Manti High

Friday we went down to Manti for my sister Ariel's high school graduation. It was so fun to go back to my old school and see people I haven't seen in years. I particularly enjoyed singing the school song at the end of the ceremony.

Here I am with 3 of my 4 sisters. Left to right: Alexis (29), Ariel (18), Me (25) and Deanna (15).
The next morning we headed to Ephraim for the Scandinavian Festival. Here we all are at the parade. Left to right: Shantara, Danny, Mark's ear, Mandie, Brandon, Lincoln, Mason, Nora, Alexis, Jan. My mom was escorting Ariel and the Miss Manti Royalty (the fun job that comes with having a daughter as Miss Manti) and Deanna was on the Miss Independent float (good thing she is the first attendant and not the queen or my mom would have been in big trouble!) And my brother Chris and his kids were promoting his motor-cross track.
You know this crew. That's my new stroller. I love that it has reclining seats and a rain cover. Here Ivy is snoozing away out of the rain.
My favorite part of the festival is all the great food. We always eat BBQ turkey with piccadillies for lunch and follow it up with a multitude of treats. I love this shot of Millie and her stick of cotton candy bigger than her head! We helped her out a little bit, but she truly ate the vast majority of it.

5 years!

I know this post is a few days late, but the mouse to our computer stopped working and as it is impossible to do ANYTHING on your computer without a mouse I haven’t been able to blog until now. The old mouse was 5 years old and I know that because Mark and I bought this computer right after we got married and last weekend we celebrated our 5-year anniversary!
To celebrate we left the girls with Mark’s parents and took off to Park City. We stayed at this nice bed and breakfast called the Washington School Inn. We were the only guests there Friday and the inn-keeper went home for the night, so we had the entire building to ourselves. It was nice but a little bit creepy. Luckily our bed was ultra-comfy with a feather bed and super soft sheets . . . I slept really well and the best part was that I didn’t have to worry about waking up in the night to a crying child :)
We spent Saturday shopping at the outlet stores – Mark’s anniversary gift to me. My gift to him was a cast iron pan. Mark loves anything that says, “We live in the 1800's.” He loved it so much that he used it while making Mother’s Day breakfast for me!
Sausage and eggs along with maple walnut french toast from the bed and breakfast’s website. It was super good but way too filling. I only managed to eat one slice before calling it quits. But don’t worry, it made for great left overs! And as if breakfast wasn’t enough, Mark ordered a double jogging stroller for me so I can take the girls out walking. It’s still in transit but should be here Tuesday . . . can’t wait!
Oh and here is a picture of me and my sweet girls on Mother's Day (as if you didn’t know who we are!). I sure love being a mother!

Biking Season

I feel like I've been neglecting my blog of late. So here are the highlights:
I cut nearly all the daffodils to make two beautiful bouquets, which I then forgot to take pictures of. The tulips are now in bloom, I'll have to remember to photograph them. Ivy has learned the baby sign for "flower/s" (sniffing) and never tires of looking at them through the sliding glass door.
Mark spent a day working in the neighbor's yard. (Putting in a swell for the water . . . or something like that.) And after visiting him, Millie came home to get her shovel so she could help him. Too cute.
We revisited Crumb Brother's for more scrumptious pastries.

And with the start of spring comes the start of another biking season. This year Mark has recruited Ivy to be his biker babe.

Vital Information: Please read

I’ve been planning to do this post for several weeks now, but today’s deadly outbreak of the swine flu in Mexico has finally motivated me to get around to it. (Don’t know what I’m talking about? Click here.)
A world-wide epidemic (known as a pandemic) is coming. It may not be this strain of the swine flu (but it very well could be.) Most health officials agree: it’s not a question of “if” a pandemic occurs, it’s “when.” Because history repeats itself, we can be certain it is definitely coming.
No one knows when it will occur or how severe it will be. It will be like a hurricane in category. It may be mild (category I) to severe (category V). We just don't know. The specific disease that will cause it is also unknown.
So, will you all please do me a favor? Click here and view a video from the BYU-Idaho Safety Office's website. Although the film focuses on the Avian Influenza (or bird flu), the information is relevant for an outbreak of any kind. It is very informative and may very well save your life some day!
Stay healthy everyone!

