Girlfriends, Family and 85 Degrees This Weekend!

Sunday was such a gorgeous summer day! It was Jarod's Birthday (Tawni's brother) so everyone went to Dave and Sharyl's for dinner and pie. We all sat around the pool watching Jason drive Stella around in her little car that Santa left at Grammie LaLa's house last Christmas. She was laughing so hard and having so much fun. And, just in case you hadn't heard, Michelle and Cort are now seeing each other! Jason's favorite joke is that if they hit if off and there's a wedding I'll be both the Mother of the Groom and the Maid Of Honor, HaHa. Thanks again Sharyl for serving such a great meal and including us in the festivities.






























Saturday it was a GNO Sleepover at my house! Michelle, Heidi and Heather came with pillows, pj's, movies, margaritas, pedicure/manicure kits and TONS of food. We laughed, talked, watched 3 movies and painted toenails. Heather and I were the last ones awake and at 3:30 a.m. we finally went to bed!! Heidi made the BEST artichoke dip I have ever had and I HATE ARTICHOKES!! It was too die for. I made baked potato skins and we had shrimp, chips and cookies! We were filling our faces until all hours of the morning. We definately will be doing this again.




















Last Friday Night Tawni and her neighbor/girlfriend Joelle planned a GNO for the two of them, me and Joelle's Mom Karen. We went to Karens amazingly beautiful home and enjoyed snacks and a 4 hour game of Phase 10. I am so lucky to now have two more wonderful ladies I can add to my list of friends here in St. George. We all had so much fun together and can't wait to do it again soon. Jason watched Stella so Tawni had the night off...We didn't get home until 1:30 in the morning. It was awesome, thanks Tawni!!

Easter Sunday 2009

Man, what a day! Everything from church to egg hunts to dinner to softball! It was as perfect as it could get, well almost... Henrik sends his Easter wishes from West Sweden. Sharyl made a wonderful dinner for all of us after church today. It was Fast Sunday which means that the members who chose to do so stand up and say what they are grateful for. It's always nice when I go to church with the kids when one of them stands up and bears their testimony. Jason did that today, and of course Tawni and I sit there with tears rolling down our cheeks when he tells the members how important is wife, his miracle daughter and his proud Mom are to him in his life.

After the formalities of church are over, it's off with the church clothes and on with the fun clothes! Bishop Dave, Sharyl, Jason, Tawni, Stella, Jared, Andrea, Cort and myself had a terrific Lasagne dinner. Sharyl even prepared one seperate pan of lasagne for me that was Gluten Free. She is so awesome. As soon as we finished dinner, we had an Easter Egg Hunt for Stella in the Courtyard. She was so dang cute! She marched around there finding those eggs like a pro. She was amazing all of us with her egg-fetching capabilities, LOL. As soon as that was over, we all took off to the park here in Coral Canyon for a family game of softball. I will tell you that considering both Jason and Cort are outstanding ball players, Jared and the girls gave them a run for their money! Tawni and Andrea were kicking some butt and even Mom put some in the outfield, Haha. We laughed and played until the sun went down and now everyone is talking about a regular weekly family softball game. That will be all well and good until it starts to reach 115 degrees outside!

Anyway, enjoy the slideshow and Stella's cute little Easter outfit.

Pre Easter Fun

The Saturday morning Sylarus hike was beautiful. Threat of rain chased all but 3 of us away and the only rain we encountered was during lunch at Oscars after the hike! Of course being the overachiever that I am, was dressed as if I was hiking the North Pole and had to start peeling back the layers almost immediatley upon beginning the hike. The storms were all around us but where we were the sun was shining and the views of the monoliths with clouds of that nature were awe-inspiring. The sun is almost always shining in Zion National park so to experience a day like yesterday, well, those who wimped out missed a real treat...

After the hike, we had a Pre Easter BBQ at Jason and Tawni's house and had a great time. I took some little bags with some new summer clothes in them for Stella and she was so cute opening them up. She loved her little dresses and held them up in front of her like she knew exactly what to do with them. Then we had a fashion show with her modeling them. She would come around the corner and down the hall with this ginormous smile on her face and of course we were all cheering and laughing at her. She loved it. Thanks Tawni and Jason for hosting the party and thanks Cort for tearing up the grill with your awesome hamburgers!

I'm off to get ready for church. More pictures later of Easter Sunday.

Happy Easter!

Things....

I have a new hiking coach...S-T-E-L-L-A! I've told you about Mt. Everest aka Cardiac Arrest? Well Thursday night Stella coached me up that bad-boy hike pushing her stroller!! We were doing great until near the top I realized that somewhere between my gasping for air and closing my eyes to pray we reached the top soon Stella launched her binky (pacifier) out of the stroller. Not seeing her do this, you can only imagine my panic, when near the top of the hill, she decided she wanted it. Needless to say, there was no coaching necessary for me to descend Mt Everest at record speed looking for her binky all the while. We successfully located it on the sidewalk down in the subdivision. Wow, was that ever close!

The challenge:

Hairstyle by Stella: apply yogurt, lotion and some of your mom's contact lens solution to dry hair for this fabulous look!

The top half of the hike! Ooi!

Going down....

Tomorrow we are hiking in Zions with a group from Sylarus where I work. They are forecasting rain showers so only those of us that are die hard hiking enthusiasts are still planning to go but we are pysched about it for sure. We are planning to hike to the Lower Emerald Pools and Weeping Rock. After the hike we are planning a post-hike celebration lunch and beer at my favorite place to eat in Springdale/Zions, Oscars! There's nothing more motivating during a hike in Zions that knowing you are going to pound down a Murder Burger at Oscars afterwards.

