UTAH WATERCOLOR SOCIETY FALL SHOW

One of my paintings made it into the Utah Watercolor Society Fall Show and I was so excited! I just had to go to the opening. It's the first show one of my watercolor paintings has ever been accepted into. A milestone in my art career.

Me, my painting and my proud daughter, Sister S.

Sister S and my older sister, A, came with me to the opening and afterward we went out to dinner. It was some great girl-bonding time and we had a blast! I am so grateful I have such wonderful, supportive family in my life.

Waiting for our table at Mimi's...

We had a great time!!

IT'S BEGINNING TO FEEL LIKE FALL

Fall is one of my favorite times of year. The weather starts to cool and its so nice to be outside. We also have lots of family birthdays and it's a fun excuse to get together.

C Man climbing in Maple Canyon.

Princess P and I at a family birthday party.

C Man with baby W at the birthday party.

PRINCESS P BECOMES A TEEN

I can't believe I don't have anymore 'kids'! Princess P reached the big 1-3 today! She's so cute. I am so glad she's growing up to be such an amazing person. She's so kind and loving and willing to help. I hope she stays that way...

Princess P opens gifts.

Blow out that fire on top of your brownies!

BACK TO SCHOOL PICS

If you know me at all, you know I hate going back to school. When I had tons of littles at home, it was different, but my kids take care of themselves now and they are my buddies and I really miss them when they're gone all day. I also hate going back to a regimented schedule. I love the freedom and spontaneousness of summer and I miss it dreadfully when I get back into the school routine.

My youngest two- C Man 10th grade, Princess P 7th grade.

C Man had a friend take some pictures of he and his buddies. Looks like they're in a band.

Nice socks! I feel a vibe of the 80's...

Our McDonald's opened back up this month after being closed all summer. Here's the girls going in to check it out.

MAPLE CANYON DAY

We decided to go to Maple Canyon yesterday for the family to climb and me to paint. It started out a little rainy, but that passed after five minutes and it ended up being a pretty nice day. Most of Big C's family came too, so it was quite a group.

Princess P makes friends with a dog.

Big C lead climbs.

Yes, I actually belay sometimes.

Cute climbing cousins!

My small plein air watercolor.

SNAPCHAT

I know that Snapchat is greatly debated and often criticized, but I have a serious love for it. Sister S and I have THE BEST time with it. I was able to keep up with her life when she was in Logan at school, in Ukraine and in Mexico. I get to see a little snippet of what she's doing and I get to send her little snippets of what I'm doing. It has been a wonderful tool for us to stay connected.

On a way less serious side, it is also a blast to use! They have the best filters and we laugh and play with them all the time. 

I just had to send this one to my sister (she's not on SnapChat, but you can save them if  you want). It is such a flattering filter and I just crack myself up!

Some of their filters are very age-defying- they smooth out my skin and put lipstick on better than I do.

I get to catalog little moments of life that I might have forgotten.

I can send my kids pictures of their newest niece.

Elder D on Harry Potter's birthday.

I can whine about how sick I am while I binge watch Fringe and drink peppermint tea and it only lasts for 24 hours.

Overall, it is definitely one of the most used apps on my phone, and while I know it's not right for everyone, it has a special place in my life right now. 

GORDON FAMILY REUNIONS ROCK!

My husband's family really does put on a great reunion. We have such a blast even though we do almost the same thing every year. It just never gets old.

BREAKFAST IN THE MOUNTAINS:

Princess P holds her new cousin! Aren't they pretty in pink??

When your mom gives you a tattoo...

Awesome A, Sister S and Elder D wait patiently for their breakfast.

We sure do love cousin time!

The guys gotta mountain bike down!

RED NECK SLIP-N-SLIDE:

One of the all time favorite traditions of the reunion.

Then, because going down on your bum gets boring, we have to go down standing up.

Sister S helps Little W.

Me with my cute boys!

Princess P, Miss G and Miss J- the Middle School girls.

SUMMER TIME

I sure do love summer! I wish it could go on forever! We have so much fun and can be spontaneous with our schedules. When school starts all that freedom goes away and I get sad. We've gotta enjoy the indulgences while we can!

All us girls at Girl's Camp!

Sister S got asked to be the Stake speaker at Girl's Camp this year, so I went with her. We went up and had dinner with Princess P who was already there and then we got to listen to my amazing oldest child speak. The theme was 'There's No Place Like Home', so it was perfect topic for her and she did such a good job! What a great example she is for those girls! I'm so proud of her.

All the old camp flags from years past were hanging up. We had to find our names.

We got invited to go to Palisade Lake for dinner with friends. It was fun and the weather was great for throwing siblings into the water- at least that's what my kids did.

Sister S, Princess P and C Man fight for the high ground.

One of my nieces came home from her mission as her sister is leaving and we went up to hear them speak. It was a hot day, but fun to visit and see everyone.

Elder D, Awesome A, Princess P and C Man- dang, my kids are good lookin'!

