It's been a summer of theater.......

.....(or is it spelled theatre?)......as I've seen Footloose at Tuacahn twice, Secret Garden in Cedar City, the dress rehearsal for High School Musical II and today, we saw one of the final performances of that show at Tuacahn and I have to say, there's no shortage of things to do in St. George and surrounding areas in the summer. There's still much more to see and do and many things I've missed but today was awesome as after Evan's birthday party at Pirate Island (a really, really fun place) we went out to see the culminating performance of George and Emily's participation in "Desert Stars", a youth theater camp sponsored by Tuacahn High School.

A few years ago, (18 to be exact) I also enjoyed theater.....more than anyone will ever know. I went to every rehearsal and watched from the dark balcony as the play "Oklahoma" unfolded. Kyle had tried out and made the part of "Curly", so you see, even though Kyle and JoEllen's kids get the opportunity because of her theatrical family, um.....I think there's a little (a very little) thespian blood on our side of the family as well. Whatever....... it was fun to see George and Emily perform. JoEllen posted it on YouTube at this site http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfjGOmgMn7E. Emily's solo is toward the end....and worth the wait. I do think we have a couple of stars in the making. I wish I could post a video of Kyle singing "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" as he walked down the isle of the Dixie High Theater or even better, his rendition of "Poor Jud is Dade". Some reckoned he couldn't sing real good.....but he was a pleasin' to the eye so it di'nt really matter much.....if ya get my drift. Just for the record, all my kids except Mason were in one of Saxton's plays....Mason was in a little "Anti-drug Campaign" singing rap group in 6th grade....so there you have it. The Wells family is "steeped" (steeped is an adjective, saturated, pervaded, permeated, filled, infused, imbued, suffused) with theatrical talent (I hope you're sensing the sarcasm here). I'm looking forward to this next generation of performing.

Happy Birthday Evan.....

July has come and gone and tomorrow Evan will be 3 and he's become little "Mr. Independent". Growing up with a big brother and a big sister, he wants to fit in and do what they do whether it be bust a move with George or put on dress-ups for Emily's play....he's willing to try and so excited to go to Pirate Island for his birthday. He loves to dress himself, brush his teeth by himself (even to the point of kicking me out of the room) and not only thinks he's a "big boy", he truly is and brings a smile to my face whenever I'm in his presence. He's always got some pretty amazing stories to tell. A great big HAPPY BIRTHDAY goes out to Evan Kyle Wells tomorrow.

Oh, what do you do in the summer time.....

......when all the world is green. Do you ride in a car, and go not very far, up the road with your friends do you drive? Is that what you do, so do I. (I hope you are singing these words to the primary song). Debbie, Cynthia and I decided to go day-trippin' up the road to Mountain Meadows and it's amazing that the place is there and I know about it but I've never been there. We had some enlightening discussion on the Mountain Meadow Massacre as we stood by the monument (what an awful event in history) and then headed over to Debbie's cabin for a cool drink of water, more discussion on other more delightful subjects then over to Pinto then on home for lunch at Olive Garden. We're just three neighborhood gals that stay pretty busy but don't get out much so we decided to start gettin' out and seein' the beautiful country we live in and learn about it's history. It was a very excellent way to spend a hot summer day.

She chose Ed......

.....arghhhhhh.....and I certainly hope that none of you really watch this show but I couldn't resist an invitation to go to Colleen's finale party with Lauri and I was NOT disappointed. Season after season Lauri comes home laughing and so I decided to join in the fun. The group watches the show all season then it culminates in a very meticulously planned party complete with being greeted at the front door with a red rose as you are invited into the Fantasy Suite. (My camera's battery ran out or I would have had some amazing pictures). Dinner is served, goblets and all, and then the trivia question quiz with such questions as... "About how many times will Jillian say "a-boht" and "Will there be any man-tears?.....if so, who will be crying them and will they be tears of joy, or of grief and utter pain from within the walls of a limo?" What will Chris Harrison's rate of effectiveness be in helping Jillian suss out her feeling and make her big decision (10= Chris helping in providing total clarity, 0= Chris doing nothing but his usual stirring of the pot and muddying of the waters)? Then the game with the pictures of all the bachelors from the beginning, 30 in all to identify (I got 3 because I knew of Wes, the country singer that I liked from the first and I got his coaster so I had to write a poem about him and he was only in it for the publicity so he could become a country music star and I'll post the poem later in the blog). Oh, there were coasters all over the room with pictures of the bachelors (and there were lights and candles and great refreshments and hot dogs served for dinner because Jillian can tell a lot about a guy by how he eats his hot dog or something like that, I guess because I don't really watch this show unless I can't find anything interesting on KBYU .) No seriously, I knew Lauri and the crew were following it so I tried because I've had withdrawals since DWTS ended and I really needed something to get me through my lonely Monday evenings (only after my scripture study and delivering homemade bread and cookies to all my neighbors) but I have to confess, this show gagged me so much, I couldn't get through even 10 minutes of it. But, I figured I'd go to the party and enjoy Colleen's excellent hostess-ship (a new word kinda like the new one I learned tonight from Jillian, "rainforesty" as she described a beautiful place they were going to make out. (Oh, that gags me even writing about it) but the party was fun and Colleen did an awesome job so I thought it deserved a blog so, to Colleen......you are clever beyond words and it's "a-boht" time you got some recognition for your efforts. Here's my poem about Wes, that won the prize, by the way.......(did I mention his picture was on my coaster?) I'm Wes, Oh yes, and I'm the man.....I'm in it to win it, but not Jill..i..ann..A career's why I'm here, So hear my song. It's all about me & opportunity....Is that so wrong?

