Summer Skiing!

Jaymee, Matt, and I went skiing at Snowbird today. It was tons of fun as skiing always is. I ran out of pockets and wanted to take my rice krispie treat with me to eat on the lift so I utilized my "headband of wonder". People were highly impressed with my creativity.
This was at the top of the tram, doesn't Matt look excited to be there?!
Rockstars and dancing ladies!
From the top of Snowbird I was again reminded of the beauty and splendor that Heavenly Father blessed us with when he created this amazing world for us to live in, especially Utah!

More of the beauty that is Utah. This was taken from the bridge at Snowbird. When you ski down to the tram/plaza you have to take off your skis and walk across this big bridge to get there. On our last run of the day I beat Matt and Jaymee to the bottom by about 10 minutes so I was hanging out on the bridge admiring and enjoying this awesome river. If you're wondering why I got to the bottom so much faster all I'm going to say is that those suckers hiked! Muahahaha!!! But really it was a great day; we all remembered sunscreen (although I did get just a bit of sun on my face) and I was reminded of what a beautiful place the world really is.

Every day is what you make of it!

Yesterday, Friday, had the makings of a horrible day. Makings of which I can't write about here but just know it wasn't ponies, princesses, and rainbows. Work was good. All day at the office Jaymee was keeping things jovial and fun by taunting me about how she thought I would be too chicken to take a parting gift to Michelle King before she leaves on her mission. In actuality, I never thought I would have the courage either however to know me is to know that I NEVER turn down a dare and that is what this became. After work I rode my bike home, the ride was good and refreshing. When I got home I said, "Let's go take Michelle a gift!" She still didn't think I would EVER do it.

We drove to Dick's Market in Bountiful. First, we picked out the card and it was PERFECT. We found a rack of cards with several "missionary" cards on it so I was looking at those. At the same time Jaymee was looking at the cards on the other side of the rack. She handed me a card and said, "Brooke, this one is so perfect, you HAVE to get her this one!" I took the card from Jaymee to get a good look at it. On the front was a girl super hero (with a cape) and it said "YOU..." then when you opened it on the inside it said, "...are my hero!" It really was perfect. Jaymee even drew a missionary name tag on the super hero before we gave it to her. Then I picked out 6 of the most AWESOME fresh cookies that I could find in the bakery and we headed up the hill to Michelle's house. This was when I started freaking out. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. What if she's not so excited to see me. What if she's wigged out by the fact that I know where she lives. Oh boy..." All of a sudden I had that uncontrollable urge to vomit and pass out at the same time. That happened one other time in my life, when I was going to the Channel 2 studio to meet her for the first time. Jaymee also says that I did some serious "nervous eating" in that 15 minutes.

As I was walking up to her door I suddenly hoped that maybe they wouldn't be home and I could just leave it on the step for her. I guess that was my last attempt at chickening out. I rang the doorbell and waited...and waited...and waited. "Oh sweet, nobody's home." I said to Jaymee. I put the cookies on the step and turned to walk away. We made it about 10 feet down the sidewalk toward my car when the gigantic purple door suddenly opened. Jaymee and I turned around to see Michelle with a huge bag of ice in each hand and a distressed look on her face. We talked for a brief moment and she told us that they were on their way out to the park where they were throwing a party for 60 kids. She did say, "It was so good to see you again!" She's great.

After our brief visit with her we went down to Bountiful Boulevard (until yesterday, our favorite place to long board). We went to the usual places and then headed farther south to try out some new ones. We found some fun spots but nothing that was life altering. We then went to KFC to grab some dinner and use the "facilities". Still feeling a little bummed from the earlier events of the day I told Jaymee that I didn't want to go home and sit for the rest of the night because it was only 7:00pm. We decided to take the scenic drive over Traverse Ridge (where I went on my 60 mile bike ride) and into Alpine to do some more long boarding. We started at the chapel at the top of Main Street and rode down into Alpine. We have finally found the PERFECT long boarding hill! Holy cow! So perfect. It is a long gradual hill and we seriously went forever. We actually got all the way down to the 4-way stop in Alpine and had to carve off speed in order to not dangerously speed right through it! We went down a couple more blocks and visited the park for a while.

It was a very nice park with bathrooms, a water fountain, and bouncy animals! Jaymee loved the horse and I got the bird...or was that a seal? Wait! Jaymee, isn't a seal a bird? Hahaha!

So in the play ground they had this rubbery stuff and it really is the COOLEST thing! When you walk on it it's bounces you, I can't accurately describe the feeling of awesomeness but it was super cool. So cool that I laid in it to take this picture. Then Jaymee said that you really couldn't see it so we took the next picture to show our joy and support of the rubbery substance....


