Return of the Travelling Sisterhood

Yeah! It finally feels like Summer is official. Last year my sister and I with her 3 girls in tow went on a little adventure once a week, we had a great time together and it was the hi-light of my Summer. Yesterday was our first day out. We began our travels at Bridal Veil Falls to honor our uprorarious first week from last year. No naked lady of the falls this year, thank goodness! We walked up to the falls, got our feet wet, enjoyed the beauty, stayed away from the raging river and took some pics. Nothing beats being in the canyon in the Summertime.

After Bridal Veil Falls we headed up to Vivian Park for a picnic lunch and some playground time. A great start to our Summer travels. Crystal dubbed this the "Sisterhood of the Travelling Van" last year, so I'm stealing her idea; well, just maintaining consistency really. Week 1...total success. Thanks kiddo and Addy and Sydnee and Maren. Love you all!

Not her first rodeo...or was it?

S-a-t-u-r-d-a-y....Night! We went to the Rodeo!! Strawberry Days hosted their 90th rodeo this last weekend. It was my first rodeo that I have any recollection of. Apparently I have been to one before, I just don't remember it. Overall impressions: a little brutal and violent and holy cow! cowboys are crazy. Why anyone would want to climb on the back of an animal that only wants to buck you off is beyond me. That's got to be the longest 8 seconds of anyone's life. It was a fun night and I can now check that off my bucket list.

Family Home Evening

Family Home Evening: trip to Denver Mattress to purchase my long-awaited and long-saved for adjustable bed base that can put you in a zero gravity mode and massage you till you fall asleep. I also got some new pillows. It gets delivered tomorrow morning...it kind of feels like Christmas at my house. I paid for the items in cold, hard cash! It was so fun to count out the $100 bills!!! I totally believe in only buying something you can afford and actually have the money for. Paying for it in cash is SO much more fun than a check or plastic card. Try it out with your next big purchase!!!After the big purchase we visited the Cheesecake Factory for delicious salads followed by even more delicious cheesecake. I figure if you eat a salad for dinner, you can also enjoy some dessert. We ate outside on the patio, it was a LOVELY evening. Thanks friends.

FACS Conference

Each year I attend a conference with all my fellow Family & Consumer Science Teachers from all around the state. It's a great opportunity to learn new things, sharpen my teaching skills and my favorite part: visit with friends.

This year I was charged with the responsibility to arrange for all the vendors for our Exhibits. I've been working on this for months. Sending out letters, e-mails, phone calls, more e-mails, etc. Here's the result of all that work: 29 vendor booths, a sold-out Garden Court at BYU and more money raised for our organization than ever before. I must say I was proud of my efforts and so releived it all went well.

Before:During:

Lunch crowd:

Orem Summerfest 2011

To celebrate the great city I have lived in now
for 16 years, I finally attended the annual
Summerfest. What a great place to people-watch. I'm pretty sure most of the most "interesting" people we saw don't actually live in Orem. Well, at least I've never seen their kind around town...and I'm thankful.

We wandered around the booths, ate some delicious corn and Navajo tacos and then watched the "carnies" (i.e. carnival people).

The fireworks were spectacular! We sat on the baseball fields and they were literrally right over our heads. You could feel the boom each time they were set off. Great night! I'll be sure to go at least once more in the next 16 years, at least for the fireworks.

In My Pretty Garden

I've been a busy bee planting flowers in my "mini" garden. Good thing it's mini or my wallet would burst into flames....they're pretty, but expensive! I'm hoping to keep them alive all Summer and I wanted to check their progress as the weather warms up.