To say I am nostalgic is a gross understatement. I have a hard time getting rid of ANYTHING that has any memories or meaning attached to them. I still have all of my homecoming/prom dresses from high school that Mom made for me. I can't fit into most of them and couldn't even wear them if I could, but I just can't seem to throw them out. I even have files overflowing with notes, cards, and emails from friends and family.

Mom gave this teddy bear to me the day she helped me move into my dorm room freshman year at BYU. It has sat on my bed every day since then (when I make my bed, of coures).








This is a case that the gold Olympic medals were encased in. They made a bunch of extras (not sure why). Myke and I stumbled upon them one day after the Olympics and snatched a couple for ourselves before they were thrown out.






I loved this record when I was younger. I thought it was so unique and beautiful. I tried to keep such good care of it. Ironically, it got warped in the car on the way up to BYU. When I was trying to fix it, it cracked. The record has been through a lot, but every time I look at it, I can remember how happy it made me to pull it out of my closet as a little girl.



Whenever I went over to Baba & Ben's I loved looking at their porcelain flowers. Luckily, I talked Mom into giving one of them to me after Baba died. The beauty and elegance of this flower reminds me of Baba.



Marnee & Mike made superlatives for Steve, Mckay, & I when we graduated. Although it hasn't entirely come true, it isn't because I haven't tried!



The rocking chair. It isn't my style, I don't really like the fabric on it, and it is kind of falling apart so you can't sit on it, but it represents so much more! There are memories locked in this chair that I'm sure no one but the chair knows.







My furniture. Its fun to think that this furniture was Mom's, Marnee's, and then mine. Hopefully, one day it will be my daughters.

Heather made this pillow for me out of left over material and stuffing when she, Baba, Mom, and I went up to a cabin one weekend in high school. Its lumpy, not square, and is falling apart, but I still cuddle with it every night.

Dad brought this home for me after one of his business trips. I can't remember where he went or how old I was when I got it but I love how it reminds me that he was thinking about me while he was away.



Some think I hang this on my wall to remind myself how to spell my name and when my birthday is. That's only partically true.

Yesterday, my friends Amanda, Jane, & I drove out to Ocean City, MD to spend a relaxing day at the beach. It was a beautiful day and the perfect way to relax after a busy couple of weeks! I love living so close to the beach. I just wish we took advantage of it more often.

I bought some new toys for photoshop and am loving how easy it is making my workflow.  Not sure if this is really the best use of the textures (as I have about 40 different things going on), but I'm somehow learning how to speed-up my workflow.  (But in the meantime spending way more time learning!  Hmmmm...

• Tubing down the Potomac
• Threw a surprise party for Missy

• Bowling

• Swimming
• Eating out more than I'd like to admit
• Going to see Dark Knight
• Laying on the rocks near Great Falls
• The Opera (my friend Mary Ann who stayed at Mom & Dad's last Christmas for a night was in a production of Carmen)

• Speed Dating
• Pedicures
• Making sure I find time to watch So You Think You Can Dance (just for you Mike)
• A few movie nights/sleepovers (you're never too old for a sleepover at a girlfriends!)

And tomorrow, I head to the beach for the day! I'll post pictures of that trip later this weekend.

Sorry Anne!  I really messed things up.  I was having a terrible time on my mac viewing the pages.  I've asked a few people and it is a safari thing.  There is something I could have done and tried it out, but I really couldn't get into it to change it correctly, and then I accidently changed the template and lost it all!  I'm sorry!!!! I tried to fix it up as best as I could, but could not figure out how to do the background pic, only the header one.  Anyway.  I want to add pics of everyone, not just the grandkids since it is about all of us, but hey... that's really all I have right now.  (Besides it all looked so good in the matching colors!)

Looks like Kate is happy and content playing in the water or driving a car; whereas Garrett will take the easy life and just take a nap out in the pool. Maybe he is trying to work on his tan and catch up with Ryan. I'd love to trade you more Garrett pics Sheesh if you have any better pics of the kids on the waterfall. These are just the ones my mom got with the point and shoot. They are pretty blurry. You might have some better ones on your camera.

"The common Kingsnake is a nonvenomous member of the “harmless” Colubrid family which also includes such common snakes as Garter snakes, Gopher snakes, and Whip snakes.

The Kingsnake derives its name from its habit of eating other snakes. It is most famous for eating rattlesnakes and copperheads and for being immune to viper venom. The Kingsnake is actually a diet generalist and will eat, small rodents, snakes, lizards, birds and their eggs and even turtles and frogs. It is usually active in the morning and late afternoon but in extremely hot conditions will be found abroad at night. The Kingsnake locates and identifies its prey at night by using its sense of smell. If the prey item is a rattlesnake, the Kingsnake, being a constrictor, will bite the snake and immediately throw several coils around it and constrict it until it is disabled and exhausted and it will then be eaten, whether still alive or dead."

I am not quite sure what set him off but I was able to catch a bit of it on video. It was the perfect medicine for Steve after a very long day at work. Hope you all enjoy it as much as Steve did.