I Have a New Niece!!

After such a drought of girls being born into my family we have had two in a little less than a year.  The newest one was just born on Tuesday.  My brother and his wife chose not to find out if it was a boy or a girl before she was born.  They already have three boys so it was pretty exciting to get a girl.  The bad news, she lives in Alaska (a short 2168.31 miles including ferry).  So when I will get to see her in person is up for debate.  Her name is Shelayne.  My brother warned us it would be a different name that we would have to get used to but he wouldn't tell us until she was born.  I was actually expecting something a lot more off the wall than Shelyane. Here are some pictures of the sweet thing.

 About four days before she was born my brother had called and left a message on my phone that said "Hey we have good news!"  I of course thought the baby had been born and couldn't believe I had missed his call.  When I called back he told me he had hit a grand slam at his softball game.  I told him he was a jerk.  So the day he called when she really was born this is how the conversation went:
My brother:  "Guess what I am holding?"
Me:  "A new baby?!"
My brother: "A hamburger actually."
Me:  "You are such a jerk!"
My brother: "Okay, a baby really and she is pretty cute."
Me: "It is a girl really?"  (after eight years with only boys born I am a skeptic)

This one is of her and her big brother Marshal.  He has been the youngest for the last four years and I think it will be an adjustment for him.  When they brought her home he asked when she was going to go back.  They told him they were going to keep her forever.  His reply, "Hmmm, how about until December?"

24th of July

My brother Jeff and his little family came down from Salt Lake for the 24th.  The night before, his family, my sister's family, me and my Mom and step dad met up at my step dad's cabin on Cedar Mountain and had dinner.

I love this picture of Hoggie and Ellie!

Me and my sister's five year old stayed the night at the cabin with my Mom and step dad.  The rest of the headed to Orderville.  We went the next morning.  In Orderville there was a parade.........

These pictures are all part of my Hoyt cousin's float.  The theme was making memories and theirs was about clowning around together.  That is my brother Jeff that is "The tame one"  They won for best costumes.  Their float was pretty cute.  Even the little ones were dressed as clowns.

Isn't she adorable!

Later we went to the park for lunch and then again for dinner.  The rest of the time is was just hanging out with the fam.  We had a good time.  It was good to see this one.........

Of course.  I miss her now that she lives up north.  But that is better than Alaska where the other two brothers live.

Tuachan

This summer I have been lucky enough to attend both of the plays at Tuachan in St. George.  My friend Libby's sister works there and gives us free tickets! (Thanks Jessie)  I'll be honest, I hate the heat and I am kind of a complainer.  Tuachan calls itself "Broadway in the Desert"  but I like to refer to it as Broadway in Hell.  I told Libby I would try not to get to ornery.  I did buy me a squirt bottle with a fan which helped a lot. 
We first went to Tarzan.  Tuachan is the only regional theater where you can see this play which is pretty cool.  I thought it was pretty good. Libby wished we were closer so we might go back when we can get better tickets. 
Then a couple weeks later we went to Cats.  I wasn't real excited to see this one because I have heard stuff about it.  We decided that we might as well see one of the most famous Broadway shows since it was right here and who can beat free right?  I didn't dislike it near as much as I thought I would.  I actually didn't dislike it at all.  It is not the best play I have ever seen (That is still Les Miserables on Broadway in New York) but it was good.  The music is excellent and the lady who sang "Memory" is a Grammy nominee and a Tony award winner.  At intermission we were able to go get a picture with the old cat "Old Deuteronomy".  We had just been talking about how the actors survive in the heat wearing those costumes and if perhaps they strapped ice packs to themselves.  Well I was sitting next to him and his side felt cool.  So I asked him.  He said "As a matter of fact I do."  Well I am thinking I might try it next time I go to Tuachan. :)

A Tourist in My Own Home Town

Last weekend I took my friends Erin and Libby to Orderville to celebrate the 4th of July.  We went Friday and slept at my sisters house.  Then bright and early Saturday morning we got up and went to the annual Orderville town breakfast.  My dad was the mayor of Orderville for sixteen years and I think he was the one that started that tradition. I love it!   The 4th of July after my Dad passed away the park was dedicated and named after him.  

Then we went to Glendale for the parade.  My sister did a float in honor of my Grandpa Goulding who served in World War II.  We helped her make the banners the night before.

That's right, that is me on there.  My sister, her kids, my Grandma and one of my cousin's kids were on there too.  My sister's oldest was dressed in one of my Grandpa's old uniforms.

I know you can't see the signs very well but if you could you would see that they look really great! :)

Then we decided to visit some tourist attractions.  Our first stop was this "Rock Stop".  It is not even a mile from my house and I don't think I have ever been inside. I didn't know the guy that owns it.  He asked where we were from and it was kind of funny to tell him born and raised right there.  He told us a little bit about the history of the place.  A guy by the name of Elbert Porter built it along with some dinosaur replica's.  They were all in  Orderville until the late 70's when someone, maybe the state of Utah, bought them and moved them to Vernal and now they are part of the dinosaur museum there.  My sister still remembers when they moved them on flatbed diesels.  I had heard a little bit about that all before.  In fact I told a guy I know from Vernal that those dinosaurs used to be in Orderville and he made fun of me thinking I was just trying to be a one upper.

