THANKSGIVING POINT: GARDENS AND MUSEUMS

^^^my parents gave us slc connect passes for my birthday- which means we now have tickets to all of the major zoos, arts, and parks venues in the city. neither of us had ever been to thanksgiving point, so for our first activity we decided to explore the gardens and museums.^^^

^^^the dinosaur museum was packed, but we still got a chance to build our own stuffed dinosaur.^^^

^^^and assemble giant magnetic skeletons^^^

^^^the whole place is really fun and interactive, with lots of activities for kids...and us. because, let's face it, you are never too old to dig in the dirt, smell a deep sea squid, or build a giant stuffed dinosaur.^^^

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^^^next - jared loved exploring the "secret" gardens!^^^

^^^and while the museum was fun, the gardens were easily my favorite part too.^^^

^^^very manicured. huge drain on water. but the roses? gorgeous. truly.^^^

FALLING IN LOVE WITH SAILING

^^^guess what? jared took me sailing for my 28th birthday. i have wanted to give it a try for a few years and was so exited when he surprised me and booked an excursion with an instructor on utah lake. it was inspiring. this is the stuff that poetry is made of.^^^

^^^we learned how to pull the lines and got to catch the wind in our sails. wouldn't it be wonderful to sail along the coast and camp in sleepy little beach towns in greece. or the bahamas. or thailand. we might need another lesson before we hit the ocean waves, just in case.^^^

^^^jared seemed to have a surprising affinity for the whole process. he was up on the deck, rigging the jib and dodging the boom- loving every minute of it.^^^

^^^it was so peaceful and serene. we need to go again...soon.^^^ 

BUHANAN FAMILY REUNION: PART II

^^^the whole family got together for a rousing game of "'sneaky sneaky no peeky." i don't know if this is a real game or just a buhanan family legend, but my dad put on a backwards baseball cap and taught us all how to play. it's sorta like 5 card draw only you can't see your 5th card...and everyone else can. we played and laughed way into the night- and as you probably guessed, i was the big winner ;-)^^^

^^^brad pulled out his poker face.^^^

^^^jared's poker face is a little less mysterious^^^

^^^the next day we played games around the cabin, took walks, rode the 4 wheeler and motorcycle, and drove around the lake. in the evening we decided to make a big campfire, roast marshmallows, and spend some quality time talking and telling stories.^^^

^^^^filling up on smores^^^

^^^one of the last activities of the reunion, and one of my favorites, was finger painting the local plant life^^^

^^^thanks everyone for coming^^^

BUHANAN FAMILY REUNION: PART I

^^^here we have the whole family reunion crew. clearly, we're missing some folks- dave and xiaxia recently bought a home in new jersey and were still in the process of settling in, and scott and kelly had to work (or so they said). but we still had a big wild and crazy group.^^^

^^^we stayed on cedar mountain and spent most of the first day exploring the mountain, looking for wild flowers, and collecting rocks at cedar breaks.^^^

^^^brad and nat brought their cute kiddos^^^

^^^kurt and britt's family made the trek from california right before the kids had to start back to school^^^

^^^and lisa and nate even hauled their two babies to the party^^^

^^^mom and dad (aka "the parents") had fun leading all the kids around on the old familiar paths and sharing stories about our ancestors. family reunion style.^^^

^^^the cousins were pretty much in full bonding mode. the big ones liked helping out the little ones and everyone ran around together like old friends. what a bunch of cuties.^^^

FAVORITE SLC PLACES: SAM WELLERS (WELLER BOOK WORKS)

"books are a uniquely portable magic."

-stephan king

our favorite salt lake city bookstore is easily, hands down, weller books. weller books was founded over 80 years ago! and is still family owned and operated. due to the dying market for both new and used books (sob), sam weller's books has been forced to downsize- relocating from their spacious main street location, over to trolley square (from downtown to midtown). even though the new location is much smaller, it's still the coolest place in town to catch up with all of your literary friends.

^^^is anyone surprised by the book jared picked?^^^

i, on the other hand, have been discovering a whole world of children's literature through my job as a reading program coordinator at a local nonprofit. this beautiful book in my hand (showcasing the letter "b") is called simply- alphabet. this educational book, created by kveta pacovska, teaches children the alphabet through a serious of abstract art pieces. and it is awesome. everyone with kids- you may be getting a copy of this for christmas.