Nothing Like Park City

I didn't realize it's been so long since I've posted. August has been a busy month! The most recent adventure was a weekend getaway to Park City. I LOVE Park City! It has such a different feel than Salt Lake or Bountiful so it feels like a real vacation, even if it only takes 30 minutes to get there! We met my family at the Park City Mountain Resort (where the Alpine Slide is) and stayed in a nice condo there. My family will be staying this whole week, but with school starting and work, Benj and I could only stay a few days. Here are some of the things we did.

The boys raced for the gold! Ok, so these are really bike racks, but this was a fun picture. The seats on them weren't really seats at all, so the guys got off rather quickly once the picture was taken. However, watching the Olympics was a part of our weekend!

We went shopping downtown. I love the stores they have, especially the art galleries. Oh, and there is always time for a visit to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (see last picture). Oh, and I wish there was another shot of this photo, look at the lady behind me . . . she should have known to get out of the way!

I thought this blue building would be a cool spot to take a picture. These are my handsome bros.

And my dear, serious husband. This is his model look. Oh, and if you couldn't tell, I got a haircut. I love it!

These moose are all over town. This one was Sam's favorite.

And I had to get a shot with Franz the Bear.

Nothing tops off a day of shopping like a delicious caramel apple. Get them pre-sliced and you're in heaven.

Past, Present, Future

It's already August! I can't believe the summer is about to end. I remember looking back when I was in school and hoping the summer wouldn't fly by quite so fast! I'm not going to lie . . . I'm looking forward to fall . . . cooler temps, football games, pretty colors. Sounds so wonderful, doesn't it?



Here's what we've been doing and what we're planning . . .



As far as this past weekend, we enjoyed going up to Brigham City and watching a play: Around the World in 80 Days. Our friend Katie was the director. I learned a lot about her theater background. She was even Brigham City Peach Queen! Who knew?!? While we were there, we stopped at Maddox for lunch. I ate so much but it was so good! We also killed some time playing games. I played the WORST game of Settlers of Catan in my life. So bad, in fact, that I up and left the game in the middle of it. There was no hope for me getting close, and the longer I played, the more angry I became! It also didn't help that Benj was just as competative as I was and therefore had no mercy! While they finished up I "cooled off" outside. Dramatic, I know. Settlers has been put on probation until further notice. Joe and Katie, however, were excellent company!



As far as the present day goes, I am waiting in anticipation for a family friend who was induced last night. Her baby has a heart condition where the left side of his heart didn't develop. As soon as he's born, he'll be monitored carefully and will have to have immediate surgery. I admire the strength and faith of Aimee and Hardy, and I wish them all the best for little Jackson. If you'd like to check out their story, check out their blog.



Benj is officially done with school until the 25th, so we're going to do one last mini vacation up to Park City with my side of the family. Benj and I will go up for the weekend and enjoy the comforts of the Marriot Resort. We hope to try to the Alpine Slide and Zipline too! I hope to try out my new swimming suit I got from the Layers Clothing Sale last weekend. If you haven't experienced this sale, you've got to go! They have way cute stuff. However, this outlet sale was crazy! I got there right when it opened along with 500 other girls. It seems the mediums were gone the fastest! I still left with some cute stuff. I think I'll try it later in the day next time so it isn't so crowded. Here's what the swimming suit looks like on the left. The only difference is I got different bottoms that look like a miniskirt. The top was $15 and the bottoms were $10. I saved 75%!

Anyway, hope everyone enjoys their last month of summer!

Happy 24th of July!

I hope everyone had a great 24th of July. We sure did! I made a little scrapbook (above) if you'd like to check it out. I've included some of my favorite pictures below . . .

Our first event was the Bountiful parade on July 23rd. Since we live only a few blocks away, I decided to ride my bike over. Benj was already on Main Street because he had his class at the extention campus right where the parade was. You can't see from the picture, but we're in front of the family shaved ice shack! I've had so much sugar the past few days I could throw up!
This pic is my nephew Cameron (on right) and his cousin Joseph (he goes by Jo Jo). These guys were loving the candy and each caught a stuffed animal and frisbee. Score!
After the parade Benj and I decided to go to Bountiful Park. He suggested I give him a "pump" on my bike back to his car. Ha ha, I quickly learned that this is not as easy as it used to be seeing I haven't given anyone a pump since I was 10. We switched and Benj, being the strong, muscley man that he it, acted like it was nothing. I guess I just have weak legs!

TIGER PAW STORY

Benj's other true love (besides me of course) is a tiger paw every 24th of July. For those of you who have not been introduced to this delectible treat, it is a scone rolled in cinnamon sugar and then glazed with honey butter. THE best thing ever. Well, after the parade, the family goes over to Bountiful Park and buys one. You have to have tickets to buy them (dumb, I know). We got there right around 8:00ish and found the ticket booth. The lady said that the food is almost gone and that the people standing in line for food probably wouldn't get any because it was running out. Bummer. So we don't buy any tickets and go find the family. The kids are riding rides and my MIL Marcy is watching them. We tell her about the food and she is upset too. I look over at the line and it seems like they have plenty of tiger paws left. Marcy has 3 tickets to spare and Benj goes over and stands in line. While he's there, a guy tells him and others in line that they will be running out fast and they won't get any. Once again, a disappointed Benj finds the group and gives our nephew Cameron his 3 tickets to use for games instead. The line disappears and I see that they are still selling scones, so I walk over and ask if we can still buy them. The girl says YES so I run over and tell Benj. Benj pleads with Cameron to give him the 3 tickets back, but Cameron wants to try to fish pond. Benj could have forced him to give him the tickets, but being the nice uncle he is, he let Cameron have his prize. Boo. Strike 2 for the tiger paw. We go over to Neilsen's Frozen Custard and share a caramel brownie concrete to ease our pain. Good, but not the same. It's tradition! Benj vows to get one tomorrow.

