All in one day

Saturday was a cool day, because of fun happenings and reconnecting with cool people. Here's the play-by-play:

* My "twin," Amy, was here over the weekend for her sister's wedding, so we had her 5 kids over to play during the temple ceremony. Our kids only just met each other this past summer and were instant friends. They were all ecstatic to see their "cousins" again and played everything from computer games to hide-and-go-seek all over the house. It's been cool for me to get to know Amy's kids and see her personality in them. We haven't lived near each other since college but we keep in close contact so I've heard all about them over the years (and vice versa).

* Mike took Christian to the UofU basketball game in the afternoon, and unfortunately had to leave about 5 minutes before the game ended. They missed the Ute's last second shot, over the back of the rim, to win the game. They missed it for a good reason, though, because ...

* Our niece/cousin Sydney was baptized. What a great family! Ali said the prayer, Maddie gave an amazing talk, and big brother Spencer baptized her. Seeing him there with Syd in the font was moving. The girls sang a beautiful one-of-a-kind arrangement (if you know Erin, you'll understand) which totally made me cry. Just a great, spiritual experience. Then we joined the extended Blakes and most of the Farleys at the house to catch up with everyone. We love the Blakes.

* From there, Mike and I joined 3 other couples at Rob & Meggan's for Rob's birthday dinner. (Mike and Rob share their passion for all things UofU, which has made for some fun times over the years.) Meggan is a great cook so we had amazing food ... from baked brie and stuffed mushrooms for appetizers to melt-in-your-mouth chicken, pasta and cheesy cauliflower. And warm bread from Granato's. Heavenly, truly. We had an interesting discussion over dinner about guns (let's just say I had no idea how many people are packing heat on a daily basis) and now we're planning a trip to the shooting range. I want to shoot up a paper silhouette like an FBI agent in training, ya know? (Mike just laughs at me.) We had to leave the birthday festivities before Rock Band began, unfortunately, but we were headed for more good times at ....

* The wedding reception of Amy's sister, Lisa, and her new hubby, Lee. Very cool couple -- hip, artsy, funny, clever ... Lisa wore a t-length Audrey Hepburn-style dress and looked so great. Their reception was in a funky building downtown and had a very cool feature ... a photo booth. It was the hit of the night. Everyone had their pictures taken and 2 photo strips were printed -- one to keep and one to paste in a book where you could write a note to the couple. (I fully plan to rent that photo booth for a party or something someday - seriously!) We spent the rest of the evening talking to Amy & Brad and her family. Good times!

Great day.