Mack's Inn....er.....Island Park

So our crazy month of July ended with a week long trip to Island Park. Brett's family typically has a little vacation up here every other year, but due to work and less lodging than in the past, we had the whole condo to ourselves. Even though the idea of just the two of us was tempting, we figured a few friends would be nice to help keep us company. It worked out pretty nice because we ended up having the place to ourselves for a few days before everyone else came up. We did some nice off roading, hiked to a few geocaches, went golfing, enjoyed a little swimming, played a little ping pong, and did a lot of nothing.

Our Tooele friends, Scott and Brianna, were able to come with their two kids. We also had Dy's sister, Michelle, and old roommate, Shan, with their husbands, Andrew and Jed. It was a great mix. We enjoyed a few nice ATV rides, spent a day in Yellowstone, floated the river, fed some BIG fish, did some more golfing, and stopped by Mesa Falls. We even have the pictures to prove it.

Brett & Dy excited about their geocache finds. If you haven't done it before, you should try it out. It is a fun way to hike and explore some different scenery. It is basically high-tech treasure hunting.

Playing around on the golf course.

Enjoying a nice ATV ride into Montana with Scott and Brianna.

What a view from the top of Two Top looking into Montana near West Yellowstone! We were suppose to remind Brianna it was pretty cold up there (see the snow in the background) even in the middle of July.

We got a little dirty from the ride back especially. The trail we planned to take across Elk Meadows was closed. Rather than backtracking over the top of the mountain again, we had the brilliant idea to look for a trail off of the highway. After 9+ miles of riding down the semi-busy highway with kids crying, wives cursing, and the boys looking out for the "Twig Pigs," we finally were off the highway. Although not the safest route, it was quite funny, much faster, and does give a pretty good story to tell. (I am sure the future grandkids will get tired of it)

Yellowstone

Some nice falls just outside of Mammoth.

What is it Dy and Grant see?

Oh, that.

We all made quite the hike down 324 stairs for this beautiful view of Lower Falls. Even though it was worth the hike, it isn't something we recommend doing daily.

Of course we did Old Faithful, especially since we had a few Yellowstone virgins with us.

Some of us took one more trip back into the park for the evening with the hopes of seeing more wildlife. We saw about five wolves, several elk (even within about 20 yards), the buffalo crossing the road, eagles, deer, pelicans, geese, but no bears. However, Scott & Brianna stuck around for one more day to see some grizzlies in Lamar Valley at the northeast corner of the park.

The bison are everywhere in Hayden Valley.

On the way home we stopped by Mesa Falls near Ashton.

Overall, it was a great trip. We still have to share pictures from some of the others and maybe post a few more pics as well. Can't wait for another two years to return.

Wet n' Wild

July is our crazy month. After spending a busy fourth weekend with both families, Dy headed up on Monday to Bear Lake with the Woolley clan for the annual family reunion/party. With work, Brett wasn't able to make the trip until Wednesday evening. After several days of golf, beach, wave runners, floating tramps, and plenty of games, there were definitely some red skin being flashed around. And if that wasn't enough, Friday and Saturday was spent on the Snake River soakin' up some more rays.

This week was a great week to relax...almost. Since we have Island Park on Saturday, this week is crammed with work, errands, packing, and cooking to prepare for next week. We were actually able to fit in a Temple session in Tuesday night which was very nice.

We will work on getting some more pictures, but for now, this will have to suffice.

Wrigley Field

So Brett took a trip to Chicago for work a couple weeks ago and was able to see his second favorite baseball field. It wasn't quite the same as Fenway was a year ago, but still a great ballpark.

Enjoying Wrigley

The view from the seat

The Chicago River

La Cucaracha

Okay, after playing around with JibJab again, I figured I should make another post...this time with my parents. Enjoy.

Don't send a lame eCard.
Try JibJab Sendables!

The Dancin' Halls

We found this amazing video of Dy's sister an just had to post it. Nice moves, Jill!

Relay 4 Life

This past weekend, we had our walk for Relay For Life to help raise money for the America Cancer Society. First off, thank you to all of those who helped with any kind of donation. It was pretty fun. A lot of the teams sleeps overnight, but since our time was from 10:00 to 11:00 we just stayed at Brett's parents' house.

We almost feel a little guilty, too. They have a Luminaria Lighting Ceremony at 10:00. By the time that was over, we only ended up walking about 25 minutes. All in all, we enjoyed the evening and it was for a great cause.

Disturbing Pictures

Warning!!!

Disturbing Pictures Below?

Below is an example of what you get when you combine a weekend of camping, two weeks of laziness, a razor, and an afternoon with two people who have a little time to kill.

We created this post a couple weeks ago but never posted it since there were several other posts at the same time. But after informing a few people the pictures existed, we finally succumbed to peer pressure and figured we could embarrass ourselves...or at least Brett. And don't say we didn't warn you!

What Brett and Dy might look like if they lived in a trailer in Alabama.

It's Official

We heard back from the builder and everything is signed and ready to go. Now we just have to sit down and discuss some of the preferences we have with them. The complete date we signed on is November 14 with a little leeway. Bottom line, we should be residents of Tooele for the holidays.

Our Future House?

After countless hours of searching for houses on the internet we decided to take the adventure to look in person at a few houses. Thanks to Kim (Dy's old roommate and now cousin through marriage) we saw eight different houses on the north side of Tooele. We originally were looking for Stansbury, but found a lot more house for the same money in Tooele.

The first home we walked in we fell in love with. It has 3,330 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 1 "great room" 2.5 baths and unfinished basement. The house wouldn't be completed until the end of June. It seemed like the perfect place. Here is a link to a website that has the layout. We checked out all the other houses, but still felt this house was for us. After coming home and checking on the internet the house no longer appeared available. Our hearts sank!! Oh no!!!

After calling our agent, we found out the house went under contract that afternoon. Someone had put an offer down the night prior to us walking through the house. But, the great news came when the listing agent informed us the contractor has several other lots in the area and would build us the same house for 5,000 less and add in a gift certificate for a fridge if we could get pre-approved this week and put some money down for an earnest deposit. He also noted we could pick the exterior and interior colors and designs etc..... He could have the house finished in about 5 months. We were ecstatic. After all, we are currently in an apartment with no contract and could can save more money to put down a bigger down payment. It couldn't be more perfect.

We are getting pre-approved this week for the loan amount and hope all turns out well. The most exciting thing would be to have all our belongings under one roof. Thanks to both parents, several siblings, and even aunts who have so graciously let us invade and store our "stuff." Hopefully it all works out!!! Tooele here we come..."forever and forever in Tooele!"

So technically, this wouldn't be our exact house, but it would be built almost exact with a few changes we can add. It will give you - and us - a pretty good idea, though.

Entry way from the top of the stairs.

Entry way from bottom of the stairs.

Master Bedroom

Brett Turns 29

Brett turned 29 yesterday. That morning Brett had a golf tournament for the South Jordan Chamber, but after four holes the tournament came to an abrupt end, due to heavy rain. We spent the day doing absolutely nothing but, watching T.V.,relaxing and playing our new favorite game Scramble and Wordtwist together. Granted Brett rocks at these games, his vocabulary is astounding. Later that night, we went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. We meet up with friends and family to enjoy the evening. Just FYI --always expect at least an hour wait when visiting the delicious diner. Brett's surprise for the day was tickets to the Dave Matthews Concert this August. It was a nice relaxing day spent with one another. Brett thanks for being so fantastic and the perfect companion. Once again, Thank you for everything you are for me and I love the life we share together. Hope you enjoyed the day! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!