Summer Fun!!!

We've done so many fun things this summer! Both of us have the summer off from school so we decided to take advantage of our time.  It's been lovely.  I've been able to do so many things that I wasn't able to do (or just keep up on) before.  Simple things such as: keeping the dishes out of the sink, keeping the kitchen clean period, keeping up on the laundry, taking Scout on frequent walks, keeping the lawn mowed, visiting and hanging out with friends, and taking some much needed "me time."  I've also been able to plan camping trips!!


The first thing we did this summer was Bryce Canyon.  It was the first time we've gone camping as a married couple.  It was so much fun!  Bryce Canyon was beautiful!  It really took my breath away.  The beauty was outstanding.  It really made me grateful to my Heavenly Father for giving us such beauty.  Since I've been home from my mission I've felt so distant from God and the church.  Not because I'm not trying, but (if you've served a mission you will know exactly what I'm talking about) on the mission you get the opportunity to be so close to the spirit and to God.  It's a feeling I miss so much.  Being "thrown" back into the world was really hard.  The only time I feel that closeness that I had on my mission is when I go to the temple.  That is why seeing Bryce Canyon was so amazing to me.  I got a little piece of that feeling that I had while being on my mission. I don't really know how to describe it but it was awesome and I will just leave it at that.  Anyway, I've been to Bryce before when I was a little girl.  So this trip also brought back so many fun memories of my childhood and I must say, I had a pretty awesome childhood!!  Here are some pictures!

Next we went up to Northern Utah to the hot springs camper world.  My parents have a membership with camper world so I thought it would be fun to visit some of the spots.  A bonus to these places is that each one has showers, nice bathrooms, swimming pools, basketball courts, and need I go further!?!  No!  Bryce Canyon was fun but we didn't have anywhere to shower!  I love to camp, but if I can't shower it makes the experience way too dirty for my taste. We went swimming in the natural hot springs, went on a walk, and sat around the fire while Mike read me "The Giver."  It was a really good book! I recommend you read it if you haven't.  We planned on staying 2 nights but ended up leaving after one because it got really windy.  Here is a picture of our camp spot.  

Next, Heritage Days!  Heritage Days is held the week before the 4th of July in Syracuse.  They have fun activities that happen every day.  They play movies on a big screen in the park, have pie eating contests, fun activities for kids, a carnival, fireworks, parade, breakfast, etc.  It's all really fun.  I love that Syracuse does this every year.  We went to the carnival and had dinner.  We went with my brother David and his wife Cori and their two SUPER DUPER cute kids.  We also met up with Dan and Sierra and Daphne.  It was fun being together with everyone.  Daphne is getting so big and she is ADORABLE!!  James (my brothers little boy) went on some rides which was awesome because he was so afraid of them last year!  It made this experience all the more fun.  Here are some pictures:

Spending all this time with little kids has really made me really baby hungry!  The time may be nearing to start thinking about it, lol ;).


We still have some other fun things planned this summer.  In a couple of weeks we are going up to Bear Lake for the Cooper Reunion.  Deborah will also be visiting in a couple of weeks which is ALWAYS fun!  We are also going down to Las Vegas in August to see one of my mission companions get married.  I'm really excited for that because we also got tickets to go see David Copperfield and we are staying at the Mandalay Bay hotel!


Another exciting thing is that I got my placement for my FINAL semester of school.  I will be student teaching at Mountain View Elementary in Layton.  1st grade for 6 weeks, and then 6th grade for 6 weeks and then, yep you guessed it, I'M DONE!  We will be celebrating my graduation in, yep you guessed it again, DISNEYLAND!!  This year has been and will be AWESOME!