Aim High.......

 The past several days I have had the chance to spend with

my younger sister Amy.

"Aim"

Aim is amazing to me.

She is extrodinarily talented and creative.

We have been working on making little purses.

I had a favorite one that broke two days ago.

I have used it like crazy to carry

my phone, lipgloss, a little cash or a credit card, etc.

it is the perfect size for times you don't want your giant bag.

We have also been working on these little dolls for gifts.

(who knows....maybe you will be a lucky recipient!!)

Amy is the real mastermind behind the projects though.

I am constantly freezing up while sewing, afraid to make a mistake, or

confused about which way to turn this or that piece of fabric so

it will turn out right.

I have been known to get so frustrated with the hand sewing that my

dolls end up going w/out eyes, or accidentally making my doll's legs

so narrow that I can't even shove the pencil down to

turn it right side out.
Stinking legs!

My dolls turn into eyeless mice,

but hers are adorable.
ALWAYS.
I swear she can do no wrong when it comes to creativity.

She has always been artistic.

Here is a little sampling of our (her) efforts.

I am good at stuffing and sewing up the seams after Amy does all the work.

It is easy to whittle away several hours on our projects and

not be aware of how much time has passed.....

this has happened a few times on this trip.

Love to craft with this girl!

Look at my new purse!

I did make that....with Amy's guidance.

Can you believe her craft room???

I love all of her storeage ideas....these are just little snipets,

Woudn't it be fun to have a room like this?

She has definietely earned it.

She is constantly working on projects for someone else,

the young women for camp, birthday gifts for the kids to give friends,

you name it.

These are some other creative projects Aim has done.

I love the tree in her daughter Elle's room.

She painted that fun picture below.

McCauley has one of her mobiles in her room.

Today was our big run....

well it wasn't that big, a 10K

and it was all down hill.  It was a lot of fun to run with her

again and see the beautiful city of Salt Lake in a different light.

I slept at her place last night,

we got up at 4:30a.m. to be there at 5:15. 

It was a fun route to run because of the pending parade.

There was lots of interesting people watching.

Tons of people slept out and were still in their beds checking us out as well.

Amy will be running the marathon with our group in January!!!

A first for both of us.

After our run Amy had to go do 5 massages....yikes.

How are your calves lady?

mine are totally sore!!!

This is how we spent the rest of our day -

cliff jumping up Ogden Canyon! 

 

KOWABUNGAAAAAAAAAAA!

Half Over.......

We are two weeks into our vacation,

 having a wonderful time.

Today is one of the days I have been waiting for with

anticipation and longing.

I met my sister Amy at the Kura Door Spa in the Avenues,

where she works, for a pedicure and facial.

Two treatments I have been needing badly.

I had a fantastic two hours getting spoiled by my sister.

She does such an amazing job and I always enjoy

my time in her care.

My only complaint is that I can not manopolize her time

 even more during our visits home to Utah.

I always feel great,

but also a little bad leavinging after my treatments w/ Amy.

I leave to go off and relax and admire my toes somewhere,

while she on the other hand has to continue on with her

appointments....

more facials, more waxing, massage...whatever.

Doesn't feel fair.

                                                   

This is my brother Jason.

I am loving our bike rides and motorcycle journeys.

I hope to report on at least a few more of each before

our trip is over.

This past weekend we went to Nephi for the

Rodeo and Fun Run -

(I took first in my age group!!! 34 - 39, 27 minutes for the 5k)

. We camped out (well at least the boys did)

M and I , plus my neice Abbie, stayed with

 my parents in their trailer.

We played several new games I bought,

some are keepers, others not so much.

Mostly I loved that my sister Heather and her husband Travis were

camping out with us as well.

The kids had a fun time getting to know them better.

The rodeo was a lot of fun.  The opening flag ceremony

and National Anthem, were a highlight for me, along with the Wild Child

motorcycle clown.

I recorded a little video snipet I will try and load later.

Yesterday we met a few of our friends (the Munns Sisters)

from Florida, at the

Bean Museum at BYU - super cool!

After, we hit the Creamery for lunch.

We had massive mint chocolate

brownies and plate sized sweet rolls for super cheap.

