A Carriage Ride & Christmas Lights

July and Cory invited us to go along for a carriage ride around Temple Square on Tuesday night. When we got there, Cayman was already in her seat waiting for me and Paul to join her. She snuggled up with us and enjoyed the ride. I had never been on a carriage ride before and it was pretty fun, although very slow. When the ride was over, we walked around Temple Square to look at the lights. We stopped to have some hot chocolate and went to the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. I love spending time with Cayman and Cooper! Paul and I had a great time and are so glad we were invited to spend the evening with them.

A Pumpkin Patch and Princess Party

Last Friday we went to the Pumpkin Patch with Clark, Kari, Charlotte and Alice. It was quite exciting to go on a short hay ride to the pumpkin patch to pick out our very own pumpkin. Charlotte and Alice seemed to enjoy it. I think we got some great pumpkins!


The next morning was Cayman's Princess Party. That was a lot of fun. Princess Aurora came and it was so cute to see her interact with the kids. Even Paul was impressed! Cayman was so excited to have Princess Aurora at her party and she had a great time with all her family and friends. The adults even got to dress up as princesses.




Paul and I are so blessed to have the cutest nieces and nephews!

Living the Gatsby Life.....At Least for the Weekend

My boss bought tickets to a charity event in L.A. called I Survived Real Estate 2009. The profits went to benefit The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. When she asked if Paul and I would like to come with her, I was ecstatic. We flew out on Thursday, September 10th to San Diego. As we were getting on the plane, my boss Kathy turned to me and said, "I'm living the Gatsby life, well at least for the weekend". Thankfully, she allowed me and Paul to live that life with her! Kathy (my boss) and Mike, Joe (the other owner) and Anita, and me and Paul set off for one of the most relaxing weekends I've ever had.

We arrived in San Diego late Thursday night. As we pulled up the resort where we were staying, The Grand Del Mar, I was in awe. It was beautiful. Our room was gorgeous and we had a balcony overlooking the pool. We were pretty tired so we went straight to bed.






The next morning, Paul and I did a session at the San Diego Temple. This has been my favorite temple since the first time I saw it 13 years ago. It was as beautiful on the inside as I imagined. After our session, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the charity event. We got all dressed up and headed to L.A.


Joe and Anita

Kathy and Mike

My shoes were one of my favorite parts of my outfit and unfortunately, they literally were killing my feet. After about 2 hours, I started getting shooting pains up my legs, and I could no longer stand in the shoes. So the shoes had to come off. Other than that, the night was fun and the event was great!

The next morning we slept in and then Paul and I had breakfast outside. It was so beautiful and peaceful. They have this nice serene music playing and everyone speaks softly to you. It was so relaxing.



After breakfast we took a walk around the grounds and then we went to the beach. We went to Torrey Pines which was amazing. There are all these cliffs that are made by the sand and they are so cool. We took a walk down the beach and we walked a little too far because we ended up on a Nude Beach. It took us just a minute to realize what had happened, so we turned around and headed back to the land of the dressed. When we got back to the hotel, we decided to go for a swim. Again, it was so relaxing. The pool played classical music under the water, so I just floated in the pool with my head under water listening to the music. After I was done swimming, I read by the pool and the hotel staff brought around cold water and frozen grapes. So good!


That night the six of us went to the 5 star restaurant that was at the resort. It was called The Addison. When we were seated, they set a gold box next to my chair to hold my purse. Then they told us the water was complimentary. The following is our meal:

1 - 2 raspberries with tangerine sauce.
2 - Bite size roll with cheese inside (this was delicious and one bite size roll was not nearly enough).
3 - 1 small artichoke heart with a single olive in it and 3 pieces of calamari dipped in squid ink (this was one of the most normal tasting items, unbelievably).
4 - Sablefish and carmelized onions.

By this time, I had tasted everything, but I had finished nothing. For anyone who has met me for more than a second, you know I am kind of a picky eater (cheeseburger, catsup only ring a bell?). One of the waiter comes over, leans down and asks me if I'm ok and if the food is acceptable. I was extremely embarrassed and said everything was great. Then came the main course. It was shortribs and gnocchi. Finally!!! Something I could eat. I finished it all, or least I thought I finished it all. The waiter came over and saw how much I ate and exclaimed, "God Bless You!". Then he realized I had left one gnocchi in my bowl. This was unacceptable and he got me a new fork so I could finish it off. All of us at our table were laughing pretty hard by then. About this time, I needed to use the restroom. As I stood up, one of the waiters came over and asked if he could show me to the bathroom. So he walked me all the way to the bathroom door. When I came back, another waiter pulled out my chair for me and put a new napkin in my lap. Now was time for dessert, or so I thought. But instead, we were offered the cheese course. This featured 5 different cheeses from around the world. I liked this course as well, because who doesn't like cheese and crackers? For some reason, the cheese waiter gave me and Paul the most cheese. We were pretty full by this time and couldn't finish all of it. Not wanting the waiter to get mad at me, we switched plates with Joe and Anita. When the waiter came back, he mentioned how he was glad I was able to finish my plate, but what was wrong with Joe and Anita? Of course it was all in good fun. Then it was time for dessert. Holy cow! This was delicious. I got a raspberry meringue and lemon verbena that was to die for. Then we each received a homemade cookie, compliments of the Chef. What an incredible experience.

