Mark is continuing to do vegetation surveys! It takes quite a while because they do four surveys at every nest. Friday night he also went spotlighting again. They saw tons of raccoons, two beavers, seven deer, an owl, and a coyote.
Monday evening we had birthday cake with my family. We made a chocolate cake with strawberry cream cheese frosting. Yum yum!!
Mark was so nice to take off fieldwork on my birthday! He went into the office while I worked in the morning. I worked a little earlier than usual and as soon as I was done we headed to Layton to the SeaQuest aquarium. It’s a small aquarium, but you can pet most of the animals. We splurged and purchased an encounter with a kinkajou. It was incredible!! The zookeeper put fruit in our hands abs the kinkajou, Diego, ran right over. He was happy to climb on our shoulders and arms. He was small enough he could stand straight up in my palm. It was incredible!
We also loved the parakeets!! There were at least fifty in the enclosure. The zookeeper put seed in our hands and they would fly down to eat. Our toes got gentle pecks when seeds fell on our feet. It was so fun! We might need to get a pet parakeet some day.
We also enjoyed feeding the stingrays and having the little fish eat dead skin off our hands.
After the aquarium we came home to eat leftover birthday cake and watch the Olympics!! Mark made me grilled chicken and pesto zoodles for dinner!
After dinner I opened presents. Mark, my parents, and friends spoiled me this year! Then Mark headed to his cabinetry class for the evening. Flynn kept me company at I read and watched more Olympics. It was a great birthday!!
Wednesday I hosted a shower for our niece, Katelyn, who is getting married next month. It was supposed to be outside, but we finally got some of the rain we have been praying and fasting for! So we set up inside the relief society room. The theme was “She found her main squeeze” with lemon decorations. We kept it pretty simple with just a few fun games, treats, and of course gifts! I think everyone had a great time!
Saturday we got to play with the bernedoodle puppies our ward friends bred. They were so fluffy and cute! I guess I was distracted by their cuteness because I forgot to take pictures! Then we went to a bridal shower for my cousin. It was a big family potluck, then the couple opened gifts. It was so fun to visit with everyone!
We’ve started getting cherry tomatoes and peppers from our garden. Mark made his own rendition of jalapeño poppers in our air fryer!
Our Story: The Bell Family 