Khloe's 1st Boating Experience

Yesterday we went boating at East Lake with a few of our friends and this time Khloe got to come with us. To ease my nerves of her accidentally drowning, we stopped at Petsmart and bought her a life jacket. It was the cutest thing ever! At first she thought she was completely immobile but once she realized she could move normally, she didn't mind it.

Khloe loved feeling the wind in her hair from every direction. She looked very content. That is....until we threw her in the water. Take a look at this:

She was absolutely terrified. Just look at her eyes. We threw her in twice so I could video and take a few pictures. I know she's just a dog, but you could see the fear in her eyes. It was hilarious. She was so mad at Erik afterwards that she wouldn't even eat a Dorito. :)

We were only out for a couple of hours but it was a lot of fun. Thanks Koo for taking us out on the lake. We had a blast!

Priorities

As I was reading this months issue of the Ensign today, I came across a very interesting tidbit of information in the 'World Briefs' section.

Temple Square was recently recognized by Forbes magazine as the 16th most-visited attraction in America, ahead of Universal Studios Hollywood in California.

That is incredible! I started thinking...Universal Studios charges $70 for a day pass. What does the church charge? Nothing. I guess it goes to show that people would rather entertain their heart, soul and intellect over their temporal need for excitement.

Is Summer Really Over?

Even though there is a "fall" wreath on our door and Erik is fully enjoying football season, we are in total denial that summer is finally over. We BBQ every chance we get and last week we went on another hike. On Thursday, we drove up to Kaysville and hiked through Adams Canyon.

It was a new hike for both of us and the scenery was amazing. Parts of the hike were steep and very rocky and we quickly realized how out of shape we are. Khloe spent the way up in her doggy backpack but on the way back, she walked the whole way. I was nervous about her navigating through some of the rocky areas but her little paws got down much easier than we did.

After about an hour of hiking through the canyon, we reached a gorgeous 40 foot waterfall. It was a wonderful way to spend our afternoon.

My appreciation for what Utah has to offer continues to grow year after year. Hopefully next summer we can go on many more hikes and even venture out on our first camping trip together.

The Journey of Labor Day

Labor Day made quite a journey. It didn't get off to a very good start but thankfully redeemed itself by the end of the day. Erik came home from working and the garage door completely caved in. I shouldn't have been surprised because it seems like everything in our house is breaking.

A few hours later, we left the three dogs (we're dog sitting Baylee and Zoey)...

...and went on a quick hike up to Donut Falls. It was an easy, 20 minute hike up to the falls despite me carrying my giant SLR camera and Erik lugging the big lens and tripod so we could get some great water pictures. There were atleast 40 people up at the falls so I wasn't able to get any wide shots but I did manage to take some shots of the smaller areas.

As we hiked back down to our car, we saw a moose! We got about 20 yards away from it and watched it eat for a few minutes. I tried to take a good picture, but it kept moving and they came out really blurry. You get the idea though.

After our hike, we drove up to Erik's aunt and uncle's cabin for dinner. Uncle Russell had created a zipline between the trees which entertained us for a while.

We had a wonderful dinner, fun on the zipline and ended by gorging ourselves with s'mores.

The night wasn't over yet though! We drove home and finished up our night hanging out with friends in our townhouse complex. I'm sure glad Labor Day ended better than it started.

The Meaning of "Fall"

What does September mean in the Olafsson household? The beginning of football! Erik has been so excited for football season he can hardly contain himself. :) He's playing in 3...yes 3...fantasy football leagues this year which I know will keep him busy. Seeing Erik so happy with anticipation rubs off on me each year, although it soon goes away. Football every Saturday, Sunday, Monday and sometimes Thursday? One maybe two days a week is plenty in my mind.

Thursday was the University of Utah's first football game. We are in the "MUSS" (Mighty Utah Student Section) again this year and I'm happy to report that the t-shirts actually fit well. Thanks Under Armor! Anyway, besides the great shirts, warm summer/fall weather, free food at the MUSS Tailgate Party and our new stadium seats from Wal-Mart, I also am excited for football season.

The Utes beat the Aggies 35 - 17, which gives them a 15 game win streak (the longest in the nation). Erik realized the other day that both times my parents have been on missions, Utah goes undefeated (2004 and 2008). My parents are coming home in 2 months so we're hoping they'll still be able to go all the way.

To our neighbors: if you hear any loud cheering or screaming coming from our house, just ignore it. It must be Saturday, Sunday, Monday or maybe even Thursday.