Sadly, the next morning, we had to say goodbye to our 5 star resort and board a plane back to SLC. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend and I have to thank Kathy for inviting us along on her Gatsby Weekend!

A Couple of My New Favorite Things

I just wanted to share with everyone a couple of my new favorite things. The first one is my new obsession with a woman named TiffanyD. :) She has a wonderful blog and many youtube videos that I love to watch. She does amazing things with makeup!! I had a big event last weekend and thanks to her I was able to do the prettiest smokey eye. You can watch her here: www.makeupbytiffanyd.blogspot.com



TiffanyD is also the one who told me about my second favorite thing, Coastal Scents Makeup. For all you that love great products at a bargain, this is the site for you: www.coastalscents.com I bought the 88 Warm Palette, a steal at only $24.99!!!


Have fun!

Bear Lake 2009

Last weekend was our annual Watson trip to Bear Lake. Paul, Jake the dog and I went up Saturday morning to meet Nick, Dani, Lyn and Dave. Nick's family was very gracious and let us stay in their cabin that has it's own private beach. We stopped at La Beau's on our way to grab some lunch (you can't go to Bear Lake without eating at La Beau's!) and then met up with everyone around noon. We unloaded the jet ski's, set up our lawn chairs and were ready to get some sun. Unfortunately, the sun was nowhere to be found. It was overcast and kinda chilly. We tried not to let that ruin our fun day. We had some great waves for the jet ski's and I still tried to get a tan. Kari, Clark, Charlotte and Alice came up around 4:00 and by then the sun decided to come out. It was fun to watch Charlotte play in the water. We went back to the cabin around 6:00 and showered and got ready for dinner. Lyn and Dave provided steaks and they were delicious! Rick, Lisa, Kaden, Ethan and Tanner got to the cabin around 9:30 that night. It was a nice relaxing night filled with reading (mainly me and Lisa did the reading), playing the Wii, and visiting. We were all pretty tired so we were in bed by midnight.

The next morning we had a yummy french toast breakfast, celebrated Clark & Kari's birthdays and then headed back to the beach for some more fun in the sun. Thankfully today the sun was out in full force and I was able to get a very nice tan! The boys played with the Frisbee and football and me and Lisa got some more reading in. We went back to the cabin around 2:00, ate some lunch and then packed up for home. It was a very nice, fun, relaxing weekend.

Catching Up

I can't believe I haven't updated my blog for 2 months!! I am such a slacker. Here are a few things we have done the last couple of months.

Fourth of July

We spent the 4th of July with Paul's family. We went to the Kaysville Parade, which I thought was pretty good. Kari and Clark tried to tell us it wasn't that spectacular, but compared to other parades I've been to, it wasn't bad. After the parade we went back to Kari and Clark's for a bbq. There was a prize for the most festive food item brought. We brought rice crispie ice cream dessert. We did not win. Dani and Nick won for their red, white and blue snicker salad. That night we went to the Bee's game for a fun night of baseball and fireworks.



Family Reunion

Every year around the 24th of July, my Grandma Mead has the annual Ball reunion. This is something we look forward to every year. It is usually held at Heise Hot Springs and we just come to visit and eat. There is the Famous Ball Auction where we all bring things to sell in order to fund the reunion for the next year. Paul and my cousin Rob were the auctioners this year and they did an excellent job. The big item is always to see how much we can pay for my grandma's homemade pickles. This year they were a steal at $15. We have paid upwards of $30 for them in previous years. Ryan was able to be here this year for it and I enjoyed being able to spend time with him.



Baby Cooper

July and Cory welcomed little Baby Cooper into the world a couple weeks ago. He is a little cutie and we sure do love him already. We like to get big sister presents for our nieces and so for Cayman we got her a princess crown, earrings, and shoes. She tried it all on with her princess dress and she looked so cute!



Cayman the photographer

Cayman took this picture and I was so impressed I thought I should post it. Pretty good job for an almost 3 year old!
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That is pretty much all that has been happening lately and I will try to do better at blogging in the future.

Teton Dam Weekend

This weekend was finally the weekend of the Teton Dam 5K race in Rexburg, ID. Paul and I have been semi training since April and Mel and Phil were running with us. We got up to Idaho on Friday night, but had to go to bed early so we could be ready for race day. We got to the race at 8:00 in the morning at Madison High School. The starting point was just a block away, up a very steep hill. I thought I was ready. I thought I could kick some butt, but when I realized the first 1.6 miles were straight uphill (at least a 90 degree angle), I realized that the race was going to kick my butt. It was awful!!! I finally made it through the dreaded uphill and was able to relax on the downhill trek. But the damage was already done. When 6 year old girls and 80 year old women are passing you, any self respect you have left is flushed down the toilet. I gave myself a pep talk and just kept telling myself if I finished, it would be an accomplishment. So that's what I did. Paul and I crossed the finish line together, hand in hand, arms raised in victory. The time was pathetic and I was sorely disappointed in myself, but at least it was over!! Now the fun could really begin. And when I say fun, I mean gorging myself on lots of delicious food! First we got to applaud Mel for taking 3rd in her age group!! I was so proud of her. She did a great job.