Hope you had a great 24th of July...

We're on our way down the road to the annual Wells dutch-oven cook-off sponsored by Mark and Marian. The turnout was a bit on the sparce side, but each family was represented and a good time was had by all. The dutch-oven dishes were varied again this year with no one, hear me.....no one doing dutch-oven potatoes. We had Thai Fusion by Jason which, by the way, was the winner in the "salty" category and an excellent peach cobbler by John and daughter winning in the "sweet" category .....(I think there was a bit of lobbying going on) but it was very good and of course, little George won in the "kids" category with his amazing Mac and Cheese that he put together with the help of his dad. He really did a lot of the work including spending the afternoon shredding a wicked amount of cheese and it was worth it in the end because he won ten bucks. It was lots of fun and the food was, once again, a....maze.....ing. Always is when it's a Wells event. These people know how to do it up good. I loved Mark's dutch-oven french bread with fresh tomatoes and the pull-apart bread, I think done by Gary. There was also some really good turkey and dressing but mostly it was good to be with family. Carin and kids drove up from Vegas and John came down from Alpine. Hope to see a bigger and better turnout next year as the stakes get higher every year. It's fun to see what everyone comes up with.

I don't have a pool or fancy toys....

......but I have a trampoline and it scares me to death when the kids are out there playing on it but I wanted to try something new and post a video and this was a really cute one and no one got hurt. Yes, there are too many kids on the tramp but they're havin' a good time. What can I say. I hope this works.

It's August, 1983....we're going for a ride in Pine Valley...

.....we see this "hunk of junk" along the side of the road with a "For Sale" sign on it and think to ouselves...."We've always loved Pine Valley, and would eventually love to own a cabin....we've just built a new home in a really "bad" economy....why not?......let's give 'em a call." Turns out the price was right, Mom and Dad partnered with us and it was ours the next day...none too soon. We've later learned there were many offers and I wish I could remember the exact amount we paid but we had a lot of work to do. Up to Pine Valley every day after work and on week-ends and after 26 years...a lot of hard work and a bundle of fun....here's what we have and I just got back from there and still count it one of my favorite places on this earth to be. The clouds were rollin' in as I was packin' up to go and I hated to leave but I know it will be there for me when I choose to return. I love my mountain home and the hard workin' men that made it a "haven" for me and my family. My sons are helping me out to take care of the place.....they bought a shed and got it up in a day.....in the hot sun so they could go back to work on Monday and appreciate their real jobs. It will house the lawn mower and all the junk we've gathered through the years as well as a recently acquired golf cart.

...and when the work was done, this is what he loved to do.

Our house, is a very, very, very fine house...

.......with two cats in the yard, life used to be so hard; now everything is easy, 'cause of you....

Those are some words to a song that I like and I never really knew the words but my life is easy because of my good husband and this house that he built for us 28 years ago. (and I actually do have 2 cats in the yard; I don't know who they belong to but they come around once in a while). Sometimes I get mad.....at my house and because he isn't here to help me take care of this house but I'm trying my best. I need to try harder but I love my house and it is a very, very fine house. I found a journal that Scott kept for a few years and read what he wrote about building this fine house so thought I might share it with you, whoever you are that reads this blog; hopefully some of my family will find joy in these words: "On July 15, 1981 we moved into our new home and spent our first night. It took 3 months and 7 days to complete the house. I figure total cost at this point to be $55,384.00. That’s for 1800 square feet completed with 456 square feet of garage complete and 1400 square feet of basement that is totally framed and will require approximately $4 - 6,000.00 to complete. I therefore figure I built a very elegant house for about $20.00 a square foot when the going rate for bid would be at least $35.00 and closer to $40 per square foot for the quality of house I own. During the last month I worked nearly 16 hours a day, 8 hours at the office and then 8 hours at the house. I did the sub floor particle board, hung some of the doors, did the base board and casing, painted the entire house, did all of the soffit and gables. It was a lot of work but very rewarding." And so I need you to know that I appreciate this house and I appreciate my husband for seeing that I have a nice house. This is the month, 8 years ago that he was dying and it is a very sad month for me but I'm counting my blessings and my 5 children and their families are at the top of that list but this very, very fine home is up there as well and I love it when this home is filled with those 5 kids and their families.