Then we decided to go to Moqui Cave.  I have passed it countless times in my life and I think I have been there once.  It cost five dollars to go in.  We decided to try it out.  It had been a really long time since I was there.  I really didn't remember anything about it.  It was pretty cheesy but we had fun.  They have some dinosaur tracks and some rocks that glow under UV lights.  One thing I thought was kind of cool is they told us it actually used to be a dance hall and bar.

Then we went back to the park and bought lunch.  There was a soup contest and we decided to help judge.  Libby loved it!  There were some pretty good soups.  Orderville's nick name was soup town back in the day. There is a lady who has bought some of the older buildings along main street. One of them is now the Soup Town cafe and the one next to it has a replica of what the town looked like during the United Order.  So we went and checked that out. 

Lastly, we took a detour into Alton and not only did they get to see the little beautiful town but they got to see the Whoa sign.  There used to be more but I think this is the only one left.  
I really did feel kind of like a tourist since we visited some places I had never been. I don't know about my friends but I had a good time.  I hope they did too.

Good Times in SLC

Last Thursday, June 17th, I went to Salt Lake to take my brother's car to him. I had a fun trip! I stopped in Provo and had lunch with my friend Kelly who I probably haven't seen for a couple years. It was so good to catch up with her. She recently got engaged so we had a lot to talk about. Then I headed the rest of the way to my brother's house. As you can see from the picture above my niece was excited to see me!! She is almost ten months old and I wasn't sure if she would even remember me but she did! As soon as she saw me she started kicking her legs and waving her hands. She wouldn't let me put her down for the first 45 minutes I was there. She has recently started crawling and I wanted to see it but she just wanted me to hold her. She kept smiling at me and putting her head on my chest. She missed me! I had missed her too, a lot!
My friend Natalie came down from North Ogden that night and after we went to dinner with my bro and his fam she took me back to her house. We of course stayed up late talking. The next morning we made the delicious tarts that we found a recipe for. (We made then last time she was at my house.) Then we had a fun filled day of shopping. I found some clothes I had been coveting online. :)
Later that night we met my cousin Carson and his wife Kori and their adorable little boy Cayson at a Chinese restaurant that my brother loves. He told me that he was almost as excited to eat there as he was that I came up. He decided he was 49% excited about David's Kitchen (doesn't sound Chinese, I know, but it is) and 51% excited about me being there. He is such a nice brother. It was a lot of fun to see Carson, Kori and Cayson. Cayson is two and full of energy. He looks so much like Carson and his brothers that I feel like I know him even though I don't see him a lot. He treated me like we were buddies and I loved it. He is a cutie! The food was pretty darn good too.


Natalie and I both slept at my brother's house and the next morning we babysat while my brother and his wife went to the temple. The outfit she has on is one I couldn't resist buying for her. She looked so cute in it.
After that Natalie and I drove down to the Draper Temple and did a session there. It was neat to be able to go to one of the newer Temples. I didn't know but it is actually one of the small temples. It was very beautiful inside, of course.
I have a friend that lives really close to it and I wanted to see her too. She wasn't answering my phone calls. So after I called my friend Bev to make sure I had the right number (thanks Bev!) I sent her a threatening text message. :) She got back to me and we were able to go to dinner together. I love that I got to reconnect with so many people on this trip!
I went to church with my bro and then after a sad parting from the little one my brother drove me down to meet my friend Libby for my ride home.
It was a great weekend and I think I will be making that trip a lot more than I have in the past. I can't let my niece forget her favorite aunt, now can I?

Shooting

Saturday when I got off work I went shooting with Kyle and Jon. Jon had just purchased a new gun and couldn't wait to shoot it. It is a 22 pistol and it was fun to shoot. It had been a while since I had gone shooting and even though it was kind of rainy and cold we had a good time. I'm not too bad if I do say so myself. It kind of made me want to invest in the concealed weapon I already have the permit for. That's right I have a concealed weapons permit!


Kyle's sometimes likes to pretend he is a gangster, but he's not.

I Moved!

Several weeks ago my brother moved his family to Salt Lake. I was so sad to see my precious nine month old niece move away from me but at least it wasn't New York (they thought about it). But his move couldn't have come at a better time for me, no offense to him. You see me and my fellow housemate Erin needed a new place to live. Since my brother owned the condo he had been living in I told him that I could be persuaded to move there and rent it from him. For a good deal of course. It worked out for us all. The only draw back....he forwarded his mail for the Goulding family and mine has gone with it. I miss my Netflix most of all. So other than being mail-less, (and male-less hehehe) life it good. Here are a few picture of the new place. My bedroom is still kind of messy. I'll have to get a picture of that later.

This is the scene out our kitchen window.
There are a lot of prairie dogs out there