Would you like a doggy cone??

I just have to give a quick shout out to my friends at DQ! After the rodeo a few of Holly's family members were craving a little treat so we stopped at a Dairy Queen. My feelings for the DQ worker in the drive thru were like an emotional roller coaster! At first I did not like her at all because she was snappy with me when I was placing our order. I just feel like drive thru workers should know that we are going to change our mind at least five times and be completely pleasant the whole time. Well then when I got up to the window I found out she was a midget!! And as most of you know I LOVE the little people so I was having a really hard time staying mad at her for her snappy attitude. Well THEN as I was driving away she saw Ruby in the back seat and said, "Would you like a doggy cone?" How cute is that?! So, my final feelings on the midget DQ worker were positive ones. I of course said yes! She got me a pretty good sized vanilla cone just for Ruby. Ruby loved the thing! I will now try to take Ruby through DQ drive thrus as often as possible.

It was hard to get a good picture of her but you can tell she absolutely loves it!

Give me, give me ICE CREAM!

Giddy Up!

I would have to say that rodeos are definitely on my list of favorite summer activities. I try to go to a few every summer but this year I only made it to one. At least it was the most important one...The Burley Fair and Rodeo baby! I have attended this rodeo for the last few years with Holly and her family and it consistently proves to be a mighty fine time! Hollie, Ruby, and I met Holly and her family there and it was just a blast and a half! Unlike her mother, Ruby is not a fan of rodeos. I felt bad for bringing her because she was TERRIFIED! After the rodeo we went to Holly's brother's house in Twin Falls for a rad sleep over before heading home. It was a fun weekend and great to see Holly!

We literally hadn't seen Holly in like six weeks so we were super excited!

Here we are eating the traditional fair meal deal. Talk about delicious!

This is pretty much the only picture I got of the actual rodeo but just know that it was a amazing and I really wish I was a barrel racer.

The University Inn...A Dream Come True

So I recently moved (a lot more to come in a later post...I am so behind) and there was a about a week in between locations where I was HOMELESS! I went around singing homeless from the forgotten carlols to help get me through the troubling time in my life. I had planned on staying with the family I nanny for, which I was so grateful for...but they are always TOO kind. Melanie got home from work the first night I was going to stay with them and informed me that her and Jason had booked me a room at the University Inn so that I could have my privacy. I felt so bad because they have already helped so much with the move and I was completely fine staying at their house. But she insisted! I was way excited because I have always wanted to say at the University Inn. For those of you that don't know, it is a hotel that is literally in the middle of campus at Utah State. It has always intrigued me! So thank you Melanie and Jason! I really appreciate everyhting you have done for me! The hotel was so so fun!

Hollie came to stay with me one night and she appears to be VERY excited about the University Inn!
We ordered yummy pizza hut to our room. Little did the delivery man know that we are stalkers...

This is one of the views of the lovely campus I had from my room.

I Sleep With Crazies!

One of my very favorite traditions is sleeping on the streeets of Salt Lake on the 23rd for the big parade on Pioneer Day! So, after the Kenny concert we had to head to our traditional spot for some quality entertainment. I have done it for the last four years and I hope to do it for many more! Like it is probably a pretty risky place to bring your kids but I will most likely still do it and just try to shield their eyes. We always meet our fair share of crazies and this year was no exception. We don't even usually stay for the whole parade because we are so tired from all the fun we have during the night. This year the lucky people to join the fun were me, Hollie, Brit, BreeAnn, Jill, Lyns, and Kenz.

The random kid in this pic is Jesse. We know everything there is to know about Jesse now and he is quite and interesting guy. He is kenzie's friend that decided to hang out with us for the night and he just really latched onto Brit and they were definitely boyfriend and girlfriend for the night I would say. He is one of the crazies I speak of. We were best friends during the night and then all of a sudden he HATED us in the morning! But then liked us again before we left. I wonder waht it'll be next time we meet Jesse...

Let me tell you a few fun facts about this guy: 1. His name is Kevin. 2. He is a U.S. Marshall. 3. He has been all over the world, the most impressive of all, Jackson Hole. 4. He owns Jackson Hole. 5. He saved Elizabeth Smart, who actually looks exactly like Hollie Marshall. 6. His sole purpose in coming to the parade was to protect us from the cowboy hat guy in the backround. 7. The parade experience would not have been half as fun without him there.
My favorite part of the actual parade is when the prophet or member of the first presidency drives by. This year it was President Eyring. I didn't get a very good picture, unfortunately. But he was so cute!

