If you're wondering why it's been so long since my last post, it's not ALL due to the fact that I'm a slacker. Nope. It's not. Sure that might have a BIG part to do with it, but it's not the only reason. We ditched this joint for a bit and went to play in Utah. So naturally, I couldn't blog. :-)
We headed West to the beautiful land of Utah to ride in the LOTOJA with my family again. If you remember, it's something we do every year. Or at least when we can get back there to participate. This was yet another LOTOJA to remember. Cadence was with us this year, Rob rode even with the excruciating pain of kidney stones, this was the first year Dad actually wanted to quit because he didn't feel good (of course he didn't, he toughed it out and rode all the way to the finish line), there was an endless amount of flat tires amongst the group, Tony crashed before the ride even started and we all had a blast doing it.
Another reason for our trip was to give Cadence a name and a blessing. Rob did an amazing job and the blessing she was given was beautiful. I couldn't hear a lot of it and so I don't remember most of what was said to her, but I know it was beautiful. Her daddy is an incredible man and it was so neat to see her in his arms for such a special occasion.
We also had an incredible amount of people there to show their love and support. We had her blessing day on a Monday evening due to the fact that we were from out of town and Rob's travel dates wouldn't have meshed well with doing it on a Sunday. So she received her blessing at the church then we went outside and had a party in the pavilion. Thank you to all who were able to come and share in Cadence's special day. It was so neat to see everyone there. Sorry our baby was tired and not in a friendly mood. I'm sure many of you would have liked to actually see her and not just hear her. Oh well, such is life with a baby right?
During the week Rob was with us in Utah we were able to see many friends we hadn't seen for a while. Cadence went on her first boating outing and felt Utah Lake water for the first time. We went to the Johnson family cabin and did some fishing, hiking, games and just hung out with the Johnson gang. Had some friends and their kids over to my parents house to ride the horses. And he did eventually pass his kidney stones before his vacation was over.
Cadence and I were very sad to see him go but he had to go back home to work and we needed to stay to play some more. So we stayed in Utah for an extra week.
During our second week, we visited her Great Grandma Gaufin again. We hung out with the Johnson kids some more. We went on a horse ride with Morgan and my Mom and almost got rained on but lucked out. Went to my cousin Arial's wedding. Went on a hike at Brighton with Jamie and my Mom. And we had a weenie roast at my parent's house just for fun. .
Oh, and I made another wedding cake. I had help this time though, my cousin Amber helped me with the fondant fun. It took two full days, 5 cake mixes, 10 cups of sugar, 10 cups of flour, 5 dozen egg whites, 12 sticks of butter, 3 bags of mini marshmallows, 6 pounds of powdered sugar, vanilla, almond, some water, lots of kneading action, stirring, baking, rolling and cutting. Oh boy were we tired. My mom was there helping too. She was on baby duty and "oh we need this" duty. Thank goodness she didn't mind running to the store for us when we realized we were out of things or needed something.
The cake turned out great and it was fun working with Amber. I always think it's fun to see how others work and see how they do things different from me.
Now we're back home here in Okie and Rob's working the night shift all month and I'm hitting the road hard to train for my next marathon. So far this last week Cadence, the BOB and I have done roughly 37 miles and we've had beautiful weather. The temperatures finally decided to come down from blasted hot to pleasant. Now I'm hoping they'll hold out and stay fairly pleasant for another month.
Well I think that's it for now. Until next time. Peace out!
