OUR JULY!

Well apparently I'm blogging by months now, since that's about how long it takes to upload my pictures, make digital pages and get them on here! So without further ado, here is a look at what happened during the month of July.

Natalie has spent this summer in the Ivy Performance Academy. It's a summer program for kids to help them learn skills in vocal technique, acting, basic dance and performance. They have been practicing a small play and even got to go to a studio and record their voices with the minus tracks that they'll be singing in their show! The classes are taught by Jessie Clark Funk (who happens to be a favorite at our house) and she is so cute with the kids. She even got the kids to walk in the Farmington Festival Days Parade this year!

After the parade we went over to our friends (the Biesingers) house for a Luau and to watch the Farmington City fireworks. It was a fun night with ymmy food, volleyball, homemade Ice Cream and s'mores! I didn't get pics of the Luau, because we were having so much fun...so you'll just have to take my word for it that it was a blast.

Our cute little German friend Tini was in town during July and for Mom and Dad's Anniversary we went to...Yes you guessed it, Bucca Di Beppo. It's become our tradition when the Germans are in town and/or for Mom and Dad's Anniversary-sometimes they happen to coincide.

On July 30th we were invited to our neighbors daughter Lily's Birthday Party, which was up at Pineview Reservior. We had so much fun playing in the water, eating yummy food and having a great time with our friends and neighbors.

The night we had gotten home from Pineview was a very surreal night for our Ward and Neighborhood. We had found out that 7 of the youth in our Ward had been in a very serious accident, and one of them had past away. His name was Gabe Hanson and he was 15 years old. He was such a cute kid, who was so funny and full of life. His family is amazing and such great examples to me. Gabe's older brother Cooper was my trek brother when I went to trek as an "adult child" 2 years ago, and his little sister Daisy is in my primary class. They also have 3 other boys too.

Gabe was well know for being a goofball and always wore these pink Vans shoes. At his viewing and funeral SO many people had on pink. Vans, Converse, church shoes. Girls had on pink shirts and dresses, guys had on pink ties. They were even giving away pink wrist bands to all who attended the services. It was such an outpouring of love and support to the Hanson family, and to Gabe!
Two of the other youth in the car, were taken to the hospital and one of them is still recovering from her injuries. The other four have emotional injuries, but all of these kids have become so close since going through this tragedy together. It has been amazing to see all of the youth in our Ward come together and take care of one another. My heart is still aching for the Hanson family and their loss and my thoughts and prayers are constantly with them.

Ear Piercing and an Infomercial

I was just thinking that I posted this on Facebook but I didn't post it on here...oops!

While at the Mall (Fashion Place-which I haven't been to in ages) we were walking around and went into Claire's (or whatever it's called now) and Natalie said, "I want to get my ears pierced." Just like that. So we picked out a pair of earrings (do you KNOW how much they charge for those things?) and she got 'em done. She kind of freaked out right before the girl did the first ear, and cried a tiny bit when it was all done, but then as she looked in the mirror, she was all smiles. It was a pretty big deal for her, and me, since she's kind of a chicken when it comes to things.

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Oh, while I'm talking about this it reminds me that the whole reason I went to the mall was because my neighbor Ashli had saw some "Feeling Cheeky" mini cheek tints by Benefit on Good Things Utah and wanted to get some, so we went all the way down to Sephora for this stuff, and I'm not kidding you...I LOVE IT!

There are 3 "mini" bottles in this set ($15). Two of them are the cheek tints, and one is a highlight cream. The posie tint is a pink cheek tint that gives your cheekies a nice sun-kissed look, and the bene tint is a darker rose tint that gives you color without looking like a clown. The high beam is creamy and you use it at the top of your cheek bones and brow bones and it gives you that fresh glow and brightens up your eyes.

Wow, I sound like an infomercial and really I'm not telling you to go out and get this set...because I have used them almost everyday this month and I'm feeling like mine are getting used really fast because they are in such little bottles (like a very small bottle of nail polish), but I am saying that I've found a whole new love for cheek tints and will definitely be in search of more.

Okay, now that I've babbled on about that...

I'll go!

4th of July!

Every 4th of July our neighborhood does a BBQ at the end of our street, and of course, this year was no exception. A few neighbors wheeled out their grills and we cooked up some yummy BBQ, while loading our plates with side dishes and desserts! It was a nice time to just be with friends, and neighbors. Since this year the aerial fireworks were permitted (crazy), we had a pretty great firework show right above our heads!

Even though it's stinkin' hot outside and we've actually had a bit of humidity, I still love the summer! I love parades, sticky popsicles, night time walks with the kids and dogs, luaus, pool parties, summer rainstorms, fireworks, BBQed hamburgers . . . and just basking in the sun (with sunscreen on of course)!

