Killing the Beast

So, Mom and Dad are in the process of beautifying their yard and in the process needed help getting rid of what will now be referred to as The Beast! The Beast has been living in our yard for a few years now. It is a totally over grown honey suckle plant that smelt so good during the summer months. It smelt amazing...it's look was amazing as well...in the not so good way. Mom and I thought it would be quick and not too terrible but we were dead wrong! The pictures that follow are when we were half way through.

This is a close up of all the ash (it was right in front of the fire place) It was so gross...it was sopping wet and all of the branches were twisted around each other which made an even bigger mess.

Don't be fooled by the smile on my face...mom and I were laughing out of disbelief at how nasty it was and the fact that the two of us were doing it. Women would never have to do this kind of work if I ruled the world!

I found the rope that use to tie it up to the house and just started pulling as hard as I could. By the time I was done I had pulled The Beast all the way to the fence. It helped to get it untangled at least a little.

This is our 14 bags full of the Beasts remains. It looks like day in the picture but it was not. It was 10:30 p.m.! Mom and I drug all the bags to the front with the help of the wheelbarrow and then took turn taking rides in it on the way back to get more. That part made it all worth while for me!

Mom posing with all our bags!

Memorial Day Get Away!!!

I love, love, love Utah! This past weekend I was able to go to Utah to spend Memorial day with my good friend Ashlee and her amazing family. As you can see in the above picture we did some shopping. The Gateway in Salt Lake City is such a great shopping place. They have new stores that weren't there when I lived out there and it was fantastic! We found ourselves some sweet deals.

We went to a few really fun BBQ's and I got to meet allot of Ashlee's extended family. We also got to see what was left of a huge fire that took place in Cedar Fort (where Ashlee's family lives). Her grandfather's beautiful house was the only house that was threatened by this massive wild fire. We were driving back from church and missed all the flames. Kind of Scary!
It was so great, Ashlee's family lives out in the country and they have tons of animals. They had puppies running all over the place and just as many cats. They have Donkeys, horses and ponies as well. We got to go out and ride the horses on Monday morning which was super fun! I hadn't ridden a horse in years and I have to say I was a little nervous at first. We had such a good time riding though. I even was able to "lope" a little, it's not full out running but close. It was funny because we got to the open field and the other two horses took off running and I had no idea that that was what we were going to do. So, my horse takes off running and I start freaking out. I was holding on for dear life and trying all I could to get my horse, patches, to stop. Ashlee and Hailey looked back to find me running in the totally wrong direction. The poor horse was probably so confused because he didn't know what I wanted him to do. Later on I tried again and it went a whole lot better. Still a little scary but Oh So Fun! I was bouncing around in the saddle like crazy. I loved every minute of my fun little get away with the Berry's and would do it again in a heart beat!
Oh yea, I also got my hair cut again...this time by someone who knew what they were doing. Patrick did a fantastic job and I love the short hair! I couldn't believe how many people said I looked like Julie Andrews...I don't see it but it's super flattering to hear! The pictures aren't the best of my hair, I'll have to post better ones later so you can all see. The ones of me on the horse are after my hair has been slept on...not so cute!

Do we look like real cowgirls or what!

Ashlee and Shelly the horse.

Hailey and Ashlee

Hailey

Brandi Carlile Concert!!!

Last night I went and saw one of the best concerts ever!!! BRANDI CARLILE!!! It was so amazing and so much fun! She is truly an amazing singer...her voice is so great and husky! I really have never seen a performer put so much heart and soul into their music like she did and have so much fun on stage. I was truly sad when she sang her last song and it was time to go home. It was funny because this could possibly be the first concert that I haven't tried to sneak a photo or a video. Rachel and I took this photo in the car...not as fun as a photo at the concert but we had to have something. Anyway, check out the video of Brandi performing a few weeks ago in Boston (below) She is amazing!!!

The Story

Running for the Train

DENVER

So, we went to Denver this last weekend to see the play Wicked! It was so great! Mom and I absolutely loved the play and are dieing to see it again. The performers were unbelievable and hit every note perfectly. A few of the songs nearly brought us to tears because it was so well done. I recommend it to everyone...If you have the chance DO NOT MISS IT!!! There was a group of 14 of us all running around in Green glasses that Debra's sister made for us. We truly were a funny sight. And when I say running...I mean running! We had to run across the freeway to catch our train...we barely made it (see the video above for a good laugh)! We also had to run to catch our plane in LA and were running through the airport barley making it with one minute to spare. Everyone had a great time! The creativity of the group was unreal! Debra made everyone little green bags full of fun green stuff to pamper our feet while her sister made us all green glasses and gave us a wicked quiz with a green pencil to fill it out.

The shopping was fantastic in Denver and as you can see...Mom and I had a spontaneous moment and got our hair chopped. Denver was so much fun! It was beautiful and was not what we expected at all. It was a huge city and the mountains were off in the distance. There were beautiful buildings all over the place and stunning statues that would pop up out of no where. Truly amazing! I think I am definitely a big city girl and could live there no problem. Enjoy the pictures below! (I will have to post our cuter ones in our green glasses later...mom has them on her camera!)

