Birthday Boy

Notice the date on the board-07/03/10. I asked Bart what he wanted for his birthday and he replied, "I don't want to have to plan anything or have you ask me what I want." Thus I planned the entire weekend full of fun...or so I thought.

Happy birthday to Bartus, only 1 more year left in the 20's. In an attempt to help Bart not feel SO old I planned an adventure up at Snowbird (perfect temperature for Bart and in the mountains) where we road the alpine slide, the zip line, did a ropes course, jumped on the bungee trampoline (Bart did double back flips and front flips), rode a mechanical bull and slid down some ice fields-also known as GLISSADING. We ended up waiting in lines with lots of kids aged 5-14 which didn't help us feel any younger. Such is life.

If any of you are interested in going to snowbird there is a $10 off coupon for the unlimited pass that I found in the SL Tribune and I just saw more in a mailer that came to our house this week.

I loved riding the Peruvian ski lift-the wind and sound of water and the greenery was beautiful. Bart said that he felt like riding the ski lift up the mountain was cheating-since he grew up hiking to the tops of mountains but ultimately he was glad he didn't have to walk.

This picture is reminiscent of one that we took 7 years ago while dating. Wow, can't believe that I have known Bart for 12 years...we met when I was 15. Bart is fabulous and no one can say that he isn't kind or a hard worker.  I love him dearly and I'm glad I get to spend lots more birthdays with him.

Wedding Festivities

Colin and Katie got married 2 Fridays ago, June 18th, 2010.  The weather was marvelous and everything went according to plan...at least that's what I think. They got married in the SLC temple, had a luncheon at Rodizio, then a lovely garden reception, and finally they were off on their honeymoon on a Mexican Riviera cruise.

This is a picture of a picture..sorry about the poor quality.

The Craigo's. Aunt Kathy, Uncle Reid, Christie and my mom. We waited to take pictures on the stairs at the temple for 45 minutes!

This is the sign that was on the window, which you can't see in the photo below.

Trade imaging make the signs and vinyl lettering.  This was behind the head table.

I love wedding! I love everything about weddings and I've decided that in my next life I will be a wedding planner.  My parents allowed me to plan the wedding luncheon at Rodizio and I had a fabulous time making cake pops, dipping strawberries and creating a dessert buffet, buying black, white and red candy, as well as designing and creating vinyl window coverings, signs, pictures and place cards (which were my most favorite thing!) and gathering and hanging family wedding pictures-some dating back to the 1890's.

I found lots of inspiration from various blogs, magazines and pictures. I am very happy with how the luncheon turned out, the dessert buffet and I'm glad that Colin and Katie Bug liked it.

These are the place card/ guest gift.  I had them made out of clear 1/2 inch acrylic which was laser cut and then fired with a torch to smooth the edges.  Pretty awesome!!!!

Busy

  Last week was very busy.  Bart and I had something going on every evening, in addition to the day to day things.  Being busy isn't bad, especially since we were partying, eating and visiting with family but it left us TIRED.

Monday: Tried to go to clinicals but locked my keys in the car because I got flustered when I saw water spraying out of a pipe by the house.  Did wedding stuff the rest of the day.

Tuesday: Carters 19th Birthday!  I planned a party at Boondocks with the family.

Wednesday: Flowers from Costco. Lunch with the Leeflang girls. Temple in the evening with Katie Bug.

Thursday: WEDDING stuff all day.  Making cake pops, dipping strawberry's, arranging flowers, setting up Rodizio Grill for 3.5 hours.

Friday: Wedding, wedding and more wedding.

Saturday: Finally had to go to work, then went and saw Toy Story 3.

Sunday: Fathers Day-Dinner and presents.

    I plan on posting more pictures and details from the wedding but right now I want to show Boondocks pictures.

Laser tag!  It was great to see my parents running around and shooting people. Neither of them had ever played laser tag before.

Only 3 days until Colin's wedding when this picture was taken. Katie couldn't come to the birthday party because she was partying with her friends.

I love the go carts and slick track, that is why I planned the party at Boondocks. I also found out that on your birthday you get a free unlimited pass, so I signed Carter up.

Bart and I came in last and second to last at mini golfing. I don't know how everybody else got so good...

Maybe it was the kissing :)

The weather was warm, so the bumper boats were fun. Carter is drenched, I'm not sure if you can tell from the photo.  I think Carter is a great kid and we will miss him when he leaves on his mission in 2 months. I'm sure that 19 will treat him well. xoxo

Recommendations.?.

I am asking you fellow bloggers (the 5 that may read my blog) to give me recommendations on some good books to read. I have finished with my spring semester and instead of reading text books and research articles and would like expand my repertoire. :)

Please give me your suggestions!

How to spend 10 days in St. Thomas.

