Tagged

My cousin Kirsten tagged me last week and I'm finally getting around to acknowledging the fact.  I had to mull the questions over for awhile.  Anyway here goes:

Three Joys

1. My family.  

2. Curling up in bed with a good book.

3. The natural beauty that surrounds me in this alpine environment where I live.

Three Fears

1. That I'll fail in my duty to protect Barrett from his nut allergy and he'll die as a result.

2. Heights.  I cannot even walk anywhere near a cliff or top of a tower because my legs turn to jelly and I have to sit down.

3. Snakes.

Three Goals

1. To be a better mother.

2. To be more physically fit.

3. To help Britt start her cake business.

Three Current Obsessions/Collections

1. Blogging and reading other peoples blogs.

2. Food.

3. British music, namely Blur, Coldplay, The Stone Roses, Gorillaz, Oasis.

Three Random Surprising Facts About Me

1. I don't have any fillings.  I've only ever had one cavity in a baby tooth.

2. When I was in 8th Grade I went to the Connecticut State Science Fair where my project won an award from NASA and I was invited to visit the Goddard Space Center in Maryland.  My project was titled "The Weatherman vs. Amateurs: Who's More Accurate?".

3. I've never had an epidural.

I now need to tag five more people and will leave comments on their blog letting them know that they have been tagged.  I tag Jessica, Brittney, Susan, Alison and Kristin.

Stadium of Fire

We had a very fun 4th of July.  Last year we drove up to Seattle on the 4th, so we sort of missed the holiday.  It just made it that more fun this year because it had been two years since we had been to the pancake breakfast at City Park and attended the parade.  The pancake breakfast is a major fundraiser for the Boy Scouts and since Justin is a Scout leader he had to work at the breakfast.  So we arrived at 8 a.m. and were able to get a table with our friends the Kents.  Justin bolted down a pancake and some eggs and was off to scramble more eggs.  Peter, Britt and their kids showed up just as we finished our breakfast so they took our seats.  The girls all got their faces painted for free and then we walked over to the playground and the kids played until it was time for the parade at 11 a.m.  The kids were hot, so Justin saved our spots and I walked the kids down to 7-11 to get some Slurpees.  Actually I carried Barrett more than he walked.  Barrett loved the fly over the Airforce did with 4 fighter jets and then a big tanker plane.  It's definitely a small town parade, but the kids seemed to enjoy it, especially when they recognized someone they knew.  I of course forgot my camera in the rush to get the door.  For photos of the mornings activities please see Brittney's 4th of July post at parkcitybritt.blogspot.com.

After the parade we got together with my parents and Peter and Britt for an impromptu BBQ. We left Barrett with my parents and rest of us headed down to Provo to attend the Stadium of Fire.  This was a last minute arrangement as Justin had been offered free tickets only the day before.  Miley Cyrus was headlining the show so we figured the girls would be thrilled and he accepted them.  The show didn't start until 8:00 p.m. but we had to meet the guy with the tickets, who used to play football for BYU, so we arrived about 1 1/2 hours early.  We ended up people watching on the grassy hillside outside the stadium forever.   The girls were good sports about the long wait and Brynne was happy because she scored a free stuffed animal.  She probably would have called the evening a success at that point and happily gone home.  

Justin, Brynne with her new dog Bronco, & Blythe

waiting outside LaVell Edwards Stadium.

We ended up getting to our seats about 

10 minutes before the show started.

I thought the coolest part of the show was the 5

Marines who jumped out of a plane over the

stadium and parachuted onto the field.

One of the Marines landing on the field.

The Blue Man Group also performed and we 

found them very entertaining.  There was lots

of patriotic rhetoric which got to be a bit 

cheesy and Justin and I didn't care much for

Glenn Beck, a conservative radio talkshow

 host,  who was the emcee.  Then it was time 

for Miley Cyrus.

Here's proof that we saw Miley Cyrus in concert.  

Blythe and Brynne were kind of excited to see the show, but weren't hysterical about it.  We don't even own any of her CD's and all their exposure to her has been watching the Hannah Montana show while at Grandma's house. I've always thought that it's pretty pointless to attend a concert unless you know all the words to all the songs. Seeing as how I'd never even heard any of the songs before it was a little boring.  At least now the girls have bragging rights with their friends.  The fireworks went on forever.  I would have been happy with 10 minutes of fireworks. There was alot of cloud cover in the sky which made the explosions even louder.  We didn't get home until 1 a.m., which made for a long evening.   Overall we were glad we went but I don't think we'll do it again.

Summertime = Family Reunion Time

Last month we had our annual Peterson Family reunion in Payson at the house where my grandmother Elayne Peterson Rich was born and grew up.  My grandma was the youngest of six siblings and is the only one of her family still here with us.  I think this reunion is the highlight of the year for her as she gets to surround herself with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as well as the descendants of her siblings.  The family has grown to point where I don't recognize all the faces and can't place everyone with the branch of the family they belong to and they don't really feel like my relatives, but it's different for my grandma because to her they all are a part of her family.  We had good weather, great food and the kids got soaking wet what more could you ask for from a family reunion?  

Here are a a few cute shots of the kids at the reunion.

Nathan, Barrett and James, 

with James giving me the stink eye.

Hannah and Brynne climbing a tree.

Hannah and Blythe taking a break from the heat 

outside by playing around on the organ.

The infamous stairs.

When my great-grandfather originally built this house in the early part of the 1900's it had a normal staircase but the house didn't have indoor plumbing so there was no bathroom.  My grandma's brother Deke finally added a bathroom sometime during the 1950's and installed this space saving staircase in order to make room for the bathroom.  I can remember being terrified to come down these stairs as a child and my kids now get to experience the same thrill.  My mom's cousin Ken who now owns the house tells funny stories about the difficulty of trying to get up the stairs to his bedroom as a teenager after a wild night on the town, and sometimes not being able to manage it at all.  

Blythe at the top of the stairs.

Barrett headed down the stairs face first.

Barrett bravely hanging on to the railing

 with James close behind.