summer came and summer goes

Summer passed so quickly that I didn't have the chance to really relish in its goodness. Though to be fair, warm weather arrived in the PNW only a few weeks ago, so I suppose it really didn't feel like the season arrived until recently anyway, except for a few fleeting days of warmth and sun here and there. Perhaps it's because this summer coincides with an extremely busy season of our lives; the beginning of June marked the ground-breaking and foundation for our home and we've been making decision after decision ever since--a full-time job, we took an impromptu trip to the Oregon Coast, we have watched Emory grow and change so much in the past few months and he turns 2 this Friday--hard to believe, we have seen ups and downs with the dealership, we traveled to Eastern Washington to visit with family and participate in temple work together and then took scenic Highway 2 on the way back, we've come to know the Camano/ Stanwood community much better--thanks to Zumba, the list could go on...

Most of our days are full, in one way or another, and I'm realizing that I'm sad that I've let summer pass while being so preoccupied with this and that--I haven't fully allowed myself to enjoy this time. So my goal is this: I will enjoy the rest of my summer, take Emory to the beach at least once per week (the park too!), actually spend evenings in the hammock with Jon, and eat the bounty of late summer produce. I will welcome Emory's second birthday, renewed and ready to take on more challenges and joys as a mother (he's really working both sides of parenthood these days), and I will live--not just do, but live.

And now some photos from the past couple months, mostly courtesy of the iphone and mostly in order.

the summer started out with a mostly bad haircut... poor little guy and his straight across the head bangs... though now his hair is so long he can pull off a Justin Bieber pre-haircut look

Dr. Seuss character?

watching the Cars 2 preview before heading to see it as his first theater experience

early round of birthday gifts + exhaustion all in one day

this is us. 3 + 1 fat cat on a diet.

summer solstice

Jon and I celebrated the longest day of the year by setting up the hammock he got for Father's Day. Among the perks to living in the PNW is that we're far enough north to enjoy light well into the night hours during the summer. The sun didn't set until about 9:15 and we enjoyed the gorgeous views of the sunset, Puget Sound, and the San Juan Islands while swinging, suspended between two trees in what will be our yard. Another beautiful sight from our hammock: the finished foundation for our home. We are so blessed.

happy summer

Emory's summer love is corn on the cob.

Emory's summer love from Meghan Beutler on Vimeo.

as california as i get

The title isn't true actually, because I really like California. The two times I visited the state in recent years have been with Jon, and I've loved it more each time we've been. Our first trip there was filled with the spontaneity of being newly married. Jon picked me up after work and told me we were headed on a date. I figured out after a little while that the destination was Las Vegas, and when I suggested a couple days later that we go visit his grandfather in Newport Beach, plans further evolved. Then, when I graduated from BYU, Jon suggested we take a trip down the Pacific coast to celebrate. So that summer, with Paisley still a kitten traveling the roads with us, we spent a week after we visited family in Washington driving and visiting friends and family in Oregon and California. One of our main destinations was San Francisco, while staying with Jon's aunt and uncle in Napa. We took the ferry over to the city from Vallejo, and spent a day in what became one of our favorite cities.

After spending not even two hours on Highway 1 after the 101 gets a little boring, we bagged it and headed back to I-5. The road proved so windy it made Jon, who was driving, sick. And with me as the pregnant passenger, you can only imagine the results of a windy road.

The next photos are some classic scenes from our day trip to San Fransisco, June 2009. I never expected it to be so cold, so when you see my pregnant belly, silly beneath the clumsy zipper of my non-maternity jacket, that explains it all.





We took the next series of photos on our "boat tour" of the bay. We obliged the fisherman advertising his boat for cheap tours, and all was fun and games at first, as we putted out towards Alcatraz and over to the sea lions. Then a cigarette boat flew past us, creating such a huge wake which caught our captain off guard, that our boat literally almost tipped. We honestly still can't believe that we didn't end up in the drink, our precious camera included.





As the ferry pulled away, we definitely felt sad, but also felt like we could live there. I think it really reminded us of Seattle. And we've wanted to go back ever since.

ps today's song of the day is Katy Perry's "California Girls." I told Jon that if Katy Perry comes up on the jukebox tomorrow morning, I'm going to have to disown him.

i really like this video

"Animal" by Neon Trees

funny story:

So this past summer, Amber came to stay with us for about a month. We had a blast having her with us, really, most especially Emory. And perhaps one of the best parts for us about having a teenager around was breaking out of our stiff adulthood shells to appreciate some lighthearted fun. So, she finally convinced us to watch the Twilight movies (mostly because the first one was on tv and she hadn't seen the second one yet either), but not without warning that they're bad. And cheesy. And so on. So watched we did, after years of wondering why on earth there would be so much hype about vampire flicks/ books. Duh, they aren't about vampires. They're about teen romance. I hadn't a clue. After watching the movies, Amber insisted the the books are better and loaned me her copies to read. So read I did. And I won't lie, I enjoyed the stories, literary genius aside. I guess I can appreciate the classics and thought provoking literature, but I can also appreciate a good storyteller within the contemporary world of pop culture. Anyway, Jon teased (still does) me mercilessly about actually enjoying the books. Though he'll admit to enjoying the movies, particularly Eclipse, which thank goodness has much better graphics, though still only one decent actor.

But about the song, when I first started hearing it all the time (another bonus to having a teenager around is becoming introduced to new music--I know this doesn't seem like it should be hard to do on one's own, but I never listened to the radio), I sang along with what Jon insisted were the wrong lyrics to the chorus, "Oh, oh/I want some more/Oh, oh/What are you waitin' for?/Take a bite of my heart tonight." He told me that it wasn't about vampires and that I was just too caught up in the SAGA. Then while Kendal accompanied me during Christmas shopping, the song came on in the car, and I told her about my lyric suspicions. So she looked it up and sure enough, I was right. I called Jon immediately and told him, victoriously. And now we laugh about it every time we hear the song.

the above photos were taken on our family camping trip to La Push last August.
to prove that the Twilight tour was not the reason for our trip, I'll include a shot of Jon and me on the beach in La Push from August 2005, long before pop culture ever made that part of the world famous.
it's an outstanding camping spot that's now overrun by touring Twilight fans from all over the world.

ps don't we look young in that last photo?

pps I'm totally team Jacob.