Happenings on "Madison Ave"

Thomas

2012-06-08T22:34:00.001-07:00

During spring break we took a trip to AZ to visit family and photograph

my new nephew Thomas. He is so tender, I fell in love instantly.

His whole family is smitten, all his 5 brothers simply adore him and

want to hold him constantly.

Early on sunday morning we had to do a quick photo shoot

as that was the only time we could fit it in. We used "getting

to hold the baby for pictures" as a bribe to get all the older

boys to get ready for church. Worked perfectly.

The pictures turned out so lovely.

So glad you are here little guy! you will be loved dearly.

Tulip Festival

2012-06-08T15:04:00.001-07:00

I had the pleasure of attending the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving

Point in the spring (april 2011). For living so close to this amazing venue

I had never been to see the flowers and I was excited to be able to discover so many

new gardens and beautiful spaces that I didn't know existed. It was a

beautiful day, and I was blown away.

I brought my macro lens to experiment with and to help me capture the beauty.

I never knew about the secret garden and it was such a treat to find.

Afterwards we went out to dinner at a delicious greek restaurant, what a beautiful fresh day.

May Culture Club

2012-05-29T22:07:00.002-07:00

Our next Culture Club we did a make-up education class. Angie and Laura

were our fabulous teachers. They first took us to Ulta were they introduced us

to all their favorite products and helped us pick out some items that would look

great with each of our individual colorings.

Crystal had to leave early so she got a sunny makeover at the store. All the gold

and yellows looked so pretty with Crystal's blond hair.

Then we went back to Angie's house where she had set up a few make-over stations

each with our own little mirrors. We all brought the make-up we already had as well

as the items we just bought so we could all dip into eachother's resources.

Angie and Lu gave tips while we were all applying our make up so we

could better achieve looks that we have always wanted to do.

Afterwards I pulled out a fan and my lights so i could take pictures of how

beautiful we all felt in the end. Everybody learned a few techniques,

some did more natural, and others more dramatic. I learned more about

how to use different make up brushes. I was a bit too timid on the smoky eyes that

I was going for, but I learned a ton that I can utilize later.

Helen used blue mascara and a beautiful rose lipgloss.

Kitch was learning the smokey eye techniques as well.

Thank you so much Angie and Laura for such an enjoyable afternoon!

April Culture Club

2012-05-29T21:46:00.000-07:00

Crystal hosted April's culture club and it was amazing. She started off

with cooking us a super yummy breakfast. Then she discussed many of the

gardening tips and techniques she had accumulated through the years. We learned

about how to make raised planters, what soil to use, how to compost, what veggies to

plant and how to plant them, natural pest control, how to harvest water, how to design

and hook up your own drip watering system. She had informative hound outs and

took us out to view her amazing veggie garden set up she had created in her

backyard. Then she gave us a few tomato plant seedlings each as a favor.

Thank you so so much Crystal! I learned so much and am excited to implement

all that you taught. You are one talented chicka.

March Culture Club

2012-05-25T06:00:00.001-07:00

For March Culture Club activities we first went to Art and Soup,

we loved this event so much last year that we wanted to go taste and view

beauty once again. It never ceases to amaze me how talented

the local artists are that come show at this event.

we viewed viewed art accompanied by a talented youth quartette.

I was going to try one last time to get these gals to experience Holi,

the festival of colors at the krishna temple, but the weather turned out

stormy and cold and they all opted to go out to breakfast. It was my

first time at the Original Pancake House, and my tastebuds absolutely

LOVED it. Im always eatin' good with these ladies.

February Culture

2012-05-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

For February Culture Club we met to have a dinner, game, and craft all

centered around the color RED.

We ate red velvet cupcakes, black forest trifle, red and white striped lobster ravioli,

cherry tomato and mozzarella pearl salad, red fruit salad, and berry sodas.

I put together a fill-in-the-blank quiz of quotes from classic

romantic movies. The winner won a package of RED goodies.

Then we started crafting, making felt ruffle wreaths.

We have wanted to do this craft for a few years now but

every year around this time every craft supply store sells out

of heart shaped foam wreaths. But this year I ordered ahead.

I also taught how to tie multiple loop wired bows, and ribbon roses.

Everyones' wreaths turned out fabulous.

Valentine's dinner

2012-05-23T23:21:00.000-07:00

We were home on actual Valentine's Day, but I was too sick to

go out or do anything too fancy. So I made a love pizza,

pound cake with strawberries, and some root beer floats.

