Happy 35th, Ree!

Since Ree's birthday was on a Sunday this year, we celebrated a bit early. So on that Saturday, I once again made her Eggs Benedict and fresh fruit for birthday brunch, and she went once more for a pedicure. I also tracked down her most recent favorite treat discovery from Arizona: Ben and Jerry's Pistachio ice cream. I had to go to 3 stores to finally find it, but it was worth it for her birthday! Later that evening, she chose to see the new Captain America: Civil War movie (I swear she really did choose that) and dinner at Texas Roadhouse (again, I swear she chose that!).

On her actual birthday, she was given some home spa love from her kiddos after church. Yes, Maisie and Danyn both put on all black clothes (name tags included), created a "menu" of services, laid out Ree's bathrobe, and proceeded to pamper their Mom in the best way they knew how. Even Finny got in on some foot rub action! It was an excellent idea for a gift from them, and very well-received, I believe.

For her birthday treat she chose pumpkin pie instead of a birthday cake, so I set about clumsily making pie crusts the best way I could. It was a good reminder to me to not take Ree's excellent pie-making skills and talents for granted! Check out those ham-fisted, uneven crusts!

With pumpkin pies safely in the oven, I set about making grilled salmon, asparagus, and baby red mashed potatoes for birthday dinner part II. Before long, it was time for singing, pie, and presents.

This year, all the eggs went in one basket for a new wedding ring Ree had been eyeing for a while. She still didn't want a solitaire, so she chose an elegant and subtle almost leaf-like style. I hope she enjoys it for years to come!

Happy Birthday, Ree! You are an amazing person both inside and out. You make our family what it is! We love you and appreciate all the incredible things you do for us.

Celtic Woman

From the time I first saw them on a PBS special, I've been in love with Celtic Woman. I think a part of my soul must be Irish or something, I love that style of music. Teag and I have now been to four of their concerts, and the year that they came here and I didn't buy tickets, I was very sad. Most all of the original women have left, short of the spectacular fiddle player Mairead Nesbitt, but seeing them live is still well worth it.

Our seats this year may have been the best we've ever had, they were really close to the stage. Close enough that we could go take pictures in front of it without having to walk more than a few feet.

The girls all have amazing clear voices, and getting to hear them speak with their Irish lilt is such a treat.

When they sang Amazing Grace, the bagpiper walked right past us! I could have peeked underneath his kilt, I was so close!

 I got this next shot by accident, but it's pretty epic as far as bagpipers go.

It was fun to hear the songs from their new album, and to become familiar with the new girls and their sounds. It was especially nice as Teag has been so stressed with working on the living room. I"m grateful that we had the opportunity to go together to see it.

Fireplace Glory!

It is done, and it is glorious. Truly, it is a showpiece, and Teag is a master craftsman. The last you saw, the tile was going in around the actual fireplace unit, as well as the floor in front. After that he spent some time cutting and fitting the pieces together to create the actual mantle.

Is there a sexier sight than this?

 It was fun to watch the progress being made, as you could begin to visualize the finished product. Once it was all put together, the last element was the paint. We chose a pristine white to offset the darker tile, and it looks so fantastic!

I can't believe my husband has the skills to make something like that. He's one cool cat. We got to enjoy the loveliness of this being complete for maybe a day or two before it was on to a new aspect of the living room: can lights. Suffice it to say, they were very messy.

I was kind of thrilled when we were done with those. But the amount of light they add to our living room is significant, and I'm glad we chose to do them. Next Teag worked on tiling the entryway, something we've talked about doing for a very long time.

We used the same tile as that in front of the fireplace, and again, it looks amazing. Shortly thereafter, the carpet came up. We hauled it all to the dump as we prepare to paint and get new carpet. Which means our living room looks like this.

It's weird. This room has never been so empty. The kids are struggling with not having their usual spots for reading or homework, but hopefully we'll only be in this state for about two weeks. And in the meantime, Teag has a little helper to get the job done.

Something else to mention is that we're working on our upstairs hall in conjunction with this. I didn't get a picture of the full before, but you can get a pretty good idea of how heinous it was by these.

Teag's already ripped off the door-casings and baseboards, and stripped some of the peeling paint, but it pretty much has always looked like an eyesore. I'll be excited for fresh paint, nice new doors, and a light fixture that doesn't look like a bad 70's cast off. A lot of good things happening at our house!

Finny Graduates!

The preschool year has come to an end for little Finn. It was a great year, full of bus-riding adventures to pick out pumpkins, visit the library, the aquarium, and the zoo, and even had a some creatures come to visit them in class.

They had all kinds of fun things to do, and Finn even got his face painted with a light saber when they pretended to visit the circus!

Finn absolutely loved his teacher, Miss Krissy. Whenever something exciting happened to him, he always talked about how he wanted to tell Miss Krissy all about it. He seemed rather shy the day of his graduation, so his expression here doesn't at all reflect how he feels about her.

We got him all dressed up in his cutest little suit, and he waited until it was time to begin.

We got to listen to several of the songs they'd sung throughout the year, complete with actions.

 Finn and his cousin Millie even had a little speaking part.

Finn loved having Millie be part of his class. Those two are like little peas in a pod. Miss Krissy told me that she'd mistakenly put them in different groups for their zoo trip, and then ended up switching them midway through so they could be together.

When it was Finn's turn to get his diploma, a student helper read all of Finn's favorite things. It's pretty spot on for where he is right now.

