San Francisco

So I had a break in the midst of all our packing and thought I'd post some pictures from my recent trip to San Francisco. Courtesy of my wonderful mother, I was able to go on a trip with her and my sis to one of our favorite cities. We saw "WICKED," went to Alcatraz, rode the trolley, shopped, ate wonderful food, and just had a great time with the girls. Thanks for a wonderful trip, Mom!!!


LOVED the show!!!



Had some fun times on the old San Fran trolley ride to Fisherman's Wharf. :)


Boats on the wharf.

Boat ride out to Alcatraz Island.

Alcatraz Island - loved this tour... so eerie and fun at the same time. Al Capone was a prisoner here!!


We were still excited about the show from the night before.....see a resemblance??
Hanging out in the hotel after a long day of shopping.

It was a great trip and I can't wait to go back!

BTW - I am now back in Spokane, packing up our cute little one-bedroom apartment. It is SOOOO sad. :( I really am going to miss it up here and we are having a hard time packing up our lives here..... Onward and upward, I guess!! It's just difficult to approach such big changes and dive into the unknown! Wish us luck; we'll back in UT in less than a week!

Dillon, MT

We just returned from a weekend of fishing in Dillon, Montana - a place I had never heard of before meeting Gage. It's been a longstanding tradition in Gage's family to visit this little town to go fishing. This happened to be my first time fishing in Dillon and I was happy to be a part of the family tradition.

Our fishing spot, the Big Hole, is an absolutely beautiful place. It was very secluded and peaceful; I fished a little bit, but really enjoyed relaxing by the river while reading my book.

We had so much fun hanging out with Gage's family; they are always so good to us and it was wonderful to be able to see them during our little weekend getaway.


Gage's grandpa is an expert fisherman; between him and the rest of the crew (Gage and his brothers and dad) there were A LOT of fish caught. I tried fishing a few times, but eventually gave up when I snagged my hook (for the 5th time) on rocks and objects OTHER than fish. Oh well, at least I tried..... maybe next year. :) This Labor Day weekend flew by so fast; it was great to spend it in the little town of Dillon with those we love.

City By the Sea

We just got back from a quick trip to Seattle! We flew over EARLY Friday morning to join my parents on their vacation. It was a wonderful trip and Gage and I are now both big fans of the city.

We started the day off by visiting the famous Pike's Place Market. It was quite the experience seeing all of the different vendors and all of the people! We bought a ton of fresh fruit for breakfast and it was DELICIOUS.




We returned a little later and found these....


Pikes Place also has the most beautiful (and most inexpensive) flower bouquets.



Later on we rode the monorail to get to the Space Needle. What a sight to see!


It takes about 42 seconds to get to the top and it was extremely cold and windy up there!!



Later that night, we walked over to SAFECO Field to catch a Mariners game - it was a riot...I'm not usually too into baseball, but I had a blast! The music, the peanuts, the hot dogs, the wave, the fans....there's nothing quite like being in a Major League Ball Park...it's just so...American. :)



On Saturday, we took a boat ride out on the Puget Sound (an arm of the Pacific Ocean) and saw how Seattle looks from the water. It really is a breathtaking city.


After a bit of shopping and more city sightseeing, we ended the trip by eating dinner and then watching the sun set on Pier 57.



Unforgettable - that pretty much sums it up! We had such a fabulous time and I hope I get to visit again soon. And as always, it was great to spend time with my parents. THANKS SO MUCH Mom and Dad for having us; we had a wonderful time!


Oh wait....you thought that was it, right? I just couldn't end this post without mentioning another unforgettable experience...
We encountered a bit of turbulence on our flight home. Gage happened to sit near someone who didn't have the strongest stomach. Yep, you guessed it...some guy got sick and blew chunks. I'll spare the gruesome details (if "chunks" wasn't gross enough), but just know that Gage got a little something on his shorts (and down his legs) that he wasn't planning on bringing home with him.