Happy Birthday To Me

Happy Birthday to me, happy birthday to me. Happy birthday dear meeeeeeee, happy birthday to me! I'm now 41 years old and proud of it! Tonight is crazy at my house...Kent has parent/teacher conference so he won't be home 'til late. Stefanie is at an overnight field trip, I dropped her off at school this morning, she won't be home until tomorrow afternoon. Rachel is at lacrosse practice, and Braden is at cross country. Wow, a rare moment of complete quiet and peace at home, I like it! We knew we would all be scattered in many different directions tonight so we celebrated my birthday on Sunday evening. Kent baked me a cake, Rachel decorated the living room with birthday posters and banners, and I blew out my candles and opened up a few presents after they all sang to me. Life is good, and I hope for at least 41 years more.

What's Coming Up...

This morning I was contemplating all the events coming up between now and the end of the year. So I made up this poster and posted it in the front room to remind us...so many exciting things to look forward to, I really love this time of year!

Since New Orleans...

Well...a lot has happened at our house since Kent and I returned from our trip to New Orleans, and I am way behind! The summer is officially over, and school is back in session. Here is a brief recap...


Braden's First Year of High School--Here is Braden on the first day of the new school year. (I told him to strike his best GQ pose...he is so handsome!) He is a sophomore this year, and he has eased right into it. Last year he was on a couple of the high school sports teams, so he has lots of older buddies and teammates at Lehi High School. He is a fun-loving, popular kid. His classes this year include: Spanish 3, Driver's Ed., U.S. History, Sophomore English, Algebra 2, seminary, chemistry, and cross country conditioning.


Stefanie's Last Year of Elementary School--Stefanie has made it to the 6th Grade, she loves being in the oldest grade of the school. We were excited that she got assigned to Mrs. Carter's class, a good friend and former coworker of mine. Mrs. Carter was the p.e. specialty teacher at my elementary school a couple of years ago, and moved to the new school to become a 6th grade teacher when it opened last year. I know Stefanie will have a great year in Mrs. Carter's class.

Rachel's Senior Year--You may be wondering where Rachel's picture is...no first day picture of her, she wasn't home! She and a bunch of senior girls wanted to have a big "start-of-our-senior-year" bash, so they all had a sleep-over at a friend's house. We almost didn't let her go, but figured she will only be a senior once, we'll let her live it up! Her classes include...College Creative Writing, College Prep Math, Madrigal Choir, seminary, Clothing Construction, Government and Citizenship.

The Lion King--Last Friday night Kent and I had the opportunity to attend the Broadway production of The Lion King at the Capitol Theater in Salt Lake. It was outstanding! The costumes, backgrounds, and especially the music. I've caught myself singing the score ever since. ("The Circle of Liiiife!") The principal at my elementary school obtained a bunch of tickets, and offered them to the faculty, it was fun to see the show surrounded by my friends and coworkers.

Fractured in Two Places--Yes, it finally happened. Kent and I have been parents for nearly 18 years without dealing with a broken bone, but our perfect record was shattered (literally) when Stefanie fell off the neighbor's trampoline and broke both bones of the forearm. We rushed her to the Insta-care where they x-rayed it and promptly referred us to a specialist who wasn't available until the next morning. Stefanie's arm was put in a splint, and we were sent home...that was a looong, painful night. The next day she was put under anesthesia, and the doctor aligned both bones as best he could. She will be in the splint and sling for 3 weeks, then they will x-ray again to make sure it is healing properly, and get a hard cast below the elbow for another month or so. My poor baby girl, this has not been fun.

Tami's Bridal Shower--We are so excited for my sister Tami's wedding next month on October 5th in the Logan temple. Last Saturday we got to help with her bridal shower, it was so much fun. We played a bunch of silly shower games, had a light luncheon, and watched her open her gifts. She will be such a beautiful bride. Rachel is expecially excited because Tami asked her to be her bridesmaid.

X-Country--It is cross country season again! Braden has been training with his team all summer and is in great shape. Two weeks ago there was a meet in American Fork, Braden ran in the sophomore race. There were over 350 boys in that race, and Braden came in FIFTH!!!! He was amazing! The top ten got medals, we were so proud. Last week was a BYU invitational, Braden ran in the varsity race for that one and was the first one to cross the finish line from the Lehi team. Kent is again coaching his team from Copper Hills, he loves it. Cross Country meets are so exciting, positive and inspiring. I think that of all Braden's sports, this one is my favorite.

BYU Football--And finally, nothing says "fall" like football season! We get excited for every BYU football game...win or lose. We have our same seats on the north end zone, and are ready to break out our navy blue shirts and cheer for the cougars. Last week Kent took Braden to the first home game of the season, in two weeks it will be my turn. Rise and Shout!

Red Dress Run

OK, this is my last post on our trip to New Orleans, but I couldn't wrap it up without documenting how quirky, fun and bizarre this place really is. On our last day in the city we had a few hours before we had to head to the airport, so we wanted to make the most of them. As we headed out for our last morning of sightseeing, this is what we saw...

...large groups of people--women and men--wearing flamboyant red dresses, walking the streets with a beer in hand. There were THOUSANDS of them and they were everywhere! They came in every size, age and gender, and oh my, they were having a great time. It was the strangest, most hilarious thing I've ever seen in my life! We found out that this was the day of the annual Red Dress Run, it's a New Orleans tradition we had never heard of. Apparently it occurs in select cities around the world at different times, but New Orleans is the biggest. Every year on the second Saturday in August, people from all over come to New Orleans, put on their prettiest red dress and run from bar to bar, getting drunk and living it up. The participants are required to register, and all proceeds go to local charities. Last year they raised over ninety thousand dollars. But I'm pretty sure it is mostly an excuse to dress up, act silly and get drunk. I told Kent this has got to be the wierdest city in the world! And I really hope we'll go back again someday.