Amazing Authors

I love our city library! They work so hard to bring many authors and events to us! Last night Brandon Mull and Lisa McMann came and talked to us about their books. We love Brandon Mull's books in our house, and I am currently working on an author lesson that involves Brandon Mull for a PTA writing program . . . we were so excited to get to go hear him speak!

I especially enjoyed hearing where they got their inspirations and ideas. Lisa McMann's children helped her come up with magical powers for characters in her Unwanteds series. Brandon Mull was at the zoo one day and saw how big the hippo's mouth is. He thought, "You could fit a dude in there!" . . . and now in his Beyonders book the children go through a hippos mouth to get to another world!

I totally forgot to take a picture of the kids. When the authors were done speaking, we stood in line and had Brandon Mull sign our books!

Wolf Teeth

Benjamin has loved being a cub scout and has worked hard on his requirements. Tonight he received his Wolf award and his Gold Arrowpoint!

They gave him some plastic "wolf teeth" to wear. He had to hold his award card with his teeth, even when the Cubmaster tried to pull it out!

putting the Wolf pin on Mom

Congratulations, Benjamin!

The Piano Guys

Our whole family has been enjoying the Piano Guys videos on YouTube lately. So when we heard that they were going to be doing a free concert nearby, we made it a priority to go! Their performance was a part of Spanish Fork's Harvest Festival, so we were able to play some games and do some crafts when we first got there.

I guess everyone else in the valley heard about the concert too, because it was hard to even find a place to sit where you could see the stage! Jon Schmidt (the one on the piano) performed at EFY when I was a teenager, so it is fun for me to see him play live again! He has always been so entertaining, and I am glad that all of the Piano Guys are doing well. We bought a CD while we were there and I am sure I will be listening to it a LOT!

Savoring the Signatures!

My favorite blog, Our Best Bites, just released their second cookbook this week: Savoring the Seasons with Our Best Bites. I have been anxiously waiting for it, and I rushed out to buy it the first day! I got a copy for me, plus a few extras to give as gifts to some of my friends and family who have upcoming birthdays.

Sara and Kate, the masterminds of Our Best Bites, came to Salt Lake for a book signing yesterday. Elizabeth and I took a field trip to the Orson Gygi store just to see them and get our books signed! Luckily, I timed everything just right . . . we got there about 15 minutes before the signing was supposed to start. But Sara and Kate were finishing up a special event with some bloggers, and they were already signing books. Elizabeth and I got in line and only had to wait about 10-15 minutes. In the meantime, they had food samples from their new cook book that we munched on while waiting.

yummy muffins

Kate (wearing black) and Sara (with the pen)

After saying goodbye to Kate and Sara, we wandered the store and found some fun kitchen things! By 11:30 the line was practically out the door -- I'm guessing it was at least an hour long! I'm so glad that I didn't have to entertain Elizabeth in line for that long!

Just Dance!

Elizabeth had her first day of dance class today! She and her best friend Izzy are enrolled in BYU's Creative Dance program. Elizabeth has been SO excited to start dance class!

The parents got to stay and watch, so I was able to take some pictures. She got out there and had a great time! She is so cute!

Rapunzel & Rainbows

Elizabeth and her friend Sadie were playing so cute in the basement earlier this week. Our kids have not played with this screw pattern game in ages, but she and Sadie stayed busy with it for probably 20 minutes straight! And I love that she's wearing her Rapunzel dress-ups!

Today there was a beautiful double rainbow. I wasn't home, but Ryan and the boys enjoyed standing on the porch looking at it for a while.