Bathroom Re-Do

For my birthday, Mom Nancy came up from St. George and helped me paint my bathroom!!  It was fun to get out the ol' paint brush again.  I haven't painted since my shoulder surgery, so it felt good to improve my house.

The bathroom had been decorated in Americana and it was just time for a change.

I didn't get many pictures of us actually painting, but we had fun (in spite of the dog, Rocky escaping while we were working).  Lookin' good, Mom!

And here's the finished project!  I need to get a new light fixture and I'm going to frame around the mirror, but I think it's a pretty good start. 

Thanks so much for your help, Mom!!

Uh, To Clean Pipes, Maybe?

This morning I was in the kitchen doing the dishes when I heard Braiden proudly say,

"Hey Mom, I know why they call these things 'Pipe Cleaners'"

"Oh really? Why?" I asked him.

(Short pause)

"Ummm, actually I don't have any idea"

It was very hard to keep a straight face!  I love that kid!

Show Stoppers

Yesterday's post was about ballet, today's is about musical theatre.  Katie and Ethan joined an acting and singing group called Show Stoppers, and they have loved it!!  I always knew Katie loved singing, dancing and acting, but was surprised when Ethan became so excited about it. 

Their spring show had highlights from Grease, Wicked, and Hairspray.  It was so stinkin' cute!  In fact, after the show every one of my kids begged me to let them do it next year....I guess that's what we'll be doing!

This is Katie in the song "Loathing" from Wicked

Katie got to perform one of the few solos in the performance.  She sang "Defying Gravity" from Wicked!  She did a great job!  (I was secretly so jealous that she was singing my favorite musical on stage!!)  Way to go, Katie!!

This is Ethan in Grease.  He was adorable!  He was in the show with his buddy, Trevor and the two of them had a ball.  Plus, it turns out that Ethan can sing pretty well, too!!

Katie in Grease (the dancing was great and Katie was really good at it).  She's definitely more graceful than me!

Ethan received these funny glasses from his teacher back stage for being an excellent listener (yes, I double checked with her as to the reason because he isn't so excellent at listening at home!).  

We were grateful to all of the Grandparents for coming to see the kiddos (Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Randy even drove all the way from St. George to come see it!!)

We honestly can't wait for the next show! Great job, Katie and Ethan!  Peace!

Another Great Recital

In our family, June means ballet recital time.  Lauren's dance was beautiful, as always.  She danced to Minuet in G and did a fantastic job!!  Next year, she will be learning point!!  I'm so excited for her!

 

I can't believe how grown up she looks on that stage! She's the one in the middle.

Thanks to the Grandmas who came to support her!

You did a great job, Lauren! We are so proud of you!

Yummy Summer Salad Recipe

I haven't been keeping up on my recipe blog while trying to do my month of blogging, so I thought I would post a recipe over there and have it count as my post for today (a stretch, I know, but work with me!)  It is a recipe of a really yummy summer salad and you'll find it here.  Enjoy!

The Ooey, Gooey Days of Summer

Tonight we spent a glorious summer evening in my parents' backyard roasting S'mores and chatting and laughing.  I love summer, and this is one of the big reasons why.  Just being together and enjoying the weather and each other.

Dad's fire bowl is awesome because we can move it around and it provides hours of enjoyment.

Gotta love Braiden's "marshmallow fireball" at the end of his stick!!  I personally hate the burned ones.

I like them golden brown like this perfect specimen.  All of that ooey, gooey, chocolaty goodness!!

I love hanging out with my parents, they are so wonderful!  Lookin' good, Dad!

Aaaahhh!  The wonderful days of summer!!!

First Time for Everything

I have never been brave enough to try sushi....

real sushi....

raw fish sushi. 

I have tried and I like California Rolls, but that was about it.

Well, we went to Mikado tonight and I tried real sushi...

It was so yummy (though I'm not very good with chopsticks)!

Denise will be thrilled because she's been trying to get me to go eat sushi with her for a while now...

I guess there's a first time for everything!

FREE! (well....sort of)

The kids are SO excited because we got a FREE tramp to welcome in Summer!!! 


And it only cost me $320!!!!

One of Ryan's partners was getting rid of a really good tramp, but he said it needed a new mat.  I have wanted to get the kids a tramp for about three summers now, so I told him I wanted it. So he brought it over and we set it up....

We then packed up in the car and headed to the trampoline store.  The mat was $160 and I realized we had to have the pads to cover up the springs which were another $160!  Ouch!

But it has been so worth it.  It's a really good, sturdy tramp and I know that the kids (and heck, even myself occasionally) will enjoy it for years and years!! (Cora loved it too!!)

