Anniversary weekend 2025

Our 37th anniversary is on May 28, 2025. So since we had a long weekend, we decided to do a little get away. We originally looked at southern Utah but ended up going with a slightly northern destination: Park City. Our actual Airbnb was in 

We left (Saturday the 24th) mid-day. To start off we went to the Alpine Poppy Garden. I never even knew this place existed until last week and I was excited to go. It was a short hike to the gardens, but since we didn't know how long it would be, it felt longer...we were growing concerned that the poppies hadn't even bloomed yet. But, yes indeed, we found them! They were wonderful!

I kept thinking that I should drive there and go for walks sometimes on my day off. Why don't I do things like that?

We drove up to our Airbnb next. It was a lovely condo just a short way from the Jordanelle State Park. Officially Heber City but kind of the outskirts. Close to Park City as well.

We had a meal at the Back 40 Ranch house which is nearby in Heber. The food there is really good, we've been there before when we've come up for Swiss days. I really love Heber and wish I lived there sometimes. Now, of course, it's too expensive. We often lament that we didn't look there when we moved to Utah 13 years ago!

We bought groceries (too many) and then it was time to relax at the condo for the evening. We did walk around and check out the amenities and the grounds also.

May 25th

Sunday morning we had breakfast and, having realized that we forgot a bunch of stuff, we took the long road home through the Alpine Loop and Cascade Springs then went home to get the forgotten items. Felt lucky we'd decided to vacation only 45 minutes away since one the things we'd forgotten was Frank's blood meter (which was expiring while we were gone).

While at home, I discovered that my peony plant had gone from one bloom the day before to 22 today! That deserved a picture

Ok, back to vacation!

We watched my brother's ward in California for church so that we could listen to his talk. Both talks were great and it was fun to see my brother speaking.

We were going to ride our bikes to Jordanelle and hang out by the water. But we wanted to bring chairs and a picnic and towels etc...so we ended up driving. LOL Literally 2 minutes away.

But it was a lovely afternoon and the weather was nice. 

We relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful day.

Took zero pictures. :-/

May 27th

The next day, Memorial Day, we started off with a lovely breakfast at Chicks Cafe. Good food and we got smart and shared a meal! Go us. We are constantly ordering way too much food and are trying to do better.

We drove around Heber and Midway a bit and saw a few lovely Memorial Day celebrations.

We then made our way to Midway for the Sheep Dog Finals!

We've wanted to go to this for a few years and finally made it happen. My brother Dion and his family also went so we spent some time together there. 

It was amazing to watch these dogs! 

These dogs had to gather two groups of sheep, bring them together, take them through two separate gates (on opposite sides of the field), bring them to a circle where the dog and shepherd would divide out the non-tagged sheep, then move the tagged sheep only to a pen! It was amazing!

We saw sheep wrangling (probably not the right word), Sheep shearing, and Agility dogs as well.

I loved it so much.  

We also got a lot of sun.

Oops.

Next we drove to Park City for a visit to the Olympic Park.

I had never been before, though Frank had. 

Neither of us can figure out how he's been without me. He was sure I went with him. He even remembers doing the ropes course. But it wasn't with me! haha

Anyway, we decided to live dangerously and got tickets to do the Bobsled. I was super nervous, especially after seeing the sign at the top saying "Beyond this point, serious injury or death could occur" and after they gave us a little safety speech which included how to avoid being a "bobble head" or hurting your back in the 4 G turns.

I was seriously hyperventilating when we were strapped in waiting to go.

But in the end it was a fun ride!

I actually have a video of the whole thing which took forever to find on the live feed. But I found it and managed to record it on my iPhone. It's a bit long and you can't tell its us except for the loading part. But here it is for posterity:

We then took a ride up the ski lift. Supposed to be for enjoying the beautiful view. I was, however, freaking out the entire time. I am becoming less a fan of heights the older I get. Once we got to the top, I proclaimed my desire to take a shuttle back down rather than ever get on that thing again. Frank was flabbergasted and hadn't realized I was so stressed. I tried to calm myself down and force myself to get back on but in the end, we hiked down.  That was an expensive one way trip...we were supposed to be able to ride it as many times as we liked! (which I guess I did)

After Olympic park we drove to old town Park City and walked around, went into shops and then had dinner at Main Street Pizza and Noodle. They had me at noodle.

