Busy Busy...

This week has been packed - but the good kind of packed. Unfortunately, Chris and I ended up getting sick halfway through the week. That didn't make work fun, but we got through it ok. I try not to wait until the end of a busy week to post because it ends up rather lengthy, but here it is anyway! 

On Sunday we ate dinner at my parents' house. Two of the grandkids were there, which is always fun. Lance, the little one, walks around saying, "hug, hug" when he misses his mom. As if he's asking you to comfort him - it's too cute. Here is Chris with Lance and Cessna.

On Monday I went with my friend Danielle to get pedicures. We have a new goal to go once a month and try to new places. We went to Happy Nails on 3rd south and 2nd east. Bad idea. Not 

a great experience. Our toes were nicely painted (just one solid 

color, which is all they offered - no french tips or anything), but our feet weren't necessarily softer, which is the entire point of the pedicure, right? 

Here's Danielle after her pedicure. Do you love the pink walls? Did I mention that it was probably about a hundred degrees in there? We were roasting. Danielle was fit for the part - she had on her comfy work-out clothes and still looked gorgeous.

Anyway, we made ourselves feel better by heading to Paradise Bakery for dinner. So worth it. :)

On Tuesday we took our good friends Ali and Andrew out 

to dinner. They are moving in a couple of weeks to South Carolina, and they will be missed. Their little family is so cute and we were happy to take them out. Thanks again, guys! We had never been to the Cheesecake Factory, and might I say - INCREDIBLE. Everything we ordered was so good! I was pleasantly surprised, and we will be going

 there again.

Eliza happily eating a mountain of fries ordered just for her. Lucky girl. Funny thing - she ate more than all of us. The after picture of that plate wouldn't have been much to see.

Eliza and Ali

Myself, Chris and Andrew

Chris with Eliza after the meal

Wednesday was supposed to be fun - we planned a BBQ with friends to watch SYTYCD, but this is about when our sickness hit. Alas, we were doomed to stay in and watch it alone. :( I pretty much cried myself to sleep after the disappointment of not having two of our greatest friends over. We missed you, Jenny and Bryant (sniff, sniff).

Thursday was another long day at work, but that evening was the 

rehearsal dinner for my cousin Jessica and her fiance Brad, who were married on Friday. It was at This is The Place park, at the Atkin home. It's really pretty up there - I'm not sure I had ever been there before. We had dinner and enjoyed the entertainment provided by my crazy uncles, Marin and Troy. Their singing happens rarely anymore - it used to be every family gathering they'd sing, but that tradition has somehow trickled off. I love it when they do, though.

My dad, mom, Marin and Margo

Brad and Jessica

Me and Jessica

Angela and me

Jessica and her best friend Jeanette

My Great Aunt Evie (from Delaware), Grandma, and Lorie

A bunch of the gang

The crazy uncles, Troy and Marin with their rendition of "My Girl"

Friday was the wedding, Jessica looked beautiful. The ceremony was in the morning at Heritage Gardens, and the reception in the Gerber's (family friends) back yard in Sandy. Everyone had a great time. It was laid back and low key - and it was a gorgeous day.

The ceremony

The happy couple

My mom and Dad 

(who looks great, by the way. He's lost about 45-50 pounds just in the last couple of months!)

Angela, Maddie and I (Cousins)

Me and Chris (another happy couple) :)

My two crazy brothers TJ and Taylor at the reception

My sister Heather and I. We missed you, Holly!

TJ and his friend Cody. For those of you that know TJ, or Cody for that matter, this is a very out-of-the-norm picture for them. Where are the silly faces?

Jessica and Micah getting their groove on

Me and Tay. Gotta love the hair - it's the longest in the Orton Gang by far.

My Uncle Troy (Jessica's Dad; one of the crazy uncles) singing to Jessica and Brad

After the reception we went to Desert Star Theater where we saw "Indiana Bones" with my in-laws. It was funny, but neither Chris or I enjoyed it as much as we should have. We were both

still feeling quite sick, and ended up leaving a bit early.

Saturday was a good day. Chris and I felt a bit better, so we headed over to his parents house where he helped his dad and brothers with some work outside while I continued quilting my mission quilt with my mother in law. It was a project I started a while back, some of you may remember. I saved most of my mission skirts and shirts and decided to make a quilt out of them. My crafty mother in law has turned it into

something much better than what I could have done, and it is turning out to be about a million times more colorful than it would have been if I were doing it alone (my friend Danielle asked me the other day if sister missionaries were only allowed to were black). Though I did have a few black skirts, they weren't all black - and it wouldn't have been that devoid of color! Thank you, Danielle. The quilt is actually turning out quite cute, and I will be excited to show off the final product in due time.

