Release of Eclipse

I'm even more excited for the release of Eclipse than I was about the last Harry Potter book. I am counting down the days until 12:01 am on August 7th when I can buy Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer, the third book in the Twilight Series. I have pre-ordered my book from Barnes and Noble and will be attending the Eclipse release party from 10:00pm until Midnight on August 6th. I even took the day off of work on August 7th, so I can sit home all day and read about Edward and Bella. People, these books are AWESOME and if you haven't read them you really should.

Paris

Here is the final installment of our trip to Europe.

Paris was our second stop and my second favorite city. My all time favorite site of the trip was here in Paris too and that was the Palace of Versailles. To get prepared for our trip and to brush up on our French History we rented the movie, Marie Antoinette. Ha-ha (We actually did watch the movie, but I’m not sure how historically accurate it was.) Anyway, Versailles was AWESOME! Pictures and the movies don’t do it justice. The palace sits on over 200 acres and most of it seemed to be landscaped with gardens, fountains and reflecting pools. The Palace was beautiful and so grand and exquisite. It was really interesting to learn about the history. Did you know that in the French Court, the courtiers would come into the King and Queen's bedroom each morning to watch them wake up? That would creep me out to have people watching me wake up but I guess that is part of being royalty, always being in the public eye. We had the chance to take a tour of the palace and walk around the grounds and as I said, it was just beautiful.

Chateau De Versailles
Mariah in the Hall of Mirrors

Rebecca overlooking one of the many gardens

A Statue of Elegance: Do you think I could pass as a beautiful masterpiece?

Some other famous sites we visited were the Cathedral of the Notre Dame. What an amazing building. It took over 200 years to build it. The carvings on the outside of Saint’s and Biblical characters were incredible. The whole church is like one huge masterpiece.

Notre Dame de Paris

Some of the statues of Saint's on the outside of the Cathedral

So Scary! Rebecca and I posing like gargoyles.

We also took a night river cruise down the Seine River, which runs through the heart of Paris, and saw the city all lit up. We passed the Louvre and the Gare d’Orsay, however the best part about the river cruise was seeing the Eiffel Tower. At night the Eiffel Tower is lit up, but ever hour on the hour for 10 minutes it sparkles. It was beautiful.

At the Eiffel Tower

Of course while we were in Paris we went shopping and ate lots of yummy breads and pastries. My favorite being the crepes filled with chocolate, just thinking about them makes my mouth water. They were delicious.

Ode to Harry Potter

Well, the day is finally upon us. At 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, July 21st the 7th (and final) Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, will be released. I have been waiting for this day for a long time. I am a super big fan of Harry Potter and can’t wait to find out if he defeats the evil Lord Voldermort once and for all. I have seen Harry grow up right before me, from a young boy who knew nothing about magic to a great wizard and it brings a tear to my eye. :-) I have loved the series but am glad this is the final book. There are many things I want to finish before I die and one of them is to find out what happens to Harry Potter, so now I can finally cross this off my list. If you need me this weekend, I’m sorry but I will be immersed in the wonderful world of Harry Potter.

Tribe of Grant

Hacking Cousins

This weekend I attended the Tribe of Grant Family Reunion in Vernal. Two of my cousins organized the event and they did a wonderful job. I know this is a bold statement but it was the best family reunion I have ever been to. Let me explain the reasons why I believe this family reunion was such a success.
1. I knew everyone. The family reunion consisted of my aunts, uncles, cousins and their kids. (There are 104 descendants of Grant and Mildred Hacking.) Whenever I stopped to talk to someone I knew who I was talking too. I didn’t have to pretend to know who my grandma’s, sister’s son-in-law was or who my mom’s great aunt twice removed was because I know the people in my family. When I talked to people I knew who they were because I grew up with them.

2. Fun activities. My cousins mixed the right amount of activities with the right amount of relaxing and sitting around. The first night we arrived, after we had been welcomed and ate a delicious dinner, we did some square dancing. My Grandpa Hacking, who is Grant, used to be a great square dance caller and I heard he was pretty good at it. My aunt said that she used to bring her friends over to the house and they would have my Grandpa come out and they would dance the night away. We danced the Waltz, the Teddy Bear and my favorite, the Virginia Reel. I do-si-doed with the best of them. It was so tons of fun.

Rebecca and I Square Dancing

The next day after a yummy breakfast (yes, this will be point number 3, lots of good food) we had the Hacking Family Olympics. The events were as follows: a 25 foot dash (even at this short of distance I came in dead last.) A three legged race. A bean spitting contest, which Mike placed 4th. (I was so proud of him.) A water balloon throwing contest and finally a kaber toss.

Mike at the Kaber Toss

After the Olympic Games we all went to cool off in the highline where we went swimming and splashed around.

Rebecca, Mariah, Nick and Kathryn swimming in the highline

Recently my Grandpa passed away, so my aunts and uncles are in the process of distributing his estate. That evening after another tasty dinner we were able to pick out items of my Grandpa and Grandma’s that we wanted to have. I choose some old toys that I remembered playing with as a kid; pick up sticks, a marble game, a puzzle and an old piano thingy (yes that is a technical word.) I hope one day my kids will enjoy the toys as much as I did. We ended the reunion by telling stories about Grandpa and the farm.
3. Lots of yummy food. No explanation needed.
It was the people and simple, yet fun activities that were planned that made this reunion such a success. So…When are we going to do it again? :-)

Happy Birthday America!

Mike and I spent the 4th of July up in Oakley. We went to a picnic and the Oakley Rodeo. Maybe it is the country girl in me or maybe I just like the excitement of bull riding, but I enjoy going to a Rodeo every once in a while. My favorite event is bull riding (of course) but while we were at the Rodeo this time I really enjoyed watching the Steer Wrestling event. What happens in Steer Wrestling is the cowboy leaps from his horse, grabs the steer's horns, and attempts to throw the animal to the ground all while trying to get the fastest time. Can you image trying to wrestle a 300 lbs calf to the ground? It takes strength, timing and speed to master this event and these guys make it look easy.

Concert in the Park

(Summer is a crazy, fun time and because of this I am a little behind on posting. However I really enjoyed the concert and wanted to blog about it even though it happened almost two weeks ago.)

My dad invited us on a triple and a half date to dinner and a concert in the park. Those who attended were my dad and his date, Mike and I, Mariah and Nick, and Rebecca. It also turned out to be an international event, (with Greek food and Andes Music) but that just sort of happened. We all meet at my dad’s house and drove the suburban downtown to eat dinner and attend a concert in the Brigham Young Historical Park. We stopped for dinner at a Greek restaurant and order gyros, which were yummy. (Side Note: We were originally going to eat at a restaurant called Tony Caputo’s. They have the best sandwiches and if you are ever near 3rd South and 3rd West, I highly recommend you try it. However they were closed.) After we ate we then went over to the Park. Mike and I brought a blanket and sat on the lawn, but there is seating available. The performers that night were a group of South American musicians called Llajtayku and they played traditional music from the Andes. They were really talent and some of them could play three or four instruments. It was cools music with lots of flutes and drums. We had a fun time and enjoyed being outside listening to good music. If you are looking for something fun to do as a couple or with the whole family, try a concert in the park. They have them ever Tuesday and Friday, they last an hour and the best part is they are free.

Concert Program: Dates, Time and Performers