Wyoming!

This past weekend, my mom and dad, sister Meghan and I traveled to Laramie, Wyoming to visit my mom's parents and brothers and sisters. My mom doesn't often get to see all her brothers and sisters at the same time, so it was nice to have everyone together. It was a little chaotic at times with all the kids running around, but it was a lot of fun. We spent time wandering through some shops downtown, made a brief stop at the Wyoming Territorial Prison (where Butch Cassidy spent some time), as you can see...and spent a lot of time eating sweets. My grandpa makes the best apple pie ever! The drive was long, but it was worth it. We had a great time. Here's the group shot...we're missing a few, but this is almost everyone.

Toe Jam

Tonight my mom, sisters and I went to the spa at Gardner Village for pedicures. Aren't our toes lovely?! Nothing better than a good pedicure! Especially after the rough day I had at work. The girls at the spa did a great job and we had a great time! The spa is so nice and had room for all four of us to get our pedicures at the same time. I think we should make this a habit...

On Saturday, my mom and I spent almost five hours making strawberry jam. It's one of those projects that sounds like a great idea in the beginning, but after about three hours, you start wondering what the heck you were thinking. It's amazing how much jam you get from what didn't seem like a lot of berries! We used just about every container in the house. But the jam turned out beautifully and we'll enjoy it all year long. And I'm sure next summer we'll do it all again. Nothing beats my mom's strawberry freezer jam!

Moose, sheep and bugs...oh my!

The other night our family had a picnic up American Fork canyon. I love picnic season! And I love that we're close enough to the canyon to go up often for dinner. The weather was beautiful and it was great to get away from the heat in the valley. My niece Alyssa had a great time as well. We were on a walk and saw a big, black beetle. We watched it for a minute before it crawled off into the grass. Alyssa spent the rest of the evening calling, "Beetle...Big Beetle...Where are you? Here Beetle!" We tried to explain to her that the beetle had gone home to go to bed, but when that didn't fly, we spent several more walks looking for the beetle. It was pretty cute! I'm glad she's a girly girl who's not afraid of bugs and getting dirty!

We drove up to Tibble Fork before heading home and saw a young moose drinking from the resevoir. Then at the bottom of the canyon we saw several big horn sheep climbing the cliffs. A wildlife biologist who was also watching the sheep talked to us for a while and told us about the herd, which was very nice of him. It was quite the picnic!

The Big Damn Band

The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band was in town Monday night. As always, it was great to see Breezy and family and the show was fabulous! I took my sister Meghan who'd never been to one of their shows and we had a great time. She kept turning to me saying, "I've never seen anything like this before!" They had a huge turnout and people were going crazy! They really are so incredibly entertaining and so talented! I'm always impressed when I get to see them live (the CD's are great as well.) I even got them to play a couple of my requests. They've got a new CD coming out in August and they're hoping to be back through Salt Lake in September. I plan to be there. You all should come too!! Check them out at www.bigdamnband.com!

Another Favorite Quote

"Life is like a roller coaster. It goes up and down, makes you scream and costs a lot to ride."
--Hannah Cheatem, age 6

It's about time...

I know you've all been waiting in eager anticipation for my next entry so here you go...

My little brother Shaun entered the MTC about a week and a half ago and in his last letter told us that he loves it there. It's weird to have him gone, but we're excited for the opportunities he'll have and so happy that he's enjoying his experience at the MTC. He's going to be a great missionary!

I've fallen in love...with the express lane pass that you can purchase for the carpool lane. My dad has one that I stole for a couple of days and its great!! I love the feeling of flying by the slow traffic on my way to work. Tomorrow I'll be signing up for one of my own and making my commute a little happier...yippee!

I have a couple more books to recommend. These Is My Words is the first and although its a little sad, its a very good read. I'm currently reading its sequel, Sarah's Quilt and so far I'm enjoying it just as much as the first. I also decided to re-read some of the books I remember liking as a kid. From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwiler is a classic. Who wouldn't want to live in a museum for a few days? I think it's delightful. I also re-read James and the Giant Peach and although I think the movie is pretty weird, the book is great.

And finally, I've successfully made jello...twice. I'm pretty dang proud.

A New Nephew

I'm an aunt again!! My sister had a baby boy on Thursday, April 10th. His name is Tyson and he's darling. Big sister Alyssa is in love with him and when she first met him couldn't stop talking about how cute he is. Amy and Tyson are both healthy and well and we're all very excited!