This is the Place heritage park 22Aug09

After seeing Amanda's college, we wanted to continue having girl time, so we decided to head over to This Is the Place park. It was fun, and educational too. We learned how the pioneers lived when they entered the Salt Lake Valley so long ago.

Amanda and McKenzie got to learn first hand how the laundry was washed and ironed. McKenzie got to water the pumpkins in the garden (with a cup). It took many trips to give them much water.McKenzie got to beat the rug so that it was not so dusty. I think she was going for a "Home Run!"

Then they got to play with kids games when there was no electricity.

We then went to another house where we learned to "cart" wool so that it could be spun into yarn for knitting or crocheting. Amanda and McKenzie think that Scot should buy me a sheep so that he doesn't have to mow the grass and I can have yarn to knit with (and won't have to buy any). They promised that they would feed it, love it, give it water, etc. When I told them that we already have two dogs, the Pioneer lady stated that they also made yarn out of dog fur, buffalo hair, etc. (just whatever they could get). Amanda now wants a blanket from Maggies fur (should I do it????).

We went to the bank and learned about what "Two bits" really meant. I never knew that money was truly cut into pie pieces for bits. We also learned that Germans have big ego's and in order to have larger money, they would simply pound it so it would always appear to be larger in size than the French (when produced, it would be the same size from the mint).We went to the hotel and I was amazed at the bathtub. I guess if you hadn't had one for a long time, any bath would do. They had a wonderful collection of saddles that the girls found interesting.We went into a very fine Pioneer home and I had to take a picture of the exquisite chair. I don't know if I could relax in such a pointy chair. In the same home, one room had several cribs in one room. Can you imagine tending this many babies all at once? How could you ever get a good nights sleep????We then wandered over to the farm. They allowed us to pet the animals. McKenzie was able to ride a horse, which apparently she wasn't thrilled with because she only did it once and didn't want to do again (she didn't want to just go around a circle - she wanted to ride in the open like in the Wild West). She did like the lamb and wanted to take it home. She also thought we ought to take the bunnies home.

It was a very pleasant day for us girls. I sure love these kids!!! They are truly a delight!

Westminster - Family Day

Here is Amanda in front of her new college:There was much to do on this day. We registered her car for a parking pass, got the books from the college book store (as many used as possible), signed onto the college email system for a password, etc. so Amanda could see all assignments for her classes, picture for student i.d., paid tuition, etc.
We took many pictures of the different statues around the campus. It was fun to see how many they had.
George Washington (in common area): Van Gogh (in Library):Aunt Emma (someone who donated much money to the college towards its progress in the arts):Bill & Vieve Gore (Business Building): When all of the necessary items on the checklist were completed, we left the campus and picked up McKenzie and brought her out for lunch (barbecued hot dogs and hamburgers) and to see the campus. She was most impressed with the WAC (Wellness and C__) building which has a rock wall for climbing, swimming pool and hot tub, exercise equipment, dance room (for ballet, yoga, etc. classes), weight room, etc. We spent time there playing ping pong.
McKenzie helped Amanda to find her classes in the business building (which was amazing because they have an area set up to look just like the New York Stock Exchange) and in the main Westminster Building. We went to the top floor of the Westminster Building and then the girls raced down four flights of stairs (while I took the elevator). They beat the elevator!! That is running pretty fast!
It is such a beautiful campus and I am so proud of Amanda for her accomplishments. She has worked very hard to get where she's at and I wish her the best at Westminster!!!!

Camping at Strawberry with the Thaxtons 14Aug09

We love camping, and since Scot was teaching class in Salt Lake City, Kenzie and I decided to go up to the mountains with our good friends and camp. Here is McKenzie with Gentrie and Porter:The kids would play together pretty well. They had adventures all around, rode their quads (here is McKenzie modeling hers) and even practiced gymnastics on their own determined balance beam. Ryleigh, although small, kept up quite well with the bigger kids!!!
We always had a great dinner. Here is my dear friend Amie getting us set up for a scrumptious dinner that she made (all I had to do was bring up extra ingredients). Then we'd sit by the fire and have smores before bedtime.In the morning, Kenzie and I headed down to Strawberry Reservoir to do some fishing. We didn't catch any fish, but found a really cool Crayfish trap. Kenzie wanted to keep the Crayfish as "pets". Being a pushover, I let her take the trap up to camp, empty out the trap to let the kids play with the "bounty" of four crayfish, and quickly returned to trap back to it's original location. The kids had so much fun naming the kritters, and playing with them. Boyd said in the olden days, I could have been shot! (Here's a picture of Boyd helping Ryleigh get ready to come outside to play.)
Scot came up later that day to visit. We all had fun laughing and playing. I packed up the tent and got ready to leave that night due to the cold weather and to get prepare for McKenzie's first day back to school on Monday.
It was a wonderful time.

4th of July in Las Vegas

McKenzie and I drove to Las Vegas for the 4th of July since Scot's time would be consumed with "Racing to Save Lives" at the Larry H. Miller Sports Track. We drove down right after work on Thursday and returned on Sunday.

McKenzie enjoyed playing with Papa's kitty's very much. Shadow wouldn't play much any more, but Ande was quite frisky and ready to play just about any old time.

It was so hot outside that we went swimming each day. The water was just perfect (not too hot and not too cold).

We celebrated by going to a picnic at the Eagles Club. Everybody was so nice, you could tell it's like an extended family for Dad and Barb. While Dad stopped to say "Hi" to a friend at the dunk tank, McKenzie took the liberty of walking right up the target and hitting it with her hand. She figured if the guy was yelling for someone to knock him in, that she'd do it the easy way. She didn't realize that he was wanting people to pay money for softballs to throw at the target. She dunked him alright! It ended up being a friend of Dad's, so he quickly paid $5 (of course once we all stopped laughing). McKenzie did get a chance to give them money afterwards and throw some balls, and later even had a chance herself to get to sit on the "hot seat" and be dunked herself. She thought that was great fun.

There were several games that McKenzie was able to play with all of the other kids like a balloon toss, some relay race using "hippity hops", tug of war, etc. She seemed to have a fun time.

At the end of the evening we all set up our chairs to see the firework display which was across the street (a baseball coliseum had a large display at the end of the game which was spectacular).

Once we got home, we all had cookies (OREO's to be exact) and milk and then headed straight to bed.

The next morning, the girls (Grandma Barb, McKenzie and I) played some very competitive games of Jenga. Apparently, I have the least steady hand of all!!! McKenzie and Barb are pretty tough competitors!!! We had lunch, went swimming and hung out.

That evening, Dad played his guitar while we all sang along. It was such a wonderful trip! I was so glad we had gone. (Click on the link below Dad's picture and hear a song Dad sung for me!)

The only thing that would have made it better - -
if my darling Scot had come too!