Sister S was on the forest fire crew this year. She loved it!

I think she started more fires than she put out... weird.

LEFT FORK OF THE HUNTINGTON

We sure don't have much water in the state of Utah this year. It has been very sad for our river running habit. Nothing is flowing, so when my husband saw that there was a bit of water in the Huntington River, he wanted to run what he could of it.

Big C on Huntington Creek

Princess P and I went up the canyon with him and hiked. It was interesting to see the devastation caused by a forest fire there a few years ago. The campground is even closed to overnight campers and the slopes of the mountains are bare, so you can see all the pretty little waterfalls. It was very interesting. Plus, now there are log jams so huge it's caused the hiking trail to be rerouted. Mother Nature sure can be destructive when she wants to.

Me with Princess P, hiking along the river.

There was a lot of logs over the river, so Big C had to portage a few times.

SCHOOL'S OUT!

I, along with most parents on the planet, have very mixed feelings about school being out. I love the unstructured freedom that comes with summer, but not all the boredom and trying to keep kids busy that tags along as well. Summer never seems long enough though, so I must love it more than I dread it.

3x3 Tournament

Sqwad FC- C Man's 3x3 tournament team and coach. (C Man in the Qatar jersey).

Princess P plays a purple cello at Arts Night.

HAWAIIAN VACATION ORDEAL

Sister S got to go visit her good friend that is attending BYU Hawaii. She had a great time and loved Hawaii, but it ended up being a pricey trip...

Sister S in front of the house I grew up going to with my family every year.

She got to swim with sharks!

Sister S at the famous (to me) Hukilau Beach. I have such a great memories of that beach.

Sister S dropped her phone off a cliff on the last day there. It was not good for more than one reason, because when she got back to Las Vegas she went to drive home and found that the car had been stolen. She kept having to borrow people's phones on the street to call us and tell us what she was doing. She ended up catching a bus to Cedar City just to get her out of creepy Vegas and we met her there at 2 am. It was quite a night. I am not sure why they wanted to steal a '94 Honda Civic, but I guess it happens all the time. The car had over 300,000 miles on it and lots of great memories for our kids, so it meant way more to us than to whoever took it. There has been a week of mourning at our house for the Hot Tamale, may it rest in peace.

JAR OF DATES

I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again... my daughter is awesome. She was sick of my son doing the same old worn out dates, i.e. watch a movie, go to a movie, etc... So she sent him a list of ideas that he could do for his dates and I just loved them. I thought they were definitely share-able, so here they are (plus a few more I added)... 

Dates! Appropriate for ages 16 and up, but probably more appealing to the younger crowd. Print out the ones you want, cut them into strips and put them in a jar. Let your date choose or just let it be inspiring for you, so you don't get in a date rut!

•  Build a fire and roast mallows

•  Go doorbell ditching

• Cover your eyes and pick $5 movie

• Go to an art show and get hot chocolate

• Go get frozen yogurt and get on the roof of the Eccles center or other building

• Draw with sidewalk chalk

• Cook her pizza

•  Find a music concert/local event

• Go Sledding (on snow or sand)

• Get hot chocolate or a soda, walk around a park and swing on swings

• Buy fruit and make smoothies/milkshakes

• Denny's run no matter what time- play 'I Spy' on the way

• Paint each other's faces and then go out for ice cream

• Play chess (winner gets something/ loser loses something- like choosing where to eat/what movie to watch)

• Play 20 questions while making brownies

• Get temporary tattoos, put them in matching visible places, buy candy and have Mario Cart battle

• Play a board game in student center or a random public place

• Play a prank on a mutual friend (decorate car, TP their house)

• Hit golf balls into a lake

• Buy each other outfits at a second-hand store and go out to dinner

• Go on a hike, but not on a trail

• Find coupons online and let them decide what you do that night

• Get away from the lights of town and go stargazing with the free Sky Map app

• Create a scavenger hunt for other couples and compete

• Go play pool, mini golf or arcade games

• Go to an art museum

SPRING BREAK IN CANCUN

My family was all over the world this year for Spring Break! It was crazy! Princess P and C Man were mad at us that they didn't get to go anywhere, but everyone else did. (I did feel a little bad- like I robbed a trip from them).

The girls she teaches with swimming in a cenote. 

Sister S got to go to Cancun for her break. (If you remember, she was already in Mexico teaching English). They struggled finding a place to stay and it was kind of an adventure in lots of ways for her, but fun too. I love the photos she sent to me.

She got to go parasailing!

Cozumel!

Selfie on a scooter? Now that's skill! haha

Sister S on a beach in Cozumel.

Sister S in the middle with the girls at Chichen Itza.

She happened to lose her passport on this trip and was very worried about getting home, but she's got it all worked out now. She's very ready to come home, but I know that Mexico has been a good experience for her too. If nothing else, it's helped her see she doesn't want to teach. hahaha!