James Taylor In Concert!!!

Do any of you have a singer that you grew up listening to because your parents loved them and every time you listen to them they take you back to nothing but good memories with your family? Well for me that's James Taylor! I've known his songs for as long as I can remember, his calming chords and distinctive voice always put me at ease whenever I listen to him. I've always dreamed of hearing him sing in person and tonight that dream came true. I went with a girl friend who I didn't really know that well until recently, but James brought us together. While I was sitting in that audience listening to "Copperline" and "Fire and Rain" I had visions of singing along to him with my Dad while driving alone together from Eureka, CA to Provo, UT. I also pictured my Dad sitting in the middle of our living room with the surround sound turned way up and still wearing his headphones for the best sound possible as if enjoying his own personal concert. The only thing that would've made tonight any better would be to have my parents sitting next to me in those concert seats. With all the chaos that was October I didn't even realize until I was at the concert that I hadn't mentioned me going to the concert to my parents. So I called them during an intermission and shared the good news that their daughter was right where they wish they were. I think I almost cried 3 times that night, first was when I was expecting a good half hour or so of an opening act and then who should walk on stage first, but James Taylor himself. How I wished I was one of the fortunate people in the front row shaking his hand. The second time was when he started strumming the first chords to "You've Got a Friend" and I realized how many times I've listened to that song and have been comforted by that song and here I am hearing him sing it in person. Then the third time was when I went to record him singing and my camera gave me a "lens error" which means I got absolutely NO pictures or video!!! I could cry right now thinking about it. So I went online and stole one that looked the same as he did tonight. He might have even been wearing the same shirt. I loved hearing the stories behind songs I knew so well and seeing him jump around on stage as his band took off in their own solos. I will definitely be keeping my eyes out for when his tours bring him once again to Boise and I will definitely be buying tickets for my parents and will have the joy of sitting next to them while listening to the songs that they had shared with me throughout my childhood. Nothing but good memories!

BOO at the ZOO

We decided to give the kids a little trick-or-treat warm up and took them to the "Boo at the Zoo" today. They had stands set up all over the zoo for the kids to trick-or-treat at and lots of fun activities for them. The kids had fun. Here are a few shots of them in their costumes! When we got home the kids dove into their stashes of candy and Johnny insisted on having a sucker for each hand, of course.

Casuals

I stopped by Old Navy the other day while I was running errands and they had a bunch of their little girl casual dresses on sale. All Alex has are very dressy princess type dresses right now and I thought these would be fun for this winter to wear with her warm tights and cute new socks. I picked up a couple of different styles.

Pumpkin Patch

This week we went with our preschool class to the Pumpkin Patch. Johnny came along and loved the hay ride on the tractor. This pumpkin patch doesn't clear away all the vines like one's I've been to in the past so Johnny was tripping every other step and falling into the prickly pumpkin vines. I was not impressed. I don't think I will come back to this one again. Anyway, Alex had to go potty REALLY bad and started running back to steps where the tractor picks you up (not that the tractor was coming anytime soon). We had to hike a ways out to find any pumpkins that were small enough because they have a rule that the kids have to be able to carry them or you pay more. So I found two that were a good size for my kids; Alex was too far away to even hear me and Johnny was still trying to walk all over the vines and falling every 30 seconds. So I put Johnny on my back and carried the two pumpkins hunched over because Johnny has no grip. Other than that the kids had fun. It was warm and the air was crisp, a perfect combination. We brought home our two smaller pumpkins and sat them next to our 4 big pumpkins that we grew in our garden this year. I'll have to make a point this weekend to bring out the pumpkin carving stuff or it won't happen. I can't believe how fast October flew by. But as the saying goes..."Time flies when you're having fun!"

Smylies, Music, Snow

I did it! I drove 7 hours in the car with the kids all by myself! Ok, it was more like 5 1/2 hours of driving, but you can't drive straight through with two kids and one adult. Stopping periodically is a necessity, thus the 7 hours. It all started when I saw that a friend from school was performing in Park City and called up my dearest friend Sarah Smylie to see if she'd like to go too. We went to the concert to see Sara Bareilles (http://www.sarabmusic.com/) who was opening for Paulo Nutini. Sara did an awesome job; a long way from her leading role in our high school musical "Little Shop of Horrors". So nice to be able to enjoy music with an old friend (and a new friend) and take a break from growing up for a few hours.

In the picture below is me on the left, Lindsey (my new friend, she's good friends with Sarah S.), Sara Bareilles (Singer!), and of course Sarah Smylie (my old friend...that's right Sarah--old).

Sarah and I both share a love for photography and a love for our extremely cute kids. She has a daughter Alex's age, Grace, as well as one Johnny's age, that's Ruby. So we decided to take them on a photo shoot, where we stumbled upon this beautiful stone amphitheater. I thought getting two kids to smile at the same time was hard enough, try four. We did get some cute ones though, I can't wait to go through them all. Here's a sneak peak.

While we were there we had plans to visit two great friends who both have new baby boys and plans kept changing because of weather and time and I missed them both. So sorry Celeste and Cindy! I will be more organized next time! My kid's Auntie Jojo was a must see and she was so kind as to meet us half way at a Chuck E Cheese in Sandy for a couple of hours. Her boyfriend Brett came as well who I think enjoyed the games as much as the kids did. They ran like crazy trying every game possible and collecting as many tickets as possible. Luckily we'll be going to Jo's for Thanksgiving so we'll have lots of time to hang out then.
On our way out the door to visit Jolene, Grace asked me if we were leaving for home. I told her we were just visiting the kid's Aunt and we would be back later that day. Alex rushed over to Grace for a hug and said "I'll miss you while I'm gone". Grace returned it with a big bear hug, almost lifting Alex off the floor and said "best friends forever, right?" It was so cute! I really hope they do keep the friendship they built during our visit.

We were planning to leave Sunday but when we woke up that morning with 3 inches of snow on our car we decided to extend our stay another night. I'm not a fan of driving in the snow, especially for such a long distance and with two kids to keep entertained, there was no way I was starting out my day with icy Salt Lake City traffic. So I stuck around for another day and the kids got to enjoy their first snow of the season. I tried to not use the same pictures as Sarah did on her blog so if you'd like to see a few more visit http://www.smyliesforever.blogspot.com/.

Thanks Sarah, fun times as always! I don't think a "bad time" is possible around you. And most importantly, thanks for the yummy homemade pita bread and chocolate chip pumpkin bread. You warmed my soul AND my stomach this weekend!