hiking to waterfalls

right now i am in new york visiting my brother and his family

we spent one day hiking all over upstate new york

our first hike was to Treman park to see Lucifer Falls

 i love the hikes up here because its so different from all the Utah ones i usually do

the second hike was to Taughannock Falls- the tallest waterfall in North America

this was a really neat hike because you hike in water all the way to the Falls. 

the path is wide slaps of rock that increasing step up with water running over it. 

 the water is shallow so it makes it nice and warm 

 the kids loved playing in the baby waterfalls that go from slab to slab on the way to the big waterfall

just such a pretty part of nature

bear lake

our trip to Bear Lake was especially great this year. we had all the grandbabies with us!

it was quite the party

everyday we always: hit the pool, go to the beach, mini golf then go out for dinner

the adults would watch Downtown Abbey at night once the kiddies were in bed

(eating at Bear Lake Pizza and La Beau's is a must)

we faust girls love HOT girl

best cousins

one day my best friend Katie and her husband drove from Logan to spend the day with us

we swam in the lake, build sand castles and went to La Beau's for the 

BEST RASPBERRY SHAKES EVER

(and for some great burgers and fries as well)

katie would come with me on this same Bear Lake vacation when we were in High School so it made me very happy we kept up the tradition

easily my favorite couple

 all in all this Bear Lake trip was a success:

got a great tan, eat some of my favorite food and spent time with my favorite people

this is my favorite summer vacation, we never miss a year and frankly it wouldn't feel like a true Faust summer without it

lion house lunch

to celebrate mothers day my family has a tradition of eating lunch at the Lion House downtown.

all the girls in the family get to go- so there is grandma, all the aunts and granddaughters.

lately we have even added great granddaughters 

we had to have our lunch after mothers day this year because we had stefi's wedding

it worked out great to have it a couple months later because my sister-in-law and her kiddies were still in town from the wedding.

so i got to take my nieces for their first Siddoway Girls Lunch

(my nephew Holden was an honorary great granddaughter for the day) 

such a fun tradition to show grandma how much we love her

happy 4th

for a happy 4th of july you really just need a baby in a pink tutu swimsuit, sprinklers, and popsicles 

also outlet shopping in park city is great

celebrate

sometimes after you take the GRE and get the scores you wanted

there is nothing to do but eat cafe rio and go to a drive in movie 

to celebrate being done forever!

and all piling in one car is a must

Seattle Day #3

the morning after the open house the newlyweds flew off to Hawaii for their honeymoon

Mom and I didn't fly home till late afternoon so we got some extra time in the city

we decided to go the Pike's Market one more time for breakfast

i was going to get a crepe for breakfast at the market but then i spotted some homemade mini doughnuts they make right in front of you- so obviously i ate that for breakfast instead

 mini doughnuts - they made me so happy

 right after this picture was taken this Asian lady who spoke no English came up to Mom and me

she was decked out in a red traditional chinese dress which was very pretty

she kept gesturing to me and my eyes, we finally figured out that she wanted a picture with me

it gave me flashbacks of when i was in Egypt 

after the Market we met up with Mom's cousin Julie at Etta's for lunch

i got the best grilled cheese (shout out to my roomie Miriam) sandwich- think slices of potato bread with Beecher's homemade cheese. their beer battered fries were amazing as well

after that it was time to head to airport and fly home

it was a great first impression of Seattle. who knows? maybe i will go to grad school here and be back in 2 years 

Seattle Day #2

we woke up in the morning, ate breakfast and headed out to pike's place market

 as we walked downtown towards the market we past a sacred spot: 

the first Nordstrom store!

i finally figured out why the restaurant in Nordstrom's is called Eighth and Pine- its the address of this first store

 after Nordstrom's we past Nordstrom Rack. 

we couldn't help but go in and pick up these kate spade beauties

 once we got to pike's market we went to Beecher's homemade Cheese

we watched them make some cheese and bought delicious mac n' cheese

here are some pictures from the inside part of the market:

 found stefi's wedding flowers

 mom bought some mount rainier cherries

 awesome peppers

 3 faust girls at the 3 girls bakery

 fresh fish!

 blake told me i had to sit on the pig... tradition maybe? 

he never explain why and i never asked

i just hopped right on

 bought some candied nectarines 

 that afternoon was the Wedding Open House at Blake's house

here are the cute decorations his Mom and Sister did:

after the Open House we all went to go see Brave- the new Disney Princess movie

it was an excellent day!