MLB All-Star Festivities

In July, I want to Arizona for all the MLB All-Star Festivities. It was an awesome experience!! On Saturday, July 9th, I went to All-Star Fan Fest with my parents, Jeanine, Zack and Mitch. It was a baseball lover's dream. They had areas set up to practice all your baseball skills - batting, pitching, fielding, and sliding. Here are a few pictures:

Dad, Me, Zack, and Mitch

Mitch watching them run the bases.



Zack and Mitch sliding into home.
(I cut off Zack and missed his slide, but you can see Mitch's).

On Sunday, July 10th, my dad and I went to Chase Field to see the Futures Game and the Legends and Celebrity Softball Game. The Futures Game is made up of minor league players. The fun thing is that a majority of MLB All-Star players were selected to play in the Futures Game when they were playing minor league ball. The players are divided into teams based upon their nationality - USA vs. the World. The USA ended up winning 6-4. The Legends & Celebrity Softball Game was also pretty fun to watch. D-Back's favorites, Luis Gonzalez and Mark Grace, were two of the legends to participate.

Team USA and Team World.
The mound is surrounded by flags, representing all participants.

Setting up the field for the softball game.
Can you see they're shortening the outfield.
Cool thing is, they even brought in a small pool.

On Monday, July 11th, we went the Home Run Derby. This was by far my favorite event we attended. Man, can those boys hit!! Although I'm not much of a Yankee fan, I was cheering for Robinson Cano. He was very, very impressive and I'm glad he ended up taking it.

After Cano's win.

Finally, on Tuesday, July 12th, we attended the All-Star Game. It was such a fun experience to see the game at Chase Field. D-Back players, Justin Upton and Miguel Montero, were cheered on the loudest. It was great to see!! Although, the player I enjoyed seeing the most was Kevin Youkilis. I had never seen him bat in person and I loved seeing it!! Of course, the best thing about the game - the score. National League took it 5-1. Home Field Advantage, baby.

Me watching warm-ups.

Me and my dad.
I have no idea why we're not looking into the camera.

I love this shot. The D-Back's A and the All-Star.

Right before the National Anthem.

You Say Yee-Haw

Let me set the scene: My family has just finished Sunday dinner. Everyone at the dinner table is listening to my dad, Ronnie, recount a story. That is, everyone except my 3 year-old cousin, Mitch. Mitch is sitting on the floor right next to my dad talking to himself. He does this all the time - he'll have entire conversations with himself. Well today, my dad's story and Mitch's conversation with himself collided to create a hilarious moment.

My dad: So, I had left the game (Diamondbacks/Cubs game) and made it to the parking lot. I had just gotten in the car and pulled up to leave the parking lot. There were still a lot of people leaving the game so I had to wait. Among the crowd of people were three women in Cubs shirts. As these three women were walking in front of the car, one of them turned to face the car, opened her shirt and flashed me!!

All of us: What?! (Laughing)

My dad: Yeah, she flashed me.

Mitch [to himself and totally unrelated]: When that happens, you say yee-haw.

Labor Day Vacation

Well, I'd been back at work for two weeks and was in desperate need for a vacation when Labor Day Weekend came along. When I went to work on Friday, I made sure that my bags were all packed. After work, I immediately left and headed for the airport. I jumped on my flight and an hour later I was in Phoenix. Sweet!! My dad and my grandpa picked me up and we went straight to Chase Field to see the Diamondbacks play the Astros. I'm not a huge fan of myself in this picture, but my sweet grandpa looks so great, I had to include it.


On Saturday I headed back to Chase Field, again to see the Diamondbacks play the Astros, but this time my mom came with me and my dad. My mom's not a huge fan of baseball. In fact, by the 7th inning, she's ready to go, and if it goes into extra innings she has a kanipshin. But Saturday she was very excited. Saturday was the 12th annual Hispanic Heritage Day at Chase Field. There were going to be mariachi bands, dancers, and the like throughout the stadium and my mom was excited to see it. But the biggest reason she wanted to go - Miguel Montero bobbleheads. My mom loves Montero. She thinks he has the cutest smile ever and she couldn't wait to own a bobbly-headed version of him. Here's a pic of me and my mom with our free bobbleheads.

Sunday was dedicated to a day poolside, but Monday I was back at Chase Field to see the Diamondbacks play the Giants. I was really excited for this game because I love Giants' catcher Buster Posey. I'd seen him play earlier this year, but really wanted to see him again. This time my cousin, Cody, joined me and my dad.

As soon as the game was over, I had to head to the airport to return back to SLC. Stupid work - it ruins everything.