That evening Chris and I went out to the Utah Arts Festival with

Chris and Katie. Sadly, they are moving too, along with our

 friends Ali and Andrew, and this may be the last time we get them to ourselves before they leave! The Arts Festival was interesting... to say the least. There were some great booths, great food and fun things to 

see. The crowd, however, was

 interesting. I won't go into detail, I am sure everyone can imagine. Thousands of people crowded into

one lawn area in down town Salt Lake, given alcohol, and free to roam around wherever they please- into people, some choose. Kind of like the fair, almost. Anyway, we had fun people-watching, if nothing else.

And that was our fun-filled week. Sorry for the long post once again, and thank you to those who endured it!

SYTYCD

This dance gives me chills every time I see it... and she is quickly becoming my favorite dancer this season. Can we say S-I-C-K?

Girlfriends

I've been blessed to have great girlfriends throughout my life. They all mean so much to me, and I wish I could talk about each individually. But I am grateful that I have had the connection I have with these girls. Here are some of them. Christy, Nuria and I have been friends since 7th and 8th grade. We have been really good about getting together for dinner or lunch in the past, but we haven't regularly since before my mission (two years ago). The other night we went out to a new place, Tacos Nacos, in Draper. It was yummy! And very cheap! I definitely recommend it. 

Before we went, however, we were visiting with Christy's family. She has a little two year old named Brandt. Since Christy's brother and Dad are into dirt bike racing and motocross, they of course had to get Brandt his own.

I just thought it was the cutest thing!

He even did a trick for us!

As we were getting ready to go, I looked at the ground in front of the driveway. Yup, this is a real snake. It was moving, and luckily moving away from us!

Christy's dad immediately grabbed a shovel and was going to try and pick it up and move it to the trees - but the snake wasn't staying. He saw Mike coming at him and literally jumped his way up the curb and toward the trees. It was a fun beginning to the night!

Here are some pictures of us after eating. Unfortunately there wasn't anyone around to take one of all of us together!

Me and Nuria

Me and Christy

Last night I went to a Pampered Chef party with Ali Flegal, she is moving to South Carolina in a couple of weeks and it was nice to hang out with her. We'll miss her! Chris went to high school with her husband Andrew and they are in our ward now. Great couple. Paige Fotheringham hosted the party, she's so great. I worked with her husband Lorin, and we've been able to keep hanging out with them, which I love. Here are some pictures from the party. It was fun! It's nice to be together with just the girls!

Me, Paige and Ali with her son Henry.

The Winner For This Week

There were a few good dances last night on So You Think You Can Dance, and although the judges didn't think much of this one, I loved it! Enjoy!

My Blonde Walmart Moment

I have been debating whether or not I should post about this; it makes me look like a genius.

I was at Walmart on my break and rushing to get everything before I had to return to work. With only one more thing on my list, I rushed to the salon inside Walmart where my last item, Big Sexy Hair shampoo/conditioner was on the shelf. I quickly grabbed it and headed to the register. 

I was the last in line until it was my turn to check out. Of course, as it always does at Walmart, the line accumulated quickly and I was soon at the front of a string of patient (it is imperative that they were patient) customers. The shampoo was one of the first things on the conveyor belt. As cashier tried bringing it across the scanner, It didn't register. Again, nothing. Again, nothing. The cashier pulled apart the case to try and read the barcode after attempting to pull the tape off. The tape took the barcode with it. I was really in a hurry so I offered, "maybe I should get another one instead - the salon is right there." She was thinking the same thing, so off I went to grab more.

After clutching the package in my arms (they were heavy bottles), I hurtled back toward the register, where the line was growing longer. Not two seconds after I set the bottles down for the cashier, a tall woman, wet with sweat and a bit of a scratchy voice was on my case. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THAT?! THAT DOESN'T BELONG TO WALMART! WE ARE SEPARATE!" Realizing that her reason for her perspiration was probably due to chasing me, and feeling quite humiliated, I said, "I.... I didn't know." I tried to explain the situation and told her that I had been mistaken. I was trying to get a new one because the scanner wasn't recognizing it. "Well, where is the other one?" she said in an annoyed tone and not seeming to care. Remembering the cashier tearing the package open and putting the bottles into the bag, I said, "In there..." pointing to the bag and feeling even more sheepish than before. She took all of the bottles, laughed at me (I hope more at the situation than at me directly), and then strode back into the salon.

It could have stopped there, but the man next to me then said, "You thought you could buy them here?" Trying to defend myself I said, "Well yeah - it is, after all, inside Walmart. I didn't know." He said nothing else, but his smile and his shaking head said it all.

Rather Lengthy Post Below...

Please see below the dance post. I started our trip post before posting the clip. Thanks!

