The fam on a Sunday night

Elle: Sitting at the kitchen table, drawing pictures of the sunset we saw off of our balcony tonight. Stayed home from church today because she has a croupy-something going on. Thanks to her asthma, the tiniest sniffle becomes croup within a few hours. Is on a rhyming kick, constantly asking if certain words rhyme (and she's usually right).

Paige: Sitting on the floor playing Scrabble with Haley. (She doesn't stand a chance since Haley isn't known for being sympathetic during any competition.) Also stayed home sick from church today, although I suspect hers were sympathy symptoms -- she's acted fine all day. Danced the Thriller dance on Main Street with her dance company for trick-or-treaters.

Haley: Is agonizing over every word she's playing in her Scrabble game. She refuses to play anything unless it gives her top points. Currently obsessed with reading Harry Potter. She made a very cool haunted house and surrounding yard for a school project, complete with a popsicle stick fence, coconut grass and trees made from hot-gluing sticks together. She also made her costume this year -- she & a friend were glow-stick aliens. ??

Christian: Is at a Young Men's activity with dad - his first one since he just turned 12. Was ordained a Deacon today. I sat and cried, wondering how we got here so quickly. I love the cool guy he's becoming. The other day, he said to me, "Hey thanks, Carol." When I said, "What?" he replied, "Exactly." Random child.

Misty: Taking Halloween decorations down and bringing out the turkeys & such. Mike teases me about the quantity of decorations I've amassed over the years but I know he secretly loves how cool the house looks during holidays. Have a few loaves of pumpkin bread in the oven. How great is this time of year? Seriously.

Mike: At the YM activity with Christian, proud dad of his oldest child. Spent the morning with returned and future LDS missionaries, helping train them at Mission Prep. He's such a great teacher -- I can brag about him, right? He's only slightly obsessed (understatement) with UofU football. After we discussed spiritual stuff at dinner tonight, he then proceded to teach the kids about the upcoming TCU game and what it all means for the Utes. Poor guy wishes I cared more about it all.

SoCal 2010

This is going to be a monster post. Be prepared...

The kids & I took off over UEA to go see the Blakes in LA. It was so great to finally get to see where they live and picture them there, although I still can't believe that they're there for good. La Canada (how do you type the spanish 'n'?) is a beautiful town, set up against the mountains. It rained pretty much the whole week we were there and looked like this...

Add Erin's huge pine trees in their yard and we decided it felt more like we were visiting Oregon. The rain didn't stop us from venturing out, though. And neither did the traffic. We definitely spent many hours in the car. See what I mean?Here's the rest of the trip highlights...

Hanging out with the fam

Blakes have a pool and not even the cool'ish weather would deter my children.Erin's a cuddler. Always has been. It's not weird for two grown women to cuddle, right?I was afraid that this little girl would have forgotten who I was. But we bonded again. She followed me around like a puppy dog. I seriously miss her.I mean, look at her!
Elle and her Ali. :)The kids slept in a heap near each other.And Elle spent the whole week trying to carry Kate around the house. Kate wasn't a fan. You can just tell by her face that the constant attention was tiring.Pushing her in the shopping cart worked much better.

3rd Street in Santa Monica
Such a cool street (no cars allowed) where you can shop, eat, browse artists' wares, listen to bands, and see things like this. What the?



The Grove
Posh outdoor shopping center, and the location of my one celebrity sighting. The TV show, Extra, was shooting there so I caught a glimpse of Mario Lopez (dimple guy) interviewing Giuliana & Bill Rancic (of Apprentice and E! fame). Kind of cool, although Giuliana had more makeup on than I would have thought was possible.
Only in LA. Think the doggy digs his get-up?
The reason we were at The Grove was for the American Girl store. We girls had a very girlie afternoon.A doll hair salon. No kidding.And doll holders in the bathroom.I was hesitant to introduce my girls to American Girl because I knew there'd be no going back. But it's a magical place and the girls were thrilled. We did have one tumble on the escalator, unfortunately, but the store's ambiance made it all ok.
Long Beach Aquarium
After a quick trip to the aquarium, we drove along the beach down to Newport and Balboa Island. I want to vacation there, in this house, someday. Amazing, eh?Definitely had to have a Balboa bar while we were there.

DISNEYLAND
Our last big outing was Disneyland. Grandma had arrived by then so she and I took the 5 cousins. In the pouring rain. We knew it would be raining, though, so we were prepared with ponchos and raingear. And it was still fairly warm so we were fine. Here are the kids right as we got there .......and here they were at the end of the day. Cracks me up.We played hard and had so much fun. One up-side to going on a rainy day is that we walked straight onto almost every ride.I mean, when does that ever happen? After the kids rode Splash Mountain, the ride operator just let them go again since no one was in line. It was amazing.

Such a great trip. The kids are great little traveler's now -- they watch a couple of movies and don't realize how much time has passed. Elle's favorite part of the drive was the giant chair in Beaver, Utah.We're coming again soon, Blakes! And next time we'll bring daddy. :)

The Weepies

A few years ago, I saw a movie that was pretty lame. Can't even remember what it was. But I do remember that the music from the movie was great. One band that I discovered during that movie is (are?) The Weepies. I love their folksy/indie vibe and great harmonies. Even better is that it's a husband/wife team. How cool to go on tour with the love of your life?

So when my friend, Rachel, told me they were coming in concert, we bought tickets immediately.The State Room is such a cool venue. It's intimate, only 300 people, and has great sound. Same place where Erin & I saw Fountains of Wayne and Aimee Mann last year.

