Utah Summer Games!

So like I said, my life consisted of a lot of frisbee now---and does it! This weekend I went with Bryan to the Utah Summer Games hosted by SUU in Cedar City. It was so much fun!! Who knew frisbee could be so intense. For most of the games I was on the edge of my seat or standing because I couldn't sit still because the games were so close. This was probably the most competive year yet they say. But I'm getting ahead of myself---let me start from the beginning.

Thursday night we rode in a van with some other people from BYU who were going to be playing. They are some of the coolest guys I've ever met. We played games, watched a movie, and chatted all the way down. I have to admit that I thought it would be a little weird or uncomfortable coming as "the girlfriend," but these guys were great and I never felt like I was unwelcomed or in the way. We got there pretty late in the day since we didn't leave until past 8, so we crashed in our hotel rooms. (And don't worry, I had my own room with some other girls.)

The next day started bright and early. We had to be down to the fields at 8, which may not seem early seems that's when we go to work anyway, but there's just something else about it when you feel like you're supposed to be on vacation. Still, the boys played four games that day until 2 in the afternoon. Let's just say that I now will have a great tan after the burn goes away. It was a windy day so it didn't feel that hot. But the team won 2 games, lost 2. Apparently it didn't matter that much because the first day it just to see where your seed will be in the rankings. The real games start the next day. So after being exhausted after 4 games we all head back to the hotel for some pizza (apparently that's what they always want after a long day). We played some games, watched part of a movie, got a second dinner, but mostly everyone just wanted to sleep.

The next day started even earlier. We had to be to the fields at 7:15! Good thing I don't actually do any of the playing. I thought the team would just be more tired, but apparently they just need a day to warm-up. They ran harder, played better and were more intense than I thought possible. So much so that they won their first 2 games and got a 3 hour break. Some of the SUU players were really nice and let us use a room in their Student Center to watch the USA-Ghana game. Too bad that game didn't end well. After that we had the most intense game of the entire weekend---for any team. It's funny, everyone called Bryan's team the BYU A-Team. I don't know if that's completely true, but I'm biased enough to agree with them. (BYU brought 3 teams with them.) It was against the SUU Alumni team. In a lot of ways I think BYU could have won, but it was a close call of 13-15. That made BYU have to play a Salt Lake team that they lost to, 12-13. In the end we got 3rd place. They played so well and so hard that we are proud of what they did and I'm proud of them too.

Once the medals were given it was past 5 that evening, everyone is even MORE tired and we still had to drive back to Provo. We stopped at the funniest little Chinese restaurant in Beaver. I don't think I seen guys drink so much in my life. But they deserved it. Overall, it was a great weekend and I can't wait for the next tourney!

At the very end. My camera wasn't worth trying to take pictures of the actual game.

On the medal podium! Yay!

Bryan's Team---the KillJoys

Strawberry Days Rodeo

Howdy ya'll....Welcome to the Pleasant Grove, Strawberry Days Rodeo.

I'm tired. Let me start off with that. But tired for the best reasons. This weekend was full...okay, Saturday was full, but that's basically the weekend anyway, right? So Bryan asked me to come out and help his frisbee team play in a tournament. You have to play with 2 girls on the field at a time, and they were only going to have 2 girls that they were for sure about. So I came. Admittedly a little reluctantly at first. I have no doubts about my skills---they aren't very good. At least not compared to an organized team who have been playing with one another all summer, but I wanted to help out. I was told I didn't do so bad, I was actually doing really well. I still don't know if I believe it, but at least I gave the other girls a break, which was my main job. I have to tell you though, 4 games, 9am-3pm, in sunshine---I was tired. I didn't think I was that out of shape, but apparently I am.

Bryan was a sweetheart and bought me my first pair of cleats. Too bad I didn't wear the right kind of socks the first time I wore them. Now my ankles look like I've been chained to a wall in shackles because the skin has been rubbed off. Eww. I had to bandage and tape them so that I wouldn't hurt them more for this tournament. And they seemed to come out okay.

We won two, lost two. Games that is. I'm happy to know that I made at least one of the point though. I'm finally, kinda, sorta, getting the hang of this frisbee thing. I'm sure I'll have lots more practice though if Bryan has anything to say about it. (And I'll probably do it.)

So after exhausting ourselves, we make it home in time to get ready to go the the Pleasant Grove Strawberry Days Rodeo. I wanted to go and I had promised Emily that we would go this year---I just didn't know that I would be running around all morning first, but I was determined to go, so we went.

Yes, yes, we got some sun that day.

