Man Date + Girls

That's right. Shooting.

It's hard for me to understand why people shoot real guns with real bullets just for fun...

Why not play a nice game of laser tag?

That said, it was pretty fun to get out of the house and do something we never really do! Katrina and I each took one shot and decided to not do it again.My picture is on their camera, but when I get it, I may just post it so you can see my fear and pain (that gun kicks back!) mid-shot.

Overall, it was a fun night! It got more fun once we had wings and asphalt pie at Wingers.
Bring on the summer nights!

Pasty Skin Forever.

It is spring! Hallelujah. Utah is an eternal winter. I don't know why people (let alone us!) live here where it is winter 8 months of the year. October - May people. The summer is really great, and we always find fun things to do outside, but winter is just really long. Saturday was truly SUNNY! So, we went up the canyon to one of our favorite places (just a pull off above Vivian Park) for a few hours of sun and fun. The spf 8 is mine, 55 is for Scott.
Good books, conference talks, starburst, and a bit of cantaloupe made for a perfect afternoon.

The sky is now cloud-covered once again, with rain on and off. People who think Seattle weather is bad should come to Utah to find out about bad weather...

But hey, we had a beautiful weekend, let's be grateful for that. And, let's plan to escape Utah. Where winter and pasty skin both last forever.

Mothers Day 2011

Five memories with mom:

1. I remember my mom loading us up into the car about a million times to go to the beach or the tide pools to play. After she always got us KFC and we would eat it on the bluff in Corona del Mar.

2. My mom was always there doing projects or homework with me. For one history day project, we watched movies, got boxes and cutouts, spray painted them, build a cool stand, typed the report and we didn't win anything! My mom was just as mad as I was.

3. One time, John and I decided we didn't want to go to church. My dad eventually got fed up and left us in the backyard. My mom went to church early for a meeting, but when she heard what happened, she came home in a flurry and grabbed us and said, "Church is not optional! Get in the car!"


4. Christina and I went with my mom to visit Fairview, ID where she was born. She borrowed some horse from a friend so we could go for a ride. They put me on a retired race horse. A little into our walk, I started kicking the horse to get it to run. My mom started frantically yelling at me. "Stop it! That is not one of those flee bitten nags you ride in California! You make horse run, and it will throw you off!" Haha. She is such a cowgirl.


5. The first time I started using an alarm clock was at college, because my mom woke us up for early morning seminary every day during high school. She would come up the stairs and open our doors singing and clapping to, "Rise and shout, the cougars are out!" It was painful and hilarious. She always made us a hot breakfast to get us going.





1. The year she home schooled me, we did lots of fun things like when she took me to talk with the orderers at the grocery store to learn about supply and demand.

2. One time we got in a whip cream war and we chased each other around and around the kitchen island until finally someone opened the front door and we took it outside to go round and round the cul-de-sac.

3. Our family was in Switzerland one summer and my mom was the only one who knew German (she knew ALL the languages through Europe- French, Italian, German...). Since we couldn't read the sign beside the bridge read "No jumping allowed," she pretended not to be able to either. The five of us held hands and jumped of that bridge in Bern so many times- it was a total highlight of my life! Also, whatever situation we are in she has the perfect things with her. Like that day she had a blow up balloon that we passed through the river.

4. We would watch movies in her bed and eat popcorn together (we both LOVE popcorn!) and try really hard not to spill so dad wouldn't be mad :) If dad said I had to go to my room, she would let me sneak in on her side of the bed and not let on to dad. hahaha

5. Mom would drive me to and from jump rope practice every day (including many Saturdays) for about 11 years- talk about sacrifice! She would encourage me to make a goal for myself each practice.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

Cinco De Mayo

Is this not my fastest turn around time yet? The party was last night and the post is already up! I am shocked.

Well as the text invite said,

"No time for Siesta, it's time to FIESTA!"

Every good party has good food. So we did our best:

a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr3JQvR2RaA9QUcTJznR2kUg1d-1NcbEDVFnv_Vw3K_Y1eSud4x2uTGIp91QMyHqzb1qTf5KwzeUy-4Yu3pjwqGZo2vKEpOu8raJLMqS_N1LcPDoVzE6ctgtS6B8byBAK7533tE3E3uDDh/s1600/IMG_4101.JPG"> My goal was to have a tres leches (i think it should actually be cuatro leches, since I put in 4 milks...) cake that was NOT saugy. And I think that goal was achieved :)
Mexican Limeade. This was a new recipe where you blend the rind into the drink and include sweet and condensed milk (probs to offset the bitter rind). It was still a bit bitter so we just added more and more sugar until it was delcioso.
At 10 limes/ $1, I bought a few extra limes for decor and to freeze and use as ice in the drink. Maria's Corn Salsa! This recipe is from my friend Ali's mom Marie, so it was very convienient to give her credit for the best corn salsa anyone has ever tasted.
Luckily a friend at work had TONS of tissue paper flowers from past fiestas that she let me borrow.
Korine was our token Mexican at the party:
(BTW, she said that, not me.)

