Happy Birthday Michael!

Michael is now 22 years of age (his birthday was actually September 11; I'm a little late). I just wanted to put up a few pictures about his special day.

Note: check out that sweet Ghostbusters tray.


Thanks to sis for the fantastic "ugly" cake:



Beatles Rockband Party:



T'was a lovely time. Thanks everyone for making it so much fun for my sweet boy.

ALERT! Another favorite.

As most of you (who are close to me) know, trees are one of my very favorite things in the whole world. Well, I was exploring the interweb today and came across this amazing artist: Judith Belzer. Her artwork is done in oil on canvas and her subject matter is everything having to do with trees... not to mention, her palette of colors is very very cool. Yep, I'm a fan.






Wow. Great stuff.

ALERT: FAVORITE NEW ARTIST

Wow. DEANNE CHEUK is my new favorite artist. She has my absolute most coveted job of my dreams and all time. Some samples of her works:

Type Design:


Fine Art:



Fabric Pattern Design:


T-shirt Design:

Yay, Fireworks!

Firework time tis my favorite holiday. I was so happy that we went to the Weber State fireworks this year:


I thought this was a super cute picture of Mikey and Shelb.



Yay!!!!


Sure wish Michael could've been there so I wouldn't have looked so nerdsly in this picture all by myself.

Nerd Alert: Trying out a new hairdo.

So I saw Grey Gardens with Drew Barrymore and decided that I had to figure out how she did those darling hairdos. I looked up finger waves and pin curls and thought I'd try them both out at the same time. The outcome was pretty Shirley Temple..ish (not what I was going for):

I didn't have a scarf to cover my head while I slept so I used this cute apron Rachel gave me instead. Pretty cool, yeah?

This was very tricky:

All in all it was pretty difficult stuff... for my first time anyway. I'll just have to keep practicing.

Kayaking With Michael's Film Crew Buddies!

We recently went kayaking at Causey Dam with some of Michael's funny friends: David, Ryan, and Roadie (not pictured) and it was so much fun! I wish I could've taken pictures while we were out on the water but I didn't want to get my camera wet. But here are some pictures before we got there:

These boys are so great. I was laughing all day long.

Oh yeah. And this happened too. I was pretty sad, although you can't really tell in this picture.

Good Times With Great Pals

Cookout & Cowabunga Bay with Andrew and Kim:

Here's Miguel in front of the waterslides. It was a lot smaller than we thought it was going to be but boy was it fun!

Our first batch of hot dogs turned out really cool, huh? Yes, this bracelet is a hot dog. And no, we didn't really eat them. (Accept I did taste it because I was curious... not bad, actually)

Such a cute little family. Drew, Kim, and their dog, Libby.

Dinner & Dominos with Eric and Shantelle:

Pretty good for just one box of Dominos, eh?

Extra Camping Bit...

Our niece Breely and nephew Brenon came and spent the night in our trailer one evening. This was the outcome. Don't even ask what Patty is doing. And please, note the sound effects.

Ahh... The Outdoors

Michael and I just got back from a week-long camping trip at Island Park with his family. It was the most beautiful place...

While we were there we saw a moose, a black bear, pelicans, and cranes. I tell you, I was in my glory. I woke up early every day to soak in all of that nature. It rained a couple of the days we were there and actually snowed on one of the days but it all just added to the beauty.


Ganda (nickname for Michael's dad) took all the kids to search for "artifacts"! The kids go out into the forresty bits of the campground with Ganda and come back with all kinds of indian artifacts that they found in the dirt and under rocks and in the trees (: It is so cute. They ended up with fun things like arrowheads, beaded necklaces, arrows, and beads! (The Ganda hides them earlier in the day). They had so much fun.



Here's a picture of Shalece next to a sign at the very beginning of about an hour-long hike. I have to say, it made me pretty nervous !



We visited the beautiful Yellowstone National Park and I got to see all the cool paint pots and Old Faithful.



Michael's family has a tradition where they get a personalized t-shirt every year when they go into West Yellowstone. For some reason the name "Moseph Joseph" was the hot item this year. Another favorite of mine was Livvy's shirt that said: "NIKUM!" Nikum means chicken. Livvy loves chicken and "nikum" is how she says chicken. Haha, so cute.



All in all it was a fantastic trip. We ate awesome dutch oven dinners, played cards, floated the river, and sat around the fire. Man, I sure have been spoiled with awesome trips this summer!

Josh & Rachel Benson

Josh and Rachel's wedding was so pretty! Michael and I were invited to the dinner before the reception and it was catered by Magelby's! Holy Moses, you can't get any better than that. It was soo delish. At the reception they had canoli, piruettes, italian sodas, and a lovely candy table in Josh's parent's beautiful backyard. I loved watching Josh and Rachel together... they are such a darling couple and I am so excited for them. And I was so excited to post about Rachel's awesome wedding but then I realized that I hadn't even gotten a picture of her and her new husband together in their wedding duds! What a fool... But I did get pictures of all the pretty decor:






And on to the Honeymoon in Costa Rica! Those cute kids...

They Just Want To Hold Hands

A couple weeks ago I went to lunch with Mum, Missy, Lib & Levi, and Robin & Campbell at The Oaks. We got to sit out on the deck and enjoy the lovely day as we ate our lunch. Although the scenery was beautiful, I couldn't stop watching my funny little niece and nephew:


Campbell Bear:



Levi sporting his signature "sniffing-your-upper-lip" face:



My favorite part though was when they kept holding hands awkwardly... it was so hilarious!

First Meal

Nerds, I know. We were so excited about our first actual meal in our apartment that we had to take pictures of it...



...and dessert.

Our Humble Abode

BEFORE:



AFTER: (But still in progress)

We absolutely love our green table & chairs! Thank you Jan and Missy for your help (:



This is Michael's fun record area. Yay! We love our new place!!!

Rachel's Wedding Shower

I had the honor of throwing a wedding shower for one of my dearest friends, Rachel Carlson. We played lots of fun games, ate some amazing food, opened presents, and talked forever. It was so much fun!



And good old Libby, Missy, and Jan helped me plan the whole thing. Lib even let me borrow her darling tablecloth (that she made, by the way) and her pretty bowls and things! I just wanted to document this special day in honor of Roche.

Favorite Artists... and counting

Alphonse Mucha

His artwork comes right out of the Art Nouveau era. I love looking at all of the artwork of this time... especially the poster designs.


Harry Clarke

Harry Clarke is best known for his detailed and grotesque artwork that accompanies Edgar Allen Poe stories. I didn't put up one of those illustrations because they are kind of scary but boy, are they awesome.


Yellena James

I found some of her artwork when I was browsing the web. Her artwork is so imaginative... I just love getting lost in all of the details.


Yay for ART!