Procrastination is my sin.....

....... it brings me endless sorrow; I really must stop doing it, in fact, I’ll stop tomorrow….

I’m a procrastinator, always have been always will be but lately I’ve decided that it could possibly be a good thing, especially if I call it something that gives it a more positive flare like “constructive procrastination”, you know, kind of like “constructive criticism”. Then I got to thinking that criticism ISN’T constructive; criticism is criticism…so I didn’t really like that so then I decided maybe I could call mine “productive procrastination”. I liked that a lot better because while putting off a lot of things that I really need to do, I made this fine little child’s hat yesterday and most of today. Pretty cool, huh…..but what didn’t get done and hasn’t gotten done for 3 weeks now are a few things that I’ve been…um…..procrastinating. The Funk and Wagnall’s behind the chair are becoming a permanent fixture and the glassware on my desk from cleaning out my china hutch many weeks ago really must go……but no. Seems there’s no one putting a deadline on me to get these things done. Lauri asked me several weeks ago to make her some blankets for the Dove Center and then when she mentioned it again today, I went right to it…..putting down my knitting to accomplish a “procrastinated task”. Some say they work better under pressure or love the exhilaration that comes from pushing a deadline. Not me….none of those apply. I just don’t get around to doing things in a timely manner. Procrastinators miss out on a lot of stuff. I’m bidding for something on E-bay….there’s 4 hours left….I should get to the computer within those 4 hours and put down one last bid….but nope…..I procrastinate and usually it’s a good thing I miss out on that. Yesterday there were $90 tickets on Southwest Airline. Did I get in under the deadline? Nope….missed out on that (probably a good thing. Sometimes procrastination has to do with not being able to make decisions. That applies to me as well). Do I shop sales? Not on your life……I procrastinate going to the grocery store more than anything else in the whole world. I only go when ABSOLUTELY necessary (and I don’t do the day after Thanksgiving or the day after Christmas thing but I don’t think procrastination is the reason. I just don’t like getting up that early. Or maybe it is procrastination…I procrastinate getting up in the mornings.) The same with laundry, cleaning bathrooms, changing sheets etc….so there you have it…all the things I procrastinate….however, I seldom ever just “do nothing” but I’m always putting off something that needs to get done so I’m going to call myself a “productive procrastinator” for the time being and tomorrow, I’m going to procrastinate my knitting and put those blasted books in the trunk of my car and haul them to DI or to Mason’s empty bookshelf……maybe…… Anybody out there in blogland want a perfectly fine set of Funk and Wagnalls? I wouldn’t want you to miss out on this offer so don’t procrastinate…….give me a call......

Happy Birthday, America....

There are lots of things we do as a family throughout the year such as every Sunday evening going to my mom's for her famous "cake and milk" (however, some family members have not grasped the deliciousness of this delicacy and choose to have their cake and milk separately), our Christmas Eve tradition at Mom's and the Fourth of July pizza and fireworks. The Fourth of July tradition gets bigger and better every year and seems to draw more of a crowd as we've found a near-perfect place to view the fireworks.

I'm adding some random pictures of this event and want to document a bit of the fun we had this year. Cousin Jeff and Ericka came to town so we decided to add to the festiveness and invite everyone up to Pine Valley during the day. Kyle's fam and I headed up the night before and enjoyed one last fire in the pit before the fires are banned for the year and roasted a few marshmallows. We welcomed the family on Saturday with great food, (everyone contributed) the jumpy castle, slip 'n slide, Cornhole (which could possibly rival our annual Homerun Derby) and Matt and Michelle's dog Lizzy that entertained us all afternoon with her bubble popping prowess. We headed on down to town to enjoy our usual Pizza and fireworks. The Allred's are the only other family in my mom's neighborhood that's been there as long as we have and they, too, have had this tradition forever. It's fun to see their chairs lined up early in the afternoon to divert the throngs of people that want to park on our street to walk over to the Sunbowl for the fireworks. The kids enjoyed some pre-fireworks activities like sparklers and Kyle pumped up the music on his truck and Lauri got them all dancing in the street. Hey, it was just a major good time.

Kyle and Matt won the Cornhole Championship while the fans cheered in awe and wonder..... Clickity click on any of these pictures for the full effect of the fun we had. Life's too short to not spend these awesome traditional times with family whenever possible ....so we'll see you all next year and it will be even bigger and better.