Darin was so impressed with how good we looked after our night on the streets, he wanted to take a picture.

I love the parade and I can't wait to see who we meet next year!

Oh Mr. Chesney...

I always forget how much I love Kenny until I attend one of his hot rockin concerts again! He is such an amazing entertainer and I always leave on such a high. I was pretty sad that his concert was not going to be at Usana this year because it is sure to be a good time there, but he did not disappoint at the soccer stadium place it was at. The concert was so much fun and I can't wait until next year! Maybe he will finally realize that I am his soul mate and we will elope together on one of his private islands I am sure he has!

Here we are waiting for the greatest concert ever to start! Well actually I say that about all the concerts I go to when in all actuality Celine Dion was the best concert I have ever and will ever attend. But it was still really amazing.

I am not sure why, but the beach balls being tossed around before the concert started made me joyful beyond belief. I really wish someone would have whipped one out at my high school graduation now that I know they bring me such happiness. Here is Brit blowing up a flat one so that we could continue the fun. There was one security guard in particular that hated life and kept taking the beach balls away from us. Like what could it hurt? I hope every concert I go to from here on out has beach balls. Yeah baby!

Another form of entertainment before the concert came in the form of this man. He literally thought he was so great and he kept walking around bowing for the crowd. I personally am grateful he was there because, well, I like really white trash ghettos. They just make me laugh!

And beautiful. But I must say, I do not find him one bit attractive without some sort of a hat on. I am not picky so it can be a baseball cap or a classic cowboy, but keep your head covered Kenny.

These are the stamps that got us down on the floor! That's right people, I was on the floor. We saw this guy walking around talking to people and it looked like he would give them something and then they would proceed to scream excitedly and run toward Kenny. I was determined to fetch this reward for myself so we decided to try and go talk to him. We were asking the security guard to go and get the man, when all of a sudden he grabbed our hands and stamped them! Can you even believe that? It was pretty funny because these girls right next to him were telling us how they had been working on him all night and it was a lost cause. I guess he just wanted to impress me so that he could date me or something.

And look who we ran into! You might not be able to recognize him fully clothed...

I messed this picture up so it looks kind of weird. But the point is we are REALLY excited to be so close! After we made it to the floor we jumped a row of chairs and walked up the side where we enjoyed the second half of the concert from the FRONT row. It was unbelievable and so so fun!

I am really jealous we got separated from Brit and Jamie at the end because they were able to snap a pic with the man that made our night so incredible!

Cheers to Harry!

On Saturday night I attended quite the party! I have been told I need to start calling it more of a small gathering since there were only four people in attendance, but it was a party to us! Hollie and her sister Krista decided to throw a Harry Potter themed party in anticipation of the 6th movie, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, which comes out this Wednesday! I am actually not a huge fan of the Harry Potter movies thus far, but I still get into the spirit and go to the premieres and what not. The previews always trick me into thinking they are going to be amazing, but they just can't get as good as the books! Anyway, the party was quite a night to remember! I want to thank Krista and Hollie for all the hard work they put into making a truly magical night!

This is what beheld my eyes right when I walked through the door. It's so festive! I love it! The golden snitch isn't too hard to find this time..that's right people, that is a golden snitch cake! Yum!

Guests at the party included...

Mad-eye Moody, or Alastor is probably what he would prefer to be called.

Professor Trelawney

Moaning Myrtle...now let me explain my lame costume. I could not decide for the life of me who to be when my friends so brilliantly suggested Moaning Myrtle. They think I look like her. Is that good or bad? I'm not really sure. Anyway, in the movie she wears the robes, but I didn't have them so I tried to go for the student look instead. She is in Ravenclaw so I wore blue and I tried to make my face pale with this stuff from Fun Daze that apparently sucks. It mostly just looks like I have a weird skin disease. So it didn't come together very well but me posing by the toilet should be a dead give away.

And of course Harry Potter himself had to make an appearance!