With rubbery stuff in our play grounds, life is definitely good!

Memorial Day Party

Monday night after work Kyley and I went to the Oldroyd's house in Provo for a Memorial Day Party. It was lots of fun. Several families in their ward were they and they were all tons of fun and it was a blast getting to know them a bit. We had sloppy joes for dinner that were VERY yummy. After dinner we mingled a bit, sang some songs, listened to Sydney play us some songs on her guitar and then played games. Laurie Oldroyd is a lover of games and it is so much fun to play them with her.



When Laurie ran out of games to play the men stepped in and decided that it was time to play some "scout games". This is their first victim with the quarter game. It was soooo funny!

The Weirdest Day of My Life!

Today is Memorial Day. The phones are not ringing at work and the office is operating with a skeleton crew. At about 8am I was feeling very nauseous so Desire and I went for a walk to the Maverik...I feel sick so I buy junk food? Go figure. So we get our treats and as we're standing at the register paying for them this huge Lincoln pulls up outside and parks across three parking spaces. As we were walking out of the Maverik the lady driving the Lincoln was walking in and at the last minute I looked back at her and realized that she was not wearing pants! In shock I yelled, "UH-OH" to Desire. She stopped dead in her tracks and asked me what was wrong. As I described the scene that I had just seen we decided to wait outside the Maverik just to be sure it really was what i had thought it was. While we waited for the "pantsless lady" to return the fresh air helped me to feel better. All of a sudden, she came running out, no pants and was making a mad dash to her car. Until she saw us, then she stopped and very abruptly asked if we knew how to get to Tooele. Is that where her pants were? Maybe a store to buy some new ones? The contraption she was wearing somewhat resembled a bathing suit, maybe the swimming pool she is looking for is in Tooele. Weird.

A fun time in Provo

Last Saturday I journeyed to Provo (this time in my car, no bike) to hang out with Annaleesa. We met up with Spencer and hiked the "Y" at BYU at 9:00am. It's a good thing we went early because it was already hot outside! The hike was fun and it was the first time for all three of us. Unfortunately I forgot my camera...that never happens! So I don't have any fun pictures to share with you of the hike. Thy "Y" was unbelievably gigantic up close and personal! I couldn't believe how big it was. It was so big that there are two different trails to get to it, one to the top and a completely different one to the bottom!

After our hike Annaleesa, Spencer and I went to the Wilkinson Center for a Jamba Juice. I got a peachy one and it was tasty. I highly recommend it! After eating Jamba on the lawn Annaleesa and I went back to her house and got out her hot pink scooter! I had my long board and we were entertained for hours with Annaleesa pulling me around the neighborhood on my long board.



We had loads of fun and lots of laughs. After longboarding for a while we went to the Fisher's and had fun with Popsicles and trampolines. Susette has some seriously mad skills on that thing. My only advice when jumping with her is never say "UM..."

Sunscreen...

I hate it when this happens! While on my bike ride Saturday I got burned. Sunday was surprisingly painless but last night I really paid for it! I got out of the shower and it was itching like CRAZY! No matter what I did it wouldn't stop. I felt like a crazy person and I didn't know what to do. Don't be fooled by this picture, I know it looks like I'm smiling but I'm actually clenching my teeth in frustration and pain. I eventually found some Aloe Vera Gel and caked my arms and legs with it. After a couple of hours it finally stopped itching. I learned my lesson....SUNSCREEN!

My Berry Own Crock Pot!!!

A couple of months ago I made a resolve to eat healthier by eating less fast food, junk food, and processed food. I looked to Cindy, the master of all things "kitchen" (and the master of lots of other things too) to help me devise a plan that would be a success. She told me the most convenient and economic way to make meals is in a Crock Pot. She let me borrow her Crock Pot for a couple of weeks and I had so much fun finding new recipes and trying them out. I discovered a GREAT chili recipe! After a few weeks of making lots of meals in Cindy's Crock Pot, she suggested that I bring hers back and they would trade it out for a Crock Pot of "my berry own!" I was SOOOO excited. So when we went to their house for dinner two weeks ago when Julie was here I returned Cindy's Crock Pot and she and John presented me with my own! It is beautiful and I absolutely LOVE the color...and it's the perfect size.

Her finger in his nose...his finger in her ear, and you know why we get along!

