Out West Again

On Tuesday the 9th of October we got on a plane for a quick trip to UT and AZ.  Once again, our first destination after landing in SLC was j-Dawgs.  Mikey + assorted friends (and Jordan) showed up for a yummy lunch.  It was great to see Matt, Nick, Garrett, Dillon, Mikey and Bethany:)

 I miss my boys!

 Dad and his former YM:

 Finding Laura at work and having the good fortune to run into Rachel as well:

After a pedicure with Laura we were ready for some Chinese food at Shoots:

The newlyweds: 

After dinner we had to hit up Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory:

It's OK, they just ran a marathon.  They can afford the extra calories. Which leaves me with no excuse;)

 We drove down to Lynndyl after dinner and after being awake for 20 straight hours we collapsed in bed.  We had a fun day with Grandma and Grandpa.  We went to Delta for lunch and bought stuff for Bruce to make his fab chili.  While it sat in the crock pot we went shooting!  It was my first time.

 It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be!

 Grandma's classic wall in her kitchen:

 At Slab.  Laura and Jordan anxiously awaiting their buffalo chicken and thai chicken pizzas (seriously amazing--if you are ever in Provo you gotta try it, but, eat at j-Dawgs too;):

 Just before Laura talked him into buying her a Slab Pizza t-shirt:

 Cutie pies:

 After our lunch (that went by way too fast), we headed back up to SLC and boarded a plane to Phoenix.  We have had the pleasure of staying at the Marriott Desert Ridge Resort and Spa for 4 years in a row: 

 It is ridiculously nice:

While Bruce went to meetings, I did some fun shopping and had a blast going out to lunch with my friend, Kim and her daugher Jessica along with her cute baby boy.  Last night I watched the Washington Nationals blow a 6-0 lead over the Cardinals to go on and lose in the 9th inning in game 5 of the NLDS.  They are still an amazing team.  They had the best record in baseball and brought us a lot of entertainment this summer.  Til next year!

Homecoming 2012

Spirit Week is always insanely busy for my kids who have been in the Student Government.  Add cross country to the mix and MK doesn't know whether she's coming or going.

She spent last Saturday in Richmond at a XC meet and later that night enjoyed an evening in DC at her friend/3rd cousin Taryn's sweet 16.  Up in a tree in our state's capital:

  It's tradition to dress up each day at school for Spirit Week.  Safari Day:

Salad Dressing Day-- the juniors got Ranch:

 Team Day:

The Cougars were well represented: 

 The Parade.  The juniors did the Up House:

 80s Day:

 The Dance.  Janessa and Olivia were awesome to help MK find a dress:) She spent several hours at the school decorating with the SGA to make it awesome.  With her date, Jesse:

 With Olivia and her date, Matt:

 The Glam throwback couple of the night, Graham and Katy.  Props to her mom for making the dress:

 The group.  Katy and Graham, Sarah and Blake, Kaili and Brandon, Liv and Matt, MK and Jesse, Carly and Cole, Janessa and Chris, and Kate and Moroni:

 Besties:

Like the blue nails?
Besties squared:

 Thanks Cami and Ash for helping with hair and pictures. You girls are the cutest:

Back in the Void

About a week after returning from the wedding in Utah, we went back to take Mikey out to BYU.  We left MK home with Jessica.  She had just gotten her license 4 days before so it was truly her first taste of freedom/responsibility. When we got home she wasn't in jail and the house hadn't burned down so I guess we've done OK as parents;)  We got to Provo around 1:00 PM on Wednesday the 22nd.  After a trip to the local wally-mart to get some essentials, we moved him into his dorm at Budge Hall.  The biggest challenge of the day was getting the laptop that we rented up and running.  After 2 hours and a replacement rental, we finally hit pay dirt.  Here are Mikey and the boys from Vienna--Nick, Garrett, Matt and Mike:

 

Mikey is rooming with Garrett.  Nick is rooming with Matt.  Never mind the fact that there are other boys rooming together on their hall named Garrett and Nick or else it would just get confusing.  That night Nick and his mom, Cindy, joined us for dinner at Bombay House along with Jordan, Tom and Leslie. The next day we hung out with Grandma and Grandpa in Lynndyl in the morning and helped Tom move a new washing machine into his house that afternoon.  While they were doing that I picked up Laura at Aspen Grove were she was attending a retreat for work. She wasn't feeling well so her boss let her leave early.  That night we had a yummy din din at In & Out with Tom, Laura and Jordan.  

The next day we had a girls day out.  With Laura and Leslie.  And Bruce.  Who knew bringing dad would make it all the more fun?  (As in he let them buy pretty much whatever they wanted.)  Here we are at a hipster little sandwich shop called Station 22. 

The trendiness factor can be rated by the size of those ridiculous earlobe stretchy gauge things that people think look cool.  #africantribeselfmutilation

After lunch we went to Bath and Bodyworks where the girls got enough soaps and candles to last a lifetime. We also went to the mall and did a little birthday shopping for Jessie at Pier One where we found even more cute stuff.  Spoiled much?  I think so.  That night Mikey wanted to go to Cafe Rio for dinner:

So we did.  And we ate.  Too much.  But wait. There's more.  And by more I mean Awful Waffle. At the Village South.  The brand spanking new cool place to live if you go to BYU.  The strawberry nutella crepe that Laura and I shared was just so so. But the gas fireplaces were cool.

The next morning we said our goodbyes in Lynndyl to G-ma and G-pa and headed back up to Provo to do more damage to our waistlines.  As if I didn't sing the praises of Slab Pizza (#thisiswhyi'mfat) enough two posts ago, I'm telling you, it's A-May-Zing.  Laura and Jordan had run 18 miles in the morning and met us there along with lots of Wades who were in town.

 Part of the menu:

 Dad's fennel sausage pizza:

So fun to catch up with Denise:

After pizza we met up with Mikey who opted out of pizza because he was out running.  Our mission:  to buy a BYU lanyard at the bookstore.  Everyone and their dog has one.  Except Mikey.  And they were sold out.  So Laura ordered him one. Since we were spending the night in SLC at the Hampton Inn Mikey and Jordan & Laura joined us up there to enjoy the hotel pool.  But foist, we had to go to Farr's Icecream in Orem.  The fro yo was excellent:)

They had the pool to themselves.  And the hot tub.  Mikey and I didn't bring our suits so we chilled pool side.

Tom and Leslie drove up from to meet us for din din at the Red Iguana.  It was on Diners Drive-ins and Dives so it was hoppin.  The food was just OK but the guitar playing guys who serenaded us made it worth it.  

 Nice haircut, Tom:)

 The deliberately awkward hugs in the parking lot.  Dorks.

 We  said goodbye to Mikey later that night.  We dropped him off at the Wilk where an orientation dance was happening.  He shed not a tear. I couldn't be happier for him to be at BYU:)

Virginia Open House

On August 18th, we had a fun party in honor of these two:

Janessa and Meagan came to help:

 The spread:

 Thanks so much to Ellen for keeping the food coming out:

 Cami stole the show with her cupcakes.  They are seriously yummy:

 Lots of peeps came.  Probably close to 75:

 Greetin' folks:

So glad Grandma and Grandpa D came and enjoyed themsleves:)

The MacFarlanes also came.  Here's Roger making new friends:

 

Caroline and her little cousin who came up from NC:

 BYU bound BFFs:

 The cute Copes:

 All in all a pretty fun Open House:)