I AM NOT ALONE!

As shown by a headline in this morning's paper, I'm not the only one with a snail problem. And believe me...I will never surrender.

FARMER'S MARKET FUN

Saturday morning Terry & I went downtown, (or "Uptown", if you prefer) to the Farmer's Market. It was a great place for people watching and produce buying. We bought raspberries that really taste like raspberries and fresh green beans. I had an amazingly good Thai spring roll with peanut sauce and a fresh peach and strawberry tart for breakfast, washed down with refreshing organic mint tea. When offered a small bag of mint leaves for $5 I remembered I have mint in my tiny garden! I can make my own!
When we got home I made this angel food cake with whipped cream and the raspberries with a little mint from my garden garnish.. I made the cake with the intention of taking it to our home ward BBQ Sat. evening. The African Children's Choir would be singing for entertainment. Well, about 5:30 we decided to go for a walk on the Jordan River Parkway but on the way there, we decided to go up Big Cottonwood Canyon and check out Silver Lake, a short 3/4 mile hike. When we got there it was so pretty and the weather was so nice, we took the Silver Lake hike and then went on to take the 2 mile hike up the mountain to Twin Lakes. That was pretty much straight up all the way. But it was beautiful when we got there but of course no camera since we were only going for a little walk on the Parkway. Anyway, we didn't get home until the BBQ was over so ...Oh, No! we had to eat all the cake ourselves, which we were hungry enough to do!

A GREAT WEEKEND

Rowdy came to town Thursday and we had a great time. Thursday evening we went to a BBQ at the Money's home and had hand cut steaks. Friday, Rowdy and I went shopping at the Distribution Center and DSW. We had lunch with Terry and then went to Rowdy's meeting at the "U", which turned into 2.5 hours of fun for me in the car, luckily I can always find ways to entertain myself. It was a good meeting for him but I still don't understand why he didn't ask them to hurry it up a bit as his momma was waiting for him!? By the time we got home Jordan, Keiler, Max, and Terry were waiting not so patiently for us. It was the first time Jordan had driven here by herself and she did great. We had a great time waiting for Diane's flight to arrive until the kids had to go home, but Jordan brought everyone back again Saturday. Saturday was the best! More shopping, this time with Diane. Then lunch and off to hike the trail to Donut Falls. It was a repeat for me but this time I made it to the top. It was lots of fun and really beautiful. The Rowdy Bricco family went swimming while I soaked my sore muscles in the tub getting ready for dinner. We went to Cafe Med and had a great dinner. Jordan, Keiler, and Max are great sports and even if Keiler would have ordered something else if he had another chance, there were no complaints and we had fun. Then home for my favorite...SciFi movies on TV. It just doesn't get any better than that!!!!! Oh, and a key lime cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory. I really love these guys and enjoy their different perspectives. They are awesome and will yet learn to appreciate the greatness of SciFi movies.

Sunday Terry talked and sang in Sacrament meeting. He is amazing. More food, naps, and a Scrabble game with Rowdy. Together we scored nearly 1500 points! It will be so nice to have them closer and be able to do stuff spontaneously with them.

"SNAILMONELLA"

So, some people have a thing for snakes, some for spiders, some for knives. Me, I seem to have a thing for snails. Today I worked in my little garden and removed 3 garbage bags of debris and SNAILS...yes with my bare hands. It was very hard. I'm not sure what I think they are going to do to me, maybe attach themselves to my face and suck the life from me or even bite off hunks of my fingers with their giant mouths? Well, whatever, they bug the crap out of me and I am sure I am going to catch "snailmonella" from my mornings work. But rest assured, I have removed all snails from my garden, put them in plastic trash bags and they have already been picked up by the unsuspecting garbage man.

SOME THINGS JUST GET BETTER WITH AGE!

WOW! We went to the James Taylor concert last night and it was incredible! Our seats were just 7 rows from the stage so I didn't even need my glasses. The band that played with him was an oldie. The last time they toured together was 30 years ago! For 3 hours we were thoroughly rocked and entertained. We also ran into a girl from the singles ward who now lives in Provo. She, Sariah, and her friend drove down to just sit in the parking lot and listen, but after a while, they couldn't take it any longer and climbed on the fence to get a peek. Some guys saw them and asked if they needed tickets and gave them to them. Well, we went to the front of the stage to take some pictures of them as if they were trying to climb onstage. Then I asked the security chick up there if she would pose like she was trying to pull them down. She complied and had so much fun she let them stay there and when J.T. came back from intermission, they were right there to get an autograph!!!! Talk about excited. Anyway, if you get a chance to see this year's tour...

DON'T MISS IT!

CANDID SHOTS!

Not a lot of time today, but I did want to post some special "candid shots" courtesy of Thaiya. Aren't they great?