Birthday Extravaganza

Ryan turned 25 last week and we had quite the birthday celebration.  There were two of our friends from the ward who had birthdays close to Ryan's (one the same day and one the day after) so we had a BBQ the day before his birthday to celebrate.  The food was delicious and it was fun spending time with friends.  The boys played volleyball and the girls played on the world's largest teeter-totter.  Ok that may be an exaggeration but it was huge!  We had a blast.  Thanks to Abbey for planning the party.

The candles were supposed to be in the shape of the first initial of the birthday people but the R is kind of funky due to a lack of candles.

On Ryan's actual birthday he woke up to a decked out house.  He opened a couple presents that morning and then we both went to work until 2. After that we came home to packages from family and opened the rest of the presents.  We watched some Modern Family and met Ryan's family in Brigham City for dinner at Maddox.  Ryan got some of his favorite treats, new basketball shoes, tickets to Tim McGraw, and a multimeter.

The day after his birthday we went to a demolition derby.  It poured rain for an hour before the derby so it was really muddy but we had a blast.  We love the Cache Valley demolition derbies and are definitely going to miss them when we move.

4th of July Weekend

As soon as we arrived back in Utah, Ryan and I headed up to my cabin just east of Oakley, UT.  Every year for the 4th my extended family on my dad's side is up there.  We had so much fun catching up with family.  We went four-wheeling, played horse shoes and a ring toss game, ate amazing food, watch a movie, and had some great fires.   We also made some new friends in my little cousins.  They LOVED Ryan.  They would follow him around pretending to be his puppy. They always wanted to sit by him at meal times.  One night while we were sitting by the fire, Allie came over to him and sat right between his legs on the ground and curled her arms around his legs.  It was the cutest thing!  We are so glad we had the chance to head up to Happy Return this year.

Wisconsin

After our visit to Indy we drove up with my family to Wisconsin to check out our new apartment and get some other things lined up for our move.  It took us about 5 1/2 hours to get to Madison.  We love our new apartment and the location.  We also visited campus and met with a couple people there.  After we finished in Madison we drove to Milwaukee because we were flying home from there the next morning.  That night we hit up down town Milwaukee.  I thought it was so much fun.  We at ate this classy restaurant.  My mom loved the menu but the rest of us don't have a fancy enough pallet for it.  Luckily they let me and my sister order off the kids menu.  After dinner we walked down to the coast of Lake Michigan.  On our walk back to the car we got these amazing mango smoothies.  I thought I'd died and gone to heaven! I really enjoyed this place and definitely want to come back when we move to Wisconsin.

Farewell Elder Anderson

The main reason we left for Indy right after girls camp is because my brother's farewell was that Sunday.  My mom, sister and I sang the Olive Tree for the special musical number and Mike's talk was amazing.  I'm really going to miss that kid but he is just so excited that it is hard to be sad.  It was a quite farewell since they live so far away from family now with just my immediate family.  Mike left Indiana on Tuesday.  So that morning the stake president and the bishop came to our house to set him apart as a missionary.  The spirit was so strong in that living room that morning.  After that we all loaded in the car and took him to the airport.  It was really hard to say goodbye but we know he is making the right choice.  My grandparents picked him up from the airport in SLC and took him to the MTC the next morning.  He wanted to be there as soon as he could so they dropped him off 30 minutes early with a big smile on his face. Good luck Elder Anderson, We love and miss you!

Luggage packed and ready to go

Talking with the Bishop before being set apart

The count down chart

Saying his last goodbye

Preparing for take-off

Trip to Indy

On Friday right after girls camp we headed to Indy for a week to visit my family in their new home.  We had a two hours delay in SLC due to a faulty generator but we eventually made it to Indiana.  My family lives just outside of Indianapolis in this beautiful sub-divsion.  I absolutely love their new home.  We had a great time shopping, golfing, napping, riding tandem bikes around downtown, trying to catch fire flies, watching SYTYCD, doing art projects, taking a yoga class, and my personal favorite duck pin bowling.  This bowling alley was the original 1920's one that had been restored.  I wish I had taken some pictures of it because it had a ton of character.  We also ate some amazing food and a couple of my personal favorites, Cheesecake Factory and P.F. Chang's.  I loved spending time with my family!  Thanks for the great trip!

Girls' Camp

This year I was called as the assistant camp director.  My first reaction was "really? Do I have to go to camp again?"  But as I got more involved I was actually excited for camp.  At least I think I was.  I was in charge of meals during camp so it may have been more stress than excitement.   The theme for camp was SAFARI which stood for Standing as Faithful and Righteous Individuals.  Each ward picked an animal and our ward picked zebras. The night before (Monday)  Ryan and I went on my biggest grocery shopping trip yet.  I felt pretty silly going through Sam's Club with my cart full of enough food for a small army but I didn't want anyone to go hungry.  Luckily no one did because I had lots of extras but better to be safe than sorry. 

We left Tuesday (June 21st) morning for Camp Lomia just up Logan Canyon.  It took around four hours to get everything set up.  Our ward has so much gear.  We set up 7 tents, 3 canopies, a camp stove, grill, and a kitchen sink!  Soon after the festivities began with a welcome meeting followed by certification.  That night we had BBQ chicken, salad, and rolls with tin foil bananas for dessert.  At the evening stake activity we learned camp songs and watch ward skits.

Sporting the zebra face paint

Resting feet after a long day

Wednesday morning the stake provided breakfast and we left right away for a hike.  It was really pretty but I don't think the girls enjoyed it that much.  For lunch we had hamburgers, hot-dogs and fruit.  That afternoon we had a guest speaker and the value trail.   For dinner we had taco salads with smores for dessert.  The stake activity was the same thing but with different wards doing skits.

Group of 1st years that were on the hike I went on

Beehives singing the "Jelly fish" song

Thursday was the only day that I had to do breakfast so we had a huge breakfast with pancakes, eggs, sausage and bacon.  The entire day was filled with certification.  For lunch we had hoagie sandwiches and for dinner we had dutch oven chicken and potatoes (thankfully I wasn't in charge of that dinner).  The bishop came up for dinner that night and after dinner we the stake testimony meeting.  I left Thursday night so that I could get ready for my next trip but everyone else stayed the night and then packed up to go home Friday morning.

I'm really glad I have the opportunity to go to girls camp and I actually didn't mind camping that much.  I know its a real shocker!  Maybe it is just because that camp site is amazing and it is a huge grass field with bathrooms and showers. I know I drove Ryan crazy the whole next week singing all my camp songs but I just had such a good time.  I also loved that I hardly had to do any clean up because the girls could earn beads for the chores they did and cash them in for items at the store.  I always had a line of helpers which was great.  I am finally a fan of girls camp!

5 kW of Power

First, we are still alive.  I know it's been forever since I've posted but June was a crazy month so stayed tuned to a plethora of posts.

Ryan's team has been working hard to transfer 5 kW of power using the technology of wireless.  This has not been done in the United State and that much power is enough to charge an electric vehicle.  Early on they didn't think it would work.  There was alot of noise in the system and they couldn't transfer very much power efficiently.  However, in mid June they finally transfer 5 kW of power!!!!! A couple of news stations have done a piece on his team.  Click here to watch the story.