David and Goliath

Thanksgiving Point, Engagement Photo Shoot, Jazz Playoff Game

 

    I am heading out the door but I wanted to post a few pictures from beautiful Thanksgiving Point.             

It is the tulip festival at the Point.  It has been a really cold spring.  There were beautiful flowers but I don't think it was as spectacular as in years past when the weather was much more cooperative.

 

There were brides and future brides enjoying the beautiful surroundings.

 

 

     Nichelle's sister-in-law, Lori is getting married in June.  Lori asked me to photograph their engagement pictures, bridals, and wedding.  I am not a professional photographer but I do love photography.  I have only had my SLR camera for 3 years.  Before that time I always loved photography but was strictly a point and shoot camera photographer.  When I went to look at buying my first SLR camera I remember the salesman was almost laughing at the way I was holding the camera.  I had never held a SLR camera before.  They are heavy and very technical.  Photography is very similar to Photoshop in the fact they both have very high learning curves.  So, I am constantly learning and trying to improve my skills at both.  Here are some photos from the engagement photo shoot from our back yard.  Matt and Lori did a great job of being patient so I could get photos I thought they would be happy with.

   

 

                 

 

      We had the chance to go to the Jazz versus Houston Rockets 1st round of the Playoff Games.  It had a late start for television purposes.  The game was Saturday evening and the start time was 8:30pm.  It was a very exciting game.  The Jazz always step up everything for playoff games.  Clowns to entertain, the bear does more stunts, the Jazz stunt team performed, their were high jumping trampoline enthusiasts, fireworks, and much more.  Playoff games are the creme de la creme as far as basketball goes.  We saw Orin Hatch there as well as President Dieter F. Uchtdorf  from the LDS 1st Presidency.

                          

 

     And yes, the Jazz did win.  They had about a 10 point lead that disappeared.  So the Jazz had to really step it up.  They did finally when with a much smaller margin.  The Jazz lead the series 3 to 1.  They play in Houston tonight.  If the Jazz win they will go to the next round.  If not, they will play a game Friday evening.  Go Jazz!

She Loves Her Green Beans

It has been such a joy to have Kaylin in our lives.  Her mother often has games to coach in the evening so I get to tend her quite often.  She is a very happy baby.  She has barely started to eat solids.  She just loves her green beans.  When I tend her I get absolutely nothing done.  I am content to feed her, change her, play with her, love her, and just hold her for hour after hour.

  Kaylin loves to get butterfly kisses from all of us.  In this picture, her Uncle Patrick is giving her butterfly kisses which brings a squeal of delight from Kaylin.  The last couple of days Kaylin has just started to crawl.  She puts her little "booty" in the air and rocks back and forth. I'll have to get a few pictures to document her unique crawling style.

        Last week, we celebrated Kaylin's Daddy's birthday and this past week we celebrated Andrea's birthday.  Ty and Andrea went to Cucina Toscana for a delicious birthday dinner celebration and then came over to our house for cake and ice cream.

 

On Saturday, my husband called me while he was listening to the radio on his drive to Timberlakes.  The garden show was at J & J Garden in Layton.  I had never been to that particular nursery before.  Wow!  For a flower and garden lover like me, it was sensory overload.  Very much like when you go into a scrapbooking store, this garden center was greenhouse after greenhouse of beautiful plants.  I spent a couple of hours there enjoying the site.  The Garden Center had brought in 40,000 tomato plants for their tomato extravaganza.  I bought the tomato varieties:  champion, celebrity, beefmaster, roma, and sun sugar cherry tomatoes.  The gallon size tomato plants were $1.49.  What a great price!  I was particularly pleased to find out that they had a pond department.  When my daughter, Nichole got married she wanted the reception in our backyard.  Our backyard has a very steep hillside that was totally covered in Pyracantha bushes.  If you are not familiar with that bush it has very sharp thorns and it grows like a weed.  We put in a beautiful waterfall and pond in place of the hillside of the Pyracantha bushes.  We have enjoyed our backyard so much.  We put Koi fish in the pond.  Every winter we lose some fish due to raccoons and other natural predators that live in the nearby canyon. 

     J & J had some Koi fish for sale.  We lost about 12 of our favorite fish a couple of winters ago.  They were beautiful butterfly fish that we had gotten from a vendor from Arkansas at a local Koi Show.  My 2 favorite were about 24 inches long and were scaleless and had a beautiful light blue coloring.  J & J Garden had some butterfly fish for sale.  They were only about 6 inches long but some of them were the blue color that I love.  Koi fish are not very colorful when they are young fish.  As the fish mature, the color intensifies.  So, we look forward to enjoying a summer watching our new fish grow and mature.  I love spring and summer.  I'm not fond of the heat but I love the beautiful flowers that thrive in the yard. 

    Now in Utah, you cannot plant tomatoes until after May 15th.  However, for the last few years we have planted our tomatoes with walls of water.  The walls of water insulate the tomatoes from the cold and you can get tomatoes about a month earlier than if we waited until after the danger of frost.  So this week we have a lot of planting to do so we can enjoy the harvest.

Have a great week and think SPRING!

 

 

       

My husband's favorite dinner, date, granddaughter, and game!

 

 

My husband's favorite meal that I make is homemade spaghetti.  We always try to eat whole wheat pasta and whole wheat garlic bread because it has more fiber and is better for you.  The first time we served the whole wheat pasta, my son who had been away for 5 years in the military, asked why the pasta was dirty.  He was sure that I was serving him "old, stale pasta."

I also served an artichoke and grape tomato salad with garlic and angel food cake with fresh strawberries and blackberries.

