Summer Here, Summer Not

Well, we could have titled this post "A Summery Summary Part 2", with it being a continuation of our previous post of summertime festivities, but I felt so emotionally captivated by the title "Summer Here, Summer Not". Quite a ring, right? One of our favorite things we did in August was to attend the Davis County Fair. They had a darling petting zoo, free pony rides, and raucous rides to ride. We can't wait to go again next year!


Here is Summer admiring the fowl display. She adored meeting all of the animals and they, in turn, tried to look their best and even flirted with her a little. Cute!

Summer had them eating out of her hand! Here she is, hand-feeding the babies a culinary delight of supremely luscious and flavorsome straw. Summer loved feeding and petting the animals, and squealed in delight!

Holy Cow! Summer was chosen by the farmer to milk the cow! She felt so excited and proud.

Let us take a moment to admire this curious animal's caramel colored highlights, tousled bangs, well-placed horns, and enigmatic pose for the camera. So deeply dramatic...

...and this handsome creature posed for our camera, providing an excellent view of his captivating profile, which he knew only served to emphasise his sweeping eyelashes, stately horns, and platinum goatee. Not to mention, his stylish number badge and thoughtful, somewhat pensive expression. Haha!

I walked beside Summer, protectively holding her waist as she rode her pony so she'd be safe. I tried not to giggle, though, as she repeatedly swatted and batted my hands away, saying, "No Mommy - don't hold me!"

She loved the rides and wasn't a bit scared!

"Yes, and as I ride this flying contraption, I am prepared to patiently pose for the insistent and demanding papparazzi, who choose to follow my every move. It's the price I pay for being a famous sought-after star... or at least a darling toddler."

We, on the other hand, have no papparazzi tracking us, so we are therefore forced to take photos of ourselves.

A Summery Summary

Fall has fallen! I always feel excited for each new season that is upon us, while remembering the happy memories of the previous one. Here are some highlights of our fanatic fun this last summer!

Sugary hugs mixed with cotton candy at the Fruit Heights Founders Day Celebration...

Cookies and flowers! We bake cookies at LEAST twice a week at our house and I love Summer's help in the kitchen. This was a snickerdoodle batch!

The beauty and the bewitchery of our Summer in the summer!

The Relief Society Fiesta! Jerald and I dressed up in Mexican garb for the occasion. The extra length of Jerald's sideburns and the "chin thing" were the artistic results of my eyeliner pencil! That night, he and I performed a dance number for the ladies that included a mixture of samba, paso doble, cha-cha-cha, salsa, and mambo! ¡Tiempos buenos!


This is my cute friend Wendy Orme. The night of the fiesta, I MADE her strike a theatrical pose for this picture. She'll desire my violent death for posting this, but we're hot shots in this hot shot!

Mi familia feliz!

The 24th of July! We attended the Pioneer Day parade in Ogden with Jerald's family. In the below shot, Summer looks understandably concerned about this green-haired, clownish, irregular, yet decidedly cheerful man-character.

That evening, we all went to the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo. I LOVE rodeos! The excitement, the energy, the crowds, the blasting country music, and the amazing talent of the cowboys and girls. Summer had the merriest time too!

Jerald used the color swapping feature on our camera for this picture. It just signifies that Summer is a bright, blazing, lustrous flame of illuminated color in a world of gray...

Here is Summer with her adoring Aunt Becca. I love this shot!

Oh, I have so many more memories with pictures to post, and I'll do that in the coming days. What a happy summer we had! And I hope you did too!

Safety and Contentment

What a Saturday night to have for a Saturday night! I was privileged to attend the women's session of General Conference for my church at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City! My dear friend, Cheryl, shared tickets with me, my sister Steph, and our friend, Kirsten. Thanks, Cher! We sat on row six! So close that we could have hit Dieter F. Uchdorf with a baseball. Not that we would ever want to, seeing as he is so powerfully debonair. As they say in his native German ... such a "gut aussehender Mann!"


It was not a dramatically easy affair getting there that night, as I'd had a frantically busy day and experienced shockingly offensive construction traffic and other dark horrors on the drive to Salt Lake. Later, though, as I sat among the thousands of women, listening to words so enlightening, brightening, and "right"-ening, I felt overcome with a feeling of happiness and ... safety. I knew I was right where I was supposed to be, doing just what I was supposed to be doing. And isn't there is a feeling of cozy security that comes from doing what is good and right? I thanked my Heavenly Father for a wonderfully uplifting night and for the happy fact that I could personally return President Monson's energetive wave. And I'm thanking Him still!