My first Meal in my new crock pot. I put this pork roast in before I left on my 8 hour bike ride Saturday afternoon.
When I arrived home tired, hungry, sunburned, and exhausted I was sooooo glad that I had put this roast in before I left. I had never made a plain roast before and should have added some vegetables, but didn't. I did cover the top of the meat with minced garlic and it was delicious! Mmmmm!!!

The BEST Bike Ride

After the Race for the Cure we went home and had pancakes for breakfast and I took a nap. At noon Jaymee left for Idaho to spend the weekend with her family and I put a roast in the crock pot and headed off on a nice, long bike ride. I had charted a course the night before. Leaving from my house I took 700 East to 1300 East which eventually turned into Highland Drive. Highland eventually ends at 130-something South. I then took Traverse Ridge Drive over the mountain which spits you out on the other side in Alpine. It was the greatest ride! Very challenging for my beginner biking skills but well worth it. The vistas were beyond amazing!This was at the top of the mountain on the Draper side of the mountain. You can't see it because it's so small but Ikea is down there in the midst of all those buildings.
I zoomed in on Ikea but with the zoom you loose the perspective of just how high and how magnificent the view is.
I was so close to the snow! It almost made me miss skiing for a moment.
The uphill climb of this ride was pretty intense. This is about 1/3 of the way up looking back down on where I had just been. The climb was just over three miles and then the descent began.
This picture was taken when I reached the peak of the climb. The elevation was great! There was actually snow near where I was standing!
This is from the peak looking down into Alpine. It is such a beautiful place. Almost makes me want to live in Utah county...almost. You can see the descending road in the bottom right corner of this picture. It was so much fun and really fast. When I got to Alpine I had a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger and a Frosty and took a little rest. Then, that fun, fast hill that I had just gone down I now had to climb! But there was another descent waiting for me just on the other side of that mountain. I think biking could just be what gets me through the summers from ski season to ski season. I can't believe I love it this much! The ride took me 8 hours, round trip. I did make one more stop on the way home. When I got to Murray I stopped at Wendy's for another Frosty. By this time I was really tired and sunburned so I took my time and watched part of Juno on my iPod while I ate my treat.

Race for the Cure

Saturday morning Jaymee and I got up early and went to the Gateway to cheer on our friends who were running/walking in the Race for the Cure. John and Cindy ran the 5k and Annaleesa, Linda, Susette, and Laurie walked the 5k. We parked downtown by the Channel 2 station and then rode our long boards to the Gateway. It was lots of fun.

One of our favorite parts of the race was seeing all of the awesome t-shirts. Each team put together their own shirt and there were some funny ones. The team Annaleesa was with had great shirts that said, "Big or Small let's save them ALL!"

Some of the others were:
Our cups runneth over
Betty Boop's Brigade
Team Tough Tittie
Team Hoohas
Save the Tatas!

The last one was our favorite. Next year I think I will participate not only to support a great cause but to get an AWESOME shirt!

Desire's "Awesome Report Card" Party

Desire got her report card last week and ended up with a fabulous grade in a very difficult math class. If you know me you know that any good thing is a reason to throw a party. We decided to go to the Training Table for cheese fries and then play some serious Guitar Hero. I also got a new bike helmet and biking gloves that day. So while we were waiting for Desire to get to our house I tried on my new bike gear. I looked like such a dork that I couldn't resist picking up the guitar and making it even funnier!
Warning: Please wear proper protective gear when playing Guitar Hero to prevent bodily harm or injury.
It was Desire's first time at the Training Table! We had a blast and laughed a lot. The most enjoyable part was being entertained by the "Desire and Kate Show". Put those two together and the laughs just keep coming.

Desire: I'd get all up on his Kool Aide!

The best day of my life!

Friday, the final day of Women's Conference 2008 was quite possibly the best day of my life to date! It was great from the beginning and only got better as the day progressed. We arrived at the Marriott Center very early to get a good seat for the opening session of the day which was to be given by Sister Julie B. Beck. We sat on the second row . Our section was in between two tunnels. The one to the left of where we were sitting was where all of the speakers and dignitaries sitting on the stand entered and exited while the one on the right that was right next to our seats was not used by them. Almost immediately after taking our seats we began to get to know the two ladies sitting behind us. Tina and her mother had come from Washington and Oregon to be together for Women's Conference. What a fun trip for them! They were very fun and I sincerely enjoyed getting to know them. As we were laughing and joking with Tina and her mom a drink was spilled. I had been making jokes about how I thought the usher watching the tunnel beside us was cute so they told me to go tell him about the spill...

Dave listens to me intently as I describe the severity and damage of the spill. Julie snapped this picture as Dave and I had our first encounter...could it be destiny?