The next day is the official 24th of July. Benj, unfortunately has to work until 5:00. The fair is open til 7:00 so we figure we have enough time to run to the park and get Benj his tiger paw. He gets home at 5:30, changes, and we head over there. I go to the place where they were selling tickets and they're closed. What the . . . it's only 6:04. I find a man that works there and he says, "Oh, we stopped selling tickets at 6:00." Are you freaking kidding me? AND, we wouldn't have gotten one anyway because they were already cleaning up! You're open for another HOUR, come on! Benj is genuinely pissed and we leave 5 mins after we get there.

I tell him we should go down to Liberty Park because they had booths there full of food earlier for the parade. We decide to go and try our luck. Benj doesn't have much hope left. We have to park "10 miles away" according to Benj because of the fireworks being there, but we make it over. We search the booths and see no trace of "tiger paws". However, we find a Navajo taco booth and they sell just the fry bread. We buy one for twice as much as the ones Bountiful Park was selling, and the nice native americans had cinnamon sugar and honey butter to put on it. So, Benj officially got his unofficial tiger paw. When I asked him if he was satisfied after he ate it, he said, "yes". That's all I could ever ask for.

Moral of the story: Buy tickets when in doubt, don't give extra tickets to kids, don't listen to strangers, and don't trust Bountiful Park hours.

Anyway, back to the main event . . .

Colton with his umbrella at the parade in Salt Lake.

The three boys watching the police and their motorcylces. Jo Jo (in the tie-dye) got clipped by one because they came so close to us!
Colton on the shoulders of his other cousin Jacob. So cute!
Colton sharing his shaved ice with his two grandmas. They sure love this boy!
Cameron and Jo Jo playing in the water fountains at Liberty Park.
Grandma Bradshaw and Colton inching their way toward the fountains. They didn't get too much further than in this picture.

On the sea-saw.
Benj enjoying his unofficial tiger paw at Liberty Park.
Now we're both happy!
This picture is for my brother Sam. These guys were doing a Brazilian fighting technique called capoeira. It's a mix between martial arts and dancing. They basically rhythmic fight to music. These guys have a website: saltlakecapoeira.com if you want to check it out.

Overall we had a great 24th of July. Hope you did too!

Say What You Need to Say

The John Mayer concert was INCREDIBLE! I was blown away by this guy's talent! We met up with our good friends Annie and James, sat on a blanket, and listened to Colbie Caillet and John Mayer as the sun went down. Supposedly it was going to rain, but there wasn't a drop. Perfect weather and perfect music!
We had a hard time finding Ann because I forgot my cell phone at home with her new number in it. I ended up calling my mom to get Ann's HOME number, called her mom and got her new CELL number. Turns out I was standing like 20 feet away from them. They were expecting us in the other direction. Benj and I enjoyed a lot of songs, but some our favorites were Free Falling (cover), Waiting on the World, and Say. Ann was particularly excited to hear Gravity.
We caught up with best friend Jenelle. I hadn't seen her since January! She told us about a recent trip to Europe. I'm so jealous! She's moved down to Sandy so she's closer to me. Yay! Doesn't she have the cutest haircut! I'm so glad we got to see her!

I have included a few John Mayer songs to my blog for your listening pleasure. Hope you enjoy!

Colton Emerson

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

My nephew Colton and I had a great time playing on Saturday. Because it was so hot, I decided that playing in the water would be perfect to cool us off. I used Colton as my subject for my first photography attempt (I'm trying to get better at it)! Hope you enjoy!

Lava Hot Springs

This weekend we went on our annual Lava Hot Springs trip! We had 15 people total (most from Bountiful) and it was a blast! This is the bunch after finishing a few tube runs down the river!
We got in Friday night and set up Chris' monster tent. It can fit about 10 people. The boys (except for Benj . . . the only married one) slept outside the tent. When it got cool enough in the evening, we went to the hot springs. I could only stick my ankles in for a bit because it was superrrr warm. You could seriously cook in it! I eventually got in to my shoulders and it felt so good on my aching muscles!
The first thing we do on Saturday is go to breakfast at the Chuckwagon. Afterwards was a friendly game of volleyball. Lava has a bunch of parks and most of them were pretty crowded. Then we got our tubes and went down the river. We tried to stay in a long chain but after a couple people falling out, we decided that the smaller links were better. I gave Benj a hard time because he kept on letting go of my tube. After the river run, we went to Fat Jack's: THE place (and practically only place) to eat in town. If you've ever been to Lava, there is one main road with I think one stop sign. It's about as po-dunk as they come!
The other famous spot to hang out is the Olympic-size pool with the 3-platform diving boards. Some of us were brave and faced the top one! I'm not one for heights so I opted to watch from the bottom!
Another fun little trip for the Bradshaws!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

My dad celebrates #61 this year and he's amazing! He had such a great time on the Colorado and I loved capturing the little moments during our trip. He was definately in his element and told us all kinds of stuff about the canyon (he's a pro in geology). On the way down we listened to a lot of John Williams, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zepplin, and Simon and Garfunkel. Thanks dad for making this trip so memorable. I love you and Happy Birthday!

This was a common site with dad's pants half wet. He was always in the water fishing, cooling off, or discovering something!

He caught bigger fish than this but this was the only picture I got. I woke up early (probably 5:30ish) and discovered him trying to catch some trout a few yards away from where I was sleeping. Once again, the half-wet pants! Dad, you're the best!