My summer book...

Well it only took me a whole summer to get through it but I can now cross this off the list as well.

I wanted to read a good book over the summer and I was referred The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by quite a few people.

So I hopped online and bought it. Because summer is so busy, it literally did take me the whole summer to read it but I enjoyed it.

Usually when anyone tells me about a movie or a book I always go into it with an open mind and no expectations, so that I can give it my own thoughts. But because this book came so highly recommended I will admit I went in with high hopes.

Also..nerd alert! I Love reading/learning about World War 2. And the book is based around that time.

Its about an author who is looking to write a book about World War 2. She gets in contact with a farmer from the Island of Guernsey and they start writing back and forth. He is apart of a literary society they formed during the war. So everyone in the society starts to write this Author so she can write a book about what they went through during the war, while the Germans had occupied their island.

There were a lot of characters to try and keep track of, and I didnt love the way the 2 authors wrote the book, but over all it was good! The whole book is written as letters, which was interesting and a nice change. It took me awhile to get into it, but once I did I enjoyed it. Cant say that I loved it, but I did like it. I wont say a lot more in case anyone is interested in reading it.

I bought the book, so if anyone would like to read it, you are more then welcome to borrow my copy!

Also, this is not a very good review of this book, so dont take my word for it. (Reading Rainbow right there :) )

Homemade Ice cream

About a month ago I made some homemade ice cream! It was my first time ever, so there are some things I could definitely improve on the next go around.
I looked everywhere for a good ice cream maker. I couldn't find a good size for a good price. I looked on KSL, I looked at Walmart, then my friend said she got a huge one at DI for $5. I hit up every DI in this valley and couldn't find one. (PS. I now have a huge love for the DI. I find all these things I feel I could make into a fun project) Anyway, my sweet sister brought hers out since I couldn't find one.
So the process began.



I don't know what it was about making the ice cream, but I was really excited. Some of the fam came over, and I really started to get sad that Summer is almost over. I have had some great times RELAXING this summer. Its been a summer I have never quite experienced, but I enjoyed it. It was good for me. My parents have a very peaceful backyard and my family has spent many hours chillaxin.
I love that my nieces and nephews love my dog so much. It is so fun to me. And since everyone in the fam has a spouse and kids, Ecko is kinda my second half. Haha, as lame as that sounds. But, the kiddos love her.

She has such a love for life. A great example to all of us.

Gus Man

My mom and Millie

The toppings
Butterfinger, Oreo, Peaches, Raspberries, Cookie Dough Bites, and Grahm Crackers


I was so patient. I let the ice cream maker do its thing, even longer then it told me to, and it still turned out like soup! I was kinda bummed. Oh well, everyone humored me and slurped their ice cream soup.
Mei Mei proudly showing her choice in toppings.

After we all had some ice cream soup I was cleaning up and put the left overs in the freezer. My dad later in the evening decided he wanted seconds. When I pulled it out, it was the perfect consistency. I wish I would have thought of that sooner.
Cute K Bell kissing Millie good night.

Even if it didnt turn out how I expected, I am still happy I attempted and get to cross it off the list! Next time is going to be awesome. Look out Cold Stone.

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My friend Lindsay and I went to the Farmers Market down town on Tuesday night. I enjoyed it. I did think it would be a lot bigger, but the taste testing was great.
I bought a loaf of cinnaburst bread, a basket of white nectarines, and some jalapeno jelly. I got a couple pictures but I looked like I was 400 lbs so they will not be posted.
Then this last weekend my brother and his family invited me up to the Park Silly Sunday Market (I think that's what the sign said). It was so great. I loved it. If you haven't been up there, I would totally suggest it. It was raining when we first got there, so I didn't take my camera in for the market, so again no pictures. But the booths were great, the food was good, the music was fun...just over all a great time. Thanks for the invite guys. I didn't buy anything, but there were a ton of things I wanted. There was a lady that would buy old vintage skirts, and sew little designs on them. If my legs were 2 inches longer, one of those skirts would have been mine! But, those old vintage style skirts that sit right below your boobs just don't look good on my body type. Oh, but they were so cute. I must have walked past her booth 10 times. After those 2 Farmers Market experiences, I will definitely go back. With lots of cash.

Swing Batter Batter

I played softball with my work again this season. And I found out that I am the WORST softball player out there. But, I sure had a great time. And everyone was always so nice to me. Even when I struck out....AGAIN and AGAIN..

