TICKLING THE IVORIES

Last night we had an AMAZING night. We had a family get-together next door in honor of my nephew Mark and his fiance Taryn who are getting married on Friday. Kathy made us a nice big Mexican Fiesta dinner and we all enjoyed visiting.

Here is a picture of the happy couple. Mark blinked at the wrong time:) While we were visiting there was a knock at the door and unbeknownst to us Trent and Kath (& Dare and Deed) had arranged a special surprise for Mark and Taryn. Jon Schmidt (the famous piano player....well famous in UT) was there to give us a personal concert. All I can say is WOW! What a performer! I sat just 5 feet from him during the performance and I had a birdseye veiw of his fingers flying. SO COOL! I've got to get me his CD.

At one point he layed down and played a song BACKWARDS. I don't know if any of you play the piano but....HOLY COW! That's what you call tickling the ivories!

During the program Mark got up and showed a little bit of his stuff. We got to hear a song he wrote called "Taryn's Song". Just downright sweet.

I thought this was a sweet picture of the happy couple.

Sorry it's dark but they were on the other side of the room

Tomorrow is the BIG day. Good Luck to the newlyweds!

Happy 17th Birthday Gary

Last week our Gary turned 17! I remember the first time I ever saw him. We were at the Museum of Natural History in SL to meet all 3 of the kids. We had seen pictures of them just the week before and had known they were up for adoption. We met the case worker at the museum and she let us spend the day with the kids. Gary was just absolutely adorable with his big brown eyes and delightful smile. He was very shy but warmed up after not to long. We fell in love with him from the very beginning. He has always been such a FUN boy and we have enjoyed laughing WITH him these past 12 1/2 years. We had a little family party on Thursday night (his actual birthday) after Rick's meetings.

The kitchen was filled with smoke from his candles:)
Kendra went shopping with me to choose some new clothes for him. We are also going to get him a new suit (if I can ever get a chance to get him to SL....'cause he's super busy). He's growing out of his old one....imagine that.

His first ever pair of Vans. Yeh, Kennie chose those too.

Saturday night we had a big tadoo at The Spaghetti Factory with a bunch of family. 25 people in all. We had a great time and I know it was special for Gare. Right now Gary has a full plate. He is trying to graduate a year early form HS and is on track for that. With his heavy work load he got a 3.7 GPA for last term. YEA! He works a few hours after school at the Titmus farms and his new adventure is raising sheep. It's kinda like the Perpetual Education Fund only with sheep. Just yesterday he got 5 pregnant ewes. He gets to keep them for 5 years and raises and sells as many as he can then at the end of the 5 years he gives 5 pregnant ewes back to the farmer who gave them to him in the first place. This is his plan for earning money for his mission. Granted he leaves in 2 years for that. Rick will have to care for them while he's away. It's a good plan though.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GARE!

Just a quick update on the remodel. The brick is on and now we are waiting for the stucco.

It's nice to see some progress on the outside. This is what our house looks like from the inside. When we came back from Spring Break this lovely partition was hanging up supposedly to keep all the sheet rock dust out.

mmhhmm. Right. I feel like I am living and breathing a big dust cloud everyday. EVERYTHING is covered in a thin sheet of dust. I clean in the morning and by 2:00 it's back. The good part is that the sheet rocking is finished and that the painters are SLOWLY making ground. The bad part is it starts all over next week when Charlee rips out the kitchen. It sounds like I'm complaining huh? I WILL SURVIVE!

This is the new family room portion looking into the music room. I love how the archway turned out. I am sooo excited to get the color up on the walls to see how everything works together. Everything has been primed and the painters got started on the ceilings and some trim. I am hoping that the whole project will be finished in about 6 weeks. Maybe wishful thinking but one can hope, right?

Spring Break in Sedona

For Spring Break this year we made the long drive down to Sedona, AZ. It took us a long 11 hours to get there but we enjoyed the whole week. We went with The Allens, The Becketts, The Phelpses and The Hones. Sedona is beautiful red rock country.

It looks very much like our beloved Capitol Reef but with more trees.

One of the first days there we took a hike up the Sugarloaf Trail.

This is our group as we begin the hikeDeed and Dare take a break halfway up.
Julie and Kendra

Here we are at the top overlooking the Sedona area.

It's snack time!

Kaitlyn takes the photo op.

Our family (without Gary who wanted to stay behind and swim at the pool) overlooking Sedona.

Kaitlyn eating Chimney Rock. HEHE!

I love this picture of Julie and Kendra holding hands back down the trail.

I know this pic is blurry but I wanted to get a shot of all the teenagers as we begin our shopping day in uptown Sedona.

Austin, Dalton, Jenni, Destinee, Kendra, Gary, Kaitlyn, and Mindy

The girls dressing up at Gypsy Jenny's! Aren't they so cute!

After shopping we stopped for a cultural experience at a Korean restaurant. Not too bad:)

Did I mention we dragged our ATV's for those 11 hours of traveling?

We had a wonderful time riding in the hills surrounding Sedona.

The kids took turns driving the 4-wheelers and the Ranger.

As you can see it was a mighty dusty trail! Austin even had red sand in his teeth!

Another day we took a drive up to the old mining town Jerome. We had a good time looking in the shops and wandering around.

Here are Kendra, Julie, and Jenni trying hats on in the leather shop.

On our way home we stopped at the Grand Canyon. And YES! It was definately GRAND!

Here are John and Tracy and kids waiting for the I-MAX show to start.

This was my first time to see the Grand Canyon. If it wasn't so cold and we didn't have to travel so far I would have loved to stay longer. It was so magnificent!

One last shot.

I have a lot more pics but couldn't post them all. I realized after I got home that I don't even have any pictures of Brad & Ruth and Dennis & Karen. We spent a little time with them but I think they enjoyed being with each other as couples since there were no kids staying with them. Making good memories is the BEST!

Zach's going to Zimbabwe

During our Spring Break we made a quick (5 hour) drive to Vegas to attend Sacrament Meeting where my nephew Zach was speaking before he takes off for the Zimbabwe Harare Mission. Zach sang a "I Heard him Come" for part of his talk and did a great job. He spoke of how he gained his testimony and referenced the quote " That others may live". He will be a great missionary. We love you Zach!

A few of my nephews....(from left) Garrett, Ian, Sam, Zach, Cody, Andrew, of course, Gary. I wish I had a pic of Zach in his new suit he looked great!We met at Pete and Terri's home for a luncheon afterwards.

Terri had prepared roast beef sandwiches, salads and dessert.

Jeremy, Elizabeth and Scott.

I wanted to get a sisters photo. From left...Mare (who surprised us on Christmas that she was expecting a new baby. Her daughter Gabby who is 15 will be getting a sister in August), Me, My mom, Kathy, Deanna, and Terri.
We are missing Vickie who was in SL with her YW for the YW broadcast.
I love my family. I'm so glad we were able to make this trip!