
BUT, I do get to join him on his school projects. Some of which are going to a service of a religion not familiar to the student and attending different cultural festivals or celebrations of some type.

The first one we've been to was actually a Hindu Festival that turned out to be much more authentic than I could have imagined.

We drove 40 min. to Spanish Fork, Utah to find the location. This particular area has a lot of cute, older houses that eventually gave-way to farmland and rolling green hills near the base of the mountain range.

Never did I expect to see THIS . . .



I got really excited at that point - a Hindu Temple! You cant get much more authentic than that for $3.00! The architecture was beautifully designed and of course the inside was very ornate.


There was a lot of music being played, dancers from local and national areas as well as a few from India. Many Hindus were present, most dressed in authentic robes.











We had the very tasty food that was prepared - I have no idea what it was. We were able to go through the temple on a self guided tour. We had to take off our shoes before entering the temple.











They had mantra chants and discussions open to the public within the temple.


Before we left we saw a woman working with thread on a man's face. I had to get closer to realize what she was doing.


She had the string intertwined between forefinger and thumb of each hand as was twisting while jerking upward. Each time she did this the man winced. She was tweezing!!

A Fond Farwell to Summer

As the days pass I notice signs of Fall approaching - no matter how much I to try to deny it. So here is a recap of some sweet memories we've collected over the Summer. . .
(P.S. If photos are too small, click on the slideshow)

Jordanelle State Park

Mike and I went to Jordanelle State Park over the weekend to visit with his dad.





His brother and fam. met us up there later. Mike was packing all this stuff and I saw my "puffy" on the bed ready to go (Definition of Puffy - basically a big fluffy down jacket. I call it my puffy) and I thought, "Geez, that's a little excessive . . . " As soon as we finally got there and I stepped out of the car, I jumped back in and closed the door. Ittt'sss frreeeeezzing-g-g. Mike just laughed and pulled out the puffy. I don't think I'll ever adjust to the changing of seasons after growing up all my life in an area that stayed a pleasant 75-80 degrees all year long.

The first day we went running and later flew our kites. I still don't really have any pictures of this. We now have 5 kites all different sizes (for kiteboarding). It's pretty fun. We actually don't get to do it as often as we like, which also makes the learning curve last longer.



The next day we went to one of my favorite places, Cascade Springs.






















It's a bunch of water terraces and waterfalls that are created by water that comes up from an underground reservoir. It looks very much like a Japanese garden.


Later that day Mike's dad was called out to tow in a stranded boat from off the lake. So we went along and got a tour of the lake. I got to (drive?) the boat!










































The last day Mike, David (Mike's brother) and I tried kiteboarding on the lake. We rented a jet ski to pick up the stranded kiter. I was driving the jetski around with David and we went to go get Mike out of the water. As David was pulling Mike onto the jetski it started to tip almost completely on it's side! We all tried to highside and level it all out, but at some point I heard someone slip and then a VERY loud "OOOuuchhhh!! OW!" someone was very hurt. It turned out that David had fallen directly on his tailbone. Howling from pain and taking controlled breaths he requested that I don't go over any bumps, which made us laugh because that is almost impossible on a lake! I did my best and we got him to shore. Shortly thereafter, he and the fam. packed their things to go to the emergency room. David obviously couldn't sit to drive, so he was placed in the honorary spot in the back of the car. I got these parting photos and was suddenly having de-javu.

These two are definitely related.

Mike one month ago.

David last week.

My 3's

3 Joys
1. My HUSBAND!
2. My Family
3. My Friends

3 Fears
1. Being stopped in traffic underneath a freeway bridge.
2. Sky Diving
3. Loosing my pinky toe






3 Current Goals
1. Staying in-shape / Running 6 miles
2. Finding a job . . . does it count as a goal if I'm not trying that hard?
3. Learning how to play tennis! I just started a week ago - so fun!





3 Current Obsessions
1. Blogging & checking out other's blogs! Hellooooo, I am SO obsessed.
2. Running & weight lifting.
3. Eating!! I love new recipes and trying out restaurants from different cultures. (Thus the reason I need to have obsession #2)




3 Random Facts
1. I never blow my nose. (I just have never needed to, I know, it's weird. I sometimes wonder what my nose blowing would sound like)
2. I lost my last tooth when I was 19 years old. (Reason: I was born without an adult tooth to push the thing out! So eventually it broke in two pieces while chewing gum one day leaving a nice gap. So I now have three fake teeth to replace the one - stupid dentist sawed down the two on either side of the gap)
3. I love freaking myself out with a good scary movie.

Tomato Chomper

Today my niece and I went outside to find

any plump rubies on the tomato vine.

I'll usually take her out to help pick the

ones that are ready and she's a great helper!

I was really happy with the amount of tomatoes we were picking

and that she was doing so well at picking just the red ones.

This is a pic of her just after sneezing on the two in her hand.

Yeah, gross.

Look at all those tastey treats! Fresh and Juicy!

She's also good at snacking while working.

At least it's healthy, so I didn't say anything.

But I had my back to her for too long . . .

Hey, where'd all those tomatoes go?!