Two Weddings and a Birthday

Balloon photo by Courtney Winnie

I decided to do this post after reading my friend Marilyn's blog where she mentioned that she was out of town recently and missed one of our neighbors incredible wedding reception. To make matters worse the two people that promised her they would take lots of pictures failed miserably and took zero. I didn't take as many as I would have liked but managed to snap a few, so here you go Marilyn these are for you! 

July 19th was a crazy day around our house since it was Karli's 18th birthday and we also had two Wedding Receptions to attend that night. The day started out with a visit to the salon with Karli and Ashley where we treated ourselves to a pedicure. Next we headed to Lifetime Fitness for a quick workout on the weight machines in our flip flops (wet toenails:) and then out to the pool for some UV!

Later in the day after Karli opened her presents everyone started disappearing one at a time. Karli was whisked away by her friends for an evening of Birthday fun! Ashley was off to Gateway for dinner and a movie with her boyfriend to celebrate his birthday, Jake went to his friend Parker's house to help with his sister's wedding reception which was also our second wedding destination of the night. Since Justin had come up for Karli's birthday he decided to join Pat and me for some official Wedding hopping:)

 

The first Wedding Reception of the night was Vintage Carnival Style held on a roping arena that had been covered in sod just for this event, complete with a live band, photo booth and a 50 foot ferris wheel!

Justin looking dapper in front of one of the many 

vintage cars that lined the perimeter

What a cool way to display the gifts!

 

photo of my niece Amy 

taken by her big sis Courtney Winnie

Another cute picture taken by my talented niece 

(check out the cool rims on that car!)

I never made it over to the big tent where the food was since I was going to be eating dinner at our second stop, but I heard it was a delicious gourmet hotdog bar...how fun is that?! I did however make it a point to get a close look at all of the goodies which included.... cotton candy, popcorn, a candy station and cupcakes. Here are some pictures of just a few of them....

Pink Lemon-aid Cupcakes

Lime-aid Cupcakes

Lemon Cupcakes

Coconut Cupcakes

Cinnamon Toast Cupcakes

Popcorn & Cotton Candy

Sweet trip to the candy shop!

It was a fun and beautiful reception with a magnificent backdrop of the gorgeous mountains (and it was conveniently located around the corner from my house I might add!) Sadly we didn't have time to stand in line for the ferris wheel or the photo booth, but we still had a good time visiting with friends and neighbors. 

As I stood there soaking in the excitement from all of the lavish festivities, the one thing that caught my eye the most was how the Bride and Groom seemed to be oblivious to all of the dazzling commotion going on around them:)

Jake and his friends making pink Italian Soda's 

Next it was on to Wedding Reception number two. 

Thank goodness it was only a 2 minute drive away from where we were since we were running a little bit late. I'm sad I don't have any pictures of the second reception which was held in my friends gorgeous backyard. Just picture this... round tables with white cloths to the ground and white chairs with big white bows tied around them. Glass containers with pink hydrangea's and lots of candles flickering everywhere.... so pretty! It was catered by Cafe Rio! Dinner was a choice of Pork or Chicken Taco's, & Pork Enchilada's...sooo tasty! Pat and I were placed at a table with my sister, a girl we went to high school with, a childhood friend, and all of their husbands. We had fun reminising and catching up! 

Two things I noticed at this event.... 

The bride and groom were so adorable! 

Jake makes a mean Italian Soda! 

We rushed home to get ready for Karli and her friends to show up. They were coming back to our house after spending the night miniature golfing and going to the firework show at Draper Days. We fired up our new fire pit and set out all the fixings to make S'mores. 

Unfortunately most of Karli's guy friends were in Lake Powell and it was a little warm outside for a campfire but oh well they still had a lot of fun! 

Reese's Peanut Butter cups on the S'mores were a hit!

The gang's half here!

After Party midnight chat

What a fun night!

The End

I have a dream......

After seeing Mama Mia last night I realized I have a dream.... and that dream is to live in Greece! 

Or maybe just vacation there:)

The plot of this movie goes against my beliefs (what movie out there doesn't except maybe the ones that Pixar or Disney make) anyway I loved it! It made me want to sing and dance. I heard that on opening night the audience was singing along.... wish I would have known:0

Here are some reasons why I think I liked it so much....

*The Music! Abba reminds me of being a young and carefree teenager

*Dancing Queen came out when I was... "young and sweet only seventeen"

*The breathtaking scenery

*Sophie had a one piece swimsuit instead of a string bikini....how on earth did that happen!?

*I got to stare at Pierce Brosnon for a couple of hours! Ok.... so his singing wasn't the greatest but...sigh....I forgive him:)

Happy Pioneer Day

I love my Pioneer Heritage!

Happy Birthday Karli!

Date: July 19, 1990

Weight: 7 lbs 8 oz

Height: 19 inches

ONE

Giggly & Gooey

TWO

Miss Mischievous

THREE

Sweet & Sassy

FIVE

Bright & BubblySIX
Friendly & Funny

SEVEN

Pretty & Playful

NINE

Quiet & Qute (that's how Pat spells cute)

TWELVE

Metal Mouth

Sweet Sixteen

Silly Seventeen

....Hello Eighteen!

Hurley

The average dog is a nicer person

than the average person.

Andrew A. Rooney

Hurley was way above average!

Close to midnight on the night of July 4th, after a full day of patriotic fun; Pat, Justin and I were relaxing outside enjoying the warm summer breeze. We were having such a nice time chatting while watching our dog Hurley run around the backyard in pure doggy bliss. We laughed as we commented on how much he loved to have us outside to watch him romp and play, when he quickly sprinted off towards the driveway in a barking frenzy. We assumed Karli or Jake had just pulled up and he was running to greet them, when all of a sudden he let out a yelp. We ran over to find him standing on our upper lot next to a coyote! Pat yelled to him and he quickly came back down to us. When Pat picked Hurley up his hands were covered with blood. We called our neighbor John Sieverts and he came over and performed surgery right there on our grass, but when he sewed Hurley back up his stomach filled up with air. John had to cut him back open and we rushed him to Cottonwood Animal Hospital where they let him stabilize and then operated on him for 3 hours. Sadly too much damage was done and they couldn't repair his lung completely, so every time they sewed him up he would just fill back up with air. It was such a sad day for all of us... he was such a sweet little guy and we are going to miss him so much!

The top 11 things I loved about my dog...

#11 He was cute

#10 He was cuddly

#9 He loved to sleep on top of you

#8 He loved to sleep curled up beside you

(What is it with my boys sleeping on the kitchen floor?)

#7 He felt bad for you and comforted you when

you were sick with an ear infection

#6 He was proud of your accomplishments

#5 He loved birthday parties

#4 He loved to eat grass

#3 He loved to protect his family by constantly watching out the window for anything that moved so he could run outside and chase it away.... Keeping our territory - bird, deer, fox, quail, neighbors cat, skunk, squirrel etc free

#2 He loved to nap on the highest point of the sofa for

the same reason as mentioned above

and the #1 reason I loved my dog....

He was always there to greet you no

matter the weather!

We love you Hurley! You were the best dog in the whole wide world!

Click here to read the heartfelt post Justin wrote about Hurley. (Dog lovers grab a tissue!) Thanks Justin for putting my sentiments into words I could not!