Prayers Needed

Ryan's grandma, Roberta, fell yesterday and broke her hip. She underwent surgery today and seems to be doing OK, considering the circumstances.

This is her with the kids last year (love how Braiden is faking sleep!).  My kids adore her!

We love Grandma and we are looking forward to celebrating her 90th birthday soon. Any prayers to speed her recovery along would be greatly appreciated!

Trip Of A Lifetime....Wrap Up

I'm sure you are all getting sick of my travel logs, but a)we are almost finished, b)I am going into such detail because my memory is terrible and I want to really remember this trip, c) I figure that if you hate it, you certainly don't have to read it, and finally, d) how else am I supposed to fill up 30 posts in a month if I don't draw it out like this??!!?!

Our final day of the trip was spent taking a road trip to Abu Dhabi.  It is the capital of UAE and was only about a 45 minute drive.  Nate said we should go because they have one of the world largest mosques there.  It had recently been finished and was open for tourists and non-Muslims. 

Wow! This place was HUGE!  It was so white, so massive, and so beautiful!

I could not believe the detail work that went into this mosque.  It was absolutely amazing.  The whole mosque had a flower or garden theme and so there were flowers interpreted EVERYWHERE.

There was a huge outdoor courtyard where people could pray if the inside was full.  It had a beautiful floral tile floor, and even though it was pushing 100 degrees, it was cool to the touch because the tiles were cut smaller to reflect heat...how cool is that (no pun intended)?

You can see the flower design carved on the side of the mosque.  I was so impressed with this place, and I hadn't even been inside yet!

This is the outer room that leads to all of the prayer rooms.  I LOVED the chandelier and the marble flowers on the walls!

It's hard to fully appreciate the details by looking at the pictures, but these are marble flowers placed ON the wall.  They were sticking out and there were so many different types and colors of marble.

This is the ceiling of the women's prayer room (women are separated from the men).  It was so beautiful and when I looked down at the beautiful carpet, I realized it was a reflection of the ceiling!

If you look at the carpet, you can see lines running down it...these are the prayer lines, so Muslims can line up in the right spot.

This is the chandelier in the men's prayer room.  It is the largest chandelier IN THE WORLD!  The whole thing couldn't have fit in my family room!  I loved it, but thought that the red and green balls at the bottom were almost "Christmasy" and didn't seem to fit, but I know I'm being a little picky....it was stunning!

On the pillars around the room, they had inlaid Mother of Pearl inside a marble pillar...we were told this is very hard to do...so pretty.

On our way back to Dubai, we saw another crazy shaped building.

Ryan has known Nate since grade school.  We are so glad to be friends with him and Carolynn.  They have wonderful children and we had a great time!  Thanks so much for putting up with us!!

So, that's my trip put into eight long blog posts!!  Words cannot describe how much we loved both cities.  We have definitely caught the traveling bug and can't wait to go on another adventure!

Trip Of A Lifetime....Part Seven

Aaahhhh, beach day in Dubai!!!  Nate and Carolynn have a membership to the Jumeriah Beach Club, so we spent a glorious day in the sun, how cool is that?  

Swimming in the Persian Gulf...check!  The water was so beautiful.  I don't think I've been swimming in the ocean with Ryan since our honeymoon.  It has been too long, and we both agreed we need to spend time at the beach more often.

Swimming within the sight of one of Dubai's famous landmarks was so cool...

Besides the ocean, they had a wonderful swimming pool.  Now this is the way to vacation!

Ryan and I just walked on the beach for a while.  The sand was perfect....

We gathered up some small shells and corral for the kids....

And we found these little "sand balls".  We were told that little crabs dig holes in the sand to build tunnels.  They scoop out balls of sand with their claws and push them out of the holes.  I really wanted to see a crab, but they all must have been napping...

They had these really yummy lemon popsicles...I think I had 3 or 4 of them!

We then took a little boat ride around the resort.  Little islands had been built so that guest of the resort could have privacy and the only way to access the little islands was by boat.  It felt like a Middle Eastern Venice.  It was just beautiful.

What a wonderful day at the beach!  Another big thank you to the Oscarson family for taking us there.  For me, it was one of the best parts of the whole Paris/Dubai trip!!

That night, I was wiped out, so Ryan and Nate went on another sight seeing adventure, and I went to bed.  They went and checked out Ski Dubai, an indoor ski resort attached to yet another HUGE mall.  I wish I could have seen it.

Nate told us that they had built the Ski Dubai building and then raised it up off the ground in a slope...wow!  The builders in Dubai are amazing: super tall buildings, creating new islands, and now a sloping building that was lifted off the ground!

We couldn't believe that our trip was almost over!  We had collected so many fun and wonderful memories!  Final post coming tomorrow!