A few days after I also made a few of these cameo cupcakes for those who

missed out Pride and Prejudice Book Club. They were vanilla bean and

filled with Cherries. I had a bunch of fondant I really wanted to use. I was pretty

happy with how they turned out.

Assssspen.

2012-05-23T23:20:00.002-07:00

(the title of this post is supposed to remind you of the movie

Dumb and Dumber, I kept quoting this movie to Reece during the

whole trip, but unfortunately I was the only one laughing)

Reece and I took a road trip to Aspen to go skiing and visit friends for

out valentines day get away. We listened to the first of the Mistborn series

on tape while we drove, oooo I have good memories of the drive now, thats

such a fascinating book.

We stayed the first night in snow mass at a cosy little condo,

we went skiing the next morning. We went on the longest run, 5 miles!

you take a chairlift most of the way but then have to hike up the rest of

mountain. The hiking was all exposed windy and extremely cold, kind of

miserable actually. I was getting over a major flu and cold so I was getting

tired very easily. We then skied down, it took two hours. We went slow and

I also had to stop frequently because I didn't feel 100% but I still wanted to

say I skied at aspen.

Afterwards we went and soaked in the Glenwood hot springs, it felt

sooooo good. Warmed our frigid bodies and soothed my sick aching

body.

Then we toured Aspen's downtown. We window shopped the fancy shops

and had some yummy BBQ for lunch.

We then met up with my friend Angie and some of her friends for dinner

in Vail. It was absolutely wonderful to catch up with her, she can

always make me laugh till my sides hurt. We then drove to Denver,

it was a snowy night and I was developing some pretty painful canker

sores and a sore throat, so we were relieved when we pulled in to stay

at the four seasons down town. The room was so luxurious and calming.

It is such a beautiful hotel.

our sinks in the bathroom even glowed.

The next morning we met up for breakfast with my other amazing girlfriends

Kate and Ali. I LOVED catching up with them and hearing about their life in

Denver (Menver). I miss them in UT but Im so glad they are having such a great

time in CO.

I was able to give all these gals christmas presents that I had picked up

for them on our trip last summer. I gave them beautiful painted leather

fans I had bartered for on the beach in Bali, and a CD since Ive been making

my friends mixes since we were in high school.

Afterwards we drove through some neighborhoods to get a good look at Denver

before we drove back home.

Unsinkable Molly Brown's house.

The capital building. It was such a beautiful day.

Driving home was fun... pleasant weather, nice roads, and we were able

to finish our book on tape and loved it. Happy Valentines Sweetheart!

Cooking for Book Club

2012-05-23T23:20:00.001-07:00

Speaking of book club treats, I made the stuffed chilies mentioned in

the book 'Like Water For Chocolate' when we were meeting to moderate

that book. There was no direct recipe in the book so I just had to go off

the ingredients mentioned and by taste while combining them. They were

roasted green chilies stuffed with beef mixed with spices and peaches,

topped off with a chopped walnut and cream sauce, garnished with pomegranate

seeds. The dish was a favorite of the main character since it had all the colors

of the mexican flag. Im glad it turned out yummy. Ill have to try to write down

what I did so I can recreate it again some time.

It has been so fun to help contribute to the menus that are themed

for each book, it has stretched my talents and broadened my cooking

horizons.

February Book Club

2012-05-23T23:20:00.000-07:00

I was asked to help decorate for the valentines book club meeting.

Cassandra had dreamed of a scene with silver and red, so this is what I

came up with.

We decided to have a tea party too, since the book we were discussing

was Pride and Prejudice. I brought all my favorite teas and teapots.

I also brought these almond raspberry scones that I made cherry

toppers for.

Kelly made these cute favors, with conversation hearts and

chocolates. We always have the yummiest food to munch on

during our discussions.

Angie moderated.

We were all asked to dress up frilly and fancy if we could.

I love being in our book club its so fun and interesting, and Ive found some

delightful relationships while attending.

Red Rock Relay

2012-05-23T23:19:00.001-07:00

Speaking of Reece's athletic accomplishments he ran the Red Rock Relay

in the fall. I wasn't able to watch him due to work so I got these pictures from

the team he ran with. He was on a team with his friends' Xact work buddies. The

race is around 180 miles divided up into 3-7 mile stretches. Each team member

runs three stretches. They got a line drawn on their calves for each stretch

they completed. The race starts at brian head resort, goes through dixi national

forest, cedar breaks, and ends in Zions National park. They started in the evening

of one day, ran through the night, and finished the race the next day. Reece said

the temperature changes (from freezing at Brian Head to sweltering during the

Zion Stretches) were hard, but the scenery was beautiful.

