Bargain Shopping

I was reading in a magazine that Sarah Jessica Parker is coming out with a new clothing line . What's new, another overpriced clothing line by some famous celebrity. But, this apparently is different. Her casual clothing line will all be under $20. Jeans, sweaters, all kinds of good stuff. Of course she's only selling them at a store called "Steve and Barry's". Who's ever heard of that? Well, after googling it, I found they are about a month away from opening a store in Utah. http://www.slenterprise.com/specialtopnews3.html Apparently the whole store has nothing over $20. I'm so excited!

Cowgirl Lauren

Lauren LOVES horses. She has been begging to take horseback riding lessons for a year now (ever since we went to the Rodeo last year). I have a friend who has a friend who has horses. She agreed to teach Lauren and her friend Sara how to take care of and ride a horse. Lauren loved it! We go back again next week.

Beat the Heat

Today we went with a bunch of friends up into the mountains to try and get away from the 95 degree temperatures at our house. It wasn't much cooler up there. In the low 80's and we went all the way to the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon! We did a little hike around Silver Lake. It was very pretty and the kids seemd to have a great time. Now I think we're off to the swimming pool :)

Pioneer Trek

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week Parley and I went with the youth at church on a Pioneer Trek. It was pretty cool. There were about 280 kids and about 60 adults. Each "family" had a handcart they loaded their stuff into and pulled/pushed it along the trail. We camped each night under the stars (no tents). It was a good way for most of these kids to remember what their pioneer ancestors went through coming to Utah about 150 years ago. In the top picture the first group (there were three groups) stopped in this field to have Parley and I give a little vignette on a pioneer person and what their personal story was. In the top picture, that's me sitting on the stump in the lower left hand corner with Parley standing behind me in a blue shirt. In the next picture they are sitting listening to Parley and I. You can see the handcarts loaded with their stuff.

p.s. If you click on the picture, it makes it bigger to see better.

Aquarium

We have a (very) little aquarium pretty close to our house. We bought a pass and have been four times in a little over a week. Lauren LOVES the touch pool with the stingrays. Josh likes the sharks and Taylor just likes it :)

Copycat

I found this cool website. It has copycat recipes of restaurant recipes. Among many things, it has the recipe for the Olive Garden dressing. Yummy!

It's NOT a RAG!!

This is Lauren's blanket. She in now 8 and my Aunt Leslie made if for her when she was born. It is just a big knot! She still sleeps with it every night. If anyone calls it a rag, she get's very upset and says, "It's not a rag!" She's very attached to her blanket (rag). What's up with my kids and their emotional attachment to "things"?

Stop the Insanity!

I feel this is a reflection on what kind of mother I am or am not. This is a picture of Josh's "pluggy." He is now 3 years and 3 1/2 months old and he can not give up his pluggy. More importantly I can't bear to go through the process of him giving it up. Lauren "bought" a toy at toys-r-us with her pluggy and Taylor "forgot" it at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They were both relatively easy. Josh is the most strong willed little boy I've seen in a long time. I know the picture is blurry but you can see that the end of it is completely bitten off. He still LOVES it and can't leave home without it. I know I've got to bite the bullet, but aye yae yae, give me strength!

Downtown

Today three of us took 8 kids total downtown. It was fun and crazy! We rode TRAX (lightrail) downtown and went to the Children's Museum. The kids had a great time. Then we played in the fountain, well everyone except Josh. He didn't want to have anything to do with it :)

Use the Force

Paige wanted Lauren to get her picture "morphed" into a Star Wars picture. It's kind of scary. I think that's probably what Lauren will look like when she's about 16 (minus the belly shirt). They didn't morph Taylor's picture because he was supposed to be young Anniken (sp?) Skywalker. Taylor loved Star Tours and all the Star Wars stuff that Disneyland has to offer :)

Rain, Rain go away!

This is a picture of Lauren's last day of school. What a difference a day makes. Yesterday it was 95 degrees, today it is 45! There is snow on the mountains - yuck! Nothing like starting off your summer vacation with "the rain and the snow, and there's no where to go..."

Last Day of Kindergarten

Today was Taylor's last day of Kindergarten (Lauren's is tomorrow). He's now officially a First Grader!! This is his teacher, Mrs. Farmer. She loved Taylor (who wouldn't). He was the second most improved reader in his class and the best improved in math. He said he loves math. It will come in handy when he's a weatherman someday.

Cousins

When we were in California we stayed with my sister Gwen and her family. My kids have such a great time with her kids. Paige is 9 and Seth is 5. Paige "persuaded" Lauren into going on Splash Mountain, the only ride she was scared of other than the "upsidedown rollercoaster." After Lauren went on it, she loved it! The boys were more in line with "Small World" and "Storybook Land." I especially love the third picture. I was taking it of Lauren and Paige but look down in the bottom left corner. It kind of shows the chaos we know and love.