The first event---Bareback Bucking Broncos

That means they're riding that horse without a saddle.
I was actually amazed at how many people COULDN'T stay on for the whole 8 seconds. I know that I couldn't, but I don't do this as a profession or even for fun like these people do. Some of them were in the top 15 in the world and they couldn't even make it. Must be some horse.

One of the cowboys---Look at those chaps.

Sorry it's so blurry. It's hard to capture them with my camera.

Calf Racing (or something like that) - they had to lasso the calf, tie it around the saddle horn, jump off the horse, run over and flip it on it's side, then hog tie it. One guy did it in 7.5 seconds. Make was pretty darn amazing. It makes me want to rethink what I can do with 7 seconds.

This was also Bucking Broncos, but this time with saddles. Those poor horses.

Sorry this one was so dark, the flash ruined the pictures even more. But this was a woman called Amanda with her show called "the One Arm Bandit"---don't ask me, I have no idea why. Basically she herded a pair of buffalo up a ramp on the side of her trailer. I wasn't that impressed, but then again, maybe it's really hard to herd buffalo. I wouldn't know.

Anyway, it was a long day, but lots of fun. They had Bull riding too, but it was just too dark to get a good picture. Still, I feel like a full-fledged Texan now that I've actually seen a rodeo. Plus I got strawberries and cream too. Yum.

Oh Summer!

Well, to start off, I'd like to show you all what my new life consists of. Frisbee......and lots of it! Bryan is a lover of the game, and despite the fact that he says I don't have to come, I can't but help watch him. He's really quite amazing (and I'm only being a tiny bit biased). He loves it so much he even has me throwing around a frisbee once in a while---and I actually enjoy it! Shocking, I know. He even asked if I wanted to play in a tourney this weekend with his Orem team. (Apparently I'm not too bad at it.) I'm a little nervous because its been a while since I played on a team, and I don't want to disappoint him, but I think I'm up for a challenge right about now.

This is just a practice that he had on Saturday, but they are usually the most interesting because it's the best people on the "unofficial" BYU team.

I thought this was pretty cool. I don't use the sport setting on my camera much, but look at that cut! My man's a machine.

Later that day we decided to go on a hike up Rock Canyon. I have hated that the weather has been so crappy here lately. It's like summer isn't here at all. It rains all the time and is chilly. I thought this was supposed to be a desert? I must admit though, that all of that crappy weather certainly makes Utah green. It's really pretty now.

So Larissa, you can finally see our faces, how do we look?

This was a water fountain they have on the trail. It's just water that is constantly gushing out the tube. I put this picture here because that stupid fountain hated me. Everytime I'd go for a drink it would shoot up with more water pressure and get my face all wet. Argh!
I liked this picture because you can see how much water there is. Last year it was barely a trickle.

And this is us at the end of our hike. We didn't make it all the way to the top---I don't know if there is one---but it was a great hike and I'm certainly feeling it now.

I just wanted everyone to see how pretty Utah can be. I know that it's no Oregon or Washington, but it's way greener than Dallas or Vegas, so we appreciate it.

Bryan's Birthday and Vegas

So Bryan had his 25th birthday this past Thursday. YAY!! He really likes suprises, and I'm not very good at them, but I wanted it to be special. I really worried about him liking everything. I wanted it to be amazing, so he knew most of what was coming, But at least this little part was a suprise. I know that it's cheesy and kind of lame, but I had to do something! I would have made breakfast, but he goes to work at 7 and he actually makes a better breakfast than me, plus his apartment is locked, what else was I supposed to do? But as he put it himself, it was like a party in his car. I think he kinda liked it. So here it is:

I have to admit, as I put the streamers up all I could think of was Leilani thinking they are called Happy Birthday because that's what Dayne and Larissa kept saying as she walked through them.

This was probably my favorite part. Thanks to Heidi's tutelage and Larissa's wedding where I had to tie hundreds of ballons, I still remember how to tie them together in one easy motion. I added the noise makers because they are more fun than confetti and the kisses because--well I think you know why.

So I hope that it was a big enough suprise. I was up pretty late and I'm certainly not used to it anymore.

Oh, and the paint was causing streaks. Since it was new I would write something and it looked like it came from a scary movie, so I used my hands to wipe it off. Well I didn't want it on my hands since I had other stuff to do, so I was left with no choice but to wipe it on my pants. I will forever remember this day as long as I have those jeans since it didn't all come off and now I have red streaks. It was totally worth it though.

Later that night after Bryan's ultimate games we went to dinner where I paid for the first time. He's so good to me, I don't think I've paid for much in the last couple months. But it was his birthday and he completely deserved it! We went to Macaroni Grill where I swear there was only 4 other people in the restaurant with us. I know it was kind of late at 9:30 and it was a Thursday, but still, I've never seen that before. So we had great service, let me tell you. I got him the Mistborn series (if you haven't read them, you should). I'm pretty sure it was one of the first things we ever talked about. Plus he basically made me read them (just kidding!).

