-Little Mermaid-

With the history my family has with Tuacahn you can imagine my surprise when my roommate Katherine has told me she has never been there! She has lived in cedar for 3 years and never even ventured out to the free concerts they put on down there. So, with that said, I made a call to Cassidy to see what connections he had to get us some tickets so that we could get Kat to a show at Tuacahn. He worked his magic and got 5 tickets so that all four of us roommates could go to the show together and of course him too! We planned about a month in advance and it just so happened to be the day before Kats birthday (perfect timeing yes?!). We chose the show the Little Mermaid it had the best reviews and had been sold out practically every night.

We made it down to STG in time to go to dinner at the Olive Garden and then head out to the venue. We were right on time and had pretty awesome seats!

It was a great roommate experience, hopefully a great first time Tuacahn experience for Kat and a great reminder of the wonderful weather STG has!

ROdEos!!

Saturday Kat and I drove out to Parowan to support the boys in their ranch rodeo! This whole day event consisted of team sorting, team branding, team roping, trailering, and a donkey watermelon race! It was a long warm day with the fair right there close. We cheered and visited and roped the dummy and even left with sunburns :)

Greg and Seth and Jake in the team branding event!

Seth and I at the Iron County Rodeo Saturday night

Latest Happenings

I left out e-town rodeo on my last post... so there it is, the only photo we took because neither of us wanted to carry around the camera, but dang do we look good :) There was no time for photo op's anyways once we got in chatting with friends. Enterprise is always fun for me, although a bit slower rodeo and small town its great to cheer for people you know and run into long lost friends. Never a dull moment if your paying attention to the arena where a cowboy just got slammed in the fence or behind the parked trailers where a horse is loose or a fight is about to bust loose!

Happy birthday to me- happy birthday to me! Leslie had a great idea to go down to a concert in Vegas called country fest: Dierks Bentley Craig Campbell and Randy Houser!!! It just so happened that Seth and Jeremy were to get off working Friday, so Leslie and I took the shuttle down to vegas and Jeremy picked us up from the airport. I was super lucky and Seth got off work all day! So we made a few shopping trips ate lunch at the mall. We had really extra time so we found ourselves at the movie Cowboys and Aliens. The only problem with the whole day was that I of course got sick. I tried to be a good sport but lets be honest, I was no fun what-so-ever. Good thing Seth was a good sport and had a good time with Jer and Leslie. One of our shopping stops was the Boot Barn where Seth got us these matching t-shirts, we were high styling for sure :)

A blog post wouldn't be complete without a Kat and Sammi photo- this one is when we where on our way to the college dance :)

Kat and I got temporary tattoos at the Enterprise cornfest! Dont tell Jan, but I used the money she gave me for a lemonade, wont she be proud :) We had a great time, well at least I think Kat had a good time hanging out at Uncle Jacks house with my cousins and the crazies that come to buy corn and produce. We hit up the yard sales, cruised main street, got snow cones and ate some yummy corn on the cob!!

August was a great birthday month even as depressing as it is to turn 23!

Gum Grafting

I know, I know, I am weird, but I like photos, so that all of you know what the crap I just went through! Just FYI- dont google gum grafting because it will make you sick, literally, some of the photos on there are uh, a little to drastic for my taste. ANYWAYS: Today I had a minor surgery called gum grafting. One of my front teeth looked kinda like that 'before' photo, and now after my surgery today it looks more like the 'after' photo' :)

The procedure sounds nastier than it really was, but I am still on drugs they gave me, so dont take my word for it :) They take a piece of gum from the roof of your mouth (the only place gum regenerates) and sew it on where you teeth/roots need protecting, where the gum had receded. Basic, easy, 45 minuets your finished and driving your self home from the periodontist (who is a gum specialist)..... Unless your Samantha Dawn.... then your are freaking out, shakin in your boots for two weeks, knowing that this dentist is going to be cutting the roof of your mouth and sewing on your gums that aren't really even there and they wont even put you out for the procedure because "there will be some bleeding so we like to have you coherent" yes, I did freak out a little, but dont worry I tried to not to let it show :) I just made my mother drive me there because I figured if I was alone, I just might keep drivin on pass and "accidentally" forget my appointment :) No worries, I am 22 and had my mom take me an wait for me, no one knew I was a bit worried! haha

Well, just add it to my list. There it is finished and completed! I survived to tell the tale!

Mountain Times

We have had some fun times already on the mountain this year! Not quite as many as the rest of the family but, Kat and I and we even got Seth up there have enjoyed the cool mountain air a few times this summer. We have raced to Navajo rock, rode the wheelers, saw the Kolob arch after looking for a LONG time, some of us longer than others :) and even helped Jeremy roll up some old fence. Oh, cant forget about papa's birthday we spent up there, and all the yummy dutch oven food we have had while on the mountain as well.

