Ode to Summer

Summer has broken the ice... literally speaking now that my coats & sweaters are pushed to the back of my closet and my flipflops & sandals are within the closest reach. I'm just hoping there arn't anymore freak storms coming our way... It actually snowed here one day in June.

I freakin LOVE summer! Growing up in Southern California we always looked forward to the Del Mar Fair, Padre baseball games, & the endless days at the beach. I miss surfing with my sister Lisa. She & I would paddle out early afternoon & surf until evening sometimes... ending the day with a bondfire. Man! I was in the best shape of my life then.

Summertime in Utah is really a blast too. Nobody celebrates the 4th of July like Utah & I love it! There's no other place I'd rather be on this day...except of course with my best friend Jennae, celebrating her birthday on the 4th. Miss you Nae! ;o)

I really look forward to this time of year. The patriotism here in Utah is outstanding & there are tons of events going on in every city. Our city event, "Orem Fest" got rained out this year so we crashed the Pleasant Grove's "Strawberry Days" Carnival & the kids had a blast. We went with two fabulous friends of ours, the Sperrys & the Earls. Earlier that day we went to Maui Meltdown. The Strawberries & Cream is da bomb! It's on American fork Main Street in the parking lot of Allen's Camera & it's there all summer... To Die For!

Preston & Cohen in front & Kylee in back, having the time of their lives! Poor Cohen kept getting whip-lash on this ride.


And this is where we spend most our days... Outside! And in the water!





This is Preston at the end of most days. Whew! Summer can be tiring!! I thought my 3 yr old was done taking naps. I thank you summer.

We Can't Believe it!

Summer is officially here! I'm a little late, I know the official day was a couple days ago. Here are some shots I got of Preston & Caroline last week at the park.










Looking forward to bb-q's, corn on the cob, peaches, watermelon, snow cones, drippy popscicles, stingy sunburns (it's the only color I can get), swimming, fireworks, bike rides, camping, family vacations... We welcome you summer with big open arms!

My Painting Experience

Oh Man, I had to learn a lesson the hard way and not only once, but TWICE!!

I really Love the color turquoise. I have an end table that I plan to paint turquoise, I use it a lot when I paint on canvas, & I've been wearing the color alot lately too. I love the color so much that I decided I wanted to paint it on my wall. This was my first time ever painting but what I envisioned didn't really pan out the way I was hoping. Fortunately I've learned 3 key things about painting your interior. Unfortunately, I had to learn from my mistakes. Word to the wise...

ONE: Just because you like a color swatch, doesn't mean you should put it on your wall.

TWO: It's better to paint a small section of the wall rather than painting the entire thing to realize after that the color is horribly wrong.

THREE: Make sure you pick a color that either complements or contrasts well with the surroundings, ie. cabinets, counter tops, & surrounding wall color. A no-brainer for most people, I'm sure!!!

My neighbor had painted this exact wall in her house a beautiful color which gave me the inspiration to do mine. I headed to the paint store without taking in mind the warm color scheme I already had going on in my kitchen. I chose the color "Green Dream" which ended up being my nightmare!

...It reminded me of toothpaste. I still like the color & think it's fabulous... for a bathroom.

Eager to get it right, I went back to the paint store, this time with a sample of the tan color thats on my other walls. I ended up with this color:

It reminds me of an 80's surf shop...

Tyler was so patient with the whole process & never criticized it once. He kept saying, "this is your thing". I put my kitchen back together after I painted it the 2nd time b/c I was hoping that when I woke up the next morning the color would magically look better to me. But it was just SO awful! I think it would look great on a piece of furniture or as decor pieces here and there, just not on my wall. I had to fix it! ...3rd times a charm right? I went to Home Depot with a piece of fabric to have it color matched. This time I bought a color sample & painted only a portion of the wall... But it was gross. Finally, I threw in the towel & painted it back to the original color, minus the tiny strip above the sink that still needs to be primed & painted...

Booo! Choosing paint colors for your house is not an easy task! I'm going to seek help the next time I decide to paint. I'm thinking about painting the wall surrounding my nook? Green, Coral, Orange??? Hmm, we shall see...

Caroline's Party

The 1st birthday is all about the cake... it's the main event... the moment all eyes are on baby just waiting to see the reaction & the mess. Being a health concious mommy & not wanting to give my daughter a tummy ache, I decided to make her a strawberry short cake. Well, the "rising action" of the night was the moment I placed the cake in front of her. Caroline "dove" right in... We watched her eat it very delicately as if to not mess up her cute cake. Needless to say, she gave us no climax. The whipping cream wasn't spread from ear to ear nor was it in her hair or lap. She was SO careful as she ate each little bite. It wasn't the typical "attack & devour" we were anticipating. There really was no mess for me to clean up afterwards either which was pretty surprising since lunch time & dinnertime she makes wild food fiascos! She ate a very good portion of her cake, she was proper & she was a lady.

A day with the dinosaurs

Preston is so AniMatEd these days. He's at the stage now where he'll pose & smile for every picture, I love it! Before it was difficult to get him to hold still long enough to just get him in the shot. This was a fabulous, fun day at the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point...