Almost Summer?

This is what our weekend looked like:



Hoping your Holiday Weekend was a little sunnier and warmer than ours was!



Pioneer Day & Another Concert

Here in Utah, we celebrate "Pioneer Day" on July 24th.

Pioneer Day is a State Holiday, commemorating the arrival of the first company of Mormon Pioneers that arrived in Utah on July 24th, 1847.

Pioneer Day is also commemorated by Church Members in other areas besides Utah.

(Photo Courtesy LDS Church )

Spencer was on a Pioneer Handcart Trek at Martin's Cove & surrounding areas.

He had a great time!

We decided to keep things low-key this year.
We made our own "subs" for lunch.

I finally got my potato salad just right!

(I'll be editing the recipe a little bit later)

After lunch, we decided to take Shane & Emily and go see the movie

"17 Miracles".

What a great movie! If it's playing in your area and you haven't seen it yet~

You should go.

Take tissues.

The DVD will be released on September 6th, 2011.

(Seagull Book & Deseret Book are taking pre-orders)

After the movie, we popped across the street to the Scera Shell Outdoor Theater to wait in line to see these guys:

It was such a great concert! We've seen Sawyer Brown a few times, and they never disappoint!

They just put on a fun concert.

As we were waiting for the concert to start, a gentleman next to us was asking if we had seen Sawyer Brown before. Funniest moment was him trying to describe Mark Miller (the lead singer). His comment was:

"I think he's double jointed or dyslexic or something."

I was sitting behind Rick & I about busted up laughing! When he got up to go talk to someone else, I leaned up and said to Rick:

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." 

(Movie line)

Mark Miller is known for his hyper antics on stage. The word most often used to describe him is

"hyperkinetic".

Dyslexic? Not so much!

The down side of the evening was the rain.

It rained a lot! The concert was delayed for a while~ but eventually they just came out and sang anyway. Two hours of singing...in the rain, plus rain before the concert started...

We were drenched! But it didn't matter, it was a great concert anyway. Totally worth it!

Favorite songs of the Night: The Dirt Road & Travelin' Band.

The other fun part of the evening was being able to take Shane. (Sawyer Brown is pretty kid friendly~ there were lots of families there!)

He didn't really love the concert because he wasn't really familiar with the music...but he just kept staring at me because I was clapping and whoopin' and hollerin'. I think he just didn't know what to make of his normally quite and reserved mother. :)

I'm gonna give a plug for the Scera. This was our first time going to their outdoor venue.

It is awesome!

I've never really paid much attention to the events they host there...but I will now!

We had great seats~ and seriously I don't think there is a bad seat there.

So if you have a chance to go see a concert, or play or any other event there~ you should do it!

Halloween Festivities, Part 1

Started out on Friday morning with the Annual Halloween Parade at the school. I love the Halloween Parade~ there are always some really clever costumes! I used to be clever with the costumes...now, not so much (read: store bought).

Shane was a Red Ninja.  The cute little girl in the Dorothy costume (picture below) is one of the girls in my Primary class at church.  It was fun to have all the kids that know me call out, "Hi Sister Jackson!"  Even kids that aren't in my class were saying hello.

(And I saw my celebrity crush again!  His kids go to the same school as Shane. How cool is that???)

 There were lots of parents in costume at the parade.  I didn't do my hair, and I stuck a hat on my head (like that's gonna help). So I guess my costume was frumpy housewife.  I was gonna post a picture...but I'm just not that brave!
After the parade, I rushed home to fix my hair so I could meet a friend for lunch.  We've been trying to get together for months...We had a great time. :)  We visited for 3 hours!!!  Could have gone much longer, but my kids were locked out of the house so I eventually had to go home.  Although Shane was resourceful and found a way to get in the house.  Little stinker!  He pulled the screen off a window, and slid the window open and crawled through.
 Hopefully we can get together more often...and next time I'll make sure the kids can get in the house!


In the wee hours of the morning on Saturday, I drove down to meet up with these wonderful friends for our

Second Annual Halloween Breakfast Meet & Eat! 

This year, we all wore our Pajamas, and promised to come looking like we had just staggered out of bed. Uh...some of us look much better first thing in the morning than others!

 Unbeknownst to us, we had picked a male dominated restaurant. 

Felt like we had invaded a "Gentlemen Only Club"

(by Gentlemen I mean truck drivers, construction workers, hunters and farmers, not that they aren't gentlemen, I just don't want you to have the vision of us surrounded by men sitting around in lounging jackets and smoking pipes! There was a lot of plaid flannel, maybe a rifle and a pitchfork or two.)

Oh well, we had fun anyway!

Emma & Darla

Lynette, Connie and a Pink Marshmallow Peep (me).

Make sure you read Connie's funny, witty write up: Invasion.

I think she already has her eye on a spot for next year!

I Won't Forget

I've always loved Memorial Day.

When I was a young girl, we would go to my Grandma's house every year to help her pick flowers.

I mostly remember Iris (or "Flags" as Grandma called them), maybe some lilacs, and peonies if we were lucky enough for them to be in bloom. 

We would put them in metal buckets full of water, and then take them to the cemetery to decorate the graves of family members who had died.

I think I remember the Iris so well, because Grandma would always comment on how much Grandpa hated "Flags", and that he was probably mad at her for putting them at his grave. 

In addition to remembering loved ones who have passed on, it's primarily a day set aside for us to show honor and respect for the brave men and women who have served our country.

This year, I'll be thinking of an online friend, her son was a highly decorated and honorably discharged Green Beret. 

 A few years ago, he suffered a brain injury from a fall.

He was recently murdered.

In addition to remembering those who have passed on,

My thoughts will also turn to;

A friend who's son was recently deployed to Afghanistan.  He is a Combat Marine.

Another friend's son, in the Army National Guard.

My niece's husband...also currently deployed in the Middle East.

A cousin who is currently serving as a Flight Surgeon.

A cousin who proudly wears a Navy Uniform and is stationed in Guam.

Another cousin who teaches at Camp Williams.

But mostly, I'll be thinkin' of my dad.

My dad served in the United States Navy from 1954-1958.

He was an Enlisted Man.

He served first aboard

The USS Lincoln County LST 898

Later, he was transferred to the

USS Hermitage LSD 34

He was a Boatswain's Mate. (Pronounced "Bosun").

He still has a pipe, which looks similar to this one:

Dad currently is serving as the Commander of the American Legion, Post 48 in Payson.

He and his fellow Legion members perform hours of community service. 

Most notably, as Honor Guard for numerous Military funerals throughout the area.

It's always amusing when my dad meets another Veteran.  If they served in different branches of the Military, there is typically some good nature teasing that goes on. But after that, there is always respect and admiration, regardless of branch, or rank, or position.

Thank you dad, for instilling in me a sense of Patriotism, and a love for my country.

Oh Yes, He Did!

Groundhog's Holiday

The second month, the second day,
We know is Groundhog's Holiday.
The keeper of the local zoo,
Photographers, reporters, too,
Anxiously await together
Woodchuck's forecast of the weather.
Each year this time he leaves his hearth,
His home beneath good Mother Earth.
He wiggles out to see the sun
And sure enough - ask anyone-
Should he perchance his shadow see,
Back to his home again he'll flee.
And that sign's still the surest thing
Six weeks must pass before it's spring!


Darn it! :)