Yosemite

So behind. 

In early August we camped at Upper Pines in Yosemite valley for a few days. We went hiking with Brian in the high country one day to get our lungs used to the altitude change.

We made it to Bud lake after trail blazing our way up (didn't take us twice as long or anything..)

We stayed away from these

And the deer

And luckily the rain/thunder/lightning stayed away from us. 

Matty was so excited to share his foot bath after our hike

We were on the Mist Trail trail by 6:00

This was the smallest I've ever seen the falls

Thankfully we had some cloud coverage while we hiked

Couldn't have asked for better conditions

Except for a huge group in front of us..

We made it to the top!

Brian was a good sport to be our camera man the whole day

I feel like the hike down is the equivalent to Christmas afternoon.. Never is it talked about with joy or excitement. The uncomfortable in between time of "Well that was awesome! Now... what?"

Well of course there's an obvious answer to that, you're a grown adult, what do you think!?

Clean up the wrapping paper mess!

Get yourself off the mountain!

--wait, you're telling me there's another 8+ miles and 5K of elevation change?-- how about I just roll down? That seems like a good alternative. 

No one wants to clean up after the magical feeling of Christmas morning. That means it's over and not coming back for a whole 365 more days.

To summit Half Dome means the best view is right in front of you, now it's blood, sweat, and tears to haul your exhausted body back to the only place it wants to be (your sleeping pad). That's at the very best, another 5 hours away, which in case you haven't guessed might as well be 5 years. 

Irresistible buns

Of course I'm talking about the cinnamon rolls, what were you thinking?

Thanks to Rob & Jacque we had some pretty amazing food for the week.

A few hours in Frankfurt

Our flight was late getting in but we still managed to run around the city really quick. We dropped our packs for €7 each at a bag check and got on the S9 train. It was cheaper to get tickets at a counter than the kiosk which didn't take visa anyway.

And we had to switch trains for some reason, we're still not sure why..

The cathedral was so clean and beautiful

Now we're at the gate heading to Prague!

Here we go

We are at the airport! ✈️ on way to Frankfurt and then Prague 

Ready to go for the next 18 days!

Mother's Day

Matty & I headed up to Grammie & Poppa's for Mother's Day dinner. It's always fun being around them, especially when Poppa has had some peanuts

Here's my first attempt at a layered cake

Strawberry Swiss buttercream with Nutella & strawberries in the layers

I was hoping for a more gradient effect but I think that will come with practice

Grammie was pretty happy with it and it tasted good. Another big success is that it survived the car ride!

After dinner Grammie and I went on a walk around the golf course and it was a really pretty sunset

Opening Day

Matty & I have now been to every MLB stadium in California and I'm quite pleased about that. I wouldn't say either of us are over zealous about baseball but we do love us (*cough Derek Jeter cough*) a good ball game.

It was a long, but good game

And the best $7 seats we'll ever get!

School started again..

It has a way of doing that before you're ready. i don't like it but at the same time that graduation thing doesn't happen outta no where.

Kids i hope i teach you the Work Hard, Play Hard concept in life. Please don't idle your time away and if you do prepare yourself for a kick to the butt. 

Also i had a goal (what the..?) that i wanted the kitchen pantry cleaned out before school started and let me tell you - that thing looks great! Mission accomplished. So much easier and i'm loving the open and organized space.

Also before school started - we made it count!

Fondue night with the ladies

And hiked through Muir Woods 

Matty is protecting our camera from the rain. 

Who doesn't want a creme brûlée as big as your face??

Beautiful beach day with friends

Now it's full speed ahead - chemistry, anatomy, and political science till mid May..

Holladay Time

We found the perfect tree for our apartment and for half the price!

Some of the neighbors go all out on the lights and it was fun to drive by every night

Matty is becoming quite the pizza maker! We loved the deep dish he made for Christmas Day lunch. 

To make the pizza making easier

We went to the BYU bowl game at AT&T park

And found an empty Cable Car

And the Oakland temple Saturday morning

Then it was Happy Birthday Time Matty!

Maybe one more time

One of our favorite restaurants in the city 

And a Cable Car kiss on top of Lombard Street