We also had a lovely ice cream cone.

Back to the Airbnb for News Hour while soaking in the hot tub while enjoying the gorgeous mountain views.

It was a lovely, busy day!

We had intended to do more bike riding but were both pooped after that long day in the sun and decided to forgo it for today.

May 27

We packed up the our stuff and our hardly used bikes and headed back home. I had to work at 3 pm so we just had a relaxing morning and got organized for work to start up again. 

I can't believe it's been 37 years!

We've been through a lot but we keep showing up for each other no matter what. 

I wouldn't have it any other way.

May 28th

The weekend is over but we exchanged gifts in the evening after work.

We had originally planned to go to dinner with Kari and Josh but Kari isn't feeling well so we had a quiet night at home.

Frank got me apple EarPods which was a surpise!

I got him/us a weekend trip in September to some domes in Bryce Canyon so we have another vacation to look forward to!

April 14th New Zealand

 April 14th I woke up early at about 6 am. It was our most relaxing morning though so Doneen and I decided to go on a walk so we walked along the harbor and enjoyed the beautiful morning.

Diane and Ryan did their usual Run.

We all enjoyed a morning without much of a schedule.

 We had a nice breakfast of bacon, eggs, pastry, and sour dough toast.

We did a bit of laundry.

Dion, Summer, Doneen and I did another cold plunge in the pool

I found it easier than the first time and I forced myself to jump in on the deep end so I got my head under.

For lunch we went to  Jukebox which was a 50's theme restaurant with an old car museum attached. 

The food was good and Dad and Dion really enjoyed the museum

First stop is Hamilton to see the original temple that was built while Dad was on his mission. We also hoped to visit the visitors center that has a big mural of the dedication and Dad is in that mural.

We were sad to discover that the visitors center is gone and is now just a welcome center with a small room and bathrooms. No staff. 

The small welcome center

We walked around the grounds and through the park nearby which was so nice.

Next stop was the Museum that the church has nearby. We were hoping to come across some of the stuff Dion remembered from his visit to the visitors center in the past. Sadly it was a Monday and we didn't consider that most church stuff is closed on Mondays. Indeed the museum was closed. Luckily as we wandered the building we came across some missionaries who were working there. They were super nice to us and started looking for info about Dad and the dedication. They ended up finding some original pictures that included Dad as well as a kind of yearbook that had a two page spread all about Dad, Mom and Dion's visit back in the day (10 years ago?)

I swear we got a group picture but can't find it. I'l add it if I do.

The next activity was the Waitomo caves...the glow worm caves!

Very cool and also kind of gross. haha

No pictures were allowed inside the caves but it was very interesting. The glow worms are hanging from the ceiling by their own mucous. And their poop is what actually glows. Very pretty if you don't think about it. 

Waiting our turn:

Cave entrance:

Pictures at the end of the tour at the cave exit. That's the boat we were in..the guide stood on the edges and used ropes to guide us through the cave. He did a good job taking us through the various nooks and crannies where you could see the worms best.

Dinner was at the Iguana Street Grill for which Diane had made reservations in advance.

It was on a hopping street with lots of night life. The front the restaurant had open windows open to the sidewalk outside. There were tables out there too. One guy was sitting at the table outside and we were seated just on the other side of the window inside...literally a foot from each other. He then lit up a cigarette and the smoke came right inside! We asked to be reseated.

The food was yummy!

On the way home, we stopped at a dark spot for some star gazing. It was not quite as dark as hoped (large moon) and also a big overcast so I couldn't see much. Plus I was super tired at this point...so our car didn't stay too long. But Dion stayed a bit and got some good pictures

When I got home, I was asleep immediately! I was our latest night so far...about 10:30 pm