Into the desert

We planned several months ago to meet up in Moab with some of our dearest Colorado friends. Well, the time arrived last weekend for some quality camping and desert exploration.

The Newell and Ware (or 818 family) second annual camping trip overall was a huge success. Lovely time with lovely people. You should check out Libby's blog for a much better recap of the trip. Her pictures are way better, she is a professional after all.

After a nights rest in our tents, we shared breakfast before checking out Canyonlands National Park. Of course, bacon was involved. A great start to a great day. We have been to the Moab area a couple of times now but had never check out Canyonlands. It doesn't get the attention it deserves. It was breathtaking. We wandered all around the park, taking short hikes to vistas. Often stopping at the view for a good conversation. I've yet to go to the Grand Canyon but this canyon area of Utah surely was a pleasure to explore.

Davis taking it all in

simply breathtaking (scenery and husband)

After a long day in the hot sun, we stopped for appetizers and beverages at a local Mexican joint before heading back to our campsites for the night. We enjoyed a bit of star gazing before the moon came out and cast shadows due to its brightness. Davis showed us the Andromeda galaxy through his fancier binoculars.

Sunday we were treated to a delicious breakfast made by Libby before heading into Arches National Park. Our day had to be shorter to due traveling back home but we saw much of Arches while still leaving reasons to come back.

landscape arch

another arch ... maybe it has a  name

We forgot our camera (again) and I only took a few pictures with the i-phone. But it was a fun, hot day of exploring. We were all tuckered out at the end, so unanimously it was decided milkshakes were a must. On the way out of town, we shared a meal of burgers, milkshakes and way too many fries. Such a great, quick trip. We are very blessed to have friends travel so far to spent a few days with us.

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.

fully committing

I will refrain from talking about busyness. I am feeling ahead of the curve a bit, it's before 11am and I have some red beans and rice simmering in the crock pot. Well, just the red beans part. It's an experiment but hopefully it will turn out well since I sacrificed a very delicious bell pepper from the garden for it. Beans and rice are not our usual fair around here. I used to eat red beans and rice a lot in college and do love the stuff. But have not had much of it in years. We are officially under contract on a house as of now and in anticipation of moving expenses and dumping all our money at closing, we are reigning in spending. Beans and rice are not expensive and we have a frozen ham bone just waiting to be slow cooked for hours to complete the meal.

So, yes, we did make the giant leap into the great unknown (to us) of being home owners. Let me back up, my last post I was admitting to being fearful, still am, but that was over a different house. The first house we put an offer on we saw twice, walked by it, drove by it, talked about it endlessly,  and stared at the pictures on the internet for over two weeks. When I finally was comfortable enough to make an offer, we found out the day before the homeowners had filed for bankruptcy. So we let that house go, for we did not want to wade into those even murkier waters. I have been trying not to think of "what if we had just decided a day sooner". However, we did pray that it would be an obvious yes or no. And we got an obvious no.

We spent a few more weeks looking at houses. The pickings are slim and the good ones go fast. All the cool kids are moving to Salt Lake City. I kid. There was not a whole lot we wanted to afford or could afford. We looked a nice craftsman/bungalow, I need to research the difference, and decided that this house was quite nice, in our price range, and maybe we should go for it. Overall, I like it better than the first house. So, we are under contract. However, nothing is official until it's official. So, I am holding back some excitement until it's all finished. This means we are fully committing to living in Salt Lake City for the foreseeable future, which was also a long prayerful discussion in the Ware house.

What else have we been up to you ask? Well, living life I guess. Our garden is out of control. Davis planted all these squash varieties that think they own the world. We have not bought but maybe ten dollars worth of other vegetables this summer. Majority of our food comes from our yard. Therefore, we eat a lot of zucchini. I am becoming a master at hiding it in everything. Actually, we have spent more than ten dollars on vegetables. We are suckers for cold-pressed veggie juices from the farmers market. Those are special treats :)

our furry shadow as Davis waters the tomatoes with coffee in hand

picking more tomatoes beside one of the squash giants

wall of zucchini, Lebanese squash, and Ute squash

The weather as been warm but not as hot for as long compared to last summer. Still, we spoiled our fur-child with a five dollar kiddie pool from target. She was hesitant at first but now as soon as we are finished with our walk, she jumps right in to cool off.

I mean, it's really adorable. She is a cute pup to begin with, then she plays in her pool and my heart melts. I'd let her eat all my socks. I might be a push over whenever have children. But honestly, I think Davis is way more tenderhearted than me.

playing his new-to-him accordion, audience not impressed

Davis, being as tender hearted as he is, frequently volunteers to play music for church. He has an old accordion acquired during our Ridge Haven days. It is definitely on it's last leg. We took it to an accordion repair shop here in SLC, yes there is a whole place for that here. The guy said it would take about three thousand to fix and then it would be worth less than a thousand once it was fixed. Obviously, that would be dumb to do. Apparently, accordions have finite life regardless of how well they are cared for and it's less than 100 years. Davis had been wanting a new one for awhile and fixing the old one is pointless, so we bought this classy looking used one. He is a quite the happy fellow. It sounds so much better and is much easier to play. Good-bye belt for hand strap!

