fourth of july weekend in st. george

We spent the holiday weekend up in St. George visiting Grandma Smith- and we had such a great time!


We left on Thursday afternoon, right after Nathan got off of work. We were both so excited to be taking a vacation. We had to leave Buster with Aunty Jessica because he isn't quite house broken yet and still hasn't gotten over his separation anxiety; he just can't be left alone. We missed him, but we didn't miss his messes!


The drive up to Utah was nice. I love having just Tarin and Nathan time without any distractions.

I checked the weather before we left, so I would know what to pack for us, and it said to expect scattered thunderstorms. I was kind of excited because I love love love the rain! Unfortunately the whole drive up, the rain was just one step ahead of us. We just missed everywhere we went. It did leave behind that lovely after rain smell though, so that was nice.


We got to St. George around 11:00 and I was pooped! It's amazing how just sitting in a car can wear you out. We had plenty of time to sleep in the morning though. After breakfast, Grandma took us to a store that she thought I would like- Tai Pan. I didn't just like the store, I LOVED it. If we had had more money, I could have stayed there and shopped all day long. We did have a little spare change though, and since they were having a sale on metal stars and Americana decor, we picked up a couple things.

Nice! It gave me inspiration for the possible decoration of our maybe future home. Still waiting to hear back if they accepted our offer!

After shopping we went to lunch at Chuckarama, and then Nathan and I went on over the temple. I was really excited because I haven't ever been in any temple except for Mesa, and Nauvoo when they had their open house. I was a little nervous too, since I had never been before and we were going by ourselves- but when I mentioned it was our first time there, they gave us little temple stickers to wear, so that we would get the direction we needed.

It was neat how it was different, but the same. Very pretty too! Of course, I had to take pictures!

The entrance

Nathan in front of the temple



Tarin in front of the temple





We attempted to take pictures of both of us in front of the temple, but we couldn't manage. We are a little bit rusty on our self portrait skills.

I love the way the clouds look in this one, with the sun shining right behind- gorgeous!

I am so jealous of the trees they have there too! I think they are so pretty- and the shade is nice too!

After the temple, Nathan drove me up the mountain so I could get a picture of the temple from a different angle...

Just as beautiful far away as it is close up!

This is probably one of my all time favorite pictures of Nathan! My superman!

We had quite a treat for dinner...

Fazoli's!!! This was one of the things I was most looking forward to. I have missed Fazoli's so much. All the locations in the Phoenix area closed. =(

Nathan, chowing down on some of the delicious free bread sticks.

Nathan got the sampler platter, with extra alfredo. He LOVES alfredo sauce.

It took me forever to make up my mind on what to get- there are so many yummy choice. I decided on baked chicken parmesan! One of my old favorites

So scrumptious! Yum!

The next day was the 4th of July- my favorite holiday!! We slept in until almost noon, and then got sucked into a home renovation show on TLC- so our first excursion wasn't until almost 2 in the afternoon! It was another restaurant treat for me...

Iceberg!! The one in Mesa closed down a few years back, so it's must visit every time we come to Utah. They are the ones that got me hooked on fry sauce!

And of course we had to get a shake! Nathan got cheesecake and I got peanut butter. The "mini" size lasted us all day and then some. And how convenient- the cups are red white and blue!

Frozen goodness!

Since it was Independence day, we had to get "American" food. Nathan got a footlong hotdog and I got a hamburger. And what Iceberg meal would be complete without fries and fry sauce? It makes me hungry just thinking about it.

Later on we went to movies and saw the movie "Year One"- They really did show all the funny parts on the commercial. It was pretty stupid and horribly blasphemus. It was mildly entertaining though, so it wasn't a complete waste of money.

There were activities going on the park by Grandma's house all day long. We finally made our way over there after dinner. There were all kinds of booths selling tasty treats and novelties. There were a TON of people there- they wanted front row seats for the fireworks!

We sat in the street right outside the house- it was a great view! I was going to post one of our awesome fireworks videos, but quite frankly I lot my patience with blogger!

We had such a fun time, I was all wound up and it took me forever to fall asleep!

Nathan had a fun time tormenting honeybun while we there. I think they will miss each other though.

We reluctantly packed up the next morning and headed home. We had such a good time, I wish we could have stayed longer.

Oh yeah, and on the way back we stopped at a KFC that had a buffett! I guess those guys I used to work with from Fargo weren't full of crap after all! They used to tell me how all KFC's were supposed to be buffets and I would tell them they are crazy, because I have never come across such a thing in Phoenix. But low and behold there was one in Flagstaff. It was ok, I guess.

