The Misadventures of Me!

Saturday I was so excited to take a ride with my fam on my shiny new bike.




Departure time was early, but we were rearin' and ready to go. All aboard Amma and Pappa's car, bikes in tow, and off we go...errr, I accidentally just locked our keys in the house.

Quick change of plans. Hurry, and remove every screen on the windows, break and bend a few, whatever it takes to get in the house. Finally made it in, with a promise to hide a key for next time.





Pappa and I stop off for a quick donut my mom and I love. Ooops, they don't have them. Just buy the others. Just kidding, have the donuts, buy them both. Pappa thinks I am a royal dork!

Down to Provo we go. Up the trail for only minutes. My gears aren't shifting like they should. Finally find a few gears that work and we are OK. Bryan's brakes are struggling. Stop, fix, we are OK. Brooks having multiple meltdowns, already. The grapes are stuck in the pocket on the side of the trailer. Stop to help rescue the grapes.

Finally, we are really moving. Now more than halfway up the trail. Happy Brooks. . . Heavy Brooks. . . "Erin, you have a flat tire." Can I crawl in a cave, please?



Poor Pappa. Rides down the trail to find a patch and his pump. Poor Pappa. Rides back up the trail, fixes the flat, sweating like crazy. Oh, the forecast shows 101.

We continue on our ride up the trail, as far as we can go until we are stopped by the rangers. Fire. Back down the trail. The best part. Downhill the entire way, not a single stop.

Ends up being a great day. There is little more I could do to ruin it at this point. Finished the day at Red Robin, yum.

Independence Day, Revisited.

I know it's a little past due, but we had such a wonderful time over the 4th of July, I had to get it in writing. This year we went with my family up to the condo at Wolf Creek. We stayed up there for the weekend and escaped some of the heat. We had such a great time with Amma and Papa, Paige and Mike. I will always remember this year.

We hit the festivities in Huntsville, and it was a hit! A darling small town parade; kids bike parade, a lama pulling a wagon, an entire brigade of vintage tractors and "happy 50th anniversary, Rob and Janet!" Can't get more Americana than that. Brooks loved it, especially the tractors.









The other highlights were the bike rides, swimming, movies, relaxing, a rousing game of scewie louie (thanks mom,) and my dads famous chocolate ice cream which is always a favorite.

But for Brooks there was nothing better than throwing rocks in the river, taking walks to collect rocks to throw in the river and watching the rocks in the river. Catch my drift? Pure heaven.

A Day For the Birds

After running a couple of errands yesterday, Brooks and came home and took our lunch out on the patio. As soon as we walked outside, I noticed a not so little bird laying under the window, looking rather sad. He wasn't moving and I wasn't sure what to do. Now this isn't the first time we have had an incident like this. We have a large window that confuses the little birdies. I think they see their reflection and think it's another bird, so they just keep flying right into the window.

Anyway, we have had about four other birds make thier way into the glass with only one fatality until yesterday. I was with Brooks, who was fascinated by this sweet creature struggling on the ground. I ran in and got some bread and water. Why that didn't work, I have know idea. Then I went inside to get a shoe box for the bird. I gave Brooks specific instructions not to touch the poor bird in case he was diseased or something. Well when I came back the bird was now on it's back about two feet from where I had left him. Only now, he wasn't breathing. It was sad. I carefully nudged him into the shoe box with a piece of cardboard and discarded the box later. I tried to have a short conversation with Brooks about life and death, somehow, I don't think it sunk in. All for the better, I am sure. He is convinced the bird crashed and is just really, really sad in that box. But he did say he would be happy soon. I am sure he is.

So, later that evening I was trying to mend some of my hot and tired hanging planters. I grabbed my trowel and was ready to go to work, when to my utter surprise, there was a mass of fluffy substance in my planter, right where I was going to dig. I screamed and made Bryan invesigate.

Wouldn't you know it...five baby birds. I knew a certain bird, apparently a mother, loved to hang out around this planter. Little did I know she had moved in and brought her family too. These poor birds have been watered all summer and somehow managed to survive. So has the plant, sort of.

Other than a little frightened by the crazy lady with the shovel, the babies seem to be fine and are happy and with their mother once again insid my begonias. It was sort of a sweet end to a crazy day for the birds.

While the Cats Away.

The mice will play and play we did. While Bryan was running the grueling race in the scorching heat we had a pretty great weekend full of fun and adventure.

On Friday, I got to go to lunch with a bunch of ladies that I cheered with at UVSC. It has been 10 years since we have all been together. I can't believe how time flies. It was so fun to see everyone and reconnect. Hopefully it won't be another 10 years until we get to see each other again!


Niki, Tracy, Natalie (our fearless leader and incredible coach,) Heather, Jeannette, Kellie and myself. Sadly, we were missing a few, maybe next time. Thanks for a great lunch ladies.

Then I was off to pick up my baby boy Brooks. My wonderful mom was watching him and when I got to her house she was serving popsicles to the darling neighbor kids, Brooks' friends, Jack and Ella. They were running through the sprinklers having a great time. We were visiting with their parents, when I got a phone call that Bryan's team was running faster than expected. So we piled in the car and my mom and Brooks and I drove to Eden to see Bryan run part of his race. Unfortunately, this is how Brooks cheered on his daddy...