Way to go Reece!

Team Madison Weight

2012-05-23T23:19:00.000-07:00

Reece and his friend Nick decided to try something new and join an

olympic weight lifting team. Whenever they would talk about doing their

Olympic Weight Lifting, us wives abbreviated the topic to... them working

on their "OWL'S".

They really enjoyed the workouts, and they practiced up for the state

weight lifting championship. A few of us went to watch and support

them during the championship. I made t-shirts for Libby and I to wear

to support our husbands. We didn't get any pictures of us in the shirts

but these are the designs that I put on them.

Nick would always do a cheesy smile right before he lifted.

So glad I captured it. ;)

Nick won second place in his weight class. Reece did an awesome job but didn't place in

his weight division. And their new friend JJ, the amazing frenchman that owns Gourmadis

bakery in SLC, won first in his weight class.

Im so proud of Reece! he tried something new and did amazing.

Kelly's Birthday

2012-05-23T23:17:00.000-07:00

My friend Kelly's birthday is tucked right in between Christmas and New Years,

its a busy time of year but we wanted to make sure she had a special day to

celebrate. So one snowy night we drove up to SLC to have tea and dinner

at the Beehive tea room. I love how charming that little shop is!

I had made favors, a pendant flag banner, and a birthday crown

for the festivities.

everybody got teal and red feathered hair clips and

red lipstick, CD's, noise makers, and gourmet chocolates in

raspberry, anise, and chili spice flavors.

We stayed till closing giggling and reading each others tea leaves.

Then it was back to my place for cake and cupcakes from dipidiewhile dipping our feet into warm foot soaks from Chimea.

Im back....

2012-05-23T14:20:00.000-07:00

So we're back from our adventure in Switzerland. As I been telling everyone,

It was a truly grand experience. I felt every range of emotion over the last

6 months (3 of those months were actually living in Switzerland and the other

3 were back home in UT trying to adjust back to life) I saw things so beautiful

I thought I could cry, and felt so down at times that I did cry. I learned so much

about the world, my husband, and me. While on this adventure so many trials

came my way that it has taken me months to learn how to cope and to feel like

blogging again. The saying "Life happens when you are busy making

plans" couldn't be more perfect to explain my life right now.

I had plans, oh so many plans, for my life. But now Im forced to make new

ones. As hard as it has been to reconcile with the loss of those plans, and

not regret my naive self of ten years ago for making those plans.... Im working

hard to just keep moving. As hard as things may get the worst possible place

for me to be in, is the waiting place. Waiting for my path to become clear,

waiting to know what I should be doing, waiting for me to be happy. Although

there are many things I can't control and need to have patience with, I want to still

be progressing however I can, learning and growing. Just keeping busy so I won't look

back at my time right now and regret because I sat around and waited. Im trying

new things, cutting myself more slack (cause I don't need to carry around the weight

of being so harsh on myself any longer), continuing to foster friendships, cutting other

people slack (because most of the time they aren't meaning to add to the hurt),

and chase after dreams I had originally told myself wouldn't fit into my perfect plan.

Cause there really isn't such a thing.

This blog was always something I was proud of, and something that reminded

me of all I was capable of doing. So Im setting out to continue working on it.

So heres to "keeping moving forward".

P.S. I took billions of pictures while in Europe which I hope to someday share

on this blog. Europe is so beautiful and it inspired me in so many ways. So

don't worry if you don't see them for some time... cause I really do intend on

sharing them.

New Years 2011

2012-05-23T14:19:00.000-07:00

New Years this year was low key, but full of family, board games, and love.

This was my mom's christmas present that I needed to giver her a little bit late.

Im making her an appligued quilt square every holiday that I will someday

sew all together in a quilt for her. Each square has a particular stylized flower

on each one, I want to give her a vase of the real flowers to go along each square.

This year it was Irises.

Yule shoot your eye out!

2012-05-23T14:18:00.003-07:00

The Dearth Annual Christmas party was themed after "The Christmas Story" this year.

It was a fun theme. There were so many funny details, the lamp, the frozen flagpole,

red ryder bebe guns.

Everyone came dressed as characters from the movie.

Kelli came as the lamp.

I made Reece's costume, he and I were supposed to be the characters from

Ralphie's day dream where he shoots all the robbers and saves his family.

Laura came as Ralphie's little brother complete with a mash potato mustache.

