Breck and Preston's Halloween Party 2008!

Last night was Breck and Preston's annual Halloween Party! Breack always goes all out for her party, so it was a lot of fun! PJ, Ethan, and I dressed as Barney, Betty, and Bam Bam Rubble from the Flinstones! Ethan had a hat that went with his costume, but didn't want to wear it, so we took a few pictures of him in it before we left home. At least we got some, right? We had a neighborhood Halloween party last night as well, so we went to that first and then to Breck and Preston's. Unfortunately, our arriving late meant that we missed Tiffany and Casey, which is too bead cause I would have loved to see them and I hear their costumes were great! Breck and Preston dressed as a butterfly and butterfly catcher, Paul Timothy dressed as Preston on his first day of kindergarten (he even had a picture of Preston in the same outfit pinned to his costume), Smitty and Ashley were Robin Hood and Maid Marion, Britney and her kids were Princess Leia, Anakin Skywalker, and Yoda, Ryan and Paigely were Ryan Harding and Breck and Preston's dog Soda (Paigely was wearing one of Soda's shirts, she is the only grown person I know who is small enough to fit into a dog's shirt), and Bobby, Erica, and Brody were a biker, a witch, and a ninja respectively! We hung out, made navajo tacos and donuts, Paul played the guitar, some people carved pumpkins, and there was even a pinata! I always love when my friends get together! We always have a fun time and last night was no exception!

Boulder, Colorado!

This last Wednesday PJ, Ethan, and I went to Boulder Colorado for a few days! I was presenting a paper at the Western Literature Association's annual conference, and they came along to support me! We left really early Wednesday morning, and arrived at around 4:00. Since Ethan is not a fan of long car rides, we decided to drive my parents motorhome out there to see if that helped. He loved it! Even after we had driven in it for seven hours on Wednesday he still said "car house" all day Thursday and yesterday! I had to go to a lecture that night, but we had dinner and checked in to th hotel first. Thursday, I spent the morning at panals, but then we did some touristy things tht afternoon! Boulder is an amazing city, kind of a mix between Logan and Park City! It is a total college town! We went down to this outdoor mall on Pearl Street, and it was so much fun! It had amazing little shops, great bookstores, toy stores, and a kitchen supply store that had such cute stuff! If we had more money, we would have done some serious shopping! There was also a store called Lush there, which is one of my favorite places ever! They don't have any in Utah, but we always order stuff from them online. It sells all thesew organic soaps, that smell amazing, and make your skin and hair so soft. They have a line of men's products that PJ loves as well! In the middle of the walkway at the mall there were areas of rocks for kids to climb on, and of course our little monkey Ethan thought that was pretty great! Scattered throughout the stores were these beautiful historical buildings, and even a museum! We could have spent all night there if it hadn't started to rain! I had another lecture to go to that night, but I was grateful I got to spend some time exploring Boulder! Yesterday I went to the Graduate Student Luncheon, before I had to present me own paper. I was so nervous for the whole morning beforehand. I said a little prayer before I left, and it worked cause I was able to overcome my nerves and present! I felt like it went well, though I was more happy to be finished than anything! I wached an old teacher present a paper, and then we headed back home. We arrived back here at around 2:oo am. Luckily, PJ is a great husband and drove most of the way, while Ethan and I slept in the back. It was a really great few days, and PJ and I both agree that if we could both very happily live in Boulder one day if life happened to take us that direction! It was also a great opportunity for me to present, and to network with other professionals in my field! I was able to meet many well respected writers such as Patricia Limerick, William Kittridge, and Mary Clearman Blew! They may not be well known to popular culture, but I have read and studied a lot of their individual works respectively, and I was really excited to be able to meet them and here them present on their new writings! And next year Cormac MaCarthy is going (he wrote No Country For Old Men and The Road), so maybe I'll get to meet him!

Bonnie and Adam's Wedding!