So, my mom and I shouted a couple of wahoos and took some photos and we were headed back to Kaysville to pay a visit to a special friend, aunt Debbie (pronounced Deebie according to Brooks.) Debbie was in a horrible accident a couple of months ago and she is recovering so well. She looks great and is getting around almost as if nothing has happened. I was amazed. We had a terrific visit. Debbie has the most incredible backyard. And after we left, Brooks said how much fun he had at the park. I think you can see why.










We are so happy that Debbie is doing well, we all love her dearly. She is proof that miracles do happen. What a wonderful eveining it was!

After all the fun on Friday, Brooks and I were pooped so we plopped in a couple of beds at my moms and had a sleepover with Amma and Papa. The next morning, we got up and drove to Park City where we hung out waiting for Bry's team to cross the finish line. They came across after a short time waiting and we drove home to let Bryan sleep. But the party wasn't over.

We then went to Thanksgiving Point. My moms friend is a sculptor and she was featured in an art exhibit in the gardens. It was beautiful. There was so much to look at and explore, Brooks had a splendid time.


Brooks and uncle Mike B.


Brooks and Papa


By the end of the night, we were all exhausted and ready for rest. Amma and Papa were such troopers and traveled all around the town with us all weekend. Luckily, at our house, we had a lazy Sunday full of recovery for all. We definitely needed it. But it was all so much fun!

I Am So Proud!

This past weekend, Bry and his friends ran the Wasatch Back. A relay race from Logan to Park City. They ran about 150 miles starting Friday running throughout the night until Saturday afternoon. They all did a great job.

I am so proud of Bryan for taking it so seriously. I should note that Bryan isn't a regular runner, but he had a goal and he accomplished it, despite injuries along the way. He trained for months leading up to the race, even lost 10 lbs. in the process. . . not that he had any weight to loose.

It was so fun to watch all of you guys have such a great time together.

Here's to next year. Way to go Bry, way to go team Rohief Constitution(don't ask!)

I Dreamed a Dream.

I have always dreamed about New York City. I have been fortunate to travel to enough places, but always hated that I had never been to New York. Maybe it's because I am quite sure that my real calling in life was to be on Broadway. Never mind the fact that I can't sing, I still think somehow I was born to see my name in lights. After a whirlwind trip with my friends, I am pretty sure that I did miss my calling. But I had the time of my life and can't wait to return.

I traveled to NY with some of my friends from Portland and Salt Lake. We met in the city bright and early and we didn't slow down until we returned back home. There are so many things to see and do and so many people to watch. It is a city full of stimulation. Maybe that's why we were able to go at it as hard as we did.

Anyway, some of my favorites memories were definitely: the food, Brooklyn Bridge, the pizza, Wicked, a minor mishap in the subway, searching for comfy shoes for our pregnant Jen, the food, the flowers at the Waldorf, the banana pudding at 1:00 a.m. from Magnolia's, the limo, church, the proud Puerto Ricans, Super Hero's, fights over our favorite celebs, the cute cabbie from Jersey (I should say nice,) the hustle and bustle, Soho, Greenwich Village, (next time more time here,) Diet Coke, Park Avenue, Ground Zero, the food and my friends.

Thanks, Ali, for helping me feel just like I was local and living the dream. And for showing us New York as it should be seen. Macy, thanks for the recommendations, I have never eaten so well in my life. I loved every minute of it (eating, that is.)Thanks, ladies, for a wonderful trip. I couldn't have asked for better company. And thanks to my parents and Bry for taking care of my baby so I could have this experience. Now when the Wicked auditions come around, you may need to be on call, again, but I don't think that will be for some time now, so rest easy.

Here are a few pics of what was the whirlwind in NYC.

Macy and I upon our arrival. Unfortunately, my eyes remained this puffy the entire trip.


We all stayed in our cozy room at the Waldorf Astoria. They were nice as can be...I'd definitely go back.

The famous frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity.


View from the Met. One of my favorite stops on the roof, overlooking Central Park.

The beautiful church we attended on the upper east side.

Wicked!


The Brooklyn Bridge is the oldest suspension bridge in the U.S. Still feels pretty sturdy. We walked over the bridge to the best pizza ever, Grimaldi's. This was such a highlight. Highly recommended.


The flowers at the Waldorf. The entire lobby smelled like these lilies. Beautiful.


Just walking around, we did that a lot!


Oh, I met the incocievable guy from Princess Bride. One of my favorite movies. As I was saying hello, the entire store stopped to listen. I surely made a fool of myself and my crimson face prooves it! He was nice.

These are a few of the picture I have. Nancy was the staff photographer and so I can't wait to see all that she captured.

What a trip.

Sure Signs of Spring. . .

. . .finally.

I can't get enough of the sweet smells and the barely buds on the trees in my backyard. It has been so fun to see things come to life. I think I have personally willed the green right out of the trees. Never have I been so anxious for spring. Every day I would walk outside in search of signs, even in the snow, and now that it has begun, it can't grow fast enough. Isn't it amazing that the plants and the grass just know that it's time to grow? What a miracle of life. So glad it's finally here.



Isn't there something magical about sprinklers?




This is Brooks' "happy face" as evidenced by the mix of dirt and chocolate around his chin.

By the way, are any of you familiar with the song "Wick" from Secret Garden? That is what's playing through my head right now as it write this post. If not, check it out on iTunes. I can't think of a more appropriate song for the season.