Sanding and Painting

Once my family left after helping me move, I stayed busy with getting settled here in my new house and helping Tami get the girls' toy room and bedroom organized in Heber.  We worked hard but had a lot of fun being together and seeing great results.  What wasn't fun was having the A/C unit not working for 2 weeks.  It was cooler outside (still around 90 degrees) so we spend one day outside sanding and painting an old dresser and bedside table from when Vanessa and I were kids.  More pictures to follow when the rooms are finished! 

All the World's a Stage

My cousins invited me to the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City, UT the 2nd weekend I was there.  It was a fun time meeting their friends and watching truly amazing talent. 

On Friday night, we saw Romeo & Juliet in the outdoor playhouse that is designed like Shakespeare's Globe.  What wonderful acting!  I am impressed with all the lines that are memorized and presented in such a smart way.  There were times I thought they had to have changed the script because of the way they were able to arrange words and expression.  Every word was true to Shakespeare and I loved every word.

ROMEO & JULIET





I loved walking around the college campus and seeing how they created a little Shakespearean village.  This was my first experience at a festival and I hope it won't be my last!

Before each show, there was a "Green Show" put on by students from the college.

On Saturday, we saw two shows, Noises Off and A Mid Summer Night's Dream. I didn't know a lot about Noises Off (non-Shakespeare) so I was surprised when I laughed my butt off!  There were 3 acts that showed you the many sides of putting on a play from rehearsal, performances and behind the scenes...including all the things that could go wrong. 

NOISES OFF



A Midsummer Night's Dream

I was unfamiliar with this Shakespeare play so I didn't know all the fun and twisted story lines I was in for.  I didn't think I would laugh out loud at a Shakespeare play, but I did. And often.  What a great production full of color and great costumes.  The acting was phenomenal!

I was with amazing girls during this trip.  It was great to meet my cousins' friends and make some memories.

Kathy, Allison, Kristan, Jenna, Elisa, Emily

Parting is such sweet sorrow!

Reunited And It Feels So Good!

On Saturday, I was able to meet up with a couple different friends that I had not seen in a long time.  Kira got married in Riverton and I was happy to be in town to support her.  I haven't seen her in several years. She used to live in Seattle and we served together in church.  Her sister Shaylee still lives in Seattle and made it down for the wedding.  It was great seeing both of them.

Emily, Kira, Shaylee

Next stop was American Fork to visit The McKinney's.  Oh, how I have missed this family!  Traci and I worked at NuSkin together as office assistants when we were in college.  Brandon worked in the mail room.  We all became friends then Brandon and Traci got married.  I moved back to Seattle after graduation and they had two cute kids while I was away.  I'm back now and we're friends again.

We had a nice homemade dinner then we went to Snoasis for dessert.  Mmmm...tigers blood with cream.  What a treat! 

April 2003 - Last "girls outing" before I moved back to Seattle.



Good to live close by each other again!

Brandon, Traci, Hailey, Emily, Kennedy

It was hard to leave my Seattle friends, but it was helpful knowing I had good friends in Utah.  Can't wait to meet up again with my new, old friends.

The Pioneer Day Commemoration Concert

On Friday night, the cousins and I went to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square concert. Sarah plays the violin in the orchestra and we were able to get tickets from her. Gotta love having someone with an in. We even saw her on the big screen.  She looked and sounded great!

"The concert continues an annual tradition of commemorating the arrival of the first Mormon pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. This year the theme of pioneering will be expanded to encompass the faith and sacrifice of servicemen and women." - www.lds.org

I have seen the choir live before, but I forgot how powerful they are to listen to.  The music was amazing and I found myself tapping my foot to the patriotic songs throughout the night.  Others felt they needed to feel the music in other ways.  A man next to Elisa liked to hum along to most of the songs, the guy in front of me read the teleprompter and mouthed the words along with the singers, and the man behind us had a nose whistle that was distracting.  Despite the extra "music", it was wonderful to attend the concert.  Brian Stokes Mitchell and Linda Eder were the special guests that sang with the choir this year. 

