Chicago!

Every July marks the pilgrimage of Pampered Chef Consultants to Chicago.

And this summer was no different for me.  But we had a few new twists to this trip that made it one of the funnest trips I've had to Chicago.

On Sunday I started the trip with Carol, Amberlee and Summer.

We were greeted with a nice surprise at the airport.

As we got ready to purchase our "L" tickets to head into the city some nice strangers offered us their tickets that had one day left on them.  Thank you random tourists!

So after stopping at the hotel we jumped on the "L" again and headed to

Gino's East!

You have to have good deep dish pizza while in Chicago 

And Gino's delivered!  Just look at all that gooeyness!

We didn't even mind the extra walking (helped with all those calories) or the rain storm we got caught in on our way back to the "L".

Our Conference started on Monday morning. They brought the "Career Wall" to us so we could see our names up close. My name was added to the $300,000 in Career Sales this year.

Pretty amazing for someone who just wanted to replace about $200 in income each month.

Monday evening we hit the streets of Chicago. Everyone always needs a little window shopping on the Magnificent Mile.

And definitely needs a stop at Garrett's Popcorn. 

(Me, Carol, Tina, Summer and Amberlee)

Seriously the BEST popcorn I've ever had.

And the best compliment to popcorn would have to be some . . . 

Chocolate!  Rows and rows of chocolate!!

So the popcorn and chocolate were our appetizers to hold us off until

The Grand Lux Cafe!

How many consultants can fit in one booth??

Not enough, we had another table with just as many of us.

At our table were

Summer, Christine, Carol, Amberlee, Tina, Lee Ann, and Cindy

Summer, Amberlee and I celebrated our birthdays with their edible birthday card.

Here are a few more of us who enjoyed the Magnificent Mile!

Stella, Carol, Sharon, Cindy, Summer, Lee Ann, Tina and Amberlee

And the evening ended with ALL of us squished into ONE taxi to get back to the hotel!

Tuesday we had more workshops and General Sessions.

PC knows how to keep us entertained.

Yes, that is a pink balloon elephant!

Loved seeing all the logos over the years

Me, Christy and Sharon

And Tuesday was my birthday. My cute family surprised me with these in my hotel room!

Tuesday night found us in China Town!

Lee Ann, Carol, Summer, Heather, Amberlee, Shelly, Cynthia (looking off in the distance), Cindy, Sharon, Stella and Tina

And after an incredible Chinese dinner they surprised me with another birthday celebration!

Wednesday was more training and classes. This is almost our whole group from Utah/Atlanta

Amberlee, Christi, Tina, Summer, Tonya, Cynthia, Stella, Shelly, Me, Christy, Cindy, Carol, Sharon and Heather!

Wednesday night we got to see the city in style!

A Sunset Cruise on Lake Michigan!

We had some fun!

Summer, Shelly, Stella, Tina, Christy, and Heather

And finished the evening with Fireworks from Navy Pier!

But when we got to the Pier we were a little hungry.

So another long walk to find a Chicago Dog.

After having a Chicago Dog you wonder how you will ever eat just a hot dog again.

Thursday morning wrapped up our training

The best gals around! You are all Amazing!

And after a fun time we headed back home to our families Thursday night.

Another trip to remember. Thanks gals!

Take Me Out To The Ball Game!

Thanks to reconnecting with a high school friend on Facebook I found out she works for the Orem Owlz.

Julie was kind enough to give our family tickets!

John instantly became an Orem Owlz fan. On the way to the game we quizzed the kids and they knew more about baseball than I thought.  We really aren't a sports oriented family.

The Orem Owlz played against the Idaho Falls Chukars.

Unfortunately the Chukars won that night, but the Owlz played a good game. It was a fun summer night out with the family.  John even got to change the score board thanks to Julie.  We had hoped to go to another game this season, but we never squeezed it in.  But next summer it will definitely be on the schedule again.

Fourth of July Fun

July was a fun filled month for our family. Always love a month with two patriotic Holidays in one month! We get to celebrate America's Birthday along with Utah's Birthday!
It has become our tradition to attend the Balloon Fest in Provo. It is a three day festival and the first two days the balloons had trouble because of weather, but luckily the day we went the balloons were able to take off.

