Summer 2017

Well, it's summer and we still like our little fluff-ball Royal. He's a fun dog that loves to play but isn't too much work. I also tried to go on a run with him and he lasted about 4 blocks until he wanted to walk, so him and Natali and are great running buddies. 

Summer picnics with Royal eager to see all the fun food we brought for us him.

Our tradition of going to see fireworks up in Allen on the weekend before the 4th of July is always fun. Natali had to fly to Germany for work and would miss the 4th of July this year so it was nice to be able to go with her so she could still see some fireworks. And Royal is not afraid at all of the fireworks which is nice. He just wants to run around and lick everyone's face, and he would if we didn't keep him on a short leash. 

So while Natali was off in Germany, Royal and I walked over to our neighborhood 4th of July parade. It was pretty hot out, but Royal seemed to enjoy seeing all the people walk by. 

Royal sure misses Natali when she is away though. Here he is curled up on the couch and looking out the window for her to come back. 

Meanwhile Natali was working hard in Germany. She had a day or two to enjoy the sites and was able to go to Baden Baden for a spa day and also see a few sites around the area. 

So while Natali was getting massaged and sitting in the spa, before she left she had committed to hosting a work summer get-together at our house. It was a 4 course dinner, where appetizers, dinner, dessert, and drinks were each at a different house. Well we were the dinner house, and I prepared all the food. We hired some help the day of to help cook but I did all the prep work and most of the cooking. 

We prepared Huli-Huli chicken, Hawaiian Pork with rice, baked veggies, and grilled pineapple. I had to prep everything the night before and it was quite the undertaking. I called my mom and got a bunch of her tips for everything and luckily it seemed to have turned out really well.  We decorated the backyard with Tiki torches and sprayed for mosquitoes and luckily we had great weather and no mosquitoes. 

Natali's firm always does a lot of other fun summer events. One this year was an 80's themed party. Can I just say that Natali is smokin' no matter what era she is in?

And the last work summer event is usually the dinner with the summer associate that Natali was able to mentor all summer and give them an offer to come back and work the following year. This summer it was Tayler and Natali was so excited to extend an offer to her!

Royal eyeing my delicious mushroom Swiss burger. 

On of my (failed) projects over the summer was to try to get some tomatoes and cucumbers to grow. We have a lot of shade in our backyard so my thought was to build a grow box on wheels and move it so that it would be in the sun for longer... Well it didn't work. It was too heavy to move, the wheels were too small, and the backyard was too muddy. Gotta think of something better for next year. 

In August we were off to St. George to see Natali's little sister, Tracie, get married. There is only one more of the siblings (Jayden) that isn't married now that Tracie is married. 

Then after the wedding Natali, Royal and I went up to Duck Creek and stayed at the Wyson cabin for a long weekend. We had a great time exploring nature on the quads and relaxing.

Royal saw a flock of sheep without a shepherd and sure wanted to herd them to safety. We decided that probably wasn't a very good idea...

So we continued up the mountain to a lookout to have lunch, Royal's favorite part of the day. 

I brought my drone and was able to fly it around a bit as well to capture the great scenery. 

But Royal's favorite part of the trip was laying by the pool. 

Also, I was pretty proud of the flowers I planted out front of our house this year.