Roasting

Kris and I found Mango Jalepeno Chicken Bratwurst....we bought them, went home, and built a fire. Cookout!

My brother James came out, too. It was a beautiful day up in the mountains.

We invented double-decker s'mores: fudge shoppe cookie, roasted 'mallow, Hershey's chocolate square, 'nother roasted 'mallow, fudge shoppe cookie topper.

BAM. It was delish. I'm not afraid of ooey-gooey, sticky messy treats.
Niether is Rachel. She played in the dirt, too, so she had a chocolate-meets-muddy grin all night long.

There was some silliness happening in the kitchen after we put out the fire.

Dad and Kam joined in.

It all started when we realized three of us were still wearing sunglasses, well into the evening, well into our conversation.

That night we watched The Last of the Mohicans in the theatre room--what an epic film, it sweeps me away every time. Love being up in the country!

Babies and Weddings

One theme of this trip home to Utah: babies! Within one week of each other, my nephew, my new cousin, and my bestie Pam's first baby all arrived.
My sister is in Texas, so I only have pictures of her little guy, but I spent plenty of time holding and loving on Pam's little man and my sweet, baby girl cousin, too.





Along with the babies has been the wedding plans! I stopped by a bridal shower for my cousin Katie--her engagement photos and bridals look like they were ripped out of a copy of Vogue, she's beautiful! (they took all of these in advance--the wedding is in a few weeks)



 And my lovely friend Hill is engaged! Hoorah! Looks like I'll be coming back to Utah for these happy occasions. S'wonderful to see my friends' lives being so richly blessed.

Rachel Taylor

Rachel, my witty four-year-old niece. We spent two whole days together.

She played dead on the floor of the rental car agency.

We played with balloons, painted our toenails, and went swimming.

I took her to Nana's house where she played with her three boy cousins for hours and hours.

She's my best girl; I love her like crazy!! She's so clever, too.
Over lunch, my mom asked me, "Did you ask your dad about the C-A-T? He can't live at my house anymore and he needs a place to stay."
I told her I hadn't, I would later.
In the car, Rachel asked if we could call my dad. I handed her the phone.
"Hi Grandpa? Can Mr. Zieglar live at your barn outside?"
It took her about five minutes to explain who Mr. Zieglar was--she got the point across without ever saying the word "cat."
She hung up. Still, without mentioning anything about the cat to me, she simply asked me to dial my mom's phone number for her.
"Hi Nana? Grandpa Paul said it's ok for Mr. Zieglar to live at the barn, but he has to live outside by the hay and not inside the house. Ok? Ok."
She was just so stinkin' cute. She makes things happen.

Friends of Consequence

Look at all those fabulous people! We all happened to be at Anna's excellent one-woman show on Friday night (she's bottom right in the photo).



Anna uses theatre to work adults with autism. Working with a professor who just finished her dissertation on parents of children with autism, Anna created a one-woman piece that explored the feelings, struggles and triumphs of these parents.
It was moving.
Three of her students performed Shakespear monologues before the show. They were fabulous, I was impressed and touched.
Anna became a great new friend. She's super awesome.
We stopped at In-n-Out at the end of the night--nailed it!
The next morning, these and several others all gathered for the all-you-can-eat french toast at Kneader's (!). "The Brits"--two couples from the UK who are always involved with the Nauvoo pageant--had just gotten into town for rehearsal and everyone wanted to get together to catch up. I loved meeting these new, wonderful people! And listening to their stories; they're all involved with special programs or work at something that's really meaningful.
They are good-hearted, and they make good, important work.
These are the kinds I like to be surrounded by--they help me see how we can use our talents and our passions to change the world.

Home is where....

After a quick tour in Winnipeg, I got to spend two whole weeks in Utah, where most of my kinfolk reside. Kristen surprised me with a sidewalk-chalk greeting--that's just one reason why I love that girl, she's always got sidewalk chalk in her purse. Why wouldn't she have sidewalk chalk in her purse?!

Our adventures included midnight cookie-baking sleepovers, Sunday morning at The Music and the Spoken Word, plenty of brunches, lunches, and shopping with mutual friends who were in town for rehearsal of the Nauvoo Pageant (Kris has been involved with them for years; the most wonderful people you will ever meet!) I also had the wonderful chance to see the Nauvoo cast perform their fireside sociable, Our Story Goes On. I cry everytime I see it--rich, lovely music and tender stories about love and life. Seeing my friends from school do such fantastic jobs warmed my heart. If you're in the Nauvoo area, do not miss it!!

Goodbye Carolina

In my last few weeks before leaving for summer tours and trips, we had a storm of crazy fun.

We went to Alfred Hitchcock films being screened at the Carolina theatre. Anne laughed at me because I jumped and screamed throughout Psycho.

We caught the end of a Durham Bulls baseball game and watched the fireworks show afterward.

We spent a Saturday at the beach, followed by yummy dinner at the riverwalk in Wilmington.

There were waffles on Sunday.

And a BBQ with people from church.

Plenty of late-night packing, gossiping, and eating icecream. A movie in the park and some swinging at a swingset. Sad to be leaving new friends, happy they'll be there when I return.

I wish I had pictures of these fabulous last few days!! (apparently, the only time I felt pictures were important were the times we were eating...) I bet E has some...I'll check with her when I'm bugging her about sending the Biltmore photos.


Update: My lovely Elizabeth just blogged a bit about the beach trip we took this weekend. Check out the post here, and then look around her great blog. She's an inspiration to me inasmuch as she actually tells the whole story, no shortcutting or mincing in the storytelling department. She's called me out on a few missing details from some of my own stories....

Biltmore, A Mansion

In the faraway land of Asheville, NC, this beautiful home is open for touring.

On Memorial Day, Elizabeth and some guys in our ward visited Biltmore, the largest home in America.

 It was stunning.

Sitting atop a sprawling estate, surrounded by lush gardens and a lake, the home is impressive; it took us all day just to tour the part that is currently open to the public. E has a million amazing pictures and does a great job detailing the trip. You can read her version of this day here.

Built by the Vanderbuilt family in 1895, the home swirls Victorian-era grandeur with European style resulting in: the biggest, baddest place to spend a season with other high society guests.

After touring the very stately estate, we played on the lawn like little kids. Beautiful Elizabeth, who can't help looking like a model, played photo shoot while Brett snapped some pictures.

The second story has a balcony spanning the length of the home, with a view of the valley (beautiful! Wish you were there!).

And don't even worry; if walking the gardens, meeting for a secret tryst by the pond, or playing golf didn't keep you busy, there's a bowling alley and an INDOOR SWIMMING POOL in the basement. In 1895!! These people were classy. I'd have loved to come to a party here.

It was peaceful and elegant. We've made plans to return at Christmas time, when they make the estate look like a twinkling wonderland. Ooh, i can't wait!

They had a candy store.

We were happy about that.

The shops were made in the old stable. One end of the barn was turned into a restaraunt.

We sat in a booth that used to be a horse stable. The grate for hay was still mounted to the wall. It was great. I ate a delicious BLT, with fried green tomatoes. Oh, the South! I'll never have a BLT without a fried green tomato again (well, that's not true, but I loveloveloved it)

Followed by classic icecream cones in the shade of ancient trees. A full, wonderful day with friends.