The Pig Balloon is always one of the kids favorites. 

Even at this early hour my husband loves me. Or maybe he just loves the cinnamon rolls I'm holding in the bag ;)

It is cold and early, but so worth seeing all the incredible balloons.

One of my favorites!

Magical!

Precious!

The Balloon Fest was followed by the 4th of July Parade, but somehow I didn't get any pictures. I must have been tired.  The funniest part was when the mouse scampered into the Marching Band and they all freaked out followed by the Polynesian lady chasing the mouse to kill it. And the lady got the sucker! Good for her!

That evening we enjoyed fireworks at Mom's house with Kim's family and the neighbors joining us.

I think that boy enjoys fire a little too much!

It is so nice that the kids are getting so big we don't have to watch them so closely around the fireworks. And they love the chance to light the fireworks!

Happy Birthday America!  We love celebrating with you!

Eclipse Mania

If you've read my blog for long you know that yes, I am a Twilighter.  I fell in love with Stephenie Meyer's books just after book 3 came out thanks to my friend Summer.

My friends and I have been anticipating the release of the third movie for awhile.  And Thanks to Summer we got to see a midnight release on opening day.  Summer rented a theater and then sold the tickets for friends and family.  We ended up with a group of 15 from my Pampered Chef group of friends that went together.

There was the pre-party.  We went to dinner at Cafe Rio and then went to Cass' to hang together

New Moon was going in the background but it was mostly visiting.  And a little work was accomplished thanks to the joy of laptops!  Please note that none of us are so crazy that we dressed up as any of the characters. We did see that once we got to the theater, but we were all pretty tame.

Our showing started at 12:15am.  The last time I saw a midnight movie I was in my twenties with no responsibilities.  It was definitely hard to stay awake and be happy with my kids the next day, but it was worth it.  We had so much fun seeing it all together.

Now we have to sit back and wait for Breaking Dawn to come out!

Swim Team

Let the swim meets begin . . .

The girls are on the local summer Swim Team.  It is a low pressure swim team but they learn a ton.  They swim laps everyday for an hour for all of June and July.

It is amazing exercise for them and the love it.  So far we have had two swim meets.  Even though our girls aren't the fastest swimmers they are still amazing swimmers!

Keep it up girls! And hopefully John will join them next summer.

Pritchett Family Reunion

We were able to get together with part of my Dad's side of the family this summer.  It has been a long time since the last reunion.  Unfortunately it fell on the same night as my Class Reunion.  So we missed the first part of the get together.  But we headed up early Saturday morning.

It was worth it just for the view of Heber Valley.  Our reunion was at Heber Valley Camp. An awesome church camp made for Girls Camp but used for other activities on the weekends.  The little dots in the above photo are actually hot air balloons.

Once we got there Jessica found a baby to take care of. She is such a great babysitter.

Mark and John checked out the site.

Uncle David showed off his genealogy.

These are paintings my Grandfather Burt painted.  I never knew him and I certainly didn't know he was a painter.

The kids had a great time on the Challenge Course

The best part was the big swing at the end of the course.

After lunch we headed to the lake

For a little boating. The instructor said the canoes were much easier to use but all our kids insisted on the paddle boats.  Mark and I took John and the entire time he kept telling us he wanted to be in a canoe instead. Especially when our paddle boat started filling with water and had to be pushed back to shore.

It all made for a very fun day.  And a great time reconnecting with all my cousins.

Cake Anyone?

While Mark and I enjoyed our vacation away our kids stayed at my Mom's house. John's birthday was the last day of our vacation. So while he was at my Mom's house he told his Uncle he wanted him to make his birthday cake for him. Uncle Tom had already shown his talents with his own kids birthdays so John had high hopes.  And those hopes were far surpassed.

To follow the theme of his birthday party Uncle Tom made a Percy Jackson cake.

And John requested a 3 layered cake.  He actually got a 6 layered cake.

Look at the joy in that kids eyes.  I don't think I will ever be able to top this one.

Thanks Uncle Tom!