He Did It!

After two months of studying, Bill finished the Idaho Bar exam today!

Sam and I picked him up this afternoon and we went home to relax...

...and do some much needed wrestling.

While he was gone, I busily made this cake. It is the Versatile Vanilla Cake by Martha Stewart using the chocolate variation. I didn't dare attempt the Whipped Frosting, so I used store bought and grated a dark chocolate candy bar on top. I must say, it tasted pretty good.

After dinner, my sisters Ann and Becky and their families came over to surprise Bill and celebrate his great accomplishment.

On another note, this is Sam eating a peach. He sure knows how to make a mess!

Ellison Family Reunion and Other Visits

We spent 10 fun days in Utah visiting lots of family and friends. The first night we stayed with Bill's parents in Logan. Then we drove down to Syracuse to visit Bill's sister, Jacque and her family before going to West Jordan to stay with Bill's other sister, Carrie and her family. We were able to see several friends including my old crew at Smith Barney, my friend Vicki from my Seattle days and Ted, Sarah & Drew Gardiner before my family's reunion began. By Wednesday, all of my siblings and their children had arrived at my parents' house. We had 10 adults, 6 kids and 3 babies under the same roof. It was pretty crazy most of the time, but we had a ball!

Sam handled everything pretty well and got used to his older cousins toting him around and the younger ones mauling him. He even slept through the night and took really great naps almost every day. Here are some of the highlights...

Sam & Drew

Dinner up at Storm Mountain in Big Cottonwood Canyon

Toadally Frogs exhibit at the Utah Museum of Natural History

Sam, Whit & Cael

Sam, Luke & Noah

Sam on the 4th of July up at Brighton Resort

Ann & Cael, Bill & Sam, Whit & Travis

Me, Noah & Rachel walking around Silver Lake

Swimming at the neighbors

Cool Dude