Celebrations

Last year for Addie's birthday the two of us went out to lunch together. This year I decided that Addie could choose where she wanted to go. She choose pizza and a park. Here we are enjoying some yummy pizza before heading over to the playground.

I love being so close to my family and spending time with them! 

So for my birthday this year with lovely gifts, coupons, and a nice sale I bought my red empire 5 quart kitchenaide. . . YAHOO! I am so excited to have it:) First thing I used it for was shortbread cookies. Simply divine!  

SEATTLE

In the beginning of August I was able to go with my parents and Steve-o to Seattle. It was such a fun trip! Our parents had recently been there for one of my dad's business trips so they had the trip all planned out for us, which was really nice.

Our frist stop was to Pike Street. This is a must have folks! We loved it so much that before we left to head back home we stopped there one more time. Here is Steve-o and I infront of the market.

They have lots and lots of fresh produce, which was so amazing! To sell their produce they would cut some fresh juicy peaches or give out some huge raspberries. . . so much better than eating lunch at the costco sample tables:) 

Okay now onto the flowers! See the bunches of flowers below. How much do you think they cost? Would you beleive that most are $5-$10?!?! Really I would move to Seattle just so I could buy some fresh flowers to put onto my table every week. 

And let us not forget the fish. It was fun to watch the guys throw the big fish when someone made a purchase. There were lots and lots of fish! 

I can't remember what these are called. . . I know bless my heart. It sure was scary trying to pick this big sucker up without getting pinched by the others in the massive trough. I was proud that I did it though! 

Eating freshly made donuts, thanks mom and dad! 

After spending a couple hours at Pike Street we moved onto the Space Needle. This is a view from the top. I went through my pics and couldn't find any of the actual building before heading up, oh well. Seattle really is a beautiful city. 

The next day we hopped onto a ferry and made our way over to Canada. Here is dad and me on the front of the ferry. It was real cold and windy! 

While we were outside, Steve-o and mom were sleeping inside. Party poopers:) We were all beat from the day before and was trying to catch up on some sleep. 

Entering one of the harbors. Beautiful! 

So when my parents told me we would be going to a garden place to look at flowers. . . . . ya. . . .  that is what I thought. Great a flower garden (insert sarcasm here). But holy fire guys! This place is INCREDIBLE!!! The Butchart Gardens was so much fun. It took us a couple hours to walk through the whole thing and I enjoyed it a lot! 

Here is one part of the gardens. This was a stone quarry but the woman of the house decided it needed to look better:) These pictures really don't do any justice at all. This had to be one of my fav's. 

A water fountain that made different designs, which included the canadian leaf. The happy couple below walked in and wouldn't leave. So after waiting a bit I decided to just take the picture and to always remember them as well. 

So my family dared me to sit upon the horse for a picture, which was such a hard one to accept:) So as I am sitting upon the horse for a picture this lady, on the left hand side of the pic, gave me her cowboy hat to help the picture along. Bless her! 

After the gardens we drove around Victoria Island, got some food, and walked around. I couldn't resist a picture with this lovely fellow. 

When we got back to the mainland we drove up to see where the Olympics were held. On our way up the mountains Steve-o and I were sound asleep. Really that is all I did during the trip. For some odd reason I have been getting car sick. Canada doesn't sell any motion sickness pills that are not anti drowsy. . . whatever! So anywho I was popping the pills and sleeping the whole time in the back only to wake up for meals and to see our different destinations. Okay now back to the Olympics. So we are almost to the top when mom and dad yell something about a bear. Steve-o and I wake up to see this little beauty! We were that close!!!! The bear was eating some grass and just enjoying himself. 

Back to seattle and before we flew out we took a harbor tour of the locks. Yet again after about an hour I woke up on a bench with my family missing. After trying to get myself to wake up and groggily walking out on deck I found them all smiles. 

Our trip was a lot of fun and I am so glad that I was able to make it with them. On the flight home I was able to snap this picture of one of their beautiful mountains.

Summer of Fun!

Oh man so this summer has beens lots and lots of fun. Since there is a lot of photos and I have work in the morning I will post two places I went. . . maybe a comment here and there. Hope you enjoy!

My roomie Ashley invited me to go with her family down to Lake Powell for a couple days. We stayed on their house boat and had lots of fun. This first picture is most of us looking at the random horse that came near the shore we were at.

The stallion in all its glory. 

Ashley, her nephew, and me on the tube. 

Wyoming was next with a friend and old roomie. First pictures are us fixing a fence.

Herding cattle. . .  

Went to Cody for some dinner and to go to the Rodeo, YIP YAW!!! 

Trying to catch a monster moth. . . HILARIOUS! 

Feeding ducks and Strawberry Days Rodeo!

   When I was younger my family would go and feed the ducks at the pond close to Lone Peak High. These times were full of laughter, fun, and pure terror when the ducks or the big white ones would chase us. Anywho my neices love to feed the ducks and it has been a while since I have been there last, so I got some popcorn popped and met up with the wee ones.

Here you can see Addie and Brynlee checking out the ducks or the group of teens playing some kind of game in kayaks. . . the ducks were hiding in the bushes and were not very hungry. BLAST!

After walking around the park we found a family leaving a group of ducks so we quickly snuck in to feed them. The ducks ate a little but they didn't really want the popcorn. The girls had fun trying to feed them. Addie would try and throw the popcorn into the pond with only one or two making it actually in the water. Brynlee helped out by eating the popcorn on the sand, such a great helper!

So the rodeo has always been so much fun to go to. Yes the same clown is there, telling the same jokes, and they let some horses run around the arena with their young to bring tears to the eyes of the audience. BUT this time was different.

One of the traditions that they kept and I love is the Muttin' Bustin! I tried to talk Addie into doing it but her mother was not for it. After sending Addie to her mom to ask and after receiving the answer no, Addie came up with a plan all by herself. She told me that I could take her down there and she could do it and we wouldn't have to tell her mom. . . . sneeky little girl uh. Starting already at the age of 3:) Anywho after Addie watched some of the kids riding the sheep she told me she didn't want to do it anymore.

One of the new things for me was the Cash Cow. This was HILARIOUS! So they put some cash onto two cows and had some kids down in the arena. It didn't take long for other kids in the stadium to jump the fence and to join their comrads. These kids were pretty determined to get the cash and even worked as a team to corner the poor beasts. I thought for sure that some little tyke was going to get run  over, but no one did. That was fun to watch!

 Here is a picture of my roomie Kristen and I, we are having lots of fun. You can see my dad, sister, uncle, and cousin in the background.

Okay so the main event for my family and I this year was Evan Rude was in the Wild Cow Milking contest with the other pharmacist from his work. The pictures are pretty blurry because I had to zoom in. This first picture is Logan opening the pen for their cow. Okay their cow was crazy, no joke! Before the event even started the big white crazy cow was trying to jump out of the pen. The announcer made some comment about how the guys were going to do this white cow. Logan just threw his arms up at him. 

One of the pharmacist being dragged by the beast while Logan and the other guy try to catch up. Logan eventually got a hold of the rope and the cow dragged those guys for a bit. 

The cow gave up on that idea then went onto a brilliant plan of trying to knock the guys over by raming them with its head. My family and I screamed and laughed the whole time. It was great fun, way to go team Smith's Drug!!!! (ps Logan is wearing the blue shirt)