Members Only

I just have to announce that I am now a member of a very exclusive club called "The Finer Things Club" (you may have heard of something similar on "The Office"). Yesterday we were graced with the presence of our good friends Kyle and Lindy Dimond and their 2 cute girls (Kyle was Mitch's former roommate, now fast on his way to becoming Dr. Dimond in North Carolina). Since the other 2 of Mitch's former roommates, Matt and Rueben, still live here in Cache Valley, they all went golfing while the girls hung out and watched the kids. We were planning on dinner at Avree's house, and were just waiting for the boys to finish golfing...little did we know, the boys had a little something up their sleeves. When they got home, Matt quickly ushered the girls out of the house for a little tour of the yard. When our tour was finished, we entered the house and much to our surprise, a beautiful table setting, complete with a cucumber melon candle was awaiting us. I can't describe the beauty of it in words, so I'll show you a picture. Yes, those are Bluebird chocolates!

I'll bet you're wondering what that papers on our plates said. Well don't worry, I'm about to tell you.

"Finer Things Club"

If you are reading this paper right now you have been chosen to be part of the exclusive club known as the "Finer Things Club". Please take a moment to catch your breath before you continue reading.

The "Finer Things Club" is an ancient organization that was founded by cavemen in an effort to give their cavewomen a break from cavekid duties. Members of the "Finer Things Club" were invited to discuss fine literature and dine on fine cuisine. After a refreshing discussion about the literature and a splendid meal the members were invited to participate in a physical activity, usually a sport. When the physical activity was complete the members were served a finely crushed ice as a way to cool down and conclude the gathering.

As a newly inducted member of the "Finer Things Club" you are entitled to a finely prepared meal and an evening of literature discussion and physical activity. Please hand over your kids and enjoy your evening. You have earned it!


These were our 2 very distinguished waiters (Mitch and Matt were designated the babysitters). We were treated to gourmet sandwiches (provided by Subway), grapes, chips, and canteloupe.


Notice the chips arranged so exquisitely in the casserole dish?


Oh, and we musn't forget to point out the lovely tablecloth and napkins.

Well there you have it. It was a very fun-filled evening. Don't you wish you were me?

Nothin' like .....

....getting rejected via the world wide web, ha ha. Since I'm now a blogger and a Facebooker I've had the awesome experience of a friend or acquaintance either a) making fun of me through a comment on my blog, b) ignoring my initial salutations on Facebook or their blog, or c) going private without inviting me in. All I can say is, I hope I never have to do any online dating! I just don't know if I could take that kind of rejection! :)

Swimming Lessons

Earlier in the summer Marin took swimming lessons at our local aquatic center. She being my first child, it was our first "lessons" experience. I had a total "mom" moment when they called her name for her class and she skipped off to be with her teacher without a second of hesitation and said "Go mom!" I was happy that she was so confident, but had that "ohh" feeling in my gut thinking how sad I am that she is so old! Anyway, she loved her swimming lessons, is way more confident in the water, and cannot get enough of swimming. She would go all day every day if I'd let her!

10 reasons why my husband is cool

Okay, don't worry, this is not a mushy ode to how wonderful my husband is. Not that I don't think that, and not that I don't think many of the things my fellow bloggers say about their husbands are truly sweet... but it's just not my style to say romantic-type things on my oh-so-public blog.

Anyway, you know how there are certain things that are totally random that are sort of endearing about your significant other? Well here are a few of mine:

1. He thinks purple and pink match... as in, putting Marin or Kate in a purple shirt and pink pants is an acceptable combination.

2. He researches sporting equipment for like 10 years before he actually makes a purchase... then after he finally does make the purchase he continues to research for the next 10 years
just to make sure he got the nicest thing for the best deal possible...but he also takes super good care of his stuff.

3. He messes up idioms or cliches every single time he tries to use them. Then if I correct him he says he meant to do it and makes up a huge explanation as to why he said it the way he did (joking of course).

4. He teases me about blogging and Facebooking and always asks me if so-and-so is my Facebook friend yet or not (in a very sarcastic manner).

5. I have been informed that he is the resident lawn-care expert at his office and that many co-workers come to him for advice on their lawns. He has researched the topic extensively and our yard and lawn get a lot of TLC from him.

6. He is somewhat of a germophobe. Ask him if you can borrow his chapstick or drink from his straw sometime if you'd like to see him really squirm (although he does share these things with me, for obvious reasons).

