Angels in the outfield, or out in the fields...

No. Not this kind of angels.

THIS kind of angels!

This last weekend the youth of my church went on a "pioneer trek" to reenact what it was like to be pioneers pulling their handcarts west across the country. Part of the many trek activities is when the "pioneers" have travelled most of the day (6 miles by foot, I believe) as they near the end of their journey they hear a choir of angels welcoming them to their destination...

OKAY, stop right there!

I know. I CAN NOT sing! I know this, my family knows this, my friends know this, the poor people sitting next to me in church know this. I can't sing, hum, or even sway to the music very well. So how did I end up here? Let's just say it was a case of desperate measures being taken. And just a little bit of mouthing the words.

I won't even mention the absence of a real bathroom...or what it's like to traipse through the hills in heels (the only white shoes I had).

Regardless, we drove up past Coarsgold and waited in the wilderness for the weary travellers so that we could sing them home. It was actually very moving. We were at the top of the final hill just above a bend in the road and it was so fun to see the kids, several of whom I have taught, come around that bend and see their faces light up when they saw us. Many tears were shed by the pioneers, and by the angels. Here are the first of approximately 400 kids coming around the bend in the road. Exhausted, dirty & sore...

Me, my sister Stef and niece Jordyn. We spent a fun day together. (Aren't we angelic?)

Stef & Jordyn with the sun behind them. I love this pic!

As we were singing, we positively echoed through the hills. Literally!

Boo's Easter Dress

Well, a lot of you knew I was working on an Easter dress for my friend Tracy. Here is the finished product, on her beautiful little girl Boo. I am so pleased to have someone that lets me have the freedom to do what inspires me, and really appreciates my effort. And really...who could ask for a better model?!

Friends & Family Texas Style

Ah, vacation! Lucky me, I got a free plane ticket on my credit card (thank you, new house purchases!) and decided it was time to head out of town. I have been missing my Texas girls the same way I missed my sisters when I was living there. They had been telling me to come visit, so I took the leap and bought the ticket. My dear wonderful friend Melanie was my "go to girl" for this trip. She drove me around, put me up at her house, fed me, and generally made the trip a really awesome time.

While there we did your basic fun girl stuff...we ate, watched movies, ate, went shopping, ate, ran errands, ate, ate and ate. In spite of all of the eating I STILL forgot to go to Maureens Bakery to get my favorite chocolate petit fours. BUMMER! It's probably a good thing...during my flight out an old woman congratulated me on my "condition". She thought I was PREGGO! If I ate one more thing while I was there, I would have looked like I was having twins on my way home!

(*side note: I complained to Mike about being called that and his response was, "Well, yeah." Excuse me?! Then he say's "You look like a clown when you travel. You wear the comfy slumpy clothes and look ridiculous." Hmmm. I told Tracy the story and let her know at least I don't wear overalls to travel anymore, at which point I think she wanted to smack me. I'm expecting lessons on looking good while travelling from her any day now.)

Here are some out takes of the trip:

1. The WORST traveling ever. The airline sucked, I was supposed to be in to Texas @ 8pm, Mel picked me up well after midnight. Coming home I was supposed to arrive home around noon, I got in after 5 and without luggage. It sucked! Here is what you arrive to when you get in at nearly 1 in the morning...nobody:


As I was waiting for my luggage a whole lot of THIS rolled by on the baggage claim belt...no one was claiming it. Creepy much?:

I got to Melanies, and always the perfect hostess she had this waiting for me (I forgot to get a pic of the mints on my pillows!) :


It just so happened thar Jareds family came to town the same weekend as I was there. We had people everywhere and it was a total blast! His family is HILARIOUS. This is everyone working together to make a big family dinner. It was a really fun night. We ate, did hair, watched movies, killed cookies, and just had fun:

We got the girls together to go antiquing out of town. We CRAMMED Mels suburban with stuff we got and then had to squeeze the girls into the back seat for the 2 hr ride home. Amber had a giant glass window, Dawnette had a 6 ft tall bookshelf, and Deann had the bicycle you see in the back. I sat in the front seat with my lasso. Yes, I got a real lasso for Jake...he has already broken the light fixture on his bedroom ceiling fan. Great idea Shelby!
Here's a pic of all of us shopping. Me, Mel, Dawnette, Amber, and De Ann.

Mel, Amber and I did a girls night out and went back to Melanies to watch Twilight in Mel's movie room...Amber hadn't seen it!!! Melanie showed us what it was like watching Twilight on opening night with hundreds of teenage girls by squealing every time Edward came on the screen. Amber & I joined in and we just had a fun time being goofy and being there with Amber for her "first time" watching the movie. This is us at Chili's before we headed home to get the PJ's on & watch the movie. Hey girls, I'll always remember..."S...E...E"!

I had such a great time and I look forward to more visits in the future. Thanks Mel for putting up with me for SO LONG! Just remember, there's lot's to do in California!