So You Think You Can Dance

My friend Jenny and I are kind of obsessed... and watch it together nearly every week. Last night was the first week of the top 20, and we were actually really impressed. It's always difficult to get used to the new season when you love the dancers from the last season so much. But we enjoyed it - and this was the favorite of the night. The beginning isn't much to see, but the dance is incredible. Enjoy!

OHIO!

Chris and I kept a secret kept for four months... from his brother Aaron. Aaron is attending dental school at Case Western University in Ohio, and we thought we'd pay a visit… and tell only his wife. After much anticipation, planning, and covering up any mistakes we may have made in slipping some hints here and there, the week we'd been waiting for had finally arrived. We went the 3rd through the 9th of June. Aaron was shocked – it was fun to see his reaction! He gave Chris a huge hug, pulled back and looked at him, and then hugged him again, as if to say, "You're here!" It was cute. 

This is their cute home. I can't lie and say I wasn't jealous to have a home!

My good friend Jenny told me to say hi to the cows and horses for her. Little did she know what a fun week we would have - without seeing one cow or horse! The City of Cleveland is beautiful, and Aaron and Julie live far from any farm land… the ghetto is basically their next-door neighbor. You wouldn't think so by looking at their street, though. It's very well-kept.

Ohio, little did we know, has many hidden treasures in it. But there was one we did know for sure of - the Rollercoaster Capital of the World, Cedar Point, where I have patiently waiting TEN years to go. May I say - it was TOTALLY worth the wait! I will talk more about that later... I want to go through the trip in order, giving you the highlights. This may turn out to be a very long post - I have LOTS of pictures; I have been told I have the tendency to take too many. We managed to squeeze in so much in one week that you may get tired of seeing how much fun we had. Feel free to lose interest at any time.

Here we are on the airplane, anxious for our trip... or tired of the airplane... you choose which I was feeling, depending on how I look. Boy, do I love airplanes... :( 

I somehow forgot to take a picture of the sweet reunion of brothers. Just take my word for it - it was worth the four month wait. That evening, we went out at Abuelo's Mexican restaurant. Yum-Yum! 

We got in at about 5:00, so the day was gone. This picture is the next morning after Julie so willingly cut my hair - yes, even shorter than before. That airplane picture was a nice "before" picture... the after shot is better... I think.

That day we just hung out and relaxed. It was so nice. And that night, we went shopping, where I discovered my new favorite store. Ah, H&M. It was my first trip. It definitely won't be the last.

We went out to CPK that night at the Legacy Village. Beautiful mall.

The next day we headed to Kirtland. Aaron and Julie actually go to church in Kirtland, so it's pretty close. It was really cool - very interesting. The temple was beautiful, and we actually got to tour it. The history of it was cool, of course it's the first temple so it's really important. The RLDS church owns it now and they have their own view of things, so it was really interesting to see the contrast and hear the history. It didn't quite have the right spirit there, the feeling was a bit weird, but it was neat, nonetheless. Here is Chris and I - why he's frowning? Not sure.

Julie and I

The brothers :)

This is Sidney Rigdon's home, across the street. It is privately owned now.

Next up was the visitors' center. This is where we saw the history of Kirtland with the church.

Chris kept putting this sticker on the back of everyone else, that says "I'm helping to preserve Kirtland Temple." He thought it was so funny - until it was put on him. I had to get a picture. And no, I never told him it was there. One of the missionaries did. :)

These next few pictures are what they used to build the temple... they're own kind of mill. Everything was run by this water - it was amazing!

It was really neat to see how simple the tools they used back then were. The things they used to build something so big and beautiful were so simple and humble. Very cool.

This was Newel K. Whitney's home, or a replica of it.

This is the Newel K. Whitney store, which is all original.

This missionary was funny. She told us her rule was that if we touched anything, she could hit us. Aaron kept reaching for stuff, and though this picture is staged, she really did hit him. 

With her scriptures.

This is a room where Emma Smith gave birth to one of their daughters. Can you imagine?!

These next pictures are of the School of the Prophets, where revelations were given to the leaders of the church. Christ appeared here personally - it was one of my favorite rooms. So humble, so lowly and peaceful.

These were the sisters that were our guides. They were by far the best sisters we had out of all the church history sites we went to. It was nice because in Kirtland, we happened to be the only visitors at the time. it was just us four with them, and we got to know them a little bit individually. They even sang for us. :)

Next stop was our dinner cruise that evening. It was on the Nautica Queen, on Lake Erie. It was so much fun! This shot was before dinner, waiting for the ship to take off.

Julie, Aaron, myself and Chris at dinner

On the top of the ship after dinner

Awww...

This is Barbara and her husband... can't seem to think of his name. Bob, maybe? Anyway, they were so funny! She got right in there dancing with us (when I say us I mean me... and sometimes Julie) - we were the only people dancing, I think. We had fun. Barbara busted out her moves on the electric slide. They were a cute couple. She hugged us all goodbye at the end of the night. 

