Go Utes

The only good thing about summer ending is that it means college football is just around the corner. The Utes play at Michigan tomorrow and I can't wait! I'm jealous of Fro and JP who will be at The Big House. We went to Ute Fanfest at Rice-Eccles last Saturday to hype up the coming season. It was packed. I like it Ute fans. We took pictures, got autographs, kicked field goals and caught punts. We also went to the coach's show at Famous Dave's last night. We have to enjoy the preseason hype because you never know what the rest of the season will bring. Go Utes!

Ode to Summer

When I heard Marianne telling David and James last night that it was a "school night," I got this familiar pit in my stomach. Even though I'm not in school anymore, I still hate to see summer come to an end. I love the long, lazy days of summer. But I guess if summer lasted all year we wouldn't appreciate it as much. I can't complain, we've had a fun summer - lots of cabin trips, running through sprinklers, swimming lessons, barbeques, hiking, fishing, homemade ice cream, picnics in the canyon, family trips, riding bikes, popsicles, slip n' slide, and just lots of playing. So farewell summer, until next year...

Pajaro Dunes

We went to Northern California with the Lloyd family last week. It was so fun to have everyone there. We stayed in a beach house on a private beach called Pajaro Dunes, near Monterey. Although it was a little chilly (not quite like Newport), it was awesome to pretty much have the beach to ourselves. Highlights of the trip included the Monterey Bay Aquarium, a train ride through the redwoods, skim-boarding, sand castles, dolphin-watching, late-night gaming, beach soccer, collecting sand dollars, and just lots of family bonding.

The Book Thief

I loved this book and would highly recommend it. I really enjoy reading World War II books, but most of them are from the jewish perspective. This book is different because it is told from the german point of view. It was very interesting to read about a young german girl's perspective of Hitler, Hitler youth, bombings, etc... Death is the narrator of the story and his sarcasm lightens the otherwise heavy subject a bit. The book also focuses a lot on the power of words, their power to destroy and their power to save. This is a powerful book that is very creative and well-written. It has definitely been added to my list of favorites.