Day 1: First you need to get there. St. Thomas is apart of the U.S. Virgin islands in the Caribbean. St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John were purchased from Denmark in 1917 for $25 million-in an effort to improve military positioning during WWI. We took a red-eye on Delta from SLC to Atlanta and then on to Charlotte Amalia- 8 hours in the air not including the layover.

Day 2: Explore where you are staying. Frenchman's cove is a Marriott vacation club with big rooms, great amenities and fabulous beaches. BUT beware the iguana's are protected/endangered and they love the beach too AND if you don't put on enough sunscreen you will get very bad tan lines.

Day 3: Explore the island. St. Thomas is only 36 square miles. We did a driving tour with a CD our concierge Michael loaned us. Bart did a great job driving on the LEFT side of the road-no crashes or yelling and we only used 1 tank of gas for the entire time we were there.

This picture was from the botanical garden that we went to.

Day 4: Go to Megan's beach, Drakes seat and Udder delight. Megan's beach is one of the top 10 beaches in the Caribbean. It is a very long beach that is shaped like a heart. The water is bath tub warm and calm. Drake seat is an overlook above Megan's bay where Sir Francis Drake watched the Spanish armada sail by while his ships hid in Megan's bay. Udder delight is a super yummy dairy farm and milk shake shop. We tried JaCoco, JaMocha, plain coco and butter pecan-all so delicious that we drove back a second time.

This is an overlook of Megan's bay from Drakes seat.

Day 5: Take a ferry over to St. John. After a 20 minute ferry ride with our car we got to the tropical paradise of St. John-over 75% of the island is national park. We hit up all of the beaches that we could. Starting with Hawks Nest, then Trunk bay and Cinnamon bay, and on to Maho beach and Francis Bay. We swam and snorkeled and looked for sea shells at all of the beaches. St John is smaller and less inhabited than St. Thomas and there is nothing to do but sit on the beach or hike.

Day 6:Lounge around and eat. We swam and read by the ocean everyday and this night we decided to splurge and go to the ALL YOU CAN EAT SURF AND TURF BUFFET. We had crab, and lobster and prime rib and shrimp and tilapia and salads and pasta and dessert. Bart and I definitely got our money's worth.

Day 7: Go snorkel at Secret Harbor and eat lunch at the cafe. We loved Secret Harbor. It is a hidden bay that has the best snorkeling! We swam with the fishes and looked for lobster, we played with a sea turtle and hid from jelly fish. This was some of the best snorkeling I have ever had especially in one area. This was also the place we were when Carter called telling us about his mission call. We went to secret harbor 3 times and each time was great. If you ever go to St. Thomas make sure you go to Secret Harbor.

Day 8: More snorkeling at Coki point. Coki point and Megan's bay are the 2 most popular places to go on St. Thomas. Coki beach has lots of vendors and people that "hassle" you. There is also an aquarium that you can go snuba-ing and swim with the seals. We went to Coki at 8 AM before everyone else got there. The fish aren't afraid of people and they actually come up to your face and bite your fingers if they think you have food. You will see fish UP CLOSE here.

Can you see us snorkeling out past the rocks?

Enjoying dinner with homemade smoothies.

Day 9: Go to Mermaids Chair and the Atlantic overlook. Mermaids Chair was awesome. We drove over to the west of the island and then through a security gate (there is a huge development sitting unfinished because the guy from Dubai is in a legal dispute). There are only 3 houses finished in the property...each 3 million. Mermaids Chair is a little strip of land that has the Caribbean on one side and the Atlantic on the other, and there is a noticeable difference in water temperature. Guess which is warmer???? The ATLANTIC-I totally thought the Caribbean would be warmer. There are tons and tons and tons of washed up shells and coral. Bart nicknamed this place the "coral junk yard", he even brought a huge piece of coral home-if you don't believe us come over and see it. The water is much more rough where the 2 oceans meet-lots of waves and spray and crashing waves.

Bart is playing with the waves.

Day 10: Swim, Pack up and go home. Our flight didn't leave until 4 PM so we had all morning to relax by the pool, go snorkeling again and walk on the beach. This vacation was wonderful and very needed, a perfect way to spend my break between semesters.

Mothers

Happy Mothers Day!

I am very grateful to have a mother and have her as my best friend.

I love my mom because she loves me,

because she is pretty and smells nice.

I love my mom because she taught me how to cook and clean and do laundry and iron and do all of the basic everyday things.

I love my mom because she takes me to lunch every week and goes to Wal-Mart with me.

I love my mom because she went to the cannery and canned onions with me and because she had as much fun with the Days of 47' as I did.

I love my mom because she has great red curly hair and because she taught me the importance of suncreen.

I love my mom because I can talk to her about anything and also cry to her over anything.

I love my mom and I hope to be like her.

I am also grateful for Bart's mom. She raised a wonderful son who is hardworking and loyal. I appreciate her efforts in raising him in the gospel and teaching him how to treat women.

Thank you Kathy!