H1N1 - Day 3

Our Miss Emily has contracted the dreaded Swine Flu. Poor little thing. She has spent the past 72 hours flat down on the couch. We are all doing our best to stay germ-free. Dr. Mark said she would most likely be down for a good 5 days. She is accepting jokes to cheer her up. Benjamin Alexander started the fun with several. Her favorite one was:

what do u call a clairvoyant midget who's escaped from prison?

a small medium at large!! HEE HEE!

Above some lovely art she created last night.

Below she is ready to try to enjoy a strawberry banana milkshake.

Get well soon, Em! We love you!!

And everyone out there ~

WASH YOUR HANDS!

Denver

This past weekend, Mark & I enjoyed another little get-away. September has been the month to go for us! He had a Hospice Convention in Denver and I was lucky enough to get to tag along. Here is a very longish post about our 3 day immersion on a pretty fun little city!

We checked into the Hyatt Regency right next to the Convention Center, where Mark's conference was being held. Nice place. We had a little mix-up with his luggage, but things were soon sorted out. For some great comedy, be sure to visit Denver whilst they host a National Beer Festival. Pretty entertaining on the streets at night.

Denver get Kudos for wonderful art to be found everywhere you look!

They have done a beautiful job with their fair city.

Just for Reed - it's another wonderful souvenir for his collection from his Fav Auntie!!

Spent a gorgeous fall day exploring a little bit. I headed for Pearl Street (South Denver) to hunt down a couple of shops I had read about on a blog. What a great little area. I loved The Green Monkey Baby, Jewelers Gallery (all local artists), 5 Green Boxes (My favorite), Bell Studio & Gallery (They even had a beautiful hooked rug in the gallery!), Paper Talk and Polkadot. It was just one of those perfect days to savor. And lunch was the cherry on top!! Gaia's bistro. There is sooo much good food in this world and I love to sample it ALL! I had a scrumptious Roasted Tomato & Fresh Mozzarella/Pesto Toasted Sandwich with the most divine Carrot Coconut Ginger Soup. It is my mission to re-create that soup! I may even make a phone call and ask for the recipe. I don't usually choose or enjoy dining by myself, but this time it really was an easy thing to do :)

We are Foodies....and it is the joke at our house that I am always taking photos of yummy food. I don't know why I like to do that. I just do. It makes me happy. I guess it could be kind of like a photography diet - take more photos, eat less food. Only it doesn't always work quite like that.

Great suggestion from Janell! "VESTA" What a nice place. We had reservations after the game on Friday night. (Don't share a footlong hot dog before coming here to dine - there will never be enough room for all the morsels you will want!) This is probably some of the best food we have EVER had. It's a dipping grill so you choose your entree and it comes with 3 suggested dipping sauces. You may swap them out for any of the dozens offered. I had the Smoked Chicken and Mark had Scallops. The service was top-notch and the atmosphere was perfect.

What a lucky find! Thanks, Janell!

The photos aren't too hot, but a nice reminder for us. They served crusty bread with a head of roasted garlic. mmmmm. Please try it out if you are ever in the area. We say it's worth the splurge. We shared a salad with the best roasted onion dressing. Sadly there was no room for dessert that night. Darn hotdog!

The Denver Art Museum is a work of art in itself. wOw. Talk about every possible angle. Check out this link to see some very cool photos of this gorgeous building. A true work of art... & filled with so many treasures - it makes your head spin.

The collections they had in this place were really remarkable. We were overwhelmed trying to take it all in. The 6th floor with all the European Art was closed for remodeling. Thank heavens! I can't imagine try to absorb all of that as well!

We only had about 3 hours to spend here. Guess we'll just have to make another trip back. The best part was we happened to be there on a "FREE" day!

*Mad Greens* for a delicious, light lunch. Why can't EVERY city have one of these??

I was thrilled to find pieces from civilizations that I studied last year in my World History class. The pieces right below are from the Tang Dynasty (619-900 BC) and the wooden horse from the Han Dynasty (206-220 AD)

I just love this guy. It's all in the way you hold your toes.

He is worth a double click!

People have been around for a very long time. What a treat to see the talent and interesting ways they have interpreted each other over the centuries. We loved the happy expressions on so many of the creations. Life must have been very hard for so many, but they still found ways to experience joy.

Ok, Liam - Look at these foxes!! They were all over the place. This exhibit was fascinating! Can you spot Papa? Can you spot a red fox? (Double click for a bigger view)

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

Is there anything more American or more fun than watching a game in a beautiful stadium

with a lively crowd, fresh roasted peanuts, a foot-long hot dogs, friends and the ball players!!?

We were treated to a game at the Coors Stadium - such a beautiful place. We were about 20 rows up behind 3rd base. Great seats! We were thinking about our cute nephews who would have loved this game...as well as our favorite neighbor, Iva Lou. What a blast!!

