Never A Dull Moment: I Got A Little Buzzed

My old friend, the little yellow plane is back. It used to buzz my house repeatedly last summer. Well, it ain't summer yet, but apparently the buzz is on. Let me tell ya. It's all good. I don't mind you flying your little plane over my house. But could you be a little more considerate about it? I mean really. How many times do you honestly think you can do it before it starts to really get annoying? A-N-N-O-Y-I-N-G!

I took the first 2 pictures from my deck AN HOUR into the ordeal. An hour. (is it an hour or a hour? someone who is smarter than I, please answer) I'm not kidding. This plane flew right over the top of my house repeatedly for an hour. I finally got my flip camera out and went up on the deck to make a video of it so you can see and hear how annoying it is. But I got up there and turned it on and the batteries were dead. DANG BATTERIES! That time it was close enough, if I had been on the roof, I could have jumped up and touched it. I ran downstairs and got my regularite camera and took the two pictures. He wasn't as close that time. And you know what? He stopped flying over. I was all proud of myself, thinkin' "Mmmm, hmmm! *snap* I showed him. He's gonna fly over my house like that and I'm gonna get it on camera!" I was so proud of myself for almost a whole hour thinking I had scared him away. Until he CAME BACK! I was downstairs in Steve's office making some business calls for him so I couldn't run out and take more pictures, but I did snap these from the window of the office.

In honor of the return of my little yellow plane friend, I have added a new label to my blog posts. It is titled, "Never a Dull Moment". Because out here, on my little street in the middle of nowhere, there truly never is a dull moment, and I LOVE it!

So little yellow plane man...as irritated as I was at you, thanks for making life so exciting out here...

Anne Frank: A History For Today

"Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it." -Philosopher George Santayana

My kids think I'm totally awesome because I picked them up from school an hour early yesterday and we boarded the train for downtown. Our destination? The Main Library in Salt Lake City for the last day of the Anne Frank exhibit. While we were at the exhibit, there were news crews interviewing this lady and filming her as she went through the exhibit. I couldn't hear everything but from what I gathered, I believe she is a Holocaust survivor.

Riding the elevator up to the rooftop garden.

We had a little snack while on the roof and poor Addy was being circled by 3 seagulls trying to get her snack. They got pretty close to her several times. I guess they figured out of the 5 of us, she was the easiest target.





I took Hebrew in high school and really developed a love for the Jewish people and their culture and traditions. I have read Anne Frank's Diary. I have studied the Holocaust and done several research papers, both in high school and in college on the Holocaust. It was important for me to take my children to this exhibit and exposed them to this history. I am planning on reading the Diary of Anne Frank to them over the summer.

There are several things that really stuck out to me when we were there yesterday and I want to share them here.

This picture is in part of the display. It says:

"Presidential elections, March 1932. Berliners look at the NSDAP election poster which reads: 'Hitler our last hope'. Support for the party is increasing."

In the paper they gave us as we entered the exhibit there is an article that talks about Hitler's rise to power. Under a part titled, "The Stage Is Set" it reads:

...It's leader, a man named Adolf Hitler, promised to bring political stability, work for millions and greatness to Germany once again. But Hitler also offered something more. He offered a scapegoat. For years, many Germans had been looking for someone to blame for their country's problems. In Hitler's mind, the main culprits were the Jews. As the Nazi leader, Hitler proved to be a skilled politician and vibrant speaker. Although many people feared Hitler would become a dictator, there was no one else with enough power to lead Germany through the hard times.

There is also a part in the paper that says:

On March 28, 1944, a radio broad cast form the Dutch government-in-exile in London urged the Dutch people to keep diaries, letters and other items that would document life under German occupation:

"History cannot be written on the basis of official decisions and documents alone. If our descendants are to understand fully what we as a nation have had to endure and overcome during these years, then what we really need are ordinary documents-a diary, letters from a worker in Germany, a collection of sermons given by a parson or priest. Not until we succeed in bringing together vast quantities of these simple, everyday material will the picture of our struggle for freedom be painted in its full depth and glory."

Prompted by this announcement, Anne began to edit her diary, hoping to publish it after the war under the title, "The Secret Annex".

And lastly I want to share a quote from you that was in a movie we watched as part of the exhibit. It is from Anne's diary and she is describing her time in hiding:

"...a time when the ideals are being shattered and destroyed, when the worst side of human nature predominates, when every one has come to doubt truth, justice and God."

Monday Morning Musings - I'm The Map!

Note to Self: If you are taking last nights leftover pasta salad as your side dish to a BBQ, make sure and tell your children not to announce to everyone at the BBQ that that is last nights leftover pasta salad.

I thought some of you kinder hearted people might want a kitten update. Remember our little kitten situation? Well, the three kittens that the mother took back are all grown up and roaming the fields behind our house. Who would have thunk it?