It was a fun trip, for sure. I can't wait for the next time we get to go up and visit! But it was good to get home and see our baby Buster too.

buster's favorite toy

One of the first things that we gave Buster to play with was one of Nathan's old holey socks. We also put one of his plastic squeaker toys in a sock and tied off the end. He loved it.

I told Nathan that we should be careful doing this because he won't be able to tell the difference between the ratty socks and the good socks and he would eventually just start chewing on all our socks.

I didn't think he would try to eat the socks off my feet! I took these pictures in bed this morning...

Point proven.

friday family fun

Last Friday Nathan, Tarin, and Buster took a trip out to the far east side to spend the evening with my sister and her family. Fun times were had by all (See below)

Buster and Lily had so much together. Jon had dug a pit for Lily to help her stay cool in summer heat- and she had shown not interest in it until Buster came over. They cuddled in their "love pit" most of the night. It was cute.

Uncle Nathan had to run to work for a little while, and while he was gone I spent some time with my nieces in their tent watching Toy Story 2.

They're so cute! I love them!

I couldn't get them to look at the camera though- haha

Another picture of the puppies! They wore each other out playing so hard all afternoon.

Jessica and Jon made a delicious dinner of BBQ chicken, homemade french fries, and Melody's favorite- Beans!

After dinner, we put the little kids to bed and we ventured outside to roast giant marshmallows and make smores!

Jessica, demonstrating how to make the perfect toasty marshmallow.

Brigham and Paulie deciding on their smore strategy, and Jon holding the newest Stanley, Rick & Paulie's new baby boy Rolland.

Nathan, keeping cool and hydrated. It was at least 95 degrees outside and we were sitting by a campfire. It was HOT!

Brigham, showing off his messy smore goodness.

Sisters!

Melty marshmallow goodness.

Nathan holding the new baby- so cute.

Nathan really didn't want me to take these pictures, but I couldn't resist- it was just too cute. He's going to be such a good daddy one day.

This picture looks so gross. It looks like Jon puked up a smore and Jessica was eating it out of his mouth.

This is more of the look we were going for- a lady and tramp type sharing of the smore.
Nathan and I couldn't quite get the look down.

And when we got the hang of it, we had a visitor in our picture. Jon is so silly.

By the end of the night, the puppies were filthy! We stuck Buster in the shower when we got home and the bottom of our shower turned brown. It was so gross- but he had a good time.

After we finished up our fun outside, we went in a played some video games. The boys played smash brother down stairs and Jessica and I played Guitar Hero upstairs. It was tons of fun, we'll have to do it again sometime- minus the camp fire until it gets a little cooler outside.

michael jackson

I think a lot of people, especially my age, who were really young during Michael Jackson's prime- don't fully understand exactly how influential he was/is in music. Not only are his music and music videos amazing, but he has influenced almost all of my all time favorite singers. Here is my tribute to the king pop- tying into the music of many other performers

#1 David Cook

billie jean


#2 Slash, of Guns N Roses

mtv music awards performance


#3 Boyzone

michael jackson medley -2008 tour



ben




#4 Alien Ant Farm

smooth criminal


#5 Fall Out Boy

beat it


#6 Britney Spears

the way you make me feel


#7 - 26 Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Kenny Rogers, James Ingram, Tina Turner, Billy Joel, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Willie Nelson, Al Jarreau, Bruce Springsteen, Kenny Loggins, Steve Perry, Daryl Hall, Huey Lewis, Cyndi Lauper, Kim Carnes, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles

we are the world


#27 madonna

billie jean

why did God make puppies so cute?

The answer is easy. It's so you don't kill them when they do something like this:

I had to go to a meeting in Tempe today- I knew it would be brief, so I decided that I would put Buster in the bathroom instead of trying to find a pet sitter for him. We have done this before, so I knew I should pick everything up off the floor and put it on the sink. So that's what I did- the trash can (which was almost completely full of garbage, and the floor mat got picked up and put on the sink where Buster couldn't reach them.