Did I say four guests? Silly me. I meant five. Uncle Vernon joined us via satellite. Isn't this hilarious? Since Holly is now living in Boise, she couldn't be at the party in person but she didn't let that stop her from dressing up! And I would have to say I think she definitely wins best costume.

Here are the five of us ready for a night full of magic!

First on the agenda was finding a wand for each of us. We all had to try a few until we found just the right match!

This wand was obviously not the wand for Moaning Myrtle as it seems to be causing some sort of disaster!

Ooh it looks like Professor Trelawney found her match!

And Harry is conjuring something truly magnificent with his perfect wand! I don't have a picture of Mad-eye testing wands but I am confident he found a good one.

Next up was to get sorted into houses. The sorting hat couldn't make it so we settled for a simple internet quiz that is just as accurate.

GRYFFINDOR!!!

GRYFFINDOR!!!

GRYFFINDOR!!!

RAVENCLAW? Hmm...

Here is Myrtle again with all her goods she stole from the party. Butter beer, firebolt, wand, HP glasses, and HP stickers are just a few of the prizes for the party goers.

After we were sorted it was time for the costumes to come off for an intense game of Quidditch!

Teams: Krista and Alyssa vs. Hollie and BreeAnn

You can't see my shirt very good but it says Gryffindor Captain. I think I proved that I deserved this position during the match.

Since there was only four of us we had to make a few minor adjustments to the game. It went as follows: Two people would play a chaser/beater combo hitting a rubber ball with plastic bats and brooms inbetween their legs across the designated goals in front of Hogwarts.(aka the church next to Hollie's house) This is not as easy as it sounds. Bree actually scored more goals then me but only because she violated the one rule, kicking the ball across the line! While this was taking place the seekers would search for the golden snitch that the beaters had hidden before the match started. When the snitch was found, the match was over!

Bree and I hid the snitch in the dirt. It wasn't completely buried but almost, making it very very tricky to find!

Hollie and Krista made the snitch actually fly by placing it in the trees.

These poor souls got their trash kicked!

Yea for Gryffindor!!! Victory!

Funny side note: a cop saw us playing in front of the church and turned around to see what mischief we were up to. We hurriedly grabbed all of our quidditch supplies and started heading back to Hollie's, but once he saw the broomsticks and our Harry Potter shirts, he just said he was making sure we were having fun! He started to pull away, stopped, rolled down his window, and said,"Harry Potter?" Maybe he was confused as to why four girls in their twenties appeared to trying to create a fantasy game. He chuckled and drove away though!

Sometimes I have the nerve to think that people that really love Star Wars or Star Trek or some other weird show like that are total nerds, but it is very apparent from the evidence above that I am right along there with them! I can't help it. Harry Potter just makes me giddy! My favorite quote of the night was spoken by Deb Marshall, Hollie's mom. She looked around and said, "I just want to remind you guys that somewhere in the world, there are a bunch of ten year olds having this exact same party." Ha ha! Oh well! It was a great party!

Grandpa Gunter's big bash!

On Monday we celebrated my Grandpa Gunter's 80th birthday with a surprise party at their house. The big surprise wasn't as exciting as I had hoped because my dear grandma put 5:00 on all the invitations, but told my uncle to have him back to the house at 4:30 so he could get washed up. So there wasn't really anyone there when he walked in the door and he was just confused by the random decorations. Ha ha! But eventually he caught on and the party was great! He is quite the popular guy cause he had a great turn out! My grandpa is the cutest man ever and such a good example to our family. I think that he forgets that he is 80 because he tries to do so much! Like he can't see or hear but he continues to drive. Scary? Pretty much. He is always looking for opportunities to help people. I love him very much! Happy birthday Grandpa!

This is when he first walked in with the few people who were there.

My cousin Kent and his son Spencer.
Both of my adorable grandpas.

Me, my cousin Ally, and my cousin Carly. Oh, and Ruby! She was a naughty girl at the party. She chased my little cousin around and made him cry and everyone stopped talking and watched me chase her around the tree. It was a pretty embarrassing mom moment.

My father and his cousin Joni.

My aunt Peggy and uncle Earl. I was hoping some good dance music would come on cause my uncle Earl really owns the dance floor.

Me and my cousin Mackenzie.