My daughter and her husband adopted a cute little golden doodle last year and named her Piper. This dog is so very loved! She has brought so much joy into their lives and my daughter couldn’t wait to throw a dog party for Piper and all of her dog park friends.

Not to alarm anybody, but as of today there are only 100 days left in the year! That means if you have certain projects you want to accomplish this year, now is the time to get going on them. It’s also a great time to start your holiday shopping a little early this year as experts are projecting that there will be shortages of many items, including toys.

For me, this is a great reminder to check in on my creative projects and goals and evaluate what I want the rest of the year to look like for me and my family.

Jeff, Alex, and I all went on a RZR riding adventure this past weekend in Marysvale, Utah. I have lived in Utah most of my life and I had never heard or Marysvale or been anywhere around the area. It was so cool to find new and beautiful places right in my own state. We rode on the Paiute Trail, visited Fremont Indian State Park, saw old mining settlements, and the most beautiful scenery. We had picnic lunches on the trails and went on small hikes. We listened to a lot of music and talked to each other over our intercom system headphones. We also enjoyed the company of 3 other couples who we have been friends with for a long time. It was a lot of fun!

The first day of Fall is on September 22nd this year. That also happens to be my daughter’s birthday and she is one of those ladies that lives for Autumn. It is my favorite time of year as well and I love the cozy feeling of slightly cooler weather. I’m lucky to live in a place where we are nearby to many canyons full of trees with changing leaves.

I also like the more settled feeling of Fall. With kids back in school, most people are on more of a regular schedule. Of course, this year isn’t exactly normal or settled in any way - but I guess we can still find ways to appreciate the season. Here are some fun links you might enjoy:

I love to share a variety of tools to make photos special. I’m always looking for new apps and sites that give me great options to make my pictures unique and exciting. I was excited to find Colorcinch (cartoonize.net) and I love that you can access it through a browser (on any computer or smart device). They offer lots of options for free accounts and you can upgrade to an inexpensive monthly or annual plan if you want even more features.

Here are some of the cool things you can do with this site:

I have been spending a lot of time designing lately and I have some fun stuff in the works right now. I will have some new releases next week and also the following week for Digi Scrap Day weekend. This is a good time to remind you to be sure you are signed up for my newsletter because there definitely be free goodies!

I think it’s a great day to share some laughs and smiles here. I think you all know by now that humor is one of my coping mechanisms to get through life. I hope you enjoy these funny little tidbits!

August 2021 was an unusual month (aren’t they all now?) full of tough news in the world and a few fun getaways for our family. We attended the Utah Shakespeare Festival after missing it last year for the pandemic. They required masks for indoor plays and we mostly saw outdoor plays. It still felt odd to be in such large groups.

Jeff, Alex, and I traveled to Hawaii and went to the island of Lana’i. We had an amazing trip there and we felt lucky to squeeze it in right before the Hawaii Governor asked tourists to stop their visits until the end of October. Everyone in Hawaii was really great about wearing masks. and the state of Hawaii has very strict protocols about requiring vaccines. We felt much safer there than we do at home in Utah.

I love to go to museums and other historical sites. I also enjoy any place with a great story. As I have visited many of these places over the years, I have picked up on a really great “cheat” to get great journaling for our scrapbooks and photobooks. Simply take pictures of the signs! Those signs are there to educate and entertain and give us meaningful background on what we are seeing and experiencing. How perfect is that? Instead of trying to remember all the important details, just snap a photo. Then you can include those photos as part of your page to give the photos context.