broom sticks, birthdays, and belles

Hello Monday and I am digging through laundry and trying to put my house back together after a non-stop week.  Having Sadie home was the best, but the week went by way to quickly. Wednesday we saw Wicked at the Grady Gammage theater at ASU. Thursday we celebrated Sadie's birthday a little early, and Saturday morning at dark thirty she was on her way back to BYU again. But, I didn't have too much time to be sad.  Saturday night Sierra and her friend McKenzie celebrated their sweet sixteen birthdays with a double fun, lots of kids, music, and food P A R T Y  at our house.  More about that tomorrow.

#mykidsaretallerthanme

Family selfie at the Melting Pot. 

Grandma Scott's Texas sheet cake. 

And Saturday night Sadie met her new roommates. Both "southern belles"….. Ashley (left) is from South Carolina, and McKenna is from Houston.  Sadie also found out that McKenna attended the same LDS congregation where Sadie once served on her mission. Small world, and Sadie is loving that they both say "y'all". 

sadie and sunday

We welcomed Sadie home Friday night for a short visit between semesters. How I love my beautiful, blonde haired, blue eyed, happy spirited Sadie.  

Looking forward to church this morning, time together, and family dinner.

Enjoying my sunday playlist this morning and especially this song from David Archuleta. One of my very favorite hymns reminding of God's love for me and my family and all of his children.

  Happy Sunday.

more from mckenna

Remember a few years ago when Sadie got to do a little gig with McKenna Faith and the Believers? Just wanted to pass on McKenna's latest project with Cinematic Pop because I think it's kind of brilliant and can't wait to see what she'll do next .  Check out Hallelujah and Smells Like Teen Spirit.  Very, very cool.

And today also just happens to be this kid's bday.  

Hope it's the happiest day for you my dear!

con queso

I woke up grumpy con queso this morning. Which (my kids will tell you) denotes not just grumpy, but an embellished sense of grumpy. It was a rough night mixed with insomnia and a few disturbing dreams that suddenly ended with my 6:25 a.m. alarm this morning. You know those kind of nights that kind of set the tone for the next day….con queso.  But, anyway, here I am Tuesday morning, actually managing to type a post.  So, maybe I will resort to an emergency coke in my fridge and decide to  make the rest of the day better.

We've been smothering here in Arizona the past couple of weeks.  I think Saturday my car temp actually said 115.  Gross.  But, my weather app tells me that by next Saturday our high temp will be a balmy 100 degrees with an overnight low of 79.  That I can live with, for awhile anyway. And another happy thing….Sadie will be coming home from college this Friday for a nine day visit between semesters.  Happy, right?  And, next week our whole family is going to see "Wicked" in Phoenix.  We are all very happy about that, except Drew.  Drew is not happy to see Wicked and has asked us several times to give away his ticket. Maybe Glinda will win him over.

Finally getting around to posting these first day of school pics….

 senior year

sophomore year

   first year of junior high

Wishing you a very happy Tuesday.  And if your day happens to be embellished with anything, I hope it's not cheese, but rainbow sprinkles. 

so long summer

Good  morning to you dear readers.  Today, finally, I feel like I can sit down and take five minutes to catch up this little blog of mine.    If I would sum up our summer with a song, it would be that great jingle from the Comfort Suites Hotel commercial….you know, "I've been everywhere man!".  Love that catchy song and found myself singing it my head on more than one road trip this summer.  Starting in May (driving Sadie to Utah) and continue through August, I logged a lot of miles this summer.  I do love a road trip, and for the summer of 2015, we made the rounds to some of our favorite destinations. Cali is always at the top of the list, but Flagstaff (I believe I have mentioned) is my newest love.

I barely even touched my Cannon this summer, my phone was just too convenient.  Here's a brief wrap up of our summer in pictures.

San Diego

Friend Time

Cousin Time

California Windmills

(I am kind of obsessed with these and could watch them for hours)

Gregg's Garden

(the best tomatoes he's ever grown)

Lake Time

Dog Time

 Gentry and I pushing our limits, finishing the "black" course together.  

And as our summer came to a close, this was the scene from our last road trip.

Last Wednesday it was back to school and back to real life. 

Looking forward to some semblance of a schedule and a little more time for some quiet and  clarity of thought, and hopefully, self-improvement.  I'm always trying to find the balance.  

Wishing you clarity and balance on this beautiful Tuesday morning.