Aunt Katy gets hitched

I've finally blogged to July 2023. 9 months too late. Welcome to my life!

The long-awaited day of Aunt Katy's wedding had arrived. The dresses were bought and the girls were excited. 

We made a little trip out of it and had fun driving south. We stopped in Payson for Dinner at Cafe Rio. It was yummy. Quincey didn't eat anything because she was too busy exploring, Sofi was thrilled to have her rice and tortillas, and Claire inhaled the chips and queso, as usual.

Afterwards, we went a few blocks over to get Farr Ice Cream for dessert. Because, why not?

We were there early enough to help with some last-minute wedding preparations before the rest of the family descended on the ancestral home.

The day of Katy & Niel's wedding was beautiful. Everyone was resplendent in their pink, and the sealing was beautiful. Yours truly was charged with keeping the rings safe, much to Greg's chagrin. But guess what? The rings made it safely to the wedding, so it was a success!!

Afterwards, the girls loved playing together in their matching dresses, and the rest of us were thrilled ot have the wedding over with. It was beautiful and MaKaty was beaming. What else could you want?

Pictures were an experience .... but they turned out fun.

Greg was exhausted and melting, so he parked it in the shade.

And everyone else followed suit. What a trend setter.

Quincey was in need of a nap afterwards, so Greg took one for the team and stayed behind at my parent's house while the rest of us went to the luncheon. It was delicious!

A few hours later, the receiption started. I was tasked with keeping the cookie trays full while everyone else partied, played, danced, and had fun with cousins. 

It was a beautiful reception!

What made it extra special what that it was in my Grandpa's old store, which had been renovated after it was sold to be an event center, and it was BEAUTIFUL! Who knew that old building had so much potential?

Claire was all peopled out. Greg eventually found her watching a show behind the curtain. 

Beautiful Aunt Katy is now married!

Katy did a cute polaroid book of all of the guests who came - such a cute idea!

Claire LaRee with Grandma Jan LaRee. They are so much alike, sometimes it's scary!

Our feet were sore and we were tired, but it was a beautiful day seeing friends and family we don't see often enough. 

Welcome to the family, Uncle Niel!

Park City Bike Race

Time for another bike race! We normally stop at Cafe Rio and have an early dinner - a fun tradition I've done with the girls, but for some reason we didn't have the time this trip. So, we busted our butts up to Park City and got there in record time. 

The switchbacks this time around were crazy, but it was fun to watch Greg criss cross his way towards us.

This race involves a pretty steep climb to get to the 2nd race start/finish. Claire doesn't love it ... but it wasn't too bad this year.

It's Park City, so know it's steep.

She made it, by the skin of her teeth.

So much sass!

My little gaggle. The beauty of climbing a steep hill is being able to run back down once we were done.

She's hilarious!

Working on her walking!

Ice Cream for the way home! 

Greg did great, and it is so fun having these little trips together!

That moment I redid our table ...

I've hated our table for as long as we've had it. Greg always tells me to go out and buy a new one, but I can't bring myself to pay so much money for some cheap laminate table, so I did what he didn't think I would do, and I redid his childhood table. I learned a lot, like how red oak deserves a special place in hell, that you need to be super careful with laminate, and in the end it really is easier to go out and just buy a table, but I'm happy with the progress, even though one year later I'm needing to redo it again 🤫.

There was something so satisfying watching that '80's varnish just strip away. 

Greg's gifs still kill me 🤣

Meanwhile ...

Progress!

No matter what I did, the red would keep coming through. I tried bleach, sitting it in the sun, all to no avail.

I finally bought some pickling stain and then a stain with green tints in it to counteract the red.

Then I painted, stained, and distressed the bottom a bit.

The final product. I kind of love it!

Jeremy Ranch Bike Race

Greg signed up for more bike races! The first one was at Jeremy Rance (My personal favorite), because the hike is beautiful and it's not a bad gig. The girls are old enough now that as long as I have adequate water and snacks, they're happy to hike in whatever direction I point them (most of the time). The wildflowers were unbelieveable! We were in heaven hiking up to the finish lines and seeing the sights along the way. 

Claire is the cutest!

A wildflower boutquet for when he finished his first race.

Cuties!

Claire had received a picture by number book from her heart appointment and was determined to finish it by day's end. I'm pretty sure she did.

2nd Leg of the race. Greg almost caught this guy!

Quincey was all pictured out.

Proof I was there 😉.

We came prepared with jackets and were ready to head down the trail at a moment's notice, mostly because every race in 2022 resulted in a rainstorm, but the weather stayed beautiful and we enjoyed being up on the hillside in Jeremy Ranch.

Greg is always his happiest when he's flying down the mountain, and we are always happy to be there to support him. He did great!