Kiersten, Emily, Sarah, Elisa

After the concert, we all went back to our house (along with Allison and her date) for pizzookies with a toppings bar and homemade ice cream.  We may have even done a little Just Dance to end the night. 

BEST. Breakfast. EVER!

After our late night watching Captain America, Sarah took me to a cute bakery called Kneaders.  They not only have delicious looking pastries, they have adorable crafts and gifts for sale.  We got the $4.99 all you can eat french toast.  It was seriously the best french toast I've ever had! 

The french toast came with a caramel syrup, whip cream and strawberries.  Divine!

This REALLY is the place for french toast!

 I cannot believe I had never been to Kneaders before.  I cannot wait to go back again!  Thanks for introducing this to me, Sarah!

Captain America Adventures

My cousin Sarah is adorable.  She is fun and energetic and I have a feeling she is going to keep me young.  You would not be able to tell there is almost a 9 year age difference between us. 

My cousin Sarah has a bucket list...and we crossed one off this weekend.  She has always wanted to go to a midnight premiere and it just so happened she didn't have to work on Friday.  Perfect timing!  The only show opening at midnight was Captain America. 

We showed up about 20 minutes before it started to no waiting, no line.  We walked in the theater and joined the 9 people that were there.  All men.  No fighting for our seats.  No screaming girls.  No costume wearing people.  It was a pretty low key midnight opening.  (Sorry, Sarah!)  I guess I could have dressed up to make it more interesting, but sweats is what the crowd got from me.

We enjoyed the previews but got very confused when the screen said to put on our 3D glasses.  We didn't buy 3D tickets and never received glasses.  When we looked around and everyone (all 9 of them) put on their glasses,  I ran out and got some glasses so we could actually see the show.  It was an interesting experience wearing 3D glasses on top of my regular glasses.  I must admit, I shut my eyes a few times for a very short period of time. (Maybe at that moment you could have been able to tell the difference in our age.)  The movie was good.  I would recommend watching a preview or reading about the story before you go.  I had not done either so I had no idea what to expect. 

Vanessa mentioned that the main character was good looking.  This was the main character in the beginning.  Not seeing any previews, I was a little confused with my sister's comment.

Then I got it.  Helloooo, Captain!

This may not have been the midnight opening experience Sarah was hoping for, but it was sure an experience!  Bucket list item...complete.

Days of 47 Rodeo

My cousin Kiersten had tickets to a rodeo tonight. I was so excited to go! I haven't been to a rodeo in a long time and missed the excitement and adrenaline...and the cute cowboys. Oh, the cowboys. My heart melts every time I see those Wranglers.   I believe one of the songs we heard tonight went something like, "I have everything I need because my friends have tractors".  Gotta love country lyrics. 

Cousins Sarah, Kiersten and Emily

The bull riding is always such a rush.  Unfortunately, the bull riding was a little bit of a let down tonight.  Only a couple cowboys rode for 8 seconds.  A new event for me was the "milking" event.  (I'm sure it has a different name)  A bunch of cows ran around while about 5 cowboys tried to lasso them.  Once lassoed, the partner on the ground had to milk the cow.  It was a crazy sight to see!  We had no clue what they were doing for the longest time.  Good thing there are easier ways to milk a cow!

Splash Swing

When my family was still in town, Vanessa told Tabitha she couldn't grow up anymore because she was getting too big.  Tabitha was very serious and said she had to grow up so she could ride on Splash Mountain at Disneyland.  When they went in October, Gabrielle was able to go, but Tab had to watch.  I guess she has Tami measure her every so often to see if she is tall enough.

We got creative during the hot days and created the ride, "Splash Swing"! Basically, it is shooting your niece with a water gun while she is swinging. She LOVED it! It was absolutely hilarious watching her get soaking wet from us shooting her with water. Gabrielle joined in for some of the fun as well. We then got creative and tried to shoot the water in the girls mouths. I made it in about 1 out of 5 times. By the end of the "ride" they were soaked and refreshed.   No height requirement on this ride!

Oh Thank Heaven for 7-11

I watched the girls Monday night when Tami and Brandon were gone. We went to 7-11 to help celebrate the store's birthday. We went to the school playground to enjoy our cherry Slurpee's and play before bedtime.