Garth

Of all the weekends to have forgotten my camera battery, this was not an ideal one. I have no pictures of one of the all-time greatest weekends EVER.

I have been a HUGE Garth Brooks fan since my cowgirl days back in Elementary School. (Yes, my friends...I once wanted to be a cowgirl. I wore Wranglers, brush-poppers, lace-ups and heart-shaped belt buckles. I longed (and begged my Dad) for a horse to call my own and I wished I grew up on a farm like all of my best friends. But no, I lived up on the hill with a cat named Friskers and a dog named Rebel with absolutely no room for a horse to roam.) BUT I could still love me some Country music, and I did.

When I was twelve-years-old Garth came to town, but I never could get tickets. Instead, I sat at home with my broken leg and listened to the news reports about all the crazed fans (my cousin Jill being one of them; she was even taken from her seat high up in the nosebleeds down to the front row! I have been envious of her since then!) I did end up with a Garth Brooks t-shirt, which I wore until it turned into a faded gray color!

So, here I am some fifteen plus years later and I still have a thing for Garth music. I no longer want to own a horse (too much work! My kids are enough!) My desire to wear Wranglers has passed, but I did sport some boots to the concert! Garth Brooks' music is timeless and not just for those who love Country!

My mom was able to score some SWEET tickets on the 5th row. Incredible! The theater at the Encore is a small venue; which made for a very intimate concert with the gifted Garth! My sister-in-law Kelly and I chuckled when Garth walked out on stage. We joked that his attire must have been picked up at either the local WalMart or Costco! (Nothing against either of those places! You'd just expect him to be in some flashy jeans and shirt! I loved it!) He had on some plain 'ole blue jeans, work boots, a navy blue hooded sweatshirt and a black baseball cap. All he had was was a guitar, a stool and a bottle of water (no band, no flashy lights and smoke!) Just Garth with his amazing voice and gifted guitar skills....It was truly the most incredible concert EVER. He joked, he laughed with audience and he even brought out Trisha Yearwood to sing with him and to sing solo. The best part, he ran the show. About half way through he said, "I hope you guys don't have anywhere to be tonight, because we're going to go longer than planned!" Oh yeah! Turned out to be a two hour concert with one of my all-time favorites! It felt like we were sitting in his living room having him play some of his classics!

(IPhone photos just don't come out as clear!)

Oh, and did I mention what we did before the concert....we ate some (okay, a lot) of this at the Wynn Buffet. The crab legs were to die for and their pecan dessert was scrumptious!


The weather in Vegas gave me spring fever and made me long for the warmer days to come to Utah. What a tease! The kids loved being outside and we had to visit our favorite park!


What a memorable weekend and we owe it all to my parents for their hospitality and generosity. They always go above and beyond; but we love it! We're all talking about wanting to see Garth again (soon)! In the meantime, my kids are learning young to love Garth...it's the only music we're playing right now....so either like it, or don't listen!

Ice, Ice, Baby

Have you ever....iced your face? Sound cold? Miserable? Downright dumb? Give it a try...I promise you will love it and the results you will love even more.

I started visiting an Esthetician about a year and a half ago; she is a miracle worker might I add. She has given me great facial treatments and products, but the best has been her advice to me, "Ice your face every night." It truly works! Whenever I become lax in my icing, it is clearly visible.

Okay, so here's the deal. I know there are some of you out there reading my blog, but not commenting...that's all fine and dandy; but I know you're going to get an ice cube tonight and ice your face. I want to hear back from you in a week or so about how your face looks and feels!

I just take one ice cube and ice down my entire face for about 4 minutes....(maybe start out with less if you find it positively unbearable!) And I'm sure you'll see results even if you can't muster 4 minutes!

**Okay! I guess I was not descriptive enough! As far as the benefits of icing...it is really good for breakouts (acne as you say) and just overall helps with the appearance of your skin. (Kelly, you do not need to ice your face....your skin is what we're all trying to achieve by icing!) Give your face good ice-down (paying attention to any trouble areas). Seriously, a frozen little miracle!**

I promise to do better...

They play dress-up together everyday! If it's not sports it super heroes or princesses.

(I see a tomboy!)


Myka lisening to her favorite tunes and dancing away!

Carsen turned 5 and had a fun b-day party at Jumpin Jacks.

Myka playing in Vegas.

Carsen's 1st golf tournament in St. George


I was cleaning off my computer today and was reminded of so many wonderful memories of my darling kids! They are growing up so quickly and are always doing such cute things. (Chad makes fun of me because I always cry when I look at pictures of my kids when they were younger)! I am actually quite consistent of capturing almost everything on camera, but I'm not so good about posting it to the blog. This blog really is for the dear family and friends who don't get to see what I see everyday...the school projects, playing with friends, coloring time, dress-up time, etc. etc.

I promise to do better...not as often as some people would like (mom) but often enough to keep you somewhat informed of all the great (and not so great!) things happening in our lives!

So Long Mimi!

What I thought would be the most tragic day in Myka's life, turned out to be quite the celebration! We have been talking about getting rid of the mimi (binkie) for at least a year now...I always manage to come up with a really good excuse as to why we should postpone (the biggest reason is I love my sleep and I don't want to sacrifice it!!)

My friend Jenny gave me a great idea; several years ago she tied her little boy's binkies to balloons and set them free into the sky. We were there to witness his parting with his favored binkies and he seemed to enjoy letting them float away. (I figured throwing them in the garbage would just turn Myka into a trash-digger; so we opted for the balloons!)

We made a BIG deal out of it. We prepped her all week long and told her it would be a big party with 'pinkalicious' and 'purplicious' balloons and cupcakes. We told her she would be sending her mimi's to heaven to all the little baby's there who really needed them. She requested to have her best little friend Kallee Bear at the celebration to cheer her on!

I made cupcakes with pink and purple sprinkles and Chad went and bought a bunch of balloons. Myka washed the mimi's (so the baby's in heaven would have them all fresh and clean. Clever Aleah reminded Myka of this important step!) tied them onto the balloons, gave them one last little kiss and then let them fly away while we all cheered!



I thought bed time would be a sob-fest. Nope. She whined for about 10 minutes, "I want my mimis...I want my mimis." And we asked her where they were and she said, "In heaven with the baby's." We reminded her we couldn't get to them and that seemed to settle her. She slept great! Even nap time today was almost flawless!

Can't believe my little girl is all big! Maybe a big part of me was holding onto the mimi so I could keep her little. We are so proud of her and are crossing our fingers she doesn't want to hold onto a balloon and fly to heaven to fetch back her precious mimis!!