June 2014

Our first month of summer was fun and busy.  We are definitely enjoying the break from school!!

Devin is really enjoying working at Firehouse Subs and the library.  We went to Firehouse one evening when he was working and got to see him in action making sandwiches. :)

We had my nephew, Brandon, and his wife, Nicole move in with us for the month of June when they unexpectedly had to move out of their old apartment.  It was fun having them living with us for a few weeks!  After much searching, they found an apartment in Provo that was just right for them and moved out on July 8th.  Autumn especially was sad to see them go.

Autumn spent her one week of summer off of dance doing a hip hop dance intensive called Lovolution.  She danced various styles of hip hop with some very fun and talented instructors for 6 hours each day Monday-Wednesday.  She was exhausted and learned a ton.  Then, on Thursday, the dancers spent the entire day filming a hip hop music video at various locations all over the valley.  They had 4 different dance themes – Asian, Latin, Bollywood and Haitian and they had different locations, costumes, hair and make up for each style.  Autumn had to be in SLC at the Paul Mitchell salon at 7 am to get her Asian hair and make up done, then it was off to the International Peace garden in West Valley for the Asian shoot, then back to Highland for Latin hair and make up and the Latin shoot, up AF Canyon for the Bollywood shoot, then back to Highland to have Haitian hair and make up done and to shoot the finale.  She wasn’t done until 9 pm – exhausted and happy.  We got to see the premiere of the music video on Friday evening and it turned out pretty awesome – Autumn sure loved the experience!

We have been trying to do something fun as a family every Friday that we are in town and have enjoyed visits to the new Natural Curiosity Museum, the Dinosaur Museum and farm country so far.  We also visited a Farmer’s market where we got to sample waffles from the Waffle Love truck – yum!!

Bryce and the boys went to High Adventure for a week in Moab and Glenwood Springs, Colorado.  They had fun biking, hiking, repelling, white water river rafting and visiting an amusement park in Glenwood Springs.  They came home with lots of fun stories to share.  I think they had the most fun repelling, but conquering the slick rock bike trail in Moab is definitely a huge deal for all of them.

While the boys were gone, Autumn and I enjoyed some girl time together.  We decided last minute to have an overnighter in Park City and had a good time riding the Alpine coaster and alpine slide as well as doing some hiking, movie watching and shopping. 

Autumn went with the other Activity day girls to a day camp at Camp Jeremiah on what must be the coldest day in June history ever.  After trying archery, some water activities and having a picnic lunch in freezing rain, they finally gave up once the thunder and lightning started.  Autumn still had a great time despite the freezing weather.

Megan continues to do great as a missionary in Houston.  June started out really rainy and has since turned super, super hot and humid – good thing she is unflaggingly optimistic and cheerful – I’m not sure I could survive being out in the heat and humidity nearly all day every day.  She celebrated her 20th birthday on June 24 and her year mark on July 3. :) :)

Notice the awesome watch tan line in the above picture – Megan has never been tan in her entire life, until now. :)

On June 25, we started our 12 day vacation to the Northwest by driving to visit my dad in Seattle. We toured around the city for the next 3 days and had so much fun visiting the Ballard Locks, the EMP museum, the American Girl doll store, Pikes Place market, and taking a cruise to Tillicum Island where we enjoyed an Indian feast and story-telling and dance program.  It was a really fun few days and so nice to be cool for a change. :)

The picture above was taken at the EMP museum in front of a green screen exhibit.  Devin had no idea that I was attacking him with a hammerhead shark, which just makes his expression that much better.

We drove to Tigard on June 29, where we spent a couple of days with Grandma and Grandpa Ririe before driving to Sunrivier for the Ririe family reunion.  While we were in Tigard, we decided to follow Tami’s example and hike the 4T’s trail, which we really loved!  We were blessed with a crystal clear day and were able to see Mt. Hood, Mt. Ranier, Mt St Helens, and Mt Adams from the highest point on the hike.  Grandma and Grandpa didn’t join us for the hike, but met up with us at OHSU and took the tram, trolley and train rides with us, which was lots of fun.  We also hiked up to Oneonta Falls on a very hot day and enjoyed the gorgeous and bone chilling hike up the river to the falls.  After the hike, we had a picnic lunch up the gorge and really enjoyed the scenery. 

You will have to tune in next month to hear about the Ririe family reunion in Sunrivier since technically that was in July. ;)  Hope you all have a great month!!