Baptism

My nephew, Isaac, was baptized today. It was such a great day! Leah gave a talk and spoke on what baptism is and what it means. She also talked about our late Grandpa, Marley Petersen, and what a great man he was and that Isaac’s middle name came from him. Isaac was so handsome all dressed in white. Afterwards, we went to Adam and Janae’s house and had fun chatting with family and enjoyed a yummy BBQ.

St. George - Good Times

May 23 – 30
My family goes to St. George every year over Memorial Day. Some choose to come for the weekend and some stay for the full week. This year, I opted for the latter. It’s always a super relaxing get-away. Mostly we spent time at the pool, Wal-Mart, Target, or In & Out. (Also, St. Thomas as mentioned in previous post) We all have an awesome time just being with family. Adam and Janae and their four kids, Leah (flew in from Boston), Myself, David and Melody and their two kids, Sarah and Matt (their three kids weren’t in town yet), Jonathan and Ali, Mom and Mike, and Grandma Petersen were all in attendance. Lots of people = lots of fun!
I wish I had more pictures of the trip, but here are some I do have. My nephew, Gavin (David & Melody’s son) has a love for dancing. Melody put on some song that sounded like some kind of Military or Drill song. It was so funny to see how, without any prompting, Gavin started marching around. He had some other stellar moves also…

I snapped this picture of Lilah, unbeknownst to her. She was just chillin on the couch watching TV. Super cute!!

And Gavin being goofy…

This is what happens when Jonathan gets a hold of my camera…

More good times...

Grandma Petersen

Ruby, Mom (aka Grammy), and Lilah

Leah and I left St. George on Friday afternoon. We picked up Sarah at work in Lehi and dropped Leah off at Adam’s house. Sarah and I then drove out to pick up her and Matt’s kids in Elko. We drove to Wendover Friday night, spent the night and left at the crack of dawn to make it to Elko. We were there just long enough to get them in the car and take off. We had to make it back to Draper by three for a baptism. We cut it super close and it was a lot of driving to do in two days, but it was worth it to have the kids out here!

St. Thomas, Nevada

We were in St. George for the week and drove down to this town called St. Thomas. It was settled by one of our ancestors, Thomas Sasson Smith. He came to Utah in 1848 & settled St. Thomas in 1865. St. Thomas is located in the Moapa Valley in Nevada (previously thought it was in AZ & UT). The Mormons had to leave the town due to the final Nevada border line that stated St. Thomas was entirely in Nevada. The Lincoln County Sheriff posted notices saying that all taxes (they had already paid to AZ & UT) were due immediately and to be paid only in gold. Because they were farmers, they didn't have access to gold, only to crops and livestock. The town was covered up in 1935 when the Hoover Dam creating backup of Lake Mead. The only thing left of the town now are the tops of the buildings. We were told that you can see them if you go into this field behind Ruby and Leah...

Anyway, we went into the field searching. We were equipped with a GPS, canteens, walkie talkies, and not much else. We ventured in and couldn't find anything (keep in mind that these plants are like seven feet tall and pretty dense AND no trail!) There were these spikes sticking up out of the ground that were super sharp. It was some kind of plant. Jonathan got one stuck in his shoe and drew blood. He had to pull it out with pliers! After a few minutes of walking through, Gavin was a little unsure about this make-your-own-trail thing, so I stuffed my camera in my pocket, hoisted him on my back and just started running through the jungle.

Sarah & Gavin in the thick of it

We were about 1/4 of the way to that mountain you see in the background in the previous pic, still finding nothing. So, we saw these 2X4s sticking up in the middle of somewhere, so we thought, 'hey, let's check that out.' Yeah, nothing there again. So, hey, let's try to go in further. Still nothing! We got to a clearing and the plants were only about five feet high at that point, so we were at least able to see where we could check next. At that point, Adam, Jonathan, & Matt continued on. Sarah, Caleb, Isaac, Gavin, and I stayed back and waited to hear what was ahead. Right about then, I remember that camera I stuffed in my pocket, yeah, it's gone! I was kinda freaking out. It's a pretty new camera and a pretty nice one, too. I couldn't imagine what to do. I was racking my brain trying to remember when I put it in my pocket and realized that I did that right in the thickest part and about an hour before. Ahhhh!!! What to do?!?!?!

