Llama Fest '08

*Disclaimer - in reading this post you will be subjected to the word "llama" numerous times, be prepared. Also - in my past posts you may have noticed my great affinity for commas, this one does not disappoint.

I have been intrigued with llama fest since my sister Jana told me all about her adventures there a few years ago. I have secretly wanted to go but it had just never happened. Then when Matt invited all of us to go I was pretty excited. Granted, I wondered what all could happen at a llama fest, but my expectations were, dare I say, surpassed? We started out touring the temple, which was beautiful. Upstairs was a place to worship and downstairs was a restaurant and store. And The Emperor's New Groove.
We wandered for a little while until we made it to the tent and the llamas. Inside,the llamas were working their way through an obstacle course. What is involved in a llama obstacle course, you might ask. Each llama was led through a series of things including getting in and out of the back of a van, walking through arches with streamers, and stepping over a pond. We watched one llama make its way through and another ornery llama flat refuse to go through the arches.
After that we wandered a little more and found the best part of llama fest. There was a large pen filled with wandering llamas that people could walk through, as well as and pet and feed the llamas.
It was a fantastic afternoon. Unfortunately it was also blazing hot so the party had to end a little early, but I'm sure glad I went.

The Krishna temple in Spanish Fork

Matt, Jamy, me, Becky, and Anna

A llama going through the obstacle course

Me with a llama

A lot of llamas

10k

On the 4th of July I ran my very first (we'll see if there's a second) 10k. We started bright and early at Kiwanis park, ran all around Provo and came back to the park. It was a decent run, although a little tough, but then again I did only get three hours of sleep. Ah well. The best part came at the end when I crossed the finish line with four of my friends cheering for me. Thank you so much to Allison, Becky, Dave, and Sean, I so appreciated you coming!

Allison, me, and Becky - notice the beautiful posters

Dave, me, and Sean

Freedom

I probably should have written this about two weeks ago, and all I can say in my defense is that it has really only just begun to sink in...but I am DONE with my masters degree. It is such an immense relief and I kind of smile every time I think about it. Not quite two weeks ago on a Wednesday we had our last day of class. The Friday before the dean of the school of education came up from Cedar City to pass out certificates to us making it all semi-official. Sadly SUU (Southern Utah University) only does commencement (and prints diplomas!) once a year, so I will have to wait until next April for both. But really, is that so bad? The day after I finished my wonderful friend Dave threw a party for me and for Jill (who very sadly is moving back east for school, but way to go Jill!). All in all, life is good.

Sweet Home Alabama

This week I went to the great state of Alabama to visit my sister, Jana, her husband Ben, and their ridiculously adorable children Caitlyn and Jackson. It was so nice to get away and to see them all, especially since I hadn't seen them since Christmas. It was also nice to leave parched Utah for the humidity of the south.

My niece and nephew are amazing. Caitlyn is a brilliant, precocious, 2-year old who knows exactly what she wants, and Jackson is happy, laid-back 1-year old and I miss them already. They all live in Auburn, AL while Ben finishes his doctorate in Psychology.

While I was there we went swimming, took walks to see the ducks, went to the blueberry patch, and to the Columbus Catfish baseball game (which was unfortunately rained out).

Caitlyn playing outside.Jackson playing outside. Caitlyn and Cinnamon.Jackson loves playing ball.He's just cute.

At the blueberry patch:

Before the baseball game we went for a walk along the Chattahoochee River, I saw a turtle swimming in it but sadly I didn't get my camera out in time for a picture.Caitlyn was putting on make-up with me.I've never seen a sign like this one...they must get some pretty crazy storms in Alabama.

Ducks

So these are a little old, but I just found out how to get pictures off of my phone (thank you Kyle!) Allison and I decided to take a nice Saturday afternoon walk one day out by Salem Pond. We saw these adorable little ducklings with their mother swimming around the edge of the pond and trying not to get lost.

Rodeo

On Friday night we went to the Strawberry Days Rodeo in Pleasant Grove. This is only the second rodeo I’ve been to; the first was actually Strawberry Days last year. If you’ve never been to one, you are missing out. It all started with Mutton Busting, which, contrary to popular belief, has nothing to do with busting mutton. The sheep were perfectly safe. The three- and four-year old children getting thrown off the sheep might have had a bit of a scare, but ultimately no harm done. After that the rodeo really got started. There were a few events of riding bucking broncos, hog-tying calves, and wrestling bulls. Then, my new favorite, wild cow milking. This event is really everything you could hope for with a name like that and it is not for the faint of heart (one man was actually run over by a cow in the process). Teams of three are assigned to a cow that they have to chase down and milk, the team to finish first wins. The last event of the evening was bull riding. I’m sorry to say that right at this point the batteries in my camera died, so I’m afraid you’ll have to see that one for yourself, but suffice it to say it was pretty exciting.

A little bit of mutton busting.

Bare back riding.

Riding a bronco - not bare back.

Wild cow milking. Look closely and you can see people being dragged around by the cow (sorry the picture is so bad!)

Allison, Camille, and me.

Matt and Jen.

Mike and Allison (and the famous strawberries and cream, something you don't want to miss!).

Baseball and The Pie

There is something so incredibly magical about going to a baseball game. Just being in the park, the smell of hot dogs (one of the few places I’m happy to eat them), the cheers of the fans, the overzealous five year olds who really, really want to get the attention of Bumble the mascot, the seventh inning stretch – it all adds up to make for one fantastic evening.

After the game we headed over to The Pie for a little late night pizza. I must admit I was a bit skeptical when I heard that it was the best pizza ever. I had been there once my freshman year and didn’t remember anything too extraordinary. When we got there, however, I found, not only the biggest pizza I had ever seen, but some of the tastiest. If you have never been, I highly recommend it.