There is nothing better than spending family time at the cabin, even if it does involve a little work! Cattle drive is next week so I am sure there will be at least ONE good story to share about getting the cows to the mountain!

- 4th of JULY weekend-

The 4th weekend was PACKED full of fun things- who would have thunk it. We sit around Cedar draggin main or twiddling our thumbs just waiting for someone to come along to do something, ANYTHING with. Well, let me be the one to say, this was a successful weekend for sure. Kat and I were just pumped for the Gunlock rodeo Friday and Saturday night. Then we even got all day Saturday to spend in STG shopping and swimming. Well, not technically all day because we did kind of sleep in because we had a little bit of a late night at Gunlock the night before :) We met some new people had some good laughs with people we already new and enjoyed it all!

After yet another late night at Gunlock Saturday night we decided to drive back to Cedar, it was really hard for us pull out of Gunlock because we felt like we might just miss something with all the excitment of bucking the donkeys out. We had some great laughs at the few who dared round up the donkeys for another go around after hours. There arent many who know of the rodeo after the rodeo :) Sunday after sleeping in our good share brought a great treat. Seth and Colby invited us to Quail lake with them for a little fishing and swimming! We should have known better than to have gone on Sunday because we had a little boat trubble, but still a great time for sure! First time I have been on a boat on Quail lake and I am from STG (how embarassing!). We had good laughs, great talks, and a WONDERFUL time. The fun however did not stop there, Seth hosted a ropin and made cobbler at his house. We got a few more friends to head over to enjoy the great weather and we roped clear after dark. Its always a great time when you get to spend it with the ones you care about- these friends of mine here in Cedar are sure proving their greatness. I am thankful we could all have such a wonderful weekend and look back and enjoy the new memories together!

Thanks Gunlock for yet another year of laughs, embarassment, and cute cowboys!

Thanks STG for warm weather, my nephews/family, a cool swimming pool and good durangos food!

Thanks Seth and Colby for a great trip the lake, for jumping in with me, and for not drowning me! :)

Thanks Troops for fighting for my freedoom, for your scarafice of good times and family time so I can have many more laughs and embarassing ones of my own!

The *JUNE* bug

June kicked off with a more sad but makes you want to stand a little prouder event. The 4th three of my new friends Casey, Brett and Cabe left with the 222 for a year deployment.

Kat was lucky enough to be working on the field helping load bags to get to take some great shots of them. It was a pretty rough day for some (not only because of the party the night before :) but because for once it finally hit home. These are young men we know and love that are going off to war not just strangers fighting for my freedom.

This photo is epic and just makes me smile. Makes me not only proud to know these men but grateful for their willingness and desire to fight for my freedom!

Sunday drives or just daily drives have become a little custom of my roommates and myself. The 5th we took one all the way up to the top of Kanarraville mtn.

This is look out point (yes, of course we self timed it!) it overlooks Kolob- prettiest place on earth. (not debatable)

On our drive up there we passed this big ol' rock in the road, its pretty steep and we already came close to dyeing once by pulling over so a car could pass us. Mean while not thinking of getting starting up this steep slippery road again we rolled back and spin out just a LITTLE. We let Laura try to move it out of the road on the way down... no such luck, it was bigger than she thought. But points for her effort and her bare feet! :)

-Not a complete blog post without a car photo shoot photo-

We were on our way to the Elks lodge for a benifit dinner for little girl with cancer. It ended up being a great turn out and people spent lots of money, probably because they were intoxicated, or cause it was a great cause :)

Kat and Seth during the drawing, Brady spent like $50 on tickets and won like $250 dollars worth of prizes, he had some good luck going on. Laura even won a bath set- everyone walked away winners! Mainly the community came together had a great time together raising money to help out the little angel.

Me-Kat-Hailey at the Lehi Rodeo 25th

Oh boy or should I say COWBOYS. Hailey didnt believe that their was going to be some cute cowboys at the rodeo. But did we make a believer out of her!

We had tons of fun, ran into a few people I knew, wish I got to know some of the others that were there :) Had fun cruising around town singing and trying to pick up on men. All we got were little boys, yes teenagers....we are still wondering where the 21+ men are all gone too! If there are even any left that are not married that is :)

Katie Duncans Farewell!!!

Jennie-Kat-Sam-Kaite

Our good friend Katie will serve her time (kidding) the Lord in Honduras!! How perfect for her- She will be the best missionary ever and love serving the people of Honduras. Best of luck to her and her new chapter in life!

Yay for mini reunions- yay for Jennie- Yay for a AWESOME weekend up in Utah County. Yay for rodeos- Yay for road trips- most importantly YAY FOR GOOD FRIENDS!!!

It seams as the weeks go by slow slow slow, but then next thing I know its already July. I am thankful summertime is FINALLY here so I can work on that suntan I so desperately need. I am thankful for the good times I have and the good friends I have here in Cedar. As I scratch at a bug bite on my leg, lets just remember one thing...... two more months of summer time!!!!