Allison Graduates

My sister, Allison, graduated from BYU-Idaho this week so my brother, my parents, and I all went up to celebrate. She is not normally in a wheel chair but decided to try to learn how to skateboard right before we got there and broke her foot.

Among the many things we did were wander campus and put hipster glasses on a statue of Joseph Smith, eat at the Rexburg's finest restaurant--the taco bus, and deep clean Allison's apartment for her move. I also locked my keys in my car for the first time in my life which was a blast.

Montana and Back Again

My friends, the Bryner-Feltis Family, invited me up to Montana for the weekend to hit Yellowstone and the Tetons. I accepted.

We met up at Grandparent's house in Bozeman, Montana. It was a great little area that I'm sure would be considerably less great in the Winter. After a late breakfast I sat on the porch and contemplated retirement while we waited for the rest of our party to arrive from Billings.

When they arrived we headed into Yellowstone and found a great little section of a river where everyone was swimming. Many people were fighting the rapids upstream in order to float down the quick waters. It was reasonably deep which made this possible but incredibly frightening to do with two small children. We did it anyway--the kids did fine in their life jackets but Jon and I almost drowned as we swam with him. It was a blast.

We hit some hot pots after  as well as Old Faithful (which was as impressive as I hoped) and we had dinner at the cafeteria overlooking the geyser. We then headed into Jackson Hole for supper and ice cream before driving to Teton Village to check into our Hostel.

This was the coolest place to sleep.

There was a great common area for everyone to hang out in since the rooms were so sparse and there was even pets wandering around. It was refreshing to stay in a place with such personality. There were even signatures on the wall in the common room dating back to the 60s.

The next day we headed into Grand Teton National Park and instantly saw a bear some thirty feet from the road which of course everyone got out of their cars to look. The kids really wanted to swim so we drove to Lake Jenny and waded around a peninsula while skipping rocks.

We wanted to be back in Provo by dinner so said farewell to the great West and headed home. The little computer told us there were three possible ways to get home with minutes difference in travel time so we took the back roads. It was such a long drive.

Thanks Bryner-Feltis Family  for inviting me and for taking pictures. Most of the above pictures were taken by them.

Maeser Patriotism

Its a running joke how much I love living in Provo--especially the neighborhood I'm in. The walkability and community cohesiveness has made for a living experience so grand that if possible I would be glad to settle here permanently. An example of how great the neighborhood is comes every Independence Day (or days really).

The night before July 4, we neighborhood closes down the street I live on for a massive block party. The party includes food, games, and dancing under the glow of fireworks. The whole neighborhood turns out including people who have since moved away. My dear friends from Pittsburgh, the Bryner-Feltis family, even flew out because you simply do not want to miss it.

Losing the balloon toss.

On the actual day of Independence, Provo has a great parade. It's so great that you have to start saving your seats prior to the Sunrise. I drew the short straw this year and woke up at four in the morning with my friend Miffy to save the park strip outside my friends' house. While it was tiring it was worth the effort of getting a nice shady spot.

The rest of the Fourth includes neighbor provided free scones with honey butter (tips appreciated) and all you can eat watermelon. Usually there is a nap somewhere in there along with dinner at the carnival just two blocks away. We end the night watching the fireworks from Stadium of Fire to which our street gives a perfectly straight view.

I've never known this holiday to be so wonderful--now I live for it.