The Smurfs

They always say that History repeats itself . . . which is frightening in so many ways. I have recently seen young girls wearing clothes that I wore in sixth grade (which was a LONG time ago) - and I'm pretty sure that those styles should have been banned the first time around.

However, I do love that all of my childhood favorites are coming back. My Little Pony, Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears, and now the Smurfs. My kids love these shows!

So much so that . . .

They turned themselves into Smurfs!

Allow me to introduce Clumsy Smurf, Smurfette, and Dreamy Smurf.

No help at all from Mom, very creative, and another great idea for blackmail!
Love my crazy girls!

Giant Bubbles!

My mom found a recipe for making GIANT bubbles on a fun website, and got brave enough to try it out for the kids! They have had so much fun playing with these each
time we've visited this summer!

The bubbles really are amazing! They are huge!
In fact, I might just float off in one of them someday!

Thanks for hours of fun, Grandma!

Just in Case . . .

Just in case anyone is wondering . . .

There are only
21 Days
until school starts!


I mean, I'm not counting or anything.
I just thought you might want to know.


Because my children are angels, and play together nicely all day long,
and it will be so sad to see them go back to school.
Because I like cleaning up messes and entertaining all day long.
Seriously.

Park City

We took the girls to Park City for a short vacation this past week.
There is something magic about being a kid and staying in a hotel . . . when you don't get
to do it too often. We told them they could swim and then we would go school shopping
the next day at the outlets.

We walked up and down Main Street the night we got there . . . and met a few friends along the way. The girls thought it was really cool - until we wouldn't let them spend $100.00 on souvenirs up there. Good grief! Their excitement dwindled in a hurry after that.
Mean parents!

We went back to the hotel and let them swim, and then decided to give them the real reason we were up in Park City . . . to ride the Alpine Slide and Alpine Roller Coaster!
They were beyond excited - even though they had no clue what either of them actually were!

Tyleigh figured I'd be the slower of the two parents and asked to go with me on the slide.
Within a matter of seconds, she was begging me to make it go faster!
She loved every minute of it!

Carsyn and Rod rode side by side, and Cars was so nervous about gunning it that she stayed several feet behind Rod. He was able to capture several great pictures of her while he waited for her to catch up!

The Roller Coaster was far too fast to get any pictures on, but it was worth every minute of it! The girls had a blast! Once they realized they couldn't fall off the tracks, not one of them could go fast enough!

It was the perfect mini-vacation, and a great place to spend time with three cute little girls!

My kids are "Special"

Apparently the lack of structure, heat and summer boredom is getting to everyone at our house.

I know this because . . .

1. I agreed to let my children draw on themselves with marker (Let's clarify that I did ask them to use the WASHABLE markers, and did not agree to how much drawing they would be doing).

2. My children (with obvious sun-stroke, and lack of common sense) drew all over their faces - with NON-washable markers, thus turning themselves into pirates -
or something special like that.

3. Not only did they draw on themselves, they allowed their delirious mother to take pictures of them - which will later be used as black-mail - and then paraded around the entire neighborhood in their full state of awesomeness.

Makes a mother's heart swell with pride.
(I'm pretty sure she's adopted.)

The best part - it didn't come off for two days.

Beautiful Bride

This beautiful bride is Teneille. She is one of the kindest, most intelligent (seriously - I couldn't even pretend to count how many languages this girl knows, not to mention her masters degree from Stanford University, and being a Lawyer), down-to-earth, wonderful people I know! Teneille was also one of my dearest friends throughout high school.

She is so incredible that it's taken her a little longer to find her perfect match in life . . . I mean, really, how many guys are as smart and incredible as Teneille?! She has finally found him, and I have never seen her sparkle more, and couldn't be happier for her! She married a great guy from India, and out of respect for his culture, had a beautiful, traditional Hindu wedding ceremony. It was the first time Rod and I had ever been to anything like it, and I cherish being able to spend that special time with her!

The best part was catching up with some of my best friends from the past!
(From left to right) My best friend since I can remember, Alesha, Teneille's new husband, Chakravarthy, Teneille, and me.

Jessica, Alesha, and Sara

Days of '47 Pops Concert

This past weekend, our family was invited to the Days of '47 "Pops Concert" (at the Abravanel Hall) by our dear friend, Phil. It was an amazing concert that honored America and those who defend and protect our freedom. The music not only touched our souls, but served as a great reminder that our freedom came with a price and great sacrifice.

Phil is an incredible example to our family. He has truly found the "joy in living," even after losing his soul-mate and sweetheart to cancer almost 10 years ago. He always has a smile on his face and finds happiness in all he does. We are so blessed to have him as part of our family!
(Photos are courtesy of Phil! )

As an added bonus to the night, Voice Male was asked to perform with Phil's group.
We love Voice Male and the incredible talents each of them possess, but we also have the honor of calling one of their performers "friend."

Richard (on the far right), his beautiful and ever-talented wife, Jenny, and their darling kids have become friends of ours over the past couple of years. They are some of the nicest people we have ever met, and it was so much fun to watch Richard and his group perform! We can't wait to see Voice Male at Christmas!