This is another unique couple on the ship. In this picture, she actually just proposed to him! It was really cool. She gave him a ring and everything, and he was crying. I asked her how long they had been together and when the big day would be. She told me that they had been dating for five years, and the wedding would be in August. She is a little antsy, I believe. She then told me, "I've gone gray waiting for him, and now he's gone bald!"

It was so beautiful up there. It was so hot that day, and the breeze was so nice.

Me and Julie :)

The brothers again, having a good time

Cleveland at night. So pretty.

CEDAR POINT! Like I said, ten years. I have heard about how wonderful it is, seen all the rides online and dreamed of going one day. It was so much fun. The park is huge! There are 17 rollercoasters! We didn't ride all of them - the lines were all almost an hour long and there were actually some that weren't recommended. But we hit all the ones we really wanted to go on, with one exception. There is one with a 400-foot rise and drop that we missed out on because it was a windy day and it won't run if it's too windy. The sad thing was that it finally started going at the end of the night. We ran over there and while we were waiting in line, it quit running. It started up again while we were walking away out of the park! I guess we'll just have to go again!

I regret not getting as many pictures as I should have of our favorite rides, but here are a few. They have a snoopy theme at the park, so we got a picture with them. :)

This ride was called the Maverick. This was Chris's favorite ride. He thinks it tops the Hulk in Universal Studios' Islands of Adventure. I disagree - but it was a blast. It was won the "Best New Ride" award in 2007.

This was my favorite ride at the park. It is called the Millennium Force. The first drop is 310 feet and is almost a straight incline down. It was amazing! It's on the edge of the park, so when you are riding up - and up - and up, feeling like you'll never reach the top, you can enjoy the view of the city over the lake when you look to your left. It was really cool.

Being silly - I have to say that a guillotine is the last place I want to get stuck! It hurts!

Julie and I in an intense fake game of checkers

Next on the list was Palmyra. We headed out on Saturday morning; it is a four hour drive from Aaron and Julie's house. We first went to the Martin Harris farm; it was just a house to take a picture of. It's privately owned, but there's a sign in front telling the history of it. It's actually a replica; the original burned down. It's beautiful, though. This picture is Chris pretending he's August Rush in the field next to the home. 

"The music is all around us. All you have to do is listen..." Silly Chris.

Julie and I in front of the home

Next stop was the Grandin print shop, where the first 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon were printed. Boy, has printing come a long way since the 1800's!

This is where all the small individual letters were kept - capital and lower-case. They had to lay them in reverse, too - try to do that for the entire thing. Exhausting, I'm sure!

This is where they hung the sheets to dry

Next was the Smith farm and the Sacred Grove. The next few pictures are a little out of order. :(

This is the smith home, this would have been the "great room," I suppose.

In front of the sacred grove

This is the top floor of one of the Smith homes. There were two beds like this, and there were three boys to a bed. Can you imagine?!

This is the fireplace where Joseph hid the plates at one time when a mob was coming to attack the home. I just thought it was really neat.

In front of the Palmyra Temple. It's a small temple, which surprised me. It was one of the first small ones, I believe.

Some of the windows of the temple. Apparently this is the only temple that has some clear windows in it. President Hinckley wanted people to be able to see the sacred grove from inside the temple. Pretty cool, huh?

This is the Hill Cumorah. They show the movie "Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration" at the visitors' center here. It was incredible. I'd seen it once before, and it was still awesome. Not to mention the fact that we had been to almost all of the places that are in the movie and then we came out to the Hill Cumorah where some of it happened, and it was incredible. I am so grateful for Joseph Smith and cannot say even the smallest part of what I feel. I am so blessed to live in this time of restoration and I love the gospel. It was such a blessing to be able to go to these places and allow my testimony to grow.

This was one of the Smith homes. They had two; this is the smaller of the two. This is where Moroni appeared to Joseph Three times that night - years after the first vision.

This is the view of the temple from the Sacred Grove.

In the Sacred Grove. It was so beautiful.

We stayed the night in Palmyra and then headed off to Niagra Falls the next morning. I had been there before, but I was young. It was nothing less than GORGEOUS!

We did the Maid of the Mist, which takes you into the falls. Okay, not into the falls, but close enough to where you can't see anything because of all the mist! It was awesome! It was surprisingly cheap - $12.50 a person, and it was totally worth it.

Don't we look cool :)

This was before we were soaking wet...

...This was after!

After riding on the boat, we walked up the stairs that take you almost next to the falls. See below in the picture. The little trail? Yep, that was us. So fun.

So beautiful!

This concludes our tour. Thanks for enduring for those of you that did; I hope you enjoyed it!

Thanks, Aaron and Julie. We had a blast!