Education Week

This past week I've been up in Utah for Education Week. I went with my sister, Holly and my claimed sister, Nicky (and met up with Marci - sorry you weren't in the picture).

We had such a great time!! For those who aren't familiar with Education Week, it's up at BYU.  Every August they have a week where instructors give lectures all day on a a variety of topics.  You can go to classes on gospel topics, parenting/relationship, self-help things, dancing, etc. - so much to choose from.

This is my third summer going and I just love it! I get away from kids and responsibilities and get to focus on replenishing my cup. Which is now definitely overflowing! If you haven't ever gone you need to!!

My friend, Anna, moved up to Utah a few months ago and we were able to spend time with her and celebrate her birthday - the BIG 3-0 (woo hoo)! (Thanks for flying up Melanie - it wouldn't have been the same without you!!)

So here we are together again, Melanie, Anna, Marci, Nicky and me. 




We stayed with my sister, Melissa who lives up there. Which is always fun to be with her! So on Friday we had a fun sisters day. (Thanks for taking time off work Melissa & Michele!) Just a fun day of shopping, pedicures and out to lunch. It was great to be with just my sisters. We'll have to make that a regular thing.
 
 
(Melissa, Michele, Me and Holly)
 

That evening we met up with the rest of my brothers who live in Utah as well. (We missed you Kevin!) We went out to dinner and just laughed! (Jared, I really think you should work on that dream of becoming an Olympic Speed Walker)

 (The Wright Kids: Michele, Holly, Jared, Me, Mark, Melissa (Kevin absent))

It was such a great week - can't wait for next year!

I gotta go back, back, back to school again!

It's a big year for both TJ & Josie. TJ's now a big kid in 4th grade. Has a new playground, more school work and now takes care of his sister. Josie is in 1st grade. Last year she only went half-day...so big now eating lunch at school! They both were so excited for school and had a great day (so did mom & dad)!

And the winner is...

A few months ago, Jimmy heard that the D'Backs were having a contest. They were wanting fans to email t-shirt designs. So he designed four different shirts, but was only allowed to submit two. Needless to say he talked me into submitting the other two. I had forgotten all about this, when a month ago I get a phone call telling me that I had won! Can you believe it?

Here's the winning design.



They printed 25,000 shirts and gave them out to everyone as they came into the game on Saturday. We got 5 tickets to the game as well. We got there early and they took us out to the field. That was really incredible. We took TJ & my nephew, Riley, and Jimmy's parents. It was fun to watch the boys' eyes bug out.



We hung out in the duggout for a while and then they brought out Brandon Lyon & Augie Ojeda to meet us and sign one of the shirts.





Everyone else then went to find their seats while I was on the field with the other finalists.  Amare Stoudemire (with the Suns) was throwing out the first pitch.  So we met him and I caught this picture of him playing catch with his son.



Then they had us stand on the baseline while they announced all of us.  It was very hard to stand there and smile while this camera was four inches from my face.





Even though the D'backs lost...it was a lot of fun. I think I would have had more fun if Jimmy was on the field instead of me (I think he would have too, he's still a little green with envy), but definitely something we won't forget.

Summer Vacation!

We just got back from St. George, Utah.  I know, not the best place to go to get out of the heat.  But my sister, Melissa, just bought a house there and since we'd never been we thought it would be fun.  My brother, Marky, and his wife and boys came for the week.  Also, my sister, Michele, and her clan came for a few days.  So we had a great time being together and having fun.  

Before we left, our van wasn't running too well, so we borrowed my mom's Altima (thanks mom!).  Considering we didn't have a whole lot of room for the five of us, our kids did pretty well.



I didn't realize how beautiful it would be there.  The red rock is absolutely gorgeous!  We took lots of pictures but they don't do it justice.  We spent a couple different days hiking.  One day we went to Snow Canyon.  It was very hot, but beautiful.  And once you walked into the different small canyons and out of the sun, it was cooler.   We also spent a day at Zion National Park.  That was amazing!  The moutains were so red, with lots of greenery and water.  It was so majestic.  We spent all day and only did two hikes.  So definitely, somewhere we'd like to visit again...just maybe not in July.


Speaking of the heat, since it was still in the 100's while we were there, we frequented the different splash parks they have.  It kept the kids cool and having fun.


One of the parks was located downtown, and right across the street was this cute old general store.  (supposedly, the oldest store in St. George) It had old fashioned pop bottles, candy and a soda shop.  And boy did we enjoy the ice cream...especially Ries.


One night, Lori's friend came over to watch the kids so us adults could go to the Tuacahn Theatre and see Sound of Music.  The theatre is gorgeous, it's an ampitheatre that backs up to the canyon.  And they use the moutain as part of the stage.  (again, the pictures don't do this justice)


The kids wanted to go bowling one day, which of course is always fun.  TJ did very well and was so proud of himself.  (I guess all that Wii playing has paid off).  It was fun to watch my 2-year-old nephew, Max, bowl he'd get so excited and didn't want anyone to help him.  So we all watched as the ball took "an hour" to roll down the lane.   And poor Josie, inherited that terrible Wright behind, where pants will just not stay up.


We also spent a lot of time playing in the water, throwing water balloons and just enjoying being together.



Thanks so much Melissa for sharing your beautiful home with us!  We loved being there and had a great time and made many memories.  And thanks Lori for all your hours spent planning activities for us to do.  We love you guys!!