JOSH...GROBAN!

August 13th we got home from Bear Lake, cleaned the boat and then I got to go see Josh Groban's "Straight to You" Concert. Brett got tickets from work, but he thought I'd enjoy it more than he would, so I went with Lauren. I've seen Josh Groban in concert twice before, but the third time was just as exciting as the first! He is an amazing performer...he's one of those singers who sound just as good, or better in person! He sang familiar songs and some from his new CD "Illuminations"(he co-wrote 11 of the 13 songs on this album). One of my favorites was "Wandering Kind", which is an instrumental he wrote when he was 12 years old!

I thought he would appear on the big stage, but as the band started playing, this small stage popped up from the floor and there he was!

Josh feels right at home in Salt Lake City. It's the first arena he ever played in his concert career!

Not only can Josh sing, he plays the piano and performed an amazing drum solo!

Thanks for not wanting to go, Brett!

Utah Symphony Summer Concert...

July 30th - Deer Valley Snow Park Amphitheater - Gorgeous night for a spur-of-the moment date! (We kind of invited ourselves to go with Lauren's family)...

Surprise!! Lauren didn't tell Brett that it was a Utah Symphony concert...

Idina Menzel, the Broadway star of "Wicked" and "Rent" headlined the concert. She was delightful, singing a variety of old songs and new. My favorites were definitely "I'm Not That Girl, "For Good", and "Defying Gravity". I was impressed not only with her voice, but with the fact that she chose to fly to Salt Lake early that morning instead of the night before, so she could tuck her young son in bed!

PRE-schooler...

Jacob and his SpongeBob back pack all ready to go...

Preschool started on Sept. 6th. He goes every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and loves it!

Where's "Wardie"?

For our combined Young Men/Young Women Activity on August 24th, we played "Where's Wardie". This is an activity similar to "Where's Waldo?". People in our ward disguised themselves and walked around the Gateway. Our assignment: find all 9 of them in 1 hour. Most of the groups were successful and we had a great time. Our "wardies" did a fantastic job of looking like a grumpy old couple, a biker dude, sports fans, a mommy, a librarian, a "goth" and a bearded man!

F R I E N D S...

I've been friends with these "girls" for a LONG time (I went to McMillan Elementary with some of them). They are all unique and special to me. We met on August 29th for dinner at Mimi's because Jill was in town from Virginia. Her husband passed away from cancer this summer. Despite some pretty tough trials some of them are going through right now, we had a great time reminiscing, catching up and listening...after all, that's what friends are for!

Jill, Laureen, Me, Deb, Janet, Stefani, Marti

LABOR DAY WEEKEND-Part One

Labor Day Weekend Dale & I took a quick trip to St. George with Chris' family. We left on Friday afternoon and came home on Sunday. Chris' family stayed with Dale's parents and we stayed with Barb...

Friday night we went to see The Little Mermaid at Tuacahn. It was amazing. The special effects were the best I've seen at any play we've gone to there. I wish I could have taken some photos during the production...the costumes were incredible!

Saturday we spent the afternoon cooling off at the Splash Pad on Main Street. We also enjoyed a picnic lunch (Pizza Factory take-out).

The Main Street Plaza now has a carousel, so we had to try it out...

Jacob loved the palm trees in Grandpa & Grandma's yard. The kids also had a great time playing with Bree & Allie. Barb's peach trees were loaded, so we got our fill of peaches! She even made Jacob his very own peach pie...

COWBOYS AND GIRLS!

July 25th, D and Becca and B and Lauren decided to be "Cowboys" for a date to the

Days of '47 Rodeo...

A trip to the D.I. and some borrowed cowboy attire, and they were set!

Nice belt buckles & boots!!

Silver Sharks...

Jacob had his very first soccer game on August 30th. Even though his shorts were so big they kept falling down, he ran fast and had a fun time. The name of his team is "The Silver Sharks", and his soccer "teacher" is a girl! His team didn't win, but hey, aren't the treats the most important part anyway??

1st Haircut...

Look who got a haircut!

August 28th I tended Austin and he looked like a completely different boy! He visited Rosie's Salon for his 1st haircut over the weekend-he's a big boy now and proud of it...

Muir Family Reunion @ Bear Lake

August 10-12 we got together with most of Dale's immediate family for the Muir Family Reunion. We stayed at the Fish Haven Lodge which accommodated all 45 of us! Wednesday night some of the families went to The Pickleville Playhouse for a dutch-oven dinner and the musical "Joseph". The rest of the clan just enjoyed spending time chillin'...

We are FAM-I-LY...

Kerry brought up some Polaris Ranger RZR vehicles that were a blast to drive around in (and got us very dusty!). The "lodge" seemed like it started out to be a family cabin that was added on to MANY times! It had 14 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms. There was a fun stream running through the property, a fire-pit, swing set, and lots of grass to run around on. Thursday night we enjoyed an outdoor movie using a screen Dale made out of PVC. Friday night we built a fire and made S'mores. We also enjoyed playing games and going to get raspberry shakes!

Thursday we spent the day at North Beach. Bear Lake is really high this year, so there weren't a lot of beaches to hang out on! I'm glad we took our boat, it's the first time I've been in it all summer. The kids had a blast on the tube and I loved just "taking up space in the boat"! The water didn't seem as "turquoise" as it usually is-not sure why...

GOOD TIMES...thanks to my wonderful in-laws for arranging this reunion!

Brett & Lauren and Darren & Becca came up for the day on Friday. We rented "bicycles built for six" and rode around town-it was fun and a good work out! For lunch we treated ourselves to Mexican food at Cafe Sabor-yum!

I have always loved this house and gorgeous yard in Garden City...I was so surprised and pleased to find out a few years ago that Dale's grandma, Orrie Calder Muir lived in this house as a young girl. No wonder I love it...it's part of the family!!