Tomorrow night is a pre-Easter egg hunt and BBQ at Jason and Tawni's house for the family. Easter Sunday I'll be going to church with the family and then Sharyl is making Easter dinner for everyone at her and Dave's house. It's always so nice to spend the holidays together as a family, this one will be no exception.

Jason and Tawni continue to do well. JJ's Lawn Care is picking up nicely and from now until next October Jason and Cortney will be working every night after work taking care of customer lawns. Jason has a church calling working with the boy scouts...I think it's the 13 year olds, and Tawni has been called to serve in the Relief Society Presidency. We keep bugging them about when our next little house mouse is planned and so far we only hear "maybe next year". We'll see!

Cortney has been taking guitar lessons, has become "friends" my friend Michelle, is camping, fishing, skeet shooting and is thrilled that Harley riding season is back! He can't wait until Henrik is back in St George so he has someone to ride with.

Speaking of Henrik...here are some FAQ's and their answers that seem to keep coming from everyone:

• He's Danish...which would make him from Denmark (a small country in Scandinavia for those of you who can't remember where the hell Denmark is Ha Ha, as if Scandinavia will help some of you :-)
• Yes, he speaks English quite well, but has a charming accent. I've been adding some Danish words to my vocabulary like Goddag and Hej (Hello) and Farvel (farewell)! He tells me most Danish people speak English except for the older people. The word he says the most in English? "goddammitglendawilson" (all one word) LOL
• No, we didn't meet online, we met in Zion National Park last October on a day that Cortney took me on a Harley ride. Cortney met him first, I came upon the two of them talking and comparing their Harley's.
• Yes, he lives in a country house on many acres in a very small village in Denmark.
• His work is in Sweden at a Nuclear Power Plant and is basically project oriented Each project lasts between 4-8 weeks. When he's not in Sweden or spending weekends in Denmark, he's here in St George.
• Yes, I am staying with Henrik at his country house when I visit Europe, but we are going to be on the road for most of the trip. He laughed hysterically when I told him all the places I was planning on visiting while there...He says Europeans think Americans are so stupid to try and see Europe in 2 weeks. Instead of the 15 city/country tour I was envisioning, we are going to spend most of our time in Germany and Northern Italy, with a brief excursion to Bavaria. Either way, my plans to see Venice, Italy is definitely going to happen AND he promised that I will be able to drive on the Autobahn. The plan is to take back roads through the villages in South Europe, but how can I visit Germany and not drive a car as fast as the car will go without fear of a ticket!! Yes!
• Yes, he has 3 children of his own...two sons and a daughter. He gets along famously with Stella and is very patient with my obsession with her, LOL.
• Yes, it is very hard being in a long distance relationship, but we are learning how to deal with it. It will be like this for a few years and then we hope he will be living here most of the time. Ideally, our future together would include living in both places for some portion of each year. We'll see.
• Yes, this means I'm "off the market", so quit asking! LMAO

Okay, that answers most of the questions that I can answer without risk of embarassing Henrik any further.

I hope all of you have a Happy Easter and that you get to spend it with those you love, doing what you love to do on Easter Sunday.

Big Hugs and Lots of Love,

Me

A Sunny Sunday Afternoon

Tawni giving Stella a horsey ride

Sychronized food faces
Tawni, Andrea, Me and Miss Stella





Heading to Steve and Sandy's house for dessert

Cortney's cartwheel
Yes, this is supposed to be Jason's Cartwheel! Stella couldn't watch!


Jason giving me crap about my $10 Walmart plastic chair from the '70's!
Hey it was on sale!!
Nothing more needs to be said
The beautiful Smith girls!





If you have ever watched that movie JackAss, you'll know what kind of stuff goes on around here when Jason and Cort are left to entertain themselves. It was such a beautiful day we had dinner sitting outside on chairs and blankets on the grass. The boys had us laughing so loud I was waiting for a complaint from the neighbors. Stella played and played and played. Jason was giving me such a hard time about my $10 Walmart chair, he sat on it just to see if he could break it. I only needed something to layout on and it was perfect for that! Watching those two grown men doing acrobatic moves is hysterical! Neither of them is the least bit flexible so it's like watching stick men do the tricks. Tawni stuck the landing on hers and Andrea, well, poor Andrea went home with a sore wrist. She said she could never do Cartwheels, and she was telling the truth! Of course I had to take my turn and to see the shear horror on their faces...Jason was going to pre-dial 911 on his cell phone LOL. To their surprise, Mom stuck the landing as well!!

After we ate and played in the back yard we walked over to Steve and Sandy's house for cake and ice-cream. Trevors birthday is tomorrow so everyone gets together to celebrate.

Earlier today I took the Mount Everest hike again. That is such a tough hill! The view from the top is amazing. Ikeep telling myself I need to take my camera with me but I do not want to carry a single ounce more on me when I do that trail! I got home around 3:00 then sat outside in the backyard soaking up the sun for about an hour before coming in and finishing up dinner for the family. I have some nice red checks and a very red nose!

It was a really good weekend for sure. The next several weekends things get crazy and I just got a call from Richi who said she and Jack may be coming out to visit me from Arkansas in the next month or so WHOO-HOO!

Have a great week everyone, hugs to all and I love ya!

Busy Being Grammie LaLa This Week

Saidee, Me and Stella

Cuddling with the bear and Grammie at KayDee"s house. We both look ready for a nap!

KayDee and Saidee

Me and Stella and Tawni

Little Miss Fancy Pants Busy as usual

Playing with Grammie JUMPING ON THE COUCH! Cort caught us with the camera!

Grammie LaLa roughs me up like I'm a little boy sometimes and I LOVE IT!

Peek-A-Boo with Uncle Cort