Totally great night. If you aren't familiar with The Weepies, go check them out.

Smart alec

My sister, Erin, wrote Christian such a cool e-mail on his birthday yesterday. It started, "Oh hey Christian, this is your favorite aunt. You know the one. We both know you do. So, uh, I just wanted to wish you, like, a way cool birthday."

And Christian, being the witty, funny kid he is wrote back to her, "Thanks, Aunt Kelly!"

Family Unity

My cute nieces, Ali & Maddie, flew in from California to go see their big college brother, Spence. Today, they're going to the BYU football game with him. All while Mike & Haley were getting decked out to go to the UofU football game. Good thing we all love each other. :)

Things I would be saying on Facebook if I were still on Facebook

* Christian asked Haley who painted The Mona Lisa. She replied, "Leonardo DiCaprio."
* Spent a wad of cash today getting the car ready for a little road trip to see our Blake cousins. Can't wait!
* Hung out last night with friends making smores over their firepit. We need a firepit, I've decided -- it was very cool.
* Prepped myself to be hurled on by my 2 very motion-sick daughters. Didn't happen, thankfully. Too many spins on the tire swing.
* Love the playland at Smith's. And thankfully, so does Elle.
* Finished reading Haunting of Hill House and now am freaked out by my house at night. How old am I again? Hello.
* Saw the movie 'Easy A' and learned some new words. Not any good ones.
* Absolutely love bringing out my fall & Halloween decorations. The house is transformed from Sept. 1st-Nov. 30th.
* Can't watch Glee anymore. Too skanky and sacreligious. Bummer they had to go that far.
* Since we truly don't need more stuff around here, what in the world should I do for Christmas? Let alone the 4 birthdays we have in the next couple of months?
* Christian has started reading 'Tennis Shoes among the Nephites' (I think that's what it's called??). Kind of blew me away when he showed me a scripture he was cross-referencing with the book. This will be a good thing, I can tell.
* I've made 2 double batches of pumpkin bisque this month so I'll always have some in the fridge. My favorite lunch, by far.
* Going to The Weepies concert in a couple of weeks with The Rachel. I'm kind of giddy about it.

We're doing what?

The other night, the kids and I were bored and feeling sluggish. We went to a farmer's market and chose pumpkins for everyone, and then I had an idea. We needed a little adventure. So we put the pumpkins in the car, locked it, and started walking. I knew where we were going but the kids didn't have any idea.

Seriously? You're making us walk somewhere?I love how Paige has to pose in every picture. She was actually dancing in that last shot.

We got lost in the jungle along the way, ...
... found treasures in the trees ...
... and had some bonding time.
We eventually wound up at Orange Leaf (our favorite frozen yogurt place), much to the kids' delight. We sat and ate for a minute and then I noticed how dark it was quickly becoming. So we started walking and eating. Not so easy for some of us.
Nice little adventure. At least I thought so. It's still up for debate with the kids.

Facebook-free

I decided to go off of Facebook. (Gasp!) I have been such a Facebook addict, too. I was amazed at everyone I could find -- people from my mission (from all over the world), high school friends, past roommates, former neighbors, cousins who I haven't been in touch with for years, more contact with extended family and friends. I've definitely enjoyed aspects of being on Facebook and I'll miss some of that.

But along with the good comes the weird. Weird to be back in touch with high school people who were only casual acquaintances when we were in school together. Weird to be 'friends' with certain ex-boyfriends and to receive multiple comments from them. Weird to get comments from people who I know don't care for me all that much and yet they still check to see what I'm up to on Facebook. Weird to get friend requests from people that I never actually talk to. I didn't want to ignore most requests because I didn't want to offend anyone, and then I wasn't sure how to 'de-friend' people later without offending further still.

Over the past month, I've been feeling like I wanted to just disconnect from it all. I need a break from having my life be such an open book. I'm guilty of making it that way, I realize, but now I just need some separation.

Finally, a few days ago I posted, "Disconnecting for awhile. Later, people." And then I deactivated my account. One problem, I've since discovered, is that all of my previous posts are now gone, too. So if someone didn't happen to read my little farewell statement, they'll probably think I de-friended them. One guy from high school thinks that I was offended by an article he posted and so I de-friended him, when it was just a timing coincidence. Not sure how to handle that, now. But it kind of cements my decision in my mind. Weird social situations become normal on Facebook, and like I said - I just need some separation.

So, dear friends, please keep in touch with me by other means. Be my friend without Facebook. Call me. Let's go to lunch.

I am so not an artist...

... but if I were, I think I'd really enjoy creating this kind of stuff on a beautiful face like hers.

A cultural experience

I can't count how many ethnic festivals my mom took us kids to while we were growing up. She loved to introduce us to new cultures, new foods, new customs. I remember bits & pieces about the many different festivals but the Greek Festival kind of sticks out as being the most memorable.

So a few weeks ago, Mike & I decided to repeat the tradition and take our kids to the Greek Festival. I told them beforehand, "I want you to have an open mind and just try a few things." You can't really go wrong with a gyro, right?
Elle enjoyed the whole experience and tried just about everything.
Christian thought he was being brave by only eating meatballs and rolls. That's pretty typical for him, though.
Haley could not be tempted, or bribed, to try the mini squid. Yeah, I guess that was pushing it, even for her.
All of the kids were happy to try the desserts, especially baklava which was gone in a heartbeat. And aside from the long lines, they all decided it was worth the experience.

Think they're ready for sushi yet?