Tony Grove

Picnic up the canyon with the girls and my love...perfect way to spend a Sunday. My idea was to take a hike up to the Polygamist cave above the lakes, and explore the cave.  It was a nice idea.  Bringing two little girls on a hike like that, we soon discovered, wasn't gonna happen.  They both wanted to be carried most of the way, which gets oh so tiring rather quickly, hiking up a mountain.
Instead we opted for taking the trail that goes around the lake.  The girls loved it.  They managed to get all muddy, which is always fun, and they took several stumbles tripping over rocks on the trail.  Nothing serious, they still had a wonderful time!

Picnic with my love :)

Enjoying the sunshine

Mike joins the girls for some rock throwing fun!

Stopping for a smooch along the trail... mwa!

Check out McKel's muddy bum behind us!

McKel ran most of the way... she's the little energizer girl!

Avril took lots of stops to pick up treasures she would find

One of my favorite Avril pics.  Big smile!  Happy girl :)

Sam's Club

I renewed my Sam's Club card and I mentioned to the girl that my name would be changing because I would be getting married soon. She asked me what my new last name would be and just changed it for me. I was so excited to get my first card in the name, "Alicia Andrus." I just thought that was cool.

Working Up An Appetite!

What could be more fun than running through sprinklers in the summertime?  Anything involving getting wet and these girls are in!  Nana and Papa turned on this sprinkler, and the girls had the time of their lives playing in the water...

Mom and the girls moved back in the Parkinson home... it turns out that Chase was able to find a job position for me in South Salt Lake, which means that we will be moving down south!  I needed a transfer since Mike and I will be wed soon... my friend Christina needed a place to live right away, so I offered my home to her to rent, since I would be moving soon anyway.  It all worked out miraculously well...
The girls have been having so much fun working up an appetite, that I decided to make some yummy homemade pizza with them!  It turned out fantastically well.  It was some of the yummiest pizza ever, and made from scratch, with love :)

Avril was very helpful.  She spread the tomato sauce on the pizza and put all the toppings on for us :)

The finished product!  Sausage and pepperoni delicious goodness!

This was another one of my cooking creations I tried out... an artisan bread.  It was quite tasty as well!  Most of the recipes I try out are from this lovely blog I found called Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Avril enjoys her ice cream dessert, after eating her homemade pizza!

Brittney's Sweet 16

Brittney Parkinson turns 16!!  How exciting :)  Big day for her!!
It was very important to Britt that her party include dancing.  She had asked me a few weeks before to work on making up some dances that could be performed at her sweet 16.  She gave me some ideas for songs that she wanted to learn dances for... I decided on Shakira, Hips Don't Lie, because the moves sort of just came to me with that song...
Brittney and her friend came over several times prior to the party to learn the dance.  It was fun having dance students!
Nana did all the decorations for the party, with a beachy sort of theme.  Adrian even found a professional DJ for the party.  We played volleyball, danced, ate sandwiches and cake, opened presents, and had a grand old time.  Happy Birthday to my niece, Brittney :)

Sandwiches and smiles for everyone :)

The parents of the 16 year old!

Me and my Grandma, adorned with flower leis.

Happy times

Brittney with her great grandmother

The beachy grams and gramps



Ready to start shakin some hips!



  And this is the video of our dance performance.

Daddy daughter dance time

One of Brittney's friends brought a super fancy gigantic cake that her mom had made for the birthday girl...

Check out the sweet Hawaiian shirts these guys are sporting...

Brittney's friends and fam enjoy each other's company

the amazing leaning cake couldn't take the heat...

Blowing out the candles...

Another Birthday cake!  Lucky girl :)

He makes me sooo happy!!

Frosting to the face!

Beach towel volleyball with water balloons!  Mike and I were pro at this game...

More dancing

The future Mr. & Mrs...

Adrian & Arleen step on to the dance floor...

The handsome Uncle JJ

Love my bro!

More smiles :)

Looking sheek in those shades...

Clean up crew... trying a new basket carrying technique

Peace out!  This party was legit...as Brittney would say ;)



Ending the party with some Vball...

What a day!  Started bright and early with my first triathlon, and ended with Brittney's awesome Sweet 16 party.  Surrounded by people I love, and filling my days with amazing memories.  So blessed :)

My First Tri

It's been a long time goal of mine to complete a triathlon. I am not the strongest swimmer, and certainly don't feel comfortable swimming in open water, so I wanted this to be the year I conquer my fears and try a tri :) Mike signed up with me. We did the Herriman Escape from Black Ridge traithlon. I actually surprised myself because I did not do as horribly as I thought I would. The tri was not nearly as challenging as the long bike rides we'd done. The swim was definitely the difficult part. I was so freezing cold in the water, even with my wetsuit, that I could barely breathe. I kept my head out of the water the whole way. It was not pleasant at all...but it was over before I knew it and then I was on to the bike and swim portions, which were much more my cup of tea, and I made up for lost time there. It was so nice to have a partner to do this event with me. Mike's dad also showed up to support us. He was able to get a few shots of us :)

approaching the finish line!

Mission accomplished.

We did it!!!

Aunty Arleen

I just have to take a moment to express my gratitude for having an amazing woman like Auntie Arleen in my life.  I was lucky enough to find a beautiful home just down the street from my brother Adrian's family.  His wife, my sister-in-law, has been a godsend.
To the girls, she is Auntie Arleen.  She loves those girls so much and they love her right back.
I discovered something called a Boot Camp fitness class at the local gym.  I signed up about a year or so ago in an effort to keep fit and to help me train for some races I wanted to participate in over the summer.  Mostly I was looking for a way to improve myself and maintain a more positive attitude, since the divorce had made me lose a ton of weight and left me with a gaping hole in my heart.  Boot camp was actually one of the most life-changing things I could've done.  Not only did I accomplish my goals and become more fit, but I made new, genuine friends who shared my love for an active lifestyle.  The positive morale there was just what I needed at the start of each day to get me through the roughness of life.  This was very much a life saver for me.
The boot camp I signed up for could not have been possible for me to do without the help of Arleen.  The boot camp took place every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 6:30 am.  Arleen would get up extra early to come over to the house and watch the girls so that I could attend.  She helped get them breakfast (often making them her special chocolate chip pancakes), and helped them get ready on the mornings she came over.  I am so happy she was able to help out, and am forever grateful for that service she did for our family.  She is an angel.
One morning she took a bunch of goofy pictures with her phone, with McKel.  They are just so stinkin' adorable I had to post them all:

McKel always seems to have some kind of owie.  I don't even recall what the one on her nose here was from.  She is a very active girl, and not afraid to take a tumble.

Haha, so cute!

Duck face

Surprise face!

Silly face

more cuteness...

More duck face

Smiley girl!  :)

Such a cheese for the camera!