We had the GPS which had tracked our trail, but it was acurate to about 6-20 feet, kind of a large range. The other problem was that we came in two different groups and of course, the GPS was with the group not with me. Since there was no real trail, we came in differently. We started back and did our best to keep around the same area. We found several tracks, but couldn't tell which were ours and which were others. Anyway, we were all praying that we could find it. Everyone split up and started searching. After about half hour of searching, I felt like things just didn't seem right, so I went about ten feet from Sarah and lo and behold, THERE IT WAS!!! It was right on the edge of a crack in the ground.

See this pic of Gavin & look at the ground for an example of what it was like...


It was crazy AND we didn't even find any ruins of the town!

We got back to where we started from and hiked back up to the cars. Adam decided to drive to the next lookout to see what was there. So, what, you ask, was there??? The trail-head to take you to the ruins of St. Thomas. It was like a 1 1/2 hour hike round trip. Lame! I think we were in the field for about 3 hours looking for something that wasn't there!! Makes for a good story and we had a good time, though. So no harm done! Here are some other pics from that outing...

Caleb & Isaac ready for an adventure...

Aaron with his 'talkie-walkie'

Stylin' Lilah

Stylin' Ruby

(Matt & Sarah in the background)

Jonathan & Ali

Brunch with the Girls

Steph & Kira, Angela & Emma, Celeste & Amelia, and I all went to brunch at Mimi's when Celeste was in town last. We had fun as we always do! It's funny to see how it has changes since a few years ago. We started doing our little outings and it was only adults. Then for a while it was Ang's daughter, Emma, and me, Steph, and Celeste. Now Steph and Celeste have both had cute little girls and Angela has another baby on the way. Soon we may be out-numbered by the kids!!! Maybe one day I'll contribute, too, but not for a while! This is one of the only pics I came away with that day...

Celeste's Cutie, Millie

BBQ Party

Steph and I went to a BBQ at our friend, Bailey's house. I met Steph at her work to pick up her and Kira. Ok, so she is so cute! Here are some pics that I took in my car while waiting for Steph to move her car. Don't you want to just squish those cute legs???

We got to Byron & Michelle's in Layton and had some hamburgers, salads (including quite an interesting one with some mayo and sugar. hmmm...), chips, and yummy carrot cupcakes. Steph and I hung out inside talking to some people and being entertained by some kids playing Guitar Hero. It was kinda funny to watch. There were some songs that they couldnt' get through, so I got to pass the song for them. Pretty fun!

Me & Kira

Steph & Kira

Kira, Steph, Michelle (aka Bailey), Me

More chubb legs :)

Hey, Steph! What's so funny?

Oh yeah, I remember...He he!

We had so much fun at the BBQ! Good times had by all, can't wait until the next one!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day - We had a yummy dinner at Adam & Janae's cute house. Here are a few pics from that day...Funny, I didn't get any pics of my mom that day. Hmm, I'll post some from a different day...Love you mom!!!

My Cute Niece, Lilah

Wait for it...

Lilah again...This was so cute. I was ready to take her pic, but I think I was supposed to catch her. She slid down and slammed right on her little bum. If she got hurt, it wouldn't have been funny, but since she laughed, it was pretty entertaining!

Ali, Jonathan, & Adam

Adam was nice enough to BBQ the chicken for us. Ali and Jonathan kept him company. Jonathan, why is that pose so familiar?

V-ball Party

We had a party for my volleyball team today. Some from my team came and some from Camille's team came. Those that were in attendance...Myself; Camille & Hubby Curt; Stacy & Hubby Craig & kids, Alex, Nathan, and Elise; Michelle; Kate & Hubby Steve; Janelle & friend. We had a good time and we surprised Camille for her birthday. She was totally taken aback. We enjoyed BBQ Pork sandwiches, chips, & delicious poppyseed salad. We celebrated the birthday with coconut cupcakes. Yummy! Happy Birthday Camille! Love ya!!!

