Happy Anniversary to ME!

For my 16th wedding anniversary this year I booked a trip to Atlanta. I have always wanted to go there. After I got the trip all scheduled and booked, Jeff sprung it on me that he would not be able to make it because he had "too much work to do". Soooooo..... I called my dearest friend Allison and invited her to come along. No need for me to not have fun still right?!

Alli lives in Phoenix so we met in Atlanta. The first night we were there I told her that we HAD to go to Turner Field to watch the Braves play the Cubs. But they were sold out so instead we went to eat at a place called Fat Matt's BBQ Shack. It has been featured on Food Network. It was good but not my favorite.

We had the best 4 days!

We had fun driving around neighborhood after neighborhood just looking at houses and the sprawling yards. I loved the yards!

And I loved all the greenery! Alli lives in Phoenix, so between she and I, we both live in deserts. I really don't why I STILL live in UTAH!

One of the days we spent at the Atlanta Aquarium. It was the best aquarium! It was HUGE! If you ever get to Atlanta, you have to go here. The dolphin tanks were really neat.

They would jump out of the tank and come splashing back down in. They would come right up to the glass and look at you and then do flips. They were so fun to watch.

There was so much to see! So many fish, alligators, otters, etc.

There was also a tank with 4 Beluga Whales. They were fun to watch too! They had me intrigued forever!

At the aquarium, they have a place where you can scuba dive with them. Cool huh!

On Sunday we took a helicopter ride over the city. It was really neat but I got a little queasy.

I loved all the views from the air.

We flew over Stone Mountain, which is the largest exposed piece of granite in the northern hemisphere.

After the heli ride, we went shopping at this underground mall. It is underneath the subway system. Then we went to see the movie The Help, which has just come out. The movie was awesome to see! It was a sold out crowd. I loved the book but watching the movie there was really a neat experience. Then we did a little shopping and then had dinner at this delicious place called Copeland's Cheesecake Bristo. It was fabulous!

We split this appetizer that was lump crab meat, craw fish, and cheeses............ Oh My! It was DELICIOUS!!! Then I had crab cakes for dinner. Heaven found!

We stopped by this chocolate shop called Kilwin's. If you have ever been to Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, it's just like that only on steroids.

Chocolate dipped apples, Oreo's, Twinkies, rice crispies, short bread, you name it!

Thanks Alli for coming with me! It was one of the most fun anniversary's I have ever been on!

A Fun Day at the Lake

I can't believe that summer is just about over! I already have my kids all registered for school and school clothes shopping is going to happen this weekend (courtesy of Jeff, bless his heart!). I feel like I need to cram in all the stuff that I have wanted to do all summer but just haven't yet. We have all but lived at the ball park this summer.

So.... we have managed to see 3 movies in the past couple of days and today we went to the lake with some of our neighbors. Molly swam and splashed and played with Leah, Sarah, and Abby.

Caden didn't leave the water all day.

Jens and Sean paddled across the lake and fished the afternoon away.

And these three girlies.....

did what girls love to do best. They paddled out into the middle of the lake and tried to get some sun and dark tans before school starts back up.

Mandie and Jody paddled the little girls around and I sat on the beach with my camera! It was perfect! Couldn't have asked for a better day to spend at the lake.

Molly was beat and fell asleep on the way home. One of my favorite things about Molly is how she loves hair. It's her security blanket. I think she is sweeter than sweet!

Why?

Why Miss Molly? Not only does she have the red up and down her arms, she also has a horrible little red Hitler mustache.

National Little League World Series

Did anyone watch the Little League World Series on TV (CBS Sports Network) this year???

My oldest son Jens plays on an accelerated baseball team called the Diamond Dawgs. They have played so incredibly well this year! It has been so fun to watch their games. They qualified to play in the National Little League World Series in Steamboat Springs, Colorado this past week.

Our boys came in and for some reason in the pool play, they lost 2 games that we should have won. The teams were completely beatable but we made a couple of errors that cost us the games. As a result, we were seeded really low. But our team did not let us down! They got on a winning streak and battled back hard to beat every team we played game after game (including the teams we lost to in pool play). After 13 games, which translates into 26 hours of baseball...... we were finally finished. We ended up taking 3rd place overall and we could not have been prouder of our boys!

This ski jump is right on the side of the mountain next to the ball park. I literally did not even have to leave my seat to take these pictures of the jumpers. The baseball park is in such a pretty setting. I could watch games there everyday!

After the games the kids would go swimming.

The boys all tried at once to attack Jeff and dunk him.

These boys are on an average of 5' 3" to 6 feet tall and try as they might, they could not get Jeff down! It was so funny to watch!

Then Travis got in the pool and they went after him but they couldn't get him down either!

Then after everyone was exhausted from the "stay afloat struggle" they went to relax in the hot tub.

Baseball, baseball, and more baseball!

On Sunday afternoon we finally lost out. Our team (in blue) congratulating the opposing team.

Then we had the awards ceremony and received our medals. The World Series officials said that they have not seen a team who was seeded so low come back to win as far as we did in the last 35 years! I thought that was a real compliment to our kids of how hard they work and how well they play together.

Also, after EVERY SINGLE game, the opposing coach would comment to Jeff (who is our head coach) on how impressed they were of our boys because they had clean language. Everyone else that we played would drop the "F" word when they would strike out or use other profanities. But our boys are not allowed to swear on the team and it's a rule that is enforced. So long story short, I'm proud of the Dawgs for their good example, their clean language, and how hard they played!

After the games on Sunday afternoon, just before we came home, we went tubing down the Yampa River to celebrate and relax!

It was so much fun.

I got flipped over along with 2 of the boys (that's me in the red with the yellow tube trying to get to where the current wasn't so strong so that I could get back on!)

It was such a fun trip!