Utah - BYU

Disclaimer - I whole slew of my pictures are being held hostage in Steve's laptop so for now, our vacation pictures will be out of order. Like you care. But just so you know I am not bonkers...

After we said goodbye to the Southern Simpson's on Tuesday morning, following the wedding festivities and family fun, we decided to spend the day in Provo. First we had a pit stop to University Mall. Caroline desperately wanted to go to Claire's at the mall and buy a fingerless glove to wear on one hand. Strange? Have you met Caroline? She found a turquoise blue fishnet number that fit the bill perfectly. Now that THAT is done...

We went to BYU to spend the rest of the day. We brought our bikes and rode around campus a bit. You technically are supposed to ride to campus and park your bike but it was spring term and so little people were on campus so we could ride around a lot.

We ate at the Cougareat. Daddy read the Daily Universe. I marveled at the cost of the food. Can students really afford to eat there??

We all got new BYU shirts at the bookstore. (And candy from the candy counter, of course.) It took us SO long to pick out 5 t-shirts! And what is a trip to the BYU bookstore without running into someone you know? Steve was watching a family shop for t-shirts like us and kept saying to me "I swear that is Allison so and so" and after about 30 minutes he asked and sure enough, it was Allison. Someone from the stake where he grew up in South Carolina. Small world!

The campus was SO green and Kate loves to wear her panda bear bike helmet.

In the Math Building where Steve spent a lot of time back in the day, we found this model of "Po" from Kung Fu Panda. Turns out a BYU student was the lead designer of Po in the CGI animation for the movie. Lindsay loves math, loved the (snoozefest) math building, and did her best Kung Fu pose for me.

While Lindsay was posing with the panda, I spied this precious moment. I don't know what they were doing or talking about but I appreciate catching these tender moments between sisters.

Steve pointed out that he may have chosen a better shirt to wear at BYU...maybe not a UNC Tarheels shirt!

Riding across campus...

Cute cruisers with cuter girlies

We went to the Bean Life Science Museum. Steve had never been there. For reals? Never seen the stuffed lions and zebras and cases of bugs and taxidermy?

How often can you get this close to ROAR with a lion?

In this case is a mosaic of a butterfly. Made entirely of butterflies. I asked Caroline to do her best butterfly impression. (Since I knew I had that awesome pose of Lindsay as Po.)
Please note Caroline's awesome fingerless turquoise blue fishnet glove on her right hand...and one of her favorite t-shirts - a kitty named Spike.

We finished the night with dinner at Wallaby's in Lindon. A place we used to love before we moved away. Big hunks of pulled pork, their own BBQ sauces, slices of grannie sycamore bread, garlic mashed potatoes, and green salad just the way Steve likes it - nothing fancy. And Kate sacked out.

Then it was off to cousin Cheri's house in Highland. We were able to reconnect with several members of Steve's extended family at a BBQ on Memorial Day. We were trying to work out where we would stay after we all checked out of the vacation rental we had with all the Simpson's. (That is how we roll - we rarely have firm plans when we travel.) When Cheri heard me mention we were waiting on an email about a cabin rental she insisted we stay with her and her husband Chuck, and daughter Mallory, and pug Ziggy. They made us all feel right at home and we were able to use their home as our base as we would head out for daily adventures of biking and hiking and playing. And Kate and Ziggy were head over heels for each other.

Jeenee Jeenee Jeenee

Jeannie's Welcome sign...courtesy of Caroline

Anyone who knows me (even just a little bit) knew we were anticipating April 15th for months. Not for the usual taxes are due reason, or the fact that it was Zac's 2nd birthday, though both these things are valid reasons to get excited. (OK, one more than the other.)

No, for me, April 15th was J-Day! I adore my sister-in-law Jeannie and in the last several years we have become close - our children are the best of friends, we laugh and play games all night during family get togethers, and have found over the years we share many things and email each other long and newsy emails several times a week. Jeannie is married to Steve's older brother Brad and they live outside of Atlanta. Last year I went to visit for her 40th birthday party and this year she wanted to come visit here. She had served part of her mission in Tucson and had wanted to come back to Arizona some day.

We have both started running in the past year and when looking for a weekend to come, I suggested she come the weekend of Pat's Run and we could do the event together. We would also be able to celebrate Kate & Zac's birthday as family.

Jeannie had 3 requests for her trip to Arizona:

Eat at Cafe Rio
Attend the Temple
Have a Pizookie

I promised her we would do all those things. (And probably then some.)

My camera in my phone is terrible...but I forgot my real camera and who could resist a picture of Jeannie eating a Cafe Rio Burrito AND salad...all while calling her sister Nikki to celebrate the landmark event. (OK - we shared both - she didn't eat it all by herself!) It was so good...and I had homemade Oreo's waiting for us when we got home.

We made it to the temple Friday for a little girls day out. The Atlanta Temple is closed for over a year for renovations so attending the Mesa Temple was a real treat. I love our temple - it has so much history and as Jeannie pointed out, it is quite large!

I planned a little GNO with some dear play group friends and my sisters Molly and Maddy. Pizza and Pizzookies at BJ's and some fun girl talk too.

New on the menu is Pizookie sampler - sometimes it is so hard to choose just one flavor.

Saturday everyone was up bright and early to go park and ride the light rail to ASU for Pat's Run.

