Minnesota Memories

This past weekend I went to Scrapfest at the Mall of America in Minnesota with my friend Liz. Here are a few pictures of the highlights of the trip. Liz and I took some great classes, did some make and take projects, met up with our friends from DCWV, did some shopping, rode a roller coaster, saw a movie, and I even got to see my Aunt and Uncle too! The bottom left picture is of my friend Erin Madsen from DCWV (Die Cuts With a View). The pictures in front of her are ones I took and sent to her to use for her scrapbooking layouts. The front one is Courtney and the back one is of Witches night out. (Some of you ladies that read my blog remember that picture!) It was neat to see it displayed at this big event! It was a fun trip that I will always remember. Lots of fun new memories were made.

So much fun in San Francisco!

Brian went on a business trip to San Francisco this week and so I decided to join him for the last couple of days so we could tour the city together. I have to say it was a very fun trip!

Day 1: Brian picked me up from the airport in the afternoon and we walked around downtown looking at all the stores. That night we went to his company party. We ate yummy food, went bowling, ice skating, played around scratching records, went to a Foreigner concert, rode a mechanical bull, saw some really cool ice sculptures, and had our pictures taken together. It was a lot to do in one day, but we had a great time just enjoying each others company.

Day 2: We had bought tickets to go to Alcatraz and so we decided to do that first thing in the morning. The timing couldn’t have been any more perfect. It was a beautiful ride to the island. Alcatraz was amazing! It was very interesting to walk through and I learned a lot about how the people there were treated and how desperate some of them were to escape. I would recommend going there if you ever have the chance and taking the audio tour. After we were through there and rode back to San Francisco, we walked down to Fisherman’s Wharf and got a clam chowder bowl for lunch at Boudin’s. It was so good!! After lunch we walked over to look at the sea lions. It was neat to see so many all in one place, but the smell? Not so much. We then decided to get in the car and go see the Golden Gate Bridge up close. I had never been before and so it was a fun touristy thing to do. It is such a big part of the city and pretty incredible to look at. We then drove up to Muir Woods to look at the redwoods. To tell you the truth, we were very disappointed. I knew they weren’t going to be the really big redwoods, but to me they were just tall trees. Anyways, we still had a nice drive getting there and we decided to stop along the edge of a cliff and take some pictures of the beautiful scenery. There is something about having it go from forest to the ocean so quickly that was just so pretty! After we were done at the beach, we drove down Lombard Street and then went up to Coit Tower. We did a lot of things today too and we were pretty tired by the end.

Day 3: Today we only had the morning to do things since our flight left right after lunch. We had breakfast at Mel’s Diner, walked around China town, went to Ghirardelli Chocolates, did a little shopping, and then hit In & Out Burger for lunch.

It was such a great trip to take with my hubby and I will always remember the fun things we did and saw together. Thanks Brian for the great trip and to Scott and Liz for watching our little munchkins while we were gone. It was nice to have some quality time together and we really appreciate your kindness and willingness to help us with our kids. They had a great time and loved all the fun things you did together! You are the best!

My new quilt

A little while back I had told my grandma that I would love to have one of her handmade quilts for my bedroom in red and tan. This week, I received this beautiful quilt from her! She had finished it awhile ago, but wanted to enter it into her local county fair. She won 1st place on it! You probably can't see from the picture, but the detail work is amazing! She truly has a talent for quilting! It made me start thinking about talents. I feel like for some people, they have an easy time finding their "main talent". My grandma is an amazing quilter, my mom is an incredible seamstress, and yet I have no sewing qualities whatsoever. Is this so we can all have different talents to contribute to each other and those around us? I guess it would be pretty boring if we all had the same talents. :) What fun would that be? In the meantime, I am happy to have found the couple of little talents that I have and they keep me busy enough.

Back to school

Another year of school has started for my 3 oldest kids. Jacob is in 5th, Dillon in 3rd and Courtney in 1st. I think all of their teachers are going to be wonderful and I am so happy with the school they are attending. I have to say that my kids and I had our ups and downs this summer, but I miss them when they are gone to school. It is strange having Courtney gone all day this year. I know she will do well and make lots of friends. She has already gotten an award at school on the second day for being a good worker. Dillon's attitude about school gets a little better every year, so this year I see him growing and maturing and I can't be happier. This is Jacob's last year in Elementary. How fast life can go sometimes. He has turned out to be a great kid and is so smart! I am so proud of all of my kids. Here's to a great school year!

Butterflies, spiders, and a whole lot more

I took the kids down to the Butterfly Pavilion and they had a great time. We saw many beautiful flowers, butterflies, fish, insects, and Rosey the tarantula. Evan, Courtney and I were the only ones to hold her. I usually would freak out about having a big hairy spider like that touching me, but it wasn't that bad. However, if I saw it in my basement, I would totally scream and run away! (Guess it must have been the environment that made me feel ok about holding her.) We had a fun time walking around and pointing out all the different kinds of butterflies we saw there too. They are so beautiful and I am amazed at the vibrant colors and designs each of them had.