War of the Colonels/Kernels

A few weeks ago, Taylor accidentally exploded a bag of popcorn kernels in our front closet.  Since then, we've found so many kernels in so many places....You think you picked them up all up, and then BAM! you step on one.  It's ridiculous.  And it hurts.  We can't even have buttered popcorn!!!  It's just taunting us...

They can be found anywhere, not just where they were originally exploded.  Bathroom, washing machine, bedroom, under the couch...

Tannin has been enjoying confused by trekking through empty cardboard boxes.

Lorien and I threw DeMarie a bridal shower in West Point with Michelle's help.

I didn't know kids were coming...

After the shower, we had fun visiting Grandma and Grandpa Drake's home where we met their 150 year old grand piano, and received some wonderful music books from Grandma.

Taylor has been really sick lately and then kindly gave it to me.

He always tells me he loves sharing experiences...

We went to the InstaCare because his throat was bleeding down the back of his esophagus.

But luckily I did not get sick until after I went to a conference for work.

We've been making lots of soups in bread bowls because it's hard for us to swallow.

 We also had fun making tomato basil soup from scratch.

We joined the wonderful wizarding world of Pottermore because you can't do a lot when you're sick.

I'm a Hufflepuff, with a unicorn hair wand. 12.25 inches and slightly flexible.

Taylor's a Gryffindor; with a phoenix core wand, 13.5 inches and brittle.

We are so cool!

Taylor found out how to make Tannin really relax.

Belly rubs are the best!

 We decorated a corner of our apartment for Fall.

Hello harvest animals!

And Taylor got his first med school interview for Tufts University-Maine track!

We got called into Cub Scouts and have been having THE BEST TIME.

Our first day with them we got to carve soap.

A duck (Kelsey) and horse (Taylor).

 We went to the Drake Parent's and got Taylor's old uniform for me, and Mike's old uniform for Taylor.

Tannin loves that we match her now.  We're just missing the orange badges down our back.

 We had fun taking the boys hiking by Red Butte.

We only have 3 Webelos right now.

This is one of the boys goofing off with Taylor.

Labor Day Weekend

We started our weekend by going to the zoo.

The SLC zoo is so cool because they have extinct animals like dinosaurs.  I was risking my life for this photo.

But we really got on the bad side of the these Monkeys. They thought we were comin' onto their turf!

And then we had fun painting a Halloween decoration to get in the mood of Fall.

Yes, we know it's only just the start of September...

 We did a day trip to Mirror Lake on Saturday.

And Taylor had a fall out with a log...

You can still see the disturbed dirt soil where he fell had the argument with the lake.

We ate lunch with Mirror Lake, a forgotten canoe, and Mt Baldy.

 Then we did the boardwalk/dirt trail around the lake.

It was too windy and cold to kayak, so we just enjoyed the views.

 On the way home we stopped by the Provo River Falls.

When we got home, we had to hit up our new favorite pizza joint: Pizza Studio!

It's worth all the lactase pills in the world.
Whole wheat crust with unlimited toppings. Our kind of pizza!

 On Labor Day, we had fun eating Mickey Mouse Noodles at Ruth's Diner with Parker and Lorien.

Bummer about the weekend:  We had a flood in our bathroom every time we showered...but luckily it was fixed on Tuesday!

Fairy Tale Fair

A couple weeks ago, Taylor and I passed the Equestrian park in Sojo and saw a fair.  The same fair  we went on for our first "alone date" 6 years ago! (It was also Taylor's very first REAL date ever, along with his first day of having a cell phone....I was his first call ;)<-- PS that's true.)  

I always remembered the pot-belly pigs and Taylor walking next to me.  We had to go re-live the 

funny memories

I honestly don't know why I remembered these guys so well.

Washboard belly boy with pot belly pig...can you guess which is which?
Depends on the day...

"Goating" along!

We invented a new meal based off a meal Taylor got fed on his mission:  Scallop Linguini.

Taylor invented a low-fat pesto sause that is "tres magnifique!"

Also, Taylor finished painting all the furniture...

 And then our bedroom was FINALLY put back together after a month and a half.

 To celebrate we went to Tracy Aviary, where this red parrot picked a yellow flower for me and walked over to give it to me...aww!

 Unfortunately, before he could give it to me, the blue macaw snuck up...

 And stole it!

"Who?  Who is the rascally thief?!"

He was just as shocked as I was.

 Taylor's first day of work at Lion's Eye Bank.

Also note, that I took this while on the bed resting my knees on top of a pillow because they hurt from Mt. Timp.

Some friends from Nova Scotia came for a SLC Graveyard tour.

The Street family! It was a lot of fun to meet up with them!
Theo, Taylor, Ellie, Daisy 

Tannin and Taylor enjoyed some outdoors.

Daddy is her safety base. 

Taylor has still been making me dinner every night since the end of the MCAT in June...

Gourmet Omelettes

We planted our redwood tree from our San Francisco trip.

Which is now under-going an artificial winter in the fridge.

Lately, Taylor has gotten even more muscular with his Arnold Schwarzenegger work outs.

 

There was an open house at Taylor's work (the Utah Lion's Eye Bank), so I was able to see where he is going to be at for the next while.

It was nice that they had everything set up so the employees could walk their family back to places and show them the different machines, microscopes, etc.

This is a bad cornea because it's so wrinkly.

This is a picture of a cornea analysis.

Here is a cornea preserved in some Optisol, the nourishing, pink liquid.

Usually they are not brown, but this one was bad so it was able to be used without any issues as an example.

Taylor looking through the microscope to see if the cornea is good or bad.

We had Grandpa Jim over for a BBQ!

Grillin' the dogs and peppers.

And I love documenting all the cute notes Taylor writes on my sandwich bags for work.

That's saying a LOT, since Taylor loves sea otters so much.