Bryan also has this thing for watches. Most accessories actually. And we had talked about the watches this the black faces and just the diamond at 12 to tell the time, so that's what I wanted to get him. Plus I guess he could have used a dressy silver watch. So I saw this and I wanted to get it for him. I pretty sure this was his favorite part of the day....at least from me.

When we got home I had asked Em to make him a cake seems I'd be gone all day. Bryan really likes the drizzly chocolate kind of frosting or cream cheese. I'm definitely a buttercream kinda gal, but I can enjoy any cake Em makes as much as the next person. So she had this amazing idea to make him a frisbee cake. It's stuck in the dirt and grass. It was so great!

She even made me find out what brand of frisbee he uses and found the logo and replicated it. Apparently Discraft is the best and you should never use anything else--especially Whamo.

After that it was time for my bedtime. I hadn't gotten much sleep and Bryan and I were headed down to Vegas (technically Henderson) the next morning, plus I still had to pack.

Bright and early the next morning, and by that I mean around 8:45, we were headed down I-15. We were going to listen to the 3rd book of Mistborn seems I was only 1 part away from the end. Funny thing was that Bryan had downloaded the entire book except that exact part. Luckily in Payson, Utah the Holiday Inn is nice enough not to make you pay to use their WiFi, we didn't even have to have a room. So we got the last part and happily started our journey once again. Thank you Holiday Inn.

After 5 hours we pulled into his parent's drive. I must have forgotten what heat was like, because man was it HOT! But even his parent's said that 108 was hotter than it had been. I really had forgotten what it was like. Obviously I've been away from Texas for too long. We spent the rest of the day with his family. I pretty sure I talked with his mom for an hour and a half about all different kinds of things. His whole family was so generous.

Since it was his birthday weekend, his family all got together, including his grandparents who I had met before, and shockingly enough they remembered me. Even my name. Crazy! Luckily I remember them just telling me to call them Grandma and Grandpa, so that just what I did. Yeah, we sat around the table talking most of the night. By the way, Bryan's mom makes this amazing stuff called Cherry Yum-Yum. I need to remember to ask for the recipe.

We did stop by and visit with his friends that night too. They call themselves the Trio. And they act like it. It was a lot of fun. We played MarioCart on the Wii. I haven't played that game in forever, but I'm happy to report that I have improved nonetheless. Perhaps real driving helped.

By the time we got home I was once again exhausted, but in that happy, contented type of way.

Still, we had an early start the next morning. We were going to Boulder to see Hoover Dam. I have been before, but the shear size still amazes me.

This is the new bridge that has been at least a year in the making. The last time I came through they had just barely started the edges. Now they are only a few months away from having people drive on it. It's going to be nice having it. Right now you have to wind down the canyon, across the dam, and then wind back up going 15 mph, with it finished, you can stick to 65. Woot!

I didn't realize my hair looked so bad.

Ahhh! Enough said.

Don't we look so happy, despite the heat.

The momument to the great people who risked their lives to build this.

We went on a tour. It's cool inside. It could have been so creepy, too bad hundreds of people go through it a day.

These are the generators. There are 17 that power Arizona, Neveda and California. It produces more than 4 billion kilowatts of power a year. Wow!

We tried to roll a penny down it, you can't see it after like 30 feet and you never hear it drop, but then again, it is 727 feet high.

Later we stopped for some smoothies and did we need it! We also stopped at the mall to get some sunglasses and to find Bryan a fedora style hat. Who would have known that the best one wouldn't be at the mall at all, but at Wal-Mart! I'm now sad I didn't take a picture. He looks pretty dang good in that hat. I made him try on a Kenneth Cole grey suit too. Hot. I'm determined he gets one someday.

We also wanted to stop by the Vegas Temple. It is beautiful. I love how everything seems more peaceful on Temple grounds.

Can you ever have too many pictures of the temple?

Lastly we went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. That was some good food. The carrots were amazing! It was a lemon-herb chicken dinner and the carrots were sauteed in the same sauce. Yum! By that point it was once again the end of a wonderful day. We did make one last trip up a mountain though to look down on the city. It's so pretty, even with the strip that sticks out of the skyline. On Sunday we went to Church in the Single's Ward. I claim it's so he could show me off to all of his old friends. Then we got in the car and began our trip back. We had a little bit of the book to finish, but we just talked for most of the time. Overall, it was one of the best trips of my life yet. I had such a great time. Now don't you all wish you were me.