This last Friday, Bonnie Bailey and Adam Wood finally got married! It was the tenth anniversary of their first kiss, so this wedding is a long time coming! They had a BBQ on Thursday night for family and friends at Adam's parents house. It was really fun, we had good food, Joe did a fire show, Paul Timothy played the guitar, someone read a poem about Bonnie and Adam, and we got to hear speeches from them and their parents. It was fun seeing everyone from high school, in fact the whole wedding was like one big Davis High reunion! We went to the temple on Friday to watch them get sealed to each other, which was an amazing experience! No one ever thought that day would come, and seeing how happy they both were during the sealing was so great! After we did the temple pictures, PJ and I went out to lunch with Niki McDowell and Paul Timothy. It was really great, because I never get to see Niki, and she was only here for a couple of days, so I was so happy to get to hang out with her all day! Her daughter McKynlee is beautiful, just like her mom! The reception that night was really fun! They had cold stone creamery cater it, which was pretty cool! Jared Shaw, Charlie Hammond, Bryce Stevenson, and Landon Potter presided over a small little, very informal ceremony where they exchanged their vows! There was more music, and a lot of catching up with people! My parents brought Ethan by, which was great of them because I missed him all day (though he slept through most of the reception)! We had a little Farmington Junior High reunion, and took a picture of our group of friends from back then together (the only person who was missing was Julie)! It really was such a fun wedding, and I am so happy for Bonnie and Adam! They are so cute together and we all have been waiting for them to tie the not! It's great to see that they both got to a point where they were ready to do so! I know they'll be very happy together!

The Zoo!

Last Monday my mom, Sarah, Aiden, Ethan, and I all went to Hogle Zoo for the day! We already went once this summer, on the Mommy and me day, but this time the carousel was finished and it was a lot less crowded. The boys had a lot of fun seeing all the different animals! Ethan is a big fan of animals, so he thought it was pretty great. He especially liked the leopard because it came right up to the glass and was like a foot away from him. He also really liked the bears and was upset when we moved on to other animals. Of course the favorite was the carousel! We rode it twice and both boys wanted to keep on going! I was nervous Ethan wouldn't like it, but he just laughed through it and waved at his aunt Sarah whenever we pased her! We ran into Britney Redd with her kids, mom, and sister-in-law there, so that was fun! The little boys got matching shirts from their grandma (who also paid for them to go to the zoo and bought them treats throughout)! They were both so exhausted when we left that they fell asleep on the drive home. It was such a fun day for everyone! I love seeing how curious Ethan is about everything and watching him discover new things. Aiden was excited about having Ethan there and wanted to make sure he saw everything too! He's such a good cousin! It's so fun having them live next door, so we can have the boys play together all the time!

Bonnie's Bachelorette Party!!!

Last weekend Breck, Bonnie, Britney, and I went to Park City for a girls weekend before Bonnie gets married! We were planning on going to Vegas for the weekend, but unfortunately Bonnie's grandpa passed away and his funeral was that Saturday. So we through together the Park City trip really fast, but we still had a great time! We went to the Flying Sumo on Main Street for dinner. It was the first time I'de ever tried sushi and though I was nervous, I actually liked it! Nothing like your friends to get you to try new things! We stayed at the restaurant talking until after it had closed. Britney had Lola with her, and I picked Ethan up after dinner, so no clubbing for us. Instead, we went to The Lodges at Deer Valley, where my very generous grandma had got a place for us to stay that night! The place was amazing, it had three bathrooms, two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living room! We stayed up late talking, as Bonnie gave us the whole history of her and Adam's relationship! The next morning we went to brunch at a restaurant on Main Street. They had these amazing white chocolate, macadamia nut cookies, so Bonnie and Britney took a bunch and his them in their purse! After breakfast we headed home, but it was such a fun night with the girls! It's been so great because we have had a chance to hang out a lot more lately! I only wish Niki was around, so she could come too! We all really miss her and are so excited for her to come out for the wedding! Then the group will feel complete, just like the old days! It's amazing that after eight years, marraiges, kids, a divorce, moving away, etc we're still there for each other! I have awesome friends!

The Cabin!

After two and a half years we finally made it back up to my grandparents cabin in Etna Wyoming (right outside of Star Valley)! Sarah and Gary planned out this trip months ago, and we're so glad they did! Most of my family went up on Friday the fifteenth, but we couldn't because we had a wedding on the sixteenth and Jack Johnson tickets on the eighteenth. So Monday, after the concert (which was so amazing, by the way) we headed up. We arrived at about 5:00 am on Tuesday morning. It was a long night, but Ethan slept through most of the drive, which is what we were hoping for (he hates being in the car for very long). We could only stay for a couple of days, but it was so fun! We did the usual four wheeling, and Ethan loved riding on them! We also did a bonfire and Joe Bailey juggled fire for us! Ethan also loved riding the big wheels on the deck. There were five of them and a miniture car, and he would just go back and forth between them all! Seeing how much fun he had made the drive totally worth it! We also had fun watching the Olympics, especially the fast walk racing, which was hilarious! We had to leave Thursday for another wedding, but we were happy that we got to go at all! We hope to get up there again soon!