Losing My Mind

I did something so dumb today that has convinced me that I am seriously losing my mind! Read on.
So as most of you know: I enjoy shopping . . . particularly online. And occasionally I'm unsure of my size, so I order multiples so I can try them on and decide which to keep and which to return. (You all do that right?)
Well, a couple of weeks ago I purchased a skirt in two sizes (basic black A-line -- nothing special, but I needed one). Neither fit perfectly but this morning I finally decided which to send back and took it to the UPS Store. Then I ran a few other errands and took the girls to visit their grandma. So it wasn't until much later (3:45 p.m.) that I noticed the return slip still sitting by the computer. I had boxed up the skirt without it and now Banana Republic would get its skirt back and have no idea whose account to credit the money!!!! So I was flipping out a bit and trying to decide what to do. After I calmed down a little, I made a call to the UPS Store to see if it had been shipped out yet. Lucky for me, it hadn't! So the guy said I could come in and search for it, but I only had one hour before it would be shipped out so I had to hurry. I took the girls to my sister-in-law (thanks Katie) since I didn't want them to hinder the search, and I was off. I was really worried that I would be searching through UPS trucks loaded with packages but fortunately it wasn't like that. All the packages from the day were loaded on two dollies in a hallway. I found my box with little difficulty and got the slip put in; but whoa what a close call! Seriously people, losing my mind.

Spring Time

Mmm, I love Spring time -- when the sun comes out and revives everything it touches. It's the perfect time to celebrate Easter and remember Christ's Resurrection and our own opportunities for rebirth. It's just wonderful!
That said, let me tell you about our wonderful Easter weekend: Saturday morning the girls discovered gifts from a special visitor. Ivy got a baby swing and Millie got summer clothes - skirts mostly, as that's all she wears these days. Then at noon we went to Mark's grandma's house for lunch and an Easter egg hunt. Here's Millie (in one of her new skirts) impatiently waiting for the hunt to begin!
Millie also got an Easter dress Saturday morning and was excited to wear it to church on Sunday. So excited in fact, that she was wearing it when she came and woke me up at 6:45 the next morning. "I'm ready for church," she announced. Unfortunately church begins at 1 p.m. She was so distraught when I made her take it off to eat breakfast and take a bath! Poor girl. She did eventually get to wear it and here she is with Ivy who is wearing Millie's very first Easter dress. I hope she doesn't mind getting hand-me-downs, because I'm afraid that's just the life of daughter No. 2.
I wanted to get a family picture before church but we couldn't figure out how to set my camera to do a timed shot and then we ran out of time. So Mark took this one after church when the sun was bit too bright for pictures but perfect for spending time outside.
P.S. As you can see, my daffodils survived. Hooray!

Miss Manti

This weekend we listened to general conference in the car as we drove to Manti. My sister Ariel competed in the Miss Manti Scholarship Pageant Saturday night. Millie and I went while Mark stayed with Ivy (who was in bed for the night). I'm really glad we went because Ariel won!!!
The competition included interview, swimsuit, talent, and evening wear/modeling. The first two were done beforehand, then everyone comes for the final two. After Ariel's interview the woman who escorts the contestants in and out (and hears all the interviews) told Ariel that she was the "rock star of interview!" (She was number 8 of 10, so the woman had heard seven interviews before Ariel's.) And my mom said she looked awesome during the swimsuit competition. Millie and I made it for the talent and modeling. Ariel sang "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" (a jazzy 40's number) and her sultry voice stole the show!
Here's a picture of the newly-crowned queen in her evening gown. My Grandma Nora is always so proud of her granddaughters when they do well! Congratulations Ariel!