President's Dinner

With David Marmel

Christina Ryan
With Elaine Marmel
Diane Tucker & Marney Duckworth

Tonight was a wonderful dinner buffet in David Marmel's Suite. He is the Founder & President of Mrs. America. It was a formal event, which is always so fun! We all recieved Vera Bradley tote bags with our name on. Mrs. World and Mrs. America were both there - - beautiful women!

Get it Straight!!!

With my Scavenger Hunt Gals

In the pool, fully clothed - - for a 2nd time!

I thought this was good enough!

Beautiful Orchids from my sweet husband

Mrs. Arkansas & I in our "RIVAL" clothes.

Her team's coach (Houston Nutt) used to coach the Broncos.

Mrs. Wyoming & I enjoy a little tennis!

I just want to clarify that none of the news reporters have checked their facts very well. I am not an RN, I did not pull a snake fang from Mrs. Tennessee's foot and I did not suck the venom out. Yes, I was there and yes I did take lots of pictures (what can you expect from a scrapbooker) but that is it. I have posted pictures of the snake on my blog, but the pictures of Christina are not going to be posted by me. I took them for her and she will decide what to do with them. Just goes to show you that what you see and hear from the media is often very wrong.

On a lighter note - - I am having a wonderful time at Mrs. America. What an experience! This morning we had golf & tennis challenges. Again, I stunk, but had a great time driving the golf cart around! As a tribute to my favorite college football team (BSU Broncos) I dressed in the Blue & Orange! I might have missed the home opener last night, but they were close to my heart today! Congrats on a "Blowout" game!

We also had a scavenger hunt. Again, I did not win the challenge, but had a blast anyway. I was lucky enough to get to be the one to go in the pool with all of my clothes on! I did it quickly, ran out and continued on with the hunt. When we were almost done we realized that I had to be in all the way to my neck - - so back in I went! We had a ton of fun!

Cowgirl Up!!!

Today we went horseback riding - - awesome! The view was breathtaking! My horse was named "BUCK" (there you go Brandon!!!) and he was so good. There was a real cowboy breakfast waiting for us after about an hour trail ride and then we rode back to the ranch. Once there we tried our luck at team pinning and horsehoes - - not so great at either one! The most eventful thing for me was having my horse slam me into a cactus. My leg is swollen and turning black! I have been icing it and hoping that it doesn't get any worse. It doesn't really hurt anymore but I have a very ugly leg for swimsuit competition - - lots of makeup!

The Arizona Daily Star interviewed me today also. They were mostly interested in how I am handling the schedule (fine!), the fact that I have the most children (5) and what I am loving about being here (no laundry)

Having a great time! Thanks to everyone for their love and support!

Mexico

Making my own tortilla!

Didn't look quite as good as the professionals, but it tasted wonderful!

This felt like home! When we are with Marc's family we love the music!!!

We spent the entire day in Mexico! So fun!!! Right after we crossed the border, (1 1/2 hour drive) the bus stopped and we were greeted by the paparazzi! There were so many news reporters and camera crews - - it was crazy! We were met by dignatarie of Nogales, Sonora who took us on a short walking tour of their city and then to a restaurant for drinks, nachos and chimichungas. We also got to have a few minutes of shopping - - not nearly enough time!!! After that we boarded the bus again and headed way out of town to a ranch. Once we turned off the pavement, we had to take a very narrow and very rough road. It took 40 minutes to travel 6.5 miles. It was worse than any roller coaster I have ever been on! The ranch was gorgeous and we were able to make homemade tortillas, paint ostrich eggs and make cheese. They had a wonderful buffet lunch and of course the Marichi's!!! It was such a fun time! The ride back was almost uneventful until they had to inspect our bus at the border. Everyone had to get off and sit in a little holding area for 30 minutes. We passed with flying colors and were back on the road!

More Pictures

Flowers, cards and treats! Thank you everybody!

A tour of the Pastry Kitchen here at the resort - - unbelievable food!

Mrs. Utah & I at dinner

Hello everybody!!! Things here in Tucson are still awesome! This is such a fun experience. Again, thanks to everyone who is sending flowers and cards and treats - - it really helps!

Yesterday we had a great dinner at a fun restaraunt in Tucson. They are big on wine and served a different type with each of the 4 courses. Obviously that did not affect me, but I think most of the ladies really enjoyed themselves. The dinner was delicious and the brownie/caramel/ice cream dessert was so good! (what swimsuit competition?!!!)

Baby Challenge

Well, the mother of five cannot change a diaper! I did horrible in the challenge - - but it was fun! The babies started with a disposable diaper loaded with pooh! It was gross and smelly! Then we had to clean it off without wipes and re-diaper it with a cloth diaper and pins. Mrs. District of Columbia was the champion and she has no children - - way to go Susan!

Western Day

Today was Western Day!!! We had breakfast at 6:45 am and then headed off to the Arizona Sonora Museum. We were able to tour part it and it was absolutely beautiful. There were wolves, black bears, mountain lions, deer and more. Some of the girls did photo shoots and the rest of us hung out in the gift shop while we waited. (It was so cool in there!)

After the Museum we headed to Old Tucson for lunch and tons more fun! There was a western shoot out, the can-can, and line dancing. It was a really neat place. We were there for about 4 hours before heading back to the hotel for dinner and then rehearsal from 7-10. Whew!!!