Just for the Fun of it

For weeks, maybe even months, Kaylie, Rachel, and their friend Ruth Ann have been planning a pleasure trip to Salt Lake. The idea was to shop, play, shop some more, and just have some fun.

As the day got closer, Kaylie was telling me their plans, which included taking a bus from Vernal to Salt Lake—and which would cost each of them $30 each way. And, on top of that, they would have to take city buses everywhere they wanted to go. So I told Kaylie that if they paid for the gas in the car, and fed me, I would drive them to town, and be their chauffeur while they were there.

Last Tuesday was the day; we got up early-ish, and were headed out to Salt Lake by 8:30 a.m.

One of the first things the girls wanted to do was shop at Deseret Industries (a thrift store). So we went to Salt Lake via Provo—which is an hour south of Salt Lake, but it's quicker to get there from Vernal. And, more importantly, Provo has the biggest D.I. I've ever been to; they would have a lot more stuff to peruse. When we drove up to the store at 11:30 Ruth Ann said, "This is ten times bigger than the one in Vernal!" That's about right.

While the girls started on their clothes-shopping adventure, I called my sister, Melanie, to see if she could join us on Wednesday afternoon. Then I watched—and helped—them choose clothes to try on.

This is the only picture they took at the D.I.—which is too bad because they tried on (and bought) a lot of cute things there, and they were having a lot of fun.

After the clothes-shopping, they went and looked at shoes. I have to admit, I was a little jealous of the shoe-shopping; I have a thing for shoes. (I did try some on, but none of the cute ones fit my wide feet.) They each got a pair of shoes, and three or four shirts each, and a couple pairs of pants, all for a whopping total of $50 between the three of them. Not bad!

We left the D.I. around 2:30 and it was definitely time for lunch. But we didn't know where to go in Provo, and I didn't want to drive around searching, so we just headed up to Salt Lake. Around 3:30-ish we had some food, and then we headed to Day Murray Music, our favorite music store. Ruth Ann had never been there, and it was like a candy shop for her; Kaylie almost had to drag her away from it. Then we went to Orson Gygi's. We looked around at all their stuff, and we looked at their model kitchens. And I decided I definitely want to do two colors of cabinets in my kitchen. Kind of like this:

I have wanted to paint my kitchen cabinets white because the kitchen gets no natural light—it's way too dark for a kitchen.
But the tile is white-ish, and the counter tops are cream-colored,
and white cabinets would make the whole room too, too white.
I'd been thinking of doing a dark color on the bottom cabinets
and white above, but the men in the house disapproved
(or at least they couldn't visualize it).

Now, my kitchen isn't nearly this fancy (I mean, really:
white Formica counter tops... although that is about same floor color), but I think I could do this kind of thing. Although I wouldn't go with solid black; I'd do dark, dark blue, or a softer black
that has a blue or brown tint.

Back to the girls...

After Gygi's we went to Grandpa North's house, where we would be staying for the duration of the trip. I guess we got there around 6:00, and then we still had to go to the grocery store and get stuff for dinner. So we ate around 7:30 or 8:00, and after that the girls started a movie. I, on the other hand, was asleep before 10:00. (Am I getting old?)

On Wednesday morning we had a leisurely breakfast, cleaned up, and started on the day's adventures. First stop was to Brad and Becky's house to admire their new (one week old) baby, Esther.

from left to right: Rosie (the dog), Ruth Ann, Rachel, me—with Esther, Kaylie, Scott, and Lizzy—who is sitting on the floor,
playing a video game. None of us managed to get a picture
of Brad and Becky. Lame.

I think only Ruth Ann and I held the baby.
Holding Esther made Ruth Ann's day; she loves babies.

From Brad's house we went to Jordan Landing so the girls could do some more shopping. Kaylie got a few things she'll need when she goes to school, but mostly it was clothes-shopping again.

Rachel surprised me—and maybe herself, too—by liking the black sheath dress with the art-deco sequins down the front. But her favorite (and mine) is the one with the full skirt.

Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of Ruth Ann in the dress that she absolutely loved (and bought). But this one is cute, too.

Kaylie fell in love with the pink dress, but it was a little too snug, and the next size they had was way too big. Darn!

The girls shopped until I  was ready to drop. Then at 2:00 we headed to Aunt Marian's house to have a dip in her pool. Melanie met us there (yay!). So Marian, Melanie and I all chatted while the girls went into the pool-house to get into their swimsuits and get all sunscreened; this gave us over an hour to talk. What on earth took those girls so long?!. Not that I minded an hour to visit, but...wow! Then Melanie and I got into our suits and sunscreen, and got into the pool.

Melanie and I spent most of our time hanging out in the cool water and chatting while the girls played, although we did participate in a pool noodle race with the girls. Melanie won. Sadly, we don't have any pictures of the private swim party.

The girls and I had thought to go back to Jordan Landing and visit the Barnes and Noble store, but it was time for us to head back to Grandpa's house. He took us to a really nice buffet for dinner. Back home again the girls played a couple rounds of croquet while I went to Winco to buy spices (they sell them in bulk, so whenever I'm in town I buy some to refill my empty bottles).

