S&S Shortline Railroad

Just got back from a perfect weekend in Jackson. Love that place! I’ll have pictures tomorrow of our trip. Let’s just say I was up till 2 AM reading a romance novel rather than doing anything on my to do list.

I’m a little hesitant to post this. The pictures are from last year when we went to this railroad. I would have posted last year but they are only open the first Saturday of the month from May – September so that’s only 5 days a year. So I got this post all ready to go in May but then when searching for their website noticed it had been deleted. I hope they are still running their trains because I’d love to take Logan up there again. If anyone goes or has been this year let me know.

Here is the address
575 North 1525 West
Farmington Utah

Logan was and still is totally in love with trains so we thought we'd go up to Farmington to this family's house that has these trains to ride. Yes this is someone's house. Crazy.Our kids were too small to do the above train but they still had fun.

We took along the Aerins and L&L.

Erin don't hate but doesn't she look great being only like a week or two post partum.

We had to get a shot of all the kids. This was the best we could get with 2-2 year olds and 2-18 month olds.

Snowball Fight

We had the Aerins over for a BBQ a couple weeks ago. I gave Logan and Acelin one snowball each to throw at each other. Well then I went back to the table and they were out of view from the table. When I came back they'd demolished our snowball bushes and were in a full on battle.

In these photos it looks like Logan is doing all the throwing but don't worry Acelin was holding her own and there were actually no tears the whole time. They were so funny, every time they threw one they'd yell, "Snowballll!"

Ensign Peak

It seems like lately a lot of friends are moving out of state. I keep saying that if I lived out of state I'd totally take advantage of all the cool things to see and pretty much be a tourist in my own back yard. Well I'm still in Utah so I guess I should practice what I whine about.

Also I was reading on Ali Edward's blog about making sure you remember to live. I love the quote she used in the post.

ANNA QUINDLEN : Life is made of moments, small pieces of silver amidst long stretches of tedium. It would be wonderful if they came to us unsummoned, but particularly in lives as busy as the ones most of us lead now, that won't happen. We have to teach ourselves now to live, really live...to love the journey, not the destination.

I don't know anyone who isn't busy but I strongly believe that you totally have time for the things that are important to you. I think people some times forget what is important. I want to fill Logan's childhood (heck, who am I kidding I want to fill up my memories) with memories of doing fun things and not always filling it with projects around the house.

I came up with a list of items I want to complete this summer. They are all fun things. I'm hoping to make it into a small scrapbook but that might be awhile since I've been so busy living and gardening (which I'm so in love with more so than usual).

One of our first stops was Ensign Peak. I've been there with YW but Tad and Logan had never been there. It's so short anyone can do this one. Logan did the whole thing himself except for a short section at the top. He absolutely loved it. You don't really do this hike to see the scenery on the way up because it's not all that pretty but once at the top the view is amazing.

At the time of this hike Logan was in love with Jungle Book so he said he was man cub and we were in the jungle. We kept looking for Bagera on the way up.

Self timer shot that isn't the best but I was loving all the wisteria vines. If you haven't smelled wisteria before you need to, it smells heavenly and it blooms in the spring.

Dinosaur Park

Awhile ago we went to Dinosaur Park up in Ogden with the Aerins. I thought it was all right. Maybe when Logan is a little older it would be better. Inside they have some moving dinosaurs and that kind of freaked Logan and Acelin out. Outside they have speakers making it sound like dinosaurs are growling or walking around so yeah that also wasn't the best. Also part of it might have been my fault because I told Logan we were going with Acelin because that way if the dinosaurs were hungry they'd eat her first. Oops.

Logan loved digging for the bones and probably would have stayed there for quite awhile but his counterpart wasn't too interested.

Had to get a picture at the extremely cheesy cut outs.

Even though we went there at the end of April Logan will still say, "Oops, sorry guys, dinosaurs ate Acelin." It makes me laugh every time.

Before and Afters

I love when people post before and after shot on their blogs. These might not be as exciting but I'm happy with the results.

We've had this old bench that was my parents. In the before shot I'd all ready spray painted most of the cream/rust covered bars. Now all our outdoor furniture is the same colors so I'm happy about that.

Above I bought three ugly frames that had some great designs to them. I hated the colors so I took my spray paint to them. These would also be cute in bright colors but I wanted them for a photo wall I'm doing downstairs in black frames.

Below is my April POTM.

Tad and most of my family think the doors are dumb but I like them and so does Nikki. If I explain they're for Tad's brother's wedding reception people accept them though (No, Tad's brother is not getting married, I wish just so I could help with decorations). I'm not sure if the after photo looks better because I weeded everything, added weed barrier and bark and all our plants are green and growing but the after looks good. I like the doors because then I'm not looking at all the mismatched fences.

Also right after I finished this project I got a new book in the mail. I felt good about my decorating and came up with some more ideas (insert Tad's eye roll here).

60th Party

I actually completed a POTM in time. I guess I really didn't have a choice in this one since it had to be done on May 29th. Well it turned out so much better than I could have ever expected. I was so worried about the food assignments and how people would react to all the decorations and help I needed that day but everyone was so nice and didn't complain once. I even had my 2 uncles (one is mayor of the town and the other is a total cowboy) making the coffee filter garland.

For each of the 8 tables I had 6 various jars that I filled with flowers. I was devastated when the flower guy went to the wrong Costco location but no worry he'll be there at 7 AM on Saturday. Saturday at 9 he wasn't there but he'd be there right at 11 AM. Go back to Costco at 11:20 AM (absolute latest time I could stop by before going to Idaho) still no flower guy and it's Memorial Day weekend. I wanted all white flowers and I still think it would have look best with all white but plans had to change. It was also fun to have about 1/2 of the flowers coming from my yard.

Here is the corsage I made for my Grandma, it really looks so much cuter in person. I loved how it turned out. I found the tutorial on Project Wedding and then modified it a little bit from a bouquet I saw that had strips of burlap in it.

My mom had the whole family put together letters to my grandparents and then she had it made into a digital scrapbook and then bound into a book. This is my aunt, Nalene and she looks so much like my mom.

Menu

BBQ Beef or Pork Sandwiches

White Chocolate Strawberry Trifle (I need to get a picture of it because it's really is to die for)

Nutella Cupcakes (my latest addiction)

Southwest Black Bean Salad

Artichoke Dip and Baguettes

Fruit Kabobs

Costco chocolate and carrot cake

and many other desserts and salads

Another thing at the party that was the big hit of the night was the photo booth. I got pictures of every single family member. Tad made the quote chalkboard and we had fun putting silly sayings on it. I might have to drag it up to the reunion.

It was a lot of fun to get ready for but was also a big relief to have it over and see that it turned out so well.

Not sure what my June POTM will be but it won't be anything compared to last month's project.

Today's Happy List

living - mint mud room 2
Originally uploaded by giac1061

Lunch with a friend and at one of my favorite downtown restaurants – Siegfried’s

Netflix customer service

My garden

Getting a month back from my summer because a trial got bumped

Mint green – thinking of painting our downstairs’ foyer this color but maybe more minty. We’ll see.

Summer BBQs

Knowing when I get home my whole house will be sparkling clean