AND, the highlight of the party:

A limbo contest! With a cash prize. I wanted to win soooo bad to fund a Jamba this weekend, but

Rachel won. The pregnant girl WON the limbo contest!

How cool is that?

Dane, Korine and little Vaughn

Charlie, Carolyn, and little Charlie :)

Craig and Rachel

and

James and Kylie (not pictured)

Hasta el próximo año!

Beana the Bachelorette!

Scott's sister Christina "Beana" has auditioned for the Mormon Bachelorette and she needs your help!
This show/blog has had 2 successful seasons so far and she hopes to be part of the third! Beana was voted "crowd favorite" last season when she went on 2 dates with Mormon bachelor Rick Buck.

She needs "likes" and comments on the Mormon Bachelor website found here. The competition is tough and she needs lots of likes to be chosen as the next Mormon Bachelorette! So head on over and check out what The Mormon Bachelor is all about and give Beana a like and a comment on her video application :)

Cottonwood Finale

A few weeks ago we went to celebrate the good times we've had at our family farm in Salt Lake: Cottonwood.

When Uncle Darwin passed away, Aunt Lenore decided to move away and the family has since sold the farm. Thankfully, the new owners let us have one last family BBQ on the land where we've grown up together and made countless memories.

Aunt Lenore and Grandma Tanner, very stylish!

Cottonwood is always a BYOM event, and we share salads, desserts and drinks. Then the kids play tug o war and the teenagers get a game of volleyball going.

Caught in the act

Small enough kids can go on the zip line from the top of the barn to a tree a long way off. I remember that zip line being such a thrill!

Bry and Scott found the chicken coop. That's pretty much all I have to say about that. We've spent many summer nights at Cottonwood and I will always fondly remember the fun times we have had there!

Spanish Fork Hot Pots

Scott usually whistles while he works. So even though I do not love hearing a shrill whistle to the same tune over and over and over, I'll take it if he's cleaning the house :)

And Saturday morning was one of those mornings.

We began at 7am.

About 10 o'clock, I couldn't take the whistle anymore, so we decided to get out of the house and get some fresh air.

We only got one picture before the camera died.
Here it is:

It was a perfect day to hike, in that the snow was fresh and sometimes still falling, yet the skies were blue in other parts and we could get a bit of sun on our (very white) faces. Our hike started out and ended with very awkward moments:

1. I went to throw away a bag of garbage from our car before we began. No trash can outside, so I went to the restroom thinking there must be one in there. As I opened the door to the restroom, I first heard a (very girly) scream and then saw a scarred little 13 year old boy whose privacy I'd just invaded. As I quickly let go of the handle and turned around, pretty much every member of his scout troop gave me the stink eye. Awkward.

2. We went to the less-well-known "upper" hot pots in Spanish fork. If you've done the hike, you know that the lower pots are fairly shallow and not even too warm. So we ventured past the 20 people crowded in that pot, and went up just a bit further to the very warm and luxurious upper hot springs. There was only 1 man there. Naked. Awkward.

Considering the new snow, the 2ish mile trail was pretty muddy. It was really slippery pretty much the entire way.

After the days excursion, I was thinking "poor Scott."

In order to get to the upper hot pots, you have to cross a rushing, freezing river. This river would have been a real hallenge even for the pioneers. It was fast, and miserably cold, especially when you are crossing barefoot in a swimsuit, while it is snowing on your bare skin. Then, once you cross back over the river, there was nowhere to clean your muddy feet off and get your shoes/clothes back on, so we ended up hiking with mud oozing through our toes for a while.

Back to the part about "poor Scott." If I had been in this situation while dating Scott, I would have done a few cute screams, but basically just toughed it out and acted like I was having fun. But Saturday, no. I was wailing and complaining and telling him "you're gonna get it!" Even while he waited in the river offering a hand to help me across. How is that fair? Poor Scott had to put up with me when I didn't show this side of myself before the wedding day. Oops.

Good thing he still loves me. He usually just tells me "actually I don't have a moaning session on my schedule, so you'll need to put that on my google calendar before you do that. Now get going!" And then we do. And life is great :)