We were there with plenty of time to spare because we knew traffic would be difficult. It was a huge crowd - 22,000 runners and assorted family members - but it was an upbeat positive atmosphere. Notice my arm - I had my iPod and my phone on my arm. Later, as we were running the race, Jeannie was to my left. Then she said she had to change sides because of all my "technology." I don't know if it was crashing into her or it was just unnerving but it was funny. That phone would be my downfall later on...

After the race, Jeannie and I finally found each other after about 10 nerve racking minutes. This is when we made it to the stands where Steve and my girls were waiting for us. We have different running styles - I was running a steady pace, Jeannie sprints and slows down. 6 of one, half a dozen of another! We ultimately finished within 20 seconds of each other. For the last stretch coming into the stadium, Jeannie and I were separated. I was trying to call Steve to tell him we were finishing but as I opened my phone it crashed (of course) and I was fumbling with the battery and trying to re-boot my phone which slowed me down. Jeannie was sprinting looking for me everywhere and I was working with my phone not looking for her. We took forever to find each other!! I was so proud of Jeannie - she had never run this distance, 4.2 miles, and did it like a champ.

The girls also did the Kid's Run - a .42 mile dash that was a sprint into the stadium and finished on the same finish line on the 42 yard line of Sun Devil Stadium. Caroline was hurting - she was fighting an ingrown toenail (which eventually required antibiotics, poor kiddo) and her running sneakers hurt her feet so she ran in her Uggs. Steve ran with Lindsay; I ran with Caroline. We ran into a friend from her school class too!

They didn't slow her down too much!

Afterward we went to Yodipity in Mesa for frozen yogurt - a yummy after race treat for everyone!

Jeannie from Georgia left a note on the Yodipity coloring wall.

And the day was not over yet. Caroline wanted to go out for a little shopping spree with a gift card she had and really wanted to do it with Aunt Jeannie. So off to Target we went. And later, we celebrated the little cousin's 2nd birthday at the Molly's house (Shelly's Pool) with Maddy and family and Grandpa Mike.

Let's just say we were pooped at the end of our 17 hour day.

Sunday we went to church and rested and ate yummy food.

Monday morning it was time to say good bye. I was looking forward to this weekend for months and I hope Jeannie had as much fun as I did! I love you Jeannie!!

April Fools..the Joke's on Kate!

It was time. I knew it was. But were also gutting our kitchen so I kept putting it off to save my sanity. But when your daughter chews her pacifiers into Swiss cheese, it is time to say "ba-bye!"

April 1st, I was at my Meeting of the Elite Literary Society (book club) and Steve called me in a panic. He couldn't find a pacifier anywhere. That is when I decided that tonight would be the night to start no pacifier. And she was Daddy's to deal with because I wouldn't be home until at least midnight. (I was secretly happy about this part. shhhhh.)

Well, guess what? The girl made it. In fact, it wasn't that hard at all. The pacifiers were just gone. And life marched on. She might have been a bit extra ornery for a day or two but she was over it pretty quick.

A couple last pics to remember her with the pacifier...



And now we enjoy this little turkey grin:



And in other turkey news, when Mommy really needs to clean house and needed to keep the almost 2 year old from dumping gravel on the carpet and stop coloring herself with markers, we did this:

Kitchen part 2

I know so many of you were on the edge of your seat waiting for Part 2!! Here you go! Part 3 will come in a couple weeks, no doubt, and will include all paneling, back splash, and painted cabinets.

While the counters were off, we took advantage of one dead corner. We had decided to convert the cabinet 90 degrees to the left of the sink into a "trash drawer" so we would lose quick access to this dead space. Trying to make the most of this space, we filled it with a ton of our long term food storage cans. Beans, wheat, that sort of thing.

We installed this trash/recycling cabinet/drawer conversion kit from Lowe's. Molly and Maddy both have this and I love it so it was a great little upgrade for us.

Built up this end of the peninsula to be the same flush level for paneling that will be added.

Installation Day

Finished installation of counters, sink, faucet, and dishwasher. We went with a timeless polished edge, no bullnose, bevel, or anything. Note the raw birch panels around the peninsula/bar. We were supposed to start on our decorative paneling but...


...this took priority. This is our sprinkler/dripper valves for the backyard. We ordered some new citrus to be planted this week and went back home to make sure our watering situation was in order for the new trees. We found the valve box full of water. We dug out the box and made a bigger hole so we could figure out what is going on. It is not supposed to be full of water. Nor are you supposed to have pooling water near your foundation. The ground has been saturated under the rocks for who knows how long. We have a guy coming Wednesday...


Back to better looking things. Back splash will happen same time as paneling.


This old view...

Now looks like this. Except I have purchased a new paper towel holder. Maddy so kindly let me know it looked like a wedding gift from 12 years ago. She was probably right.

We had a plumber over to put all the plumbing back together again and installed this beautiful new Frigidaire dishwasher with hidden controls, a sleek front handle. brushed stainless finish...

But the drawer next to it wouldn't open.

So back it went to Spencer's. They were so nice to work with us on this since they had no policy on this. Notice how 2/3'rds of the dishwashers have the front handle - this is the current trend in design of dishwashers. I am afraid they are now going to have a warning clause named after us when selling dishwashers - make sure the customer does not have a U-shaped kitchen when installing this style of dishwasher!!

So now we have this Kitchen Aid, installed by Moi last Saturday.

So the very next day, this is the whole place in action for our first gathering, General Conference brunch and Easter Sunday Dinner. We had 10 kids and 6 adults. It was definitely a casual day but so much easier to entertain such a large group.

Part 3 will be back splash, paneling, and painted cabinets!