Blasts from the Past

State fairs and amusement parks always fill me with a sense of nostalgia. As a kid, my family went to both every year. Between the two, my favorite is the fair. Both have rides, great people watching, and yummy deep-fried fare (admittedly my favorite part), but only the fair has freakishly large or small, horse races, and the latest and greatest gadgets.

I was not able to make it to the Idaho State Fair this year, but the Utah State Fair was an acceptable substitute. There are no horse races, but there was plenty of people watching, freakish animals, deep fried food, and . . . ELVIS! Okay, Elvis was not that great. Horrible, actually. It was billed as the American Idol of Elvis contests to determine who would go on to the national Elvis contest. It ended up being only three men, two of which only had a sequinned jumpsuit in common with Elvis. The only one that was any good lost to the one that threw out a bunch of scarves. He was robbed!



Luckily, the rest of the fair did not let me down. There was a steer that was over six feet tall,

a three-month old calf,


a surprisingly serene pig with more piglets than I can count,
lots of fried food (twisted taters, funnel cake, and a scone for me), and, of course, the latest and greatest rides.


Earlier in the summer, I went with my family to Lagoon. It hasn't changed much. There are a lot of new rides, but the Collosus is still the best ride. There was some sibling drama early on. This picture says it all.
But after a couple hours at Lagoon-A-Beach all was well again.

Rumba is making herself at home

After some touch and go moments early on, Rumba and Ani are getting along like gangbusters . . .


sometimes too well.



When Rod was out of town two weekends ago, Rumba came back to Idaho with me. I took her to work with me that day so that I wouldn't have to go all the way home before heading to Idaho. Everyone loved her! Most people didn't even realize she was there because she is so quiet and well-behaved.




We walk her twice every day, but we have only had time to go on a couple of longer hikes. One of them is a trail we just discovered a couple of blocks behind our house. It is not the most picturesque, but it is convenient and better than walking around the block.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

During the wedding planning process, our lives were so busy. Even though I only live three hours away from Idaho Falls (my hometown), I did not go home for seven months. I felt awful for neglecting my grandparents and little brother and told them both I would come visit during the third weekend in August (the only weekend in August that I didn't have a wedding to go to). I told my grandparents I wanted to go on a long drive through Annis and LaBelle, where they grew up. Just before that weekend, though, my Grandma was hospitalized. Instead of spending the weekend spending quality time with my grandparents. I spent most of the weekend in the hospital.

Although my Grandma has been in the hospital before and had problems with her legs for awhile, this was the first time I was truly scared that she might die. My Aunt told me that she had been diagnosed with TTP, which affects the platelet and red and white blood cell counts. As soon as I started to research, I realized that this is a terrible disease that has an extremely high mortality rate (80%) and can lead to sudden death. I barely left my Grandma's side. I put on a happy face for Grandma, but I was heartbroken and inconsolable as soon as I left. It seemed so unfair that when I finally have a chance to spend time with my Grandma, I lose her. I was so angry at myself for not making more of an effort during the wedding process.

When her doctor got back on Monday, I talked to him to ask some questions about her treatment. After a few minutes, it became very clear that we were talking about two different diseases. It turns out she has I-TP, not T-TP. ITP also affects the platelets, but it has a low mortality rate. Within a week, she was out of the hospital and running around the house cleaning and giving Grandpa "honey-dos".

We re-scheduled our trip down memory lane to the first weekend in September. Grandma and Grandpa showed my where they grew up, where they went to school, where they met (rollerskating), and told me all about their courtship. Most of the buildings were either gone or abandoned. The ones that were still standing had not weathered well. It was so fun to see these places that I had heard so much about. I am so grateful that we had this opportunity and that it was not really too late. We ended our trip with a visit to the Annis cemetery to visit their parents' graves. After spending the morning talking about how they grew up, it brought things full circle to hear them talk about where they would be buried. Life is too short!

I suck!

I suck (sorry Lisa Dawn)! I'm sorry I haven't posted for awhile. This week has been really crazy and my camera card has been acting up. Now things have slowed down (fingers crossed), I'm going to post as often as possible so hopefully (still crossed) you will keep reading next time I get too busy to post.

Also, because a few people (you know who you are) have asked, I'm going to post more about some of the wedding details and planning process. I'm sure this is a subject that is not interesting to most of you, so I will try to only do it once a week, Wednesday. If you don't care, don't read that day.

Be back soon.

All the Cool Kids at the Back of the Bus

G Love was great! It was probably the most fun I've had at the Red Butte concerts all year. It started out with a little dancing in the rain and a double rainbow. The opening acts--Tristan Prettyman and the John Butler Trio--were both good, especially the John Butler Trio. The whole sold out crowd was on their feet for most of the night.

Another great season

Sunday night, Rod and I sat out under the stars, drinking porter, and listening to Joan Osborne and John Hiatt. Rod packed a picnic of grilled cheese and pepper jelly panini, tomato salad, and peaches drizzled in balsamic vinegar. It has been a really incredible summer for the Red Butte Gardens concert series. Rod and I missed some of the best ones (Emmylou Harris) because we were doing wedding/honeymoon things, but we tried to make up for it when we got back.

Although the music is always wonderful, my favorite part of the shows are spending time with friends. The setting is really unbeatable too.

I didn't take any pictures of the John Hiatt/Joan Osborne concert. Here are some pictures of Emmett, Mike and Kim's son, at the Wilco concert. He is too cute for words!





If anyone is interested in catching the last show of the season (G Love and the Special Sauce) Thursday night, let us know. Rod always packs an amazing spread!

Eleven

Sorry that this blog has turned into a wedding blog lately. There must be something in the water. I have a elevent weddings, including my own, to attend this summer. All of them were fabulous and, surprisingly different. It is crazy how you can take the same basic formula (white dress + flowers + wedding cake) and get such unique events.

Anyway, here are some pics from some of the weddings I haven't blogged about already.

Bryan and Elyse. It was the first wedding I've ever been to at La Caille. It was such a beautiful setting, complete with wild peacocks, busty waitresses, and a driving range. Elyse was such a beautiful, fashionable bride. For dessert, they had bananas foster. I love flaming desserts. Also, Bryan is a vegan, so the grooms cake was a vegan cake in the shape of a t-bone steak with a cow grazing on top. Too funny! Rod and I sat with Mike and Kim and had so much fun dancing.









Kelli and Dave. We almost didn't make it to Kelli and Dave's wedding because we were prisoners in our own home. Our garage door decided to malfunction on Friday evening, trapping our vehicles for the whole weekend. Luckily, Robyn and Jonathan were happy to bum us a ride.

Kelli and Dave tied the knot in Memory Grove. Kelli looked stunning (as always). She could not stop smiling. It was contagious. Chief Justice Durham performed the ceremony that was so uniquely Kelli and Dave. For me, the highlight of the evening would be a tie between the toast relating Kelli and Dave's NYE streaking story or watching Kelli and Dave shake it on the dance floor. Those two have such great energy! Instead of a traditional wedding cake, they had cheesecake! My fave! It was so great to catch up with friends that we hadn't seen for awhile. Rod and I helped Kelli and Dave close down the party.












Brent and Ashlee. My cousin, Brent got married in a ward house in Idaho Falls. They had a very colorful decor and unexpected guest in the receiving line. It was great to see my family and catch up with my cousins.