An evening of music and friends

Sooooo, I've been a bit of a terrible blogger lately and haven’t had time to update. This would be the first of a few catch up posts that I plan to do.

Last year I discovered a wonderful Utah gem it’s so fun to attend: the Deer Valley Music Festival. This is where the Utah Symphony goes to Deer Valley Resort and performs for six weeks in the summer. The concerts are outdoor in a beautiful setting, and it’s lovely!

This year I gathered a group of friends to come with me, and we had a wonderful time. Our first concert was the Broadway Rocks concert. I got to hear the fantastic LaKisha Jones, a former Idol contestant whom I loved, and boy did she rock the house! There was another man who performed whose name I can’t remember, and he was pretty amazing too. We got to see them do everything from “Defying Gravity” to “Phantom of the Opera,” and I loved every minute of it.

I’ll let the pictures tell the story. First, our group. Second, the stage – we were pretty close, and it was great! Third, the performers (sorry it’s blurry!) and finally the beautiful sunset.

The second concert we went to was a Disney concert. I was so pumped to go! I’ve been a little obsessed with Disney all summer following my maiden voyage to Disneyland. Anyway, it was also a great concert. I wasn’t so crazy about the four guest performers, but the music was great! I especially loved “Pirates of the Caribbean” but was distressed to see the closing number was “It’s a Small World” – probably one of the most annoying songs known to man. Oh well! It was still fun.

Sassy chicas!

Two great friends

The concert (traffic was horrible getting into Park City that night between the three major events going on, so we were slightly late for the concert)

This is the St. Regis. It looks very nice and someday perhaps I’d love to stay there.

The Deer Valley Music Festival is a great experience that I hope I get to keep attending.

In the Angel Garden

Just one day after my fantastic visit with my older brother and his family, I got to see my sister and her family as they came to Salt Lake City for a short vacation. I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with them because I had to work. However, the time I did spend was lovely.

My first visit happened to be at Primary Children’s Medical Center where we met up for lunch. We spent so many hours there visiting our beautiful Miss Sassypants that to go there is a reminder of her.

Before we left this time, we stopped in the Angel Garden just outside the front door. You may recall from past blog posts that this was a place we spent a lot of time with her the last time she was in the hospital. It’s so beautiful.

Here’s a few reasons why it’s fun to visit. There’s little reminders all over of the angels who attend children at the hospital or for those who, like us, have lost loved ones.

Butterflies will always remind us of our Ashley. This statue had plenty of them.

See – it isn’t just us that butterflies mean something to.

The fam in the Angel Garden. Love them so much!

At the races once again

Wow! So many adventures lately and not enough time (or energy if I do have time) to blog about them! Here I go in my attempt to catch up on my backlog of blog posts.

Last weekend I had a wonderful opportunity to spend time with my older brother, sister-in-law, nephews and darling 3-year-old niece as we attended the Clash of the Titans Monster Truck Race at Rocky Mountain Raceway in Salt Lake City. Every time it’s been a few years since I’ve gone I forget how much I enjoy it, but I always do. Part of that lies in the fact that it feels like something so unTammy like to do, and I usually enjoy that.

Just being silly before we went to the race. What a cute little poser and a silly boy.

The thing I can never get over is the sickly sweet scent of the fuel they put in those trucks. It’s so interesting. They’re so big and so loud. As an adult who has been quite a few times, I forget how loud they are to tiny ears, but KK reminded me. The first truck came out and she got so scared she went over to her mommy to sit on her lap. Then, when she came back over to me, the first thing she did is take my hands and place them over her ears. So my brother fixed the problem for her by getting her some headphones.

A few pictures of the races. I discovered that although my iPhone is great for regular pictures, it’s not so awesome with action shots. Oh well! There’s a few with car crushing so use your imagination on the rest.

Here’s the eventual winner, the Bigfoot Bessie, driven by Larry Swim.

A few after race shots during the Pit Party. First, the boys.

Then the girls (pictured by Scarlet Bandit, the only truck driven by a woman at this event. Her husband was also there with two other trucks they own.)

Finally, me with the kids.

This year they did a wheelie competition after the races, but, alas, my pictures are all blurry, so I’m not going to post them. It was an enjoyable evening spent with my wonderful family.