JACK and LINDS: August 2016

Yes- it is true! The New York Yankees embraced their inner Jedi and had their first ever Star Wars Day at Yankee Stadium!

We originally wanted to come because of the hat giveaway-- these just screamed "Christmas Present!" for my family! But now that we have them, they are so cute we just may not be able to part with them...

It was such a fun time- Star Wars characters, even R2-D2 himself made an appearance, rounding the bases!

When they announced the starting lineup for the opposing team, they played the Imperial March (lol) and when they showed the Yankee on the big screen who was batting next, he would be wearing a Rebel pilot suit.

Lots of John Williams playing, lots of kids in Star Wars shirts, a really good time!

I came up with the # --cuz I'm amazing like that. Its their celebrity name, fo sho.

Baby Evan married his sweetie pie in July and we went out to Utah to be there. This was one of those rare trips when we arrived well before the rest of the family, so we had loads of time to live it up in Utah! If "living it up in Utah" sounds like an oxy moron, we would have totally agreed with you... BEFORE this trip. Because- WOW!- we had such a surprisingly great time!

Here's some photos from our adventures:

And these were just regular old neighborhood fireworks from our friend's street on the 4th of July! Utahns KNOW fireworks! (It helps that aerial fireworks are legal here...)
(( **MY BAD! Our homie Matthew Marshall actually took this in CT. But frankly, Utah's fireworks looked just the same... ;) ))

Jack's absolute highlight! Riding horses at Maria's family's farm! Their generosity was unbelievable. They absolutely treated us like family and we love them!

A wonderful lunch spent with Grandma and Grandpa + our very dear Darius Gray. Always a beautiful experience to feel his spirit!

Chair lift UP Snowbird in Little Cottonwood Canyon

Gondola DOWN Snowbird in Little Cottonwood Canyon

So we went on another hike and this happened. Seems kind of exciting to see a Life Flight helicopter land on a mountainside. But the truth is, we were both a little traumatized. An avid hiker passed out on the trail ahead of us, seemingly dying instantly of a heart attack. CPR was performed for nearly an hour by bystanders and medics who hiked up to reach him, and the team from the helicopter worked on him, too, before pronouncing him dead. We both relived some memories, and we both were even happier than usual to have each other, to have our health, and to have peace in our hearts. Not an ideal hike, but we are glad we experienced it together.

Lake Mary, Brighton Trail in Big Cottonwood Canyon

Beautiful view, Rest In Peace, Sir. You picked a lovely place to cross to the other side. Honestly, all the way down we were talking about our mutual agreement that we hope our endings are as quick, as painless, and finds us happily doing what we love.