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I wonder if I still remember how to do this posting thing? It’s been a while! My intention was to be a more regular Duo contributor once school was on hiatus for the summer….but I have a lot of intentions that don’t turn out as planned!
My summer if flying by, and mostly I’m not even aware of it until I catch a glimpse of the calendar and see some landmark date passing or looming.
It is less than two weeks now til the wedding of the year: my beautiful daughter Heather and her love of many years, Heath will make it official one day before my 56th birthday. The wedding will take place in most scenic locale, Long Dog Lavender farm in Emmett Idaho run by the capable farming team of John Ryder and Debi Ryder, who also happens to be my amazing little sister.
A couple of weeks ago, many of us journeyed to Idaho Falls to Jim and Jessica McDonald’s new townhouse for a bridal shower. I love how Jim and Jess have fixed up their place, and I especially love the table Jim made out of many, many different types of wood, including Russian Olive cut on his Dad’s sawmill in Howe. The table is counter height; chairs have been ordered but not yet arrived, but we WERE able to STAND around the table by partake of Jessica’s delicious breakfast waffles.

Jim’s table full of party delicacies

The walls in the living room are decorated with the standard McDonald hunting theme, and I seemed to have, if not a death wish, then at least a ‘severe injury’ wish as I repeatedly nearly missed gouging out an eye or incurring head lacerations on the massive elk antlers conveniently hung at eye level☺

Living Room Decor

UltraDad and I arrived on Friday, the day before the party; our thoughtful kids took us out to eat at Dave’ Famous BBQ, a newly opened sister chain to the one we had so enjoyed a meal at in Nashville. We had a 45 minute wait for a table and the waitress had just taken our order when Jim got a call from Johnny. We knew he was driving in that night also, but had not planned to be in the midst of a restaurant meal when he arrived.
Jessica had gone to a lot of work to make sure Heather’s Bridal Shower was fun and memorable. Party games were ready to go, along with a tiara and apron reading ‘Queen of Everything’ for Heather to wear.

Jessica hard at work in the kitchen

Party games ready to go!

The Queen of Everything! At least for the day. Notice the striking elk antlers apparently growing out of Heather’s shoulders!

The food………how to describe it? It was a wondrous! Chocolate cookies, sprinkled with powdered sugar, nut bread (originally slated to be banana-nut bread before the bananas went bad, yes even too bad for that!), the most wonderful cake/pudding cups with pound cake in the bottom, strawberries, kiwi and blueberries in the middle and whipped cream (NOT Coolwhip), sour cream and white choco pudding on top. We rounded out the refreshments with chips, dip and salsa; and elk salami and cheese. (I made the salami for Jim and he graciously agreed to share it).
The Shower was tons of fun. Heather got lots of cool gifts; Chenoa’s daughters Rowan and Djouli were lots of help decorating everyone and everything (mostly themselves) with tissue paper and ribbons. Pat won the wedding word scramble, though I got just as many right as she did……….after cheating just a tiny bit. Patty won the other two prizes by 1st:giving Heather the best wedding advice “Be each other’s best friend,” and by catching the rest of us saying the forbidden words of ‘bride’, ‘groom’ or ‘wedding.’

Djouli, Jessica and Heather posing with the bridal bouquet that Jessica crafted out of tissue and ribbons

Some of the shower attendees

After the shower, the guys came back, including Patty’s husband Bill, Chenoa’s husband Mike and son Snaider for more food: Jessica’s homemade Chicken Enchiladas.
Another thing accomplished on the trip was getting UltraDad a new bike for his birthday. He has been wanting to get more exercise, and after test driving Johnny’s new Hybrid Carmel, discovered this activity, unlike walking or the Elliptical Machine, did not hurt his feet. We drove to Bill’s Bike Shop, that elusive establishment so often driven past in days of yore as we searched for UltraBob’s Orthodontist (He once told Aunt Joy that he always knew we were almost there when I drove past Bill’s Bike shop for the third time). This was the first time I had been inside, however, and the sheer number and variety of bicycles was astounding. In the end, UltraDad wanted one just like Johnny’s only an ‘extra large’ frame instead of merely a ‘large’ one.  We also purchased a bike rack, so we could haul it home. I am amazed at how much larger it is than my own mountain bike, and also how much lighter! I have quickly discovered that I cannot keep up with this new man/machine combo!

If I used this artistic angle, I could fit both Udad and Bike in their entirety into the picture

The day after the Bridal Shower, Heather came back into Idaho Falls, and she, I and Jessica went shopping. I needed a new dress for Heather’s wedding and I did not want a repeat of Jim’s wedding where I found one I liked only 2 days before! It was a lot of fun, and I felt like the star as the girls brought me armloads of dresses and gave me feedback as I modeled each one. And I was thrilled when I went to buy our selection from the Dress Barn and found out it was on a half price sale!
UltraDad and I spent Sunday night in Pocatello with Heather and Heath. It was a lot of fun, and they fixed us a delicious dinner of steak, seafood wraps and corn on the cob. I was impressed to see Heather give her diabetic cat Callie a shot of insulin like an old pro.
The real hero of the weekend was my sis in law Pat who kept my poodles with her at Chenoa’s house and then hauled them home with her on Sunday. Jim’s appt is strictly no pets and at Heather’s place live 3 cats who are a bit traumatized by 2 small active, yappy, cat chasing dogs. All in all, it was a great family weekend.
Okay, that wasn’t so bad, and I only got sidetracked about 10 times. Maybe I will become an active part of the duo once again!

UltraMom