7. I do the majority of our housework, but randomly he will get grossed out by something and clean it... like the fans in our bathroom or the bugs in a light fixture.

8. When he doesn't shave, his mustache grows a lot faster than the rest, but it doesn't grow right in the middle-- think of Rhett Butler's from "Gone With the Wind", only red.

9. He likes sweets almost as much as me.

10. And last, but not least, he is such a little kid, as in-- he has a never-ending supply of energy when it comes to playing (working too actually)... whether it be fishing or hunting with his brothers, skiing or mountain-biking with Matt (brother-in-law) who also seems to have a never-ending supply of energy, or Marin who is yet another little person who never runs out of energy.

Well there you have it. I'd love to hear your top 10's fellow bloggers, it's a good exercise in remembering why you like hanging around these guys so much!

Addendum: After 2 comments on the fact that purple and pink match (geez guys, way to get technical on me!), I must say... I know that purple and pink match, my girls have lots of clothes that have both colors on them. However, I don't think a plain purple shirt and plain pink pants necessarily match-- or a pink patterned shirt and a purple patterned shirt (patterns not the same) really match either. But hey, I've been known to wear clothes that don't match, so I'm definitely not the matching expert!

Yellowstone 2009

We went for a quick trip to Yellowstone on Friday and Saturday. It was a lot of driving, but so much fun. Mitch grew up in a little town about 2 hours east of the east entrance to Yellowstone, so he has lots of great memories there and wanted to start Marin young! I can't get over how beautiful it is every time I go. We met Mitch's parents and grandparents there and had a great time. Here are a few (okay, many) pictures:



Marin was so happy to be with her "Grandma at Oming" (grandma from Wyoming)


Hmm, looks like I could have used a couple bobby-pins...


This is what Kate did the entire time-- munched on her hands and slimed herself with spit. She was such a good little thing the whole day!


How about this for a picnic area? The lake is so pretty!


Marin looks a little nervous because Mitch told her this was the Dragon's Mouth and she was sure there was a real dragon in there (oh, and maybe because I'm hanging her over the edge above boiling water... he he not really, but that's what this picture looks like!)


And, don't forget Old Faithful. Marin wouldn't look at the camera. In fact, it looks like we were all a little tired at this point.

The girls did great, had a great time, and so did I! We love Yellowstone!

Boo Yah

I learned 3 very important things at the gym this morning:

1. There are not a lot of viewing options on any channel at 6 a.m.
2. "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and "Saved by the Bell" are, in fact, still in syndication.
3. I still know every single word to the opening songs of both of these shows.

To use a phrase that was popular when I watched both of these shows faithfully--- Boo Yah!!!

July 4th

This year for the 4th of July we decided not to travel anywhere and see what Logan has to offer in the way of Independence Day festivities. We were not disappointed. I love that July 4 was a Saturday so Mitch got Friday off of work too. On Thursday night we went to the Hyrum City fireworks. They were just Marin's style...short and sweet. Every single time a firework would go off she'd yell, "Oh mom! Beautiful! That's a [insert color of firework] one!" She loved them. Then the next day, our neighbors invited us to go along with them and try out their new sweet boat! Marin loved every second of it, she is seriously such a water girl. This huge perma-smile was plastered on her face almost the entire time:


Here's Mitch attempting a backside roll:




Ahh, Kate's first time at the lake. Mitch was so proud. She mostly slept :)


Then Mitch took Marin to Logan's fireworks show. He said it was actually a pretty awesome show, but Marin got bored after about 10 minutes and was ready to go home. Mitch made her stick it out to the end though. The next day we went to the Hyrum City parade since Logan is only doing the Cruise-In (car show) parade and I wanted to go to a parade where candy was involved. Sadly, Marin just didn't have that killer instinct I always had when it comes to getting the candy at a parade. She got like 5 pieces and basically ate them as they came. There were some older kids around her that had bags full. Too bad it would have been socially unacceptable for me to be out there shoving the kids out of the way to fill my bag...


Later that night we had a little barbecue at our house with some neighbors and let off a few firecrackers and sparklers, and whew!, that was the end of our celebrations! For some reason this 4th of July, I got a little more sentimental than usual about what a great country we live in and even teared up a bit when the flag passed at the parade and we all stood and put our hands over our hearts. I'm so thankful to live here! Hope you all had a great 4th of July weekend too!