The next stop in our fun day was lunch at Big Judd's in Archer. Paul and I have been there numerous times, but Paul has never eaten one by himself. So he ordered the Big Judd and he ate the whole thing and got his picture on the wall!! He didn't think he could make it when he was about a 3/4 of the way done, but then he just said to himself, "I've already eaten 3 hamburgers, I can eat one more". That seemed to do the trick and he was able to finish it off.



Then we were headed up to Ashton to the Frostop. Oh my gosh I love that place!! They have the best ice cream anywhere! I have been craving Frostop for a long time and it was completely worth the drive. Yum! Yum!

Then we went back to Dad & Carma's and we all got a turn riding on their tractor, 4 wheeler's and motorbike. That was a lot of fun. I loved riding the tractor. I felt so country. As you can tell, everyone looked so happy riding the tractor. Paul was even whistling! Ah, the simple things in life that make you happy.





The next day we took my Grandma Mead to breakfast. She is such a funny lady!! I loved spending a few hours with her and hearing her stories. She always makes me and Paul laugh. We love her so much!!!

All in all, it was a great weekend and everyone had tons of fun!!!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Well, I celebrated my ??st birthday last week (a lady never tells her age). I went to lunch on Friday with July, Cory, and Cayman and there was a surpise for me when I got to Spaghetti Mama's.......Melanee!! She brought me a delicious cupcake and got to eat lunch with us. That was a start to a wonderful weekend.

That night Paul and I went to dinner with our friends, Lindsay and Shayne and their boys to The Mandarin in Bountiful. They have the yummiest orange chicken and garlic noodles. I love that place!!

The next day, (my actual birthday), Paul had planned a bbq with his family and mine (except only July, Cory, and Cayman were able to come from my family). We had a lot of fun. We bbq'd and then opened presents and ate Oreo Ice Cream Cake. Thanks to everyone for all the wonderful presents and the fun!! It was a great birthday! This was the first birthday in 3 years that Paul and I were able to celebrate on the actual day, so it made it extra special. I think the best part was that Paul did anything I asked him to......and he did it with a smile on his face and always answered with the sweetest voice, "Of Course I will do that!". I wish it were my birthday every day!

Mini Vacation!

Last weekend (May 7-10), Paul and I and our friends, Lindsay, Shayne, Christian and Ethan left for our 3rd Annual St. George Vacation. We left Thursday morning and got to St. George around 3:00. That night we went to see Brian Reagan at Tuachan. He is one of our favorite comedians and he was even funnier in person. We were all laughing so hard most of the time, we were crying!


The next morning we woke up and drove to Vegas. Lindsay and I were dying to go shopping at H&M and it was like a dream come true. When we drove up to the store, it was better than having all the candy in the world. We had a limited amount of time to spend there because we had to get to the buffet before 2:00, but it was well worth the time and I got some way cute clothes. After shopping we hurried as fast as we could to the Circus, Circus Buffet where we met the guys. They had spent the morning going on all the rides at the Stratosphere. They had bought an unlimited pass and they were having a wonderful time. After gorging ourselves at the buffet, we went to see the free shows they offered. The shows were not that impressive, but the games sure were! I jokingly told Paul to win me a stuffed animal at the Ping Pong game, and so he did!! Then he went to another game and won me another stuffed animal. About $50 dollars and 5 stuffed animals later (totally worth every penny), we had enough. Paul was very disappointed he wasn't able to win the giant basketball, but all in all it was a lot of fun.


After we left Circus, Circus, I got a call from my friend Shellee. She lives in Seattle, but just happened to be in Vegas for a few days. So I met her at her parents house so I could see her new baby. It was great to be able to see them and so much fun to hold that sweet, adorable baby.

The next morning we were all up early to begin our hike to Angel's Landing. Holy crap!! That is an extremely difficult hike. The last 1/2 mile is very narrow and there is a chain to hold on to so you don't fall to your death. I don't know who let me lead, but I ended up climbing on the left side of the rope and you were supposed to climb up the right side. It didn't take me long to figure out I was going up the wrong side!! So I quickly corrected myself and let Shayne lead. It was an amazing view from the top! After we made it down, we grabbed dinner and then went home to relax.




The next morning we went to church and then packed up to head back home. After lunch at In & Out (yummy!), we were on our way. I was so sad to be coming back! It was so much fun to be able to spend time with our friends, Lindsay and Shayne and have a mini vacation.