New clothes are purchased...supplies gathered...backpacks loaded...
We had to do one last trip to Disneyland before Summer was over.... Ryan was swamped at work so the kids and I headed out ourselves...(This is now 3 times that I have driven to CA by myself...woo hoo!)
and our own seat on the Matterhorn
Miranda and I shared a rocket ship though....remind me NOT to do that again! 
This is Parker's favorite Toy Story/Pixar character... the little green aliens
The last time I went to Disneyland, I brought Parker home the Hidden Mickey book. We decided to try to find some of them on this trip.... Here is a few that we saw...
Pirates of the Caribbean....
See it now??
This Mickey Lock is found as you exit Pirates...it is on a shop door on the right
This was actually the first one we found, it was by the Finding Nemo Submarine ride near the Monorail Exit (not an easy one to find)
This Hidden mickey is on Space Mountain... it's the speakers between the seats... pretty easy to spot!
We did find a few more, but they were tricky to take pictures of... we would have loved to find even more, but I accidently left the book on Indiana Jones ride..(don't judge) and no one turned it in :( In my defense... I put our name and address inside the cover that morning, I wonder if anyone will be a good samaritan and mail it back to us someday...sigh! The kids and I decided to take a little trip to Cedar City this week
While we were there, Nathan and Jaclyn decided to bless their new baby, Abigail.
What a cutie she is...,
Her big sister, Kaylie just loves her to pieces....
and couldn't get enough kisses....
Miranda, Nancie and I went to a couple Shakespere plays on Weds...
Pride & Predjudice and Much Ado about Nothing.... They were both excellent, but we all agreed that Much Ado was better...so funny! 
Parker was able to spend some fun time with his cousin Walker while we went to the plays...
What do your kids do when they are bored?
Mine Bake!
Well, at least Miranda does. She was home alone last night while Ryan and I went to dinner with friends. She decided to whip up a batch of cupcakes. She wouldn't tell me which ones she was going to make so it was a surprise when she texted me photos of her creation...
Cookies & Cream Cupcakes 
She started with these darling cupcake liners I found that fit the color theme perfectly!
She crushed and baked oreos right into the cupcake batter
She used up some remaining frosting I had on hand so half have buttercream and half have cream cheese icing (my personal favorite!)
They were so yummy and beautiful! It has become a bit of a tradition that we attend at least one of the shows at Tuacahn in St. George, UT. This year Miranda was quite excited to see an old-time Broadway favorite...CATS!
We met Nancie & Raynold for dinner then on to the show!
( Ok...so I look more like a nerd than a hip cool cat)
Both Ryan and Parker were shocked that they actually enjoyed the show (at least that's what they said). It was full of great dancing and singing and best of all...the weather was beautiful!
After the show Miranda and her friend Hayley wanted photo's with many of the main characters....
Grizabella
Rum Tum Tugger
Mr. Mistoffelees
Munkustrap
Mungojerrie & Rumpleteazer
Skimbleshanks
Can't wait!
I am ashamed to admit it, but our swimming pool hasn't been used to it's full potential this summer. I'm not sure whether it's lack of planning or lack of spontaneity but it just hasn't happened.
I'm usually too busy, the pool is dirty or I've already showered for the day or my favorite excuse... it's night time....I really like to swim when I can catch a few rays as well (unless I can get a few laps in).
So today I suggested to the kids that we go swimming and hang poolside for a while.
We had a fun time...I lounged in my raft watching the kids and dogs splash and play.
It didn't last as long as I would have liked but hey... at least we finally swam!
This week has been a very strange one...
Everywhere I look, something is missing...
An empty computer chair and not having to wait my turn...
Empty tennis shoes not running around....
Unused video games....
an empty (and tidy) bed
Parker has been gone to Scout Camp since last Saturday morning. (It's been since last Thursday afternoon since I saw him since I went out of town before he left)
It's a bit quiet and a lot strange to have him gone and not able to talk, text or communicate with him in any way. It's the first time he's been gone this long and not staying with family.
Miranda has tried her best to provide us with both sides of their conversation during dinner, but sadly, it just isn't the same. It does however keep us entertained :)
Who knew I would miss him so much.
