Back in the 801... or 385??

Side note: If you're confused by the 385 someone told me Utah is adding another area code, and I think they told me it was 385. I could be wrong though. But I'm thinking I'm 76 % right on this one.

This week was a crazy week. An emotional week. We laughed, we cried, we ate way too much- (okay maybe it was just me) -but the most important part about this week was that my brother came home from his mission!!! Being the first mission homecoming in my immediate family we were all stoked as could be, maybe even blowing it a little overboard... no, I don't think so actually. It was so great to see him.

Let me set the scene for you... We were running late already to pick Jordon up from the airport... (why does that always happen on important dates!) Jory drove and all of us "back seat drivers" wouldn't lay off of him to tell him to drive faster. As some of you may know he drives like a grandma usually, but he went totally out of his comfort zone and drove 15 over. We were so appreciative. As we "app-ed" Jordon's incoming flight we found out his flight was AHEAD of schedule 5 minutes... all of our hearts sunk to our stomachs and we kept replaying Jordon coming down the escalator stairs with everyone else cheering for their homecoming missionaries and Jordon not having a familiar face in sight. That would have been awful and let's just say Jordon wouldn't have referred to us as "his family" anymore after a traumatizing event like that.

After what seemed like an eternity of swerving in and out of solid road lines, quick halts and go's ... we finally got to the drop off cite...
Jory still driving, screamed back for us all to jump and that he was going to just keep driving. He had NO TIME TO STOP!! All of us threw open the 3 car doors all at the same time and jumped out of the moving vehicle ... Just kidding. But really though, we looked and felt as though we were in a movie, Home Alone quite possibly, running through the airport, literally at a full on sprint, to make sure we could see Dodees face while coming down the stairs.

: ) We made it.


Slowly moving down the escalator stairs... our view...
brown suit pants- definitely floods, a brown vest and suit jacket-definitely a western suit, a bolo tie, and to top if off a 50 gallon cowboy hat. (just kidding I don't know the correct gallon termonology for cowboy hats). IT WAS JORDON! Best moment ever.

crappy picture I know, but it was the best I could do while shaking

Mama

I wish they always dressed like that

ahhsohappee

So how appropriate would cake pops with ties on them be to celebrate?

Like brother like sister. We can't handle the flash. I had no idea he was down with the sickness like me.. soooo good to have him home! : )

we go green, we ride bikes

So, okay, we really don't go green all the time.

We don't really ride bikes that often at all, we just got them. But, we like to think we're pretty great at it.

Except... when instances like Saturday happen, after 30 minutes of your flat road bike riding- which really, I'll be honest here ... burned my child bearing hips and thighs, (no, no child bore from those hips yet if you were wondering). We got to a hill. A measly little hill. Jor yelled to me asking if we could do it, and acting like he was crazy because it was so small, I yelled back, "totally!"- easy for a pro like me, right?

Needless to say, if you were a plain jane passerby, driving down a Saratoga Springs road early Saturday morning, this is what you would have seen.
At almost the base of a hill, you know... possibly the hill was at a slight increase- but definitely not near the top. You would have seen a girl, in her early twenties, standing next to her bike. Not on her bike, trying to defeat that hill, no, she didn't make it that far. She would have been breathing hard, she was pale, and wobbling back and forth because she was dizzy and quite possibly was about to vomit.

At least one of us made it to the top. As you can read, I am absolutely terribly out of shape. Honestly, I can barely walk today. (Not sure if I should be admitting this all..) But, I promise you by the end of this summer I will conquer that hill.

Jory surprised me with these awesome new helmets. He was so excited about his green beaut. He is so cute. But, every time I look at him with his helmet on, this is what I think of. . .


Oh, I love him. (Jory, not the mushroom.)

the worst best things about camping

Friday after work Jory, nervous, came to tell me that he had just spent 80$ on a annual "national park and canyon pass". Which A. That makes me feel like a terrible wife that he would be nervous to tell me that he had just spent 80$! Ha, but maybe it was the fact that I had just told him we reallllly needed to start pinching our pennies 'cause he is going to take me to Sweden next year!

So, that impulse buy sparked a impulse camping trip for the night. We called my little brothers, met at Am Fork canyon, and Jor was able to cruise right on by the lengthy line of guests getting ready to pay their 6 dollar fee to go into Am Fork canyon... We had the annual pass baby! Haha, Jory held his "member id" card up in the window and drove by like he was thee shiz I tell you. It was hillarious. Honestly, I don't think anyone was looking when he held up that card with pride, but we all pretended for Jory. He's pretty cool.

We went up past Silver Lake Flat and hiked about a 1/2 mile to a pretty secluded area and camped. Why is it that...

1. Someone always ends up dropping at least one hot dog in the fire

2. It's such a difficult task to pee outside. Trying to position myself from being hidden from my brothers, the main trail AND making sure to not actually go on my shoes- okay I know too much information...it was really tough. Oh what a concept that is just so much easier for the male gender.

3. On the same subject, the smell of the campfire after your husband and two little brothers decided to urinate to put the glowing fire coals out completely out before you go hit the tent

4. Finding good wood. : ) After a very wet spring, everything is wet- including the wood you need for fire wood! Even with Jory's mad fire making skills we couldn't get FIA going. . . Nothing was starting.. and we had forgot our kindlin.. haha such a funny word. So, thank goodness for camping chairs with their big papery/fabric-y material tags, we ripped off the tags and were able to start a fire with those. Just not a real camping trip with a fire to roast your smores.

5. Cleanliness kind of disappears. How is it, that when you're outside... the concept of cleanliness seems to disappear. I mean heaven forbid... you usually end up having dirt under your nails (i'm being serious here that is one of my biggest pet peeves- and I have been known to try to have Jor scrape the soap to clean under those claws of his). Your nose get's wiped on your sleeve, the dirt or mud wiped on your pants, and you eat marshmallows off of sticks.

6. Why is it that you always end up putting your tent on the rockiest spot possible in the whole Rocky Mountains. Yes, that spot that is so rocky you have to sleep with your body twisted and contorted into awkward positions to avoid the jagged rocks that feel like boulders under your thin sleeping bag.

7. How I somehow always manage to end up eating it, yes, falling where ever I go. I hope other people have this problem. Whether it's hiking, or just sitting in a camping chair. Yes, that happened. I fell on top of the wood pile while reaching for a stick- mind you I was sitting, in a chair. I have bruises to prove it to you, but I don't think Jor would appreciate it if I showed you those brusies. Oh, and when hiking back down in the morning, I also fell, and grew another knee cap. On my shin.

the second kneecap

Really though, camping wouldn't be camping unless all these things happened. I totally love it!