Waxing Entertainment

There's not much going on around the Phelps house. I have been taking care of my mother-in-law for the month so I've been staying home a lot. Sometimes I do get a little stir crazy 'cause it's hard not having the freedom to pick up and leave when I want. I will say though, that Fern is a delight to have around. She is very gracious and grateful and I love her!

Last Saturday Rick stayed at home so I could go down to American Fork to spend the afternoon with Kendra Dee. She had school that day and gave me a facial and a back treatment. Yes, it was wonderful and relaxing. She has been trying to get me to tint my eyelashes and brows so I had her do that too. It wasn't so bad other than I felt a little like Groucho Marx when she was done:) She also gave me my first brow wax. Yes, I'm nearly 43 and have never had my brows waxed. I really don't think I've missed that much!

So Kendra came home for the weekend and brought her waxing kit. She entertained us by waxing Gary and Kaitlyn. Gary's all smiles!

Kaitlyn's turned out great! I don't know if she's going to be to happy with this pic for all to see but she's a good sport!

Anyway, not a lot goin' on this week but next week look out! I'm going to paint the town red! (and probably my bathroom a nice medium green:) Oh yeah, speaking of waxing. Yesterday Rick joined in on the craze and had his nose waxed! He said it wasn't so bad and you should see his nice clean nostrils! HeHe! Don't worry! No pics of that!!

P.S. I'm dreaming of future vacations......Savannah, GA in the fall......Gold Coast, Australia in January......and Hawaii with the kids in the spring!

Liberty Landing BBQ

Last Friday we had a BBQ at our pavilion. The Baker's were visiting from Tennessee so we had a party out at our pavilion with our Liberty Landing neighbors (Phelps' and Allen's). The guys cooked up steak, chicken, and fish. It was great! Rick is lovin' his job as chef! Since our pavilion was finished last year we have had lots of fun parties and family reunions out there. Darrell hung up a white tarp on the tennis court fence and we have had a couple nights of "drive-in" type movies on the BIG screen. We were planning to watch Brian Regan this particular night but it got a little chilly. You know that cold front last weekend:( So we moved the party inside to Deed and Dare's big screen! We had some good laughs! Brian Regan-- Funny and Clean!Kathy, Fern and DeeAnn
Kaitlyn loves playing with the kids! Here she is with Kylan.

Earlier in the day Trent and Gary put together a new song.
That night they performed it for our group. they did great!
Thanks Trent for taking time with Gare and teaching him some geetar moves.
He eats that stuff up!


After that Austin had to join in the fun! These two kids' music was just a titch more roudy and LOUD! They had fun! Overall it was a great night! Good Food. Good Fun. Good Family!

Alyssia's Big Day

Dad and Leesh after her program. These were in chronological order but I,ve messed them up:( Read on.......

Alyssia attends Artec a school in West Jordan. To end their summer session the school put on a "summerfest" program. For the past 2 weeks Leesh has been able to attend cosmetology classes. She cut her hair into a cute short style and was able to have some acrylic nails put on. She was given a budget of $50 to buy a new outfit. She also took a cake decorating class! She and a classmate got to be announcers as the girls from the class modeled their new selves!

Alyssia and Gary posing for a picture.

She made this darling cake for Kaitlyn and surprised her with it! It has two clowns and says "twins" on it! Kait loved it! They really miss each other a lot. They actually got to spend Saturday afternoon together. Alyssia's foster parents took them to the aquarium in Sandy and out to Sizzler for dinner. They both did well on this visit:)

Oops, I erased this pic too.

It's at the top.

I love my girls!

Alaska Fishing Trip

I'm finally getting around to blogging about the boys' fishing trip. They stayed in a lodge in Gustavus, Alaska and got to fish everyday for 5 days. I really can't see the fun in that but the guys absolutely LOVE it. Rick has gone for the past 4 or 5 years and I'm sure will go again next year if given the chance! Here is Rick, Sky, Gary, and Bob Askerlund, a family friend.

They each caught one and so it's time to head in. Gary's on the boat enjoying the fresh air waiting to bring in a big one!
He's got one on line!! His biggest catch of the trip was a 95lb halibut! Way to go Gare!

Skylar's turn to bring one in!

Yes!! Here it is!! A big UGLY Ling cod......not much to look at but pretty good eatin':)

Here's the group minus two. Yes, that's a girl on the front row. (Bria Titmus) The first day there she caught a 293 lb halibut!! That's what you call GIRL POWER! A few days later her recored was broken with a 324lber caught by my nephew Derek. I wish I had a pic. It was an absolute monster! Way to go guys!! Now we have a freezer full of halibut. I am willing to share if anyone would like some!!

Mom and Dad

This time last year Rick and I were on an Alaskan cruise with a bunch of friends. Sixteen couples to be exact. One of those 'other' couples happened to be my mom and dad. My dad has always wanted to go to AK and so we invited them along. With a little arm twisting (my mom's) we convinced them to come along. We had a great time ! As I look back at our pictures of the trip, this is one of my favorites. We woke up one morning to find the ship had pulled into the Tracy Arm Fjord and it was just breathtakingly beautiful! Waterfalls and icebergs everywhere! My folks were just in the next room over and we stepped out onto the balcony and took this picture. It was a time I'll never forget! I had the opportunity to visit my parents in Las Vegas last week. It was great. We didn't necessarily do a lot but I love to be with them. They are "Salt of the Earth" people and even though he's retired my dad works just as hard today as he did 20 years ago when he was supporting a family of six. I love them both for the values they have instilled in me. They were (and are)very supportive of me in my life. I Love You, Mom and Dad! You're the Best!

Skylar's Mission Call

While our family was out of town last week, (boys in Alaska & girls down south) we recieved word from Sky's uncle who's brother works in the missionary dept. that his mission call had been issued the week before and that it was going into the mail on Tuesday. Needless to say we knew it would be waiting for us when we got home on Sunday. We called friends and family to come join us for the call opening! We got out our maps and got everyone's opinion on where they thought he would go and he ripped it open... He read the first couple of lines to find out he will be serving in the Paraguay Asuncion Mission! We were all very excited! There were many congratulations and we hurried to find what we could about that area. He will be leaving Oct. 14th for the Provo MTC. Since he left today to go back to DC until some time in September that means there's not much time to finish all the necessary things. You know like immunizations! Rick heard today that parasites are very common in Paraguayan missionaries:( I am not nervous at all because I know that he will be cared for in whatever he does:)

Kendra and Sara are excited about the news!

Here's a pic of Skylar and his cousins. Talking about the good news! We are so excited for Sky and know that he will make a great missionary. He is thrilled to be able to learn more spanish. (he took 2 years in HS). I think these next 10 weeks are going to fly by!

St. George Trip

Last week the boys went off to AK to go fishing (more about that later) so I took the opportunity to travel down to Vegas to spend some time with my mom and dad. I had a great time visiting with them and my two sisters. We swam, ate and played. I have no pics but I loved it! Kendra met me in St. George on Friday night (she had school) and we stayed at my sister Deanna's house. This is us just being crazy in the car and glad to be back together:)

Of course we went shopping! We both got a couple of outfits and just about melted in the heat!

I forgot to mention it was Kendra's 18th birthday! She got some fun presents!

We took full advantage of Deanna's pool. We literally spent hours talking and hangin' out in the water!

She has a cool waterfall too! I could have jumped but I didn't want to get my hair wet:) That night we watched a Jane Austin flick in her theatre room with treats. It was great!

Here we are getting ready to leave. Aren't my sister and daughter beautiful! Thanks Deanna for letting us come visit!