dmv = happy?!?!?

You don't see many happy people at the DMV (not with the crazy long lines) but after a couple long hours waiting around this was the happiest face in the place...

Megan is now seen as a fit driver by the government of California - Derek and I are still a bit unsure about it :)  


Congratulations Megan!

america's got talent

Last week Derek and I took Emily and her friend Mackenzie to LA to a taping of America's Got Talent.  TV tapings are always a fun outing and this one was even a bit more fun because there was a special performance during the taping by Selena Gomez of Disney fame (Wizards of Waverly Place).  She was adorable and her shoes were to die for but nothing tops the cuteness of these two...

This was the only picture of the day since cell phones and cameras are a big no, no!  We did snap this one photo though because we thought it was so funny to have a chicken crossing sign in LA right behind the studio.

Glad Derek and I could spend time with these two who will soon be heading off together to BYU for EFY.  I get one girl home (Megan comes home today) only to send another one off.  I hate when my kids leave!

family . friends . fotos

Family...my talented niece Cassidy that does photography.  You can see her work here.

Friends...three of them - Megan and two girlies.  All friends since the very young age of 3ish.

    Megan at BYU for EFY

    Kenzie in Park City for a week

    Ricey at BYU for tennis camp

After EFY and tennis camp they all spent a few days together in Park City.  One of those days was spent with the aforementioned talented Cassidy.

Fotos...check out just a few of the photos Cassidy got.  Some of my favorites I couldn't get onto Blogger but I love these too.  I'm so thrilled that these girls got to hang out with Cassidy for the day and got these great "friend photos" together.  I know they will treasure them.

I can't wait for this girls to get back home (Megan has been gone way too long) so they can see the results of their photo shoot.

Thanks Cassidy - your work is perfect!

bored

Boys at the neighbors swimming


Emily at a food bank doing service


Megan at BYU for Especially for Youth


Andrea (see previous post) back in Provo for a week


Derek at the All Star Game in Anaheim


Me bored...my house is too hot to want to clean and I'm to cheap to turn the air on.  Don't want to watch tv, too tired to read, don't really want to blog but am doing it anyway cause I'm so bored.


Hope someone comes home soon!

summer nights

This picture represents what has been going on most nights at our house the past week.

Girls spending lots of late, late nights eating food (cookie dough was the healthy food of choice this particular night)


Watching romantic movies (Penelope, Pride and Prejudice and a late night jaunt to the theater to see Eclipse - for the 2nd time)  I'd like to add...I love Pride and Prejudice..."Mrs Darcy, Mrs Darcy, Mrs Darcy" kills me every time!


Laughing with cousins and friends (this particular night there was lots of giggling - we love our Arizona cousins and Kenzie)


Spending time with Andrea our Summer house guest that we truly love like one of our own.  We love when she is in our home.


Pretty much no sleep.  

doing disney a different way

We go to Disneyland A LOT!  

With annual passes it's easy to go often.  Megan and Emily go frequently since they are always there with us and then often go with friends too.

While I was at Cub Camp (see previous post) Emily headed to Disneyland with the Arizona Baker's and Megan headed out with her friend Austin.  

In an effort to make Megan and Austin's trip to Disneyland a bit different than all their other trips to Disneyland I created a scavenger hunt that had them running through Disneyland and California Adventure taking pictures, collecting items to bring home and answering questions.  I'd hoped it would make yet another trip to Disneyland more fun.

They were great sports and did amazingly well.  They did get some help from family but that made it all the more fun.

One of my favorite "challenges" that they completed was a special cell phone challenge that I sent to them mid way thru the day (up to that point they had been using a list of challenges I had given them)  The challenge... buy a balloon, find a child under 8 and give the child the balloon.  In order to get the points for this challenge they had to text me a picture of the completed task.

When I saw this picture I died.  How adorable is this little girl?  And how happy does she look to have just gotten a balloon from two strangers?

After seeing this picture my mind is now racing with the idea of having a scavenger hunt service party.  How fun would it be to have teams racing around the community doing good deeds?!?!  I think it would make a great party.

let me set the scene

Thursday night/Friday morning get to bed at 3:15 am.  

Alarm goes off at 6 am so boys and I can get up and spend 7 hours at Cub Camp.

It happens to be mud and water day at camp

The boys love it!

I only worry for a minute about my car's interior when I think about driving kids home.

Get home from Cub Camp to do showers and baths and then get ready to meet Derek and head out to Disneyland to meet the girls, friends, and the Arizona Bakers.

Home a little after 1:30 am on Saturday.

Fun day - very fun day!

Long day - very long day!

Tired - very tired!

Frustrated because even after all of that you'd think I'd be fast asleep in bed right now.  Instead it is a little after 3 am and I am typing this post and feeling way to awake.

Desperate woman looking for ideas on how to sleep!

san francisco

6 days in San Francisco

celebrated our 17 wedding anniversary - yeah for marrying someone that would stick with me so long

celebrated with family at the wedding of Kelly and Justin

used public transit and loved every minute of it

bought clothes at an amazing vintage store

ate the best spanish tapas (twice)

enjoyed a lazy afternoon at the park talking with Derek while gazing at the Golden Gate bridge thru the fog

was brave and ventured out on my own to explore the city while Derek watched Ghana beat the US

drank the best OJ i've ever had at Squat and Gobble

bought goodies galore for family and friends in Chinatown

slept in an oversized king sized bed and have been dreaming about it ever since (also dreaming about blackout curtains) anything to make me sleep better

bought an expensive dish towel with whales on it - to frame, not use.  three cheers for the husband that was ok with me buying the expensive dish towel and didn't once say "you're kidding, right?"  (Sam, if you are reading this there is an Orca on the towel so please let us know in advance if you plan to visit so we can remove the framed towel from the wall)

took hardly any pictures

had a great time!!