BRACELESS!!!!

I'm not sure if that's a word, but if it is, it applies to Austin now - for he no longer is sporting braces. Skittles and caramel for everyone!!!

Birthday Breakdown

Thank heavens the "birthday week" is over - Caitlin invoked that phrase for everything for the whole week. For years, Caitlin has wanted to go to a movie for her birthday, but there is rarely a movie out that she would want to go to. This year, we got lucky (of course, that opinion is subjective) - the Smurf movie came out right before the big day. So it became the "Happy Smurfday Party."Each partygoer had to determine their "Smurf" name (there are "Smurf" name generators online - putting the iPad to good use) and have their photo taken. After a series of "Smurf challenges" in which they earned every manner of "blue" treats, they received their Smurf badges to wear to the movie.

The movie wasn't too bad - I don't know if the 3D was worth it, but the kids liked it and none of the hoodlums in my charge attempted to steal the glasses (they were glad they didn't since the alarms went off if you tried to leave the theatre with them - we saw some very embarrassed chitlins fishing the glasses out of their pockets).

The birthday week continued with dinner at one of Catie's favorite restaurants (the one that Austin works at). Here is Mom averting her eyes in an attempt to keep them open for the picture ("look away!").

That's all I had pictures of. I'm sure this won't surprise you, but she's already planning for next year...

Happy Birthday Caitlin!

It seems like yesterday you were looking at me like, "seriously Mom - do I really have to deal with this kid next to me like... indefinitely?!" Flash forward 11 years and you're asking for tattoos...Life would be SOOOO boring without our little Catie Bug.

Cleaning off the camera...

So much for my resolution to be better about posting! Here are some snippets from the last couple of months...

Pablo Sandoval (aka Kung Fu Panda) was rehabbing his broken hand at the Giant's Triple A team (Fresno), so when they came to town to play the Bees, we had to get our buns down there to see him play.Caitlin & Brian loitered by Fresno's bench during pre-game hoping to get one of our Giants shirts signed. Panda came over a few feet from Catie, but then he started heading the opposite way. Suddenly he stopped and went back and....Yep - she got the shirt signed!Panda had a terrific game including a home run and some spectacular glove play at 3rd. He went back up to the Giants the next week and proceeded to have a 22 game hitting streak (shirt karma!).

We spent a lovely weekend up at Snowbird...
I think Caitlin did the bungee trampoline 20 times (thank heavens for the all-day-pass).
Austin was on a first name basis with the workers at the zip line and the alpine slide.

I guess the trick is to get the kids up to 11,800 feet and they'll pretend to like each other. Thin air - wahoo!!

Or course, the Sysco banquet turned out pretty well... Brian had to do a bit of public speaking (his own darn fault). It's nice to see all his hard work rewarded!

Note to self... don't tell Caitlin that "one day, I'll take you and your friends to Lagoon" because she will NEVER let you forget you uttered the words until you're inside the park. Another note to self... always try to go to Lagoon on weekdays because you can ride every ride over and over and over again...all day long!

Ahhh - Zeke...

So Tracy called us on the 24th of July and asked if Catie and I would want to go see Katy Perry - ummm, HECK YEAH! We had a delightful girls night out with Tracy, Tami, Ellie (above) and Mia (below) and Uncle Rod (who was a very good sport).

It was a great show - and the concert was awesome as well (the crowd was a hoot).

Yeah - I know. I don't have an iPhone where I can easily take photos of myself. It would have been handy when Catie & I headed for Deer Valley later in the week to hear the symphony featuring...

Idina Menzel! Yes... I know the photo is blurry, but it was the best I could do before the photo gestapo came to tell me "Maam... NO PICTURES" while of course ignoring all the people around me with their iPhones that were recording the entire concert. Gotta get me an iPhone!!!

She sang 3 songs from Wicked ("I'm Not That Girl," "For Good (acapella - heavenly)," and of course, "Defying Gravity") as well as a song from Rent. It was soooo good!

Catching Up...

Yeah - I know I've been a slacker. So here's my attempt at "catching up." We had a delightful time in Las Vegas for Keith's birthday. After snow, cold, and more snow at home, it was lovely to be where we didn't have to wear coats.Party time! It was great to see everybody at the birthday dinner! The entertainment was great. Mattie, Jaedon and Devyn got the gene that escaped me - the one where you can perform in front of people.

This was a fun game until everyone (meaning everyone under the age of 14) memorized the answers!

Waiting in vain for the Bellagio fountains.

The buddies...

Who needs warm water to swim? Not this motley crew.

We had a great visit with Uncle Trace and Aunt Teri (with a Nothing Bundt Cake thrown in for good measure).

After having the tickets sitting in our kitchen for a year and a half, U2 finally came to town. It was soooo worth the wait!

Good stuff!!

Then we were off to St. George for little Zeke's blessing. More fun with the cousins!

Devyn's sporting a new 'do courtesy of Aunt Annie.

This picture shows the "Zeke Effect." Huge smiles all around when he is near!

More "Zeke Effect."

Caitlin & I made a side trip to Spanish Fork on our way back from St. George.

School is finally out, so Caitlin will be swimming and Austin will be golfing (no more baseball...heavy sigh). Oddly enough, my schedule isn't changing - being old really bites! I guess I'll just count down the days to the midnight showing of the final Harry Potter movie.

Fun in the Sun

For reasons unknown, both Austin & Caitlin had the day off from school last Friday so we decided to head south. We were all excited to see little Zeke in person and have some fun time with the cousins. I'm suprised Zeke didn't somehow end up in the car for the ride home - Catie was smitten.

Who could resist this smile?

Austin's first golf round of the year was with Jaedon and Troy at Sand Hollow - he was just a little excited.We finally mastered "ready position."Cutie-pie Zane told us all kinds of stories about hippos, rhinos and giraffes.Mattie & Caitlin had a successful day selling sweets.Austin chased lizards as usual, but he only imprisoned one.Then it was back to reality and 6 inches of snow. We had fun during our little glimpse of spring.