hello from sunny utah...!

mckenna and i made it and we have been having a blast on our mini girls weekend!
we were up by 5 am on wednesday and at the airport by 6am.

the airplane ride ROCKED!!
we got to go in the cockpit with the pilots and the captain even posed for a picture with mckenna while the co pilot did silly tricks.

smiling ear to ear on the plane...she loved it! and just as we took off the pilot announced her name and that she would be taking her first plane ride!


then when we connected in Arizona, she could not wait to call daddy to tell him all about it!
pst...check out the bag !! LOL!

my baby looks all growed up!!

then we had room service for breakfast...i of course, had oatmeal but mckenna had what was on the rest of the tray including the carafe of hot chocolate.

then down to the make n takes...mckenna was so excited to make "crafts". check us out, we were having a blast! she has the popular techniques down...she inked, tore, stapled, sanded, stamped,  pop-dotted and braded like a champ. do i even have to tell you how proud i am!

then we went for a walk out around provo for lunch and a bit of shopping. Mckenna chose chinese and i chose the stores!

i bought a really ugly mustard 1970's carry-on piece of american tourister luggage for $5 in an antiques shop...so freaking awesome and then on Noralee petersons suggestion we went into a used book store across the street from the hotel called pioneer books...grabbed 2 hardcover book i think i am going to creatively destroy and mckenna, well she bought one of the classics, "Go, Dog, Go!".

when we got back to the room she read the whole thing to me!! she is so dang smart!

so if you haven't figured it out we are having a ball...CKU ROCKS, and it hasn't even officially started!
i will try and keep ya posted.
 

PS...Virginia you rock!! i saw emily, thanks for the awesome box i am excited about the 2 others too!

Comments

[Ginny]

Donna, McKenna does look so grown up and such a photo ham, with that tilt of her head! Glad you liked the "prize"! Hope to get the others to you soon! Have a great time at CKU and be sure to fill up that new piece of luggage with scrap goodies from "scrap heaven" Utah!
Virginia

[Hallie]

very cute!!

[Beth Opel]

Total fun! Donna and 'Kenna doin' the town! So sassy! :)

[Vee]

so darn cute
you gals lok like you are having lots of fun!!
i am glad you all made it there safely.
:)
mckenna is such a cutie pie.

[Lee]

Oh Donna she looks so darn cute!!! What an awesome adventure for you both.

[cindy]

OMG!! How cute are you two?!!! Looks like you both are ROCKIN' in Utah!!! ROCK ON MCKENNA!!!

[Dawn]

Donna, you are SO lucky! What a great travel companion! And you two are having the best time, I am so jealous...can I be your daughter?! (don't worry, we won't talk about the age difference *grin*) McKenna, you are too stinkin' cute!

[ElizabethW]

You all are too adorable...I think I need to have a daughter! Have a great time together.

[Michele]

How sweet! :) Looks like the two of your are going to have a great weekend in Utah. And man, she does look all grown-up!

[Jennifer Haywood]

Hi Donna,
I met you at the Saint Louis Convetion(the Target girl with the Paisley Headband) Remember now? I hope you are loveing Utah. That is my home town. Born and raised. I saw that you were with Heidi Swapp. We just figured out that we know eachother. We grew up in the same nighborhood.She used to be Heidi Kasteller. how cool is that ? Have fun. IF you want to know some fun places to go then you can e-mail me and I will write back and tell you. Have fun!jennifer Haywood

[Jeanette]

You just described the ideal mother-daughter weekend. I'm sure your daughter will cherish these moments for many years to come. I hope you two have a blast!!!

[Ali]

This could be my most FAVORITE post ever - bummed I am missing you guys!

[cathy]

WAY too cute. Love seeing this, D.

Give Mckenna my love!
: )

[Deanna]

I think this is my favorite post of yours now too... she is just most adorable Donna. What a cool momma you are! I love that bag. She def. would be stylin at school. hee hee! Tell McKenna I said it is sooo cool that she is flying. (tee hee) I didn't get to fly for the first time until I was at least 13. : )
My Dh is a pilot too. What fun for her to get to see all the cool stuff up front! I see 'the controls' all the time, and it never ceases to amaze me.
I hope you have an incredible weekend!!

[Jolene George]

So glad you two are enjoying your mother daughter time in Utah. It's so beautiful there. So cool that she knows how to do all the fun stuff. She know how to make her momma proud. :o) http://jolenegeorge.blogspot.com/

[Tina]

Hope you enjoyed your time with mckenna!
your such a rocking mom :)
have fun!