Whenever I need a little reassurance, Addy never obliges. When I ask her who her favorite mom is she either answers, "Emily", "Aunt Lauren" or "Grandma". The other day I asked her and she said, "Dad". I told her that he could be her favorite dad, but he could not be her favorite mom, I was her favorite mom. She didn't believe me. She was pretty sure he was her favorite. Ahhh, she's only 3, what does she know?

We have been watching this show on the History Channel, called America: The Story of Us, with our kids. It is a really good series and I am amazed at my kids because they will sit there and watch it. Even Addy. Watching that show makes me very grateful for those who came before me and suffered so much hardship and in many instances gave their lives to make this country what it is today. I think it is a good lesson for my children as well as myself. It gives you a greater appreciation for the freedoms we enjoy. It also reminds me how important it is that we protect those freedoms that we have taken for granted that came as a result of such great sacrifice. You can watch full episodes online by clicking on the name of the show.

Addy has this thing where she has to give everyone a map before they leave the house. (You know. Dora. The map.) Anywhoo, she absolutely flips out if someone leaves before she gets a chance to put a map in their pocket. It can be quite irritating when the kids are trying to hurry out the door to school because their ride is waiting.

I have this major cilantro addiction. I seriously get weak in the knees when I smell cilantro. Weak. In. The. Knees. Seriously. I don't know why I'm so weird. I've been told it runs in the family.

Flashback Friday - Texas Roses

Kristy, Allyson, Farrah

These picture were taken at the Dallas East Stake Rose Prom in 1994

Kristy, Coren, Brooke, Allyson, Erin

How Random Is That?

Uncle Sam buying goods

A few weeks ago the girls begged me to let them have a lemonade stand. That is my least favorite thing as a mother. A stand for which to sell things. Usually I say NO! Because I'm mean like that. But my neighbor, who is not with my mean mother program let her daughter have one. Thanks Lori. So after much begging and pleading I finally caved. I let them open up a stand selling pickles and popcorn (we already had a lemonade stand across the street). They had so much fun doing it and it made me feel bad for saying no so many times before. But I have since then regained my senses and will more than likely say no in the future. But I have to talk some sense into my neighbor first....

One day I told Addy to go and get dressed. This is how she did it. With her pants on her head and her shirt on her legs. She thought she was so funny. And she was.

We had a little Girls Night at my neighbors last month where we made jewelry. See her in the white. She is the way too nice mom who lets her daughter have a lemonade stand whenever she wants to, while my poor daughters have to suffer with their mean mom, the disgusting looking one in the black. I just want you to know, it takes a lot of guts to post a picture like this of your self.

We had a surprise visitor from Dallas a few weeks ago. Brian Honea was in town and came by for a visit.

Aubrey, Allyson, Brian, Lauren, Kay

It has been years since Lauren and Brian have talked to one another but as soon as they saw each other, they picked up right where they left off. With their "All the Guses except for Gus" battle. If you know what I am talking about, you know how annoying that can be.

This is a picture of my mom and Lauren and Brian trying to leave our house. They have to pay the toll in riddles first. Addy has this thing she does when people try to leave our house. She blocks the door and she becomes a Troll. And to pass the Troll, you must answer her riddles. This is my mom bargaining with her about how many riddles they must do before they can gain access to the door. I don't know why my mom even tries to bargain. She always gives in and does however many riddles Addy demands of her. You will note Emily on the floor beside her acting as "Troll Dog".

Last weekend I went to my 24 hour scrapbook crop. This time I made 2 complete albums. They were both Christmas albums. One was of Christmas 2008 when we went to St. Louis, which I have been wanting to scrapbook for a long time but haven't because I felt guilty for not scrapbooking the Christmas before first. That was Christmas 2007, which was just a month before my father passed away, when both of my sisters and their families came to Utah to spend Christmas with us. I finally felt like I could tackle that one, and I did. In all I scrapbooked 86 pages!

Allyson, LaRee, Lindsey, Laura, Maddison

Ole!

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, we had bean and cheese burritos and chips and salsa for dinner. Sigh...I know, I know. I'm just fancy that way. Just call me Fancy Nancy. Really I had planned on making enchiladas with homemade tomatillo sauce. But I was really tired and I just wanted to feed the kids cereal and put them in bed at 5:00. So really, when you look at it that way, beans and cheese ain't so shabby now, are they?

Monday Morning Musings - Y'all Come Back Now, Ya Hear

OK, so Addy, she has started this thing where she picks up her glass of milk by sticking her forefinger inside the cup and bracing the outside of the cup with her thumb and middle finger. And she drinks it that way. And she always spills. And she always gets in trouble for holding her cup like that. So this morning I was putting her oatmeal and milk on the table and I totally spilled her cup of milk. She looked at me and said, "MOM! What did you do to my milk?" Then she kinda tilted her head and squinted her eye at me and shook her finger and said, "Were you just holding it with one finger?"