We have been trying to get out and about to enjoy summer. There is so much going on sometimes we just give up and stay at home to garden. It always blows our mind that we can do a beautiful hike after work and be home before dark. Two weeks ago, we went up on a Friday evening to Little Cottonwood Canyon to take in the wildflowers on a 3+ mile hike.

I like to try to look shorter :)

up to lake Catherine, nestled between Brighton and Alta

Lake Catherine

kept stopping to look at flowers

for the beauty of the earth...

Lord of all to Thee we raise, this our hymn of grateful praise

I mean, this is fantastic. The lighting, the temperature, the colors, the scale, the contrasts... everything so wonderfully crafted. The vistas may have helped us be satisfied with living here for longer :)

houses and hiking

I think every update starts with "we've been busy". I am beginning to wonder if I just exaggerate our actual busyness or if we really are busy. But, alas, we have been a bit busy. This time it's been looking at houses to buy. Can I just say, this whole idea of buying a house is quite scary to me? I know it's like renting from the bank and hopefully we can at least get some of the money back. It's hard for me to commit to any place and sign my name on any line. We've seen a handful of houses of varying quality. The housing market here, at least the area we want to live, is challenging. It's more expensive per square foot here than the southeast but it's cheap compared to California. But a lot of people in our buying range are trying to purchase here. We found a little house built in 1907 that is in good shape in the general area we want to be. Everything is walkable and there are plenty of parks and large old trees. I guess you could say the area we can afford is "in transition". It can be a little hit and miss in ascetics due age and growth of suburbs in the past. But as with most of Salt Lake City, it's pretty darn safe. As more young folks move back into the city, it definitely can get much better.  Overall, I want to feel confident and care-free about committing. We will be here for at least three to five more years due to work. I know other people do this sort of thing all the time. That is great for them. I am still scared. I realize I am asking my confidence to be based on knowing with certainty the future.

I'll update y'all on the final verdict on this matter in time. But what I am going towards is how desperately I think knowing the future will give me confidence and peace. I think it would be gracious of God to give me foreknowledge in all life matters. When I think about that, I realize knowing would really limit the present moment. Already, a struggle is to not look to the future calendar and count down to the next big thing planned. If I were to know all things, would I really embrace the grace, love, mercy, and joy provided in the moments of life? I doubt I would. I am hoping I can see this need to trust God as a form of mercy and grace in my life. That goes not just for home buying, but all the things I worry that could happen or desire to happen.

There are other things we are realizing that we thought or wish we could control and plan that is ultimately not up to us to make happen. This also is driving me back to Jesus. Trusting. Trusting in a constant, loving, covenant God who is present with us moment by moment.

We always talk about how much there is to do here daily. We often are worn out come Saturday, we rarely go out to enjoy it. Sundays have become with busy with a ton of church responsibilities. However, this Saturday after getting good sleep, we skipped the farmers market and headed for the mountains. We had a lovely hike in the Uintas trekking Lofty Lake loop. Below are a few of the sights.

meadows with streams flowing

 Ingrid is about to take off sniffing

snack break with a view

snow patch, Ingrid flipped out
she loves to run around in snow and stick her nose in it

wildflowers, glacial lake, and rocky mountains. incredible.

So, that is where we are currently. Hope everyone is having a lovely summer.

summertime catch up

Summer has proven already to be a busy season. I am not surprised but I am also surprised. My mental images of summer go between sipping lemonade on the porch, slowly rocking in a chair as the sun sets, to hiking/biking/swimming/camping/cookouts/trips (insert outdoor activity)  and etc. We seem to be busy while trying to mix in some times to relax. Or maybe not just be busy for the sake of doing things but more purposeful activities.

Regardless, I am terrible at taking pictures of life. We have had friends and family come through. We have visited friends. I have little to no pictures of these activities. I'm not sure if that is good or bad, but that is how it is.

We started our post-europe-trip-life with a trip to Colorado for a dear friend's wedding. That was a quick weekend flight and quite busy, since Davis was a groomsman.

After that, we helped host a couple looking into SLC for a church planting apprenticeship. We are excited that they want to come here. We bonded rather quickly and hope it is the beginning of a longer friendship.

After that, friends through our Ridge Haven days stopped for a night on their way to Oregon for residency. Watermelon and board games on the front porch was the activity for the evening.