So I put him in there, with his doggy bed and pig ear- and I headed off to my meeting. As I was locking the door behind me, I could here him barking and whining, which I expected. What I did not expect was to find the mess ,you see above, when I got home. The only explanation I can figure is that Buster jumped up on the toilet somehow and then on to counter and knocked the trash can on the floor. It was too far back on the counter for to just be able to jump and knock it over. He then probably kicked the can for a while, knocking all it's contents out on to the floor. He also got bored and unrolled the entire roll of toilet paper. He pulled the towels down from the rack, he found the plunger and toilet brushed, knocked them over and the chewed on them. One thing he didn't chew on: his pig ear. Not one single nibble!

Luckily he didn't pee or poop- not that it really would make any difference, seeing as how I to clean up the rest of the mess he made. After I let him out, he followed me around whining for about 30 minutes. He has major separation issues. Maybe we need to take him to a doggy shrink!


It's a good thing God made him so cute!

lyrics of our lives

So, I am probably going to be closing out my myspace account- which is the blog where I posted all my favorite lyrics. So you will probably be seeing more and more lyrics invade our blog space. Usually they are songs that exemplify how I have been feeling or just some songs that I have really been enjoying lately. Today's lyrics come from one of my all time favorite Broadway shows, Aida!

Every Story is a Love Story

Every story, tale or memoir
Every saga or romance
Whether true or fabricated
Whether planned or happenstance

Whether sweeping through the ages
Casting centuries aside
Or a hurried brief recital
Just a thirty-minute ride

Whether bright or melancholy
Rough and ready, finely spun
Whether with a thousand players
Or a lonely cast of one

Every story, new or ancient
Bagatelle or work of art
All are tales of human failing
All are tales of love at heart



Fortune Favors the Brave (excerpt)

It's all worked out, my road is clear
The lines of latitude extend
Way beyond my wildest dreams
Toward some great triumphant end

We seize the day
We turned the tide
We touched the stars
We mocked the grave
We moved into uncharted lands
Fortune favors the brave

The more we find, the more we see
The more we come to learn
The more that we explore
The more we shall return

Nothing is an accident
We are free to have it all
We are what we want to be
It's in ourselves to rise or fall

This is easy to believe
When distant places call to me
It's harder from the palace yard

Fortune favors the free!

Fortune favors the young!

Fortune favors the brave!

good times, good times...

This weekend was a lot of fun! Nathan and I actually got to do things and spend time with friends and family. His summer work schedule is kind of stinky and very rarely does he get a full Friday and Saturday off in a row- so we took advantage of it.

I apologize that there aren't more pictures- I've been a picture slacker lately!

On Friday evening we had our friends Bryan and Kim over for dinner and dominoes! It was cool because haven't had the chance to see them or hang out since we go married, so it was good to be able to have them over. And they brought us a super wedding present too- which made it even more awesome! We ate some yummy lasagna with garlic bread, and busted out Nathan's never before opened Christmas present (the dominoes) afterwards. Kim totally kicked our butts on the second round and poor Nathan wound up drawing like 20 dominoes which made his score sky high!

Nathan is friends with Kim and Bryan from working up at Camp Raymond and so they all know each other really well- so Friday was a good opportunity for me to get to know them better. They are so fun! We are definitely going to have to get together with them again after camp is over and Bryan is all healed up from his surgery.

Dominoes- such an addicting game!

I was trying to get everyone in this picture- but due to the small size of our dining area, that was a failure. Oh well, it's a good picture of Kim! That's Bryan's arm to the right and Nathan's shoulder to the left. =p

On Saturday, Nathan's mom was nice enough to watch our little Buster for us while Nathan and I went over to the As You Wish on Deer Valley to do some painting. This was a big deal to me, because I hardly ever get to sit down and paint with Nathan. Usually I go while he is working and paint with friends or by myself, so be able to spend time with him like that was really a treat. We had fun painting up some Super Saturday samples for his sister AND a new doggy dish for Buster! He has been using Daisy's old dish, we decided it was time he had one of his own.

When we went to pick up Buster we found out that he had mistaken Virginia's foot for his pig ear and had give her a nice little puncture wound! =( Sorry mom!!

After that, we headed over to Amy and Robert's house for dinner. It was sooooo yummy! We had a delicious broccoli salad- which I think I might have to bug Amy for the recipe- some super yummy chicken sandwiches, and Italian sodas. It was really really good.

After dinner, we sat down and played some Scrabble- one of my all time favorite games! I was not the reigning champion, Robert was the victor, but it was still a lot of fun. After the scrabble game, we had dessert and sat around and talked until like 11:00 at night! Time flies when you are having fun!

It was a great weekend, and I really enjoyed getting to better know some of the people in Nathan's life. =)