Boating and Oral Surgery

A few days after Summer & I arrived in Utah, Holly arrived from Ireland (yes I know, we all want Holly's life! She was invited to Ireland for a visit with her friend Taylor Ribbins who spends her Summers there with her Irish family. She had a fabulous time.) So.... Holly came to Salt Lake City via Dublin!

First order of fun in Utah was a day at Jordanelle on our favorite boat--the Beckstead's Black Pearl. I thoroughly LOVED being up there in the mountains on that beautiful lake and the kids had a blast. Thank you for the fun day!!!
Holly & Carli riding the tube...

Summie fish at home in the water

Holly got up and out of the ice cold water...

Me & Carli... Miss you baby :(

Abbie & Summer... 2 peas in a pod...

Tyler Brunatti catchin some air....

Chillin on the boat after lunch with Car, Ty, Kel, & Mont...

After our day of fun in the sun, we got down to the first order of business which was wisdom teeth removal for Holly AND Carli. They spent a few loopy days on Loritab and kept me busy running up and down the stairs with frozen pea ice packs --and logging miles to and from milkshake runs. It was crazy but I loved taking care of them and they were hilarious! They came through it all beautifully with very little swelling and bruising. Holly's teeth were horizontal so she had lingering pain:(
Fresh out of anesthesia... Love the cotton fangs. Notice it is older sister Carli clinging to Holly for moral support. Holly was totally out of it! I love you Carli & Holly! Glad you went through this together and that you still wanted "Mommy" to take care of you!!!

p.s. Hey Cayman friends have you found a way to get music players back on our blogs? I hate that they blocks us due to our lack of copyright laws. I miss my music!!

Summer Highlights

I love my life! I really do have the best of both worlds--mountains and sea. It was great to spend much of the Summer in Utah and wonderful to return to the beach. So much has happened and so much exciting news to share. I'm going to start at the beginning and blog for a few days about all of the fun and all of the surprises in my family. LIFE IS SOOOO GOOD!!!

July in Utah can you guess where I am? (The music should give it away) Air Supply concert--Sandy Amphitheatre! What a kick. I took my neighbor Ruth Seirup with me--Ed wasn't in town and her husband Bob was watching ManTV with their son

Ruth :)
In order to get her to go I had to assure her there wouldn't be any pot smoking drunks around. Ha! Ha! (We were the wildest girls in the crowd which tells you a lot about the crowd.)

Beautiful Utah my mountain home!!!

We so enjoyed the mountains and mild weather in Utah. I loved running in the shadow of Lone Peak to my old familiar ipod tunes--(it felt fantastic to run hard and fast downhill in the dry air but I was excited for the beach by the time we left.)

A Few More Pics...

Master Bedroom Built-ins

Kitchen dining area

View from Master Balcony

Summer hanging out on the family room couch

Kitchen: the oven bakes great cookies :)

Sun through plant leaves near the pool :)

We've Moved!

The Master Suite

The view to the south where the single family houses will be

The view from the family room balcony

(I took this picture looking up while I was laying by the pool)

The architectural detail at Camana Bay is world class!

The couryard below us--this tree is huge and lit at night--pavers are pretty

Summer's favorite trick in pool or sea...

The view of the pool directly in front of our front door

Our new front door--love the yellow and the planters...

Last week we bid a sad farewell to the Sovereign. We were hoping to stay until Sept. 1 when our new apartment will be ready but the unit was needed for someone else so we made a hasty move to a temporary apartment in the building next to where our new apartment will be. (I should say that Ed made a hasty move while I was away in Florida with Carli :)
We are crowded with two bedrooms and surrounded with boxes we don't want to unpack since we will be moving yet again in 5 weeks :)... but Camana Bay is wonderful and I think we will love it here. The pictures don't really do it justice. Ed walks to and from work in under 5 minutes. We can walk to movies, shopping, restaurants as well--could be dangerous :) The beach is about a 7 minute walk. We are truly living the "new urban" lifestyle.

Love the palm trees :) Miss the beach :(

Goodbye to Kelli and Ky :(

Kelli and Kyle left today and the house is so quiet :( I'm left with the memories and the photos...thought I'd share a few. Allison and her friend Annie left on the day Kelli and Kyle came so it has been a fun few weeks with lots of company.

Friends :)

We had a wonderful visit with Dave and Julie O'Leary and all of their children last month. Thanks to the swine flu scare in Mexico at the time, they opted out of Cancun and came to Cayman--lucky for us.

We also loved having the McKells who visited the month before the O'Learys and brought along three of their children. We have been friends with Brad and Renae since BYU. Such fun history. Sorry we didn't take more pics with the McKells.

You know the friends that feel like family? The ones that no matter how long you've been apart you just pick right up with them? That's how it is with these friends. Such a treat to make some memories with friends here in this beautiful place. We love visitors :) Especially when they bring teenagers from Utah--makes Holly feel like she's a little closer to home.

Life is a Beach!

The past two days have been perfectly dreamy in my world. Not to rub it in but living on the beach really is unmatched in my book. I have never felt so at peace and at one with nature. I keep waiting for the novelty to wear off, to grow tired of the sand, the sun, the shells, the sea creatures in the crystal clear water with its many shades of blue. (It is so pure that I can see the fish and an occasional stingray swimming yards off shore while I'm walking.) The novelty has yet to wear off. The island is full of surprises--Like this morning when we walked out the door to find rain pouring from a blue sky. Within minutes the sky was dark and menacing and I was afraid my beach plans were ruined, but within the hour the weather went from torrential downpour back to blue sky with puffy white clouds. I had another surprise yesterday when I picked up my foam float that I left by my front door and found a giant crab beneath it.

There are so many ways to enjoy the beach. I jog, I sprint, I walk--ipod included. I weave in and out of the water when I get hot. I enjoy watching the cruise ships come in and the crowds of people fill the beach. Their laughter keeps me company. I am finally starting to snorkle and I love relaxing to the rhythmic sound of my breathing and the weightlessness of my body .

My favorite past time is my float. (See picture above which is of Carli and her friend Tyler on the floats.) I float on a foam mat and listen to the wind and the waves as I bob lazily along the shore drifiting wherever the current takes me. Yesterday the sun went behind a cloud and I looked up at the sky and could not believe its beauty. It was a great color of blue framed in an arc of puffy white clouds with the sunlight shooting out from behind them. It was one of those moments when you look at something and it's like you're seeing it for the first time. It's a great feeling to be fully present in the moment. I floated past a palm tree where a bird was singing a beautiful melody and thought to myself, "This is perfect." For the first time in my life, I am outside more than I am in and I feel so content!! I want for nothing.

Nirvana: An ideal condition of rest, harmony, stability or joy. I'm feeling it!!

When the sun goes down, after I soak in the visual feast of the sunset, I actually feel sad that my playground is closed for the day. Some people work their whole lives to end up in a place like this. I can't believe we get to be here before we retire! What a dream.