COINCIDENCE?

I think not!

I got home yesterday and I walked straight to our back door to let our pups inside and I found Telly eating a huge stack of papers comfortably laying down on the grass. (what the). I thought "where on earth did he find these" and "what are they"? I picked up all the chewed papers scattered across our lawn, pried the rest of the papers out of Tweeters' mouth, and took them inside to inspect the damage. I found the title page soaking in saliva and read "Brokerage Agreement Contract". (eye roll plus sigh). I called Sweets a little panicked and asked him what these papers were and if they were important. His response was a little different than I had expected. He started laughing on the phone really loud and was cheering! (startled and confused). I asked if this was a joke and he told me those papers were his new contract for work that he needed to sign. Mind you, this contract change over the past month has been extremely frustrating and ridiculous. I joined in the laughter and we both congratulated Telly on eating the contract. I guess Sweets cannot agree to the new terms! Dang it! (joke)

LET'S PLAY THE GAME ...

CATCH UP!
Oh geez ... I am such a slacker! My apologies!
Here is my first of a few catch up posts. Maybe one day soon i'll be all caught up with this blog (but don't hold your breath).

Sweets has been doing a lot of Mountain biking with different groups of peeps. They usually bike the Crest up Big Cottonwood and they usually bike it at night with their nifty cool lights. However, this ride was on a Saturday morning and he went with his good friend Cody (pictured) and Kevin (not pictured). Although they somehow got split up from each other, they still had a great time!

Sweets and I are apart of Young Leaders of United Way and they had a charity golf tournament at Old Mill that we participated in. It was fun to get out and play a round as well as mingle and make connections with other people our age in the community. Our team (consisting of Sweets' two friends Jarum and Travis and us) ended up taking 4th overall and I ended up winning "longest putt" and snagged some really awesome goodies to take home! 

I still have been doing a lot of cooking and loving it. I promise soon I'll share some of my latest recipes but until then here is a teaser. While peaches were the thing a month ago, I couldn't resist and grabbed a bunch and made this super yummy salsa and incorporated it into dinner! 

Recipe:

1 large peach, peel and diced small (or 2 medium peaches)
1 large avocado, diced small (or 2 small avocados)
1/2 red onion, diced small
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
juice of 1 lime
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of fresh ground pepper
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 of a yellow pepper, chopped
place all ingredients in a medium bowl and stir.  (add the avocados last so they won’t get mushy)
serve over salmon or chicken or as a salsa for chips!
I paired mine with salmon and pea couscous. (Normally I like my couscous with cinnamon but I thought it would be too many flavors).


I headed here:

for some R&R for a few days. It was fabulous and just what I needed. I flew down with my sis and my Parentals and left my three favorite boys home to fend for themselves...but something told me they were ok without me. We soaked up some "vitamin D", went shopping everyday, hit up daily trips to Trader's Joes, Holiday decor-ed our homes from Rogers Gardens, toured the island of Balboa, went to dinner and movies, and goofed around with each other. 

Thanks for the fab trip!


Lastly, I have been trying to get my home ready for Fall (the BEST and my MOST favorite season)! I made a wreath out of striped burlap for my front door, but it's not hung because it somehow ended up at my mother's house. I'm making a new one though for my door. I did fix up our entry way with some mirrors and branches and set out my Fall subway art. I just love how the leaves are starting to change and the temperatures are cooling down. It makes for a peaceful and pleasant existence. 

Stay tuned for more of the game CATCH UP!

1ST OF THE SEASON

Sadly, last week was the first time Sweets and I have been out on the boat all year! It felt good to be soaking up the waves surfing and wake boarding in the warm water. Although we were a little rusty, we quickly relearned the ropes and had a blast!

Thanks Matthew for driving and thanks Susan for the company! 

IT IS ONLY A GAME, FOCKER!

This is what I told Sweets after he beat a tree trunk with his pitching wedge while mumbling profanities under his breath during his horrible round of golf!

