Life, as always, is busy in the Pickett house. This post will probably be super long-- feel free to skim through it for the pictures/ bolded words. usually how I read blogs...
So as promised here is the picture of Dae Dae with us this summer. He had just cleaned the front room and rolled out the yoga mats as a "red" carpet. Totally cool kid and a blast to have around.
After we dropped off Dae Dae we headed to Park City with Brent's family. I forgot my camera and so I don't have any pics. :( We ate at some great restaurants, hit the outlets and spent several hours lounging by the pool. It was a great weekend.
In the coming weeks we wrapped up our summer job working at the summer camp. As always it was a lot of fun and a lot of four square. It's always great to work together in the summer because we get to spend so much time together. Like all day every day.
So then we headed to Cave Falls for my family's annual camping trip. We got to spend a few days relaxing, fishing and playing games with family. Unfortunately the mosquitoes were REALLY bad. So we did not get to camp in the actual campground. (I was completely bummed). We spent my birthday there, which is always my favorite. here are some pictures of our trip (luckily remembered my camera this time)
These are the pics I took of Brent while he fished. I loved sitting by the waterfall.
It was such a beautiful day. Brent didn't catch anything though :(
Just after I took this shot we watched and Osprey and Bald Eagle almost fight over the waterfall. Seriously so cool. Unfortunately my camera was pretty well dead by this point.
Here we are together standing in the super cold water.
One of my favorite shots. I love watching the mist come off of the falls.
Me, Mom and Sammi chillin in the water. Traditionally we have a swimming/float race but this year the water was just too cold. We decided to just shiver in the water for a few minutes instead.
After a few days at CF we decided to head to Jackson Hole. This is where we took our honeymoon, so it was fun to visit again. We'd been married almost exactly 1.5 years in this pic.
here is me holding the nephew in Yellowstone. We drove the park and saw the animals. Corgan loved every minute of it. He's a big fan of animals.
here's the whole crew (minus mom and dad who are taking the pic) in Yellowstone. We really missed Cody & Larkin and Lance & Taylor this year. I am really hoping everyone can make it next year!
A couple of weeks after our big family camping trip we headed down to spend some time with the fam for Maren and Greg's wedding. It was a lot of fun, especially because Greg grew up down the street from us. (seriously this has been in the works for 18 years.) The week before the wedding we came down for temple stuff and bridal shower. Cody and Larkin were in town and it was so fun to see them. Here are some pics of the shower:
here all the sisters :) So many girls in the family now. <3 it !
Here we are again (with Hilary) posing with Larkin's dress fiasco. Ok so it does not look that bad in this picture, but she ordered it from (India I think) and it came and had super puff sleeves and fit weird. It was a big NO vote from all of us. She found a much cuter ensemble for the wedding. The modeling was sure fun though!
Now for the BIG day!
The whole family! I cannot believe how much we've grown in the past few years. I love all of my new siblings. Seriously I have the best sibs in law ever. And the nephews are so sweet. Unfortunately in this pic you can't see the cute skirt Brent bought me for the wedding (gray and white stripes) I absolutely love it.
Here's a shot of the sisters. Could we look any different? Ok I guess with my hair dyed Sam and I could pass, but as always Maren with her gorgeous olive skin steals the show. My bangs are doing something funky, but otherwise a great shot. Maren made such a beautiful bride. It was weird to see her all grown up. Seriously I am so happy for her and Greg, they make a really cute couple!
This last shot was taken after the wedding on a mall excursion. My aunt Amanda, who is way cool, flew out with her two daughters for the wedding. Naturally we partied and shopped with them. I wish it showed up bigger on here, because this may be the first picture of me, EVER, that I look tan. Yep, sepia rocks for me.
** over the course of the two weeks of the wedding there were SEVERAL trips to Taco Amigo. :)
After the wedding it was time to bounce back into school (ok so I did a fun at home project in the in between weeks. PICS coming very soon!)
I am student teaching this semester-- 8th grade US History and ESL classes @ South Cache 8-9 Center. After I teach each day I had to Millville where I run the after school program. Then after that (most nights) I head to class. It's been a bit overwhelming, to say the least, but I am hanging on.
Brent is too busy, as per usual. He works 20 hours a week with his migrant job (which he still loves), is taking a full course load-- physics and Ochem included, is head of the Spanish Ambassadors on campus, interprets at the hospital once a week, continues to serve as EQ president in our ward and helps me by making dinner most nights.
In the midst of all this chaos we are exhausted, our house is a constant disaster, there may never be an end to the laundry piles, and heaven knows the fridge needs to be cleaned out.... BUT we are still happy and in love.
Over labor day we snuck back up to Cave Falls for a quick trip with my parents and Justin & Ashley +boys. It was so much fun. We loved just relaxing by the river. We nearly died on the way up-- but we survived for a fabulous, delicious weekend.
Brent's back started hurting again a few weeks ago. Thankfully this year he is insured (HOORAY!) (THANKS OBAMA!!) And so it is not nearly as stressful as last year. He has already been in for treatments and feels great. We are grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord. We are looking at possible surgery options to prevent further relapses, but won't know for sure for a few weeks.
And that folks is all for now. Will post pics of my lastest project soon. :)
