Cakes, A birthday, casts, family party, JOSH, and Salomon

 A lot has been going on since I posted last, so this post, like most of my recent ones, will be a variety of happenings.  Since Kylee took several cake decorating classes while living in AZ, Ann and I wanted to learn the basics, so one day she taught us a few things.  It's a lot harder than it looks to make a cake look amazing- which Ky always does.  I think I'll stick to fancy frosting on cupcakes and leave the cake decorating to the professionals.  We had a fun afternoon anyway.

Kylee turned 24 on July 27th, so we decided to take a road trip to SLC and Orem.  We met up with Teresa and girls, Jessica, and Stacie and kids for lunch at Cheesecake Factory.  It was delicious.  We had Cam and 2 friends with us since they wanted to go to Orem and hang out with some boys they had become friends with the week before at EFY.  So they hung out at the mall while we had lunch, then joined us at Stacie and Rick's new apartment in West Valley for a swim- along with Sadie and Maddie.  After dropping Cam and friends off at their friends, Ky and I spent the rest of the evening and night with the Romneys. We enjoyed eating a tasty meal and playing "Things."  It was quite entertaining.  The words "dry farm" and "ginger" will never be the same. . .  The next day Von joined us for a few hours of shopping and lunch at a yummy Thai restaurant.  It was a great little get-away.

 As mentioned in a previous post, Cam broke his arm on June 25th falling off a ripstick (similar to a skate board). He spent 4 weeks in the  blue above the elbow cast, then two weeks in the green/yellow one.  It was a relief for him to be able to get it wet, and also straighten his elbow.  When we went in to have that one removed, the doctor decided it needed a little more healing time, especially since he'll be playing football as soon as it's strong enough, so he put the red cast on for two more weeks.  What a way to spend the summer.  Happily it came off the day before school started.

We had a fun Sunday picnic at Lundstrom park with most of Mike's family.  We ate then played kickball, then came to our house for big beach volleyball and homemade ice cream.  It was a fun night. I love the addition of Brad and his kids.  They like playing games!  We missed the Nelson's though. (notice Jake in the picture of the tree. He had fun climbing it.)

There aren't many performers I would want to see in concert, but JOSH GROBAN is one, so I was thrilled to attend his concert in SLC with 10 family members.  I loved riding the front runner from Ogden to SLC with Mike, Ky, Lindsey and Carol.  We had a great time visiting and playing cards.  We met up with Romneys, Smiths and Densleys for dinner at Thaifoon, then the concert across the street at Energy Solutions Arena.  It was a perfect 2 hours listening to Josh's amazing voice.  I just love him.

Although I'm not a dog lover, I have to say I'm kinda going to miss this little guy. I'm going to miss his owner too (Kylee) but I'm pretty sure I've spent more time with the dog. . .  He's been my buddy all summer, and I fear it will be a little lonely when I come home and he's not right there to greet me, and then follow me around wherever I go for the rest of the day.  Goodbye Salomon.  I'll see you soon.