#7-April 24, Tulip Festival

It's that time again... Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival! Amy, Kyung, and I visited Thanksgiving Point's annual tulip festival this afternoon. These pictures say a 10001 words... (we highly recommend buying the $35 annual garden pass instead of the $10 one time fee).

Later we + Samantha enjoyed dessert (award winning chocolate cake, something delicious pie, chocolate creme brulee) at a yummy fancy pants restaurant in Springville, Magleby's Fresh.

Our glamour shots:

#5- April 10, Cruising to Cabo

Headed for warm weather, beaches, and fun in the sun with my friend Erin and some of her buddies. I spent this Saturday aboard a Carnival cruise ship on my way to Cabo. My first cruise! We flew into San Diego this morning, boarded the ship and set sail for Mexico by 4:00. After a few hours relaxing on deck, we ate a scrumptious chicken dinner and then... Karaoke time! since all the slots were full, I didn't get a chance to sing "Summer Nights" (Grease) tonight in front of 300+ people, maybe tomorrow?





Some Cabo pictures (Post Saturday)

#4- April 3, Pre Easter Sunday & Conference

Pajama church.. yes, even on Saturdays. After watching a very uplifting General Conference, I cruised over to Macey's to pick up ingredients and later began preparations for my family Easter dinner.. I hope it's tasty. Here's the "highly recommended recipe.." picture looks yummy at least!



Ingredients
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 (3-pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups coarsely chopped onion
4 thyme sprigs
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium beef broth
1 bay leaf
4 large carrots, peeled and cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces
2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
Fresh thyme leaves (optional)
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350º.

Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chuck roast with salt and pepper. Add roast to pan; cook 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Remove roast from pan. Add onion to pan; sauté 8 minutes or until tender.

Return browned roast to pan. Add the thyme sprigs, chopped garlic, beef broth, and bay leaf to pan; bring to a simmer. Cover pan and bake at 350° for 1 1/2 hours or until the roast is almost tender.

Add carrots and potatoes to pan. Cover and bake an additional 1 hour or until vegetables are tender. Remove thyme sprigs and bay leaf from pan; discard. Shred meat with 2 forks. Serve roast with vegetable mixture and cooking liquid. Garnish with thyme leaves, if desired.

#3- March 27, Easter Egg Hunt

One of my favorite spring events.. the Dean Family Annual Easter Egg Hunt at my brothers house. We decided to hold it a bit early this year. The weather was perfect for eating my roasted hot dog, chips and root beer in the tree house. I believe I was the only "adult" invited to eat lunch in the tree house this year. Since I'm single, I'm not really an adult.. right? :) The tree house is a three level house with an attic, 2 rooms, dutch doors, a real telephone, a slide, table & chairs, insulation.. pretty cool. If I ever needed a place to stay, this may do for one night.



After lunch we colored eggs, hid eggs, ate eggs (chocolate).. and we had a wonderful time!

#2- March 20, Lunch with My Mum

Today I dinned at a favorite lunch spot with one of my favorite people.. I took my mother to lunch at the Blue Lemon on Saturday. Apparently Amy and the Young Women dinned there today too. As we entered, they were probably exiting the "Blue Lemon Experience."

And my favorite dish... Lemon Chicken Alfredo. Well.. it's the only entree I've ordered here.. it's still my favorite. :)
www.bluelemonutah.com

#6-April 17, 2010--MORE Yard Work

So, remember last week when I was talking about how much I like to sleep in on a Saturday. And how disappointed my dad would be? Ha! Double ha, ha!!!

Here's the story! Angela and Athena came up for a visit this weekend. I was thrilled to have them come up for the weekend. Especially to do fun things on Saturday! We were all resting peacefully in bed--Angela and I both trying out our Sleep Cycle apps on our iPhones (see chart below)--when I was awakened by a text message and then a phone call from my Dad! Yup--that's right!!! He's 1/2 way around the world and he still manages to get me up early on a Saturday morning!

But, the cause was totally justified AND he offered to buy us breakfast, so I can't be too put out! So, I woke up Angela and Athena and we made a quick trip to Orem. Uh, yeah...someone is NOT enjoying a Saturday of Fun!

By the way Mom, look at your pretty Daffodils!

And, I'm no dummy! When Brian suggested I bring Angela and Athena over to help in his yard I said, "You've got it!" After all, many hands make light work PLUS they could help work off some of my Christmas gift time, right? And to add insult to injury, I made Angela and Athena walk the 2.75 miles to Brian's house. Luckily we saw some cool things on our trek...

So, then we made up for all our hard work by going to a fun movie--How to Train Your Dragon in 3D at Thanksgiving Point. I was completely entertained!

#5-April 17, 2010--Yard Work

I have memories (notice I didn't say "fond") of doing yard work as a kid. By 9:00 on a Saturday morning, my dad would have all of us kids up and outside weeding the flower beds or mowing the lawn or planting the garden before morning cartoons were even half over. We'd all moan and complain, but there was no getting out of it.

As a grown-up, I now have an appreciation for the work ethic my dad instilled in all of us. I also have a deep and abiding LOVE for sleeping in on a Saturday morning.

And since I don't have kids to haul out of bed or drag away from cartoons on a Saturday morning...

And since I don't really have much of a yard to really worry about (but more on that in a future post)...

I take every opportunity to enjoy the luxury of sleeping in on a Saturday!

I'm sure my dad is shaking his head in sad disappointment.

I was just rolling my body out of bed and not fully awake when Brian called and asked "So, what are you doing for your Saturday of fun?"

I wasn't quite quick enough with a good answer (or excuse), so my resulting reply to the question, "Could you come help with my yard?" was a (willing?) "Sure, no problem." After all, I owed him! I had gifted Brian and Janelle five (or was it 8? Or 10? Or 14?) hours of my time as my Christmas gift.

So, that's how I spent some of my Saturday of Fun time--Working with Brian and Janelle on their back yard--slaving away at yard work, just like when I was kids!

#4-April 3, 2010--Easter Weekend in NV!

Brian, Janelle, Lauren and I drove down to Henderson, Nevada to spend Easter weekend with Max, Brityn, and Madeline. We had fun on Saturday being together and doing Easter things like decorating eggs, listening to conference, doing a craft, hunting for eggs and eating yummy food. The little girls were so cute! It's fun to see them play together.