It's the time of year that takes forever to arrive, and yet it flies by so fast, if you don't take a moment to enjoy it, you might miss it! So stop reading this and go outside and jump on your trampoline with the sprinklers on-if you don't have a tramp, well then just run in the sprinklers!!!

July 2, 2011

My friend Mandy's daughter Sydney was baptized on July 2, and Natalie and I drove up to Logan to say hello and celebrate Sydney's special day.

Mandy and I have known each other our whole lives, and Natalie and Sydney only really met each other in May, but you'd think they've known each other for their whole lives too with the way they've became little buddies.

I wish we lived a tiny bit closer so we could see each other more often, but Natalie and Sydney email each other and are planning a "hang out" day before they have to go back to school!

It's crazy that it's been well over 20 years since Mandy and I were Sydney and Natalie's age, causing mischief and mayhem almost everywhere we went! Where does that time go?

"June Is Bustin' Out All Over." -Carousel

June has gone by so fast that I haven't had any time to blog, but since the month is almost over, I thought I'd better give you something . . .
So without further ado, here is our month in pictures (with a few snippets).

The beginning of June was quite a whirlwind after getting Dash and all. I didn't take to the new dog as easily as I thought I would, and spent the first few weeks trying to keep anxiety attacks at bay (that's a topic for another time though), but finally, I felt somewhat normal enough to load us up on some summer fun! Which is how it's been ever since. . .well maybe it's not ALL been fun! You'll see.

On the 10th of June we were invited by our friends and neighbors, the Biesingers, to go down to Thanksgiving Point for the Scottish Festival and Tattoo. It was a lot of fun to walk around the different booths, eat the yummy food and hear the bagpipers play. A few bands came out and played and we all danced, then we got to see the different Clans walk through and place a torch on a stand. It was a bonnie wee good time! Hee hee.

After our Scottish weekend, Natalie and I spent FHE at Bountiful Park for a little concert with Cori Connors (she is a great guitarist, and she teaches in Farmington), Michael McLean (yes THAT Michael McLean) and John Batdorf. It was a nice night of music and fun. Brandon was sick so he stayed home with Sam :(
The concert in the park was the first of many fun things Natalie did for her Birthday Week.

On Tuesday June 14th, it was her 9th Birthday and she spent the whole day with Brandon's Mom and had a sleep over. They went to Build-A-Bear and saw the Judy Moody movie. Then on Wednesday, my mom picked her up and took her shopping, where she got spoiled with Harry Potter Lego sets (I thought that was just for boys?). Then my family all went to the Olive Garden for her Birthday Dinner.

On Thursday night (16th) Natalie had a "late over" Birthday Party with her friends. It was a Campout Party, except the weather decided (like it always does) to be crappy so we had a Camp-IN. It was a lot of fun though, the girls ate pizza, made friendship bracelets, opened presents, and I made S'mores in the oven. Natalie's isn't the biggest fan of cake so I made her a s'more, drilled a hole in the top graham cracker, and put a candle in it and the girls sang Happy Birthday to her. Then they watched Scooby-Doo Camp Scare! Ooooooh!

Saturday the 18th I drove up to Logan with my friend Katie (and our Farmington Librarian Jelaire) for a Book Signing and Meet & Greet with one of our favorite authors. Her name is Marcia Lynn McClure, and she writes the cutest romance novels. Not Romance novels like heaving breasts and the like, but cute happy, make you giddy romance novels that are not smutty. The book signing was at the American West Heritage Park and the people working there were too cute all dressed up in their pioneer garb. They even acted out scenes from one of Marcia's books.

We attended a VIP dinner where Marcia went around to the tables to meet her fans and then we got our books signed and got to chat with her a little more. Her husband was there and her sons and soon to be daughter-in-law. They were all super cute and fun, and seemed to really enjoy being around all of us crazy ladies! Me, Katie and Jelaire had a great time taking goofy pictures and laughing at an "outlaw" guy named Lucky who kept flirting with Katie. It was such a blast to have a girls night that really felt girly!

So. . . since 2009 I have been praying that we never see the people at the Primary Children's Medical Center Emergency Department again. I know, not likely with a VERY active boy.

