Red, White and very blue

My little Brother Ethan has been visiting for the last couple weeks, and for the culmination of his visit this weekend we planned a big trip to Michigan lake and Chicago.

It was perfect beach weather, and Daphne ate less sand than I anticipated.

But she didn't like Bryce burying her
We had wanted to camp, but it was 4th of July weekend. SO we camped in a trashy motel. I say "camped" because we definitely used our sleeping bags, and considered putting up the tent.
We went into Chicago to see the Cub's play. This is the only picture I got of Chi-town, the train.
On the way home we stopped in some tiny town for a freedom festival. A few rides and some funnel cake makes for a celebration in my book.


This slightly disturbing looking picture is of Ethan helping me by getting Daphne dressed while I worked on other things.
Such as: treats for the families Bryce Home Teaches,
And treats for the party we went to.
We went to an awesome party at our friends the Henricksen's house. Amazing ribs and lots of fun people.


And of course lots of things for Ethan to light on fire.

Now my little buddy has gone home, and I'm feeling pretty blue about it.

We miss you Ethan. Come back soon!

OPRAH!

Did you watch Oprah on Wednesday? Me neither. But if you had, and you hit pause at just the right second when two guests were walking out of the back tunnel you would have seen me and three of my friends wildly jumping up and down and pretending for all the world like we knew who those two people were and we were exccited about it.

That's right, I went to see Oprah a week and a half ago. Now, I know what you're thinking... Doesn't Oprah always give her studio audience some fabulous prize during the course of the show? You'll have to wait to hear about that.

Early Friday morning Jenna, Lindsey, Kim and I squeezed into my car and headed for Chicago. Thankfully, the roads were clear of ice and snow and weather was great. When we arrived we had a few hours to kill so we had breakfast at Le Peep and perused the Oprah Store. Did you know you can buy items from Oprah's personal wardrobe? (Is that the smell of success or body odor?)

We then trudged back through the knee deep snow to Harpo Studios where we waited an additional 2.5 hours for our show to start.

Having to sit backstage for so long did afford its amusements. We saw Jennifer Hudson being literally carried onto the stage by two assistants because her stilettos were about six inches tall and needle thin. We also saw some guy from Project Runway being escorted past us. We got to hear them both being interviewed about how Oprah has changed them, the world, etc.

Finally it was time. The theme was Soap Opera stars. I was severely disappointed no characters from my Soap, Days, were featured. And to be perfectly honest, it wasn't as overwhelmingly awesome I expected, but it was definitely cool.

After the show we had an amazing dinner at Maggiano's, (more lemon aioli sauce, please!) And headed to our hotel. I felt like I was back at BYU living with roommates. Talked and laughed long into the night then fell asleep just after 11pm. What can I say, we're all moms of little babies and looked forward to a restful, full night of sleep.

We headed home to our babies early Saturday morning and after one blizzard and a 45 segment of stand still traffic we made it home.

I can't even emphasize how much fun I had with these girls. I could do without Oprah. Give me a weekend with friends any time!

Oh yeah, our fabulous prizes...nada. No cruise, no car, not even a pencil. Can you even believe it? Oh well, the memory is the real treasure, right?

(Ellen DeGeneres, if you're reading this, you are now and will always be my favorite. You are way better than Oprah and I would love to come to your twelve days of Christmas show next year.)

In the last couple months

Here's some serious updating. But no pictures because I don't like how long my camera takes to upload.

At the end of July I got hired as a 3rd grade teacher. My mom came for a too short visit and we had fun doing girl stuff and setting up my classroom. She went home and My principal decided to make me a 4th grade teacher,3 days before the school year started. So that gave me a lot to do. I'm still catching up and school started 5 weeks ago.

I was also in a play with a community theatre here in Indy. I played the role of Caroline Bingley in Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice. It was fabulous! I met so many amazing people who became really good friends. That's what happens when you spend 5 hours together 5 nights a week! The sets and costumes were amazing. Thanks to all my sweet friends who came and supported me. I can't wait to be in another play.

We had our ward primary program at the end of August. How sweet it was to see all those precious little kids talking about their families and their love for the Savior. But I wouldn't be honest if I didn't say I am relieved it's over. I need a vacation from my calling. Is that bad?

Somewhere in there we had our 3rd anniversary, but we kind of missed it because of our hectic schedules. So, for Labor Day weekend Bryce and I took a three-day trip to Chicago as an anniversary trip. We went to the temple, the Botanic Garden, the Zoo, a White Sox game, the Mag Mile, and Ikea. And you can't go to Chicago without also driving up to the Jelly Belly Factory in Wisconsin. And everybody knows you can't go to Wisconsin without getting some Cheese!!! You know how I love cheese. Got to relax a lot, it was a great trip!

Bryce is pluggin along with his second year. They sure do keep these boys busy. It's so cute when he gets excited about weird medical stuff.

Wow that was a lot. If you read this far...than you have too much spare time and you should come clean my house!