The Story:
We had to head up to Morgan for some Church business last week and we decided we would make some good use out of the long drive. Yes, it is a long drive from where we reside! We packed the car with our golf clubs and hit up the course only playing 9 holes due to the lack of sunlight and our obligations to get home to our 2 boys. After the much proclaimed 'game of his life' a week prior at the Gardner Reunion scoring in the upper 80's, Sweets was quickly humbled on the 1st hole...and the 2nd hole...and the 3rd hole...and so on until the 8th hole! Now, I am not just talking about 1 or 2 duffs, but rather scores like 8 and 9 and then refusing to count strokes because the numbers went to high. A few lost balls or sunken balls in the pond later Sweets finally managed to pull it together at the end of the 8th and for the 9th hole. Better late than never I guess.
I on the other hand, had the most amazing golf game! I scored 3 pars (and they were legit) and the rest of my strokes were 1-2 over. I loved it. I felt horrible about Sweets, but I felt even better knowing that once again I BEAT him!
The valley was beautiful in Morgan and the rivers were flowing so high. They were over flowing into the streets in some areas.



It was a wonderful night of golf and scenery with my Sweets!
  

TRIPLE "F"

Food! Fun! Friends!
Last night was the farewell BBQ for our dear friends Mark and Sian. They accepted a new job that has them moving to New Jersey in 3 days(!) and we all wanted to throw them a temporary goodbye party.  We had a smorgasbord of food including: hamburger/cheeseburgers, potato/macaroni salad, BBQ smokies/bacon smokies, veggie kabobs, fruit bruschetta, chips and desserts.

We had quite the turnout from everyone...the Oborn's, Stone's, Packer's, Yates, Memmott's, Hedin's, us and of course the honorary guests, the Davidson's!  It was so great to chit chat it up all night in the somewhat warm(ish) weather and share some laughs. The kiddies ran all around the house scaring people, throwing snaps outside and watching them POP,  jumping on the trampoline and playing with each other. Although this was a last minute thing, it certainly could not have been any better!
We love you and will miss you Davidson' family! 

WHAT TIME IS IT IN THE WORLD?

SHOW TIME!

Sweets and I were so lucky to experience U2 : 360 tour last night!

OMG...it was absolutely amazing! 

Kimberly, Susan, Marie, Christian, Sweets and I arrived at the stadium at 6pm and ate dinner together amongst others on the 6th floor for the VIP party. It was so fun. We ate lots of yummy food and had the chance to relax before the party got started.  

Just before U2 came out on stage)
The Fray opened for U2 and they were great. I usually don't like their music but they did very well and I was definitely getting into their vibe. They rocked the house for the opener!

The rocket-ship stage
When U2 hit the stage...the whole stadium erupted! They had SO much energy and seriously put on the best show! Bono is simply incredible to be performing for as long as he has and still look like he is in the 'prime' of his life. It was one continuous karaoke party for us spectators!

The Gardner girls (minus Amy)
We danced the whole night long, clapping our hands to the beats and singing our hearts out. Our throats are so sore from all the fun! Oh, and our ears are still ringing...seriously...can't...hear...anything!

The man himself...Bono!
We lucked out sitting so close to the stage that we just swooned every time Bono or anyone else came to our side. They performed well into the 11 o'clock hour and we just loved it! It made for long sleepless night but totally worth it.

Cell phone lights only
This picture doesn't do justice, but this was an incredible view. Towards the end, U2 asked if all the lights could be turned off and he would sing just to the lights of everyones cell phones. We all dug out our phones and held them up on display! It was beautiful to see all the tiny white lights flooding the stadium.
I will certainly, always remember this fantastic concert and we are so appreciative that we had the opportunity to experience the great powerhouse legends of Music!

THIRTY - TWO

Sweets turned 32!!!

He kicked his birthday off a day early and went mountain biking with some friends in Moab on Friday. It was a quick trip (down and back), but nonetheless, it was exactly what he wanted. After rolling in sometime around midnight (ps i love that song!) he was up at 6:30 Saturday morning doing service work for our ward. What a trooper! After spending the day with me running 'fun birthday' errands we had his friends over for a little get together that evening. It was so good too see those who were able to make it and catch up with them but we missed the other peeps that couldn't make it. We had the Memmott Family, 1/2 of the Stone family, the Davidson family, the Packer Family and the Devere family.  

the birthday wreath in all its glory

the H.S. friends

the children jumping on the tramp in between the rainfall

We ate the infamous 'Bookclub Salad', Texas Cavier, Mexican-corn dip, veggies and 7 boxes of pizza! It was all super yummy. Plus, for dessert:

Add caption

we ate Nutter Fluffers, Angry Bird cupcakes and Chocolate chip cookie dough pops! Boy oh boy were they D-LISH! 

After hanging out, jumping on the tramp, popping snaps, playing with balloons and everything else that adults with 10 something kids do...it was time to call it a night. 