I am SO incredibly lucky to have this woman in my life. I LOVE her so much. This is my Grandma Killian. And at the ripe ol age of 86 she came to a lot of my games, and sat on that hard concrete.

As I said earlier, I suck. Bad. So one game we didnt have enough girls and they stuck me as catcher. I loved it. You do like 100 squats a game, a way better work out then standing in right field and watching the ball whiz right over my head and way off from my mit that I stuck up there just to pretend like I was trying. Just kidding, I really did try. But I would be better off saying I didnt.
Heres the team! We took 4th place.

I really did have fun, even if Softball isnt my sport.

Raspberry Days

This is going to be a really long post, because there was a lot of fun had this weekend. And its so exciting because I got to cross off a ton of things on the summer to do list.
Growing up, we would go to Bear Lake all the time in the summer. It is my favorite childhood memories. I now have 2 cousins that live there year round so we have been going up over Raspberry Days and staying with them the last couple of years.
My cousin Ashley lives in Randolph just outside of Bear Lake, on a ranch. And I had such a blast.
My awesome brother and sister in law let me ride with them, which was so nice. Right when we got there, everyone was down by the dam hanging out. We drove to the dam and my Aunt Dana threw me, my brother and Mei Mei into the Kayaks within minutes of arriving. It was so fun. The dam in so pretty, and they had a system going where you would get in at the dam, and float down the river back to Ashleys house.
Here Is the dam where we started...

And here we are starting to float/kayak back to the house.

There were spots were the water was so shallow you could see part of the fish backs swim past us.
They had such a great system going where they would drive this cute little truck down by the river and drop it off and go back to the dam. So when we got to the house, the truck was there for us to load up, and take back up to the dam for the next pair to go down.
I got to drive the truck because I thought it was AWESOME. I saw them all over in Italy. The stirring wheel and shifting gear is all on the opposite side. I am already a horrible stick shift driver so to drive one all backwards was so much fun for me, and such a rough ride for my passengers :)

Kami & Dana- they had just dropped off the sweet car and headed back to the dam.

Their ranch was such a blast to hang out at. They have a million dogs which is heaven for me. 2 of their dogs had just had puppies! They were so cute.
K Bel loving the tractor

Kinley

My cousin Ashley and one of her dogs

We slept over at Ashleys house and had a fun dinner, and played a little Wii. We all had a blast.
The next morning after sleeping in a little, we got ready and headed to Laketown for the Raspberry Day festivities. We walked through the craft fair where I bought this cute little clock...

Then we had lunch and I finally got my Tigers Blood Snow Cone!

After hanging out at the fair for awhile we went to my other cousin Julies house. Julie lives right in Laketown close to the lake. She and her husband had a nice big BBQ at their house. All my cousins that were also up there came over and we sat by the camp fire. Julie is such an amazing cook, and was so nice to host all of us.
Julie has this fun little vehichle and all the girls thought we would take it for a spin and grab some shakes.

Little did we know we would run out of gas! We were all wearing dresses and pushing the car into the gas station. It was classic!

My cousin Matt taught me to shoot a bow and arrow. I am not good at all. Even though he put an arm gaurd on me, I still have a bruise on my fore arm because I sucked it up so bad.

I dont have a picture of this, but this was probably one of my favorite moments on the trip. Cody and Kami brought their bikes and Kam and I decided to take Kinley for a ride, while we waited for dinner. The best part is, Kami and I were both wearing dresses. Well it ended up not being a good idea at all. I kept losing my shoe and had to keep going back to get it, and kamis long cute dress got all wrapped up in her chain. I went to go help her, so she wouldnt rip her dress. Somehow my arm slipped and I clocked her right in the face. Still sorry Kam. Im going to go ahead and call that my long bike ride, not because of the distance, but because of how long it took us with traffic, me losing my shoe a hundred times, and trying to get Kams dress untaggled.
Me and Mei Mei sitting by the fire.

Check out those eyes...

For those of you who havent made it to the Raspberry days, my very favorite part is the light parade. At like 10 PM when its all nice and dark, we walk down to the beach and sit on the sand and watch a parade they do on water. The boat owners decorate their boats with lights and make a parade on the water. Its so much fun.
It was pitch dark and I couldnt figure out my camera settings so not a great picture.
The girls getting ready for the parade

Parade

After they had fireworks! I love fireworks, its like Christmas music to me..same thing every year, but never gets old :)
The next morning we got up, and headed to the beach. I didnt get a ton of pictures but it was so nice. The water was the warmest Ive felt in years. Such a great time.