Cupcakes=Love

Bret and I have a cupcake story.

I had never had a gourmet cupcake.  Yep, way behind in the whole cupcake fad thing.  So one of our trips to DC I made Bret drive by DC Cupcakes which happens to be it's own show on TLC.  The line was out the door and around the corner which is normal for that place.  Obviously with four kids and in the middle of our sightseeing day we did not stop.  I have to admit there was a little disappointment felt on my part, but I totally understood why we made that call.

Then last fall when we were in New York we happened to walk right past Sprinkles!  I looked in the window and low and behold there was no line!  Yet we had just had breakfast and were trying to do New York on a pretty tight budget.  $4.00 cupcakes didn't fit in to that budget.  And so we kept walking.  This time the disappointment was a little stronger.

Fast forward to this last Spring when Bret is in California.  His parents came down to L.A. to spend a weekend with him.  I got a call from him and guess what they were doing...eating Sprinkles cupcakes.  I gave him a very hard time that he'll stand in a line and pay $4.00 for a cupcake with his parents but not me!!!

Move to July when Bret goes to L.A. for his final trip.  I picked him up from the airport to find that he had this lovely surprise for me.  

On his last day in L.A. before he headed to the airport he stopped by Sprinkles in Hollywood, stood in line, and bought not one, but three $4.00 cupcakes.  (He also discovered they have a cupcake ATM machine where you can select your desired cupcake and out it comes neatly wrapped in these cute little boxes.)

To me it was such a sweet, romantic gesture of love that made my heart do a little piter patter.

Yes, those cupcakes were amazing!  I now totally understand the whole gourmet cupcake thing.  

And thus, the happily ever after ending to our cupcake story.

Texas Sized

Ever have a Texas sized donut before?

Seriously, that's what they are called at the Provo Bakery.

Is it any wonder there is a build up of excitement over these things.

ice blocking

Another Utah favorite activity is ice blocking in Rock Canyon Park.  It's amazing the fun provided by $1.99 blocks of ice.

Bret's sister Ashley came with us and we had a great time with her that night.

This faced wasn't at all made for the benefit of the camera...thanks for the pose McKenna!

I See They Y

One thing we always do in our time out West is hike the Y.  Along with hitting the bookstore and going bowling in the Wilkinson Center when we're in town, it's part of the brainwashing we're doing to make our kids think there is no other place they'd even consider going to school.  It was fun to have my niece Lauren and her husband Paul join us this year.  Gavin loved being able to see with pride anytime we were driving in the car, "I see the Y.  Mom, remember when I hiked all the way up to the Y?"

We hiked it one evening with perfect timing to watch the sun set as we hiked back down.

Lake Tahoe

The second week of July has got to be one of our most favorite weeks of the whole year.  That's the week we spend in Lake Tahoe with the Daines extended family.  It means hours and hours of cousins, aunts and uncles.  Hours and hours at Meeks Bay.  Tahoe means hours in the water (either the pool or the lake), hours spent on the dock crawdad fishing.  Tahoe means making sure I bring a good book but then sitting with that book on my lap not opening up a single page to read because I'm having to much fun visiting with my sisters.  Tahoe means Bret taking each of the kids to do their own Tahoe adventure with him. Tahoe means chick lunch and favorite things.  Tahoe is nightly family gatherings for dinner, family home evening, polar bear plunge and adult family night.

Simply put, Lake Tahoe is my happy place.

This year I didn't wimp out and joined my family in the polar plunge.  It was Gavin's first year too.  And while it was scary for him to do it and lots of tears were involved, man that boy was pleased as punch with his accomplishment when it was all over!

Chick Lunch at Sunnyside

Meeks Bay is one of those places where we pack up and go in the late morning and stay all day until around 5:00 or later.  With my brother unable to come this year (and therefore his boat) we spent four days at Meeks.  But the place never gets old.  I could spend all day every day there for weeks on end.

Feet in the icy water for the first time...not the biggest fan.

Building a gigantic sand castle with Paul and Marcus

I love these boys...and so grateful Zachary has such wonderful cousins his age.

Zachary, Josh, Brendan, Scott and Will.

Zachary loved this raft and was in it any chance he got paddling himself around Meeks Bay.

Gavin loved being buried with sand, but not the cleaning off part in the cold water.

Grandpa got his yearly float in.

And then started a little water fight when he came back in...

Unsuspecting that Bret would come along and douse him with a bucket full of water.

Good thing he was such a good sport about it.

If Zachary was not out in the paddle boat he was usually at the rock.

Zachary and Brendan