The one was taken for Jaymee. As the meeting began Sheri Dew and Wendy Watson-Nelson came and they were standing right in front of us as they searched the crowd for seats.

I snapped this picture of Sister Beck in anticipation of her Conference address! I had been looking forward to hearing her talk for months!

After Sister Beck's talk while everyone was milling around on the stand and the floor I noticed her husband who exited through the tunnel that was to our right (the one only feet from us that nobody had been using). I turned to my cousin Julie and said, "If Sister Beck follows him to go out that tunnel I think I'm going to go say hi to her and introduce myself." I had actually written her a letter about a month ago, but that story will be a blog of it's own. So we watched Sister Beck as she made her way through the crowd and seemed to be heading in the direction her husband had gone. Suddenly she was coming directly toward the tunnel next to us so I got up and walked onto the floor. As she approached me I stretched out my hand and said, "Hi Julie, I'm Brooke." She glanced at my name tag and said, "Brooke Smith! Did you write me a letter?" When I replied in the affirmative she gave me the biggest and best hug.

After speaking with Sister Beck for a few moments we took this picture with her. She is even more beautiful in person and has a heart just as beautiful as she is.

Meeting the Stars!

After the concert each of the artists were graciously meeting fans and signing stuff. We had gotten all hyped up and silly after laughing so hard during the show so the three of us waiting in line to meet Hilary Weeks was obnoxious and fun! During the show Hilary had told a story about how she had began writing a song while on a plane home from Texas. When she said "Texas" Julie and some other people from Texas cheered out loud. It was really funny. Hilary then said, "Either you are cheering for me or you're cheering for Texas and I'm just going to believe that you're cheering for me!" It was really funny. So as we were standing in line waiting to meet her every time someone said "Texas" Julie cheered and it made us laugh every time.


Also, as we stood in line entertaining ourselves (and several of those around us) Jaymee and I were debating on the color of the jacket Hilary Weeks was wearing. I said pink, Jaymee said lavender. We couldn't agree. So I said, "We will ask Hilary and her response will settle this argument."


Notice how intently we are all listening and waiting for a response from Hilary to the question, "What color is your jacket?" The verdict....FUSCHIA!!! Hahaha! Neither of us were correct, that is probably for the best. That is an argument that the loser may never live down. Hilary was just as fun when we met and spent a few minutes with her as she had been on stage that night. And she provided yet more laughs as we spoke with her face to face. She is one good lady!

This is Mercy River, I blogged about them shortly after General Conference. It was during the priesthood session of General Conference, at Deseret Book's Ladies Night that I first discovered them and I have been in love ever since! They are so full of energy and their music is fresh and fun and of course the message is very inspiring. They also were so much fun to meet and were very sweet. They were so cool that I ended up telling them about the day that I danced on the kitchen table and sang one of their songs. They got a kick out of it and told me to email them pictures! Hahaha, boy will they laugh when they see them. I think I'll send them my blog link also, it is always good for a laugh! :-) Here's a funny little story about this picture...the blonde girls name is Brooke also. As we were posing for the picture I reminded myself out loud to not have droopy eyes, "Try not to have stoner face Brooke, you tend to do that in pictures." I said to myself. As soon as I said that i realized that her name is Brooke too and she turned around with a really funny questioning look on her face! I quickly told her about my droopy eyes in pictures and explained why I said that to myself. It was hilarious.

I'll say it one more time...we laughed ourselves silly! By the time we got home Thursday night it was VERY late, you might even say Friday morning instead of Thursday night! After a 4 hour nap my alarm went off and it was time go prepare for Friday's sessions of conference. YIPEEE!!!

Good, Clean Mormon Fun!

At the conclusion of Thursday's sessions of Women's Conference we had dinner at Red Robin in Provo Towne Center. This great piece of art is just inside the lobby and we had the inclination to do our best interpretation of it.Jaymee is the umbrella...

After dinner it was back to the Marriott Center for the evening concert performances. Susette joined us for dinner and the fun. We got to the Marriott Center before they opened the doors so when the doors were opened we were first in line for GREAT seats! We were in the first row right by the door where the performers came in and out of the auditorium.
Susette and Annaleesa super excited for the show!

So as we sat and talked amongst ourselves to pass the time, we suddenly had a celebrity sighting. Hilary Weeks came out and talked to some people just a few seats down from us...we thought this would be our closest brush with the celebrity so snapped a photo to capture the moment.