• Yorvit Torrealba hit a walk-off sacrifice fly scoring Troy Tulowitzki in the bottom of the ninth. It was the first game-ending sacrifice fly by a Colorado player since 2007.

Thank you Denver for a great weekend visit! We'd love to go again.

Our Favorite Get-Away!

For the past nine or so years we have made an
annual pilgrimage to one of our most favorite places on earth ~

Jackson Hole, WY and the Grand Teton National Park.

This year we were lucky enough to make it up twice; once for Girls Camp in July and then again this past week with family. My parents, my brother Tracy and his wife Alyssa and Jake & Lindsey joined us. We are fortunate to rent a beautiful home with spectacular views just past the Wildlife Museum on the way to the Park. The weather was unbeatable,the food as good as ever and the company the sweetest it could be! We float the river from Jackson Lake Dam to Moran Junction. This time of year it it so gorgeous with the leaves turning and the elk bugle(ing) you know, the way they talk back and forth - that spelling just wasn't working for me! We saw two moose up close and personal. We also witnessed an immature eagle swoop down to catch a fish but was then soon in a battle with three river otters for dinner! (The otters won.) Lots of great music, food and laughed until we couldn't any more. Sweet memories to tuck away.

Jackson Lake - the place for gorgeous views and warm, rocky beaches.

The stillness of the river just leaving oxbow bend.
The elk calls were just beginning here.

Double click for a better view. I made this collage in Picasa and don't know how to better center the photos. Always on the lookout for something new to try!

It's a very romantic float. We highly recommend it to everyone!

The Cabin

The Cabin, but before we go there - The Reunion!

The Neil & Joan Flinders Family Reunion - Held in our sweet little home town of Pleasant Grove on September 4-5.  We had a "sleep-over" at Grandpa & Grandmas (sorry - I didn't get photos, but there were scary stories and lovely peaches & ice cream!) The next morning we gathered down at Discovery Park & had a yummy breakfast - talked over a few things like the Cabin, how to celebrate mom & dad's 50th (coming up next year!) how could we ever organize a family photo with all family in attendance. There were all sorts of games to try and crafty items to experiment with and good conversation.  We love our family. Where are all those older boys?  I need some photos of you guys!!

ALWAYS good groceries at our family events.

Dad either has gloves or paper towels tucked in the back pocket.

The girls are adorable...the boys are elusive.

If you play too much on the merry-go-round

you feel like this (below)

Below you can see Grandma begin leading the chorus 

of all the vehicles' alarms going off together. 

We crack ourselves up!

Thank you Lisa & Scott for hosting a great event.  

We left for the cabin early so you might have to

 go to another family members

blog to see what they had for lunch!! 

 :)

Now off to one of our favorite places on this earth! 

 THE CABIN.   Manti, Utah

In 1966 my dad began building this little gem.  Last year there was a new addition added and it is beautiful.  It's pretty rustic down there. Zero electricity. But high levels of love, exploration, R&R, memories and amazing toast!!  Jake brought two four-wheelers so we did a fair amount of exploration!  Milky Falls, the historic Nielsen Cabin & Logger Lake where the fish are plentiful and FAT! The food always tastes better there and there is no cooler tire swing in the universe. 

Enjoy our little slide show. You can click on the photos and view at your own speed.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Nine Nine Nine

What a beautiful day for a birthday! 

This is such a wonderful month.

I love birthdays - but not being the center of attention.  

I was totally spoiled on this crazy 

09-09-09 day! 

I will share the nine highlights of my day.

1.) Attended a session at the temple.

Peaceful.

(Surprise you to know that there were at 

least 8 marriages scheduled for today?)

2.) Spent some time in the yard with the 

flowers and bees.  

Couldn't resist cutting a bouquet of flowers.

3.) Ate chocolate. Good Chocolate.

4.) Spent a few hours outside in the afternoon 

working on a little painting 

I started last fall.

Where does the time go?

 

5.) Enjoyed this AMAZING DINNER

prepared and served by Jake & Lindsey!

6.) Opened sweet gifts & cards from my family...

Mark was definatly scoring points with this one!!

7.) Spoke with or communicated with ALL 

of my family - except one 

of my favorites who was sleeping 

during the phone call!

 8.) Then at 9:09 pm some cute friends 

showed up with 2 amazing 

mile-high Coconut Cream Pies!!

What a terrific day this has been!  

Birthdays are the best - who cares if we are getting older?

I'll take every day I can!

and the final highlight,

9.) I committed myself to 

opening up a little shop on ETSY!

I am pretty excited about taking my business 

to a new view

...just to see what happens.  

Hopefully we'll have things 

ready to open within another day or so.

So stay tuned!  

We'll keep you posted on our progress.

(This is a family affair)

(Kudos once a again to our sweet, talented friend ~ Bob for the cool logo & branding)