'Tis the season for roasting in the sun . . . wait, I mean, going to Scottish Festivals :)
Saturday, July 9th was the Payson Scottish Festival. (It is held annually the second weekend in July at the Memorial Park in Payson on Main Street - for those who would like to go next year or are upset that they missed this year :) )
I awoke at 4am to the sounds of Cinco retching (you're welcome for that tid-bit of information). The poor kitty threw up in our bedroom, and I went back to sleep until 6:10am when I got up to take care of the cat sick, feed the animals, and get ready for the day.
The Payson Scottish Festival always begins with a mini parade to the park, so I dropped Matt off at 8am and headed back to Smith's for chips. Apparently the band was doing lunch this time, and it was potluck. Then it was back to the park to find parking. I ended up just around the block from where the bands were supposed to set up this year. Then I walked over to the band field and watched some solos. Our dear friend (and Matt's old Pipe Major from the James J. Coyne Memorial Pipe Band in Claremont, California), Seumas Coyne, was one of judges. Seumas and I chatted a bit, and I got me a Seumas kiss :) I also got to chat with Jenny and Lynette.
Funny story - to me anyway - Lynette came over while I was talking to Seumas, and Seumas found out that Lynette was my first pipe teacher. He was acting all upset about never knowing this information before. lol Of course, then Lynette had to point out I'm no longer piping, so I threw her under the bus too ;) Ah, good times.
I headed back to the piping tent with Lynette and then chatted with Larry (my dad's cousin and 'keeper of the time') then talked for a long while with Ed Best - our other friend who was judging drumming that day.
I ignored the parade, but I did find a spot to watch opening massed bands, which took place on the street this year (apparently it's too much effort to fight the athletics people for use of their field). I've never been directly in front of the massed bands so closely before - holy crap it's loud! Still, it was pretty awesome and didn't last too long. I also chatted with a former bandmate, Kathryn, during massed bands. Are you starting to see the butterfly coming out yet? :D
White Peaks at massed bands
After massed bands, I headed over to the band tent area to find Matt. He told me if I went with him to the restrooms, he would help me get the rest of the stuff out of the car, so I did :) Guess who we ran into afterward? That's right, Seumas lol.
Let me make a note of the fact that piping solos were already behind schedule before the parade even started..... Then we talked to Seumas for like 20 or 30 minutes :) This put them further behind, so I'm told ;) Wasn't our fault, though. Seumas likes to talk.
Apparently pipe bands in the L.A. area are struggling and it is no bueno. Seumas also told Matt he should come back out and play with JJC. Unfortunately, Matt is currently unemployed (Oh yeah, I haven't mentioned that, have I? Matt was laid off almost a month ago now. So if you want to hire him, or know of someone who'd like to hire him, let us know!) so we can't really afford for him to go out to Cali once or twice a month. Then Seumas says, "If I paid for your flight, would you come?" Heck yes, he would! Unfortunately, we didn't get to chat with Seumas after the games like he asked, so who knows if this will happen. But it would be awesome!
Anyway, after that, we unloaded the car and headed over to the other side of the park for Matt to warm up for his solo. While he was warming up, I met up with my aunt Chris and some of her grandkids. Then I wandered over to where my family usually is and found my aunt Karen and uncle Steven. I mostly didn't hang out with Matt or my band friends, instead, I stuck with my family. It was good times :) It was also useful because I could drop my bag off there and then wander the park with just my purse - much more comfortable :)
Here's Matt's MSR - he placed third.
Around noon, we were under the impression the band was going to have lunch, so we wandered back that way. Shawn and I chatted, and we also ran into Heather and Tom, so we talked with them a bit. I had so much fun catching up with so many people throughout the day! We quickly discovered that lunch wasn't really going to be at noon. Then I discovered lunch was going to be hot dogs (not so much a fan), and at that same time, my aunt Caleen had just come back with pizza and crazy bread. mmmm crazy bread, so I went over and had lunch with the fam.
I rather enjoyed being on my own for the festival. At Thanksgiving Point, I had fully intended perusing the shops and listening to the Tinkers, but mostly I sat in the band tent and read. At Payson, I brought books to read, but I didn't once pull them out :)
I did browse the shops. Lots. I ran into Koreen and Kari in one, and Koreen offered to buy me some earrings. Yay for nice aunts! I got two pairs of awesome earrings :)
That's pretty much what I did all day, wander around and then chat with random friends I ran into :) If I wasn't doing that, I was hanging out talking to family :) During solos, my old dance teacher, April, was helping steward, so I was over chatting with her. :) She also used to play snare in White Peaks, but not when I was in the band. I also chatted with a lady from my parents' ward, and I talked to Aaron and his dad during the band competition. So much fun being a social butterfly!
White Peaks Quick March Medley
White Peaks Timed Medley
So I was also super excited because Damsel in this Dress was at the Payson Scottish Festival this year!!! My lovely cousin Natalie sews for this company and introduced me to it. Michelle, the owner, is so funny. You should all go read the company blog. I love her!
Unfortunately, my dear Natalie was in Park City for a girls night with all of her sisters. Okay, unfortunate for me. She had a lovely time seeing all of her sisters :) However, she and Dave and their kiddos made it down just before closing massed bands, so we chatted and watched closing, and then went over to the booth, where Natalie introduced me to Michelle, and where we played dress up :D If only we had money (or Matt at least had a job....) I would love to one day own one of Michelle's corsets. They're so amazing!
First one - a simple underbust. Matt was not responding though, so I had Natalie unlace me while I found him, then we loaded the car, and went back to talk to Dave and Natalie, where she put me in this:
Collared this time :) This second time, April was in there playing dress up too :)
Yes, that is the lovely Michelle behind me :)
We had (well, I had) a grand time at the Scottish Festival this year. I can't really speak for Matt as I didn't see him most of the day :)
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We were married on August 11, 2007 in the Manti, Utah LDS temple. We currently live in Lima, Peru. Our little ones are our cats Cinco and Munchkin, and dog Mocha, who are being fostered back home in Utah. We welcomed the first HUMAN member of our family on November 4, 2012, our little girl, Henlie. Our second tiny human, Andrew, joined us March 15, 2015.