Shortly following, Davis' mom and sister came for about a week each. We had little time to show them Salt Lake City after our work days ended and their essential oils conference set them free.We are always grateful when family makes the trip to see us.

Since the 4th of July fell on a Friday, Davis got a free three day weekend. These opportunities are rare for us. Usually holiday weekends are used for flights and family visiting. We decided to use this time to head back to Colorado to catch up with some friends. One family of our dearest Fort Collins friends had very recently moved to Denver. We wanted to catch up with them some more, see how their new life was going, and hopefully be an encouragement as they start this new chapter. We talked a few of our other Fort Collins friends to come down and have a traditional "colorado family" gathering of food and chatting.  We also decided bomb pops necessary to celebrate, regardless of their dye#352745 content. Happy birthday America! We sat at a park overlooking the Broncos stadium but due to kids bed times and what not, we left before the big show started. However, from the hill in the park, we could see all the rogue fireworks in the surrounding neighborhoods.

this bunch is awesome. so dear to my heart. (eric and sarah had already left)

my best of all friends, viola

After two nights in Denver, we made a quick hop up to Boulder. Another Ridge Haven connection/life long friends have made this pseudo-utopia their long term home. It's a cool place for sure. But these guys are the real draw for us.

i stole this picture from lora

We biked to the farmers market, tried a few samples, picked out lunches, and picnicked in the park. Lora and Andrew have a little girl due to arrive mid-September. We had lots of fun guessing the name and sharing in their excitement After that adventure, we went to relax on the only beaches available in these parts. We soaked up the sun and water at Boulder Reservoir. Davis' hair took on a whole new look post swimming.

troll hair

We had a lovely dinner out on the town followed by board games. The next morning we headed home through Fort Collins. We stopped at a favorite coffee shop for juice. Funny, right? I love a well balanced  fresh vegetable juice and the Bean Cycle has one of my favorites. We also grabbed sandwiches and reminisced on our first summer of marriage spent figuring out life and Fort Collins. The smells that day, funny enough, asphalt and nature, took us back four years.  I say nature because I don't know what combination of what makes Fort Collins smell that way. But it's definitely unique in my mind. We wouldn't go back to that time but it was a tender moment reliving that time. It would be interesting if you could time travel and just experience certain moments  for maybe an hour. I would do that but I don't want to start over.

downtown fort collins from the bean cycle

The long drive gave us ample time to listen to books on tape, talk, and just observe. We both realize SLC is growing on us. We contemplate the idea of what it looks like to live somewhere whole-heartedly, not keeping the option to leave always in the back of your mind. It's hard to imagine putting roots into our transient community here, especially when our families aren't here. Anyways, that is another thought for another day.

We are entering nearly a two month lull of no planned visitors and travel. We want to do a little camping, swimming, hiking, and so on. The fall is starting to look busy with weddings and visitors. We are excited to establish a routine again.

Fussen

oops! I was looking at some pictures the other day and realized I skipped a set of pictures. Hating the thought of not sharing everything so you wouldn't miss a moment of the trip, I am finishing today. It won't be too much to read. Fussen is the town we stayed in after seeing THE castle. It turned out to be pretty awesome on it's own. It actually has it's own castle and monastery.

swanky-ish but very comfy hotel with an awesome breakfast

didn't notice this face until I took the picture
Oh, crazy ludwig!

After providing Davis adequate time to recover from our long walk to the castles (his knee was hurting), we headed to the town to look a bit and find some dinner. 

main street through town

around the corner to the castle

up to the castle

photo op on the way up

photo-op on the way down
i think this photo looks like it should be in a study aboard brochure

The castle was very different from the others we saw. Like people, castles come in all shapes, sizes and colors :)

painted castle

it was closed for the day but we walked around the courtyard

I think it says 1403 under there...

wall and castle from the other side

painted windows

tower at a gated entrance

After poking around the castle, we walked back down the path to the old catholic church just near the entrance. We walked in and look around there too before strolling all over the small town to find a quiet dinner location.

smaller town still epic church

all the art in all the churches were fantastic

out the window of the church, I spy a little industry

Our walk took us to the river, around the back side of town and by the monastery. We also found a very nice view of Fussen and it's red roofs.

painted buildings

a portion of the town on the other side of the river

part of the old wall and cemetery

part of the monastery and the old wall

hello Fussen, you are cute

wanderings

We wandered back through the streets, eventually settled on a dinner spot. We enjoyed delicious German food, beer, and wine. The wine was such a great deal. Three glasses for four euros. Winning!

davis' head for size comparison

Just because we had such a good deal for dinner, we felt the need to get extreme desserts from another shop down the street. After the overload of food, we waddled back to our room to rest and carry on to Nuremburg the next day.