Update, continued.......

Ok, let's see if I can finish this today, since tomorrow I have to bury my head in my school books and get ready for the finals on Tuesday. Again, I include the disclosure that there is no rhyme or reason to the order of the pictures. (or comments for that matter)

Well, most of you know that Mady was on the track team and that she was in chorus at school, so I thought I would add some of those pics. Only because I think she is too cute not to share more pictures with everyone.



We went to Mady's track banquet (sometime in May). I wasn't able to get a very good shot of her receiving her award, but I thought I would show you anyway. She was so proud of her dress. She bought it and when she got it home and tried it on, it was a bit too short. She enlisted the help of a woman in our ward who just adores Mady and they added about 4 inched of fabric to the bottom of the dress. It is so hard to find modest clothes these days!


But speaking of modest clothes, I really liked her chorus "uniform". Although she didn't like it (I stand corrected, she "hated" it). I was just relieved that it was tasteful. It was floor length, and black satin. I thought the girls looked lovely. What does everyone else think? Feel free to leave a comment, but only if you agree with me! ;)



Now that that's out of the way, I have to tell you about this wonderful (albeit crazy) trip to Utah to see my cousin graduate from BYU! (that was sometime in April)

Introducing the man of the hour, Chance Basinger!


(Don't you just love how his blue eyes go so well with his cap and gown!)

It was great to see all of my family. I really miss being closer, but I did get lots of 'family bonding time'. Aunt Mary came in from Oklahoma and Chance's parents from New Mexico (alright, just so I don't get corrected by the family about accurate facts, Chance's dad (my uncle Bud) was actually visiting Oklahoma and flew in from Oklahoma, but he lives in New Mexico). Anyway, Aunt Robin, Aunt Sally (Chance's mom and Bud's wife) and Lindsay (Chance's sister) came in from New Mexico, and I get credit for coming the furthest distance, all the way from Georgia. I was able to bring Mady. I don't usually get to bring her when I travel because she is in school, but she is considering going to BYU herself, and we felt like it would be a great experience for her.

So let's see. Mady and I arrived and got the rental car. We called it the yellow bullet. You see, normally when we rent a car, we reserve the smallest size, because really all you need is to get from point A to point B, right? Well in all the times that I have done this, I have never gotten a sub-compact. They have always been out of them, so we automatically get an upgrade to the next size they have available. I have ALWAYS had pretty good sized cars. Well my luck ran out this time.



Mady's first comment was something along the lines of "Mom, there aren't even 4 doors!" It didn't take long before she decided that she liked it. She said "I feel like I am getting my James Bond on" whatever that means. For the record, I really hate driving small cars, but in it's defense, it handled 80 nicely even with 5 people crammed in it like sardines. I guess in that scenario, driving wasn't too bad. I didn't have to squish in the back!

Well, I don't have pictures of this for some reason, but after we got the car, we went and picked up Nathan's sister Miryam and had some lunch at my all time favorite burger joint Apollo Burger. Once we had made the reservations for the flight, my mouth was watering for weeks, just anticipating how awesome their burgers are. I should get paid to advertise for them. Anyway, then we jetted down to see Nathan's father, Aunt Dorothy, and sister Martha. I wish that we lived closer so we could see them much more often. I love Nathan's fathers sense of humor. Very often, it goes over my head, but I like it none the less. I always enjoy my visits with Nate's family.

Well as soon as we were done visiting, we went to drop off Miryam and ran off to the airport to pick up Aunt Mary. We grabbed her (I won't tell you what she had to say about the yellow bullet) and jetted down to Lindon to rendenvue with the rest of the Basinger clan. We met at Los Hermonos for dinner.

Before I go any farther, I must say that we ate more food on this trip, than I can even begin to tell you. Aunt Mary and I were talking just the other day and she said that she still has her extra 8lbs that we gained while we were there.

Anyway, we got to meet Chance's very beautiful girlfriend. Her name is Annalece. (I hope I spelled that right)



She was sooooo much fun. We all had a great time with her. She laughed so hard most of the time, that her cheeks were hurting.

After dinner, we all separated and went back to our hotels. Mady and I were rooming with Aunt Mary and Aunt Robin, but before we made it back to the hotel, we made a middle of the night Wal-mart run for all those things that everyone forgot.


This is Mary and Robin at the checkouts.


There is Aunt Robbi. She couldn't sleep without a body pillow. I might have gotten one too, except that I was flying and a pillow that size would be hard to shove in the suitcase.

This trip was just days before Mady turned 15, so I splurged and let her practice a 'little' driving for her permit.



Come on now, that was a 'little' bit funny. Admit it!