We Love Grandma and Baseball

It has been really fun being able to live by Sean's mom and spend time with her. She's really bright and a wonderful conversationalist. I love talking to her about politics, TV shows, and the local grocery store sales. We were having dinner at our apartment on Tuesday and Sean discovered that she's never been to a professional baseball game. He immediately bought tickets and we went the next night. It was another solid victory for the D-Backs. They win every time we go to the game!
















It was fun to be out and Brandon and Sean always look super cute in their matching hats. Brandon has really bonded with his grandma and loves having her over for dinner or going to play at her house. We love living so close to her (less than one mile away) and definitely enjoy sharing outings like this!

FORE!!

Sean bought Brandon some real golf clubs last week. When I'm in school, they get to have a lot of one on one time, so they have been going to the driving range. Brandon loves play golf and to be outside, but his favorite part is hanging out with Dad. These are just some shots of the boys messing around at our apartment complex. Check out the video of Brandon hitting with his driver; it's really cute!

Me Too!

Thanks for tagging me Bree and for retagging me Audrey! I hope you enjoy a little extra info about me.

Jobs I have had:

Babysitter

Dry cleaning clerk

Assistant manager at Journeys Kidz

Movies I never get sick of:

Hot Rod (even though I've only seen it once)

Big Fish

The Wedding Singer

Anchorman

Places I've called home:

Wilton, Connecticut

Englewood, Colorado

Idaho Falls, Idaho

Sandy, Utah

Provo, Utah

Orem, Utah

Saint George, Utah

Mesa, Arizona

Favorite TV shows:

The Soup

Diagnosis X

American Idol

Hannity and Colmes (even though I don't have Fox news anymore)

Saturday Night Live

Favorite vacation spots:

California (great way to cool off in the summer)

Hawaii

Utah (I miss the snow)

Favorite websites:

asu.edu It's interesting to find out what research is getting published from professors at my school.

Half.com I will never buy from or sell to ASU's bookstore again!

yahoo.com (news, email, weather)

all of your blogs!

Places I'd rather be:

On a mountain top with fresh powder on a clear day

On the beach

On a date with Sean

Would you bungee jump?

Absolutely!

What's you're favorite cereal?

I love Reese's Puffs. Brandon's not the only one!

What color pants, shirt, and shoes are you wearing?

I have a white shirt, grey capri's, and no shoes. I love Target's end of summer sales, because I can wear summer atire year round here!

What's the last thing you ate?

Reese's Puffs! I need to go to the store.

What are you listening to right now?

My playlist on iTunes featuring Cut Copy, Fischerspooner, and Jimmy Eat World. I love naptime!

Who is the last person you talked to on the phone?

Sean. He called me on his way to work.

Eye color?

Hazel.

Scary or happy endings?

Happy! I really don't like scary movies and I'm with Audrey. I don't like watching Lost at night.

Summer or winter?

Winter. The summers are awful in Arizona, but the winters are nice. I can visit Utah to snowboard and then come home to 70 degree weather!

What's the farthest you've been from home?

Hawaii.

Do you like the person who tagged you?

Yes! Bree is so down to earth and engaging and Audrey is extremely personable and giving. I love them both.

I tag:

Kristy Stoner

Jill Burns

Joel

I look forward to your responses!

Swimming at the Trump's

During our visit to Utah, Joel and Julie invited us to Julie's parents house to swim and for some lunch. After a few setbacks like a swimsuit for me, floaties for Brandon and goggles for Grace, we made our way to Centerville. The Trumps have a beautiful home and pool with a slide and diving board. The water was nice and the lunch Julie made was tasty. Brandon was nervous about the slide at first, but after going down with me and a few successful solo attempts, he didn't want to do anything else. Grace was comical with her underwater tricks, Lizzie impressed us with her all around athletic ability, and Amanda made friends quickly with some of Julie's siblings. I was able to get to know Julie's siblings a little bit as we were playing in the pool. Ryan was shocked to find out that I am the baby of my family, as he is in his, and that Joel is my older brother. However, Megan and he seemed to understand when I told them that Joel used to tease me when we were younger. Overall, the day was great and the company was greater. Thanks for a wonderful day!

Pioneer Day Parade

On the 24th of July in Utah, there is the Pioneer Day Parade in downtown Salt Lake. We joined my parents, Joel and his family, and Audrey and her kids for the morning. The highlight of the parade for me was President Hinckley in a convertible. He fronted the parade and waved to everyone with a large grin on his face. There were many people in the parade who walked along the side and shook people's hands. Toward the end, Brandon finally got up the courage to shake some of the clown's hands and thoroughly enjoyed the tall clown. It was fun to see all of the stake floats and the high school marching bands. It was sunny and it got a little hot, but the kids stayed cool under the umbrellas with large watermelon popsicles courtesy of my sister Audrey. Overall, it was a great way to start the day and get into the spirit of the holiday.
Later that night, my whole family got together for dinner and fireworks. It was the first time that all of my siblings had been together in a couple of years. It was great to be with everyone and for all of the cousins to play together.

California Dreamin'

We spent the last week in California and what a great trip it was! We stayed at Audrey's house where we were joined by Joel and Julie and my parents. It was great to spend time with everyone in a layed back environment. We were excited to get out of the heat as their highs were our lows.


On our way we stopped to see the large dinosaurs. Brandon was timid and a little scared in the beginning, but he wanted to climb up the large T-rex's back by the end. Sean and Brandon went inside the T-rex into a little museum with displays about the dinosaur extinction theories. Brandon saw a volcano model that showed lava covering dinosaur bones. He called them "sticky" bones and talked about them for the entire afternoon.

We went to Zuma, a beach in Malibu. Brandon was afraid of the waves and spent the afternoon digging in the sand. Joel and Sean spent a lot of time body surfing the waves. Audrey, Julie and I were brave enough to give it a try. We found it difficult to swim out to the where the boys were because the waves would bring us back in. Then, one by one, we were thrown to the ocean floor swallowing mouthfuls of seawater. Not exactly what I call fun, but Joel and Sean enjoyed it. Unfortunately, the non-Californians were not real wise about sunscreen and we all got sunburned.


Some of us visited the Ronald Reagan Library on the Fourth. They had crafts, a patriotic band, and historical characters walking around. We all ended the evening by watching fireworks from the park in Audrey's neighborhood.


The next day, we went to a kids museum which was much smaller than the description mentioned. It was fun for the kids to touch the starfish and also play in a small restraunt. Amanda ran the restraunt and, as Joel puts it, she stopped a mock robbery.

Go Diamondbacks!

I now know that baseball is a cool sport! I had never been to a professional baseball game, just the Salt Lake Buzz back in the day. It is actually really exciting and entertaining, which came as a surprise after the Buzz. A co-worker of Sean's father is a season ticket holder and gave us their tickets for two nights. Sean took Brandon and Isaac (the foster child we mentor) the first night so that I could study for finals. Then Sean, Brandon and I went and had a blast.

The Diamondbacks won both times and Eric Byrnes had home runs both games. He plays outfield right in from of where our seats were. His nickname is "Byrnesy" (pronounced Burnsy) and Brandon thought that was really cool.

Our seats were on the front row benches. Very cool!