Libby and Nick came as the cranky santa and elf from the mall.

There were lots of games that we played in teams, this was the trivia cross word puzzle.

"show us how the little piggies eat" eating contest.

You'll shoot your eye out shooting game.

Then came the white elephant gifts. It was hilarious as always.

The gross whip returns.

Reece and I were happy that the two gifts we brought were so highly coveted.

The garden gnome and a huge gas station mug.

It was a hilarious night. Thanks again Dearths and friends.

Christmas Magic at the Grand America

2011-11-25T03:22:00.000-08:00

My Grandmother hosts a brunch at the Grand America every

December for all her family to celebrate her birthday. Its been

a wonderful (and yummy) tradition where we get to see family and

catch up. After this years brunch my family stuck around to tour the

premises and view the christmas windows (a tradition we used to

look forward to with the candy windows at ZCMI) we were excited

that they were brining back the event. The widows where themed

the ABC's of christmas. The kids were given a check list that they

needed to fill out proving that they searched out and viewed all

the widows, which they then could turn into the candy shop at the

end of the tour for a free cookie.

The candy shop at the end was a sweet tooth wonderland, a pure fantasy.

We were ooing and ahhing over every treat and decoration. They did

such a wonderful job with the shop.

in the corridors between windows different kinds of gingerbread

houses where displayed. They were all magnificent down to the very

littlest details. I took notes as to what food/candy made stable and

interesting building material.

What a delightful afternoon.

Winter Sports

2011-11-24T13:57:00.000-08:00

Our family skiing outing was again, a total blast. Im still super

impressed that Andrew and John are skiing this great with just our

once a year lesson.

Reece's pre-skiing stretches ;)

Apparently this is what I look like when Im waiting.

Both Andrew and John had put different kinds of bow

and arrow sets on their wish lists. We were a little worried

getting such gifts and then being responsible for any damages that

may be incurred which such objects. Since Reece, coincidentally, was

an olympic hopeful in archery when he was young, we came up

with a compromise. Reece found an archery shooting range close

by where they could rent gear as well. He took the boys separately so

he could give them the whole of his attention while giving them

an individual lesson in shooting. They both came home beaming,

proudly showing off their bulls eyes.

It turned out to be a ver fun present, for all involved.

Christmas Evening

2011-11-23T08:53:00.000-08:00

In the evening it was time to pack up our presents and head over to

my parents house to celebrate with my side of the family. My mom had

created yet another fantastic tablescape. It was vintage with icey details.

A perfect wonderland.

There was a concert for Granna where the burtons played christmas songs

they had prepared on the piano. Karin and Ricky always do a duet. Followed by

the giving of home made gifts, made with love for Granna. I remember as

a little girl giving home made creations to my Granna. I loved to give origami

delights. Granna and Papa would always display such gifts on a small set of

selves behind the lazy boy in their upstairs family room.

This year I gave Granna a purple orchid, her favorite color is purple.

all the presents were so glittery and magical, I almost didn't want to

open them.... almost. Reece and I had wrapped our presents in

blue, dark green, turquoise, purple, and a few in peacock feather

motif papers. All to match the our tree at home. It was good we were

giving to the burton family, a family of all boys, who enjoyed all the blue.

Will helped everyone open presents, he also had an enthusiastic reaction for every one.

Andrew surprised his parents with this ceramic crech that he had painstakingly

hand painted every piece.

This is the first picture I took with the 100mm macro lens that

Reece had given me for christmas. I had been doing some product

shooting and had been really wanting a macro capability.

for those who I was giving gift cards, I made the delivery more

special by making snow globes out of mason jars with, where the

gift cards could be seen through the swirling clouds of glitter.

Always a ver merry time full of love with my family.

Christmas Morning

2011-11-23T08:41:00.000-08:00

We woke up the next morning to celebrate christmas morning

with Reece's family. Its always fun to see the excitement of the

little kids. Everybody wore their traditional canine pajamas given

to us a few years ago by Reece's parents.

Breakfast was absolutely scrumptious. Fritatas of three different

flavors, breakfast casseroles, and strawberry orange julius'.

We gave Jonah some hex bugs robotic bugs that respond to their

environment in different ways, we got him one that changed direction

every time you clapped. And we gave Enoch alphabet cutouts and an sock-elephant.

Another year where Im caught off guard for how all the kids

are growing up so fast.

Winter Fog

2011-11-21T15:10:00.000-08:00

One evening while driving home from my parents we I was

mystified by the fog. Had to get out and take pictures.