The other day I was driving in the car with my sister Lauren and she said something about me being from Utah. And that hurt my feelings so I said, "Lauren, if I'm a Utahan, you are too. You live here now just like me." And she said, "Well, your more Utahan than you are Texan." Then you know what I realized? I'm only about 5 or 6 years away from living in Utah just as much as I lived in Texas. BAHHHHHH! I will always be a Texan in my heart, y'all.

I really can hear Texas calling to my soul lately. That sounds weird, but it is true. I don't know how to explain it. It has just been too long since I have been there. It's a strange power that Texas has over its natives.

Yesterday Aubrey was eating some honeydew melon. She asked me, "Mom? What kind of fruit makes you pretty?" And I said that all fruit makes you pretty. She stuck another piece of melon in her mouth and said, "That must be why so many boys have a crush on me."

The other day Addy asked me for some ice cream for breakfast. You can read about her strange breakfast habits here. Anyhoo, I told her no, she absolutely could not have ice cream for breakfast. She said, "MOM! That is not nice. If you want Heavenly Father to live in our house, you have to say nice things."

Zac was reading a Harry Potter book the other day and I said, "Z, haven't you read that book 100 times already?" And he said he has read all the Harry Potter books 6 times each. That seems a little excessive to me. That kid. I can't get him to go to bed at a decent hour because he says up all night reading. I will go up to his room at 11 PM on a school night to find him reading and I will turn out the light. The next thing I know the light is back on. When I insist he keep the light off, he pulls out his book light. It wouldn't be so bad except that the closer he gets to being a teenager, the harder it is to wake him up in the morning.

Testimony of the Book of Mormon

Flashback Friday - It Was The Summer Of 1963....

...When everybody called me baby, and it didn't occur to me to mind....

Liz, Helen, Allyson, Sara

Those were the days. Back when I actually had time to lie around and watch a movie so many times I could quote the entire movie, all the way through. Back when the four girls in this picture were inseparable. We were BFF's, like no other BFF's you've ever seen. We had so much fun together. They might get mad at me for posting these pictures, but that's OK. I know they will still love me. And besides, I posted an extra super nasty picture of myself at the end to make up for it. It looks like we were having a sleep over at my house. And judging from the way Helen and I seem to be singing along with the movie, I am gonna guess it was Dirty Dancing that we were watching. We used to watch that a lot. In fact Helen and I, at one time, could do the dance (see #30) at the end of the movie. Kinda. - Here's to the good ole days!

(And just in case you are wondering, it wasn't actually the Summer of 1963. It was probably the Winter of 1988)

In God's Country: Day 4

Finally. Our last day. I know that's what your thinking. And sorry Facebook people who have had major Moab overload. My blog posts weren't importing so I thought, I'll just upload all the pictures to an album. And then right after that, the posts imported. It's OK though. Just hold on a little longer. I'm almost done.

So my kids started digging these holes. Really deep holes. Right next to the fire pit. Kinda not the safest setup when it's dark and you are walking to your chair by the fire. With a sharp metal roasting stick in your hand. But hey, we all made it out alive and well. It was funny because I was getting dinner ready and all of the sudden I couldn't see Addy anywhere. I started freaking out and the girls were like, "MOM! She's in the hole". The holes then turned into forts and the sand was made into sand bombs and we had all out war raging right in the middle of our campsite. Please note all the plastic utensils sticking out of Aubrey's fort.

They spent pretty much the hole day in the holes. Get it? The hole day in the holes. Yeah, I know....

Emily's Elvis Marshmallow. It really looked like The King in for reals life. The black was his hair and she formed a little face on it. Thank you, thank you very much. You were supposed to read that last part with an Elvis voice. Just in case you...didn't...know...yeah, anyway...

This was a pretty much major nightmare. I have always hated this brush. But this is the brush Em packed. And I told her to use my brush to brush her hair, but she wasn't listening to me because she was mad that I was making her brush her hair. So she took this really great brush and started hacking through her hair. It was twisted and wound around the brush so tight. And it had hair going one way and then hair over that going the other way and then the other. It was impossible to get out. I really, really thought I was just going to have to take the scissors to it. And I would have but she is growing her hair out for locks of love and that would have just messed everything up. So I put conditioner on it and used a comb and picked the hair out. I am still surprised I was able to get it out. Although there was a pretty massive amount of hair that came out with it. The hair and the brush immediately went into the trash.

The kids spent most of the day in the holes. Steve and I spent most of the day loading up. The day before Steve got a call saying that they were going to be ready for him on a job in Colorado on Monday. So instead of driving all the way home and then turning around and driving all the way back, he decided to stay in Moab and drive the few hours past that to the job. He drove his truck down with the camper and I drove my mom's truck down with the trailer with the 4 wheelers. I have never driven a trailer that far all by my lonesome. I was a little nervous but the kids were great on the way home and we made it with no problems.

Here is a picture of Aubrey's shoes when we got home.