I wasn't nearly so exhausted this night, but I got home from the store pretty late. So I trundled off to bed while the girls watched another movie.

Thursday's plan was to go into Salt Lake City for more shopping and to visit Temple Square.

Kaylie and Ruth Ann are ready for the day's adventures.

When we got to Salt Lake I, being excessively ...frugal (cheap?), found a place to park for free (behind the Conference Center), but only for two hours. So we walked all the way across Temple Square to City Creek Mall, where the girls tried on more clothes and bought some makeup brushes. And by then it was time for me to walk all the way back and move the car. So I took the girls' purchases with me, stashed them in the car, and enjoyed two minutes of air-conditioning in the car while I moved it to another (free) spot. Then I walked across the hot, paved world back to City Creek. All this walking gave me a chance to get over-heated...  I mean it gave me a chance to call Bruce and let him in on our adventures.

I met up with the girls at the mall, and we walked over to Harmon's (a really nice grocery store) where we bought lunch and ate in their ...what would you call it? A food court?  A cafe? The place where they have tables and chairs so you can sit and eat if you want to. It really is a cool store, and one of the things I miss in Vernal.

I have to admit that I got all touristy and took this picture at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building—mostly so Bruce could see that flower arrangement behind the girls: A draped flag, all made of flowers, with floral fireworks next to it.
But the girls are cute in all their new, yellow things.

After lunch it was time to move the car again. This time I made the girls go with me; they stowed their purchases away, and we went to the museum on Temple Square. Did we look at exhibits? No. The girls wanted to look at the gift shop. :-D By the time we finished there it was time to head home so we could avoid the rush-hour traffic.

Back home we all needed a rest. This meant that the girls went into their room to talk and giggle, and I went into my room to cool down and to stretch. And then we went to Barnes and Noble. While the girls shopped, I sat in a chair and read a book. (I really am old.)

We had a simple dinner at Grandpa's house, and this time I joined the girls while they watched their nightly movie. Then we had ice cream sundaes with Grandpa before we all went to bed.

Friday morning we packed up, thanked Grandpa, gave hugs, and headed home.

We'd had a fun-filled, action-packed three days! Big, BIG thanks go to Grandpa and to Aunt Marian! We couldn't have done it without you.

The girls had some pleasurable, leisurable times with some of their best friends; they enjoyed themselves and got some nice things, and I was glad to act as consultant, companion, and cab-driver for them. It was a pretty good time.

Happy Father's Day!

Yeah, I know. It's nearly a week late. But...

Better late than never! Right?

This year we decided to celebrate Father's Day on Saturday instead of Sunday, because Lindsey had to work Sunday. (I wish they'd quit doing that to her!) And we had big Father's Day plans, so she had to be there.

We spent the morning doing regular stuff: cleaning house, playing video games, reading...
Then, around 3:00 or so, we gathered in the great room to commence the festivities.

You can't see all of us because my camera isn't that big.
As it is, everyone looks kind of tiny in this pic.

First Bruce had to open his presents, which were fabulously decorated in old Christmas gift bags.

Hmmm. Chocolate...graham crackers...marshmallows...
What's this all about?

When he first saw this beautiful present Bruce wondered what it could be. By the time he'd opened the first three he thought he might know.

What could it be?

While we were talking and Bruce was playing with his new forks, Lindsey went out to get the present she'd had stashed in her car...

Surprise!!

I had been hinting all week about chopping up the branches that Bruce had trimmed from some of our trees last fall—while trying not to give anything away. As a result, the wood still needed to be cut. So Ryan cut us some logs while Bruce set up the fire-pit. Then they started to built a fire with our new-ish wood that had been rained on for a lot of the previous week. It was pretty smoky, and didn't want to catch, but...

They used high-technology to blow the fire into a frenzy.

And then we had our very fancy Father's Day dinner.

Oh yeah! They hung up our patio lights too!
And then we all had fun hanging out, roasting hot-dogs,
talking, and laughing together.

When we were all hot-dogged out, it was time to roast the marshmallows and make s'mores. Actually, I think only two s'mores were made: Lindsey made one that she shared with me, and Michael made one (I think). We are not real big on s'mores, I guess, but we all ate lots of roasted marshmallows.

We had a lot of fun, staying out and cooking over the fire, singing, and talking, until 10 p.m.  (And then we cleaned up, and went in, and stayed up until midnight waiting for our turns to shower.) It was a good time.

And...

Happy Father's Day!

Visitors from a Far Away Land

This past Wednesday some of my Johnson family came to visit for the first time since we moved to Vernal—Melanie, her daughter Emalee, and my mom all came out to see us!

They came all the way from Salt Lake, and arrived here around 2:00. So the first thing I did was take them on a tour of my yard and my house. (They all "Ooohed" and "Aaahed" appropriately.) Then we visited a little bit, and we all went to see Remember the Maine Park. (Almost all of us...a few kids stayed behind and got dinner started.) Of course, on the way there we pointed out the city park, and the high school.

At Remember the Maine we stopped first to read the marker (which tells about the boy who painted the canyon wall as an Eagle Scout project.)

