My 10-year High School Reunion

My 10-yr High School Reunion was this last weekend and it was SO much fun. Two of my best friends from high school, Tara and Kathryn, spent the weekend at my house. We were sadly missing the fourth member of our quartet Leah, who couldn't make the trip out. I haven't had a girls weekend since I got married and we had the best time. It was the perfect combination of heart-to-heart talks and belly-aching laughter. We stayed up until all hours of the morning reliving our favorite memories. The day of our reunion we went shopping to put the final flourishes on our outfit for that night. I forgot how much fun it is to have a girls opinion on those kinds of things. We even shared our most prized beauty secerts (ie spanks--where have they been all my life?)We all got dressed together and Kathryn did our make-up. I have been borderline bare-faced for so long, but Kathryn gave us all SMOKEY-EYES so we were totally glam. Another of our friends, Ashlie, joined up with us so we could make an entrance together. The reunion was at the Provo Library and we had a great turn out. One of the organizers said that they were estimating that around 30% of our class came. Overall people were still very much the same. It was really fun to say see everyone and get reaquainted. I even found out that many of my old friends live near by so it will be fun to re-establish those relationships. I feel really blessed to have such wonderful friends--spending the weekend with them made me feel 16 again. Ten years later and we still got it! Thanks for making the trip pretty princesses--I had the BEST time!

Handcart Days

Our town celebrates the 24th of July with a city celebration known as handcart days. We attended the parade for the first time this year and Saylor thought it was a hit. The parade started at 6 in the evening, and we ended up sitting on the East side of the street with some friends. Unfortunately, there was no shade so it was pretty toasty. Once things got started though, the heat was forgotten. They started things off right by handing out little American flags for everyone. Saylor waved hers diligently the whole time! The parade had a plethora of classic cars, siren blaring vehicles, marching bands, princesses, and floats. They threw lots of candy, which I selflessly helped Saylor to eat so she didn't get a tummy-ache. The highlight for Saylor was a truck that tossed out stuffed animals. Snow managed to snag a really cute (not!) stuffed creature for Saylor. All in all it was a fun time.

Favorite Summer Treat

I realized that Saylor has had a sadly deprived childhood. Up until a week ago, I had neglected to introduce her to the untimate Summer treat--the Shaved Ice. First, let's get something straight...a shaved ice is NOT the same thing as a snowcone. Snowcones are made from crusty, crunchy ice, shaved ice is made from feather light shavings, and trust me, texture is everything. while shopping at The Gateway on a really hot day last week, we spied a shaved ice stand. Truthfully, I wasn't sure that Saylor would like it, so I got one for us to share. I got my flavor of choice: Tigers blood (a benign mixtue of strawberry and coconut). Saylor took one bite and claimed the cup for her own. As a bonus, the red flavoring did not even stain her clothing!

How We Have Been Spending July

The Summer has been flying by quickly--so quickly that I have once again gotten behind on the blog. I wanted to take a minute to share with you how we have spent the last few weeks. I am sorry if this is a long entry--You are welcome to revert to your childhood days of just looking at the pictures if my narration is too dull.

Some of our bigger news is that Snow is doing Ophthalmology full-time now. He is pleased that he spends his time doing what interests him, but sadly, the hours have not improved by much.

Other big news--Saylor is potty trained. I had been putting this task off for a really long time, but I finally got brave and 2 weeks ago Saylor and I got to work. It was actually pretty easy. I read a book called toilet training in less than a day, and it really only took about 4 hours. They were not pleasant 4 hours, but still I had no idea she would pick it up so fast. I think she was just ready emotionally and physically, but she has been a champ and surprisingly, it hasn't cramped our style too much--No searching frantically for a bathroom with a cart full of groceries or anything yet!

Snow and I made a little get-away to St. George a couple of weeks ago. It was so nice--my grandma and mom watched Saylor for 4 days. We stayed at my parent's condo so it was pretty budget friendly. It was glorious to have nothing to do but watch movies (in the theater!!) and go out to eat. We also saw Les Miserables at Tuachan. It was amazing--the setting was gorgeous and since it is outside that did some pretty unique staging including fireworks and horse drawn carriages. It was warm, but not unbearable. I will say that the seats were not made for Biggest Loser contestants, and the portly gentleman who happened to be sitting next to me was kind of invading my personal space. Also, Snow got stuck sitting by a guy with gas (sorry to be so indelicate)he spent a lot of the show with his program over his nose. Otherwise the cast was really talented and it was totally worth seeing.

Saylor has been spending a lot of time out doors in her swimming suit. I slather her with sunscreen, but I am really jealous of her tan.

Her favorite activity indoors, when things are just too toasty outside is to play "fashion show". She likes to dress up and have me describe her outfit and she isn't content until I have used such adjectives as "stunning" "enchanting" and "lovely".

Saylor's other favorite indoor activity is hide-and-go-seek. She is not very good at this game. She hides in the same 2 spots every time and they are both in plain view. The other day I was upstairs making dinner and I heard the familiar call "Mom--come find me" I came down stairs and checked the usual spots and couldn't find her.

Somehow I failed to notice the toy crates mysteriously stacked on top of each other. For the first time when Saylor hid, I couldn't seek.

Finally, this last weekend Snow had a glorious Saturday off. After mowing the lawn we took a family hike. We brought Saylor so our hike was only about 20 yards long, but it was nice to be outside together. We also went to a Real Soccer game which was really fun. The boisterous crown made Saylor a little nervous. You can tell by the deer-in-headlights expression that she has while clapping. She ended up hiding between our arms for protection. It was a good time