Family Night, with some friends

My parents know how to bring us together..... ROCKBAND with the Beatles!!! That's right, my parents bought The Beatles Rockband for us to play, when we bring our rock band to their house. ;) And it was AWESOME!!! So finally my parents know the songs we were playing and singing which meant we were all singing along, even if it wasn't our turn.

Do they know The Beatles or what? ROCK ON mom and dad

It was only fitting to use my English guitar

We decided to share our family night with our neighbors, the Grays, who just happened to be sitting on their porch when I took my fresh air break and invited them over. They did pretty well considering they'd never played rockband before, and didn't know any of the Beatles music... that's just blaspheme.

And this of course was dessert. So maybe dad just happened to hear us mention that we should have caramel popcorn because he pulled out Grandma Randall's famous recipe and we DEVOURED IT!!!

Thanks Dad and Mom, for the popcorn and rockin' with us to the BEATLES!

Eat, Fair, FUN

So this Saturday was breakfast with the girls and we brought 2 of my nieces to share in the fun. PorSha wanted oranges and salad for breakfast. She has always been our little rabbit, but man she could brush her teeth a little more..... ;) Crazy that Lexus is Ben's child because she can down chocolate milk like you wouldn't believe. (Ben doesn't like anything chocolate)

The Utah State Fair is kind of a tradition with us... yes we have a lot. So mom took us girls for a fun Saturday afternoon. This was a needlepoint of Harry Potter that I saw in the craft section. It only won second place.... I was impressed either way. They were such good sports at not showing how nervous they were standing so close to these sheep. baaaa

We decided to take a picture of me with a goat (or a sheep as Lexus kept calling them) for Alex, he's allergic and thought he'd get a kick out of it. We didn't plan on the goat sticking his tongue out while we were taking the picture.

Elaina was so excited to see the cows. The cows were too busy eating to smile for the camera.

PorSha almost looked like she was born to be a rodeo queen. That wave came so naturally to her.

Now Lexus is a goat.... yes it's a goat Lexus, not a sheep.

I really like moose. But I wouldn't have one hanging on MY wall.

I don't know what kind of flower this is, but it was beautiful. And whoever submitted it to the fair didn't win, but I would have voted for it.

All PorSha wanted was a fan, and my goodness she has the talent for that too.

It was hot, but the snow cones and ice cream bars cooled us down. The fair's always the same; always traditionally fun!!! THANKS MOM

Ready, Aim.... what am I doing again?

With Friday off, Jim decided to take us to the shooting range. It was so much fun, warmer than last time and it seemed like I'd completely forgotten how to shoot. There was a really nice guy there to help correct the things I was doing wrong. Then he just kind of made me nervous. I don't know what magazines these are for, but we had a 9 mil, 22, and our 40 cal. Beretta Cougar.

That Cougar's got some kick.

Jim, Elisabeth, Alex. Al gets really into his target shooting, that he covers up the holes he's already made with tape so he can see when he makes new ones. I just try to tear it up as much as possible.

Papa Bear shooting his new gun. Thanks for the ear protection!

The master, and the student

And when we got home we were both so tired we had to take a nap. I had to post this picture because after our nap Alex had to have chips and salsa - kind of a daily thing, and he was so into his salsa that he couldn't even stop to really smile he just kind of kept eating while smiling. He loves that salsa!! My man is HOT :)

Bike ride on NO LABOR day :)

Alex termed the day "NO" Labor day, because we were meant to do... nothing ;)
It was nice to relax especially because we were having a BBQ with the Hoffmanns that afternoon. Alex was especially excited because that meant mom was making her SALSA!! It is so good, and she blends a special batch just for Alex cause he likes it smooth.

And then it was time to eat......

Rachel and Jason

Everyone brought something delicious to share and dad made some mean BBQ

A family tradition is orange Jell-O, which Jacob and Elaina always seem to be the ones to bring it. Which probably makes sense cause they both love it. Alex hasn't quite come around ;)

I love NOT laboring!

Hoffmanns also have a "family game" some may know as Mad Gab, we may call it "ape ees ach eeze?"

OF COURSE the girls won!! Plug your nose or use a southern accent, you'll get it.

Alex rocks at this game, and was actually a huge asset to the guys, but they just couldn't come from behind to beat us.

After dinner and games, we headed to Leatherby's for our family's tradition of ice cream. Alex and I drove his little Scion while we followed mom and dad and the Hoffmann Biker Gang.

Rachel, Jason, Ben & Angela, and Jacob & Elaina

They stay together just like a pack

Ready, Set, GO....

Elaina, is your helmet on backwards? ;)

We made it to Leatherby's and this nice guy offered to take a picture of all of us together. TRADITION

This was all of their bikes lined up in a row, sandwiched between mom and dad's car and ours. One by one, as we stood there while everyone got their gear on, three police cars showed up and checked them all out.

"The Girls"

I thought about a different mode of transportation home.....Zoom, ZOOM

It was a great NO Labor day and I'd take another one any day. Being with family is great and we loved all of it. Miss you and your scooter J and Bee!

Quarter .... of a century

So, our computer had been broken = no pictures to blog, but we're back baby and comin' at ya with a vengeance! We begin with my BIRTHDAY 25 and ... it doesn't seem like any different yay!
My birthday began during the middle of the week with some inspirational shopping with Mom Taunya. We had a great time and I couldn't believe how lucky I am. THANK YOU mom and dad Martin!!
Then Friday Alex and I hung out, did a little shopping in Park City with Jacob and Elaina where I used my new found inspiration to acquire some great finds, one of which I chose to wear on my birthday. Of course it's green!
Saturday was THE day and it started off with my sister taking me to breakfast. IHOP has these delicious cinnamon swirl french toasts and mm mm GOOD. We finished up with a little more shopping and spending the morning together.
After spending the afternoon with my mom it was home to have dinner with my hunnie!!

We picked none other than Cafe Rio with their beef burrito, enchilada style and DELISH chips con queso how could we resist.

Jacob and Elaina came to The Rio with us and then we all headed back to our apartment for a movie. It was of course a chic flick, but I'd heard 17 Again was good for guys too. We compromise :)

After the movie we headed back out to a family tradition.......

It is one of the most old fashioned ice cream parlors ever and brings back so many good memories. I'm going to miss when I don't live so close to this place.
I'm not sure what it's called that Jacob and Elaina had, but it's vanilla ice cream smothered in peanut butter and chocolate a pb&c lover's dream!Alex's generosity allowed me to pick the dessert this time and so we strayed away from the pb&c to the Pralines ice cream on a cheesecake crust, DRENCHED in caramel. I was in heaven!!HEAVEN.....
We finished up the night with a little of my childhood home movies. My dad has worked so hard to put them all onto DVD for us and it was so much fun to see my chubby little 2 yr. old cheeks!!
Can you believe I'm 25? Your baby has hit the quarter mark and it's been a great ride.
Thanks to Rayne and Tom, Ryan and Jenny and Ade, and everyone for caring to celebrate my birthday with me!!
Peace to Michael Jackson, we had some good birthdays together.