2nd Annual American Idol Finale Soiree

Can you call it a Soiree if you serve pizza on paper plates? Hey, we did have salad on the side to fancy it up. So if that doesn't make it a Soiree, I don't know what does. For the second year in a row we had our neighbors Lori and Andreas and their family over to watch the American Idol Finale. We were all at a dinner at the church on Tuesday, so we watched both nights of Idol together on Wednesday night. You can see from the pictures that the kids were really into the Idol viewing.

SIDE NOTE: If you google Soiree to see how to spell it and you spell it swaray, this is the definition you get from Urban Dictionary: The way stupid people spell soiree. Well, EX-KA-USE me!

Flashback Friday - Closet Friends

Chris, Allyson, Demond

I don't think you could find 3 more opposite people and put them together and have them turn out to be friends if you tried. I met Chris and Demond or Ronald or Ralph (he goes by several different names) when I was a freshman in high school and they were sophomores. I couldn't even begin to guess how many hours I spent sitting in my closet talking to them on a 3 way phone call. They are such good friends now, they torture me and send me pictures of Blue Bell Ice Cream or Blue Bell trucks whenever they see them. These pictures were taken a few weeks before I got married. I knew I would be leaving the great state of Texas and wouldn't see them for a while, so we spent the day hangin' out together.

FYI: I found the mother load of pictures today! You know how I have been bored with my Flashback Friday selections? Well, I am bored no more! I found a huge box full of old pictures. If you have known me for 15 years or more, chances are, there is a picture of you in the box! Look out!

Flower Girls

A few weeks ago, my neighbor needed to borrow my girls to model some hair accessories she made. We just went out our front door and into the ever prevalent weeds to take the pictures. I took my camera along and snapped a few shots of the girls too. They turned out mighty cute, if I do say so myself. But I did have beautiful subjects, so how could I go wrong? I tried to talk Z into donning a white shirt and jeans and joining us, but he didn't find my suggestion amusing in the least. Oh well, he missed out.

Monday Morning Musings - It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

The above picture was taken:

A) On Christmas Eve
B) Last February
C) Just a few hours ago

Yep, it snowed again today. Old Man Winter, who knew you had such a stubborn streak? Oh well, it's all blue skies now. Please note my grass (overlook all the interspersed weeds) that is now growing where once upon a time there used to be just dirt. And weeds.

It's always nice to know that you just aren't getting through to your three year old. You see, on an ideal day, I am showered and dressed before I wake the kiddos up. But not every day is ideal. Today was one of those days. And once I get them up, I can pretty much just forget about taking a shower until I get the older ones off to school. Every time that happens Addy and I have the same conversation. It goes something like this:

Me: Addy, I am about to get in the shower. You cannot answer the door while
I am in the shower. If the doorbell rings, what should you do?

Addy: Come and tell you!

Me: Should you answer the door first, and then come tell me who is at the
door?

Addy: No! I tell you first!

Me: OK. So DO NOT ANSWER THE DOOR! Come and tell me and I will tell you
what you should do.

Addy: OK! I WON'T answer the door.

And then I leave her upstairs in the playroom watching Dora and playing with her toys.

I used to think that was working, but apparently it only worked because no one ever actually came to the door. That is until today. When Addy suddenly appeared at the shower. With a Jehovah's Witness pamphlet in her hand. "Mommy a lady and a man just gave this to us!" Yeah. I guess from here on out if I don't shower before I get everyone up in the morning, I just don't shower. That should be...fun...

Apparently the Lost finale FINALE was last night. Everyone is talking about it. Steve and I are so behind on our Lost viewing. I checked the DVR this morning and we have 9 episodes we haven't watched. I didn't even know it was the finale until I heard everyone talking about it on Facebook. Oh well. Now Steve and I have something to watch this summer. And if we watch one every night, all in a row, it will be easier to remember what is going on. Yeah, right. Who am I kidding? We still won't have any idea what is happening.

Last Friday my mom called and her neighbor had 5 extra tickets to Cirque du Soleil Alegria, that was starting in just a few hours. She and Lauren were going to use 2 of the tickets and we could have the other 3 if we wanted. Well, Steve and Zac were going on a Father/Son campout and Aubrey was going to a birthday party, so it worked out that there were just 3 of us (Emily, Addy and myself) left at home. We got ready and jumped in the car and headed out. It was so much fun! Thanks Curtis and Kami!

Flashback Friday - Dang

Las Vegas, Nevada 1992

I was having the same problem with this Flashback Friday as I was last week. I couldn't find anything I wanted to post. Then I came across this picture and I was like

*DANG*

I used to LOVE that cute wrap around skirt

and then I was like

*DANG*

I used to LOVE being that skinny

and then I was like

*DANG*

That dude in the blue shirt was PSYCHO with a capital

P-S-Y-C-H-O

We went on one date and then for our next date he surprised me and we hopped on a plane to Vegas so I could meet his parents. And he got really mad when I wouldn't marry him when we were there in Vegas. And I was like

*DANG*

I have only known you for a week.

Funny that the boy I did end up marrying was a boy I had known for less than a week when we got engaged. But that boy wasn't Psycho with a capital P-S-Y-C-H-O. So there.

Flashback Friday: Pink Spandex

So I couldn't find any pictures I wanted to use for my Flashback Friday. Every picture I found I was like, "Meh" or "Blah". That's when I had the brilliant idea to look through a box of Steve's pictures. And then I was like, "Meh" or "Blah". Until I found this precious little gem of a photo. And then I was like ROFL. I don't even know what to say except:

• A) Thank you babe for never wearing spandex in front of me or the children. As hot as it would be, thank you for refraining.
• B) FYI: Steve owns nothing that is pink at the current time
• C) I got such a good belly laugh workout from this picture
• and lastly
• D) Yes, he is still that skinny and I pray every day that he passes that blessed gene on to our children
  

And it would be mean of me not to post this picture to show you that pink was obviously the color of the day:

And also this one with the same sexy as all get out spandex shorts and boring normal shirt. Steve is the 3rd from the left, just in case you didn't recognize him without the pink tie-dye.

♥I HEART YOU HONEY, BABY, SUGAR DADDY!♥

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