The show was hosted by Hilary Weeks who also performed a couple of her own songs as well. She is hilarious! I haven't laughed that hard in a LONG time...probably not since Jaymee and I made the ninja movies! At the end of the concert she came out in this costume, needless to say we were la
ughing until our bellies hurt. It was an extremely entertaining and enjoyable night. During the concert Hilary weeks performed two of her own songs that will be recorded on her new album (which will be released in September...just in time for my birthday!) and they were amazing. She is an extremely talented woman. Her music is deeply moving and really makes you think about why we're here on earth and what this is really all about. Her music is very inspiring and has been the initiator of a lot of soul searching for me personally. Hilary Weeks was my first discovery of faith centered music shortly after I was baptized in 2002 and has remained a favorite ever since.

It was more awesome than Hollywood...she had her own dressing room! Hahaha, as we were leaving we looked down the tunnel where the performers were exiting and we saw the door with this sign on it and thought it was great. We had also laughed and danced ourselves silly during the concert so we got a bigger kick out of her having a dressing room than we typically would have.

Women's Conference gets better EVERY year!

On Thursday, Julie, Annaleesa, Jaymee, and I went to BYU Women's Conference. It was tons of fun and also a very spiritually rewarding experience. Thursday morning after a welcome from General Relief Society President, Julie B. Beck, Sheri Dew gave the conference opening address. She gave a very moving and motivational talk, as always, including the perfect blend of humor. Julie's welcome was great as well. She got up to the podium and told us that she had a "wounded wing" and in the interest of not being asked over and over again for all of conference, "What happened to your arm?" she told us how she had hurt it. She said that she had hurt it in a hand gliding accident. Then she laughed and said, "You don't believe that do you? Sheri Dew said I should say that because it sounds much more exciting than what really happened. I hurt it trying to catch a grandchild." She then proceeded also to tell us that after arriving at Women's Conference she looked down at her shoes and realized that she had put on red shoes with a Salmon colored top...."I hope I haven't made the transition from cute to comfortable!" She exclaimed as we all laughed.

Two dang cute Mormon Cousins at Women's Conference!

Notice the illusion picture (Julie is holding the "Y"). As for what I am doing in the picture...there really is not explanation except that I am just being me! :-)

After the opening session of Conference we decided to skip the second session, check out the bookstore, get some food, and make it to the third session early to get good seats. Jaymee found some fun stuff in the bookstore. I got an awesome hoodie and an awesome CTR ring. It is very girly...what has happened to me!?

We found some trouble in the bookstore and were sent to the Honor Code office! Okay, just kidding, Annaleesa's mom works in the Honor Code Office so we went to say hi to her.


During 5th and final session Jaymee caught some zzzzz's. She had to get rested up for the big party and concert that night!

Game Time!

After dinner we enjoyed games and cookies. We played some killer rounds of Pit. That is a GREAT game. If you have never played it I highly recommend it. It's high energy and very loud, but loads of fun!
We also tried out best to teach John and Cindy how to play guitar hero...that didn't work out as well as we had hoped. They were good sports about it and they both gave it a shot. It was quite hysterical to watch John as he gave it his all in an effort not to be booed off of the stage. Check out the video below...

Dinner with the Pattersons

After we went to the Bountiful Temple Julie, Jaymee and I went to Ogden to have dinner with the John and Cindy Patterson. We all enjoyed ourselves and had a GREAT time. Cindy made a variety of meatballs, some yummy cheesy potatoes and a salad (which I"m sure was also tasty).
I don't eat salad but as you can see in the picture below I LOVE croutons! I got the ones that were left over in the bottom of the salad bowl. Yummy!!!


After dinner, John brought in some sodas to enjoy while we played games. While we cleaned up dinner he challenged himself to creating a soda tower!

While cleaning up I also had a hard time concentrating and found myself creating costumes out of Cindy's aprons and John's shirt! I was SOOOO excited to finally have Julie here.

My Mormon Cousin Has Arrived!!!

This picture was taken at 7am Wednesday morning. I was talking to Julie on the phone while she was at home in Texas getting ready to fly to Utah to spend the weekend with me! While talking to her on the phone I am shown here throwing away the single and final link on the countdown paper chain. For anyone wondering, no my garbage pale does not typically sit on top of my desk, it's only there for the picture.

This was what happened when Annaleesa and Jaymee informed me that Julie's plane would be landing in less than an hour! Annaleesa had to bring me a paper bag. It was such a fun and exciting day.
I picked Julie up at the Salt Lake City International Airport at 2:30. We stopped by the office so she could meet the awesome people I work with and so that we could change into our skirts. We then headed straight to the Bountiful Temple to do "Mormon Stuff"! :-) This picture was taken as we left the temple.