We're so grateful to Miss Krissy for making Finn's first experience such a positive one. She was so gentle and sweet with the kids, but also invested a huge amount of time in providing them a quality education. We couldn't have been more pleased. Looking forward to Pre-K next year!

Spring Recital

Speaking of Maisie performing, she also did a great job in her Spring piano recital. Her piece was one that is dear to my heart, as it's from Harry Potter, Hedwig's Theme. If Blogger didn't have a video size limit, I'd post it here, but unfortunately that's not the case. So you'll just have to imagine it and know that she did a great job.

Her Grandma McKinley came out to see her play, which was awesome.

Maisie's piano skills have continued to grow, and Teag and I are continually impressed with her ability to play ever more complicated tunes. Well done, Maisie! Keep up the good work!

Maisie Marathoner

Not really, but she did complete her second 5K! She did even better this time around as well, and felt a whole lot warmer too, due to the lack of downpour. Here she is, ready to take on that 3.106 miles like a boss.

The kids hail from several different schools, and they divide them all up into groups, with a mentor from the U. Prior to the race, their mentor took them aside for some stretching.

Then they were off! It was a lot of fun to watch such a big group of kids speed away with such energy. You can't help but get caught up in it. It took Maisie around 38 minutes to complete her run which averages about a twelve-minute mile. Not too shabby!

Gotta love the slow motion for the finish line crossing. We're very proud of Maisie for sticking with it throughout the year, and for performing so well in the race. Well done, Mais!

Scottsdale Sans Kids

Teag will often do contract flying for a family up in Ogden, and back at the end of April, he had a trip planned for Scottsdale. There were only four people scheduled to be on that flight, and they graciously offered to let Teag bring me along if I'd like. Of course, I would like! My mom agreed to watch the kids while we went, and that was that! Five days in sunny Arizona sounded like a little piece of heaven after some cold and gray days here, and I was anxious to spend some time away from the demands of motherhood.

Our first day we flew in and then once we'd checked into our hotel and had some lunch, decided to check out Old Town. It's mostly just a lot of touristy-type stuff, but it was entertaining to browse.

The next day, we got moving early and headed to Camel Back Mountain, an aptly named monolith if I ever saw one.

 The hike itself is kind of a mislabeled as a hike, and is more of a mountaineering experience. You can see what I mean by these next couple of pictures.

It's pretty steep for almost the entire thing, and there were many twists and turns where you thought maybe you were finally about to make it to the top only to discover you still had a fair bit to go. The entire hike up is only just above a mile, but you gain 1200 feet in that one mile. Definitely intense. I took a screen shot of my Health Stats from my phone to give you an idea.

The top had a great view of Scottsdale in all directions, and the weather couldn't have been more perfect.

We had to take a picture with one of these saguaros in the background because they are everywhere! And according to what we learned during our stay, this one is very old.

There were a ton of lizards out and about, despite the plethora of hikers. Apparently they have no fear of humans.

In some ways, the hardest part of the hike was the going back down. All that elevation gained has to be descended and it's a bit rough on the knees.

Very challenging, but absolutely worth it. A fun accomplishment, and something I would definitely recommend, if you're capable. That same night Teag and I had booked a sunset horseback ride.

I love horses, and was so excited for the opportunity to ride one out in the desert.

My horse's name was Mo, and Teag's was Sherry. They were both very docile, and easy to ride for two beginners like us. We rode a couple of miles through the brush as the sun went down, and it was absolutely gorgeous.

We stopped for dinner at a steak house that was as authentic as can be. We had steaks, and bread and beans, with live country music, and low lighting. It was the perfect accompaniment to our ride.

After dinner, we climbed back on our mounts and rode back to the stables. It was dark now and so peaceful, with the city lights shining in the distance. Both Teag and I felt like it was an amazing experience, and truly a highlight of our trip. 

The next day we visited an old Ghost Town/Gold Mine that we'd heard about online. It looked authentic enough from the outside, but the more we walked around, it just felt too cheesy. 

It didn't help that everywhere you went they kept asking for tips, in addition to the entry fees. Nobody enjoys feeling nickeled and dimed. This is us being extremely underwhelmed by the $8 train ride we went on.

The live gun show was fun, but is probably the briefest one it history, lasting no more than two or three minutes total. I got a good shot of the action though.

That night, we had purchased tickets to the Carnival of Illusion, which sounds much more grand than it was. Maybe we'd already had our fill of cheesy from the ghost town, but neither of us were super impressed. Teag did get called up to participate in one of the tricks though, and he was a good sport about it.

On Sunday we hiked again, though this was nowhere near the level of Camel Back Mountain. It was called Hole in the Rock, and was maybe .03 miles? More of a stroll really.

It's located near some other attractions, including some man-made fishing holes that are actually quite pretty.

Later that day we headed to Mesa to visit with Teag's uncle Craig, and his family. They invited us over for Sunday dinner, and we were enjoying a nice chat afterwards, when Teag got a phone call informing us that there had been a screw up and his passengers were ready to leave right then. We had to rush around like crazy to drive back, pack up, and then drive to Phoenix where the plane was waiting. We didn't take off until after ten, and then shortly thereafter, had to land because of a fault with the fuel computer. Back to Scottsdale. Teag managed to get it sorted out, and we were off again, but didn't land in Ogden until around two, and then the 30 minute drive home put us in bed close to three. It wasn't exactly the nicest ending to such a lovely trip, but I'm still very glad I got to tag along and spend some quality one on one time with Teag.

Very grateful to those who made it possible, including my mom and dad and Sara! Thank you for being so accommodating!