Oh nothing's sweeter than summertime

I decided that I would wait for my friends who are also doing this "30 day challenge" to catch up, and then hopefully I will be more consistent with it. We'll see if that pans out ;-)

So I realized I didn't write much about what I did this summer. That's probably because I didn't do much. But there were a few things here and there that are probably worth mentioning. Since school has just started, I thought I would document a couple of things that I did...just in case I want to do one of those cool blog books one day. I was going to include my family reunion in this, but I think that deserves a post of it's own...There was just so many pictures! :)

And I don't think these are really in any order....

Daniel and Charbel's Wedding Reception

Well, as many of you know, Daniel and Charbel were married a year ago in Veracruz, Mexico. However, because of immigration and what not, she wasn't able to get her visa to come to America and join Daniel until May. When we got word of when her interview was going to be, we planned the reception for a day or two afterwards, not thinking there would be any problems with them coming up. Unfortunately, for some reason, there were some issues and the Visa wasn't processed when it was supposed to. Since we had already rented out a reception place, ordered food, and sent out invitations, we figured the reception had to go on! We ended up getting Daniel and Charbel on Skype on a big screen tv. It was a little unconventional, but it worked out well. It was kind of a miracle, because we hadn't been able to get a good connection with them the whole day, and it was really fuzzy, but just a little bit before the reception started, it was clear as day. The reception was beautiful and lots of people showed their support for Daniel and Charbel. And most importantly, they were finally together :)

Another fun part of this trip was that Forrest got to come home with me and meet more of my family. It was a quick trip, but it was really fun to introduce him to them and to show him my hometown. :)

Soccer in SLC!

My brother-in-law, AJ, decided to get together a bunch of guys to play soccer every week up in SLC. The first time he did it, Forrest and I went up there, as did Daniel and Charbel. Obviously, the girls just sat in the shade (when we could find it!) and then the boys played their little hearts out. It was fun to watch them all play, since they all love soccer. This day also marked a momentous day in my history...I finally conquered my fear of driving on the freeway. Granted, I still scare everyone when I try and merge, but I'm getting better ;-) Afterwards, not without much contemplation and discussion (mainly by the people with Barker blood...because we are all incredibly indecisive), we went to Noodles and Company for lunch. Yum!

Kacianna's Blessing

When we were in Colorado in May, Kacianna was blessed. It was pretty cool to have almost all of our family there (except for Cindy and AJ, who had been up all night with a sick baby :() and Daniel and Charbel. I love baby blessings...there's just something so special about them :)

Manti Pagaent

I think sometime in July (or maybe it was June?), Forrest, Daniel, Charbel and I went to the Manti Pagaent in Manti, Utah. I had been to it back when I was 13, so it was cool to see it again. Granted, it was slightly cheesy, but it was fun. We got there about an hour early, but there were some cute kids in front of us that kept us entertained. Isn't the Manti temple beautiful?

Pioneer Day/Raspberry Picking

My boss at the Census invited everyone that wanted to, to come pick raspberries at her house. Forrest's sister, Meredith, went with me on the morning of Pioneer Day. We picked berries for about an hour and got a lot. I decided I wanted to make a raspberry cake to share with Daniel and Charbel before we went to Spanish Fork for "Fiesta Days!" It turned out really yummy! Unfortunately, I probably ate too much, especially for what was to come. We went to the little carnival, and Forrest convinced me to go on one of his favorite rides, The Zipper. Let me tell you, it was terrible. At first, I enjoyed it. But then it started going super fast and in all sorts of random ways, and I thought I was going to puke. Not to mention it made my head hurt really bad. It also looked like it was about to break any second. Right afterwards, we went on "The Gravitron" which was actually pretty cool...but not for right after the Zipper. I am pretty sure I almost threw up. When I came out, Daniel and Charbel told me that I looked real green...I wouldn't doubt it. The rest of the night was fun, except I felt pretty nauseas.

Tumbling Gym

A few weeks ago, my friend from my ward at the Riviera called and invited Forrest and me to go to the tumbling gym. At first we weren't going to go, but then we changed our minds. It was pretty fun. I've never been someone who really does flips and what not, so I just jumped around with Cort, but Forrest is quite the gymnast ;-) It was fun to see him doing some cool tricks. I posted some videos on facebook for anyone that is suddenly curious!

Real Salt Lake

This picture is actually from April, but it represents all the Real Salt Lake games we went to this summer. I enjoyed going. Especially because you get these awesome Subway coupons...haha. Before this year, I had never gone, nor planned, to go to a professional soccer game, but it sure was fun. Hopefully we'll get to go again some next year!

Forrest's Birthday

First turned 22...and it was his golden birthday! I made him dinner and then his sister, Doris, and her friend, his cousin, Michael, and my brother and Charbel came over for Cake and Icecream. Doris made a really yummy banana cake. Afterwards we went and watched "Invictus" at Michael's house. Or more, Forrest and Michael watched it while I feel asleep. :)

Snowbird

One of the more fun things I did this summer was go to Snowbird. Forrest's Aunt and Uncle own a timeshare or something up there, and they go up every summer. This year, the invited Forrest and his sisters, and said I was more than welcome to come along. It was so nice (his Aunt and Uncle are the nicest people ever!). We went up there for a weekend at the end of July and it was so relaxing. The mountains were super pretty and it was nice not to have to worry about work or anything. It was fun to get to know his family a little bit better. We got to go on a zipline, the alpine slide, and a sweet ski lift ride. Snowbird is absolutely beautiful, and I recommend that everyone go at some point!

Fourth of July

I guess technically we celebrated Independence Day on the 3rd of July. We went up to Antelope Island with some of Forrest's roommates and people from his ward. It was way fun! I'd never been there before, but it was neat. We played on the beach for awhile and had a nice picnic. At one point, we found an awesome heard of Bison. haha. The guys got kind of close, but I just stayed back behind. Later on, we went to Slab Pizza with Brian, Forrest's former awesome roommate, and our friend Kelly. LOVE Slab pizza. Then we watched some pretty fireworks behind Helaman halls. It was great!

Well other things went on this summer, like going home this past week (I'm at work though and don't have access to pictures!), but these were definitely the highlights. Here's to a great year of school!

My friend Rachael likes us to hold signs at the beginning of each school year. haha.