Picture Project - My sweet family

I've been working on a photo project for my house. When it's finished, I'm going to have a wall of framed photos. I've been trying to find really old pictures of my family. Here are some of the pictures I've collected for the project:

My parents.
This was taken while they were in high school.
My mom made this dress - isn't she talented?

My parents, again.
My mom also made this dress suit.

My parents with baby me.
Don't they look young? They were.

Me and my brother, Kyle.

Me and my dad.

Me and Kyle.

Our little family.
My mom made all of these clothes.

Our growing family.
My parents, me, Kyle, and Adam.

Me and my Grandpa.

Me and Kyle. I love this picture.
I had never seen it until recently.
My mom said it was her only copy.
She went and had our pictures taken,
but couldn't afford more than the one copy.

The three of us on an old tortoise.

I'm hugging a horse!!

Look at how much I love my brother, Adam.
Plus, you can't tell, but I love the clothes my brothers are wearing.
They are belly shirts. They are so funny!!

Look, we're all grown up.

Me with my brother Kyle.
This was taken before he left for Mexico on his LDS mission.

Me and my brother, Louis.
This was taken the day I graduated from BYU.

Me and my dad.

Cheese, Cheese

Yesterday Zack was crying and carrying on. My dad started to mock him by saying, "Oh, Zack, do you want a little cheese with that whine." Zack immediately stopped crying, perked up, and said, "Cheese? Yes, yes, I want some cheese."

A Taste of the Caribbean

I had a fantastic time on my Caribbean Cruise. I went with 15 members of my family and was gone for 9 days. We visited several different islands - Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Martin, St. Thomas, St. John, and Puerto Rico. It was loads of fun. Here are a few of my favorite things said on the cruise:

• Dougie: "I'm an idiot - I forgot my swimsuit."
• Adam: "I think it's time for a cerveza, or three."
• Tour guide: "Welcome to Antigua." Kyle responds, "Do you eat mongoose on this island?"

And here are a few pics:

Megan & Mom in the Puerto Rican Rain Forest

Me eating the local food in Puerto Rico.

Louie & Me on top of El Morro Fort in San Juan.

More of El Morro Fort.

Me in the St. Lucia Rain Forest.
I was on a tram in the top of the rain forest's canopy.

Church in Antigua - the church was 360 years old.

Me at a local fruit stand in Antigua.
This mango was the best thing I ate on the whole trip!!

Kyle, Megan, Adam, & Me in Antigua.

Ronnie, Louie, & Adam at Jolly Beach in Antigua.

Adam with his rum punch on the catamaran (St. Martin)

Louie & Me sailing on the catamaran.

Kyle & Meg at the Get Wet Beach Bar in St. Martin.

Me overlooking the bay on St. John's island.

Best Surprise Ever!!

So a couple of years ago my parents decided they wanted to build a pool in our Arizona backyard. Well, long story short, my dad got MS and they decided that it wasn't the best idea at the time. We always jokingly complain about my dad having MS (not because he's sick, but because it means no pool). Anyway, during the spring my parents secretly decided to put in a pool and not tell anyone!! Can you believe it!! Well, I went to AZ a couple of weeks ago and got the biggest surprise of my life. My parents then swore me to secrecy until they told the whole family about it. Well, now the cats out of the bag so I'm free to post evidence of the pool.

The pool before we filled it with water.

Me swimming and my dad in the cove.

Ronnie on the slide.

Ronnie, the fool.

Summer Break - Week Four (Phoenix Edition)

Last week (week three of summer break) I was at Lake Powell, this week I'm in Phoenix, and next week I'll be in Canada. Crazy summer traveling. Anyway, this week I've done the following:

• Went out to lunch with my old roommate, Emily.
• Went to FHE with another old roommate, Mary. While we were at FHE, I ran into fellow Leonard's Lawn member, Travis.
• Went to the movies with my parents. We saw Get Smart.
• Went to the movies with Mary. We saw Hancock. I liked it - there was a little too much profanity, but some interesting twists that I didn't see coming.
• Went swimming.
• Started reading The Battle of the Labyrinth - the fourth book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.
  
• Went to the spa for a manicure and pedicure - very relaxing.
• Sat in Ronnie's massage chair for about an hour each day. Again, very relaxing.
• Went to see the Diamondbacks play the San Diego Padres. They lost - Padres 4, D-backs 2. Here are a few pics:

Chase Field
They kept the roof closed because it was 106 degrees.

My cute padres

D-backs & Diet Coke - I'm one happy girl.