This is from our flight home...we were so tired! That's what happens when you stay up way late Gabbing and running a muck in the City.

Jenny and her two friends on the flight home.

Vicki, Debra, Brea and Gage on the flight home.

Mom and I on the flight home.

This is a statue that stood as tall as the buildings...sorry it is so blurry! It is two figures dancing. It was right outside the theater where Wicked was performed.

Some of the girls after the Play was over.

Mom and I after the play.

Mom taking in the sights looking like a true tourist!

This Bear statue was so cool! He is looking into the Art Museum.

This is some of the girls after we got on our train. As you can see Vicki has discovered her green pencil!

Mom and I before the show started showing off our new hair!

Mom letting you all see how great her hair cut is!

Again...isn't she beautiful!

This is half of us having lunch in one of the biggest malls!

Mom opening her Mother's Day Gift!

Video of the new Babies!

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New addition to the family (for a little while)

Okay, I couldn't resist showing everyone how super cute our new kittens are! I'm out there holding them every chance I get! Binx, the mom, had 5 kittens a little while ago for those of you who didn't know.

One Crazy Friday Night!

Last Friday was about the weirdest night of my life I think...Could have been Kaitlin's to. So last Friday was a big institute closing social thing and I really didn't want to go by myself, so I called up Kaitlin and got her to come with me. We headed out there, got something to eat...mingled with some people and then had to leave to meet some other girls at Red Robin. Why we were going to Red Robin right after we ate I have no idea. Anyway, on the way to Red Robin Kaitlin and I decided we wanted to do something we don't normally do on our usual Friday nights so we came up with this brilliant plan to go to the hot springs. We called and got directions and talked the girls at Red Robin into going back to the institute thing. We followed the girls back to the institute thing to see if it had picked up at all and BIG SURPRISE it had not. As we were getting ready to leave this guy Mike who Kaitlin and I both work with came running over. To shorten this up a bit...we walked away to our car freaking out because Mike was now coming with us to the hot springs. We frantically tried to find other people to go with us but were ultimately unsuccessful. This is where the night got a little crazy! So, we all pile into the car and head out to the hot springs which was a bit of a drive. We lost our radio stations so we turned it off and began asking and answering questions. We knew Mike was a little weird to begin with but we had no idea just how weird until he started to tell his scariest moment. He talked for pretty much the entire drive which was close to an hour! He told us all about how him and a bunch of his friends got lost at the sand dunes. The only way they were able to get out was because they had this new convert guy with them. They all prayed and Mike KNEW that they were suppose to have the new convert spin in a circle with his eyes closed and where ever he stopped was the direction they would go. Then later in the story he talked about how they just knew that they were being hunted by some evil presence but if the convert was with them they would be okay. This story seriously went on and on and on I was extremely jealous of Kaitlin whose head kept falling forward...she couldn't stay awake. Anyway, we finally arrived and parked to begin our night hike to the hot springs. Kaitlin of course says the totally wrong thing as we are getting out of the car and totally freaks the both of us out. She just happened to mention how some girl had gotten scalped out there somewhere. The two of us laughed about it but I think Mike got the idea in his head that he had to be our protector. We started Hiking up this really pretty steep mountain and when we got to the top...right where the hot springs were Mike stops us and says..."We aren't going any further!" Kaitlin and I were both shocked and a little confused. He went on to tell us that he had a bad feeling about it and that we could proceed no further. After talking to him about it for a few minutes trying to convince him to keep going seeing how we were all the way at the top we realized that there was no budging him. So, we turned around and headed back down. It was so funny though because Kaitlyn was behind me and I kept turning around to find that she had so gracefully slid down to a sitting position. She really did it about 3 or 4 times before we got to the bottom. Here are a few pictures of how dirty Kaitlin got her pants from all the sliding she did.

We got back in the car and headed back home where again Mike talked the majority of the time. This time however he told us really crazy stuff that I would rather not repeat because it will freak everyone right out. Kaitlin and I were dieing and were so glad when we pulled back into town. We got back to the house and quickly went up stairs and went to bed. It was a completely crazy night but, we accomplished our "let's do something we normally wouldn't!" It was a great little night hike and Kaitlin and I had a good time laughing about the whole thing later. (sorry this turned into a novel! Also, please forgive the retarded faces I am making in every picture!)

Super Funny!

Okay, before you look at the pictures...wait you probably already have...let me explain. Shelly and I were sitting in the back of the car with Hailey when she grabbed my hand and pulled it toward her. We thought it was so cute that Shelly grabbed my camera and started snapping pictures. when I went back and reviewed the pictures it went in this order and as you can see, when you get to the last picture it looks like I am full on choking Hailey. I want to assure you all that I did not choke her...I think she was just sick and tired of the camera flash going off in her face all the time. Anyway, I thought it was Super funny and that you all might get a good laugh out of it. Especially Shelly who I don't think even saw the pictures.

Lunch with Hailey

When Shelly and Hailey were in town we all went to lunch at Kahootz for there amazing fish and chips...seriously they are to die for. Anyway, as you can see we had a great time passing Hailey around the table. She didn't seem to mind either.

More PBR Photos

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