Does he miss me?
Is he as excited to come home as I am to have him home?
Parker has been greatly missed this week and I just can't wait to have him home again!
I was hanging out online a couple weeks ago and saw a DIY project that I thought would fit perfectly in our kitchen. I told my idea to Ryan and we went out that day to see what our very local Lowes (one just opened down the street) had in stock. My idea is to cover our Kitchen island with beadboard and paint it black.
This is how our island looked before the project began...
I really wanted to help Ryan and learn how to use a nail gun and how to cut the wood and trip pieces, but we never had enough time at home together to get it completed. Last weekend when I went to Arizona, I gave Ryan the green light to go ahead and work on it without my help (I'm sure he let out a huge sigh of relief)
When I came home it was all built out! He did an amazing job...it's quite handy to have a DIY hubby to help out! I'm always the caulker/finisher so I got to work and smoothed the edges and filled in the nail holes and taped it off so it was all ready to paint.
The next day I had to run into the office so Miranda volunteered to paint the island while I was gone (sah-weet!) I picked up some paint that morning and had planned to get semi gloss, but the Lowes guy talked me into High Gloss paint. (I'm such a sucker).
So Miranda got to work painting the first coat.....
By the time she had finished the first coat...I was a little nervous... it was super duper glossy shiny! I could almost see my reflection in the black gloss. I wasn't too sure if this was the sheen for me, but I was willing to give it a chance.....
However, it was a very short-lived chance and I went back to the store a couple hours later and bought a different sheen of paint... this time I got Satin. It was definitely more washable than flat or eggshell, but not as shiny as high or semi gloss.....Ryan didn't want it too shiny so I figured this was a happy medium... BUT....
When I put it over the top of the High Gloss black paint... the new Satin black paint looked grey...seriously...gray. I panicked and took both paints back to Lowes where, I'm sure, the paint guy was getting very sick of me by now. He talked me into putting one full coat over the high gloss saying it was just the sheen that made it look like it was grey next to the high gloss. So... I trusted his judgement and took it back and Miranda finished a full coat of Satin over the High Gloss....aaaaahhhh, much better....and it really did look black now.
And so here is the after....
I really do like the color of the Satin black, but the verdict is still out on the sheen. It still feels, to me, a little too much on the flat side of the sheen family. BUT
Despite the paint sheen issue.... I LOVE LOVE how it turned out! Like I said before, it is so nice to have a DIY husband around. Although I still want to use the nail gun and miter saw so I have another project in mind that I would like to tackle soon....the laundry room!
There is NO WAY I can have a daughter that is old enough to start driving!!!
Miranda turned 15 a few weeks ago and she is younger than most of her friends so she has been quite concerned that they are getting their driving permit and licenses before her. She has also pointed out on numerous occasions that all of them are already practicing driving...(hint hint mom).
So, being the patient, loving, slightly insane mom that I am.... I took her out this morning on her first driving lesson.
She did pretty well, with only a few corrections from me. We didn't go far or fast, and went in a circle working on left turns mostly.. but it was a perfect first lesson. 
Later, we decided to go again, this time Ryan came along..... (so now we have 2 back-seat drivers for her to listen to)
We decided she should try going in a circle again, but this time practicing right turns. I never knew right and left turns were so different...
...but as soon as she turned her first right, tight turn, she didn't exactly straighten out the wheel fast enough or press on the break hard enough and ran over the curb into a boulder... Those are her skid marks at the bottom of the photo
And this is the poor boulder that is no longer in it's peaceful resting place...
We were happy that she didn't hit the nearby tree or pole and that the boulder survived with only minor injuries.
Thankfully we, yes that includes Ryan, were able to laugh it off. She didn't want me to take photo's, but who could resist when there is a fun new blog story?! Not me! Miranda claims she was a little nervous having 2 of us directing her...no...really?
I am happy to report that she won't get her official permit until December so until then, the main roads will be safe...we will only be practicing in remote streets and parking lots. However I can't say the same about boulders lining the street.
I just hope my car can survive all the lessons to come. :)
They make me sooo happy!