The Police Concert

Matt and I were given tickets to The Police Concert at Usana. Since I've only ever been to two other concerts in my whole life, I jumped at the chance to go.

I saw Chicago when I was in high school -- bad memories -- my boyfriend ended up sitting by some other girl during the concert and I was back on the grass (didn't buy my tickets in time to sit in real seats). During all the romantic songs I pictured him singing along with the other girl. The only other thing I remember from the concert was tons of cigarette smoke.

My second concert was during the Olympics when we saw Creed perform. That was a lot of fun, but very cold.

I'm not really a huge music person. I love all different kinds of music, but I would rather be talking on my cell phone or having complete silence in the car when I'm by myself. When I am driving with my kids we listen to a Sesame Street CD or Scripture Scouts, so it doesn't give me a ton of time to learn the words of popular songs.

Before I was married I probably owned only about 6 or 7 tapes/CD's. I married Matt who was a faithful member of BMG music club for two years and purchased tons of CD's.

Matt used to play this game with me when we were first married. We would be listening to the radio and he would tell me to name the group/singer. The stakes were pretty high -- I'd get a 10 minute back rub if I guessed right! Most of the time he'd end up doing multiple choice because I was clueless.

Honestly, at the concert, Matt had to tell me that Sting was the lead singer for The Police. How embarrassing! I mostly went to the concert for the fabulous people-watching, though. Truly, I've never seen more 40-something women trying to act/dress like they were in their early twenties. I was kind of embarrassed for them. It was a lot of fun to go and my favorite part was hanging out with my best buddy, Matt.

Now this couple won for my favorite people-watching experience! They were right in front of us and danced the entire time. They never even sat down once for a break. We marveled at their dance moves and their ability to not care what the people around them thought. It was very impressive!

We had fun singing along. Matt obviously knew more of the lyrics than I did.

Here is Sting on the big screen.

After being at this concert I am now fairly confident that I can recognize any songs by The Police. If Matt ever offers up a 10-minute back rub to guess who sings, "Roxanne," I'll probably get it even without the multiple choice!

Snowbird

We had a family reunion up at Snowbird for a week. It was so great to have cousins around to play with all day (and all night!).

There were three condos that we all stayed in. We brought up all the food and took turns cooking dinner for the crew of 20.

Tyler even had fun doing his piano practicing at Snowbird...

And he had fun being goofy with weird things on his head...

This is my dad. He is notorious for "consolidating" things. If you have a bottle of whole milk in the fridge and there is just a little bit of skim milk left in a bottle, you may get a whole/skim mixture, just to consolidate. I would call him OCD, but then I would also be incriminating myself.

Tyler had fun playing with his cousin, Jefferson.

Aubree and Jessica started a massage business. They charged $1.00 for a ten-minute foot, back or neck massage. They also accepted tips. (Which did not include statements like: "Don't look directly into the sun," as a tip.)

Aunt Karyn played Chutes and Ladders and Candyland with the boys.

Uncle Isaac had fun giving piggy-back rides.

This is a photo taken from the loft in the condo. You can see Aubree still giving her foot massage!

Dinner time was a bit chaotic with all 20 of us eating at the same time. We had yummy dinners, though. The kids were thrilled to get chocolate milk to drink with their dinner.

(Aubree is still giving her foot massage!)

Here is a bunch of us leaving for the swimming pool. The elevator door closed just as the photo was being taken.

Tyler had a few nights to stay up late and play games with his uncles. Here he is playing his first Risk game. He came in second to Uncle Mike.

Tom brought his Wii and the kids had a blast playing Wii. It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for them!

Just below the balcony was the adult pool. Let's just say that the adults who were swimming had a few surprises fall on them from an unknown balcony above. One included a ball from a two-year-old. Other items included small fruits and toys.

One of the days we drove down the canyon to go to the zoo.

Here we are waiting for the Bird Show to begin...

That bird almost pecked Caleb's head. (Do birds peck?? I don't really know the proper terminology.) Anyway, I was happy to get this action shot and happy that Caleb still had his head intact.

Another day we bought all-day passes to the Snowbird Center. We had a great time riding the Alpine Slide, doing the Bungy trampoline, zooming on the Zip-line, and riding the Tram.

At the top of the Tram was a spectacular sight!
Tyler, Matt, Tom, Dad and Mom decided to hike down from the Tram. We thought Mom was nuts because she was wearing sandals, but she did it anyway. There were large snowbanks that they had to "ski" down in their shoes. Tyler's shoes came back ruined, but he sure had fun!

Tyler, Aubree, Marcus, Matt and I had a fun time doing the Bungy Trampoline. Matt and I decided we were too old to do it again -- we got tired fast and the harness was not very comfortable.



Matt did a few flips. I only did one flip and when I almost landed on my head, I figured I had had enough.

The kids loved swimming at the pool with their cousins.

The last day Matt planned an Olympics. He even bought trophies for the child winner and adult winner. Each person chose a country to represent and Matt made a spreadsheet with each country's flag and each event. (Matt loves to make spreadsheets!!)

The kids had a gunny sack race, marshmallow "chubby bunny" contest, straw wrapper shooting, and a basketball free throw contest. The adults had horseshoes, ping pong, basketball free throw, and shuffleboard to compete with. It was a lot of fun!

The last night all the adults went to the nice restaurant in the lodge. Tyler, Aubree and Jessica tended the kids back in the room and ate Mac N Cheese.

We had a great time and appreciate Dad and Mom for their generosity!!

A Day as a Pioneer

Each summer I plan the neighborhood fieldtrips. My favorite fieldtrip is "This is the Place" State Park. If you haven't been here, I highly recommend that you go.

Here is Marcus and Caleb in the bank. (I'm not sure what Caleb's monkey pose is all about.)

There is a train that takes you around the village. My kids thought it was great!

There was also a covered wagon that we rode from Brigham Young's house and back.

The kids even got to ride on horses! They thought it was especially funny when the horses would stop to poop. (Typical!)

In the school house the pioneer teachers taught the kids the Deseret Alphabet.

Here is my sister, Tami and her kids -- Lily and Jefferson.

When we went to the Barbershop, Marcus got a free shave. He had a little bit of bubblegum stuck to his chin and I was hoping the barber would get that off for me. He didn't, though.

One of my kids' favorite parts were the little play houses. They have about eight little houses like this one, plus a tee-pee and a train. They loved running back and forth and playing "house."