It’s been a while. Life has been moving quickly around here, and somehow, somewhere between birthdays, baking, home renovations, new friendships, and a little bit of traveling, I forgot to stop and write it all down. So, we have quite a bit to catch up on.
First and foremost, we have a new addition to the family.
And no, it’s not another cat.
Our foreign exchange student, Ines, has officially moved in and has now been here for about a month. She’s from Spain, and somehow, it already feels like she’s been part of our family for much longer.
She has been such a wonderful addition to our home. She’s funny, kind, easy to be around, and has fit into our family better than we could have hoped. We’ve already had so many little moments together that I know we’ll look back on once her time here is over.
Of course, moving across the world and suddenly starting life in a completely different country comes with a bit of an adjustment period.
One of the first things she noticed was school.
Apparently, American school is significantly easier than school in Spain. She gets nearly all of her work done during the school day and, so far, has yet to come home with homework. I think she’s still waiting for the catch.
Making friends has been a little more difficult. It takes time to find your people, especially when you’re starting over somewhere completely new. But after some patience, a lot of effort, and putting herself out there, she’s made a great friend—who also happens to practice with her at water polo.
So, one month in, I’d say she’s settling in quite nicely.
We’re more than lucky to have her here. Her sense of humor, her energy, and her personality have already become such a fun part of our everyday life.
Of course, bringing someone new into the house meant there was a little work to be done first.
Mom and Dad had been wanting to remodel a few areas of the house for a while, and with Ines arriving soon, they decided that a week and a half before she got here was the perfect time to remodel the two upstairs bathrooms, the bedrooms, and a surprising number of doors throughout the house.
Because apparently, nothing says “our exchange student is arriving soon” quite like turning the house upside down. It was a lot of work. Mostly for Dad.
There was dust, moving furniture, fixing things, cleaning things, and all of the little unexpected problems that seem to appear whenever you start renovating. But somehow, we got it all done just in time.
And honestly, seeing everything finished and ready for Ines to arrive made all the chaos worth it.
Somewhere in the middle of all of that, we also celebrated Ally’s 16th birthday.
And that happened to be one of those days.
I have this habit of occasionally looking at an already-busy schedule and thinking, You know what this needs? Another project.
This time, the project was baking two birthday cakes.
While we were getting the house spotless for Ally’s birthday guests, I decided to make her a layered cake. This was my first time attempting a proper layered cake, so naturally, I chose to do it during an already hectic weekend.
And because apparently one cake wasn’t enough, I also made another layered cake for one of Ashley’s friends.
So there I was—baking, stacking, frosting, improvising, and hoping everything would somehow hold together.
After hours and hours in the kitchen, both cakes were finished. I managed to get everything done, the house was ready, and then I promptly left for the weekend.
Was it slightly insane?
Yes.
Was it worth it?
Also yes.
And I’m happy to report that the cakes survived.
Now, somewhere in between all of these stories, Jamin and I managed to get out and explore a little.
I think we made the most of August.
One evening, we went on a drive through Farmington Canyon with some friends to watch the sunset. The mountains were already beautiful, but as the sun began to sink lower, everything seemed to change. The light softened, the sky turned golden, and the mountains looked completely different than they had just minutes before.
A while ago, Jamin told me that whenever he deliberately plans a sunset hike or outing, those always seem to be the sunsets that turn out the most beautiful.
I’m normally not quite as lucky.
But thankfully, he was there for this one.
And yes, he was right.
It was beautiful.
And then came our little trip to Idaho.
The Sawtooth National Forest—or, as I decided to call it, the Potatoegonias.
Honestly, I think the name fits.
The mountains were incredible. Tall, sharp peaks with rugged edges, tucked between forests and lakes and wide-open stretches of wilderness. Even when we weren’t in Stanley, it felt so good to be somewhere completely different for a few days.
Our first day was mostly a travel day. We had about four and a half hours of driving ahead of us, and eventually made it to Hailey, where we were staying, around three in the afternoon.
After a very necessary late lunch, we checked into our Airbnb.
It was actually built into half of an old barn, which made it even more fun. It had so much character and felt like the perfect little home base for our weekend.
After chatting with the owner and taking a quick nap, we were back on our feet and ready to explore.
We drove up to Sun Valley, wandered around for a while, and took in the scenery. It reminded me a lot of Park City—beautiful, clean, surrounded by mountains, and filled with little shops and places to wander into.
By the end of the day, though, we were exhausted.
We went back to our Airbnb, knowing we had an early morning ahead of us.
And it was very early.
The next morning, we got up and started the nearly two-hour drive toward Stanley.
The drive itself was part of the adventure. The farther we went, the more the landscape opened up around us, and eventually the mountains began to rise above everything else.
When we finally reached the trailhead, we started our hike toward the glacier-fed waters and waterfalls we’d come all that way to see.
The trail climbed through the mountains, with waterfalls appearing along the way and beautiful views opening up every so often. After about two and a half hours of hiking, we finally reached the top.
And it was completely worth it.
Funny enough, this was actually one of the easier hikes Jamin and I have done together. And yet somehow, by the time we made it back down, we were completely exhausted.
I suppose beautiful views don’t come for free.
We drove back, showered, and promptly crashed.
Later that evening, we found some food, explored a little more, and eventually called it a night.
The next morning, we packed up and made the drive home, arriving just in time for dinner and bed.
It was a short trip, but a very good one.
And if there’s one thing I’m learning, it’s that sometimes a few days away are all you need to come home feeling like you’ve actually been somewhere.
August was busy.
A little chaotic.
Very full.
But good.
And I’m already looking forward to whatever comes next.
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