 

 

       

    On Friday my husband took the day off to spend with me.  We went to Timberlakes.  Here is Mt. Timpanogos enshrouded with clouds.  We were going to go snowmobiling but the snow was melting too quickly.   Then he took me to Daniel's Summit Lodge for lunch.  They have delicious food.  We had the hamburger with mushrooms and a diet coke in a frosted mug.  They also have homemade onion rings.  They have a beautiful lodge and they also rent snowmobiles.  After lunch we caught an afternoon movie at Jordan Commons.  We saw "Emma Smith, My Story."  It is told from the view of Emma Smith.  I think many people have misjudged her.  The movie shows what she had to endure and her great love for her family and her husband, Joseph Smith. It was very touching and moving.

 

        My husband's favorite and only grandchild is beautiful, Kaylin.  She is such a sweet, happy, spirit who brings so much joy to our family.  Her Daddy is holding her in the first picture.  It was Craig's birthday last Thursday.  This is Kaylin's first time to celebrate her Daddy's birthday.  She did get a small taste of ice cream but no cake for her.  The next pictures shows her "serious face" while she plays with her toys.

 

        

And finally, my husband's favorite sport is soccer.  His love for soccer began while he served an LDS mission in Central England.  On his P-day, he would play soccer with the neighborhood kids.  When Tyler turned 4 years old, Milt became his soccer coach for Little League Soccer.  He was a soccer coach for Tyler, the girls, and even an assistant soccer coach for West High School when the girls were on the soccer team.  Can I say, Milt loves soccer!  He has had season tickets for Real Soccer since it started here in Utah.  We even went to the World Cup Soccer game when it was in San Francisco many years ago.  I did concede to go to the soccer game with him Saturday night.  Can I tell you that it was freezing!  If you know anything about me, I am not a sports fan.  If I do go, I mostly watch the people, take pictures, or have kettle corn to keep myself entertained.  Just don't ask me the score.  Anyway, it was a really good game.  The Real actually won by scoring 4 goals against DC United which is a really good team.  I was pretty happy with the photographs I got of the goalie making a great save.  So, in honor of my husband and his zeal for soccer here are the photos.

 

          

 

And to close this post, I want to give a big thank you to my husband.  On Monday the Hall of Fame calls went out.  I was really nervous and really wanted to win.  I have entered for 3 straight years and still have not won.  My husband knew I was really anxious so he took the day off.  We went to the movie, Leatherheads, with George Clooney.  It wasn't my favorite movie but it did keep my mind off of the HOF calls.  Then we went to California Pizza Kitchen for lunch.  I did not get a HOF call last Monday.  I was really sad but I was so touched that my husband would take time off to spend the day with me, so I would feel better.   Now scrapbooking is not important to my husband but he knows that it is important to me.  I really appreciate his kindness in spending the day with me so that I would feel better.

I love you, Milt!

Conference Traditions

    The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints  has General Conference twice a year.  We love General Conference because the talks are so spiritual and uplifting.  This is the first time for the new prophet, Thomas S. Monson to preside as President of the Church since the passing of President Hinckley in late January.  We stay home from church and watch the proceedings on television often in our pajamas.  We always have a big breakfast for this special occasion.  When we have 9:00 am church we don't have time to cook a big breakfast but for conference there is plenty of time.

 

    This last year, my husband's family compiled all of their family's favorite recipes and put them in a beautiful cookbook.  Milt's family has outstanding cooks and recipes that have been passed down through the generations.  We usually have pancakes, waffles, or crepes for conference breakfast but always with strawberries and whipped cream.   This year my husband ground wheat kernels with our new wheat grinder so we could make whole wheat blender pancakes from the family cookbook.  The pancakes are very light, almost like a crepe even though they are made from whole wheat.

 

           

                           

 

 

 

 

Even the dogs get a special Conference breakfast.  They get their fire hydrants filled with peanut butter.  If we keep them occupied then we can eat in peace.  Good thinking on our part, right?

 

       Nichelle, Craig, and the baby came over in the afternoon to enjoy a relaxing Sunday with us.  Our other family members are both out of town.  My husband's favorite meal that I cook is  homemade spaghetti.  I will post pictures of that meal later.  Sunday seems to be our cooking day.  During the week we don't always have time to make a great meal.  Sundays are the best day of the week and General Conference Sundays are like the cherry on top of a delicious ice cream sundae.

{Get it???.......Sunday and sundae....I know, I'm so clever}

Have a great week.....and can you believe it is snowing again here in Utah?  Happy Spring???

Guilty!!!......and Easter Decor

 

My house should always be clean.  Right!  Yes, we are empty nesters, so it should be really easy to keep up on household chores.  Not so!  Not when you have dogs.  Especially when one of them is seriously ADHD.  I woke up to a huge mess in the kitchen this morning, one that I will spare you the details.  After 45 minutes of cleaning, I went to the computer to check my email and then when I went into the living room this was the next mess I encountered.

 

Guilty!!!

Yesterday, I went to the Making Memories Warehouse sale.  I guess Jefferson wanted to see what goodies were in my backpack.  So he knocked the backpack over and took the plastic bag out to see what scrapbook goodies I got. LOL!  What a naughty dog but I guess he's a scrapbooker!

 

NOT GUILTY!!!

 

Also, here are some photos of my Easter decor.  I love to decorate for the holidays.  I hadn't taken time to take pictures until today.  I figured since I was documenting the mess by Jefferson, I would take pictures of some of the Easter decorations.

 

       

 

 

   

 

 

Well I'm a little afraid to see what mess Jefferson has made while I've taken time to update my blog.  I could put him outside but it is so muddy and cold and he would only bark and make the neighbors unhappy.  It is one of those situations where you could get angry and yell but you know us scrapbookers, we just grab our cameras.

I wish you a "mess-free" day!