Jumping Back into the Pool

It has been a little over two weeks since I took a break from working full time on the Great Wall of Thesis. I came in once or twice last week and did some work, but today marks my first day back on the job after a nice, relaxing vacation.

During the July 4th Weekend, we attended a Pederson family reunion (my mom's side) in Fairview, UT. I had a wonderful time reconnecting with cousins I had not seen in years and hanging out with cousins that have become close friends as we have entered adulthood, married, and started families. One of my most favorite people in the whole world, Jaron Stanley, was one of my best friends in high school and ended up marrying my cousin. (They met at my birthday party, I will have you know.) I won't bore you with the minutiae, since the weekend was all just a blur any way, but here are some highlights (I include the names for my benefit since I'm a horrible journal writer):

• Attending the Manti temple with Aimee, Steve, Andrea, Elissa, Kathy, Erin, David, and Josiah
• Sitting on the cemetery lawn watching fireworks at Mt. Pleasant with Pederson's, Stanleys, Hammonds, and Krauses
• Hanging out with my brothers, especially John and his family
  
• Going to Juanita's and Maple Canyon with Dad one day
• Going to Maple Canyon and Juanita's the next day with the Stanleys and my family (Big Boy said the hike up Maple Canyon was his favorite part of the trip.)
  
• Watching Ghostbusters (well, most of it) with my brothers
• Learning that my cousin Tyler plays pedal steel guitar (we'll definitely use him on a few tracks on the next album)
• Watching Mom perform "Prince Albert and the Lion" twice! (oh, and the Norwegian joke was also pretty funny)
• all the delicious food, fun stories, laughter, hugs, and family togetherness!

We returned Tuesday, July 6, and recovered for the next two days. That weekend, my cousin Victoria stayed with us and I also spent some time with my Whitworth cousins. We also had a Portuguese section BBQ Friday evening, a Nashville friends BBQ Saturday evening (Nordstrom and Clemens families), and a Kearns High friends reunion Sunday afternoon (Jenkins, Wilsons, Moores). It made for a very, very busy weekend.

On Tuesday, July 13, we saw Paul McCartney at Rio Tinto Stadium with Doug and Heather Moore, my parents, and Aimee's parents. It was a great show. I mean, come on, it was a Beatle! This past weekend was Big Boy's seventh birthday. We had a GI Joe themed swim party on Saturday and then a little family get-together yesterday. Phew! The past two weeks have been busy. Now I need to get busy for the next two weeks and crank out this book report.