Well, on Monday the 20th I went to pick up the kids from Brandon's Mom's house and Sam was playing on the tool box in the back of Jann's boyfriend's truck, well my mommy intuition KNEW that that was not a good idea but did I listen? No. And all it took was 2 seconds for Sam to lose his footing and fall. It was a horrible thing to witness and I've been kicking myself ever since and wishing I could go back in time and listen to my gut instinct. I took him up to Primary's and after waiting and CT scans, and more waiting and brain scans, they found that he had a skull fracture above his eye brow and a smaller one below his eye. He had to stay the night in the hospital for observation and most likely will be going back for a sedated eye exam just to make sure there isn't anything lurking within his eye that may cause future complications. But even with all of that. . . he hasn't slowed down in the least. He is still just as active as he was before, except now he isn't allowed to do anything but walk for 6 weeks, which is going to make for a very LOOOOOONNNNGGG summer. If anyone has any amazing indoor activities to keep a confined 3 year old occupied, please send them my way!

On Thursday the 23rd. My great neighbors and friends Ashli and Katie knew I was having a rough time after Sam's fall, especially having to keep him tethered to the house, so they invited me over to Ashli's to do "Glitter Toes." It was so much fun, and not to mention WAY cheaper than going to a Salon to get them done. The kids watched a movie while we moms chatted and beautified our little tootsies. I really needed some time to just let go for a bit and this was perfect. I even got to show them off that night at book group. Woot Woot! Mine are the lime green ones!

On Friday night the 24th Brandon and I, Ashli and her hubby Pete, Katie and her hubby Aaron, and our other great friends and neighbors Kristie and Sean all went to the Temple to do a Sealing Session. The Sealer was Stephen E. Dalton who is the husband of Sister Elaine S. Dalton who is the General Young Women's President. SO COOL! Anyway, it was such a great Sealing Session and I was so glad for the opportunity we had to get to the Temple. It was much needed for both Brandon and I. We even saw Bran's Uncle Ron and Aunt Cindy there too.

After the Temple we all ate at a little Thai Restaurant in Salt Lake called Sawadee. I've only had Thai food once before, so it was fun to do something new, and nice to be with great friends. I didn't get any pictures, but I had to write about it because it was such a fun spiritual night!

I'm thinking, with only a week left in June, not too much more is going to happen, and if it does, I hope it's good happenings! This month has been crazy and a bit of a roller coaster, and I'm sure with Sam's "restrictions" things are going to be pretty calm for a while.

Then again . . .

Introducing. . .

Dashall Dean Harden

Born: April 2, 2011

Adopted: May 30, 2011

Here is the newest member of our family. DASH
We spent most of our day today driving to Green River WY to pick him up. I KNOW!!!
He is (much to my dismay) a puppy of only 8 weeks old.
We have been talking about getting a second dog for quite sometime but it's always been the same conversation.
Brandon: "I want a puppy."
Michelle: "We're not getting a puppy."
This has been the conversation for about 2 years now, and finally last night I was . . . swayed (if you want to call it that).
We talked about getting a second dog before Tiara gets too old (she just tuned 10), in hopes that she'd be able to teach the new dog how a "Harden Canine" is supposed to act!
Needless to say, we have our work cut out for us, and it's going to be a little tricky for a while with work schedules and everything, but we are excited for our new little adventure, and as you can see . . . he is just so stinkin' cute.
Natalie actually suggested the name Dash, and we all thought it was really cute. I'm so glad it was pretty easy to decide, or else we'd still be going over the many names that Sam was suggesting-which included Hot Shot, Buzz, Woody and anything he could see out of the car window, like Mountain.
The breeders had called him Dean because they said he would stare at a James Dean picture that hung on their wall (of course you all know I LOVED that).
The name Dashall came out by accident. That's what I've been calling him when he's getting into mischief, which as you can probably imagine, has been most of the day!

I'm nervous and shaking my head at myself, but also glad that we finally did it! I think Dash is going to make a great addition to our family and in time I'll be glad that I was . . . swayed into getting him.

Mother's Day Eve

I didn't get to celebrate Mother's Day with my mom this year, since she is in Europe. But I did get to celebrate it with some of the funniest moms I know.

Natalie, Mandy, Sydney, Michelle, Lonny, Linda, Kathy

Every year, the Poplar Grove Ward that I grew up in, puts on a Mothers and Daughters Banquet. It has been going on for more than 50 years, and is always a fun-filled evening of catching up, "oh-my-goodnessing" and giggling.
This year my kidred spirit and bosom friend Mandy drove down from Logan with her daughter Sydney and picked Natalie and I up for the banquet. Mandy and I had fun laughing and reminiscing while Sydney and Natalie hit it off like they've known each other forever! At the banquet we sat with Mandy's Mom Linda and sisters Kathy and Lonny and had WAY to much fun! I've known these ladies my whole life, and they are like my second family. I'm glad I got to spend Mother's Day Eve with them.