Then we all walked down to the river.

I can keep Bruce off-balance just by standing there, looking cute. ;-)

Bruce, me, Melanie, Mom, Lindsey, Emalee

Ryan and Rachel getting too close to the river for Mom's comfort (my mom, not me). She was afraid they'd fall in and be swept away.

We left the riverside (or is it a creek?), and walked through the trees and meadow together.

Bruce, walking with my mom. I love this picture!

Then we headed back to the cars so we could go see something else.

Jessica, climbing into our Montero.

We drove up to Yellow Hill next, stopping in front of the Ray's house first, just for a minute, so Mom and Melanie could see where we lived our first two years here. Then we went up the hill and found a nice parking space where we could go out to enjoy the view.

Emalee and Lindsey on the top of Yellow Hill

Bruce is pointing something out...
He is a little taller than the rest of us.

After that little tour, we went back to our house and had burgers, chips, and salads for dinner. We sat around and played games, watched a few videos (YouTube videos—just short ones), and visited until we were all drifting away in our seats, around 11:00. (Because we are all old, you know.)

In the morning I made breakfast for everyone. Normally I just make breakfast for Bruce and me, and let the kids fend for themselves. So either I was showing off for my family, or I figured that if I was making breakfast for five, I might as well make it for twelve. (You can decide which is more true.)

Then Mom, Melanie, Emalee, and I went to the Dinosaur Fieldhouse.

Here we are, in front of some weird animals. (I've never thought this before, but Emalee looks a little bit like me. I've always thought
she looked the most like her dad, but maybe there is
a Johnson family resemblance, too.)

And here we all are again, with a pterodactyl hovering above us.

We had a nice time, moseying around the museum and talking. Then we went and got lunch, and then they all headed back to Salt Lake.

I'm glad they came! Melanie said they got straight here (to my house) without getting lost and without any trouble. And they got home just the same. So now they can come visit again!

Kaylie's a Grad!

Well, she survived the day: Kaylie is officially a graduate!

It was a dark and stormy night...

Well, it wasn't dark...just overcast. But we did get rained on and hailed on a couple of times. Still, the ceremony was nice—not too long—and we heard Kaylie's name read out, and she got her diploma. Yay!

Bruce's camera found her just in the nick of time—
we can see that she's shaking someone's hand, but none of us
knows whose hand. Maybe that will show up in the
film pictures that Jason took of her.

headed back to her seat, diploma in hand,
and a mighty happy look on her face

the first official photo with her diploma
(sort of...really it's just the diploma folder)

OK. This is actually the first official picture with her diploma.
It's hard to see, but there is a rainbow behind her.
It showed up just as the ceremony ended. Does this mean the heavens smile on this graduation? Or does it mean there won't be rain and hail for any more Uintah High graduation ceremonies?

Kaylie is wearing an honor medal for her outstanding GPA (3.98). (She earned one of these medals each of the four years she attended Uintah, but chose only to wear this year's.)  She is also wearing a medal for participating in the choir program for four years, a dog-tag for participating in SoVoce (an extra jazz-choir group that rehearsed during lunch and after school—she did this for two years), and a cord for taking extra classes in the summer. She is awesome!

the requisite graduation photo in front of the U

There wasn't as much wind as there was for Brandon's
and Ryan's graduations, but she still did get
a little bit of tassel blown in the face.

Congratulations, Kaylie!

Senior Pictures!

This cute little girl

has turned into this lovely, young lady:

And she is graduating from high school TODAY!

So it's probably about time for me to post her senior pics (which, admittedly, we only took last Tuesday evening).

Bruce and I took Kaylie to Remember the Maine Park (which is a favorite of all my kids), and we hiked around and took photos for about two hours. 494 photos, and three videos, to be exact.

Here's a couple of outtakes:

All right. Here she is just laughing and looking darn cute. It's hard to get a bad/silly picture of Kaylie (unless she is talking and in-between facial expressions).

And here's the good stuff:

next to the deep, flowing water
(I have to tell you this, because you can't really see the water.)

And here's what goes on behind the scenes...
You might notice that Bruce's camera is not pointed at Kaylie.

Um, yeah. Here is what he was taking a picture of: me at my best—in Bruce's T-shirt (which is too big), and Kaylie's jacket (which is too small), and a camera in front of my face.)

This is the "I'm so cute" face and pose that the choir and theater kids do.

 photo-bomb!

We searched for a nice tree for Kaylie to lean up against, and instead she climbed up into this tree. And we got a nice picture of her.

We did get a really nice picture of her in the tree.

And then we had an adventure. Kaylie was able to get into the tree, but she couldn't get back down again. After a few attempts, she had to get turned around so Bruce could get close enough for her to climb onto his shoulders (which high, wobbly place she did not like much). Bruce stepped away from the tree, but was unable to squat down for her to climb off his shoulders. In the end, he went back to the tree, she scooted her bottom onto an almost horizontal limb, and then he lifted her down to the ground.

And here's a good tree to lean on:

We had a fun evening photo-shoot, and got some pretty good pics. 

And now, we wait for the actual graduation ceremonies—tonight! 

Yay for Kaylie!