But, the Birthday bash wasn't over! Sunday afternoon we had Sweets' family over for Hawaiian Haystacks and dessert. (I didn't get a pic because I am horrible with the camera thing) but it was fun to celebrate his 32nd birthday with the family! We 'stacked' the hay with lots and lots of veggies and other fun toppings and then enjoyed  

these orange-kissed cookies and

this Ice Cream Sundae Layer Chocolate Cake! Seriously...you NEED to make this cake. It was fabulous! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETS! 

(stay tuned and i'll post the recipes for all these scrumptious foods!)

BALLOONS FOR HIM

materials needed

Sweets birthday is this weekend and we are having a few parties with friends and family, and I wanted to make something special to decorate our home with the 'birthday vibe'. I found this tutorial on best bites and I decided it was simple enough to throw together in no time. All you need in order to make a balloon wreath is some sort of a wreath ( i used syrofoam), balloons and floral pins!  It was so super easy and it turned out great! I completed mine in about 1 hour. 

the almost finished product...in which you will have to wait for until this weekend

 I am not posting the finished product quite yet as to not give away the surprise, but I will post more about this and the other birthday party festivities in a few days. It will be quite the Birthday Bash for the up-coming 32 year old! 

seriously I love the colors of the balloons

 Happy Pre-Pre-Birthday and Party Party Day Sweets!!!

DUALLY NOTED

Sweets spent Friday and Saturday in Castle Dale (outside Moab near Price) playing cowboy with a group of his friends. It is an annual trip that they take to the Johanson Ranch to herd cows, ride horses, brand cattle etc. They all had a great time and no one was hurt this year! WHEW! Once they were finished, I met up with him and we took our own little vacation.

Sweets and I spent the later part of Saturday through Monday in Moab! What an incredible place. The weather was perfectly warm and we loved being out on the trials jeeping! Some of you may not find excitement in sitting in a beefy jeep bouncing all around (sometimes violently) crawling at 2 mph for hours at a time, but we sure do! There is something to be said about putting all your faith into the tools available and completing an obstacle in the middle of nowhere surrounded by beautiful red rock! 

Hells Revenge

Hells revenge

Fins n things

We are so lucky to live in Utah. We are home to some of the most beautiful places on earth and we don't ever take that for granted. As we sat on Sunday afternoon eating our picnic lunch in the middle of slick rock, we contemplated our blessing and felt so much gratitude for the things that we are able to experience in this life together. The scenery around Moab is gorgeous and we enjoy every opportunity that we have to go down there and be succumbed by it.


We had an awesome time and we can't wait for the next trip. 

WKND FUN!

This weekend was a busy jam packed few days full of fun, family and friends!

While Sweets was enjoying the super sunny and warm weather of St. George doing this...

joe. sweets.

  on Friday with his friends (scott, grant, sam, bryan not pictured) getting a couple pars and eagles (yay), I was here doing this...

one of two birthday cakes for the special occasion

dad with some (not all) of his grandkids

birthday boy

celebrating my Dad's Birthday (march 4th) with my family! We ate Mandarin takeout from Bountiful and Andrew and Angie were nice enough to host the Party for all of us. My Dad is the best Dad in the world and has been the greatest example to me. He is caring, loving, selfless, funny, giving, patient, charitable, intelligent and my Dad! Happy Birthday Pops! Love you!

Then on Saturday while Sweets was doing this...

view from promontory tower

one of the models of city creek

working (pooey) showing Promontory the new high rise urban living downtown at City Creek all day, I was doing this...

kerstin. sian. brooke. sara. lyndsey. me.

mama to be

with my friends! I through a baby shower for Sian with the help of Kerstin for all of us wives! (Wives, meaning the wives of our husbands high school group.) It was so fun! We ate Orange Rolls, Cheese and Sausage Strata, Fruit and Dip, Sherbet Punch and instead of games we did a project of making decal onesies for Sian to take home. It was great to see everyone and catch up while celebrating the upcoming birth of baby boy William Riley Davidson!

Finally, and no picture to display sorry, Sweets and I had to chaperone the tri-stake young singles dance at our stake center Saturday night. WOWZERS! We are so glad that we never have to experience that awkward stage of life again. We walked the dance floor and people watched. It was surprisingly fun but not on my list of things to do again! When Sunday came around, we slept the day away after church due to the time change. It was a doozy. We did take a break from napping to take a scenic drive and eat dinner. But then it was back to napping!