D.C.

From May 2 through 6 I was able to go to Washington, D.C. with my great friend, Camille. We had so much fun! We stayed with friends, Jaimee and Trey, in Fairfax, VA. We went to some not-so-traditional, but interesting sites while there. First, we went to the Smithsonian of Health and Science. I know, you've probably never heard of it, but it was very informative. You know, things like elephantitis, bezoars (look it up, eww!), and other weird stuff. We also went to Arlington Cemetary and saw the changing of the guards. Very sobering. That night, we saw the monuments all lit up, that was cool. The monuments in DC totally live up to what you'd expect. Camille had a bladder splitting time at the Lincoln Memorial. ;)

The next day we went to Baltimore, MD. We spent the day at the inner harbor. The "Bodies" exhibit was there, so we saw that. If you've never heard of it, it's actual human bodies that have been preserved with some sort of plastic injections. The fingernails, eyebrows, and hair are all still attached. it's very disturbing, but cool. Obviously we were on a health and science kick. I think part of it has to do with the fact that Camille is going to school for nursing, so it's kind of natural to gear toward those types of things. We ate seafood on the water, watched some interesting people, and had a great time.

So, the next day, Camille and I ventured out on our own. We had a GPS, so we thought we'd be fine and we were for the most part. We decided to go to the Printing and Engraving Museum to see money being made. We found the place fine and I dropped Camille off to get the tickets while I was going to drive around the block. Easy enough task, right? Well, it was. The first time. Somehow on the second time around, not so easy! I ended up on some bridge (and you know how I love bridges) going away from the place I wanted to be. I was on some road that had ZERO turn arounds for like 10 miles, then I turned around, but of course I had to go 10 miles the other way. I was depending on the GPS to get me back, so a half hour later I was close to where I needed to pick up Camille. I turned down the street and lo and behold, I was on the bridge going the wrong way, AGAIN!! Ahh, I was so frustrated! Another 10 miles down the same road and 10 miles back. Finally, I got back to the building. Camille was very patient, thank goodness! Anyway, we saw them make some money, which was pretty cool. We made a quick jaunt over to the holocaust museum. There was such a reverence there.

When we finished there, we drove to Mt. Vernon.

It was beautiful there. We got there too late to go inside the grounds, but from what we saw, beautiful. We only stayed there for a short time. We left and were on our way back to Jaimee and Trey's when we decided our toes needed a little attention. We stopped at some hole in the wall salon to get pedicures. The place we stopped was a little questionable, but our toes ended up gorgeous!

We got back to the house and Jaimee was baking and cooking up a storm for Camille's birthday dinner. We had broiled (almost smoked out) shrimp, asparagus, awesome salad and yummy rice.

Camille, Trey, Jaimee

We then had carrot cake that was amazing!
I love this pic of Camille!

To finish up the trip, we went to the spy museum. It was kinda cool to see all the sneaky stuff. We then tracked down a Chevy's to enjoy some chicken flautas which are a must have. Now that Utah doesn't have any more, we have to get it when and where we can!

Wait for it...

That sums up the D.C. trip. We had an awesome time and can't wait for our next trip. Hmmm...better get planning something!

Cupcakes

One project I have been working on is opening my own business. I will be opening a cupcake shop called "Sweet Cakes by Becca". I'm trying to come up with some really great recipes. So, I was testing some recipes and I made, for the first time, Red Velvet Cupcakes. They turned out super yummy! Thanks for the recipe, Craig! The next exciting sweet treat will be Carrot Cake Cupcakes.
I need to come up with some fun names for these...any ideas??? My sister-in-law said I should name some of them after my nieces and nephews. I think it would be a good idea. My nieces and nephews are Gavin, Lilah, Caleb, Isaac, Aaron, and Ruby. Some of the flavors I have perfected so far are, coconut, red velvet, carrot cake, orange, lemon, chocolate, and vanilla. I think that the red velvet would be perfectly suited for Ruby. I am open to any suggestions on how to get creative with it!