Next we hit the campus bowling alley, arcade, and book store.

To get there we had to walk through the campus and several museum

displays.  I kept marveling at how much there was to do there.

I saw many families and people that looked like they were not actually

going to school there.

I said to Vanessa, so can anyone come here?

Well sure, it's not a closed campus or anything.

aaaaaaa, duh.

Well why in the heck have we never been there to enjoy any of these

cool attractions before?

It was nice to have an introduction to a little of what BYU has

to offer. 

Both my parents went to school there, as well as my inlaws.

Clue us in guys.

Vanessa and I really did not bowl, we were just trying to look cool.

I think we succeeded.

We did all of these things w/ only one kid getting lost,

one kid vommitting out his nose and mouth into some bushes,

one mom having to leave early to take an extrememly ill child to

Urgent care, (different kid from the one that threw up), so

all in all, I'd say it was pretty much par for the course.

Good times had by most. 

-In case you are not familiar with the Bean Museum,

it is a science center FULL of stuffed animals.

REAL...passed on animals of all kinds.

It is quite unbelievable.

What a marvel to think that Heavenly Father has created and

placed all of these wildly different creatures here on earth

for us to admire and enjoy.

Do you think he had a design team or what??

I have many pictures I will collage when I get home...

I really want you to see more of what we saw-

We concluded the day by driving by and seeing Shelly and Johns

new digs in Orem.

They found a beautiful home. 

Very happy for them.....

(Can't believe I did not get a pic w/ you, or your house!! Lame.)

I love it here.

I love the running, driving, biking, and hiking, 

all while taking in the mountains.

It is a good feeling being surrounded by them.

It feels safe....

but on other occations it feels so lonely.

I am surrounded by family, which I am loving,

but my other half is missing.

Kevin is not here.

He is not the only person I am missing...a few close friends,

otherwise I would be ready to say goodbye to the water and sand.

I am anticipating our return trip home, but I also

do not want to leave.

Trip Happenings......

 We have been in Utah for a few days now.

We are having a wonderful time,

I thought I would post a few favorite highlights so I don't

forget all the good stuff by the time we get home.

This may not be Ryker's favorite moment,

but I love staying at my parents,

my dad is always good about keeping the boys

"active".  Yesterday one of thier jobs was to keep

the four wheeler running so that some

special oil stuff my dad put in it could work.

They had to drive it up and down the sidewalks...

what torture!

 McCauley and Ryker helped my mom make

bread sticks and pretzels...

yummy!!

Now, this is my ultimate thrill.

I love going motorcycle riding with my older brother Jason.

I can almost bet this will be my top favorite activity on

our trip...and we still have weeks to go.

His bike is sooooooooooo comfortable.

I will get a picture next time.

It has arm rests, a sweet back rest.

I feel so comfy and safe back there,

and yet wild and free and out there!

It is such a thrill!

I took a zillion pictures, was instagraming, and just

taking in the beauty all around me.

Jas and I went by several of our old houses that we lived

in growing up.  I snapped photos...

I am going to make a big collage and see if we can get all of them

in this area.  There were several that we couldn't

get to in time before it got too dark.

oh dang...that means another ride for me!

 This was only one shot of so many that were breathtakingly beautiful.

This is the Bountiful Temple.

We have a trip planned to go there tomorrow.

Jas and I also went on a 20 mile bike ride....

which we peddled with our legs.

He is a mega rider.

I am definietly hoofing it hard to try and keep up with him,

although he is still always waiting for me it seem for one reason or another.

I have to build up to the long ones each summer.

Our next one will be 35 miles and so on.

This morning bright and early a few of my siblings and I

went on a sweet hike up the hills above my parents

new home.

We were missing my brother Chuck and my sister Heather.

We did not have any of the kids because we wanted

to check it out before we took the entire crew.

It was beautiful and enjoyable....

and another heart pumper.

This is Jason and his big dog Bo, and Keri's small

rear sniffer Aesop.

Hey look, I have bright hair again!

We had many idiotic photo opps...this is only one of

many fantastic shots!

I need my picasa so I can college again.

A little bit of nature....