My sunflowers make me happy. I love them and have never had a good place to plant them at this house. But last summer, Scott re-worked sprinklers and dug out a new flower bed for me on the north side of our lot. We planted a few perennials for Mother’s Day to give the bed some structure, and the rest of the bed is seeded with all kinds of flowers, meaning we just broadcast seeds all over it. At first I was a little concerned about design, color schemes, etc. and Scott told me we can call this our “Joseph bed”, referring to his coat of many colors. So we just planted a bunch of things I like and let the seeds fall where they may. The only thing I was careful about was making sure the sunflowers and hollyhocks got in the back so they could grow tall and not block anything. Hollyhocks are biennial, so lots of little plants and no flowers this year, but next year we should have a tall forest of both kinds of flowers. But this year, we have many different sunflower hybrids. And that makes me happy!
Sue
The Summer of 2008
Summer is over and where did it go? Looking back, here is what the Carey’s did:
Scott:
- became ward clerk
- fixed ALOT of sprinklers
- was the ticket manager for ACT’s “Suessical”
- designed websites for 2 local businesses (Wasatch Melody and Alpine Kindermusik)
- planted a vegetable garden
- started to learn the cello
Sue:
- went to San Diego for National PTA Convention
- started 2 reading challenges
- worked in my flower gardens a little
- went to Utah PTA Retreat by Oakley
- went to Baltimore for the PIRC Conference
- attended lots of meetings like I do all year round
- got released from Webelos den leader and was made Pack Committee Chair
Brian:
- performed in SCERA’s “The King and I”
- started rehearsals for the show he’s directing, “Yearbook Reflections”
- was asst. music director for Lehi Arts Council’s “Oklahoma”
- spent a week at BYU Young Ambassador camp
- went to a leadership conference in Indianapolis representing the state of Utah
- climbed Timpanogos and saw the sunrise
- started a business playing piano for weddings and special events
- audition for “American Idol”
- sang in Midvale’s “Harvest Heartthrob” competition
- played viola for Sasha’s baptism
- taught 2 sessions of a two-week children’s drama camp with Macy
Together:
- went to Tuacahn and saw “Les Miserables” and “The Sound of Music”
- saw “Footloose” at the SCERA
- went to Emily and Jeremy’s wedding
- went to the Shoell’s sealing
- participated in Tom & Karen’s 50th wedding anniversary celebration
- went to Timpanogos Cave
- watched a bunch of Olympic events
Mark:
- left the MTC for Texas
- baptized a new member
- knocked on a lot of doors
- gave away a lot of pass-along cards
- talked to a lot of people
My trip to Baltimore
I went to Baltimore, Maryland for the National Parent Information Resource Center (PIRC) Conference and really learned alot of great information. But I also saw some cool stuff in the city. I saw Camden Yards on the ride from the airport and wished I had pulled out my camera to take a picture for Scott. I stayed at a hotel across the street from Harborplace which is on the inner harbor in Baltimore. It’s a public space that surrounds the finger of water that is the end of the harbor. You can stroll next to the water, there are shops, restaurants, street performers, and ships available to tour as part of the Maritime Museum. I arrived at the hotel about 5 pm ET, got checked in, and immediately set out to find some dinner. I crossed the street and started walking around the harbor and was enthralled. It is a great spot! I felt the ocean breeze across my face, smelled the salty tang in the air, and just enjoyed being outside. I decided on dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe because it was housed in a great building, and I’m a sucker for cool architecture.
I was reading and watching music videos while I was eating and the waiter told me that since I like to read, I definitely needed to check out the Barnes & Noble next door because it was really big. So I took his advice and it was so awesome inside. It was left like a factory and had the industrial look. The escalator was see-through and had the cogs and chains so that it looked like a working factory. The building had lots of ambience and tons of books. I browsed all over, but resisted the urge to walk out with a bag full of books. I decided that I had brought extra for the long flights, I was traveling light with a small suitcase, and I could buy them back home. So I was strong.
I was at the conference with 3 other Utah ladies and they took me to Fell’s Point to see the awesome architecture and eat Maryland crab cakes. They were wonderful and the buildings were great. We rode a water taxi across the harbor and it was very fun. This is a picture of me on the water taxi with the USS Constellation behind me.
I made a stop at Ft. McHenry on the way to the airport and dragged my rolling suitcase all around the fort. I got some interesting looks, believe me. This is the fort where Francis Scott Key saw the flag flying after the bombardment during the War of 1812 and was inspired to write the words of our National Anthem. It’s shaped like a star and was quite interesting. I was unable to avoid buying a book on the War of 1812 at the gift shop, justifying the purchase with the knowledge that I am weak on that time period and need to learn more since I had finally been to Maryland and seen some of the historical areas.
It was a short, 3-day trip but a fun city. I was 30 miles from Washington, DC and that’s the closest I’ve gotten to the nation’s capital so far.
Idol audition
On Tuesday, July 29, Brian auditioned for “American Idol” in Salt Lake City. We had to be there at 5 am and it was an all-day event. We got filmed and photographed so we’ll see if we can pick ourselves out on the TV show. But we did make the website. If you look at the right side of the photo, you can see the back of my head and the top half of Brian’s face. That’s us waiting in line at the EnergySolutions Arena for Brian’s 10 seconds of fame. They told him he had great vocals but he wasn’t what they were looking for this season.
Tuacahn 2008
We headed down to Tuacahn this year to see both shows and without Mark because he’s on his mission in Texas. This year we saw “Les Miserables” and “The Sound of Music”, both of which were good. “Les Mis” was wonderful, spectacular, and had great singing and acting. “Sound” was also very good and gave the lead actor a real change playing calm Captain von Trapp after emotional Jean Valjean-quite a repertory performance. We had the pre-show dinner both nights and watched the show on the plaza. This year we went on the backstage tour before the show and that was really fun, especially for Brian. I got a really cool shot of Brian on the stage without him knowing it and he looks pensive. Thinking about his future in musical theater??
During the day between shows, we went to the Rosenbruch Wildlife Museum which had really interesting dioramas and lots of dead animals. We did the audio tour and learned tons about the different habitats.
(click on a photo to see them all in a gallery)