Dr. Horrible The Musical

Colby and I discovered this musical online by Joss Whedon, written while the writer's strike was going on. For those of you who don't know Joss Whedon, he wrote Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly and Serenity. The music is very clever and catchy and is incredibly funny! So go check it out!

Happy Fourth of July!

I just thought on this, our nation's birthday, I would reflect on the meaning of Independence and what has been sacrificed to keep our country free. In 1776 our founding father's signed a piece of paper that was a reflection of their opinions regarding the rights of individuals that has changed the shape of the world. My ancestors fought in the War of Independence, allowing me to have the right of representation.

More recently, my grandfather's on both sides, participated in World War II. It hurts me to see individuals disrespect the flag because when I see the Stars and Stripes flying it is not just a piece of fabric but a representation of all that has been sacrificed for me. Today we have soldiers who are celebrating the fourth far from home to keep my rights in place, my thoughts and prayers go out their families and my heartfelt thanks go to those who are far from their loved ones so that I can be with mine.

So as we spend time with our families and hit the great sales I hope we can pause and remember why we celebrate this day. Not forgetting those who have given the ultimate sacrifice, their lives, so that we don't have to.

Houseboat

Colby and I were able to spend several days down at the houseboat this weekend with my family. Jocee and Zorn are preparing to move to Beaver this next week so they were unable to come with us. We offered to take Brejden with us so Jocee wouldn't have so much help with the packing.

Brejden was great and loves to ride on "Pompa's boat". D.J. and Matt were able to come up from their summer job in Las Vegas to spend some time with us and really enjoyed wake boarding.

Jordanne, Jillian and Dad were with us. It is the first time since Dad got the houseboat that it has just been us so it was nice but felt a little weird to not have the boat full of people. The weather was wonderful and there was very few people on the lake so we were able to ski just about all day.

Because of the price of gas we decided not take the boat out of the slip at the dock so we drove to this great beach to let Brejden (and everyone else) play in the water. The beach had a bunch of clay so Matt and D.J. drew on themselves and Matt did a great impression of the Incredible Hulk for us.

Memorial Weekend

I realize I am a little late in posting this but life has been busy lately. I am the young Women's President for our ward and next week is Girl's Camp.

We spent the weekend in St. George. Unfortunately, it was much cooler than usual so we were unable to go to Lake Mead. (Dad was very upset about the temperature.) Colby and I spent Sunday at his parents house and Colby manned the grill when Grandma and Grandpa Squire came over for lunch. It was fabulous!








Jillian has been working hard the last couple of months to clean out mom's "sty" room. She is going to be moving into the room soon so we spent some time repainting the room in the colors she choose. I don't know if you can tell from the photo but one wall is a medium chocolate color, one wall is tan and a bright pink stripe. It looks so cute!






Monday Dad, Colby, Jordanne, Jillian, Kato and I went on a "grandpa, just over this hill, it's an easy hike, what do you mean it's been three hours and ten miles" hike. Dad kept saying it's just a little farther, I told him I knew this trick. If you notice in the few photos of me that I look pained, let's just say I am not a little as I used to be and am definitely not in the shape I once was. If you notice the sign, we were on a "protected" reserve, I love you can't go anywhere to go hiking near St. George without having to watch for the desert tortoise (that I have never seen in the wild). After hiking for several miles we decided to head back to the vehicles and Kato fell down a canyon. Kato was injured slightly and wouldn't trust us anymore when we told him to come so Colby and Dad ended up having to lift Kato down the canyon. For all my panting and whining I had a really good time and am even more motivated to get into better shape.

Yard Work Surprises

Colby and I finally buckled down and attacked the weeds growing in our flower beds in the front yard and came upon an abandoned quail 's nest with eggs in it. I have seen a male quail in the back yard every morning for the last month so I suspect we have a nest somewhere in the backyard as well. I have decided not to go looking for it in case the quails decide to abandon that nest also. I have also decided not to let Smokey Joe (my killer attack kitty) into the back yard because he would chase any birds in the area off and/or kill the birds if he could catch them. (Although I have been tempted because I have yet to eat a cherry off my tree in the backyard thanks to the birds enjoying the cherries every year.)

This year Colby and I decided to landscape the side of our house with native drought resistant plants to help conserve water. We visited this great nursery called Cactus and Tropicals and picked up three different yucca plants and three sage brush plants. I can't wait for it to rain so I can smell the wet sage brush.

While we were working in the yard Smokey Joe had his face pressed to the screen begging to be let out. I have to admit our yard is looking much better but I am sure feeling sore from spending most of the day on my knees and the rest of the time in flats (as most of you are aware I wear high heels almost exclusively so anytime I spend a lot of time in flats my calf muscles are sore, yes, I admit it, I am a wuss).

Signs of Summer

It seems that summer/spring has finally decided to come to Salt Lake City. It took long enough to get here but in typical Salt Lake weather manner it doesn't just get warmer and nice, no, it has to get in the 90's when last week we got snow. On a happy note, I was finally able to pull out my hammock and enjoy my beautiful backyard, my favorite thing about the house we are currently renting. Of course, by mid-week this week we are supposed to drop 30 degrees and be 60 but at least we were able to enjoy the warm weather this weekend.

Graduation at Last!

Last weekend I finally graduated! If you look closely at the slide show I am the one in black with the funny hat on. My dad and sisters Jordanne and Jillian traveled up and Colby's parents came up for the day. Kim and Bentley joined the family and kept everyone entertained. Jordanne and Jillian found the ceremony so thrilling that Jordanne pulled out a book to read and Jillian started reading over her shoulder. At one point, I looked across the stadium and saw both my dad and Colby's dad sound asleep with their heads resting on their chests in the exact same way.

After the ceremony we were joined by Wendy, Rob and the kids, Shawn and his wife Hailey, and my friend Emlyn with her cute little girl, Millie. The day was beautiful and Colby was king of the grill. We were able to enjoy the sunshine (of course I ended up sunburned).

I will admit I am looking forward to having some time off before I start law school. I am hoping to get some of my U.F.Os completed (unfinished objects) from my craft basket and read books that I want to read and not that I have to read.