Searching For Wildfowers

In an attempt to get away from the heat this past weekend,
Joe and I along with my mother went up to Alta
to hike and enjoy the wildflowers.

Unfortunately the fields that were usually filled with wildflowers
were still under snow.
So we found another hike and hoped to find some flowers along the way.

It was a steep hike,
but there were a lot of views of the mountains and the city of Alta.

We did see some flowers along the way as well.

Near the top of the hike we saw this waterfall
that had broken its way through some snow.

We enjoyed the day
and we hope to find the time to do more hiking soon.

Stormy Weather

The rain and thunder storms have continued this week.
We can not remember a summer with this much rain.

The lawns are flooded with water!
On days like today it is hard to believe we live in a desert.

A Reason To Celebrate

Joe has been studying for a two part exam for the past few weeks.
This was no ordinary exam.
This test required Joe to memorize 37
different usage (what the rest of us call grammar) items.
For each one he had to memorize half a page's worth of information.
Each part of the exam would consist of 5 items,
totaling 10 items out of the original 37.
On test day the items would be picked out of a hat,
to ensure a non biased selection by the professor.
The first part was this past Friday.
Joe studied very hard to have each item memorized.
After taking the first part of the test,
Joe felt good about how he did but was sure he missed some points
of the many he had to remember.
Throughout the weekend Joe has continued to study.
His professor had emailed his class that 9 students got 50 out of 50.
Joe was hopeful one would be him.
Today we went to pick up the first part of the test.
I waited in the car while Joe ran in.
As he came back to the car I tried to read his face.
As he got in the car he told me he did not get 50.
I was surprised and shocked.
Then he told me he got 55 out of 50!!
110%
Did I mention this exam is 35% of his total grade???
He worked so hard and he received a great reward!
The second part of the test is tomorrow,
but he is not studying tonight.
His professor said if anyone got 50 out of 50
they did not have to take the second part of the exam.
Instead of being in class bright and early he will be sleeping in
and enjoying the morning with me!
Way to go Joe!!

Ah What?

*Gross Photo Alert*

Tonight Joe met our upstairs neighbor.
This giant spider made a nice home on the roof above our patio.
Joe sprayed it with some wasp spray we had on hand
and the spider jumped from its home and
began dangling from its webbing.

After thinking it was dead,
Joe grabbed some cardboard to move it.

It was still showing signs of rigor mortis.
(For those of us who are not Joe-
rigor mortis is when an insect, or any animal, moves after death.)
Moments after we took this picture,
the spider jumped up and tried to get away.
Joe immediately took charge and the spider was dead
before I blinked my eyes.
(Those pictures are too gross to post)

I still can't believe I was out there during all of this.
Let's hope we did not contract some kind of spider disease.

Parking Lot Remodel

For the past three weeks our parking lot
has been torn up and fixed up.

It all began with a crew removing chunks of the lot.
Then these chunks were refilled
and the lot was left alone for another week.

A week later tar was placed over the cracks.

Finally we have a new parking lot.
Our numbers were sprayed on just today.

This same thing happened to us last year
at our old apartment.
Let's hope we don't have to do it all again next year.

Keeping Cool

Living on the third and top floor of our apartment complex
keeps things pretty hot.
Summer has made our little apartment too hot to stand.
Luckily, we have now received an air conditioning unit.
This is a picture of our make shift structure
to keep the unit from falling down.

This is our cardboard and duct tape tube
that funnels the condensation from the unit into the bucket.
Pretty resourceful huh?

We are keeping cool now
and enjoying the summer weather from inside
our little ice box.

A Late Night Treat

Delicious Buttercream Frosting

3 sticks butter, softened
6 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Milk as needed

This recipe makes a ton of frosting.
I made half of this recipe and it covered all of my cupcakes!

I got this recipe from a family friend's blog.

Visitors From Across The Pond

Alisa, Euan and Eleanor traveled from Scotland to visit us.
Here we are at the airport greeting them.

Meeting baby Eleanor for the first time!!

Here is the rest of the Post family running with excitement
to greet our far away family.

Some bonding time for me and Eleanor.

Little Eleanor loves her Uncle Joe.

Everything goes into this darling mouth.

...even Uncle Joe's nose.

Sleeping away.

The Whole Family.

Eleanor is passing all kinds of wisdom to me here.

No explanation needed.
I love this picture.

Big beautiful cheeks and eyes.

Eleanor is loving life and enjoying some cool ice chips.

Spending some time with Uncle Joe.

Me and Miss Eleanor.

Eleanor loved to eat at my hair.

We all had an amazing month as our wee visitors and family were here.
We made lots of great memories
and we got to meet the newest member of our family.

Until next time...
see you soon.

The Rainbow Out My Window

This was the view from our apartment tonight.
It was a beautiful beginning to another storm.

Happy Independence Day!

Joe and I had a great 4th of July!
The day began with the traditional Family Breakfast.
We get together at a local park and eat amazing food
and catch up with the extended family.

We had a parade after breakfast
where all of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren
followed behind grandpa as he led us along the track.

We followed up the parade by taking turns pitching and batting.
We couldn't have have asked for a better weather day.
I loved not feeling the overwhelming heat beat down on me.

That night we went to Liberty park for the fireworks show.

We had an amazing seat for the show!
We felt very blessed to be able to celebrate this day
with our family and with our county.

A New Favorite

I got this recipe from a ward activity.
It is wonderfully smooth and fresh.
It is a great drink to have over this 4th of July weekend!

Brazilian Lemonade

2 limes
1/2 or 3/4 cup sugar (Depends on how tart you want your drink)
3 Tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
2 1/2 cups water
8-10 cubes of ice

Wash limes thoroughly.
Cut off the ends and slice into eight wedges.
Place limes in a blender with the sugar,
sweetened condensed milk, water and ice.
Blend ingredients together pulsing 5-10 times.
Strain through a fine mesh strainer to remove rinds.
Serve over ice.
This recipe is perfect for two large servings
or four small servings.

A Break From The Storm

The sun was trying to peek through the clouds
as the wind was blowing and thunder was clapping.

We love stormy days.

Rodeo Roundup

Joe and I went to the Lehi Roundup Rodeo with some friends.
We had a blast!
We loved seeing the roping, racing and of course the bull riding.

Can you see the excitement beaming from our faces?

We were right up front.
We could see all of the action.

There was even an amazing motor cross show before the end of the night.
The riders were flipping and doing handstands in the air.

We had a great time at the rodeo!!