[brenda - mizweb]

This post is too cute! My dd is 3 1/2 and she loves to scrapbook...especially with me. She actually does full-on 8x8 pages, it's so neat to see what she comes up with. I hope the trend continues b/c it seems like it will be awesome Mommy/daughter bonding time. I'm attending CKU-A SJ (my first CKU!)...she knows I'm going to a "special scrapbooking conference" with my SIL and I told her I would keep my eye out for supplies to get for her. She said "that would be cool"! Kids are so great! Have fun with McKenna!!! Can't wait to read your next post!

[Debbie Musick]

Oh Donna, you are making such memories for McKenna. (& her for you!) Enjoy each other and please show more photos. You are both adorable!

[Lori]

Mckenna Downey rocks!!!!!!!!

[rellyannettbaker]

Bless her! First plane ride, how cool is that. Wish I was that brave on a plane!

[Mom2Nick]

Donna,

You look like you are having a blast, and no better person to share the experience of CKU with - your daughter.

Looking forward to seeing additional emails from CKU.

You ROCK!

[deb munn]

You two look like you are having the best time! That rocks!! Enjoy!!
~deb~

[Lynne Hardy]

Sounds like y'all are having a blast. Thanks for sharing the pics and journaling. Have fun!

[Hillary Chybinski]

Hey Donna and McKenna - you girls look like you are having a BLAST!!!! Donna I hope you'll bring McKenna to PA sometime - I have a 5 YO boy for her to hang out with - he's can be crafty when he's in the mood. lol

Have fun - stay safe!
Hillary

[scrapfreak1]

rock on ladies... donna better watch out mckenna might be taking over your tour of creative duty...LOL.. have a fab time.. thanks for keeping us informed of your where abouts

[Lauri]

So much fun, I'm so jealous want to be right there with you.

[vicki]

Wow-- those photos tell a great story of a perfect mother daughter weekend!! something you both will cherish for years to come.

[Lisa Damrosch]

so dang cute...and are those crocs she is sporting with her bag??? Looks like you two are having a BALL!

[Jessica K.]

ohhhhhhh, I can't wait until my girls are older. That sounds like such good mommy time!

[Angela]

Aw! I'm so darned excited for you both and I don't even know you. LOL Looks like an incredible mother-daughter time! Enjoy! :)

[Erica]

That is such an awesome thing to take a daughter too!! You guys look like your having a blast!

[Jacqui]

So nice to see you two having such a great time. So nice to spend some quality time one on one with a special daughter. I love doing that too. Looking forward to hearing more about your trip.

[Lori]

You are making memories! Very special mommy/daughter time - she'll never forget it!!

[Wanda E. Santiago]

Glad you guys are having fun!! Hugs Wanda

[Cheryl Wray]

Donna--I always get a kick out of seeing layouts of your daughters in different magazines, because I think my 14-year-old might have been the "original" McKenna. We're now starting to see her name around more often, but didn't for a long time. I love her name SO much and I kinda hate that more people are taking it over. But I love seeing your McKenna in the mags. And they DO grow up too fast; it's hard to believe that my McKenna is headig into high school. Seemed like it was just yesterday that she was your little one's age!

[Lisa Cohen]

Love all the pics!! McKenna DOES looks all grown up with her bag and the cell! Have a GREAT time!

And I love the project for this week of TBP class! Love getting a message from you every Thursday!

[Angelique]

You two look so cute in that last photo! Hope you have a great time in Utah! I can not believe you are only 30 minutes away from me- bummer I could not make it to CKU. The sign out in front of AMM is just teasing me daily! "Welcome CKU".

[Candy]

Hey, I have the rest of that set of luggage---it was my high school graduation present in 1976!!!! LOL!!! I finally got some luggage with wheels--you can have the old stuff!!! Your daughter is a doll---so great to share that one-on-one time with her--she will always remember that.

[Kip]

This is so cool that you two are sharing this and it'll be something she'll remember for the rest of her life.

Kip

[Beth Z]

Girlie, now my daughter thinks she should come to the next CKU. Maybe. I bet the next time you guys come to Minneapolis she'll be 12 or so.

It truly looks like you guys are having a grand time!

[scrappinhero]

So glad you are having a GREAT timer in our BEAUTIFULLY HOT state!!!Ok just so ya know it's not usually this hot in the SPRING!!! I am headed ur way today to hit some of the sales!! Meetin up with some gals at CKU for some lunch...hopefully I will see ya!!!

McKenna is so sweet!! Love that bag!!! Have fun the rest of the visit!!

hugs...Jer

[monica in raleigh]

adorable photos ! looks like she had a great time ! chinese - a gal after my own heart!

[Michelle]

Ok...this is such a wonderful post! Your girl is fantastic! SHE rocks! How cool to have these memories and to want her to document them in her way! :)

[Holly]

oh my goodness, you two are adorable!