hello September

Well it seems crazy we've rolled into September. Fall is rapidly approaching. I love fall. I don't love that it leads to  cold, grey, and dark winter months. The nights have been getting cooler and the temperatures seems to be staying lower on most days. We still have a few hot ones here and there.

Let's move on from chatting about the weather, let me update y'all on things.

The second house we were farther along in the process with fell through. There were some structural problems on top of normal problems and the sellers seemed oblivious and/or unwilling to fix anything. The structural problems were the kind that the lender wanted addressed and fixed before we could even get the loan. Since the sellers didn't seem to want to do that, we let it go. I think that house is already under contract again. I can't help but wonder what they will do about the structural issues with these buyers. Maybe they'll cave in and do something about it. But wondering does nothing, we are back at the beginning of the process again.  I think I am getting a little calloused to the house buying shenanigans now. We have expanded our search to include suburbs south of Salt Lake City. However, I would prefer a lifestyle where you live/work/play/shop/worship in the same neighborhood. It doesn't seem that will be as possible with our budget and the houses available in our price range. So, there is that. It was a busy long few weeks dealing with the house, so it was disappointing to have to start over.

We just had family here for ten days. Our house was full, loud, messy, and fun. It's nice to finally have the space to ourselves again. When people come visit it's like being on vacation in our own town. However, driving the party bus, so to speak, was our responsibility. Sometimes it felt like a lot of pressure to continue to impress. Thankfully Utah is amazing and very interesting. It was not to hard to keep everyone busy, maybe too busy at times.

We took a few days to venture to southern Utah. It's a whole other world from the Salt Lake Valley. We finally got to go to Bryce Canyon National Park. Last time we attempted this for my birthday, the government shut down the all the parks.

We did a short but steep hike down into the Canyon and then back out. It was fun to see the Hoodoos from above and below.

this picture doesn't do justice to the color contrast of
blue sky and orange rocks

back up, Davis carried Parker part of the way

After the descent/ascent, everyone but Davis and I took a break at the hotel for naps and relaxation. Davis and I drove to the end of the park and also hiked a few miles of the rim trail.

rim trail vistas (and getting my sunburn on)

Mars? is that you?

I love how far the eye can see in the west. If we ever move back east, I'll miss the sky and wide open spaces. I do miss green cozy forests of my native lands though too. This country is a beautiful diverse place. After Bryce, we took the back roads home to stop at Capitol Reef. We ate some pies, picked some fruit from the orchards growing in the valleys between red cliffs, and took in the amazing scenery. It's a great spot and it's not as far away from SLC as some of the other parks.

peach pie for this guy in our picnic spot

until next time, Capitol Reef

We also explored around Salt Lake City more with our guests. Sunday after church, we went to Oktoberfest up at Snowbird in the mountains. We walked to our local awesome park, Liberty Park. We ate at a few of our favorite restaurants. All of us checked out the Museum of Natural History. Overall, we had a great visit.

Now, I have to play catch up on the chores and yard work we neglected. I wonder how big our zucchinis grew over the past week? Yikes, I am about to find out.