Christmas Eve

2011-11-21T14:58:00.000-08:00

Reece and I got to spend all of Christmas eve together, just us two.

It was relaxing and fun.

First we went skiing. We got dressed up to spread holiday cheer.

The weather was perfect, and the freshly fallen snow was magical.

Then I decorated cupcakes that I made the night before with candy, holly leaves

and sprickle snow. I dressed Reece up in our Santa costume and I dressed up as

Mrs. Clause, and then we visited my little sister at work to try to make having to

work on christmas eve not so bad.

Santa and I needed to do some last minute shopping so we stuck around

to browse. Little kids kept staring and inching towards us. A couple of the

kids handed Reece toys they had picked off the shelves and asked if he could

bring them the toys later that night after they went to bed. We tried hard to

keep from laughing. Reece would look at the parents, if they nodded he promised

to deliver, if they just looked nervous he said he will just look into it.

Then we watched Home Alone and put together a gift we dropped off on

a friends doorstep. Then came home and ate a christmas pie dinner (pizza then

pumpkin) while watching Home Alone 2.

Some Seasonal Crafting

2011-11-21T14:28:00.000-08:00

Reece's family decided to have a homemade gift exchange for christmas.

Each child was assigned an adult to help them make their gifts. We helped

little Jonah and Enoch make gifts for grandma and grandpa. We helped them

make handprints in paint on aprons, which I embroidered a "to" and "from"

next to with matching thread. We also got tote bags and fabric markers

and let them decorate a tote for each grandparent. We then rolled up the aprons

and put them in the totes with tissue paper for under the tree. I did make wooden

block ornaments to tie into the ribbons on each of the tote bags' handles. Each

ornament had a picture of the child on one side; brown, cream, and gold decorative

papers "modge podged" on the other three sides; a ribbon loop for hanging on top;

and a ribbon tassel hanging from the bottom.

Jonah was decorating Grandma's tote, he asked what she liked and we said anything french.

He didnt know anything french so we pulled up some pictures of france to give him ideas,

here is his eifel tower.... and we helped him with his french spelling. He did all the coloring

by himself. I thought it was amazingly adorable. And as you can see.....it was a lot of hard

work.

My family got together one night to do our annual decorating of gingerbread houses.

The little kiddos got busy eating the candy, Kitch and I focused on our houses.

The argyle roof design that I thought up too way longer than I thought but

it was still super fun. I loved the vintage dear that came with the kits.

Jenny dressed up her little boy Sammy as Santa. He was adorable.

Nativity

2011-11-10T18:01:00.000-08:00

The family attended the "Echos of Christmas" live nativity in

Liberty park this year. A shepherd is your guide as he takes you

to various scenes set up in the park. In each vignette you meet a

character in the Nativity story who then sings a short song about

how they fit into the event. Most of the scenes had live animals

interacting with the characters. Sheep, goats, donkeys, and even a

camel camped out with the wisemen. It was a fun and new way of

experiencing the story of the Birth of Christ. It was cold but the kids

were fully intrigued.

We then came home and acted out our own nativity.

My mom has been adding costumes for this event

for years, everyone takes turns playing the various parts,

usually the newest mother in the family plays Mary.

I was an angel caring mom's extremely old bible.

boys will be boys.

Hipstamatic Holidays

2011-11-10T17:53:00.000-08:00

Various pics of the few christmas tratitions I enjoyed this year

captured by the hipstamatic app on my iPhone:

-Vivaldi Candlelight Concert

-Christmas lights

-Bread day at my Aunt's

-My silly nephew making fun of girls

-oooing at the train engine my uncle is making

-book club gift exchange, themed my favorite things.

I wrapped mine as a brown paper package all tied

up with strings with sketches of raindrops on roses,

whiskers on kittens, and warm woolen mittens.

included was:

SUPERSTAY LIPSTICK -

Keeps lips looking hot...

no matter how long the meal

or how many kisses you steal. :)

MOONLIGHT SONATA -

The only piece that gives me peace.

MUSTARD COLORED GLOVES -

as a color to wear or a condiment to share,

its always a sign of great taste!

PINE SCENTED CANDLE -

cause it makes me all "scentimental"

MUSIC (CD) -

beats to dance to, lyrics to sing to

I love so many, but here are just a few.

DIET DR PEPPER -

you would be surprised @ how many cans I can drink

in how long it takes you to just blink.

-Sugar plum fairy spiced herbal tea while

reading Jan Brett christmas stories.